it causeth that death it self proves our Salvation and brings unto us unspeakable comforts I may also liken it to the Meal which the same Prophet cast into the Pot of which the Sons of the Prophets had made this complaint O thou man of God there is death in the pot It is the death of Death because it removes from it all deadly poison and causeth us to relish Angelical satisfactions I may therefore justly say of this Glorious Cross that it is The Tree of Knowledge of good and evil Because it makes known and understood the dreadful evils from which we are delivered and the infinite advantages which are procured to us 〈◊〉 Christ's death I may call it also the Tree of Life for every one that takes of the Fruit of this Tree with the hand of Faith and he that eats of it shall live for â—ver John 6. Believing Souls it is that Mystical Ladder which Jacob saw in a vision for it unites Heaven and Earth sinful Man with his God Gen. 28. It pleased the Father to make peace by the Bloud of the Cross of his Son and to reconcile all things unto himself whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven Coloss 1. It is by the means of this Blessed Cross that the good Angels are sent to our assistance and that all the Graces and Blessings of God are procured unto us by this Cross we shall ascend up to God and to his Eternal Happiness under the shadow of this Divine Cross our Souls do rest and enjoy the Peace of God which passeth all Understanding It is like the Golden Scepter which King Ahasuerus stretched out unto Esther for if we touch this precious Cross with the hand of Faith if we embrace it with a contrite Soul we shall obtain from the King of Kings not only the half part but all his Kingdom with all its Delights Honours and Advantages 18. Moses's Rod was chang'd into a Serpent as well as the Rods of Pharaoh's Magicians but this Serpent devoured all the rest Thus the death of our Lord and Saviour is accompanied with Sorrow Fear and Anguish but these fears swallow up all other fears and cause us to draw near with confidence to the Throne of Grace his Sorrows drive away all our Griefs and fill us with Joy and Eternal Comfort his Anguish gives ease and satisfaction to our Souls his troubled Mind is the cause of the settlement of our Consciences his drops of Bloud do wash down our Tears his Groans hinder us from Sighing and his grievous cryings do cause us to sing with Joy The Fetters of this Glorious Redeemer have purchased our Freedom and his Condemnation our Absolution he hath been content to drink Vinegar mingled with Gall and to swallow the very dregs of the Cup of God's Wrath and Justice that he might cause us to drink of the Rivers of his Divine Pleasures He cried out in the violence of his Grief My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Matth 27. That God might never forsake us and that in our greatest troubles we might have always his fatherly assistance ready at hand he hath stooped his Head to raise our hopes In short he is dead that he might deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to a cruel and unsufferable Bondage Heb. 2. So that all such as tremble and are afraid at the approaches of Death have not yet felt the power and efficacy of the Cross of our Lord Jesus They trample under feet the Bloud of the Son of God and as much as in them lies they render the fruits and efficacy of this blessed death of no effect 19. Consider well Christian Souls and imprint into your minds this Lesson Remember that death is never to be feared but when it proceeds from God's wrath and the curse of his Law and when our sins and offences have supplied it with offensive weapons when the Devil who seeks to devour us as a roaring Lion follows death at the heels and when at the same time Hell opens its infernal jaws to swallow us up But those who have placed their Faith and Hope in the Death and Passion of the Saviour of the World and who embrace his Cross are exempted from all its fears and out of the reach of all its poisonous Darts 20. My beloved Souls be not therefore frighted to see the face of the great Judge of the World 1 Tim. 2. Seeing that there is such an excellent Mediator between God and Man namely the Man Christ Jesus who hath given himself a Ransom for all Rom. 3. He hath disarmed God's Eternal Justice and stopt the proceedings of his Vengeance for God hath appointed him for all Eternity to be a Propitiation by Faith in his Bloud John 5. The Father judges no man but hath given all Judgement to the Son as he is the Son of Man There is now no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ whosoever believes in him shall never come into condemnation but is passed from Death to Life Rom. 8. John 5. 21. Fear no more the Thunderbolts and the flashes of Fire of Mount Sinai neither do you tremble when you hear its horrible Thunder Cursed is every one who continues not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them Deut. 28. For although Christs Hands be nailed and fastened to the Wood they pluck nevertheless out of the Hands of God's Justice his terrible Thunderbolts and the Sword of his Vengeance The precious Bloud that runs down from the wounds of this Divine Redeemer do quench the scorching heat of his Eternal burning As at the morning of our Saviours Passion he had a care of his Disciples and therefore he desired those that came to take him If you seek me let these goe John 18. Likewise he hath now a care of all such as believe in his name to secure them under the shadow of his Cross He takes their place and for them he stands before God's justice saying Seeing that you have taken me to be their pledge and that you have pursued me without Mercy seeing that I have sufficiently satisfied for all their crimes and have tasted for them the most bitter and cruel death suffer them to enjoy the freedom that hath been purchased at such a dear rate Suffer them to pass through death into the enjoyment of a blessed Life which is the price of my Bloud and the fruit of my Victories This merciful Redeemer hath put himself of his own accord in our stead and hath endured in his own Person all the pains which were due to our sins he hath been struck with Moses's Rod and pierced through with the Darts of the Law he hath been made a Curse for us for it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a Tree Gal. 5. But we are not only by his means redeemed from the Curse of the Law but we are also blessed in him with all manner of
42. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God my Soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God Psal 63. And elsewhere O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my Soul thirsteth for thee my Flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty Land where no water is to see thy Power and Glory so as I have seen thee in the Sanctuary It is not possible to taste of the heavenly Joyes but we are constrained to cry out as the man after Gods own heart How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts My Soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my Heart and my Flesh crieth out for the living God Psal 84. Consider well believing Soul what vast difference there was between the earthly Jerusalem for which David was so passionate and the heavenly Jerusalem where God intends to receive thee What great disproportion was there between the little stream of Shilo and the large River of Paradise between the material Tabernacle the mercy Seat covered over with fine Gold upon which the Cherubims did stretch out their Wings and the immaterial Sanctuary of Heaven Jesus Christ the true Ark of the Covenant in whom are hid the richest Treasure of Wisdome and Knowledge in whom the fulness of the God-head dwells bodily and in whose glorious presence the Seraphims cover their Faces with their Wings Coloss 2. How contemptible were the Sacrifices Oblations and Burnt-offerings of the Children of Israel in comparison of the Spiritual Sacrifices that are presented unto God in Heaven in comparison of the Offerings burning there entire in the Flames of an Holy Zeal and of a perfect Charity And what was all the Frankinsence of Arabia and the sweet smells of the Holy-Land which were burnt in God's presence if compared with the sacred persumes that mount up out of the Golden Vials that are in the hands of all the members of the Glorified Church Seeing David esteems a Door-keeper of the House of the Lord an happy man on Earth How great shall thy Glory be and extraordinary thy happiness O believing Christian for thou art going to be advanced to the most Honorable Room of that Celestial Dwelling which God hath built with his own Hands To this purpose our Lord Jesus hath made to thee this gratious promise Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the City of my God which is new Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new name Revel 3. If this great King was so desirous to hear the Levites singing the praises of God with their Tongues and Instruments of Musick How much more passionate should we be to hear the Harmonies of Heaven and the Celestial Hymns of the Holy Angels Archangels Cherubims Seraphims and of all the Glorified Saints who have in their mouths every one a new Song the Song of Moses and of the Lamb When the Shepherds heard some few expressions of the Angels Songs who praised God at the Nativity of the Son of God they began to rejoyce with an exceeding great joy they left their Flocks and ran in haste to look upon the Child Jesus in the Manger of Bethlem and thou devout Soul thou hearest already the sweet Anthems of Paradise and the ravishing consorts of thousands of Angels thou knowest that thy Saviour sits there upon a Throne cloathed with Glory and Divine Majesty and wilt thou not forsake all the base Employments of this sensual and animal life to go and see this wonderful Saviour who expects thee and intends that thou shalt sit also with him upon his Throne Zacheus climed upon a Sicamore-tree with an unspeakable swiftness and an earnest desire to behold the Lord Jesus as he passed by when he was in the estate of his humâ—liation and abasement Shouldest not thou be as earnest O Christian Soul to fly up above the Heavens to see this merciful Saviour in the estate of his Glory and elevation and to have him alwayes in thine eye for ever and ever When our Lord was come into the house of this poor Publican he told him That Salvation was that day come to his house And shalt not thou O blessed Soul have more reason to say when thou shalt enter into the Palace of this glorified Redeemer I am this day going into my Salvation and my Glory We highly esteem Iacobs happiness when he was in Bethel because God appeared unto him in that surprising Vision mentioned in the 28 of Genesis But if thou art an Israelite without fraud I esteem thee to be in a more happy and a more blessed estate thou hast a greater cause to break out into Iacobs Language This is Gods house and the Gate of Heaven Jacob it is true saw the Heavens open but he was not admitted into them at that time but now God opens these Heavens to receive and lodge thee for ever The holy Angels of God went up and down the Ladder that reached up from the Earth to Heaven but they left Jacob at the bottom of this Ladder whereas the Angels that are about thee are come down to cause thee to ascend up with them or rather to carry thee up in their hands and bring thee to Christ typified by this mysterious Ladder Jacob saw God at the top of this Ladder but he was to go afterwards to padan Aram he was to travel up and down to suffer many inconveniences the heat of the day the frost of the night the displeasure of his Father-in-Law and his Treachery he was forced to fly from the cruelty of his Brother Esau nay more then that he was forced to struggle and wrestle with God himself Whereas here is now the end of thy Pilgrimage of all thy troubles and encounters Thou shalt never feel the burning and scorching heat of thy Afflictions Thou shalt be no more tortured with the fears and Apprehensions that now congele thy Blood Thou shalt no more stand upon thy guard for fear of the deceits and violent dealings of Men Thou shalt wrestle no more with God by Prayers and Supplications and tears for they shall be no more in use God shall load thee with his most extraordinary blessings and bestow himself upon thee The Prophet Moses wished very passionately to see but for a moment God's Face whereof he had beheld so many glorious expressions and shouldest not thou desire as passionately to see that beautiful and ever shining countenance in its Glory and Splendor O Religious Soul thou art enflamed with this Divine affection God will shortly fulfil all thy mind so that thou mayst say to him as one of the Prophets Thou shalt cause me to know the way of Life Thy face is the fulness of Joy and at thy right hand are
before we have well thought whither we be mortal or no Therefore we are sooner surprized and astonished at its approaches and we become like the foolish Israelites that trembled and fled before Goliah because they were not accustomed to behold him 3. We have too great confidence and depend too much upon second Causes we look upon Death as a thing that happens by chance or as an evil that may be prevented or at least put away from us for a time whereas we should be fully perswaded that God hath determined and appointed not only Death it self but also all the causes and means by which it commonly happens Therefore we are often fill'd with displeasure and reduced to murmure and repine against God we grin and bite the stone instead of adoring in all humility that wise Hand that casts it In a word when ever Death comes to us we are ready to say to it as the Devils to our Saviour Wherefore art thou come to torment us before the time Matth. 3. 4. We are too much wedded to these earthly vanities we are inseparable from the World we would willingly make here our abode for ever and cannot abide to hear that Death will remove us Our unlawful affections have no bounds and we often spend our selves in the pursuance of the miserable advantages of the Earth When we come almost to the end of our life and of our mortal journey it is then that many of us are most earnest to make a large provision of Worldly Vanities we build stately dwellings and sumptuous Palaces at that very moment when we should think of nothing but of building our Tomb and preparing our Winding-sheet We have so violent a passion for all the advantages of this life that to separate us from them it is to pluck out our Hearts and tear our tenderest Bowels When Death comes to our Bedside and offers to pull us out we are ready to say as the Sluggard in the Proverbs A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands Prov. 6. When our Divine Bridegroom knocks at our Gates we are scarce willing to abandon our Delights as the Spouse in the Canticles what saith the Worldling Must I leave my sumptuous Palaces my pleasant Dwellings and my delightful Gardens Must I relinquish all this rich Tapestry these precious Moveables and all these rare and exquisite Ornaments that enrich my Parlors Chambers and Closets Must this unmerciful Death divest me so soon of all my Offices and Dignities and hinder me from a full and peaceable enjoyment of all these Riches and Treasures Must it ravish from me in an instant all my Delights and satisfactions Is there no remedy but must I be pluckt from the embraces of my beloved Wife from the sight of my dear Children and from the sweet company of all my friends Must I receive no more the services of my Domesticks When we are in this miserable disposition it is no wonder if death is terrible to us and if it causeth us to resent the sharpness of its sting for as Absalom when he was hanging by the hair of his Head in a Tree of the Forrest Joab took three Darts and struck him through the Heart thus when our affections are too much wedded and entangled with the World and its vanities and fill'd with the expectation of earthly contentments it is then that they are miserably exposed to all the Darts and violent attempts of Death 5. Another principal cause of the fear of Death is our ill Life We give our selves over to the vices debaucheries and licenciousness of this unhappy Age we suffer our selves to be corrupted by ill company and carried away with the Torrent of vicious Customs It is therefore no wonder if death fills our Souls with apprehensions for it comes to us armed with our sins and is preceded by the remorse of Conscience and horror of our Crimes How came it to pass that such a terrible astonishment fell upon King Belshazzar when he saw the fingers of an hand writing upon the Wall of his Palace the Sentence of his doom Dan. 5. It was because he did profane the Holy Vessels of God's House and because he did riot in the company of lascivious Women Wherefore did Felix tremble when he heard St. Paul discourse of Justice Temperance and of Judgement to come Acts 24. It was because he was a wicked Varlet given over to all manner of filthy and unjust living Thus because we profane the Members of our Body that are as the Vessels of Gods Sanctuary and House and because our life is vicious and disorderly we can't abide to hear death mention'd and when it comes to us we are ready to speak to it in Felix's language to St. Paul Depart for this time So that the love of Sin and the fear of Death are as two Sisters that hold one another by the hands or rather they are as Twins that are born and dye together As the Prophet Amos said to the Israelites Ye put for away the evil day and cause the seat of violence to come near Amos 6. So may we say to the Men of this age Ye put far from you the day of Death as much as you are able and draw near to all manner of Impurity Covetousness Ambition Pride Vanity Usury Rapine Violence Envy Malice and such like Soul-plagues You don't only draw near to these abominable Vices but you do also worse to lodge them in your Bowels and to plant them in your Hearts Certainly we may very well apply to all vicious persons what the Prophet Jeremy tells of Jerusalem Her filthiness is in her skirts she remembreth not her last end Lam. 1. 6. I have taken notice of another imperfection in us we mistrust the Providence of God and know not how to repose our selves upon his Fatherly Care we have a too worthy esteem of our selves and of our own sufficiency We can't resolve to dye because we fancy our selves very useful in the world and that our Death would bring a considerable loss to the Church of God to the State or to our Family 7. Because the Soul and Body are linkt together in a very strict union we can't imagine how they can be separated without great and unspeakable pangs our infidelity is so great that we can't rest satisfied upon the promise of God who engages to succor us in our distress and to deliver us from all our troubles Is 50. It is true Jacob's Ladder that reaches from the Earth to Heaven doth fill us with admiration but it seems most difficult and uneasy to ascend Paradice is Rich Glorious and Delightful to the uttermost but its Gate is strait and choakt up with Thorns and Bryers 8 I judge that one of the chief causes of the fear of death is because we look upon God as a most severe and merciless Judge inflamed with anger and fury against us and armed with vengeance Whereas we should consider and acknowledge him to be a
and ready with its jaws open to devour me But Lord I come to cast my self before thy Blessed Cross I take hold of the Horns of this Altar I dip my self in thy Bloud I put on the Robes of thy Righteousness and wrap my self up in thy Death O Holy Redeemer I know that thou hast been distressed and grievously perplexed at the approaches of Death and that thine Agony hath been so bitter that thou hast sweated drops of Bloud and the Holy Angels have come down to comfort thee whereas thy Servants the Martyrs have gone to death and their sufferings with expressions of Joy as to a most splendid Banquet or to a Triumph Thou hast prayed with strong Crying and Tears to be delivered from death and that this Cup might pass away so that thou mightest never tast of its bitterness But Lord thy death was not as mine and as that of thy blessed Martyrs Thy death was an atonement for the sins of the whole World whereas our death is not intended as a satisfaction to God's justice but rather to render us capable of receiving the blessed Fruits of his Eternal Compassions Thou didst bear the strokes of God's Justice and endure the fierceness of his wrath enflamed against the sins which thou hast loaded on thy self But we instead of this consuming Fire which thou hast quenched with thy precious Bloud we perceive the flames of Love instead of the Hand of thy justice we see thy Arms wide open to receive us into Eternal Happiness Death good Lord was armed with our sins and iniquities and with all that is dreadful in Hell but I see that all the Armor of Death are hung upon thy Cross they are the Trophies and everlasting marks of thy Glorious Victory Thou hast felt not only the most sensible Darts of Death but also the most terrible Thunderbolts and fearful Curses of the Law Thou hast secured us from all that violence thou hast redeemed us from the dreadful Curses When thou wast made a Curse for us thou hadst not only to encounter with death but also to destroy him who had the Empire of Death and to break in pieces the Gates of Hell Thou didst spoil Principalities and Powers shewing them openly and triumphing of them in thy Cross O wonderful Saviour How marvellous are thy Works and worthy of the continual admiration of Men and Angels Thou hast drunk up the very dregs of the Cup of God's fury that we might never taste of it and thou hast taken upon thee all the punishment that our sins and offences had deserved that we might never feel them Thy grievous pangs alleviate my torments thy bruises and wounds are my health and cure thy fears do comfort and settle my mind and thy distressed Soul doth fill mine full of joy and comfort thy crying doth appease the troubles of my Conscience and thy drops of Bloud do wash down my Tears thine affliction comforts me thy sorrow is my joy and thy bitterness is my sweetness thy death is my victory and thy Cross is my Triumph I shall no longer apprehend to dye seeing thou didst procure unto me Life and Immortality O Glorious and Merciful Lord the Kingdom of Heaven belongs unto thee by a twofold Right it belongs to thee because thou art the only Son of God and the Heir of all things it belongs to thee also because thou hast purchased it with the infinite Merits of thy Sufferings the first is sufficient for thee the second thou hast resigned unto me that I might one day enjoy this Heavenly Kingdom as the fruits of thy Death and the price of thy Bloud I have hoped in thee Lord I shall never be confounded I know that nothing impure or defiled shall enter into thine Holy Jerusalem but thy Bloud shall wash me from all my sins and make me as white as Snow O Glorious Lord O thou that art wonderful how precious is thy death unto me It is the payment of all my debts the atonement of all my crimes and the ransom of the whole World It is our peace with God our re-union with Heaven and our reconciliation with the Blessed Angels of Light It is the death of Death it self and the ruine of Hell In short it hath not only drawn me out of an Abysse of Misery freed me from Eternal Damnation and the infinite torments of the bottomless Pit but it hath purchased for me Heaven with all its Glory and Paradise with its unspeakable Delights David was much admired for making use of Goliah 's Sword to cut off his Head but who will admire and wonder at thee O victorious Son of David seeing thou hast swallowed up Death into Victory by thine own death Sampson was wondered at because he killed a few Enemies by his death but who will not wonder at thee O Son of Righteousness who by thy death hast destroyed all the enemies of our Salvation and given to death itself its death's wound Jacob slept peaceably at the bottom of the mysterious Ladder which reacht from the Earth up to Heaven But O my Lord God I shall lay my self down and find more peace and quiet at the bottom of thy blessed Cross seeing that by its means I have access to the Father unto whom thou hast reconciled me seeing that I may with boldness go to the Throne of Grace to obtain Mercy and Help in time of need Lord Jesus I discover in thy Cross not only the source of my sweetest Comforts of my greatest Joys and of my noblest expectations but I learn also there how to dye well and I perceive all the Vertues in their greatest perfection that should accompany my Soul at its Egress out of this Body O Lord Who art Perfection it self and who hast left me such a notable Example that I might imitate it give me Grace to express to all my Relations that cordial and holy affection and that tenderness which I see in thee give me Grace to forgive with all mine Heart mine Enemies that I may pray God for them who have persecuted me with fury Give me Grace in my greatest pains to follow the example of thy sweet Nature of thy Goodness of thy Patience and noble Resolution Inflame my Soul with an earnest Zeal for thy Glory and with such a love as caused thee to offer thy self up in Sacrifice to God Here I am O God ready to perform thy Will my Soul is none of mine but thine who art its faithful Creator and its merciful Saviour Seeing that thou hast paid its Ransom that thou hast washed and cleansed it in thy Blood cloathed it with thy Righteousness and put it in a capacity of entring into thine Heavenly Sanctuary and of appearing before the Father of Lights do with it as it shall seem good unto thee O sweet Jesus who hast been pleased to Dye and be Crucified for me wretched Sinner give me that Grace that I may for ever live and raign with thee and that I may at every
secure and that you shall loose nothing but this Ship Acts 27. We may yet furnish them with stronger comforts for these good Mariners lost their Ship without any hopes of recovering it again but we are assured that God will one day gather up every piece of these broken Vessels of our Bodies and will joyn them together in a more perfect estate Therefore Death doth not carry away our bodies by violence but we leave them willingly we do not stay for its summons but we do prevent Death and give it a Licence when we have packt up our Bag and Baggage we are ready to depart out of this wretched abode where we endure all manner of calamities for in this house defluxions do rain down If Vapors do arise the Pillars and Foundation does tremble the Joynts do open the Windows are darkened and the burning Feavers like violent fires consume it I must not forget that the faithful do name their death not only a removal of their Lodging but a removal from a Tabernacle this teacheth us that we must depart from hence with as much joy and readiness as a Soldier doth out of his Tabernacle at the end of a laborious and bloudy warfare and with as much pleasure as the Children of Israel did out of their Tents under which they had remained in the Desart to enter into the sweet and comfortable dwellings of the Land of Canaan Not only this Body is like to an hired House or to a Tabernacle transported up and down but it is by Sin become to our Soul a woful prison Therefore Death may be compared to the Messengers sent by King Pharaoh on purpose to take Joseph out of his Dungeon and bring him to his Palace The Body that was created to be a noble Pavillion of Joy and Honor is become to our Soul a wretched and incommodious Prison Death is like to the Furnace of Babylon that burned and consumed the Bonds of the three Children without prejudicing their Persons or Attire Dan. 3. for it consumes those sad Bonds that detain our Soul enâ—laved to the Earth but it doth not meddle with the Oâ—naments of our Justice and Sanctification it is like the Skin that encloseth the Child in his Mothers Womb or like the Shell where the Chicken is formed for of necessity it must be broken before we can enter into immortal Life In short we may say That the Body which was given to the Soul to be its Palace is become by Sin its Grave and loathsome Sepulchre far more noisome than that of Lazarus and that Death is like the voice that calls upon us Lazarus come out Faithful Souls you see then that as Sampson carried away the Gates of the City of Gaza and transported them to the top of the Hill so hath Jesus Christ our true Sampson transported and carried the Gates of death to the highest pitch of Glory Therefore whereas before we did look upon it with horror as the very entrance of Hell now we may behold it with Confidence and Joy saying as Jacob did of Bethel This is the Gate of Heaven Seeing therefore that this is the nature and condition of Death I find that Men do give it too much advantage for we should not offer to say that such are dead whom God hath admitted into Eternal life because the qualification should be derived from the chief and noblest part as it is in nature there is no generation without corruption and we commonly say that it is a Generation when the thing engendred is more excellent than the thing corrupted as we say that it is a corruption when the thing corrupted excels the thing that is engendred Therefore our change and removal out of this world should be rather stiled a Life than a Death for if our Body Dies and Rots in the Earth our Soul revives and mounts up to Heaven and this mortal life that we leave in leaving the Earth is nothing in comparison of that life that we shall enjoy with Christ and his Holy Angels God is named the God of Abraham of Isaac and of Jacoh Now he is not the God of the Dead but of the Living Exod. 4. Matt. 22. I may also without any Figure say That Death in respect of the Body is no real Death but a kind of sleep as it is said in the Prophet Daniel Many do sleep in the dust of the Earth chap. 12. and in Isaiah that the Just sleep in their beds Therefore our Saviour speaking of Jairus's Daughter declared The Child is not dead but sleepeth Mat. 9. and of Lazarus his friend Lazarus our friend sleepeth but I go to awake him Beloved if thou art of the number of such as Christ loveth thy Death will be but a kind of sleep of a short continuance and a few days The Lord will raise thee up again For the hour cometh and is already That the Dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that shall hear shall revive John 5. During this Life the assaults of Death are no better than light skirmishes the most sensible and most dangerous blow that it strikes in appearance is when Death separates the Soul from the Body but the last and most signal encounter which will put an end to all disputes will happen at the day of Judgement Jesus Christ will then appear from Heaven in the company of all his immortal Angels and Saints to encourage us to the encounter He will come with a terrible voice of an Archangel and the last Trumpet shall sound then Death will endeavor to keep us still in its black prison and our Bones will be found without life or motion but the Spirit of God shall breathe upon these dry Bones and will cause them to revive As the Prophet Jonas was three days and three nights in the belly of the Whale God Commanded the Fish to vomit him up again upon the ground Thus when we shall have made so long our abode in our Graves as God hath appointed in his wisdom Death shall be constrained to restore all that it hath swallowed and as Daniel came out of the Lions Den by break of day these savage Beasts having done him no harm Thus at the break of the last day at the Rising of the Sun of Righteousness we shall all go out of Deaths deep Den and as if God had sent his Angel on purpose to shut the mouth of this old Lion we shall then find that he shall have done us no harm instead of devouring of us he will prove a faithful keeper of our bones therefore the faithful may speak unto Death in the language of the Prophet Micah Rejoyce not against me O mine Enemy when I shall fall I shall rise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me Mic. 7.8 As Moses said to Pharaoh we will go into the Wilderness to sacrifice unto God we will go out of thine Egypt with our young and with our old with our Sons
like to vanity his days are as a shadow that passeth away Psal 144. and say as David I am gone as the shadow when it declineth Psal 109. If thou hearest the roaring of the Winds that God taketh out of his Storehouses Lift up thy Soul unto God thy Creator and say with Job Job 7. Remember that my life is but a wind mine eye shall no more see good Job 30. that is the imaginary Good of this miserable World And elsewhere Thou liftest me up to the wind thou causest me to ride upon it and dissolvest my substance If thou takest any delight in the sight of Birds that fly in the Air Let this excellent thought enter into thy mind My days are passed away as the Eagle that hasteth to the prey Job 9. If thou lookest up to the Glory and Beauty of the Heavens and seest the ravishing light of the Stars consider that thy God who hath form'd thee after his Image is so good and noble that he will not suffer thee to dwell for ever or perish amongst this slimy and miserable Earth but to dwell with him for ever in the Heavens and that at the end of thy Race he will raise and carry thee into the Palace of his Glory where thou shalt shine as the Sun in its greatest splendor If thou dost meditate upon the changeableness of the seasons remember that the spring of thy infancy the hot Summer of thy Youth the Autumn of thy Maturity and the sad countenanc'd Winter of thy cold and decrepid age shall succeed one another in the same order Let him who travels by Land think upon Job's complaint My days have been swifter than a Post they flee away they see no good Job 9. Let him call to mind the Apostles excellent saying This one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press forwards towards the mark for the prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. Let him who sails upon the Sea fancy the whole World as a great Sea tost up and down with several furious Waves our Life as a dangerous Voyage and our Days as Ships that pass away in a moment and let him consider that the last breath of Death will drive us into the Haven of Eternal Felicity to the enjoyment of immortal Glory Job 9. Doth God bless us with Children let us understand that we are minded by them of our Mortality for they come to take our room and to succeed to our Estate Doth God take them away to his Rest and those of whom we are most fond Let this advertise us That God intends thereby to cut off all the lower Roots that tye us to this Earth to unloose our hearts and affections that we may offer them up to him alone Instead of spending our selves in Tears and indulging our foolish humour in needless displeasures Let us comfort our selves with this consideration That by this means a part of our selves is enter'd into Heaven and that tother part will follow apace Let us say with David We shall go to them but they shall not return to us 2 Sam. 11. Let the Rich Man when he reckons his Money remember that God hath reckon'd and appointed his days and let this Order sound continually in his Ear Give an account of thy Stewardship Luke 16. Let the Magistrate when ever he delivers his Vote or pronouce a Sentence be arm'd with this consideration That he who sits in the Judgement Seat here below shall stand at the Bar and be judged himself above That one day he shall appear as a poor prisoner at the Tribunal of his great God That the Books will be open'd and that the universal Judge of the World will peruse every particular of his accusation That he must tender an account not only of his words and actions but also of his most secret thoughts and that without any examination at the Rack God will discover the very bottom of his heart Let the Gentleman whenever he receives his Rents and his Revenues call to mind the Tribute that he must needs pay to death Let the Prince and the Lord when he handles his Royal Parents and his antient Charters or when he examines the Homage and Duties to be paid to his House and Family take notice that he must go in person to Heaven Gates and pay his Homage to the Divinity Let the King who sits in his Seat of Justice or Chair of State think upon the Throne of the King of Kings before which he must appear as well as the most wretched Caitiff and the meanest of his subjects and that he must give account before a just God who is no respecter of Persons Let the Minister be never employed about the Duties of his Function but let him Long and wish for that happy day in the which the Lamb shall instruct and feed him in person and lead him to the Fountains of living water Let the Christian Soldier engrave upon his Sword this Sentence of Job Is there not as it were a warfare appointed to all Mortals on Earth Job 7. And instead of thirsting after humane blood let him prepare to encounter with Deathit self Let the Husbandman when ever he sows his Seed or when he reaps the Corn of his Fields be mindful of the season that comes on apace in which his Body must â—ot in the Earth that it might grow up to Eternity Let him think upon what St. Paul saith O fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it dye 1 Cor. 15. and let him meditate upon Davids comfortable perswasions They who sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph Psal 126. Let an Handy craftsman that works in his shop imprint in his mind this excellent Sentence Our days are like the days of an hireling and when he hath ended his Task and that he is departing to his Rest let him comfort himself with this assurance That assoon as he shall have ended that work that God hath given him to do he shall rest from all his labors Job 7. When ever the Physitian visits his Patient or when the Chyrurgeon tends upon his wounded Bodies let them consider that they have no Secret nor Art able to protect them from Death or to cure the wounds that it strikes in our corruptible Nature Let the most cunning Lawyers the most advised Counsellors and the most eloquent Orators remember that all their Rhetorick and subtilty will never obtain for them their Suit against Death nor procure a moment of respite and delays And let the most Learned Philosophers learn That the soundest Philosophy is the meditation of Death In short What ever be our Imployment Condition or Age let us lift up our minds and hands unto God to speak to him in the Language of the Prophet David Lord let me know my end and the number of my days that I may know how long I am to live Or of Moses So teach
by the Root then are hewen down of old and overgrown Trees O that I might have always in my mind this consideration That a greater number of Babes and Children are buried than of old Men and that the first person who was dead and buried in the Earthly Paradise was but a young Man in the flower of his Age. Great God of the Spirits of all flesh wean my Heart and Affections from the World from all deceitful Pleasures and from these inferior Vanities that I may find in thee all my Joy and my most ravishing Delights Let me not feed my fancy with the vain hopes of having yet many years to spend in ease and in the pleasure of this life but let me remember that there is no part of it free from evils from crosses cares and displeasures That the greenest Fruit hath many times a secret Worm that devours it as well as the ripâ—st and that the freshest blossom hath prickles as well as the most flourishing or decaying Roses The more I shall live in this miserable and corrupted Age the more evil I shall suffer and the more bitterness I shall drink and the more I shall spot my Soul and offend my God I shall have liv'd sufficiently if I have learnt to live well and to prepare to dye well I shall do both if thine Holy Word become my guide and if thine Holy Spirit Sanctify me and Direct me in thy Will which is Good Holy Pleasant and Perfect Assist and strengthen me O Lord that I may find thy Yoke easy and thy burden light O good God if thou prolongest my days increase in me the Riches of thy Grace and enflame my Soul with thy Love but if thou dost cut me off betimes let me not be so great an Enemy to my self as to be sorry because thou wilt so soon transport me into an happy and immortal Estate because thou art pleas'd to abridge my Labors to put a period to the cruel War against my filthy Lusts and to bestow upon me the Crown in the middle of my Race I shall obtain sufficient Glory and Comfort if thou dost grant me strength enough to overcome the Devil vanquish Death and triumph over the Enemies of my Salvation O let me not be so mad and foolish to lament for the loss of a moment that flies away apace Seeing thou dost promise to introduce me into an Eternity where there is no alteration nor shadow of change and where thou shalt bless me with an eternal flourishing and happy Youth O my good God I am ready to Glorify thee either in Death or in Life seeing that thy Son Jesus Christ is to me gain whether I live or whether I dye Amen A Prayer and Meditation for Old Age. O God the Antient of days and Father of Eternity it is thy pleasure that in every Season and Age thy Children be prepared for Death I have therefore good cause O Lord to prepare and dispose my self for that last hour I who have already a foot in the Grave Grant I beseech thee that the more this outward Man decays the more the inward man may be renewed day by day That this weak and infirm Body that stoops towards the Earth teach me to lift up my Mind and thoughts towards Heaven Grant that old Age that hath furrowed my Face and wrinkled my Skin may also wipe off all the spots of my Soul and drive from my Heart all displeasure and grief That Age that causes my Knees to quiver and whitens my Skin may strengthen my Faith and refresh my Hope and Assurance upon thee and that Death that pursues me close at the heels may cause me to seek a shelter under the protection of the Prince of Life O Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth thou seest the pitiful condition unto which I am reduc'd I am become a trouble to my self and useless in the world my Soul is weary of its abode by reason of the griefs that it endures for I do but lead a dying Life or rather a living Death My Good God and Creator I have been under thy protection before I was born from the Womb of my Mother thou hast bin my God and assured Refuge Thou O Gracious Lord hast bless'd my Infancy and Youth and crown'd all my years with thy Fatherly Grace and loaden me with thy Blessings Leave me not I pray thee in my white and decrepid old Age and now that my strength faileth be thou the Rock of my Soul and the strength of my Life My years are pass'd as a Torrent of Waters at present I am nothing but the shadow of a shadow that ceaseth to be but thou art always the same and thy years shall never fail As thou hast no beginning thou shalt never have an end Renew my days as the Eagles Animate I beseech thee and quicken this Death these Ashes that I carry but rather reach to me thy hand and take me out of this Dwelling of Clay that rots and decays with age into thine Heavenly Jerusalem I have lost all tast of earthly Meats and Drink It is now high time that thou shouldest satiate me with the Dainties of thy Holy Table and give me to drink of the Wine of thy Kingdom I am already as out of the World my life holds but by a weak string O Gracious Lord now let thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy word for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Amen CHAP. 9. The Third Remedy against the fears of Death is to consider that God hath appointed the time and the manner of our Death EIther we are Hypocrites who draw near unto God with our Lips and honor him with our Tongues whilst our Heart is far from him Matth. 14. as we must desire the accomplishment of the Will of God and resigne our selves wholly to it for every day we say to him in our Prayers Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Therefore we cannot abhor nor fly from Death so cowardly if we be rightly perswaded as we ought That God hath limited the Time and appointed the manner of our Death That which moves us for the most part to complain of this last Enemy is a continual eye that we have sixed upon the Flesh and its Power and a too great confidence upon second causes We are like the dog that bites at the stone that strikes him for we commonly curse the means that God employs to call and withdraw us out of the World It will easily appear that God hath numbred our days and that by his wonderful and eternal Wisdom he hath decreed the hour and moment of every mans death for besides what our Saviour Christ saith in general That God hath reserv'd the Times and the Seasons in his own power Acts 1. Job tels us expresly The days of Man are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Job 14. The Royal Prophet speaks to the same purpose
wicked Conscience In the decay of their Age the vices of their Mind gather strength and flourish Instead of weeping for the sins of their youth they add sin to sin and are more hardened in evil Old Age imprints more furrows and wrinkles in their malicious Hearts than it doth upon their Foreheads Neither Men nor their Lives are to be measured by a Yard or an Ell We must not only consider how long we have liv'd but how well we have liv'd and employed the course of this Life for there are some young Men who have the Wisdom and Prudence of Gray Heads and there are Gray Heads that become as weak as Infants and some that scarce go out of that simple Age The first are twice Children the other continue always in their Childhood Some young Men have perform'd such brave and Glorious Deeds that one would judge by the passages of their Lives that they have lived several Years or Ages on the contrary Some old and decrepid persons can scarce prove that they have bin long in the World unless it be by their Church Register by their Gray Hairs or by the great number of their wicked and abominable actions This consideration causeth the Author of the Book of Wisdom to say That that old Age is not the most Reverend that can shew a number of years but Wisdom is to be reckoned old Age amongst Men and a Life without spot Ch. 4. It is certain he hath lived sufficiently who hath learn'd to live well and hath prepar'd himself to dye well To what purpose should this miserable and languishing Life be lengthened a few days Art thou afraid to be happy too soon and fearest thou to see the end of thy Torments Doth the Traveller endeavour to lengthen out a painful and dangerous way Doth the Workman grieve to have finish'd betimes his laborious Task Doth the Soldier murmure because he comes off from his Watch and Guard Miserable Man What are all the years for which thou dost so impatiently afflict thy self and vainly desire for a day with God is as a thousand years and a thousand years in his sight are but as one day He that sails upon the Seas admires the spacious extent of the Waters the difference of the rowling Waves that mount up sometimes to the Clouds and then fall down again into an Abysse And such as travel by Land are delighted to see on one side deep Vallies and on the other high Mountains that reach above the Clouds but if God had but taken us up into the seat of his Glory and that we should from that high Heaven cast down our Eyes upon this base and unworthy Globe of the Sea and Land to behold the proud and stately Mountains with the most swelling Waves they would appear unto us but an even Plain or rather they would seem altogether very little Thus when we compare the Men of the World the one with the other we shall find that some have liv'd long and others but a little while that some are old others are young but in respect of God there is no difference between the young and the old between an over-aged Methusalah who lived Nine hundred threescore and nine years Gen. 3. and a Child that hath only seen the Light of the Living for the life of all Mankind is but a moment in comparison of Eternity If thou art ready to dye for Righteousness of a violent Death meditate seriously upon the saying of the Prophet David Psa 116. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Arm thy self with an Holy confidence and say with Eli 1 Sam. 3. It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Imitate the generosity of St. Paul Acts 20. and grave in thine heart these Divine expressions The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every City saying That Bonds and Afflictions abide me but none of these things move me neither count I my life dear unto my self so that I might finish my course with joy and the Ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God Remember always the Prayer that our Lord and Saviour offered up unto God in the greatest Agony Father O my Father if this Cup may not pass away from me except I drink it thy Will be done Forget not also at this time Christs advertisement He that loveth his life shall loose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall save it to eternal life John 12. O Great and Glorious Lord God the Enemies of thy Truth and Glory are met together against thy dear Children whom thou hast sanctified by the blood of the Covenant but they are not able to do any thing but what thou hast appointed to be done in thine Eternal Wisdom A Prayer and Meditation upon the time of Death O Merciful Lord who dost govern all things by thine infinite wisdom and hast reserved the times and the seasons in thine own power thou hast not only written my name in the Book of the living but thou hast also measured the length of my life and appointed the hour of my death Thou hast numbred my days and prescribed to me my bounds that I cannot pass beyond them O Soveraign Lord of the World that hast from all Eternity mark'd out with thy finger the moment of my entrance into this life and the time of my going cut This miserable body is but a crazy Tabernacle made up of Earth subject to all manner of infirmities Nevertheless none is able to destroy it without thy Divine assistance the same hand that hath fashioned and formed it must break it to pieces if a Sparrow fals not to the ground without thy leave it is not possible that my soul should fly away into Heaven without thy express Command My God and Father give me Grace not to be of the â—â—â—ber of suâ—h wretches as are in daily apprehensions of Death but let me rest upon thee who dost kill and give life who dost cast into the Grave and fetch him thence again Let Satan and all the enemies of thy Glory plot against me what they can they are not able to do any thing but what thy Wisdom hath ordained and appointed before the fâ—undation of the world Without thy leave and permission they are not able to pluck an Hair from my Head nor diminish a moment from the time that I am to live in this earthly Tabernacle O Almighty and most merciful God I recommend unto thee my Soul as to my faithful Creator and leave it wholly into thine hands Here I am to accomplish thy Will and to submit my self to thy pleasure without any resistance whether this Soul which thou hast created after thy likeness and which is an Image of thy Divinity remain in this Body that I may be able to serve thee on Earth or whether thou dost call for it and take it up into Heaven that it may glorify thee in the company of thy
an affliction I am unworthy of all thy favors seeing thou dost take from me such a precious jewel which was shewn to me as a Lightning I am afraid to have been wanting in my Duty and that this death that kills me is the effect of my stupidity and blindess Methinks I could have hinder'd this doleful accident for if I had behav'd my self otherwise than I have done my Life and Soul should not be now in its Grave O God of all comfort pardon my excessive grief pacify my sighs stop the currant of my Tears remove all these vain displeasures that consume me deliver my Soul from this unmerciful grief and torment that it suffers and from these troubles that are more than humane Instead of looking to these inferior Causes and to the circumstances of the death of this person that I did love as mine own Soul give me grace to remember that the least things as well as the greatest are govern'd and rul'd by thy wise Providence and that the good and the evil proceed from thy Divine appointment Give me Grace to consider that thou dost hold in thine Almighty hand the Keys of Life and Death and that thou alone dost cast us into the Grave and lift us up from thence again Thou O Soveraign Monarch of the Vniversal World who dost not only let death loose but dost also appoint all the means to talke us out of the World make me truly submissive unto thy Sacred Pleasure and to put the Finger upon my Lips because it is thy doing If I open them let it be to adore thy Justice and sing forth thy Praises the person for whom I lament so much was nearly related to me like another my self but it was also thy Creature thy Child and a Member of our Saviours mystical Body We for our parts believe to have the right of disposing of our Workmanship and of that which we have bought with our Money and hast not thou O God the liberty to dispose of that which thou hast created after thy likeness bought not with corruptible things as with Gold and Silver but by the precious Blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish Thou hadst a Son who is the brightness of thy Glory and the express image of thy person whom thou hast not spared for me and shall I Lord refuse thee my Heart and my Bowels Thy only begotten Son came down upon Earth to suffer the most cruel and ignominious Death of the Cross but thou hast taken up into Heaven the person whom my soul did love to crown it with a glorious and ever happy Immortality Shall his or her Felicity be the cause of my Misery and that his or her Rest occasion my displeasure It is the property of true love to prefer the happiness of the beloved Persons to our own satisfactions Therefore our Saviour told his Apostles If you did love me you would rejoyce because I go to my Father for my Father is greater than I. Between thee O great and living God and us miserable Worms of the Earth there is a vast difference as there is between the innocent and harmless delights of this world and the unspeakale pleasures of thy presence for these are but as drops of Water that are dried up with the least wind whereas the satisfactions of Heaven are like a bottomless Sea of Delights in which we shall swim for ever Do I therefore weep for him or for her whose tears thou hast wip'd away Do I wear a mourning Apparel and a black Scarf for him who is now cover'd with a Glorious Attire of Joy and Gladness and who is adorned with an Habit as white as Snow Do I delight my self in darkness and doth he solace himself at the Fountain of Light and Glory Do I seek a solitary and melancholly Retreat and doth he rejoyce amongst the thousands of Angels and the Glorious company of the immortal Spirits I sigh and groan and he sings a new song the Song of the Blessed which is always in his mouth All my complaints and groanings cannot bring him back upon Earth but when that were possible it is not just to attempt it my kindness would be cruel and my love most inhumane How could I resolve to make him leave the Haven of Eternal Felicity to expose him again to the furious Waves and storms of this troublesom Sea of the World How can I have the heart to pull him down from his Triumphing Chariot and from the magnificent Throne unto which thou hast raised him to engage him in new and fresh encounters and to bind him again with a chain of misery how could I pluck off from him the Habits of Light and Glory to cloath him with darkness and cover him with our infirmities Is it possible that I should be so inhumane to draw him out of Rivers of pleasures to cast him again into a Sea of Gaul and Bitterness to take from him the Bread of thine Heavenly Kingdom and the Fruits of the Tree of Life to give him the Bread of affliction and the Apples of Sorrow and grief Can I be so cruel to pluck him from thy bosom from the Breasts of thy most tender favours and from that fulness of Joy which he hath in the sight of thy Countenance to make him languish in our embraces swallow the poison of this miserable Life and groan under the burden of our mortal afflictions In short can I be so senseless as to remove him out of that Eternal Life to cause him to become again the sport of Death He is pass'd from Death to Life is it my desire that he should return back from Life into the merciless hands of Death we shall go to him but he cannot come to us seeing that this life is so short that it is spent and gone as a thought we shall see one another shortly in the light of the Living O Lord how wonderful art thou in thy Works how Magnificent in the means that thou employest and how various is thy Wisdom in all things I see that what thou hast done is not only for thy Glory and for the advantage of this happy Creature a that thou hast received into thy Rest but it is also for my happiness and the instruction of my neighbors for in taking from me my most dearly Beloved my Joy my Pleasure and my Hopes thou hast put my Obedience and faith to a Tryal As thou didst heretofore try the Father of the faithful in requiring from him his only Son Isaac in whom thou hadst promised to bless all the Nations of the World I confess good Lord to the praise of thy Grace and Goodness that my tryal is loss than his for thou didst command Abraham to sacrifice his Son with his own hands to spill his Blood in thy presence and to reduce his Body into Ashes but thou requirest of me no other Sacrifice but that of my Obedience and of my Submission to thy Holy Will Thou wilt have me say with
good Heli It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good or with thy Servant Job The Lord gave the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. Thou hast pluckt out that strong root that did tye me to this Earth and hast out the pleasant string that did bind me so fast to the world that thou mightest transplant my heart in Heaven and lift up my affections to the things above A part of my self which I lookt upon as my Treasure is already with thee and the wings of Divine Love that enflames me caries me thither also at every moment Instead of continuing in my Sighs Groans and Tears for him or for her that I loved with all the affection and tenderness that I am capable of Give me Grace to employ my self in preparing to depart out of this earthly Tabernacle Enable me to imitate the Piety Zeal Faith and Constancy and all the other Noble Vertues of those whom thou hast received into thine Eternal Rest and crowned with Glory Let me dye the death of the Righteous and let my last End be like his Amen CHAP. 10. The fourth Remedy against the fears of Death to separate our Hearts from the World THe Children of Israel did leave the Wilderness with a ready mind and went joyfully over the River of Jordan when God Commanded them so to do The cause of this their readiness was an earnest longing for the Land of Canaan and their unsetled condition in the Wilderness having nothing but Tents to live in Death is to us the same in regard of our Heavenly Paradise as the River of Jordan was to the Children of Israel in respect of the promised Land Therefore from hence it appears that the best means of obliging our selves to a resolution of entring into this passage willingly is to free our selves from all those things which might incumber as stop or tye us to the World and to keep our selves always in a readiness to depart For that purpose it is not necessary that we should go out of the World but that the World should be banished and driven out of us and that we should renounce all the vanities and unruly affections so that we may be able to speak with the Apostle The world is crucified to me and I am crucified to the world for there be many who depart out of the World but leave there their Hearts and most tender Affections as Lot's Wife that went out of Sodom but left therewith her Treasures and Delights her most earnest desires as the Israelites who when they went out of Egppt left behind them their cursed affections with their pots of Flesh and Onions The same thing happens to many who separate themselves without any necessity from the acquaintance of Mankind and who affect a strange and austere kind of life They leave the society of wise and vertuous persons and the lawful use of the Blessings which Heaven hath vouchsafed to them and they deprive themselves of all that deserves our esteem and the means of glorifying God and edifying our neighbors but many times they carry with them their Corruptions their Vices and a legion of wicked Thoughts and carnal Desires By this means they give place to the Devil and expose themselves to all his temptations for that wicked Serpent delights himself rather in the Dens of Wild Beasts and in the Caves of the Earth than in the Palaces and Dwellings of Princes and Kings The most horrid and abominable Vices creep and breed rather in the Desarts and places of Retreat than in Publick and in the great Cities that are full of Inhabitants Lot remain'd chast in the most execrable City that was in the World but when he went aside to the foot of a Mountain and into a Cave to dwell he defiled himself with a monstruous Incest When Satan intended to tempt our Saviour Christ he carried him into a Desart and to the top of a Mountain From hence we may gather that this subtil Enemy of Mankind hath learnt by his long experience that the places of Retreat and the most solitary are the fittest for to lay his snares If our Saviour who was wholly innocent and free from Sin hath been able to overcome all manner of Temptations we are not of the same temper we are not furnished with such Armor as he was of Proof against all the enflamed Darts of the Devil for our miserable Flesh delights in its own destruction it opens the Ears and the Heart wide to the deceitful promises of Satan and suffers it self to be cheated by his damnable Enchantments It flatters us and causeth us to be â—ull'd aslcep in its bosom then like a treacherous Dalilah it betrays us into the unmerciful hands of our great Enemy Some cloath themselves with Hair and wear at their Girdle a knotted Cord whom the Devil drags to Hell with the invisible Chains of Lust Others climb up to the top of frozen Mountains and yet their Hearts do burn with impure Flames Some fret themselves in a mournful solitariness whose desires and longings are for the world and its vanities Others have their hands lifted up to Heaven whose mind is enslaved to the Earth and rooted in the rotten and filthy pleasures of the Times Some have a Lamp burning before them whose understanding is wrapt in gross darkness more palpable than that of Egypt Others have an empty Stomach whose Soul is full of abominable Passions In short Some live in appearance like Angels and yet they are possessed by legions of infernal Spirits Other seem to have no concernment in the World and yet lodge the whole World in their Hearts Under a course Habit there dwells oftimes more Envy more Vanity and Ambition than under the glorious attire of Silk and Gold Through a torn cloathing some Souls may be perceived swell'd with Pride and Arrogancy and in the company of Beggars are to be found many times the Designes of Kings and the lofty thoughts of the greatest Monarchs To speak plainly the good things and advantages of this life don't stop and wed us of themselves to this World but rather that Love and Affection which we bear to them for without doubt there be many that are more earnest and affectionate for the things that they want than others that enjoy them Some poor people have a far greater longing for Riches than ever Solomon had in the midst of all his great Treasures Some silly Women that are covered with old Rags and some contemptible Joanes have more Vanity and Pride in their Brains than ever had Queen Esther in her Richest and most Glorious Attire The Prophet Daniel was rais'd to an high and eminent Honour for he was the Governor of the third part of the Monarchy of the Persians and of the Medes nevertheless he was no more concerned in Babylon than if he had had there but a Sepulcre and worn the Chains of a Slave he sends forth as many Sighs and pours as many Tears
to grant us the blessed disposition of St. Paul that we may be able to speak as he did I have learn'd to be content in whatsoever estate I am I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me Phil. 4. Remember Christian Souls to settle your Treasure in Heaven where neither the Moth nor Rust can corrupt and where Thieves cannot break through and steal Labor to be rich in Faith and in good Works that you may inherit the Kingdom that God hath promised to them that love him 7. But if it hath pleased God to bless thy labors and if his powerful and liberal hand hath raised thee up to great Honor so that thou enjoyest Riches in abundance thou must remember to possess them in such a manner that they may not enslave thee and according to St. Paul's advice thou must remember to enjoy them as if thou enjoyest them not and that the fashion of this World passeth away we must not trust upon them nor pride in them we ought to glory in something else as God himself exhorts us Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom nor the strong of his strength Let not the rich man glory in his Riches but he that glories let him glory in that he hath understanding and knows me Jer. 9. 8. We must not only take off our hearts and affections from the world and its vanities trample upon them and esteem them like Dung in comparison of the unspeakable Treasures of Heaven but we must also be ready to leave them at every moment as so many trifles vain and perishable things as we are to possess them without displeasure and fear so we must part with them without grief and murmuring When we should loose in a day all that God hath bestowed upon us in the world it becomes us to strengthen our selves with an Holy confidence and resolution saying with Job The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord Job 1. 9. If we happen to part with our Goods Honors and Dignities in the service of God and for the profession of Christs Gospel in such a case we ought to endure the loss with a Christian patience and an excessive joy because that such a loss for a just cause will prove at last to our advantage and glory This was the practice of the faithful Hebrews of whom St. Paul renders this testimony You have received with joy the spoiling of your Goods knowing that you have in Heaven a better and a more lasting inheritance Heb. 10. Christian Souls represent unto your selves the example of the Prophet Moses who esteem'd the reproach of Christ greater riches than the Treasures of Egypt for he had a respect unto the recompense of the reward Heb. 11. 10. Whilst we enjoy our Goods we must take care of the poor and be bountiful in Alms and to speak in St. Paul's language Whilst we have any time let us do good especially to the houshold of faith Gal. 6. Whoever hath compassion of the poor makes God his debter he will assuredly return him his good Deed Prov. 19. Our Saviour promiseth to recompense a Cup of cold water that shall be given to the meanest of such as believe in his name Matt. 10. Alms is a Seed that is cast upon Earth but its Flowers and most excellent Fruits are to be gather'd in Heaven He that sows liberally shall reap liberally It is not therefore as that other Seed mentioned Psal 126. That they that sow in Tears shall reap with Songs of Triumph 2 Cor. 9. For whosoever bestows his Alms sparingly and unwillingly he shall be Treated in the same manner as him that refuseth to part with it therefore St. Paul declares When I should give all my Goods to nourish the poor if I have no Charity I am nothing 2 Cor. 13. God loves a chearful Giver and delights in such Sacrifices 2 Cor. 9. Remember therefore Christians that God shall judge you at the last day not by your Learning Knowledge Riches or Dignities and Honors of this life but by your Alms Deeds and acts of Charity and Hospitality and by the distributing of your Goods to the necessities of the Saints Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting Habitations Matt. 25. Rom. 12. Luke 16. That upon your Tomb one may justly engrave He hath scattered he hath given to the poor his Righteousness that is his Charity and Alms-deeds remain for ever Psal 112. 11. Finally we must not only take off our Heart and Affections from the Riches Honors and Vanities of this World but we must also deny our selves tame and overcome our passions and crucify our Flesh with its Lusts Therefore our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ calls upon us from Heaven He that will follow me let him deny himself take up his Cross daily and come after me Matt. 10. That we may be able to imprint this good Lesson in our minds we should seriously consider in the first place that we are but strangers and pilgrims in this world and that we have no lasting City Heb. 13. The Houses that God grants to us are no perpetual Dwellings but only Inns for our present accommodation This was the frequent consideration of the great Patriarchs Abraham Isaack and Jacob who saw the promises afar off believed and embraced them for St. Paul informs us that they did ingeniously profess that they were no better than strangers and pilgrims upon earth and that their intention was to march forwards to their Celestial Countrey This was Jacobs language when he appeared before Pharaoh The days of my pilgrimage have been short and evil they have not attain'd to the years of the life of my Fathers and of the time of their pilgrimage Heb. 12. Gen. 47. And not only the antient Patriarchs who never had any other possessions in the world than a Tomb or some small piece of ground have acknowledg'd themselves to be strangers and pilgrims but Princes and Kings also whom God hath sanctified by his Holy Spirit have freely confess'd the same for David declares not in the time of his banishment nor of his flight nor in his calamities and misery but in his most flourishing Estate and in the midst of his Triumphs Glory Plenty and Prosperity he declares unto God I am a stranger and a forreigner with thee as all my Fathers were Psal 39. 119. And when he speaks not only of himself but also of the rest of God's Children that are upon Earth he makes no difficulty to confess We are strangers and forreigners with thee as all our Fathers were and our days are as a shadow upon Earth that have no stop 1 Chron. 29. Rich and Poor Masters and
compar'd to the Figtree of the Gospel cursed by our Saviour Christ for it brought forth no fruit for others and it withered for want of nourishment Therefore a pleasant poverty is better worth than riches with discontent Nature is content with a little Piety with less but covetousness hath no measure The Heathens have very well acknowledged that he was the richest who was most content for the more things you desire the more are wanting to you It matters not much if the Cup which is presented to you be of Gold or of Earth so that there be liquor enough to quench your thirst I would rather drink of a little clear stream of Water than out of a great River all muddy and troubled A little quantity of ground is sufficient to nourish a Man in his life but less is necessary to cover him when he is dead A little Money satisfies to subsist honestly in the fear of God but less is required to dye happily in the favour and love of our good Saviour Kings and the greatest Monarchs have but one body to nourish and to cloath as well as the meanest of their Subjects They who enjoy least in the World do use or rather abuse the most of any the things that they possess Instead of envying the Worldlings opulency let us meditate upon St. Paul's excellent saying Having food and raiment let us be therewith content 1 Tim. 6. and let us imprint into our minds that other Sentence Piety with contentment is great gains 1 Tim. 1. 14. Christian Souls cast your eyes upon all the things of the World that are most esteem'd and you shall find that their possession is but uncertain and of a short continuance for Riches have wings to fly to Heaven as an Eagle All Flesh is like Grass and the Glory of Man as the Flower of the Field the World passeth away with all its Lusts Prov. 23. There needs but the pillaging of a Town the breaking of a Merchant or an unsuccessful and contrary suit in Law to render thee poor and bring thee to want A little sparkle of fire is able to reduce all thy Riches into Ashes and to bring thee to extream poverty The least ill look can cover thy face with shame and confusion and cast thee down from the highest humane Glory into the deepest Abysse of Disgrace and Ignominy The wise Man informs us that He who trusts in his Riches shall fall We may say so of such as relye too much upon great mens favor for it is like a broken Reed that pierceth the hands of such as lean upon it There is nothing here below so constant as unconstancy if the Earth did not often change its face and appearance it would not be Earth as it is and if the world were not unconstant it would cease to be World therefore it is no wonder if the Heathens who understood not God's wise Providence that governs the natural Beings and draws Light out of Darkness have represented Fortune blind mounting sometimes on a Wheel and in an instant tumbling down again How many persons do we meet with reduc'd on a suddain to beggery who a little before did flourish in all manner of Plenty How many are cast down into the dust and become the scorn of the World who were once rais'd to the highest Dignities and the greatest Honors How many fall into the contempt and derision of the Vulgar whose praises were once exalted up to Heaven In a word how many do we see before our Eyes dragg'd along the streets shut up in close prisons brought upon the Scaffolds and Gallows who were once the Glory of the World admired of all men and the scourge of honest Men When we run over and consider the strange unexpected and suddain changes that we have seen in our days they seem to us as Dreams St. Paul represents this great unconstancy of the World to take off our Hearts and Affections from it The time saith be is short it remaineth that both they that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away 1 Cor. 7. Because of this great unconstancy of all Worldly advantages St. Paul invites us to think upon the immortal Riches Charge saith he them that are rich that they put not their trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life 1 Tim. 6. For the same reason the Son of God adviseth us Not to lay up for our selves Treasures upon Earth where the Moth and Rust do corrupt but lay up for your selves Treasures in Heaven where the moth and rust don't corrupt and where Thieves don't break through and steal Matt. 6. A wise Persian was well acquainted with this truth therefore he hath left this Lesson for posterity The world is constant to no man my Brother apply thy self and thy heart to the great Creator of the world and that shall suffice thee 15. Consider that if the Riches and Honors do not leave us in our life time or in case none takes them away from us by violence it is most certain that death will deprive us of all and will separate them from us for ever Psal 49. For when Man dies he carries nothing with him his Glory accompanies him not into his Grave 1 Tim. 6. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can carry nothing out Job 1. The King and the greatest Princes may speak in this language as well as the meanest Soldiers of fortune Naked I came from my Mothers womb and naked I shall return All the Treasures Riches Scepters and Crowns shall never advantage us after our decease What was Nebuchadnezzar the better for having had so great a number of People within his Dominions they could not hinder him from lying down upon a Couch of Worms nor preserve him from being eaten with Vermin Isaiab 14. To what purpose did the rich glutton swim in a Sea of all manner of Riches in his life time after his decease he could not obtain a drop of cold water to asswage his violent thirst Luk 16. The Author of the Book of Wisdom was entered into this Meditation when he represents the Worldlings spending themselves in lamentations for their former follies and voluntary blindness What hath pride profited us say they or what benefit hath Riches brought us all these things are passed away as a shadow as a Post that runs swiftly or as a Ship that slides through the troubled Waves Wisd 16. Our Heirs give us nothing of all our substance but a Winding sheet a few Boards or it may be some pounds of Lead all consumes with us and rots in our Graves
King answered We will then endeavour to conquer the rest of Italy and when we shall have Italy in our possession replyed Cyneas what shall we do afterwards we will go against Sicily saith the King the discreet Cyneas continued to demand and when we have all Sicily what shall we do Pyrrhus answered him we wil pass into Africa and take Carthage and after that we may recover Macedonia and command all Greece without controul But Sir replyed Cyneas when we shall have got all into our possession what shall we do then The King answer'd him with a smiling countenance My friend we will then repose our selves and take our fill of Delights and Pleasures then Cyneas began to tell the King What hinders us now Sir from taking our Rest and Delights for we have all that in our hands that we are going to seek so far with so much Bloodshed and Danger We may apply this to our selves we have most of us intricate and hidden designes which cannot be accomplish'd in the age of one Man We are afraid to dye as if Death had already caught us by the throat and yet we have so many desires to fulfil as if we were all immortal we build and adorn our sumptuous Dwellings as if we were never to leave the World And we are always gathering so much as if we had the charge of providing for a Royal Army Let us therefore in this case imitate this wise Minister of State Let us ask our selves for what purpose are these vast designes what end do we propose to our selves of all our labors and care what do we aim at when we run so many dangers and endure so many inconveniencies our Souls will answer us without doubt that it is with an intention at last to rest our selves in peace to live at ease and enjoy the fruits of our labors Let us enjoy that happiness and that satisfaction at present Let us not stay to rest our selves until the time when Death shall stretch us in our Graves Let us be satisfied with the goods that God hath already bestowed upon us and let us use them with thanksgiving Miserable wretches that we are why do we labor and torment our selves for so many things seeing that there is but one thing necessary and that is Piety the fear of the Lord and the expectation of his eternal Felicities Let us therefore make election of this good part and it shall never be taken from us Luk 20. 24. If we desire to imprint in our minds the contempt of the World and of its Vanities we must often meditate with serious attention upon the excellency of our Nature sanctified by Grace upon the worthiness of our spiritual calling and upon the Riches and Glory of that eternal Happiness which God hath prepared for us in Heaven It is impossible to look upon these things as we ought but we must conclude with the Apostle that the World with all its Pleasures and Treasures is not worthy of us The Woman that appeared to St. John in a vision was cloathed with the Sun having the Moon under her feet and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head This is a lively Image of Christs Church in general and of every faithful Soul in particular for when we are cloathed and adorned with Jesus Christ the Son of Righteousness we ought to trample upon all the pomp and magnificence of the World and laugh at the revolutions of the Ages at the Vanities and unconstancy of the Earth we must seek our greatest Glory and our most ravishing Delights in the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles who are as so many Stars shining in the firmament of the Church Let the World alter its face as often as the deceitful Laban we ought to be as the Rayes of the Sun always like our selves for our Glory is not as that of the World and of the Princes of this age that is reduc'd to nothing it is not setled upon a vain and failing foundation but upon the living and true God who is the same yesterday and to day and who shall be the same for all Eternity Heb. 14. Some glory in their Chariots others in their Horses but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God Heb. 13. Psal 29. 25. Consider that God hath lifted up our countenance and turned our face to look up to Heaven that he might thereby teach us to lift up thither also our Hearts and carry thither our Affections and Desires He hath created our Souls and given them a spiritual Being that they may take their flight above all earthly substance He hath adorned them with immortality that they might contemn all things that are not immortal as themselves all decaying and perishing enjoyments In short seeing God hath prepared for us his Heaven his Paradise his Glory his Treasures and the Rivers of Eternal Delights how can we yet stop our desires and be content with this dust of the Earth where Serpents crawl 26. When Alexander was preparing to leave Maceâ—onia and go to the Conquests of the Persian Monarchy he gave away all his Goods to his faithful friends and servants Perdicas one of his Favorites demanded of him what he had reserved for himself The King answered that he had reserved HOPE Thus ought we to fit our selves to depart out of the World by leaving our Parents Friends and Estates that we now enjoy and if our Flesh enquires of us what we kept for our selves let us confidently answer That we have kept our HOPE I may assure you Christian Souls that this your answer shall be more rational and better grounded than that of Alexander to his Favorite for this Prince did leave his Patrimony and Kingdom without any need but whether we will or no we must leave the World Alexander did quit his certain Goods for a doubtful Hope but we abandon perishing enjoyments for an Hope more secure and setled than Heaven and Earth Alexanders expectation was but of a temporal Kingdom and of a short and vanishing Glory but our expectation is of an uncorruptible Crown and eternal Triumphs Death hath seized upon Alexander in the flower of his Age put a period to all his Victories and consum'd all his Trophies but we are in hopes of conquering Death it self and this hope will not deceive us Rom. 5. This therefore being our assurance it is no wonder if St. Paul tels us That Hope is as a sure and unmoveable Anchor of the Soul piercing into the Vail that is into Heaven it self where Jesus Christ is entered as our fore-runner 27. God hath hid in the Earth Gold Silver and Jewels to teach us to trample upon all the Riches and Pomp of the World but he hath rais'd up to the highest Heavens our spiritual Treasure and our immortal Crowns that we might lift up thither our Hearts and our most earnest Affections he desires that we should imitate the Prophet David who did always comfort himself with the expectation of the
Kingdom promised to him and confirmed by Samuels anointing in his flight and grievous persecutions God would have us do as the true Israelites did in the Babylonish Captivity they had always their Hearts and Affections in Jerusalem and in the midst of their deepest sorrows Jerusalem was all their comfort Likewise we who are wandring up and down in this miserable Wilderness that live in the World as in a Babylon in a kind of Captivity we ought to comfort our selves and rejoyce in expectation of the Kingdom of Heaven that hath been prepared for our fruition from all Eternity and whereof the Holy Spirit is the true Unction that hath confirmed the promise of it and given us the earnest Psal 137. Gal. 4. The Eye of our Faith should always be fixed upon our Celestial Jerusalem that is the Mother of us all and the place of our Eternal Rest Colos 3. The Apostle doth therefore exhort us If you be risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God Think on things that are above and not on things on the Earth for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God 28. When Men are going to live in another Countrey where their Money will not pass they furnish themselves with Bills of Exchange and find the means of receiving it in other Coyn Therefore seeing that our Gold our Silver and our present Jewels will not pass in Heaven the place of our Eternal Abode let us send thither betimes all our Riches and Treasures by Bill of Exchange and that we may entrust them with an assurance of a notable advantage and of a lawful gain let us put them into God's hands for he will restore one hundred times more in his Kingdom Let us now distribute them to the poor to the Members of Christs Mystical Body and this Divine Saviour will then acknowledge that they have been given to his own Person You that fear so much to loose your Money get such Purses that will never decay and make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when you fail they may receive you into Eternal Habitations 29. Lastly as the Israelites when they had tasted of the Fruits of the Land of Canaan desir'd with a most earnest Passion to enjoy such a noble and delicious Countrey and their Abode in the Wilderness became tedious and unsuffererable Likewise we who have the First Fruits of the Spirit and a fore-taste of our Heavenly Paradise let us aspire with all our Heart to the Heavenly Canaan and let us long continually for those unspeakable Delights All worldly Pleasures have no relish with us and the greatest sweetness of this life is turn'd into bitterness so that we do often present Davids Prayer unto God Remember me O Lord with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people O visit me with thy Salvation that I may see the good of thy chosen that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Nation that I may glory with thine Inheritance Psal 106. To conclude this discourse Seeing that we have no lasting City here below but that we seek for that which is to come seeing that we know not the hour when God shall take us out of the World to introduce us into his Holy Jerusalem Heb. 11. Luk 21. Let us take heed that our hearts be not over-charged with surfeiting and drunkenness and with the cares of this life least that day surprize us unawares And as the Holy Apostles left their Nets to follow Jesus Christ Matt. 24. Let us also leave the vain cares the ill-grounded fears and deceiving hopes that intangle our Souls that when it shall please God to call us we may be ready to answer his Heavenly Message Let us accustom our selves betimes to Will what God willeth and to obey him without resistance Let us cast all our cares upon God and repose our selves upon his wise and fatherly Providence 1 Pet. 5. Let us look with contempt upon the World upon its vain Grandeur and decaying Riches esteem not any thing upon Earth nor that which Man is able to promise or to procure but esteem and value the blessed advantages that we expect in Heaven and that are disposed and entrusted in God's own hands 2 Tim. 1. Tit. 2. Let us prefer Job's Dunghil and Ashes before the proud Throne and Glorious Monarchy of Nebuchadnezar Let us fancy the begging Estate of poor Lazarus more happy then the overflowing abundance of the rich Miser Imprint in your minds that blessed saying of the Son of God What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world if be destroys himself and looseth his Soul Luk 9. Let us have always before our eyes the image of that rich Worldling who had gathered much wealth for his Soul but his Soul was not wealthy nor rich before God Remember what he saith â—o his Soul Soul thou hast much Goods gather'd up for many years rest thy self eat and drink and be merry but what doth God say to him Thou fool in this very night thy soul shall be taken away from thee and the things that thou hast gathered whose shall they be Instead of studying how to enlarge our Barns and Cellars and to increase our Revenues and Treasures let us labor to set some bounds to our desires and let us be content with what we have at present seeing that we have but a breath in our Nostrils and that we are cloathed with a mortal Body let us not entertain such great designes and suffer not our longings to be immortal Let us always and in every place be ready to end our life to put the last stone to this building or rather let us be always in a disposition of dissolving this earthly Tabernacle let us willingly break all the bands and ties that unite us to this miserable Earth that when Death shall come it may have nothing to do but to cut the last string by which our soul is naturally joyned to this languishing Body Settle and fix your strongest affections in Heaven that where your Treasure is your Hearts may be there also Let us not be lull'd asleep as the foolish Virgins but having our Reins girded our Candles lighted Let us be prepared at every moment to go to meet our Heavenly Spouse and follow him into the Marriage Chamber Let us be like a Ship at Anchor ready to set sail with the first favourable wind and as a Soldier entirely arm'd that waits for the day of Battel and for the Signal to mount upon his Horse that he may appear in the field at the sound of the Trumpet Let us send before-hand all our most precious Jewels into the most glorious Palace of Eternity that our Bag and Baggage being ready prepar'd we may have nothing to do but to take our last farewel If any consideration of Flesh and Bloud hinders us let us break asunder all these Bands by the strength of our Nazareth that
command was not frighted to behold the Sun go down although he was in the midst of an open field Gen. 28. but he laid himself down in peace and slept sweetly having no other Bed but the Earth no other Pillow but a Stone no other covering than the Heavens nor other Curtains than the dark shadows of the night Likewise a Soul sanctified by the Spirit of God that walks in all the Commands of his Heavenly Father shall never be astonished for wheresoever his Sun goes down wheresoever Death Arrests him he will look upon himself as in another Bethel he will sleep quietly in the Lord Jesus in the most cruel death he will feel unspeakable and glorious joys and a Peace of God which passeth all understanding Acts 23. We may take notice of this blessed disposition in the Apostle St. Paul who had behaved himself with a good conscience towards God and towards Man 1 Cor. 15. He had labor'd more in his Ministry than all the other Apostles therefore he stands in no fear of deaths approaches but rather we may see him full of expectation and desires to pass through Death into Glory and Eternal Felicity This disposition is no less remarkble in Stephen the first Martyr of Christ Acts 6. in the midst of his most grievous torments he had a countenance shining as that of an Angel which was a certain testimony of his inward peace of Conscience and of the extraordinary joy of his Soul for as the Wise man informs us A merry Heart maketh a chearful Countenance Prov. 15. From the same wisdom proceeds this other Oracle that foretels unto every one what shall happen unto him The wicked is driven away in his wickedness but the righteous hath hope in his death Prov. 14. Eccl. 1. Unto this is agreeable the excellent saying of Jesus the Son of Syrach It shall be well at the last with him who fears God he shall sind favor at the day of his death This life is but a moment that flies away apace and yet it determines our Eternal Estate it raiseth us to the highest Glory of Heaven or else it casts us headlong into the deepest Abysse of Eternal Misery for what Man soweth that shall he reap he that soweth in the flesh shall reap of the flesh corruption but he that soweth in the Spirit shall reap of the Spirit Eternal Life If you are afraid of a cruel and unhappy death keep your selves from an evil and a prophane life for commonly as Man's life is so is his death The most part of those who live in foul Lusts and Prophaness dye in hardness of heart or in grievous despair God's patience wearied out changes it self into a just resentment and fury Commonly God leaves at the hour of death such as have left him in the course of their lives he is inexorable to the cryes and sighs of such as have shut their Ears and Hearts to his Holy Word and his Fatherly Instructions he laughs at the horrid fears and most sensible torments of those that trample upon his sacred Commands according to his own words Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your fear cometh King Ahab was desirous to hear a pleasing Prophecy of happy things of the victory over the Syrian Army nevertheless he did continue in his Impieties and Tyranny therefore the Prophet Micah was not afraid of his displeasure but tells him boldly of the approaching Judgments of God which did hang over his guilty Head likewise some sinners desire to be flatter'd and soothed up in their extravagancies they expect notwithstanding their crimes declarations of Joy and Prosperity but we should be false Prophets possessed with a lying Spirit if we did not foretel to such people that a most lamentable and miserable death hastens apace upon them we should have a cruel charity for them if we did not labor to save them by fear as out of a fire if we did not shew them Hell with its jaws open ready to swallow them up and the Eternal Torments wherewith God will punish all impenitent and hardened sinners Knowing what God's vengeance is we must perswade Men to embrace Faith and Righteousness and if we did fail in this our duty their Blood should be required at our hands To what purpose have the Heathen Philosophers discoursed so Learnedly of the shortness of our life To what purpose have many of their Princes entertain'd things on purpose to mind them of their mortal condition Such kind of thoughts did fly in their fancy but they reapt but little benefit from them because they did not oblige them to an Holy and Reformed Life and by consequence they did not prepare them to a blessed Death It was also to no purpose that Balaam desired so passionately to dye the death of the Righteous and that his last end might be like a just man's Numb 23. for because he lived the life of a sinner and continued in his Abominations and Idolatry Numb 31. therefore he died as they and was comprehended in their punishment as he was a partner in their crimes it was but just and reasonable that he should share in their calamities and be a partaker of their torments To abandon Vice and Sin is to take from Death its Venom and all its fiery Darts It is to pluck from this furious Beast its Teeth and Claws it is to break the Cords and Chains by which the Devil drags us into Eternal damnation It is to destroy the Monsters that fright us and stifle the Furies that pursue us In short it tends to change Hell and its grievous Torments into an Heaven and its Glory There was never yet any person that lived an Holy and Religious Life but he died happily in the favour of his God Now that the Lord knocks open unto him the door of your hearts and at the hour of Death he will open unto you the Gates of Heaven present and give unto him whiles you are alive your Bodies and Souls and doubtless he will accept them and confirm the Gift with his own Seal here below he will enrich you with his Graces and crown you at last with his Glory Blessed are they that dye in the Lord but to dye in the Lord we must live to the Lord that we may be able to say with St. Paul Whether we live we live to the Lord whether we dye we dye to the Lord whether we live or dye we are the Lords To perswade us to this Religious Duty we must consider in the first place the Command that he gives us of loving him fearing him of repenting of our sins and of walking in his Holy ways unto this he exhorts us in the Holy Writings of the Old Testament as in the 6 of Deuteronomy Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
clean and pure that they cannot suffer the sight of iniquity and sin it is that which doth most afflict and grieve him Therefore when St. Paul had advis'd the Ephesians That no corrupt Communication should proceed out of their mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister Grace unto the hearers he adds immediately after Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption And if there be any that are not moved with the presence of such a Glorious Person let him tremble at this fearful threatening If any destroy the Temple of God God will destroy him 1 Cor. 3. 12. There was two Tables of Stone in the Ark of God's Covenant where God himself had written his Law which he gave to his People by the Ministry of Moses 1 Kings 6. Seeing that the God of all mercy hath chosen thy Soul to be his Sanctuary and the pavillion of his Glory his Sacred Commandments must be there engraven upon the Table of thy Heart thou must be moved with an earnest desire for the service of God and for an exact conformity to his Holy Will that we may be able to say to you what St. Paul said to the Christians of his days Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ written not with Ink but with the Spirit of the living God not in Tables of Stone but in fleshly Tables of the Heart And that you may say with the Royal Prophet My God my Delight hath been to do thy Will thy Law is within me 2 Cor. 3. 13. Let us represent to our selves continually the great and many Obligations that we have to fear God to love him and to serve him he is the most perfect of all Beings he is perfection it self infinitely lovely so that if there were neither Hell to punish us nor Heaven to reward us he ought to be served and reverenc'd because of Himself and of his Divine Perfections This consideration causeth Jeremiah to break forth into these lofty expressions Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee doth it appertain forasmuch as among all the Wise Men of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee Jer. 10. 14. Whilst we are travelling here below we are not capable of such an high and Celestial Meditation it belongs only to the Angels whom God hath invested with Light and Glory and to the Heavenly Spirits whom he hath admitted to the contemplation of his Face Let us therefore seriously consider the Blessings and Favors which we have received from this great God who hath created us in his own Image and who hath made us to be the Master-pieces of all his inferior Wonders He hath placed in us a breviation of all the Beauties and Perfections of the World he hath given us a Being as to the Sun Moon and Stars A Life like the Plants Sence as to the Animals Understanding as to the Angels In short he hath infused into this Body fashioned with his own fingers an immortal Soul of an Heavenly Substance a beam of his Glory and a living Image of his Godhead My Soul therefore bless the Lord and all that is within me bless his Holy name my Soul bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits Psal 103. 15. It is for mans sake that God hath stretched out the Heavens established the Earth poured out the waters and prescribed Limits to the roaring Sea It is for Man's sake that this Gracious Creator hath adorned the Heavens with such a number of Beautiful Stars that he hath given to the Moon its unconstant Motions with its wonderful influences that he hath setled in the Sun such a bountiful source of Light and that he hath appointed the unvariable succession of the seasons of the Days Months and Years It is for Man's advantage and lawful recreation that so many Birds sing and fly in the open Air that such prodigious numbers of Fishes swim in the Seas and Rivers that the Earth is beautified with so many delicate Flowers that it brings forth so many wholsome Herbs and pleasant Fruits that it nourisheth so many kinds of Animals and engenders in its Bowels Gold Silver and precious Stones In a word it is for Man's sake that God hath created the World and hath filled it full of so many Riches and beautified it with so many excellent Perfections Therefore it is no wonder if the Royal Prophet is ravished into an Holy Admiration and bursts forth into these expressions O God what is mortal Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of Man that thou dost regard him Thou hast made him a little lesser than the Angels thou hast Crowned him with Glory and Honor Thou hast establish'd him Governor over the Works of thine Hands Thou hast put all things under his Feet the Sheep and the Oxen the Beasts of the Fields the Birds of the Heavens and the Fishes of the Sea If the example of this great Prophet hath not power sufficient to stir you up and perswade you to the fear and worship of God by the consideration of the wonderful Works of the Creation Hear what the Angel declares who took his slight through the middle of the Heavens having the Eternal Gospel in his hand Fear God and give him Glory worship him that liveth for ever and ever for he hath made the Heaven and the Earth the Sea and the Fountains of Waters 16. We have not only in God our Life Motion and Being but he hath not left himself without witness in doing good and sending Rains from Heaven fruitful seasons filling our hearts with Food and Joy He doth nourish us with his Manna and gives us to drink of his abundance he overshadows us with his Protection and enlightens us with his Heavenly Fires He hath always his Eyes open to our Miseries and his Ears to our Sighs and Groans He is always near them that call upon him yea them that call upon him faithfully Let us therefore say as David I love the Lord because he hath heard the voice of my Supplication for he hath enclined his Ear unto me therefore will I call upon him all the days of my life Psal 14. Psal 116. 17. Meditate often upon the advantages that are common to thee with the rest of Christians and upon the Blessings and Favours which God hath vouchsafed to thy Person in particular Remember how many times he hath sent his assistance from above how he hath wrought Miracles to deliver thee from the Evils that did threaten thee Consider how liberal he hath been to thee in the whole course of thy life what admirable and noble means he hath employed to crown thee with his most precious Favors then thou wilt say with Jacob O God I am not worthy of the least of all the Mercies and of all the Truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant Gen. 32. And with David Many
O Lord my God are thy wonderful Works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I should declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred and being ravish'd into an Holy Admiration thou wilt say in the language of the same Prophet O God who is like unto thee who when thou hadst made me see many distresses and evils at last thou hast restored me to Life and drawn me out of the depths of the Earth Psal 71. Thou shalt increase my greatness again thou wilt comfort me And elsewhere What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116. 18. The Consideration of God's redeeming us doth chiefly require us to deny our selves and consecrate our selves to his service for the Slave don't belong to himself but to him that hath redeemed him and paid his ransom As when God had deliver'd the Children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt he gave unto them his Law and his Ordinances in Mount Sinai Thus God hath redeemed us from the Tyranny of the Devil of the World of Sin of Death of Hell and from the power of all our Enemies that we might serve him without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of our life Luk 1. He hath given himself a ransom for us that we might become a peculiar people to him given to good Works Tit. 2. You are bought with a price Glorify then God in your Bodies and your Souls that belong unto God 1 Cor. 6. 19. One love must kindle another the Sacred Fire that is come from Heaven must enflame our hearts with an Holy Zeal for his Glory God hath loved us so much that he hath given his Holy Son that believing we might not perish but have everlasting life He hath not spared him who is the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person He hath deliver'd him to death for us yea to the ignominious death of the Cross And is it not just that we should love him above all worldly things a God so good and merciful Is it not just that we should love nothing but him and for his sake Is it not reasonable that we should offer unto him our Bodies and Souls as a Living and Holy Sacrifice pleasing to his Eye And if we have any Lust that offends him is it not just that we should willingly leave it betimes when it should appear as useful to us as our Hands and Feet and as dear as the Apple of our Eyes Whosoever he be that doth not deny himself is not worthy of him Matt. 10. 20. We must treat the body of Sin which the Holy Scripture stiles the Old man and the First Adam almost in the same manner as Christ the New Man and the Second Adam was treated upon the Cross Rom. 6. Instead of flattering it and seeking to satisfy its Lusts we must deprive it of all its pleasures make it drink Vinegar and Gaul teare its Head with Thorns bind and chain its Affections and nail them to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ with all its inordinate and brutish desires Mortify therefore your Members that are upon Earth Fornication Uncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupiscence and Covetousness which is Idolatry Gal. 5. Coloss 3. 21. To live in sin and to delight our selves in iniquity is to frustrate as much as in us lies our good Lord from that principal end which he designed in leaving for a while the Celestial Abode of his Glory and Immortality for he is come into the World to destroy the Works of the Devil Now the chief Work of the Devil the great Enemy of our Salvation in which he takes most Delight and Glory is Sin with which he ensnares Mankind for by Sin Death and all kind of Calamities are enter'd into the World John 3. Rom. 5. 22. It is to trample upon the only Son of God to affront the Spirit of Grace and esteem the Bloud of the Covenant a prophane thing It is to destroy the Fruits of the Death and Passion of our good Redeemer and pull down his Cross for he hath carried our Sins in his Body upon the Cross that dying unto Sin we might live unto Righteousness He hath given himself for his Church to sanctify it and to render it a Glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing If the Bloud of Bulls and of Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkled did Sanctify the uncleanness of the Flesh how much more shall the Bloud of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offer'd himself without spot to God purge your Consciences from dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. 23. Our Lord and Saviour was not only Dead but also buryed to teach us to bury also with him our sins and shut up in his Sacred Tomb all our carnal Lusts Don't you know all ye that have been baptized in Jesus Christ that you have been baptized in his Death we are then buried with him in his death by Baptisme 24. This Glorious Saviour is risen from the Dead and hath left his Sepulchre with his Funeral Attire to teach us to rise to newness of Life and to leave in our Grave that sin that encompasseth us and the ties of our corruption that bind us so fast To speak in St. Paul's language As Jesus Christ is risen from the dead by the Glory of the Father we also ought to walk in newness of life for if we are made one Plant with him by a conformity to his Death we shall also be One by a conformity to his Resurrection and as Christ who is risen from the Dead dies no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Likewise we ought not to apply our Members as instruments of iniquity unto sin but we ought to apply them unto God as being made alive from the dead Rom. 6. He is dead and risen again that he might have dominion over the dead and the living If any be in Jesus Christ let him be a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new Rom. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 25. Jesus Christ after his Glorious Resurrection is ascended up into Heaven to lift up thither our Hearts and to draw thither our affections and to teach us to reform our manners to live an Holy Angelical and Celestial life If you are risen with Christ seek those things that are above where Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God think upon things above and not upon things upon Earth Coloss 3. 26. There is nothing in the World so lovely as Vertue It is the delight and pleasure of Heaven it is the Daughter of the living God and the true and lively Image of our great Creator O blessed decking of a Christian Soul O rich and precious Ornament of God's Children O Heavenly Grace what rare and strong Charms hast thou to win the
Souls who have consecrated your selves willingly unto God and to his Service and Worship cast away these vain and base actions and all these dead works leave them to such as are dead in their trespasses and sins but for you behave your selves according to your Celestial Calling and apply your selves to Righteousness and Holiness and to the practice of all other Vertues as such who were dead but now are made alive 45. We must continually meditate upon the Holiness and Purity of our future abode in Heaven and the expectation that we have there Rom. 6 For as Jesus Christ is gone to prepare a place for us in the House of his Heavenly Father John 14. It is but just and reasonable that we should fit and prepare our Souls for such Holy and Glorious Mansions Revel 21. It is not possible to go to Heaven by treading the paths of Hell Nothing impure nor filthy shall enter into the Holy City which is the new Jerusalem As in Solomon's Temple there was no way to the Holy of Holies but through the Sanctuary thus if we will one day enter into the Heavenly Sanctuary where Christ dwells the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat Eph. 2. It is absolutely necessary that we should tread in the paths of good Works which God hath prepared that we should walk in them Tit. 2. It is upon this consideration that St. Paul grounds this exhortation to Piety and Christian Vertues The Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared to all Men teaching us that denying ungodlines and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good Works seeing that we have such promises let us cleanse our selves from all filth of the Body and of the Spirit finishing our Sanctification in the fear of God 1 Cor. 7. St. John makes use of the same reason to perswade us to Holiness Beloved we are now the Children of God but what we shall be doth not yet appear now we know that when he shall appear we shall be madè like unto him for we shall see him as he is and whosoever hath this hope in him let him purify himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 2. The Apostle St. Peter employs the same consideration to kindle in our hearts this pure and celestial fire We according to his promise look for new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless 2 Pet. 3. 46. You know Christians that God created our first Parents in his own Image and Likeness before that he brought them into his own terrestial Paradise there is a greater reason that this Divine Image should be imprinted in our Souls before we enter into the Celestial Paradise unto this the Apostle hath a regard when he tells the Ephesians be ye renewed in the Spirit of your mind and put on the new Man created according to God in Righteousness and true Holiness Chap. 4. 47. If the place of our future Abode unto which we are designed doth require from us Sanctification the quality of the persons with whom we shall spend an Eternity doth no less oblige us to the same behaviour for they shall be Angels of Light and the Blessed Saints who have wash'd and whitened their Robes in the Bloud of the Lamb Revel 5. It is a glorious Church that hath neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing Eph. 5. It is the Spouse of the Son of God cloathed in fine Linnen clean and white which are the Righteousness of the Saints Revel 19. St. Paul had this same consideration when he saith That we are fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God and That our conversation ought to be as becometh Citizens of Heaven To wean us from the filthy Deeds of the Flesh and from the prophane disposition of Esau he employs the same reason to perswade us in the 12 of the Heb. You are come saith he to the Mount Sion to the City of the living God to the Celestial Jerusalem to the thousands of Angels and to the Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven and to the Spirits of the Just sanctified 48. As it is with a Child in his Mothers womb he begins to live there the same life that he leads when he is come into the World likewise the Christian ought to begin to live in the same manner upon earth as he hopes to live for ever in Heaven if we will live and Reign with Christ above in his Kingdom we must at present have him Live and Reign in our Hearts here below by faith 49. The chief happiness of Man consists not only in the true knowldge of God and of him whom he hath sent to save us nor in the Spiritual Peace nor Celestial Transports of the Holy Spirit but it consists in Holiness without which none shall see God John 17. Rom. 5. Therefore the Apostle inquires from the Romans of his time What fruit had you in those things whereof ye are now ashamed but now being free from sin and become servants of God ye have your Fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting life Heb. 12. Rom. 6. 50. I find also that this is a very good remedy to keep our selves free from the Debaucheries and Corruptions of the Age to abstain from the company and acquaintance of vicious persons for as he who did touch things unclean did become thereby unclean and as such as haunt amongst the sick of the Plague are infected with their Disease Likewise it is the property of evil company to corrupt the best manners 2 Cor. 15. 51. Whereas we should accustom our selves to the company and acquaintance of good Men and Delight in the society of such who like the Seraphims excite and enflame one another to glorify God and sing forth his praises we must frequent such unto whom we desire to be like for as Jacob's Sheep Ewned Lambs spotted and marked as the Rods upon which they did cast their eyes Thus if we have our joyes fixed upon the Holy examples of Piety and Vertue we shall see our selves insensibly transformed into their Image and Resemblance we must delight our selves in the company of them with whom we hope to live for ever in the highest Heavens 52. The most powerful and the most effectual means to oblige us to the practice of Piety and of Holiness and purity of Life it is to look with the eyes of faith upon him who is invisible and to represent unto our selves the great world as a large Temple where he dwels Let the voice that came unto Moses out of the burning Bush sound continually in
the plenty of Bread Ease and Idleness Ezek. 16. Christians if you desire to keep your Souls pure and undefiled that the Holy Spirit may Reign in them give no entertainment to the Devil let him find you always well employed and let him never see you at leasure to assault you with his hellish temptations Eph. 4. 72. After all we must seriously think upon death and represent it always before our Eyes for as a Pilate that will govern and steer the course of this life as we ought we must consider our latter end live always as if we were ready to dye and to breath forth the last gasp therefore this Sentence is worthy to be Engraven upon Cedar in Golden Characters What ever thou sayest or what ever thou doest remember thy latter end and thou shalt never sin Eccl. 7. Wonder not Christian Souls if in this Treatise where I am to furnish you with Remedies against the fears of Death I would have death it self to be a Remedy against Sin for these things are united and linked together or rather they hold one another by the hand for as a good and Holy Life is a safe preparation to an happy Death Likewise Death is a strong motive to oblige us to live well for there is none unless it be a brutish and a furious Varlot but at the hour of Death laments at the consideration of his former wicked Life and grieves that he hath not applyed himself to the fear of God and to the practice of Christian Vertues If a Malefactor after that he is condemn'd to dye and hath heard the Sentence of his doom did mind nothing but drinking and playing and neglect Prayer and Repentance by which such an one is to dispose himself to go to God every one would wonder at him as at a Monster and a Madman likewise if we consider as we ought that Death is certain and unavoidable and that God hath pronounced the Sentence in his anger and that not one shall be excepted this will be able to withdraw us from Vice and to perswade us to Holiness without which none shall see God Heb. 12. Therefore at every moment when Satan the World our own Flesh shall solicite us to any evil action let us think within our selves would I have death find and seize upon me in this employment Am I in a good disposition to go thus unto my God and to appear before his Tribunal Jesus the Son of Syrac had well consider'd this when he pronounc'd this excellent Sentence which I could wish were engraven in the Soul of every Christian Remember thy latter end and thou shalt not sin We must therefore live in the World without being guilty of its corruptions and abominations As the Fish preserves its sweetness in the midst of the Salt Waves of the Sea and as the Sheep never learn to bark nor to bite although they be always with Dogs Likewise although our conversation be in the World amongst the prophane and vicious Men of this Age we must not imitate their filthy Words their Oaths their Blasphemies and less Reason have we to follow their wicked and abominable Deeds we must live among them as Lot lived in the City of Sodom as Joseph in Aegypt as Daniel in Babylon Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second Death shall have no power upon him When Jacob by God's Command went to Bethel he Commanded his Wives his Children and all that were with him Put away the strange Gods that are among you and be clean and change your Garments and let us arise and go up to Bethel Gen. 33. And I will make there an Altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in the way which I went Then they delivered into Jacob's hands all the strange Gods that were in their possession and he hid them under an Oak in Sechem Thus before we go to the true Bethel to the dwelling where we shall eat our fill of the Bread of the Kingdom of Heaven Before you offer unto God the Sacrifice of your Souls you must if you be true Christians renounce Sin and all wicked Lusts which have been formerly your Idols I shall desire of you willingly that you would bury them deep in this base Earth but you had better do as God Commands you from Heaven Trample under foot all these abominable Vices and all these worldly Lusts that are to you as so many false Gods that you worship Ezek. Put away from before me these Idols of jealousie that provoke me to jealousie and sanctify this Temple of my Holiness Cleanse your hands ye Sinners and fanctify your selves ye double-minded put off the Old man with all his Deeds and put on the New man created according to the Image of God Righteousness and true Holiness and then you shall be admitted to the Holy Temple of my Glory to offer unto me in the innumerable Companies of Saints the acceptable perfume of Praises and Thansgivings Jam. 4. Eph. 4. This is a Duty so just and necessary that natural reason it self enlightned by Grace acknowledges it to be so nay the most wretched Varlets are constrain'd to give Glory to God and to condemn themselves they confess that they are indebted to the Divine Majesty but the payment of this debt they put off from day to day and when ever you come to them they are ready to demand a delay they acknowledge their faults the hainousness of their Crimes and the necessity of Repentance but they are always putting off Repentance and Reformation of life As when a sluggard is newly awak'd out of his sleep he desires yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep Prov. 24. Thus when ever Death appears the Voluptuous are yet requesting to enjoy their carnal Delights when the Lords Messengers are calling upon us to repair the breaches that the Devil hath made in our Souls we could willingly answer as the Jews did to the Prophet That the time is not come that the Lord's house should be built Hag. 1. The young man in his Youth and Strength is apt to say that it is not yet time to busy himself about Wisdom and Reformation and that when he comes to be old he will then repent of the sins of his Youth and the old man he endeavours to put his Repentance until the hour of his departure He expects to make then a general confession of all his crimes to satisfy all his neighbors and to restore what he possesseth so unjustly In short all Men in general do flatter themselves in their evil courses and most are so extravagant as to be perswaded that when they have lived in sin and iniquity all their life mispent God's Blessings abused his Mercies a Tear or a Sigh at the time of our Death will make a sufficient amends for all and that he will be fully satisfied if we say then as the
Armies I speak not unto you prophane Atheists that laugh at the most Holy things and that are of opinion that all fear of God must be banished out of your Troops and Companies and that the most wretched Varlets are the best Soldiers but I speak to you Christian and Religious Commanders who forget not by your promotion amongst Men that you are nevertheless the Soldiers of Jesus Christ and although you wear at your side a material Sword forget not to employ also the sword of the Spirit the word of God that dwels in your hearts Neither do I intend to speak to you who manage War with an intent only to satisfy your Revenge your Ambition or your Covetousness but I speak to you brave and worthy Captains who have purified your weapons in an Heavenly Fire who undertake War only to procure a more lasting Peace to the publick and who fight only to serve your Prince and Countrey you that are the great bulwarks of States and Empires by whose labors and watchings Men sleep in security Let the whole World see by experience in your persons that there is nothing that agrees better with true generosity than Piety and the fear of God behave your selves always as in the sight of your Maker who is at your Elbows and accompanies you in all your actions Remember that he commanded to remove all filth from the Camp of Israel because of his Holy and Divine Presence If you will obtain his Blessing upon your persons and designes cast out of your Armies the filth of Vice and Punish without Mercy the Rapes Burnings all Impiety and Blasphemies make your Soldiers put in practice St. John the Baptist's most excellent advice to the Soldiers of his time who enquired what they were to do to be be saved Do violence said he to no man neither accuse any falsly and be content with your wages Live as Lambs and fight as Lions Spare as much as you can the bloud of your Soldiers and shed not that of your Enemies but against your Wills because they are God's Creatures and Men that bear his Image Never trust to your own valor and experience but remember that it is God who gives Courage and strengthens the hands in the day of Battel who causeth Fear and Terror to fly whither he listeth Look always upon David's example There was never a Captain more couragious nor more willing to venture his life and yet there was never a person more zealous in Prayer to God nor more submissive to his Will nor more careful to return unto him the praise of all his advantages and if Death comes to put a stop to your victories or to call you away in a trice in which your Prudence and Courage is requisite wonder not at it consider that God offers you by this means an occasion of a more Glorious Victory and of a more Magnificent Triumph for the victory over thousands of Mortal Men and of the whole World is nothing in comparison of a victory over Death and Hell Inquire not who shall succeed you in the Conduct of your Army out of a distrust of God's good providence for he who is able to raise up Children unto Abraham out of Stones can raise up also from thence Captains and Soldiers when he pleaseth to give a check to the Enemies pride and to deliver his People from their hands he can make Gideons Jephtha's Sampsons and such like extraordinary Commanders Who knows but that he will cause a General to succeed you that shall have more Courage and Generosity and that shall be blessed with a greater Happiness and more Glorious Successes When Moses departed to his Rest Joshua Commanded in his stead and for that purpose God enabled him with a noble Spirit of Wisdom and Courage for one Enemy that Moses overcame Joshua destroyed thousands whereas Moses did but coast along the Land of Canaan and turn up and down in the Wilderness Joshua brought the People of Israel into that pleasant Countrey and into a peaceable possession of it Seeing therefore that it is God's pleasure leave to others the care of worldly Wars and ye go to gather the pleasant and delicious Fruits of an Eternal Peace which hath been purchased unto you by the Bloud of Christ Likewise ye faithful Ministers of Jesus Christ remember to shew the example of a resignation to God's good pleasure according to your Doctrine Let not Death cause you to draw back thou hast my Brother a Will to Glorify God on Earth well but thou shalt Glorify him better in Heaven with more zeal and less hindrance whilst thou art surrounded and fetter'd with these Fetters of Mortality thy Ministry must needs be accompanied with many imperfections Thou imaginest that if it pleased God to prolong thy days thou mayest be instrumental in the reformation of the World but thou art mistaken My Brother for this World is accustom'd to Evil and this Age is hardened in Iniquity Preach as much as thou wilt to the Inhabitants of this inferior World it shall be as in the times of Noah the Herald of Righteousness when the patience of God waited for the conversion of Sinners for the whole Earth hath corrupted its ways so that all the thoughts and imaginations of the Heart of Man are evil continually from his Cradle they are corrupt and filthy And if God doth not interpose his Almighty Hand and declare in us the Virtue of his Holy Spirit our thoughts will grow worse and worse until we tumble into our Graves If thou afflict never so much thy just and innocent Soul and spend thy self in exhorting the greatest Sinners to fly from the wrath to come and the judgements of God that hang over their guilty Heads it may be thou shalt be mocked by thy nearest Relations as Lot was by his Sons-in-law When thou wouldest thunder out the threatenings of God's Law against the abominations of Israel as the Prophet Isaiah did once thou shouldest be forced at last to confess I have labour'd in vain I have employed my strength for nought Isai 49. Jer. 6. When thine Eyes should be converted into a fresh Spring of Tears and when thou shouldest spend the days and the nights in calling upon the Superstitious the Schismaticks and Idolaters to forsake their false worship and their unchristian proceedings thou shalt not be able to soften the hardness of their Hearts nor overcome their obstinacy but they will be ready to speak to thee in the Jews language to Jeremiah As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord we will not hearken unto thee but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouths to burn incense unto the Queen of Heaven and to pour out Drink-offerings unto her as we have done we and our Fathers our Kings and our Princes in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem for then had we plenty of Victuals and were well and saw no evil Jer. 44.
him from their Mothers womb Our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth took up in his Arms the little Children that were brought unto him laid his hands upon them and recommended them to God his Father and now that he is in Glory his Love and tender compassion for them is no less Therefore if we offer him our Children with all our hearts he will take them into his protection he will stretch over them the Arms of his Mercy and will never take them away again In short seeing that he promiseth to them the Kingdom of Heaven and his Eternal Felicities he will never with-hold from them things needful for this present life We can do nothing without God but God can do all things without us A great many Children become debauch'd and are spoil'd in their Parents over-fond tuition wherecas many that are out of their sight and that live when they are departed shew good examples of Piety and Godliness for example in Isaack's House in the presence of this Holy Man there was a prophane Esau a Glutton whereas Jacob that lived at a distance from his Parents when he fled for fear of his Brother had always before his eyes the fear of Isaack his Father Gen. 27. Gen. 31. that is to say the God whom his Father worshipped In Jacob's House Ruben defiled his Father's Bed in an incestuous manner whereas Jâ—seph in Potiphera's House chose rather an apparent death and present sufferings than to touch his Masters Wise Gen. 39. David had the unhappiness to see some of his Children guilty of Incest and Murder whereas Joas and Josias two Orphan-Princes in their tenderest infancy became Vertuous and Religious Kings zealous for the service of God How many Children are there who notwithstanding all the care and labor of their Fathers fall into extremity of misery How many are taken from their Parents embraces and dragg'd from thence to the Gallows whereas there are others that without Father or Parents assistance don't only escape grievous dangers but rise to Honors and Dignities as Joseph in Aegypt Daniel in Babylon and Esther that was Fatherless and a poor Captive became a Queen and moreover God made use of her and of her credit to deliver his People from Haman's conspiracy We see every day that God blesseth in an extraordinary manner many Orphans Cast your Eyes upon the Children of the blessed Martyrs and thou shalt perceive many that God hath made notable instances of his especial favors and of the Mercy that he promiseth to shew unto thousand Generations of them that serve him and obey his Holy Commands Thou shalt find some that have much more happiness in this life than the posterity of the Persecutors Thou shalt see them with astonishment bestow their Alms upon the Children of such as have plundered their Houses and spoiled their Goods Whilst you are yet in being exhort your Children to fear God to serve and to addict themselves with all their Heart to the study of Piety that hath the promises of this life and of the life to come Teach them first to seek the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added to them over and above Finally when your life should be much more useful to your Children than it is remember what our Lord and Saviour saith He that loves Son or Daughter more than him is not worthy of him Heaven is far more excellent than the Earth The Salvation and the Happiness of our Souls is to be preferr'd to all the considerations of Flesh and Bloud It is not just that such as have given us or to whom we have given the enjoyment of a temporal life should hinder us from the fruition of a Spiritual and Eternal Life Besides when we recommend them to God we put them into the protection of a true and of a wise Friend who is acquainted with their necessities who is so Good to procure them that which shall be needful for them and Almighty to accomplish all things which may be for their advantage Let us therefore conclude that it is the duty of a good Father that fears God not to resist death not to fly from it when the Lord calls but according to the good example of the antient Patriarchs he ought to end his days willingly with the praises of God in his mouth and with exhortation to his Children to love him fear him and serve him with all their heart to continue in his Holy Covenant and to prefer him to all the Riches and Honors of this miserable Earth And as when our Saviour had bestowed his Blessings upon his Disciples a Cloud carried him out of their sight into Heaven Likewise when a good Christian shall have thus given his Blessings to his Children he will shut his eyes to all inferior things and think upon nothing but upon the Eternal Bliss of the Heavenly Paradise If God calls us to himself in a miserable and wretched time when our beloved Infants are weeping about our Bed ready to say to us as Isaack unto Abraham My Father here is Wood a Fire and a Knife but where is the Beast for a Burnt-offering Gen. 22. God causeth the visible signes of his heavy displeasure to appear every where In every corner we see nothing but Fire and Sword Death's frightful Image and the fearful appearance of Masacres do scare and terrify us Destruction is come into the Holy places the Fire hath reacht as far as God's own Sanctuary and no body is able to deliver us The deluge of God's wrath hath overspread our Land in such a manner that as Noah's Dove we cannot find where to pitch our feet All our expectation is that God would also reach down his hand unto us from above to receive us into that Ark which is above the Heavens and unto which your Soul is now departing Gen. 8. If our dear Children speak unto us in this Language Let us with the courage assurance and faith of the Father of the Faithful return unto them this answer My Children the Lord will provide Gen. 12. Rom. 4. It is he that acts beyond appearance and against all hope who causeth the dead to live and calls things that are not as if they were he will send to you his good Angels to help you in all your necessities when you shall be reduc'd to the uttermost misery ready to receive the last stroke of death God's hands will stop the sword of his justice he will change your crying and fears into joy and Eternal gladness There will be some Holy and devout Soul that loves the publick peace and tranquility that will bring to you the Olive-branch of Peace God can appease the Tempest with his breath at his Command the winds will be still and the roaring Waves that are ready to devour you will return to their former tranquility Otherwise he will preserve you miraculously alive in the midst of the greatest troubles and most fearful confusion And as
Abraham found a Lamb intangled in a Bush Likewise in the midst of the sharpest storms of affliction and in the most intricate difficulties that you dread you shall find unexpected sweetness and comforts And as several colours of the beautiful Rainbow appear upon the Cloud whence proceeds the Storms and the Rain Likewise thus in the greatest afflictions God will give you some testimonies of his fatherly care and of his Divine love The assurance that you shall repose in God shall never be confounded for the love of God is spread in your hearts by the Holy Spirit that he hath given you The hotter the fire of affliction shall be the greater and the more miracles it shall bring forth The higher the waters of your Floud shall rise the nearer they will approach your Souls good and the nearer you will draw to Heaven the place of your Souls birth Comfort therefore your selves my dear Children and assure your selves that by the favourable assistance of God's Grace and Mercy we shall see one another again speedily I shall not return to you but you shall come to me for I am going to that large and magnificent Dwelling whither our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is gone before to prepare a place for us and where he will embrace us all I am going up to my Father and your Father to my God and to your God A Prayer and Meditation for a King and a Soveraign Prince who prepares for death by reposing himself upon God's providence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords who hast been Graciously pleased out of thine especial goodness to make me a living Image of thine Almighty Power and a visible expression of thine Heavenly Glory suffer me not to be lifted up in pride by that Power and Majesty with which thou hast cloathed me That I may not imitate that vain glorious and prophane Monarch who discovered his impious mind in these terms Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty But give me Grace to adore the Scepter of him who hath established me to humble my self before the Throne of thine universal Empire I have so much the more reason thus to abase my self because I am to appear before thy great Tribunal not only as a man to answer for my actions but also as a Prince I must there appear to give up an account of my publick Stewardship and of so many thousand Souls committed to my care If at any time the splendor and glory of my Crown dazle my Eyes and delude my fancy or if fond flatterers sing at my ears A voice of God and not of Man O let me then remember the frailty of my corruptible Nature I am born as other Men and subject to the same passions and the same infirmities Death will have no more regard for me than for the vilest of my subjects it will not treat me with more civility than them It will enter as boldly into my Palace as into the Huts of my meanest Soldiers and into the Cabans of the most contemptible Shepheards It will break my Scepter in pieces as easily as the Beggars staff and trample upon the Flowers and Jewels of my Crown in the same manner as upon the grass of the field My Life as that of my Slaves and Vassals is but the breath of my Nostrils a wind that vanisheth away a shadow that will quickly disappear O God of all flesh whilst thou continuest unto me my life here below Command in my Heart and amongst my affections Govern me by thine excellent Wisdom and by thy Royal and Divine Spirit Seeing that by thee Kings Reign and Princes do Justice give me Grace to lift up mine Eyes always unto thee and to employ all the Power and Authority which I have received from thee to thy Honor and Glory and to the advance of thine Heavenly Kingdom that I may look upon my Subjects as thy Creatures formed after thine own Image and as thy Children redeemed with the Bloud of thine only Son if thou hast been pleased to put a differance between them and me O that I may also consider that there is a more vast difference between me Dust and Ashes a Worm of this vile Earth me a nothing and less than nothing and thine Eternal Being O great and living God! whose Power is infinite when thou art pleased to send these Orders to the richest and to the most powerful Monarchs Sons of men return at the same instant they are not able to make resistance but they must needs return to Dust and with them all their contrivances all their high and glorious purposes vanish away O Soveraign Monarch of the World when thou shalt forewarn me by any of thy Servants or signify unto me by any other means that thy pleasure is to take me from my Throne to remove me from my Principality and to separate me from my self instead of troubling and afflicting my Soul as an Heathen Prince give me grace to shew a noble constancy and a Christian resignation to thine Holy and Divine pleasure If thou dost with one hand write the Sentence of my Death I know that thou wilt signe with the other the irrevocable Decree for me to go and take possession of a life infinitely happy Alas great God what are all these Territories that I must leave in comparison of the Celestial Inheritance which thou hast prepared for me from the Creation of the World for all the Earth if compared with the Heavens is but a point and what are all the inferior Crowns that fade away and fall to the ground in comparison of the uncorruptible Crown of Glory that waits for my coming at the end of my mortal Race O how willingly shall I cast off this Purple this Royal Attire to put on the precious Robes of Light and Immortality reserved for me in thine Heavenly Paradise How joyfully shall I put down this Scepter to take into my hands the flourishing Branches of Palms that I see in the possession of thy triumphing Saints O Almighty King of Kings thou hast entrusted me with the Governance of this Kingdom and Principality I return it willingly into thy Divine hands Thou hast subdued my people under me and taken me out of many Waters thou hast justified my Right to these Crowns by a gracious and a miraculous Restauration ☞ O let me never forget thine infinite goodness so visibly declared to me and my people How innumerable are thy Mercies O Lord Let therefore the former experience that I have had of thy goodness encourage me to cast willingly my Self my Life my Crown and my Kingdoms into thy Divine hands And while I yet remain amongst the living give me Grace O good and merciful Saviour to wean my self from the world and worldly pleasures Give me a hearty distaste of all unsatisfying delights of the Body and a true relish of the immortal
you may then conclude that such an one is strengthened by God's Divine Spirit who upholds him and accomplisheth his Heavenly Vertue in his Servants infirmity This is the most wonderful and excellent of all Deliverances I confess some approve this discourse very well and admit these Consolations in their ordinary diseases but assoon as any extraordinary and violent griefs seize upon them they are apt to murmure against God and to complain that their punishment is too grievous Some proceed further to curse as Job the day of their birth and being hurried into despair are ready to cry out with Cain My punishment is greater than I am able to bear Unhappy Man Wilt thou imitate the barbarous Heathens who curse the Sun when it burns them and let fly their Arrows against Heaven when it Thunders wretched Man What will it avail thee to affront thy Creator what advantage wilt thou reap from the Blasphemies which thou dost belch forth against the Son of Righteousness miserable Worm of the Earth less than Dust and nothing wilt thou undertake to contend against God to pluck him from his Throne and to break the invincible Arm of his strength Dost thou imagine to stop the hand of his Vengeance by offending and sinning against him Wilt thou quench the fury of his wrath by spitting in his Face Believest thou that he will stretch forth his hand to deliver thee and to increase thy Blessings whilst thy mouth is open to blaspheme him who is thy Soveraign Lord. Listen well I beseech thee friend to my advice and I will draw thee out of the Abysse where thou art unhappily fallen and with God's help I will cause thee to understand that thou complainest wrongfully against him who doth all things advisedly and with Justice and Reason First run over the whole course of thy life and consider how many wicked deeds thou hast committed some by indiscretion others wilfully how many words have gone out of thy mouth how many thoughts have been entertained in thy mind against the Commands of Almighty God Consider seriously the number and grievousness of thy sins and miscarriages and thou shalt find that God's punishments are far less than thy deservings and that for one sensible word and bitter pain that thou feelest thou hast deserved many thousands so that thou shalt have cause to confess with the Prophet Daniel O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of Faces Dan. 9. And thou wilt say with David Innumerable evils have compassed me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up they are more than the hairs of my Head therefore my heart faileth me there is no whole part in my Flesh because of thine indignation nor rest in my bones because of my sin Ps 40. 2. Consider how many there are in the world more righteous than thou who suffer more grievous and longer evils than thou hast hitherto endured and yet have not had so much comfort and assistance If thou comparest thy condition with theirs thou shalt find that God spares and favors thee very much 3. Cast thine Eyes upon the death and passion of our Lord and Saviour who being righteous and innocent hath suffered for us wicked and abominable sinners Thine affliction is painful I confess but that which this merciful Redeemer hath suffered for thee was far more unsufferable Let his Exclamations his Tears and drops of Bloud which came out of his veins be witnesses and that earnest Prayer which he repeated three times upon his bended knees Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me that I may not drink it Let that doleful voice upon the Cross be also witness My God my God why hast thou sorsaken me 4. Weigh in just and equal Scales of the Sanctuary all the sufferings of this life with the torments of Hell which thou hast justly deserved and compare them together thou wilt quickly conclude that all thy pains are nothing if compared with the grievous tortures of that lake of Fire and Brimstone where there are weeping and gnashing of Teeth If thou art so sensible of these vanishing pains consider well how much thou art obliged to the goodness of God who hath freely pardoned all thine offences and redeemed thee from that eternal and unspeakable Misery of the t'other life 5. Thou must imitate those men who having their Sight dimmed with the extraordinary splendor of bright Colours or of a Body of Light turn off their Eies to look upon less offensive objects instead of handling always thy Wounds and Sores instead of thinking of the afflictions that lye heavy upon thee meditate upon the goodness and favors of God vouchsafed to thee since thy Conception until now I give thee leave to put in one side of the Scales all thy crosses losses diseases pains and grief upon condition that in the t'other Balance thou wilt put all the Mercies Favors Blessings and Deliverances which thou hast received from God's liberal Hand It is true thou groanest under thy Misery and complainest of thy condition thou verily believest that there is none so miserable as thou art so that willingly thou wouldest say with the Prophet Jeremiah Doth not this move ye O ye that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger But when there should be nothing else but this alone that God hath called thee to the knowledge of his Holy Will enriched thee with the Graces of his Divine Spirit and sown in thy Heart the seeds of Eternal Life and the blessed hopes of seeing his Face in Glory thou oughtest to look upon thy self as one of the happiest Creatures under Heaven 6. Finally thou must meditate with a Religious attention upon the joys of Heaven and the Eternal Blessedness of Paradise for I reckon with the Apostle that the sufferings of this present life art not worthy to be eompared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us Lam. 1. When we cast our Eyes upon the Earth alone we judge it to be very spacious and large our sight is lost in the contemplation of so many Provinces Cities and Kingdoms but when we compare it with Heaven we find it to be but a point Likewise when we look upon and reckon up the hours days weeks months and years of our sufferings the time appears very tedious and long but when we compare all these parcels of time with Eternity they seem to us but a moment when we should have been overwhelmed with evils and miseries from the first instant of our entrance into the World until the last of our going out Yet we have reason enough to say with St. Paul Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things
Spring of Comfort that can never be stopt nor dried up Let the Storms and Flouds beat against thee Let the defluxions endeavour to check thee Is 58. thou mayest say with King David I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved Psal 16. When I should walk in the valley of the shadow of Death when I should have no other help nor assistance in the World when there should be no more strength remain in my Body I would not fear for O God thy staff and thy Rod will comfort me Is 26. God will not only draw near to thy bed of Sickness but he will embrace and receive thee into his protection he will kiss thee with the kisses of his mouth and make thee taste of the sweetness of his Divine Comforts Cant. 1. He will cherish thee as a Mother doth her Child to pacify it and make thee so sensible of his Love that thou mayest say with the Spouse his left hand is under my head and his right doth embrace me With his Gracious Hand he will wipe off thy cold sweat and into his bosom he will receive thy sighs thy groans and thy tears he will gather up into his most precious bottles And as it happened when our Lord and Saviour was in his Agony when drops of Bloud fell from him the Holy Angels appeared to comfort him Luk 22. Likewise in our greatest and most difficult encounters when thou shalt be at handy-blows with death it self his faithful Ministers hâ—s Messengers the Angels of his right hand shall visit thee to supply thee with spiritual Comforts 2 Cor. 5. Revel 5. And when these earthly Comforters shall fail he will send to thee some of those powerful Spirits that wait before his Glorious Throne Dan. 7. O good God if we could but perceive the things that are of themselves invisible and if thou didst but give us eyes like unto those of the Holy Prophet we should behold Legions of immortal Spirits flying about in the houses of Sorrow with an intent to comfort the Christian Souls Is 6. 2 King 6. Finally as the Sun with its Light and the strength of its Beams drives away the thickest Clouds and comforts with its delightful countenance the face of the whole Earth Thus Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness that carries healing under his wings banisheth all sadness with the light of his Divine Graces Mal. 3. and with the presence of his Holy Spirit he drives away the most sensible griefs and fills us with unspeakable joy and with the Peace of God which passeth all understanding A Prayer and Meditation for a sick Person who desires to prepare for Death O Almighty and Gracious God! who hast created both light and darkness and who dost by the wisdom of thy Providence bestow good and evil things upon us I acknowledge that thine Hand hath cast me upon this bed of sickness and that this disease proceeds not so much from the disorder of my Body 〈◊〉 from the corruption and extravagancy of my Soul far be it from me to complain of thy justice I adore thy Goodness and Wisdom O Lord how favourable are thy punishments if compared with my deservings I have miserably abused thy former Mercies mispent that time of health that I received from thee in whom we live move and have our Being I confess that I have loved the vanities of the World and the satisfaction of this wretched Flesh more than the Glory of thy great Name 〈◊〉 the Salvation of my Soul therefore I could willingly water this Couch with my Tears O God who understandest all things thou knowest that my weeping proceeds not from any fretful humour but out of a sincere displeasure of having offended so good a Father and merciful Lord In thâ—â— thy chastisement I feel the workings of thy tender compassion and I perceive thy most wonderful Love I see thâ— thou dost not rebuke me in thy wrath nor dost not correâ— me in thy fury Thou dost not punish me as a Judge bâ— dost chastise me as a Father so that this disease is a tesâ—â—mony of thy Love and of thy Fatherly care of me 〈◊〉 thou dost correct all them whom thou lovest and causest tâ—â—â—â— to feel the smart of thy Rod whom thou ownest for 〈◊〉 Children therefore if we were without reproof wh◠〈◊〉 all are partakers we should be no longer Children but bastards If this chastisement is at present grievous and painful one day it will produce the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness and as at the end of Jonathan 's Rod he tasted Honey that comforted him and opened his Eyes Likewise when I shall have felt the Rods of thy displeasure I shall taste the sweet comforts and unspeakable joys of thine Holy Spirit and my understanding shall be more enlightened O Almighty and ever wise God who drawest Light out of Darkness and causest that all things work together for good to them â—hat love thee it matters not how thou orderest this disease so that it may advance thy Glory and further my Salvation Thou beholdest mine affliction and poverty and thou knowest better than I can what is good and expedient for me O great God I know that thou canst do all things and that thou givest the wound and bindest it up thou strikest and thy hands must heal thou castest into the Grave and bringest up again The most desperate and irrecoverable diseases thou canst cure the dead thou canst bring to life again and call the things that are not as if they were O Almighty Physitian thou canst not only vouchsafe thy Blessing to these Remedies prescribed and administred to me but if thou speakest the word I shall be perfectly whole and well again But if thou judgest expedient to continue this disease upon me continue O merciful Lord unto me and increase thy Fatherly assistances and the comforts of thine Holy Spirit Strengthen me with a Christian patience and with a resolution worthy of my hâ—nourable Profession seeing that thou art the Soveraign Physitian both of Soul and Body I beseech thee my God if thou dost not remove the distemper of my Body at least pluck out of my Heart and mind all the grief and displeasure that torments me Fill my Soul with thy Peace Joy Love and Heavenly Comforts while my Body languisheth upon this Earth and while I am kept from my former societies of Men. Let my mind be lifted up to Heaven Let my Soul delight it self in a familiarity with thee I have lost too much time already about the affairs of the World that is nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit Give me Grace to employ now these few moments of leasure which thou dost grant to me to think seriously upon my sins to beg thy pardon with an earnest Repentance Give me Grace to meditate upon thine unspeakable and eternal Mercy to embrace it with a true and lively Faith upon thy Glory and the Happiness of thy Kingdom
Now although we be the Children of God and the supposed Heirs of his Crown our Glory and Dignity is not to be discerned during the years of our Earthly Pilgrimage Our Heavenly Father suffers us here in an Estate contemptible in the eye of the World that we might learn Humility and desire more earnestly his celestial Inheritance As it happens in a dark and obscure midnight Men tread under feet the Pearls the Diamonds the Scepters and the Crowns Thus it is now that a gross ignorance hath overspread and covers the face of the World the Children of God who are the most precious Jewels of his Crown are esteem'd no better than the scum or the filth of thē Earth This consideration causeth St. John to tell us Beloved we are now Children of God it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is 1 Joh. 3. As David sent for Absalom out of the Philistins Countrey and gave him leave to dwell in the City of Jerusalem but for the space of two years he would not suffer him to enter his Royal Palace or see his Face Likewise God hath freed us from the Devils Tyranny and Hells Power he hath admitted us into his Holy Church which is as his Jerusalem where he gives a fore-tast of our Heavenly Peace and Reconciliation but he delays for a time our reception into the magnificent Palace of his Glory and to the enjoyment of his Divine Presence the highest satisfaction and the greatest happiness While we remain in the Body we are estranged from God so that we are saved but by Hope 2 Cor. 5. But when we shall depart out of this Body we shall be with the Lord and shall enter into a real fruition of his Celestial Inheritance Rom. 8. Finally while we dwell here below we may see the Image of our Heavenly Father and behold his Face as in a Glass but when he shall have caused us to draw near his Throne we shall see him face to face we shall be transformed into his likeness and be fully satisfied with his resemblance Rom. 1. 1 Cor. 3. 1 Cor. 13. Psal 17. Let Death be never so hideous and ugly it is the Messenger of our Heavenly Father and if we can have but the confidence to open its iron hands and look into them we shall find Gracious Letters full of Love by which this Father of Mercy calls us to the full enjoyment of our Eternal Happiness Death doth not only invite us to go to God but it serves as a Vessel to convey us through this tempestuous Sea of the World to go to our good God who expects our coming at the Haven of everlasting Rest it is like to Eliah's Chariot of Fire that carried him up to Heaven 2 King 2. If Death covers our eyes with one hand and deprives us of the Light of the Sun with the other it rents in pieces that Vail which hinders us from the sight of the varieties of God's immortal Sanctuary and discovers to us the Glorious Face of the Father of Lights with the one it digs for our Bodies a Grave to cast them in but with the other hand it flings open for our Souls the Gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem to usher them into the Banqueting-Hall Therefore Death should be so far from frighting us that its arrival should rather comfort us and cause us to resolve to follow it with an Holy chearfulness for we should not only be willing to go to God with transports of joy when he is pleased to call us to himself to behold his Face and to eat of the Bread of Eternal life in his Heavenly Kingdom but of our own accord we should be impatient to enjoy his Glorious Presence and in a continual longing to see that happy day that shall bring us into him and satisfy us with his unspeakable Delights A true Christian should be moved in this occasion with David's Spirit As the Hart panteth after the Water-Brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul thirsteth for God for the living God when shall I come and appear before God I confess that this Great God before whom we are to appear is cloathed with Glory and Majesty and dwels in the Light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6. I know that he sits upon a dreadful Throne of Fire whereof the Wheels are like a burning Flame Dan. 7. that a thousand thousand wait upon him and ten thousand Millions stand before him Isai 6. I am not ignorant that at his Presence the Earth is moved the Sea and the Rivers dry up the Mountains tremble and the little Hills shake the Rocks decay the Pillars of Heaven fail and the Seraphims cover themselves with their wings Revel 4. But let not this dreadful Majesty and Heavenly Pomp terrify thee O believing Soul for this Great God is full of a Fatherly affection for thee Round about this Throne of God there is a beautiful Rainbow of a Green colour like unto an Emerald to signify unto us that God is reconciled and that the Covenant of our Peace is to continue for ever As out of this magnificent Throne proceed the Thunders and Thunderbolts that fright the Worldlings and cast the proud Souls down to the ground so from thence proceed also Lightnings and such refreshing Flames as are able to comfort the Believer and to guide him to his Celestial Inheritance We are related to God more than the Angels and Seraphims for we are not only his Creatures and Servants but also his Children and the Members of his Son nay we are but one with him Joh. 17. Let us therefore return our hearty thanks to our Heavenly Father which hath made us mete to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light Colos 1. Let us go up with confidence to Mount Sion for there are no signes of God's wrath to be seen nor of his just vengeance we shall find no bounds to separate us from God's Gracious Presence but we shall find Cords of Love to draw us and unite us unto him we shall see no fire to devour and scare us but we shall perceive the comfortable Flames which burn without consuming and which bring Comfort rather than Fear we shall not meet there a terrible Law-giver to derive us from him to scare us with his Thunderbolts but we shall meet a loving Father to embrace us and open to us the bosom of his tender compassions In short we shall not hear there the terrible sound of the Trumpet that causeth the Rocks to split asunder that casts to the ground the proud Cedars and that makes the Deer cast their young but we shall hear the sweet and melodious voice that will settle our trembling Souls refresh our languishing Hopes and fill us with Peace and Eternal Comfort Heb. 12. I acknowledge that God is just but he is also merciful and his
not wrath very sore O Lord neither remember iniquity for ever behold see we beseech thee we are all thy People By this gracious and loving Title of Father the prodigal Son is perswaded to be able to oblige his Father to have compassion of him I will rise and go to my Father and will say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son make me as one of thy hired Servants Thus although we have forsaken our Heavenly Father mispent the Riches of his Grace and lived a filthy and a prophane Life Nevertheless if we can be but moved with a serious and a true repentance and say to him from our hearts Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee I am no more worthy to be called thy Son He will forget all the miscarriages of our youth and will pass by all the offences that we have committed out of ignorance or mistake nay he will blot out all our wilful and deliberate sins he will not only embrace us when we shall cast our selves at his feet and in the arms of his Mercy but he will meet and receive us as his dearest Children he will kiss us with the blessed kisses of his Fatherly love he will give unto us his Holy Spirit that shall seal us for the day of Redemption and shall assure us that we are admitted to the liberty and all the priviledges of his Children he will shooe our Feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace and will give us all the assurances of our entire and perfect reconciliation He will cloath us here upon Earth with the Robes of Righteousness and Holiness and in Heaven he will bestow upon us uncorruptible Robes of immortality and Glory In this life he will give us the foretasts of Eternal Happiness and in the life to come he will lead us by the hand into the Banqueting Chamber and will cause us to sit there at Table with Abraham Isaack and Jacob and with all the First-born whose names are written in Heaven Out of this celestial abode all murmurings and complaints shall be banished but here shall be rejoycing and gladness for the conversion of poor sinners and for their admittance into the Kingdom of Heaven God himself shall invite the Holy Angels and blessed Spirits to share in these publick rejoycings saying to them We must rejoyce for these my Children were dead but now they are alive they were lost but now they are found again Let the miserable slaves of the Devil and of their filthy Lusts tremble at the approaches of death and let them look upon God as a dreadful Judge Rom. 2. For our parts we have not the spirit of Bondage to be again in fear but we have the spirit of Adoption whereby we may cry Abba Father Let the Sons and Daughters of Adam who have no other Being nor Life but that which they have received with their corrupted Nature fly from God's Presence for our parts we that are Regenerated by the Spirit of the second Adam we will draw near to him with boldness We will not say as that wretched Soul disturbed and frighted at the consideration of its crimes I heard thy voice I was afraid and hid myself Gen. 3. But rather having been brought up in the Schools of the Prophets and Apostles and having learn'd that we must prefer our Obedience to God's Will to all other things whatsoever we shall say unto him with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth 1 Sam. 8. Or rather we will speak unto him in plainer terms O my God and Heavenly Father speak when thou wilt for thy servant is ready and resolved to obey thy Commands we will stay till God shall call the fourth time as that Holy Man Numb 31. Who because of his tender and unexperienced years could not distinguish between God's voice and that of a Man but we will have our Ears always open to his Divine Orders and at the first motion and summons of his Will we shall be ready to follow him as the Children of Israel were in the Wilderness when they raised their Camp and marched according to God's directions Numb 3. And as when the Levites stopt and put down the Ark in its own place 2 Chron. 3. Moses did commonly pray O Lord give rest to the thousands of Israel Likewise you believing Souls whom God hath chosen for his Ark and Temple assoon as you shall perceive that this wise Governor of Mankind intends to put a period to your painful Journey and laborious Race that is to say assoon as you shall perceive the least signe of death speak with an Holy confidence and joy Rejoyce O my Soul the time of thy freedom and of thine Eternal Rest approacheth Here is the Messenger of good news here is Death that will usher me in to the Glorious Palace of my Heavenly Father Father the hour is come Glorify thy Son that thy Son may Glorify thee John 17. When the hour was come that our Lord Jesus Christ was to go out of this World to the Father he said unto his Disciples who were grieved for his going from them If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I said I go unto the Father for my Father is greater than I John 13. John 14. Christian Souls speak in this manner at the hour of your departing If such as are about you happen to weep and lament if they endeavour to move and stop you by the considerations of Flesh and Bloud tell them why are you grieved at my deliverance and at the end of my misery why would you hinder and retard my Glory and Happiness O how cruel is your Love how blind and unconsiderate is your Affection Certainly if ye did love me as ye ought ye would prefer my satisfaction and the accomplishment of my happiness to the small advantages that ye might gather from my abode with you ye should consider that the least part of the joy that I shall feel in my Heavenly Fathers House is a thousand times more worth than all the Pleasures of the Earth than the Honors of the Age and the Pomp and Glory of the World My friends or rather my enemies let me go for I go to my Father I go to behold his Face which is the most Divine satisfaction I go to take possession of that Inheritance prepared for me from the foundations of the World John 20. Matth. 21. A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by an Assurance and Trust upon God's Fatherly Goodness and Infinite Mercy MY God and Creator I perceive that the time of my departure draweth near and that Death presseth sore upon me It summons me to appear before thy dreadful Tribual it frights me when it brings to my remembrance all my former sins and represents unto me the hainousness of my crimes O Great God when I seriously think upon what I am
as it is Recorded of St. Stephen that when he had commended his Soul into the hands of the Lord Jesus that he fell asleep Acts 7. Therefore when St. Paul reproves the Coriâ—thians and acquaints them that God had punished them with divers Diseases and Death because they had profaned the Lords Supper he tells them For this cause many are feeble and sick amongst you and many sleep And when he speaks of all those that were dead in the profession of Christs Religion he saith they sleep in Jesus and he names them they that sleep Now we are not better and nobler then the Saints of Paradise to expect that our Bodies should receive a better and more favourable entertainment then they In short there is nothing more able to remove from our fancy that horror of our Graves then the consideration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is entred into the Earth as well as other Men and hath laid himself down there He hath Sanctified and perfumed that place with his Divine Presence he hath made it the object of our desires and the cause of our glory for there is no Subject but judgeth it an honour to lodge in his Princes Chamber and to lay down and sleep upon the Bed where he hath taken his rest although he hath remained there but a moment or an hour O glorious Tomb where Death and Life Disgrace and Glory are lodged together and where the Prince of Life the Author of all Honor and Happiness did rest himself Christians who desire to banish from your Souls all fears of Death and apprehensions of your Graves look upon your Sepulchres in the same manner as if you should see there Jesus Christ the King of Glory the Prince of your Salvation yet remaining asleep When old Jacob heard the mistaken news of the Death of his Son Joseph he was overcome with a violent grief so that he cryed out I shall go down with Sorrow to my Son into the Grave But the certain news of the Death and Burial of our true Joseph will fill us full of unspeakable comforts and will cause us to speak in another manner I shall go down to my Father into the Sepulcher with Joy The Prophet Elias raised to Life a Child which laid in his Chamber upon his Bed when he stretched himself upon it the Soul that was departed came again And Elisha raised another in the same manner by applying his Mouth to the Childs his Hands and Eyes to the little Infants But believing Soul God works for thee in this occasion a far more wonderful Miracle for our Resurrection and Life proceed from the Death and Burial of our great Prophet If we go into this holy Tomb if we lay our selves down upon this precious Body if we embrace it with a true and living Faith and a serious Repentance he will quicken us again and cause us to become Immortal for he hath been pleased to enter into the estate of the dead with an intent to procure unto us a blessed and a glorious Immortality A Prayer and Meditation for a Christian who strengthens himself against the horrible aspect of the Grave by looking upon our Lord Jesus Christ stretched out in his Tomb. O Wonderful Mediator between God and Man Thou art God Immortal and yet hast vouchsafed to take upon thee our Mortal Nature and to Dye for me miserable Sinner and to remain for a time in the estate of the Dead that thou mightest procure unto me a blessed Immortality Give me Grace to Meditate as I ought upon thy Sacred Body wrapped up in a winding sheet and laid in the Earth for by this means O sweet Jesus I shall be brought not to abhor the Grave I shall look with a stedfast and setled countenance on the Grave digging into which I must enter when thou shalt appoint it for the Servant is not greater then his Master It belongs not to the Creature to lift it self up above the Creator seeing that I expect to share in thy Glory and Exaltation it is but just and reasonable that I take some part in thy Disgraces and Abasement My reason assisted by thine holy Spirit teacheth me that I must be content to be wrapped up in thy Darkness and remain with thee in the valey of the Shadow of Death seeing that I hope to be cloathed one day with Light and Crowned with an eternal Life I must not only look upon the Grave without Fear but I shall consider it with Joy seeing that thou hast honoured it with thine holy presence and perfumed it with thy Divine and celestial perfumes I shall behold it in the same manner as if thou didst yet lye down in it as if I were to keep thee company there my Lord and my God A dead returned to Life again when he did but touch the Bones of thy Prophet but I do not only touch the Prince of Prophets but embrase thee with Faith as thou art dead for my Sins and as resting in thy Grave for my Salvation Thou shalt therefore make me sensible of thy Divine Vertue put in me the Seeds of Immortality and raise my hopes up to Heaven Already my Soul hath a share in the first Resurrection and one day this crazy Body shall return to newness of life If my Resurrection be not so quick and speedy as that of the Dead raised to Life by the Prophet It shall be far more glorious and lasting that I may bless thee with all thy Saints and praise thee for ever with thine Inheritance in Heaven Amen CHAP. 17. The Fifth Consolation against the Fears of Death is to Meditate upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ AS there is nothing more grieveous and unsufferable than to behold a proud and insulting Enemy who is alwayes victorious and whom none can overcome in his insolent and braving humor likewise there is nothing more pleasant and comfortable then to see such a pride cast down and to overcome such an Enemy Therefore the Children of Israel who had long groaned under the cruel tyranny of Pharaoh sung with Joy a Song of Triumph and Thanksgiving when God destroyed that wretched Tyrant and Buried him and his Army in the waves of the Red Sea For this cause when the Red Dragon the ancient Serpent called the Devil and Satan Exod. 15. who seduceth whole Nations was overcome and cast down from Heaven to the Earth There were Songs of Joy and Gladness heard in Heaven Revel 12. Now is come Salvation and Strength and the Kingdom of our God and the Power of his Christ for the Accuser of our Brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night therefore rejoyce ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them From hence let us conclude Christian Souls as it was a grievous Affliction and a sensible Grief to behold Death tyrannising over all the World and shutting up in its Dungeons Kings and Monarchs Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and generally all the
Children of Adam of what condition or degree soever likewise it is a great comfort and unspeakable joy to us to behold this cruel and proud Enemy brought down overcome and disarmed to see our Lord Jesus Christ marching out of Deaths fortifications loaden with its Spoiles rejoyce therefore ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them for the Murderer of our Brethren is swallowed up into Victory We who are the Members of this great Conqueror have a share in his Honour and Glory in his Person we are Conquerors of Death so that we may say with the Apostle That God hath quickened us together and raised us up with him This Prince of Life hath not only loosened all the bands of Death and broken to pieces all its chains but he hath led away Death in Triumph and made it subject to his Celestial Empire He hath an absolute power over Death as he himself declares in these words I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore Amen and have the Keys of Hell and of Death For it stands with reason that if this invincible Lord when he was in the Prison of Death commanded over Death itself if he broke in pieces its Iron bars and its Brasen gates if he caused the Dead to go out and led them into the Holy City now that he is out of the Grave a victorious Conqueror he must needs command with an uncontrolable power this dreadful Enemy which he hath already overcome and brought under by his Almighty Hand O Death fret and fume out thy rage and fury I see that thou art tied as a Prisoner to the Triumphing Charriot of Jesus Christ my Saviour and I am certain that thou canst do nothing without leave and that thou canst not go a step unless he lengthens thy Chain As Joshua when he had overcome the Kings of Canaan called for his Captains and spoke to them in this manner Come near and put your feet upon the necks of these Kings fear not nor be dismayed be strong and of good courage Likewise we may imagine believing Souls that our Divine Joshua now that he hath conquered Death calls to us from Heaven tread upon this wretched Death with boldness fear not nor be dismayed The Children of Israel that trembled at the threatnings of Goliah were freed from all apprehensions when they saw him fall with a Stone from Davids sling so that the most timerous could have freely put their feet upon his Neck And shall not you Christians banish from your Hearts all fears and dread of Death now that you see that it is cast down at the feet of our true David the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls for although it opens its Jaws and that it fomes out flames of Fire it hath nevertheless received the Stroke of Death and is ready to give up the last gaspe And as the servant of Jonathan the Son of Saul dispatched and killed those whom his Master had cast down Thus we need but pursue the glorious Victories of the Son of the King of Kings or rather we need but gather up the pleasant Fruits of his Conquests for this Prince of Life that hath overcome Death for us offers to overcome it also in us with the Weapons with which he arms us In short to speak properly there can be no Death for such as are Incorporated in Jesus Christ by a true and lively Faith for he that lives and believeth in him shall never Dye and he that believeth in him though he were dead yet shall he live Joh. 11. A Prayer and Meditation for the believing Soul that strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by a Meditation upon the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ LOrd Jesus who hast been fully declared to be the Son of God with power by thy Resurrection from the Dead and who livest for ever and ever strengthen me in my weakness comfort me in my Sorrows and drive from my Soul all Fears and apprehensions of Death O wonderful Saviour I need no longer fear this cruel and proud enemy for thou hast broken all its fetters and chains and hast overcome Death and the Grave O glorious and triumphing Monarch what cause have I to dread a discomfited and disarmed Enemy whom I see lying under thy feet and chained to thy Triumphing Charriot I need but follow the sacred Footsteps of thy Victories and gather its excellent Fruits If thou hast been able to deal with Death when thou wast shut up in a Dungeon if thou didst then bring down its pride and carry away its prisoners what may not I expect from thy Victorious and Almighty Arm now that thou hast in hand the Keys of Hell and of Death O most mighty and merciful Lord Thou hast not only overcome Death for me but thou wilt also overcome it by me who am thy Child and the Sheep of thy pasture whereof thou hast paid the Ransome Thou art not only raised from the Dead but thou art also the Resurrection and the Life Thou the Prince of Life and the Lord of Glory and Immortality so that he that lives and believeth in thee shall never Dye and whosoever believeth in thee though he were Dead yet shall he live Sampson was worthily admired when he slept until midnight rose up and carried away the Gates of Gaza upon his Shoulders up to an high Mountain but who would not admire thee O invincible Nazarite who having slept until the third day in the bowels of the Earth didst rise again by thy Divine Vertue carry away the Gates of Hell and made them to become the Gates of Heaven and the entrance into thy celestial Paradice Let me Dye seeing that my Redeemer liveth and seeing that he intends to introduce me into an happy Life purchased for me with his most precious Blood and secured unto me by his glorious resurrection Amen CHAP. 18. The Sixth Consolation against the Fears of Death is the Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the Right Hand of God IT is a great joy and comfort indeed to behold a cruel and a proud Enemy overcome and disarmed and our selves freed by that means from the heavy yoke of his unsufferable Tyranny but our joy would be turned into grief and our comfort into sadness if we did but perceive at the same time the Author of our Freedome choked with his own Blood and breathing out the last gasp at the moment of his Victory that our Sanctification might be entire and our joy perfect such a Friend to our welfare should continue afterwards alive and receive the Honors and Rewards due to him for such an expression of his Valor and Kindness to us There is no Enemy more cruel and more terrible then Death we have beheld it disarmed upon the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and perfectly vanquished and subdued by his glorious Resurrection But if with the eye of our Faith we look a little higher to behold the glorious
Ascension of our Divine Saviour we shall see this same Death bound to his Triumphing Charriot and we shall see this glorious Redeemer exalted above the highest Heavens and sitting gloriously at the Right hand of God we shall see him invested in an almighty Power worshipped by all the Creatures we shall see him commanding not only the Angels of Light and the celestial Spirits that are about his Magnificent Throne but commanding also over this World over Death the Devils and Hell Because he hath been obedient unto Death yea to the ignominious Death of the Cross God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth Phil. 4. and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father Every Souldier doth not always bear a part in the Triumph of their General and all the Subjects do not tast of their Princes happiness but as we are the Brethren of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Members of his Mistical Body we have a share in his Triumph and in the glory of his Empire therefore the Apostle St. Paul informs us that our Life that is to say our glory and eternal Felicity is hid with Christ in God in another place he tells us in express words That God who is rich in Mercy hath made us sit in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ This glorious Saviour is gone to take possession of the Kingdom of Heaven not only for himself but also in our names and for us therefore he informs the Holy Apostles and all true believers That in his Fathers House there are many Mansions I am going to prepare a place there for you In the same manner he speaks in that admirable Prayer in the which he consecrates himself to God for the great Work of our Redemption Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the same reason St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Hebrews for our comfort Heb. 6. that Christ is gone into Heaven as our forerunner The High Priest of the Jews did enter into the earthly Sanctuary to present himself before God for the people Heb. 9. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ is gone into the Heavenly Sanctuary to appear for us in the presence of God The High Priest of the Jews did bear upon his Breast and Shoulders the Names of the 12 Tribes of Israel but Jesus Christ hath graven us upon his Heart according to the Prayer of the Spouse in the Canticles Can. 8. Set me as a Seal upon thine Heart as a Seal upon thine Arm for Love is strong as Death The High Priest of the Jews did cast off the Names of the Twelve Tribes with his Robes But neither Death nor Life nor things present nor things to come shall ever separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ Rom. 8. The Royâ—â— Diademe that was put upon Esthers Head never câ—â—sed her to forget her People and Parentage she was mâ—gâ—â—â—ly grieved for her Hamans Conspiray and the Decree which he had caused King Ahasuerus to Sign and 〈◊〉 with his Signet I may likewise say that the Glory unto which our Lord Jesus Christ is now raised can never make him forget the People that he hath redeemed with his Blood He is not unmindful of Satans plots nor of the Sentence of Doom pronounced against us by the great Monarch of the World and confirmed with his great Seal His glorious Head may be Crowned with the Râ—inbow but his merciful Heart is inflamed with Love for us He thinks it no disgrace to acknowledge us for his Brethren and to pray God for us upon his glorious Throne where thousand millions wait upon him and ten thousand thousands Worship him He is able to Save to the full all such as draw near to God through him for he lives always to intercede for us If the Father hath always granted him his Request when he was in his greatest abasement can we imagine that his Intercession will be fruitless now that he is ascended up to the highest Glory From the Chariot of his Triumph he beholds all our Encounters and our struglings with Death he sees all the Enemies that Assault us and all the Dangers unto which we are exposed He is acquainted with the deep Malice and the crafty Designs of the Enemies of our Salvation He perceives all the Darts that they let flie against us therefore he covers us with his Shield and will not suffer us to yield to Temptation He fulfills his Vertue in our Infirmities and makes us more then Conquerors he hath an eye alwayes upon his Flock he holds his Sheep all in his hand and none is able to pluck them from thence When he was upon Earth in his Agony at this word that dropt out of his Mouth I am he John 10. his Enemieâ— fell backward and when he was in Deaths Prison he constrained it to obey him and shall he not now that he is exalted up to the highest Heavens in the glory of his Triumph have the same power and command over Death the World and Hell When he walked upon the Waters he cried to his Apostles It is I be not affraid John 6. how much rather may he speak unto us in this manner now that he sits upon the Throne that can never be moved Christian Soul who trembles at the approaches of Death imagine that the Lord Jesus Crowned with Glory calls to thee from Heaven fear not for I call thee and hold out unto thee my Arms I that am thy Saviour and Redeemer who have satisfied for all thy sins with my Blood and who have redeemed thee from the Curse of the Law and eternal Damnation I have disarmed Gods Justice vanquished Hell broken the Serpents Head and swallowed up Death into Victory I have purchased for thee the Glories of Heaven and the Delights of Paradice I have trampled upon the World and all its powers I am Worshipped by all the Church triumphing in Heaven and by Legions of holy Angels that fly about my Throne I will therefore send some of them to guard thee and when thou shalt leave the Body where thou livest as a Sttranger they shall bring up thy Soul into this glorious abode of Immortality whether I am come to prepare a place for thee Without doubt if the Author of our hope is fixed in the vaile that is in Heaven where Jesus Christ is gone in as our forerunner we shall not apprehend the most contrary and boisterous storms raised against us by the Prince of the powers of the Aire who works with efficacy in the Children of Rebellion we shall tred under foot all the billows of this troublesome Sea and through these swelling waves we shall march safe to our Divine Jesus If at
one after another and he also in his time yielded up the Ghost But Jesus Christ who is Risen from the Dead Dyeth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him so that he lives for ever and ever and will cause us all to become Immortal Therefore instead of desiring as Jacob to Live to go down into Egypt to see his Son Joseph we should earnestly desire to Dye that we might ascend up into Heaven there to behold our Lord Jesus Christ our Father and Redeemer When Jacob embraced again his wonderful and beloved Child in the exceeding transport of his Joy and Love he burst forth into this kind of Language Let me now Dye now that I have seen again thy Face and that thou art alive On the contrary when we shall embrace Christ in his Glory when we should behold his Divine Countenance we shall speak in another manner my Lord and my God seeing that I now look upon thee alive and Raigning in Heaven I shall live also and Raign with thee for ever and ever Amen A Prayer and Meditation for a believing Soul who strengthens it self against the Fears of Death by considering the glorious Ascention of Jesus Christ into Heaven and his sitting at the right hand of God O Holy and Divine Saviour I have often looked upon thy generous Behaviour and glorious Victories to strengthen my self against all apprehensions of Death but if thou wilt render my joy most perfect and accomplished give me Grace to Meditate upon thy Divine Triumph As thou hast engaged in many Encounters for my sake and hast vouchsafed unto me a share in thy Victory grant me also a share in thy glorious Ascention and Triumph As thou hast suffered for my Sins and art risen again for my Justification thou art also ascended up into Heaven to prepare a place for me thou art willing that I should be admitted into thy Noble and Divine Palace that I should be where thou art that I may behold thy Glory which thou hast enjoyed with God the Father before the Creation of the World O sweet and Merciful Lord what cause have I to fear to go to Heaven seeing that thou art there seated in the highest Glory and Felicity and that thou stretchest out thy merciful hand to receive and admit me Have not I good reason to expect to be glorified in thy Kingdom seeing that thou thy self dost bestow upon those that serve thee the Immortal Crowns and Scepters O great God and Saviour thy Throne is surrounded with Glory and Splendor nevertheless I will draw near unto it with boldness for it is a Throne of Love and a Throne of Mercy unto which every penitent Sinner may come Round about this glorious Throne I see a Rainbow of an Emerald colour that certifies me that thy Covenant is everlasting When thy Glory and Majesty did increase thy Love for me did not lessen and thy compassion and goodness were always the same Thou art the same yesterday and to day and thou shalt always be the same for ever Thou hast been pleased for my Salvation to lye in a Manger and to be nailed to a Cross Thou hast given thy Soul for my Ransome and hast spilt thy precious Blood to wash and cleanse me from my Sins and to make me a way that I might enter into thine holy Sanctuary In the midst of all that Glory and Light with which thou art now cloathed thou hast not thought it a scorn to acknowledge me for thy Brether and for a Member of thy Mystical Body It is for my sake that thou appearest before thine Heavenly Father it is for me that thou offerest up unto him Prayers and Supplications O wonderful Lord it is in thy power to give unto me the things which thou hast merited by thy Sufferings and which thou desirest for me by thy Prayers and Intercession for all power is given unto thee in Heaven and in Earth O Soveraign Monarch of the whole World hast not thou given unto us this great and gracious promise When I shall be lifted up from the Earth I shall draw all Men after me And is it not for us that thou hast prayed in this excellent manner Father I will that they also whom thou hâ—st given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Seeing therefore that thou hast left this wretched Earth to go and Raign above in Heaven take unto thee my Soul O wonderful Redeemer and deliver it from this valley of Tears and Misery cause it to understand at the time of its departure those words of joy and eternal comfort Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradice Lord Jesus draw me with the cords of thy Mercy and Grace and I shad run after thee And seeing that I must of necessity pass through Death to come to thee the Prince of Life and Immortality give me Grace to consider it in the same manner as the Prophet Elias did the Fiery Charriots that carried him up to Heaven or as Jacob did the Waggon that carried him into Egypt to his Son that did Raign there this holy Father in a transport of joy cried out let me see my Son Joseph again and then let me Dye But when I shall be ravished with an unspeakable and glorious joy I shall speak in another manner Let me Dye that I may behold my true Joseph the Soul of my Soul the light of Life the Author of my Glory and Happiness O sweet Jesus I shall freely and willingly leave this wretched and crasie dwelling to enter into thy heavenly Palace to behold thy Glory and Magnificence O King of Kings and Lord of Lords when shall I hear that Divine Wisdom that drops from thy Lips and when shall I see thee sitting upon the Throne of thy Glorious Majesty where a thousand thousands wait upon thee and ten millions Worship thee When shall I enter into the Glorious Company of the Saints and Blessed Spirits that Sing forth thy Praises and cast at thy feet their most precious Crowns O glorious Monarch that art now in thy Kingdome enjoying a perfect happiness forget not thy poor Servant be not unmindful of thy Sâ—n or Daughter who am now overwhelmed with the sorrows of this miserable life and the anguish of Death Let not the Songs of the holy Angels and applauses of all the glorified Spirits hinder thee from listning to my Sighs and Groans O Almighty and merciful Lord look upon me with the eyes of thy Love and reach unto me thine helping hand Send unto me thine Angels of Light to receive my Soul and prâ—tect me from the Angels of Darkness that endeavâ—r to destroy me and to drag me headlong into Hell Let Some of thâ—se glorious Spirits that wait for thine orders and fly at thy command deliver me from Death and carry me upon their wings into thy Bosome I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand
of God the Father Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen CHAP. 19. The Seventh Consolation against the Fears of Death is our strict and unseparable union with Jesus Christ by the means of his holy Spirit and the first Fruits of our Blessed Immortality OUr Lord Jesus Christ doth not onely live and triumph in Heaven but it is from thence our life our glory and our blessed Immortality proceed For as the Father hath life in himself he hath also given to the Son to have Life in himself and as the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead likewise the Son quickneth whomsoever he will So that we may not only say to him as St. Peter Thou hast the words of eternal life John 6. but we may justly speak to him in Davids Language with thee is the fountain of Life in thy light shall we see light Ps 36. Therefore all those that are united and incorporated into Jesus Christ do participate of the fulness of his holy Spirit and by that means they became Immortal Now by the vertue of Christs Death and Pastion we are not only made partakers of the Fruits of his Sufferings but we are united to and Incorporated in him so that by that means we have obtained not only the grâ—â—t and precious promises of Glory and Immortality which he hath purchased for us by the infinite merits of his Sufferings but we receive the First-Fruits and foretasts of our future blessedness He that is lifted up and dwells on high quickens the Spirits of the humble Is 57. he dwells in our hearts by Faith Eph. 31. he pours into our Souls his holy and quickning Spirit for because we are the Children of God he hath sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry Abba Father Gal. 4. Whosoever hath not this Spirit of the Lord Jesus he is none of his By the means of this Spirit he dwells in us and we in him we become the Members of his Body and we may boast that we are his Flesh and his Bones All things that are most strictly united by Nature or Art are employed to represent this admirable union John 6. which we enjoy with Jesus Christ by the means of his Spirit that quickens us Rom. 13. From hence are derived these expressions of the holy Apostles We have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Gal. 3. And that when we draw near to him who is the living stone rejected of Men but lifted up and of great price with God 1 Pet. 2. we like so many living stones are built up together to make a Spiritual House For the same reason our Saviour informes us John 15. That he is the true Vine and that we are the branches And St. Paul assures us that if we are become one Plant with him by the conformity of his Death we shall also be one by the resemblance of his Resurrection Rom. 6. To shew unto us that this Sacred Union contains many ties of Love our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as our Brother our Father and our Bridegroom therefore the Apostle tells us that he thinks it no Disgrace to own us for his Brethren in saying Heb. 1. I will declare thy name unto my Brethren and also where he informes us Rom. 8. that God had predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of his Son that he might be the first born among many Brethren And after his Resurrection he speaks in this manner to Mary Magdalen John 20. Touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my Father but go to my Brethren and say unto them I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God Heb. 2. Therefore this glorious Redeemer shewing himself unto God with all the Elect saith Here I am and the Children which thou hast given me Hosea 2 And by the Mouth of Hosea he speaks to his Church and makes this promise unto her I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judgment and in loving kindness and in Mercies From hence it is that this Church is called The Spouse of the Lamb in the Revelations and in the Canticâ—es the Spiritual Union betwixt Christ and his Church is expressed by a continual Allusion to a Marriage between Man and Woman And because our Meat and Drink are turned into our Body and Substance Jesus Christ assures us That his Flesh is truly Meat and his Blood is truly Drink That he is the true Bread come down from Heaven that gives Life to the World and that whosoever shall eat him shall live for ever But amongst all the Similitudes borrowed to represent our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit there is none employed more frequently in holy Scripture than that of the Humane Body for there is not any more proper for us all the Spirits that give life and motion proceed from the Head and assoon as the Members are separated from it they Dye In the like manner the Spirit that quickens us and makes us become new Creatures proceeds from Jesus Christ so that whosoever is separated from this Head he falls into Death and Eternal Destruction And as there are many Members nevertheless they make up but one Body because they are all animated with the same Spirit and they are kept alive by the same Head l kewise there be many Members belonging to Christs Mystical Body some engaged yet upon Earth and others glorified in Heaven nevertheless they make up but one only Mystical and Spiritual Body for they are all quickned by the same Spirit and receive all the celestial influences from the same Head St. Paul teacheth us this Doctrin in expresse terms 1 Cor 12. For as the Body is one and hath many Members and all the Members of that one Body being many are one Body so also is Christ for by one Spirit are we all Baptised into one Body whether we be Jews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one Spirit Finally because the same spirit that is in our Lord as in the Head and Fountain and in the Church in general as in the Body which is quickned and moved is also in every particular Member The holy Apostle is not satisfied to call this Spiritual Body of Christ and his Church Christ but he tells us moreover that whosoever is united unto him is made but one Spirit with him These and such like Representations let them be never so lively and noble are but dark shadowes and unperfect Images of our Union with Jesus Christ by his holy Spirit for the richest and most Magnificent Garment can never keep off from the Body Diseases nor hinder the approaches of corruption that creeps upon it There is no foundation never so firm and well setled that can free the house built upon it from the ruines and breach s of time and the weather Although the Sap mounts up from the root of the vine and runs
and like unto them that the Children of Israel did eat in the Promised Land In like manner the Fruits that we relish in the Wilderness of this World are Fruits of the Tree of Life with which we shall be fully satisfied in Heaven for the Grace that God bestows upon us here below by his Divine Spirit is the beginning of the Glory with which he shall Crown us above The same Light that shines upon our Souls on Earth shall shine much more for ever in Heaven But whereas we look upon it at present as it were through a black mist with much imperfection then we shall see it clearly without Vail or Darkness The same Holiness that adorns at present our Souls shall be their Ornament and Glory then it shall appear without spot or blemish That same peace of Conscience that preserves our Hearts and Sences shall Crown us above it shall be without the least disturbance In short the same Jesus that is conceived in our Hearts and that is formed and grows in us by degrees shall then appear in a perfect Stature that shall want no more increase As it is with the Sea it enters into the Rivers before the Rivers can run to the Sea in like manner God comes to us before we go to him and Heaven enters into our Souls before we can enter into Heaven Aged Simâ—on waited patiently for Death but assoon as he had seen the Saviour of the World and embraced him he ran to meet Death he thought upon nothing but his latter end therefore he prayed most earnestly to receive him into his Glorious Rest O Christian Soul how shouldest thou dispose and prepare thy self to dy seeing thou beholdest with the Eyes of Faith this Blessed Redeemer not wrapped up in Swathling Cloaths but Crowned with an infinite Glory and Light He is not in thine Arms but he lodges in thine Heart thou hast not received him to return or part with him again but to be united unto him for ever and to be incorporated into his mystical Body Seeing therefore that Death brings thee nearer to thy Redeemer perfects this Blessed Union and casts thee into the very Fountain of Life instead of being frighted at her and grieved when it comes to thee thou shouldest then rejoyce and be transported above measure with gladness we should meet this Death with a cheerful countenance I mean that we should meet the Lord Jesus this merciful Prince of Life who having vouchsafed unto thee the sight of his Salvation intends to receive thee into his Rest and Eternal and Glorious Peace that Reigns above in Heaven A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian Soul that strengthens it self against the fears of Death by considering our strict and unseparable Union with Jesus Christ by his Holy Spirit and the First-Fruits in us of our Blessed Immortality O Mighty and Merciful Lord who art the Son of Righteousness and the Fountain of Living Water drive away from me the dark shadows of death and quench all the Fires that it kindles in my Soul thou art not only dead for me but thou art pleased to live in me that I might one day live for ever with thee Thou hast of thy pure Mercy chosen me for thy Child and hast made me a Member of thy Mystical Body Flesh of thy Flesh Bone of thy Bone and caused me to be partaker of thine Holy Spirit God hath not given thee the Spirit by measure that out of thy fulness we might receive Grace for Grace By the means of this Blessed and Infinite Spirit that rests in my Soul I am united unto thee in a more perfect manner than the Tree is to the root that bears it or the Child to its Mother that nourisheth it in her Womb or the Members of the Humane Body to the Head that gives them Life The Ties that unite me unto thee O Glorious Saviour are more unchangeable than the Heavens and the Earth As nothing can pluck me out of thine Hands there is nothing can separate me from thine Heart Whether I live or dye I am thine my Lord and my God and nothing can alter thine affection for me Death can take me out of the World and carry me out of the embraces of my dearest friends but it can never separate me from thine Holy Spirit the Soul of my Soul and the Light of my Life which cannot be put out by all the envious Blasts and Storms of the Prince of Darkness this Holy Spirit will bring me to behold thy Face to rest in thy bosom and unite me unto thee for ever To whom Lord shall I go thou hast the words of Eternal life and thou art the inexhausible Fountain Thou art my Hope and my Treasure my Glory and mine only Happiness O faithful and unquestionable Witness I should be worse than an Infidel if I did call in question my future Salvation and Glory seeing the Father hath not spared thee for me although thou art his only and beloved Son the brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person Seeing that thou O merciful Lord hast willingly suffered the most shameful death of the Cross and spilt thy precious Bloud to wash away all my sins and satisfy for my crimes and seeing that thine Holy Spirit is come into my Heart to make me a partaker of that precious Bloud and Seal me for the day of Redemption O Glorious Spirit of my Saviour that rests upon me when I should be able to speak the Language of Angels I could not sufficiently express the wonderful operations that thou dost produce in my Soul thou kindlest in me such Heavenly Flames as never go out but are always alive as the fire of thine Altar Thou formest in me a white Stone where a new Name is written which no man knows but he that receives it Thou givest me to eat of that hidden Manna of that food of Angels that the World knoweth not Thou witnessest with my Spirit that I am a Child of God an Heir of God and a Joynt Heir with Jesus Christ the King of Kings Thou dost not only Seal unto me the pardon of all my Sins but thou dost also purify my Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Thou causest me to cry out Abba Father and imprintest in my Heart the Glorious Image of my Heavenly Father Thou art the Seal of my Adoption the earnest of mine uncorruptible Inheritance prepared for me in Heaven Thou hast given me the infallible assurances of a Glorious and Eternal Life and begun it already in my Soul granting to me its First-Fruits Thou causest me to behold the Sun-shine of thy Grace and makest it to give Light in mine Vnderstanding Thou dost not only vouchsafe unto me the favour of beholding from this Valley of Tears thine Heavenly Canaan but thou causest me to tast of its Fruits I am not yet come to the Fountain of Waters that spring forth to Eternal Life but I feel the Streams and the
Rivers that run in my Soul I am not yet come to thine Holy Paradise but thou hast caused Paradise to be in me Thou hast given unto me an unspeakable and glorious Joy and hast bestowed upon me that Peace of God that passeth all understanding O living and quickening Spirit unknown to the World thou strengthenest me in such a manner that death will never be able to fright me Thou hast united me to thy self by an unseparable Vnion O Prince of Life and hast put in me a Seed of Immortality an infallible Principle of Glory and a source of unspeakable Happiness Thou art in me to dwell with me for ever therefore thou shalt fill up the measure of thy most signal Favors My Faith by thy Divine assistance hath spied out the Kingdom prepared for us from the beginning of the World and shortly I shall see with mine Eies the unexpressable Beauties of that Celestial Countrey that flows with the Milk of the purest and sincerest Joys and with the Honey of the sweetest and most ravishing Comforts Thou hast sent a fore-taste of the Fruits of the Tree of Life but I shall come into thine Heavenly Paradise I shall ever have my fill of these delicious Fruits Now thou hast caused some drops of the dew of Heaven to fall upon mine Heart but then thou wilt make me drink of the Rivers of thy Divine Pleasures At present in my painful passage through this Valley of Tears in the midst of my Groans and Tears I may gather some Herbs but when I shall come to my Heavenly Countrey I shall reap my Hands full with Songs of Joy Here upon Earth I see God as in a Glass obscurely but in Heaven I shall behold him face to face and I shall be satisfied with his likeness My Lord and my God who by the infinite Merits of thy sufferings hast purchased for us this Spirit of Life and who hast given to my Soul such an Authentick Seal of my Salvation and such a precious earnest of thine Eternal Bliss I feel in me the motions and endeavours of of this New Man that Essays to leave this Body of Darkness and Death to enter into the Light of the Living Lord Jesus seeing thou hast made me partaker of the Spirit of thy Grace enlightned my Soul with thy Divine Knowledge and caused me to know the way of Life Seeing that thou hast given me to taste of the Heavenly Gift of the Powers of the life to come Seeing that thou hast vouchsafed to me the First-Fruits of thy Glory and that I already feel Heaven in my Soul Seeing that I behold thee with the Eyes of my Faith that I embrace thee with all my affections and that thou dwellest in my Heart perfect in me the work of thy Grace and bring me at last to thine Eternal Glory Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation Amen CHAP. 20. The eighth Consolation is to consider that Death frees and delivers us from all the Evils that are in the World and that we daily suffer THere are certain Pictures with two Faces the one represents most ugly Features and the other beautiful and pleasant things This is the true Emblem of Death for it may be painted with a fearful Face a lean Body and iron Hands that ravish from us our Goods and our Honors and that divide our Persons dragging our bodies into a loathsome Sepulchre If we look upon Death in this manner we can do nothing less but tremble and fear We may also look upon it as a powerful Deliverer that unlooseth all our Fetters breaks our Chains to pieces lifts up our Souls to the highest Glory and Happiness If we consider thus there is nothing more lovely than death and nothing more to be desired I have hitherto endeavoured to shew how a Believer shall strengthen and comfort himself against the fears of Death but now I shall say something more with Heavens assistance I shall labor to prove not only that Death is to be expected without apprehension but to be received with an Holy Joy That it is not at all dreadful but rather it is to be earnestly desired I shall no longer give to speak right any Consolations against the fears of Death for I hope to make it plain that Death it self is to be looked upon as the greatest Consolation and Comforter That I may attain unto mine end I shall shew as in a Picture a short view of all the dreadful miseries of which Death delivers us and then I shall endeavour to paint out in the brightest Colours or rather I shall chaulk out unto you the Blessedness and Glories into which it ushers us Man's Life and Misery are Twin-Sisters that are born at the same time and owned Adam for their First Father they dye together at the same instant in true Believers We all know that Man begins his Life weeping and crying and ends it with sighs and Groans We come into the World all covered with Bloud and we go out wet all over with a cold Sweat If the Child cries not assoon as it is born we judge that it is dead and when the sick Body ceaseth to groan and sigh we say that he is past hopes so that as our crying is a token of Life likewise is and the end of thy sighs an infallible signe of thy Death Wretched Man how miserable is thy condition thy best friends rejoyce at thy crying and they weep and lament when thou ceasest to sigh and groan All the rest of thy time between thy Cradle and thy Grave is no happier it is but a continued Chain of Misery a mixture of pains a succession of evils and a Sea of bitterness As one Wave falls upon the back of another one evil is no sooner gone but another meets and threatens us one depth calleth another and all manner of Flouds and Storms pass over our Heads Job 5. As the Sparks rife out of the Fire to fly up and down Man is born for Misery and Pain and as the wisest of Kings speaks His days are nothing but pain and his employment but trouble in the night his Heart resteth not Eccles 3 There are scarce any dwellings but Messengers of ill news do sometimes come to them as they did to that of Job Job 1. By God's unchangeable order and appointment the days succeed the nights and divide the year into two equal parts for if the nights are longer in one season so much the shorter are they in another but the nights of our afflictions are so long that they seem to last several Ages whereas the days of our prosperity are so short that they are gone in a moment so that we may justly say with the Prophet Moses The best of our days are but labour and sorrow so soon doth our life pass away and we are gone Psal 90. It is as easy a taske to number the Stars of the Firmament and to reckon up the grains of
end is destruction whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame who mind earthly things Phil. 3. If we should seek in these days for the Christian Vertues where shall we find Faith Hope and Charity where shall we meet with Righteousness Fidelity Holiness Innocence Goodness Meekness Humility Patience Piety and Devotion You Daughters of Heaven what is become of you we cannot see any more your Angelical countenance we are so far from beholding the delightful Beams of your Divine Presence that we cannot spy out any of your Footsteps upon Earth You may therefore understand Christians thereby that the Son of God is at hand for iniquity abounds Charity grows cold and there is no more faith upon Earth In the midst of such a woful Corruption who of us doth afflict his Soul as Righteous Lot who weeps day and night as David a Man after God's own Heart where can we spy out the Fountains of Tears of the Prophet Jeremiah Or the confusion of Face of Daniel Or the Zeal of Moses of Phineas and of St. Paul If the Angel of God that went through the midst of Jerusalem did review in our days the Inhabitants of this Land I am afraid that he would not find many marked with the Letter Thau not many weeping and sighing for the abominations that are amongst us for evil and wickedness are become familiar to us by the means of our too usual inspection our continual conversation with the vicious accustomes us to the grievousness of their crimes and to the impiety of their discourses as we are accustomed by degrees to breathe in an unwholsom Air without aversion and to hear the fearful downfall of the Cartaracts of the River Nilus without repugnancy But we are so far from grieving at the universal inundation of Vice in the World that we our selves are carried away with the impetuous torrent of corruption Sin gets upon us insensibly and overcomes us so that the World is not unlike to the House mentioned by God himself in the 14 of Leviticus for it is not only infected with an incommodious Leprosy but it infects all such as dwell therein The Men of the World have an easier taske to teach us their Vices than we have to teach and perswade them to Vertue As a pestiferous Body may spread the infection and give it to a thousand such as are whole whereas a thousand in perfect health cannot heal one infected with the Plague So that what happened under the Ceremonial Law happens now unto us the clean Vessel did not sanctify the defiled but the defiled did corrupt by its approaches such as were clean Evil companies corrupt good manners and the flames of the most burning Zeal are extinguish'd by the coldness of the Age. As Lambs cannot feed amongst Bryars and Thorns without leaving behind them some of their Wooll Likewise the harmless and meek Souls cannot live amongst so much cousenage and malice without loosing something of their Innocency and Christian Simplicity Who is it amongst us that can say with a safe Conscience that the World is crucrified to him and that he is crucified to the World Gal. 6. Or who is it that lives in the World without being guilty of its sins as the Fish drinks of the Sea water and receives nothing of its bitterness Psal 26. Who can converse in the Courts of Princes as Joseph in Aegypt as Daniel in Babylon or as Queen Esther in the Court of Ahasuerus Is there any that can justly say that he hath washed his Hands in Innocency and purified his Conscience from all dead Works to serve the living God Heb. 9. Who can speak in this manner I have purified my Heart I am clean from my sin Prov. 20. In truth if we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us 1 Joh. 1. We have good reason to break out into the Prophet Isaiah's exclamation when he saw God sitting upon his Throne Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean Lips and I dwell in the midst of a People of unclean Lips Isai 6. Or we may say with the same Prophet From the sole of the foot unto the crown of the head there is no whole part Not only the Souls that are fixed to the Earth but also such as mount up to Heaven by fervent Prayers and devout Meditations have good cause to acknowledge their imperfections and to ask forgiveness If any fancies himself to be perfectly whole and free from all infection let him enter into his Soul and seriously examine his own Conscience and the same thing will happen to him as to Moses when he put his hand into his bosom he drawed it out again as white as Snow all covered with Leprosie Exod. 4. Where is there a Christian that feels no Law commanding in his Members and strugling against the Law of his Understanding Who is it that finds not by experience the truth of St. Paul's saying The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Rom. 7. Gal. 5. Without doubt such as know not nor never have felt the bitter and vehement struglings of their carnal Lusts that War against the Soul 2 Pet. 1. cannot conceive what it is to deny themselves to put off the old man with his Deeds to crucify the Flesh with its Affections and filthy Lusts Eph. 4. such know not what it is to mortify our Members to cut off our right Feet and right Hands and to pluck out our right Eyes Matth. 10. that is to say to destroy and by an Holy violence to give a deadly wound to all our brutish Passions and vicious Affections when they should seem to us as dear and useful as our Hands Feet and as tender as our right Eyes Coloss 3. Matth. 5. If these cursed affections could but declare their names they would say as the evil Spirits of the Gospel Our name is Legion for we are many As that Devil that possessed the Lunatick mentioned by St. Mathew he cast him sometimes into the Fire at other times into the Water Likewise these carnal Lusts labour to cast us sometimes into the Flames of Ambition or into the burning heat of Covetousness or to hurry us headlong into the gulf of unlawful Delights or into the mud of filthy and carnal Pleasures Furthermore they break the Chains and Ties with which we imagine to stop their fury they war and fight against us by day and by night and at every moment they return to charge us home and renew the combate Every where they assault us and have no more regard for Temples and Houses of Prayer than for common and publick places As Satan had once the boldness to encounter with Jehosoua the High-Priest before the Angel of God Likewise these cursed Lusts are so impudent to tempt us in the most Religious
and Repentance and knowest thy self united to him and incorporated into his mystical Body remember to praise this Merciful Lord and rejoyce in his Salvation Learn to admire the superexcellent Riches of the Treasuries of his Grace and seriously consider how magnificent and liberal he is to thee for he intends not only to deliver thee from all the sufferings and calamities that afflict thee but he will also raise thee up to the highest and most transcendent Felicity He will not only draw thee out of the deep Abysse of Death and eternal Damnation but he will take thee up to the Enjoyment of the most blessed Life and an immortal Glory He will not only remove thee from this wretched Wilderness where thou art tormented with Hunger and Thirst and expos'd to the scorching heat of a burning Sun to poisonous bitings of the fiery Serpents but he will introduce thee into his Celestial Canaan where the Milk and Honey of the purest Joys and most solid Comforts flow in abundance and where thou shalt for ever repose thy self under the refreshing Shadows of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God He will not only deliver thee from the captivity of this miserable World which is a true Babylon full of all manner of abominations but he will lead thee in to his Holy Jerusalem and carry thee thither upon his Arms not with an intent that thou shouldest build and repair it with cost and labor but that thou shouldest behold the Glorious and Magnificent Structures reared up by himself alone from the creation of the World and that thou mayest be Eternally satisfied with his overflowing Plenty He will not only pluck off from thee the filthy rags of Sin and Corruption but he will cloath thee with a Garment of Light of perfect Righteousness and Holiness He will not only wipe away all Tears from thine Eyes but he will put into thy Mouth Songs of Praise and Thanksgiving He will not only break the Fetters from thy Feet but he will place upon thy Head a Crown of pure Gold He will not only draw thee out of a black and noisom Dungeon but he will place thee upon a Throne of Glory and Magnificence He will not only extinguish all the carnal Lusts that War against thee and put an end to all thy troublesome disputes but he calls thee to the fruition of an Eternal Peace and Celestial Triumphs In short God will not only separate thee from the acquaintance of sinful and debauch'd Men but he will cause thee to enter in amongst the thousands of Angels and admit thee to the vision of his Glorious Face When a compounded thing comes to be dissolved every part returns to its first Principle Likewise when Man dies his Body returns to Dust from whence it is taken and the Soul returns to God that gave it As the Bird when its Cage is broken flies away into the Air to seek lits Liberty and Pleasure Thus when this Body is broken to pieces by Death the Soul flies above the Heavens where it meets with Rest and Happiness or as it is when the Net is torn the Fish falls into the Water where it lives and enjoys all its Delights Thus when Death comes to break the strings of this wretched Body the Soul enters into the River of Living Water and into an Ocean of Heavenly Delights Finally as the death of our Saviour Christ rent in pieces the Vail of the Earthly Sanctuary and discover'd all its wonderful Mysteries Thus the death of a Believer rents the Vail of this crazy and sinful Flesh and gives us a sight of the rich Treasuries and magnificent Excellencies of the Heavenly Sanctuary You Christians whom God calls to his Glorious Rest who may express the greatness of your future happiness It is not possible to imagine it as it is When your whole Lives should have been nothing else but a continuation of Misery and a Chain of Calamities you have now just cause to comfort your selves and rejoyce in God with an unspeakable joy for when all things are reckon'd up the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us You can loose nothing in this life but God will restore to you an hundred times more in his Kingdom besides there is no comparison between the advantages of the life to come and of this mortal Estate and Being Grieve not Believing Sâ—uls to forsake an Earth overspread with darkness full of Misery and all infected with Sin seeing that thy God purposes to receive thee into new Heavens all enlightened with a Divine Light and enriched with endless Felicities where Righteousness and Holiness sit upon the Throne Grieve not for the loss of the most Pious and Regenerated Societies Seeing that thou art to be admitted into the Companies of the Glorified Saints and Blessed Martyrs who have washed and whitened their Garments in the Sacred Bloud of the Lamb Seeing that thou art from henceforth to be reckoned in the number and of the society of the Angels of Light and of the glorious Cherubims Fret not to leave behind thee the Holy Congregations of the Militant Church for thou art going apace to the Glorious Congregation of the Church triumphing and in a few moments thou shalt find thy self amongst the thousands of Angels and Saints that worship God day and night and adore him who lives for ever and ever If God hath bestowed upon thee worldly Riches leave them without Regret or displeasure for thou art going to possess inestimable Treasures which shall never be taken from thee If thou art advanced to great Employments and Honors cast off thy Purple and Scarlet willingly and of thine own accord for God will shortly cloath thee with an infinite Glory that shall never change When thou shouldest be raised up to the highest and most splendid Dignities when thou shouldest enjoy a great and flourishing Kingdom come down from thy Throne with joy and let fall thy Scepter and thy Crown for God calls thee to sit upon a Throne that can never be shaken to an incorruptible Crown and to endless Joys Can there be any Town so Rich so Great and Noble a Seat that thou mayest justly grieve to forsake it at that time when God intends to make thee a Citizen with the Glorified Saints of the Jerusalem from above where neither Crying nor Labor neither Fear nor Grief neither Poverty nor Want shall ever come near thee where all the Inhabitants are Kings and possess Riches without value Is there any Dwelling so Beautiful and Magnificent that should cause thee to depart out of it with sorrow for God will lead thee into his own Palace all built with fine Gold and precious Stones where God himself is the Light and the Lamb is the Sun Art thou delighted in the enjoyment of some pleasant Inheritance here on Earth Then consider that all the Inheritances of the Earth are nothing in comparison
of that uncorruptible Inheritance which God keeps for thee in Heaven and hath prepared since the Creation of the World Hast thou a pleasant Garden or a rich Field But what are all the Gardens of the World in respect of the Heavenly Paradise where the Tree of Life grows that brings forth its Fruits every moneth of the year and where the River of living Water as transparent as Chrystal runs continually What reason hast thou Christian Soul to grieve when thou forsakest the pleasures of the World that thou enjoyest with the Children of the Earth or the Delights of the Body which are common to thee with the bruit Beasts Seeing that God will satisfy thee with his most precious Delights for in the blessed Vision of his Face thou shalt meet with fulness of joy Hast thou any friends on Earth Let it not trouble thee to leave them for instead of one friend here below whom thou fanciest to be real and sincere thou hast thousands in Heaven who will receive thee into the Eternal Mansions and embrace thee as their companion and the partaker of the same Glory and Happiness Hast thou any Parents or Relations I suppose that they are not burdensome to thee and that thou receivest much more Pleasure and Assistance from them than Grief and Ingratitude yet thou hast a spiritual Parentage in Heaven and Eternal Relations Thou hast in the Mansion-House of thy Heavenly Father a great number of Brothers and Sisters with whom thou shalt live in a blessed Unity as Members of one Body governed by the same Spirit and enflamed with the same Zeal Thou Husband whom Death snatcheth away from thy beloved Wife seriously consider that God will unite thee to himself by an unscparable Union and that he purposeth to take up to him some part of thy self that thy expectations thy hopes and affections might be now in Heaven And thou also O Woman whom Death plucks out of the embraces of thy dear and loving Husband remember that thou hast a Husband also in Heaven who hath espoused thee to himself for ever in Righteousness in Mercy and Compassion a Husband always Living and Glorious a Husband who loves thee with an Eternal Love that is stronger than Death whose affections are enflamed for thee in such a manner that the Water of all the Seas and Rivers are not able to extinguish a Husband who bears with all thine infirmities and hath redeemed thee from all thy sins a Husband who hath not spared for thee his precious Bloud that he might procure for thee the Glory and Happiness of his Kingdom who invites thee to his Heavenly Nuptials having prepared and appointed for thee a Room in the Banqueting-Chamber where thousands of glorified Saints shall sit and where the meledious Tunes of Angels shall be heard a Husband who calls to thee reacheth out unto thee his Hand and opens his Bosom to receive thee If thou hast found any satisfaction and pleasure in the company of that Person whom God had given thee for an Assistant and Mate judge from thence what Angelical Delights thou shalt meet with in the ravishing embraces of thy Heavenly Spouse The most pleasant Marriage days are gone as a shadow but the day which shall bring thee to thy Celestial Bridegroom shall never depart nor darken so that the Heavenly Contentments shall abide and continue with thee for ever without the least distaste You beloved and loving Children who are yet in the bosom of a good Father or of a tender-hearted Mother suffer Death patiently to remove you far from them and depart with joy to that good God that will receive you as his Children satisfy your Souls with the Milk of his most Blessed Consolations and will make you his Heirs and Co-Heirs with his Son Jesus Christ Say to him as the Holy Prophet When my Father and my Mother should forsake me yet the Lord will receive me Isai 66. Rom. 8. Psal 27. And you Fathers and Mothers that have a tender affection for your Children if Death takes them out of your sight and deprives you of the comfort of their company grieve not as those who have no hope for when they should be never so accomplish'd when they should have never given you but pleasure and divertisement What are all these pitiful Delights that pass away in a moment and that change oft-times into bitterness and sorrow if compared with the Eternal Pleasures which we shall enjoy in the contemplation of God's Glorious Face and in a familiar acquaintance with his Divine Wisdom You shall not return to them but they shall in their time go to you so that you shall shortly see one another in the Dwelling of the Father of Spirits Matth. 27. Death separates you for a while but the Author of your Life will bring you together for ever Finally of what age and condition soever you be if you perceive the breath of your Life to stop never grieve nor murmure at it for if Death separates you from your Selves it brings you nearer to God your chief Good and instead of a wretched and perishing life it will promote you to the fruition of an Eternal and ever happy one If we had lived in the days when our Saviour was on Earth there is none of us but would have looked upon it as a singular Happiness and Honor to have been admitted with Peter James and John when they went up to Mount Tabor to be Eye-witnesses of our Saviour's transfiguration A far greater Honor and Happiness Death is endeavouring to procure you it will usher you up to Mount Sion it will transport you above all the Heavens where you shall behold more excellent wonders than ever the Apostles beheld upon Mount Tabor for you shall not only see this Glorious Saviour whiter than the Snow and brighter than the Sun but you your selves shall be transfigured with him and cloathed with an exceeding great Glory The Holy Apostles saw but two Prophets but you shall see all the Prophets all the Patriarchs Apostles Confessors Martyrs the Holy and Blessed Virgin and generally all the Saints that Reign and Triumph in Heaven The Apostles had a sight of this Glory of our Saviour as of a flash of Lightning it continued with them but for a moment for soon after they came down from the Holy Mountain and were again in danger of the same temptations as before and besieged by the same Calamities It will be otherwise with thee O Christian Soul thou art flying up to Heaven from whence thou shalt never descend till the great day of the Glorious Resurrection of our Bodies Thou shalt not be assaulted any more by any temptationâ— thou shalt have no more Enemies to overcome nor Bitterness to digest Thou art going to reap and enjoy the Blessed Fruits of thy Saviours Victories and to be Eternally satisfied with the Celestial Pleasures that are at the right hand of the God of Mercies We esteem St. John highly priviledged because the Lord gave him
my Sins and all my Sufferings and Grief I shall enter into a new Glory into the ever blessed company of Saints and Angels If your love be sincere and real prefer my Felicity and Rest to the small satisfaction that you find in my company here below Consider that in the House of my God and in the vision of his Glorious Face I shall find every moment more Joy and Pleasure than I should have met with upon Earth in thousands of Ages All the Pomp and Splendor of the World all the Glory and State its Riches and Treasures its Pleasures and Delights are as unconsiderable to those that I am going to enjoy in Heaven as a few drops of Water to a boundless Sea or as a flash of Lightening to the Noon-Sun Must the blind Passion which you have for to see me continue with you hinder me from seeing the face of my God and Heavenly Father Suppose I were now shut up with you in some dark Dungeon and bound with the same Chain would you rather see me your companion to continue in your misery and sufferings than to behold me at a distance at liberty in the fruition of a perfect satisfaction Tell me not that we shall never see one another any more for can you be so great an Unbeliever to doubt of God's Mercy that intends to bring us together again in Heaven Death separates us for a moment but the Prince of Life will unite us together for ever in his Fathers House whither he is gone to prepare a place for us O Devout and Religious Soul by such Language as this thou shalt be able to mollify the hardest Hearts and prepare them to behold thy Translation into Heaven as Elisha was when he saw his Masters Rapture If they feel any displeasure and grief for thy separation from them they will have more joy and comfort to consider with the Eyes of Faith that extraordinary Glory and Happiness into which God intends to receive thee of his infinite Goodness and Mercy If it happens otherwise and that thou art to deal with weak minds whose Love is blind and whose Passions are so unreasonable as to resist God's appointment and to hinder thy promotion to Happiness thou must overcome by the strength of God's Grace and the assistance of his Holy Spirit all the furious reluctances of Nature Thou must imitate St. Peter when he saw our Saviour Christ in his transfiguration upon Mount Tabor he forgot his Family and all his dearest Enjoyments in the World therefore in that excess of joy he cried out Lord it is good for us to be here In the same Language must you speak Christian Souls I dare be bold to affirm if your mind is raised up by Faith into Heaven to behold Jesus Christ shining in Light and Glory and surrounded by all the Holy Angels and Immortal Spirits Assoon as you shall have but the least relish of Paradise you will be so ravish'd with that extraordinary Happiness that you will easily forget the most lovely Enjoyments of the Earth unto which you had devoted your affections so that in that transport of Joy you will be ready to burst out in this Language My Lord and my God I am sick with Love for thee I wish for nothing but for thy glorious Presence My chief Happiness is to be with thee and to behold thy face where I see already so much Light and Love I confess we shall not say as St. Peter Let us build Tabernacles For we shall never be concerned as Soldiers and Travellers in Fights and Journeys We shall not say let us build an House that we may dwell with thee and thy blessed company for I see O God with the eye of Faith the Palace which thou hast built from the foundation of the World where thou hast prepared a place for me Lord open to me the Gates of this Glorious Palace that I may enter in and sing forth thy Divine Praises My dear Friend shall the miserable Pagans who never tasted of the Heavenly Gift who were never made partakers of the Spirit of Grace nor of the powers of the Life to come the Heathens who were without Hope and without God in the World shall they march courageously to meet Death and wilt thou that hast had some foretasts of the happiness of Heaven that hast seen some beams of its Glory canst not thou resolve to depart out of the World Shall a Seneca who had no other means to strengthen himself but the perswasions of his vain Philosophy who had no expectation of advantages of the life to come shall such an one look with a stedfast countenance upon his Blood and Life gushing apace out of his veins and thou my Brother hast thou been brought up under the tuition of an Eternal Wisdom Dost thou embrace by Faith the Glory and Felicities prepared for thee by God and art not able to look upon Death with resolution and courage and canst not leave the World with expressions of Joy Shall Socrates whose crazy Body was animated by a sinful Soul and who had no manner of Antidotes against Death drink up that poison that was mixed for him as a pleasant cup of Drink And thou Christian that art animated by the Spirit of the living God that seals to thee his great and most precious promises Thou Christian that enjoyest the earnest of that Inheritance prepared for thee in Heaven shalt not thou be able to swallow down with content the cup that death holds out to thee Thou hast a powerful and an infallible Antidote against this poison for after this bitter Cup thou art going where thou shalt drink at leasure out of the Rivers of Eternal Pleasures Shall it be said that in the Jews Houses at the time of death the sound of Instruments of Musick was heard together with Crying and Lamentations and at thy Dwelling who hast an interest in Christ crucified and seest him Reigning and Triumphing in Heaven there shall be nothing heard but weeping and sighing that praising God and giving of Thanks shall not be seen at such a time Finally seeing so many persons of all Ages Sexes and Conditions have desired Death to be freed from all Earthly Evils and Calamities hast not thou good cause to wish for it heartily when it shall please God that thou mayest enter in the fruition of the advantages and happiness of the Heavenly Life How excellent is thy loving kindness O God therefore the Children of Men or rather thy Children the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ thy Well-beloved Son put their trust under the shadow of thy wings They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt cause them to drink out of the Rivers of thy Pleasures If you be passionately desirous to taste of the Angelical delights and relish the Divine pleasures that flow from the Throne of God and of the Lamb if you be really athirst for God will not you speak in Davids Language Psal
Natural ignorance it cannot of it self find out the glorious Mystery but as soon as it is enlightned with this light from above it discovers its most temarkable circumstances and acknowledgeth the Justice and Necessity of the future Resurrection of our Bodies First Seeing that Rewards and Punishments ought to be proportionable and answerable to him who is to punish and reward we must of necessity establish the Resurrection of our Bodies otherwise the pains of the wicked cannot be most violent nor the happiness of the Godly can never be absolute and perfect Secondly As when a Traytor is executed men are wont to fasten to the Scaffold or to burn in the fire the Instruments and Tools with which he had assaulted or offended his Prince in the same manner the bodies of the prophane and impious varlets of the Traytors against God's Divine Majesty ought to be treated they ought to be eternally punished with their Soul in Hell fire because they have been the unhappy instruments employed in affronting our Creator Thirdly The body is not onely the instrument employed by the wicked against God but encourageth them and hurries them on in sin for its humors stir it up inflame it and carry it to evil Acts For example its sanguine constitution makes it luxurious and inclinable to the filthy lusts of the flesh its choler carries it to violent and furious actions its mellancholy prompts it to the most horrid and hellish attempts So that if such are to be punished that cause us to perform such grievous actions it belongs to Gods justice to inflict upon the body as well as upon the Soul eternal punishments Fourthly To every thing ther eis a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven Eccles 3. As the body of the wicked and of the reprobate hath had its good things and its satisfactions during this life it must needs have also in another life its punishments and its torments Fifthly But not to forget the reasons which have a relation to the faithful and which are the Pillars and supporters of our faith and hope we may say That Jesus Christ is no less able to save us then Adam was to damn us Now Adam having lost both Soul and body we must conclude that it belongs to Christ to save them also Therefore the body is to rise again that it may partake of that Salvation or Redemption procured unto us by this great Saviour Sixthly As we have born the Image of the first man who was of the dust of the Earth we must also bear the Image of the second man who comes from Heaven 1 Cor. 15 Now we bear not this Image at present in this life we must therefore bear it in another Seventhly God hath not made a Covenant with part of man but with all man composed of Soul and body The body therefore must needs rise again that it might gather the eternal fruits of glory and happiness which are promised unto us by this Divine Covenant Eighthly God is not onely stiled The Father of Spirits and the God of the Spirits of all flesh Heb. 12. But he declares himself to be the God of Abraham and of his Posterity Numb 16.27 He is not onely the God of the Soul or the God of the body alone but he is the God of believing persons of both their Souls and bodies from hence it follows of necessity That the bodies of such as are deceased are not utterly destroyed for God will raise them up again With this argument Christ stopt the mouths of the Saduces who denyed the Resurrection Concerning the Resurrection of the Dead said he Have you not read what God himself speaks to you I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the Dead but of the living Ninthly God hath adopted us to himself by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his Will to make us the heirs of his Kingdom and coheirs of his Son From this passage we may gather a certain assurance of the Resurrection for when this Father of Mercies shall see our bodies lying in the dust out of his tenderness and compassion he will say there are the bodies of my Children the members of mine onely Son it is not convenient to leave them alwayes in that shamefull estate in the bowels of the Earth that love that I bear to them cannot suffer it doubtless it was this consideration that caused the Apostle to call the redemption of our bodies Adoption for by that he assures us that he shall fetch out of their graves the bodies of all them whom he hath Adopted and that our future Resurrection is an effect and a necessary consequence of our Adoption Tenthly If we consider Death in it self as it is in its own nature we shall find it to be the wages of sin and a punishment of our crimes Now Jesus Christ hath paid for us these wages and satisfied for all our sins abolishing them in his Cross we may therefore conclude that Death 〈◊〉 to be destroyed in respect of believers and that their bodies must needs rise again Eleventhly St. Paul assures us that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of his body Now the body of this great God and Redeemer consists not onely in that infinite number of Souls purchased with his Blood but also in the Union of all the bodies that have been the companions of these blessed Souls Therefore as he hath saved our Souls from Spiritual Death and eternal damnation he must also save our bodies from corporal death and redeem them from the power of the grave Twelfthly If death did for ever detain our bodies in the grave we could not say to speak properly that our Saviour hath swallowed up death into victory and that he hath destroyed the Sepulcher for in such a case Death and the Grave would remain victorious and triumph eternally over these miserable Bodies Thirteenth Our Saviour hath suffered in his Soul and in his Body and by that means he hath purchased to himself both our Souls and Bodies according to St. Pauls excellent intimation You are bought with a price glorify therefore God in your Bodies and in your Souls that belong unto God From hence we must conclude that this glorious Saviour will be deprived of part of that which he hath purchased by his inestimable sufferings if our Bodies did alwayes continue in the power of Death Fourteenth The holy Ghost hath Sanctified our Bodies and made them his Temples as St. Paul teacheth us Know ye not that you are the Temple of God and that the holy Ghost dwelleth in you From hence the Resurrection of our bodies must needs follow as a necessary consequence for can we imagine that God will suffer the Temple of his Holiness to continue for ever in its ruines and Desolation will he not rear up again the noble Pavillion of his glory cast down by Death Fifteenth God hath predestinated us to make us
greatest dainties Some answer to this That such kind of inhumanities are not ordinary and that such wretched Indians never practice such hainous things but in urgent necessity or when they purpose to revenge themselves upon their Enemies But such as have given an account of the New found America relate That in some Provinces there have been such cruel and inhumane Savages as not only to devour the flesh of their Enemies whom they sacrificed to their Idols but also of their dearest Friends whom they do cut in pieces in their Shambles These same Historians tell us That some of the barbarous people are so impiously mistaken as to reckon it an act of piety and duty to their Parents and Friends to give them a Sepulchre in their own stomachs Moreover they say That yet there are some who like so many mad Dogs feed upon Infants and hunt after Men as we do after wild Beasts of the Field In case all these relations should be true I must desire my Reader to take notice that are two kinds of parts that compose the humane body the one solid as the Bones and Nerves and so essential to it that without them it would cease from being any longer an humane body the other parts are adventitious accidental and changeable they serve to maintain it almost as the food and nourishment Now this I affirm as an undoubted Truth that when it happens that Men feed upon their own Kind God takes care by his wonderful Providence that the essential and solid parts of the Man devoured never enter into the substance or composition or the solid parts of the devourer At the great day of the Resurrection the bodies will reassume all their essential and solid parts without which they cannot be true bodies but they shall not need the accidental and fluid parts as are the humors and the Blood for then they shall have no more inward heat to consume them no more hunger and thirst Therefore they shall never have any need of meat or of drink or of any other thing whatsoever to serve them instead of Nourishment Let the mettals be never so much mingled the Goldsmith separates them with ease Thus let our humane Bodies be never so much altered and mingled God will be able enough to separate and distinguish them from one another Shen the Goldsmith will separate the mettals he casts them into the melting-pot and causeth them to pass through the Fire but God who can do all things without means hath no need of the Fire or of the melting-pot for by his word at the twingling of an eye he can cause this separation to be made and render unto every Body that which necessarily belongs to its composition In a word when the difficulty should be far greater than it is and when the resolution of this objection were not so easie to be made as it is it should not weaken our Faith or cause us to doubt of the Resurrection of our Bodies When it concerns things that the holy Scripture doth not expresly declare and decide or that cannot be drawn from it by a necessary consequence it is lawful to dispute either for or against such things but if it concerns such as this sacred Writ inspired of God plainly sets forth our Faith must learn her Duty to submit to Almighty God and believe that there is nothing impossible with him Now this Doctrine of the Resurrection of the dead is so expressy and plainly found in this Holy Scripture that it seems as visible as the beams of the Noon-Sun Many questions are made upon this subject some are of that importance that a reply will give most satisfaction upon this excellent subject first they inquire by whom and by whose Power shall the Resurrection be effected The Scripture gives an occasion to make this inquiry for it ascribes it sometimes to the Father as in the 5 of St. John The Father raises the dead and quickens them sometimes to the Son as in the 3 of the Phil. Jesus Christ shall change our vile Bodies according to his mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself And sometimes to the Holy Ghost as in 8 Rom. If the Spirit of him who hath raised Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you he that hath raised up Jesus from the dead shall quicken your mortal Bodies by his Holy Spirit that dwelleth in you This difficulty may thus be resolved All the outward works of God that concern the Creatures are common to the three Persons of the most Holy most Glorious and most Wonderful Trinity So that we shall rise again by the the infinite Power of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Nevertheless the Resurrection is especialy ascribed to the Son as he is Judge of the quick and of the dead In order to the discharge of that glorious employment all Power hath been committed to him in Heaven and in Earth and in the Seas 2. Some inquire further When shall this Resurrection be I answer that it shall be in the day which God hath appointed to Judge all the World by the Man whom he hath ordained Acts 17. You are not to expect from me Christians that I should point out unto you precisely the day when this shall come to pass for it belongs not to us to know the times and the Seasons which God hath reserved to himself It is true we may see that most part of the Prophecies are already fulfilled so that we may say in general terms The Lord is at hand and our Salvation is nearer to us then when we began to believe Phil. 4 Rom. 13. Nevertheless I cannot undertake to make out unto you this Glorious Day nor to tell you the year nor age when this shall be There is no Man upon Earth nor Angel in Heaven that is able to speak of it with certainty therefore Jesus Christ himself informs us But of that Day and Hour knoweth no Man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father onely Mat. 24. If our Saviour saith more that the Son himself knoweth not the Day Mark 13. We must understand this as he is a Man and during his abode in the World for as he is God he knoweth all things from all Eternity and now that he is glorified as he is Man he understands all things But he hath hid from Men the time of his coming that we might expect him at every moment as he tells the Holy Apostles Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come but know this that if the good man of the House had known in what Watch the thief would come he would have watched and would not have suffered his House to be broken up Mat. 24. He writes in the same Language to the Angel of the Church of Sardis Remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent if therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as the thief and thou shalt
as the fire St. Paul intends to teach us this truth when he tells us that this Body is sown an earthly and a sensual Body but it shall rise again an heavenly and a spiritual Body we are not so to understand these words as to think that God will change them into Spirits or into such uncomposed bodies as are the Heavens for they shall yet be made up of flesh and bones and they shall have all the essential parts of an humane Body as we have already taken notice but I conceive that they are named spiritual and heavenly because they shall have no more the gross and earthy qualities and they shall live no more a Sensitive and an animal life In a word they shall need no more meat or drink than the Stars and Celestial Bodies no more than the holy Angels of God I confess that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into Heaven in a cloud not because that a Cloud was necessary to uphold and keep up his glorious Body for if in the estate of his infirmity and humiliation this divine Body was able to walk upon the waves of the Sea without sinking by the assistance of his divine Nature how much more since its glorification shall it be able to ascend up on high and to go whither he listeth If the help of any Creature had been necessary to uphold him he might have had Legions of Immortal Angels to carry him up but Christ needed not to be assisted neither by a Body nor a Spirit nor by any other Creature This Cloud therefore that appeared at his Ascention was no token of the infirmity of his humane Nature it did rather manifest the glory and magnificence of his Divine Majesty unto which this precious Body was united personally God hath often revealed himself attended by a Cloud as upon Mount Sina in the Ark of the Covenant at the Dedication of Solomone Temple therefore that Cloud in which God was pleased to discover himself is stiled The Glory of God that is the Sign and visible expression of his Glorious Presence and Divine Majesty Let us therefore gather from hence that the Cloud which attended upon the glorified Body of Jesus Christ was no needful help to carry him up to Heaven but as it were a Chariot of Triumph to cause him to go with more glory and pomp The Bodies of the Saints after the Resuriection shall shine and be full of glory they shall not only have some superficial splendor upon their Countenance or Skin as Moses when he had been with God forty days and forty nights in the Holy Mountain but they shall shine within and without as a true Diamond that casts abroad on all sides its light and flames So that it shall happen to them as it happened to our Saviour upon Mount Tabor for it is said that his Garments became White as the Light In the same manner at the time of our Transfiguration our bodies that are but the Garments of our Immortal Souls shall be as clear as the Light and as bright as the Celestial Globes I speak here nothing but what the Prophet Daniel saith before me Daniel 12. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever And our Saviour assures us Math. 23. That the Children of God shall shine in the Kingdom of their Father as the Sun These glorified Bodies shall never corrupt nor putrify but they shall be for ever uncorruptible Therefore St. Paul assures us that the Corruptible must put on incorruption so that I may safely affirm that their glory shall be more durable than that of the Sun or of the Moon or of the Stars for although these Celestial Bodies never corrupt out of any inward principle although there can be no alteration happen to them neither from their essential form nor from the properties that come from it nor from any other inherent quality they shall nevertheless corrupt out of an external principle for the Almighty hand of God which made them shall change and alter them as the royal Prophet tells us in 102 Psalm The heavens shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed 1 Pet. 5. Unto this St. Peter doth very well agree The Heavens saith he shall pass away with a great noise Where as the glorified Bodies shall never corrupt neither by any internal principle nor by their essential form nor by the properties and accidents that flow from it nor by any external cause nor by any accident whatsoever that can be imagined for the Almighty hand of God shall make them never to marr them again From hence it follows that they shall Die no more but shall continue Immortal for with incorruption they must put on Immortality therefore when our Saviour speaks of the estate of the glorified Saints Luk. 20. he saith not only that they shall not Die but that they cannot Die any more because they shall be like the Angels being the Children of the Resurrection In this consists the difference between them and those whom God hath raised up already mentioned in the Old and New Testament For they were forced to return to their sensual life to eat and drink and therefore they were again subject to corruption and Death but at the day of the general Resurrection whatsoever is Mortal shall be swallowed up by Life therefore St. Paul applies to this glorious day the accomplishment of this Prophecy Death is swallowed up into Victory and he brings in these who shall be cloathed with this Immortal Glory braving Death and the Grave in this triumphing Language O Death where is thy Victory O Grave I where is thy Sting In short to make us sensible that our Bodies shall put on all the richest and most noble qualities that can be imagined and to express all in a word the Holy Ghost assures us that they shall bear the Image of the Son of God and be made conformable to his glorious Body St Paul declares this Truth in the 15 Chap. of the first of the Corinth The first Man saith he was of the Earth Earthly the second Man was the Lord from Heaven as is the Earthy such are they that are are Earthy and as is the Heavenly such are they also that are Heavenly and as we have born the Image of the Earthy we shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly And in Philip. 3. he saith we wait for the Lord Jesus from Heaven who shall change our vile Body that it may be like to his glorious Body from hence you may gather Christians that at the rebuilding of this little Temple of the Godhead there shall happen no such thing as at the rearing up of the Temple of Jerusalem for when that was Rebuilding at the return from the Babilonish Captivity they that had seen the former
voice the praises of Almighty God in the glorious company of the Church triumphant with these unsteddy hands that can scarce hold any thing thou shalt one day receive Immortal Palmes and Golden Viols which thou shalt never quit with these feet that are dying and that can scarce hold thee up thou shalt follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth and thou shalt walk about the Streets of the heavenly Jerusalem and this same body that is going to rot and to be turned to dust shall one day shine as the Firmament and as the Sun in its greatest splendor What desirest thou more Christian Soul for thy comfort what addition can there be made to thine happiness for thou art going to the fruition of eternal Joyes and of endless pleasures in Heaven In the mean while thy Body shall endure no pain nor grief and God will shortly raise it up again from this deep sleep that begins to dull thy senses and close thine eye lids Shortly God will publish the year of the great Jubile all the Prisons of Death shall be then opened and the Prisoners shall be set at liberty Thou shalt shortly hear the found of the last Trump that shall rouse thee out of the dust and cause thee to appear in the presence of thy great Redeemer Thou leavest a wretched Body full of darkness and corruption assaulted by Death on all sides but it shall shortly be made uncorruptible immortal and adorned with Light and Glory Let therefore thy Heart rejoyce thy Tongue be glad and thy flesh rest in hope for the Lord will not leave thee always in the Grave he will not suffer thee to continue for ever in dust and corruption he will not only discover to thee the ways of life but he will shortly come down himself from Heaven for to lead thee thither When Death should be already upon thy lips when she should be ready to lay thee in thy Grave let not this disturb the quiet of thy Soul nor the peace of thy Conscience let it not shake thy precious Faith that keeps thee up nor drive thee from the Author of thy Blessed hope fixed in Heaven where Jesus Christ is entered as thy forerunner in short when thy Body should be all covered with sores and boiles as that of Job Job 19 when it should all fall to pieces before thine eyes let nothing hinder thee from crying out with this patient Man I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my skin worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my se f and mine Eyes shall behold and not another And with St. Paul Phil. 3. We look from Heaven for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself A Prayer and Meditation of a Christian who being ready to depart out of the World comforts himself with an assurance and expectation of the glorious Resurrection of his Body from the Dust O Eternal and Divine Word by whom all things were Created and without whom was not any thing made that was made Thou hast not only created our Souls and fashioned our Bodies with thy skilful hands but when they were miserably lost and corrupted with Sin thou hast been pleased to redeem both our Souls and Bodies with thy most precious Blood and to restore thy glorious Image in us This wretched Body is but an Earthen Vessel yet thou hast inclosed in it the richest Treasuries of Life and Light Thou hast appointed it to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost and a noble Pavillion of the Godhead to participate with the Soul in the eternal happiness of thy Kingdom I feel my strength failing me and this Earthly Tabernacle decaying every day and every hour so that I am certain that it shall shortly fall to dust But Lord I am sufficiently comforted with the knowledge that if the outward Man decays the inward is renewed day by day If this wretched Body falls down by Death thou shalt raise it up again at the general Resurrection My Lord and my God thou art sufficiently able for all power is given to thee in Heaven and in Earth and in the depths of the Sea As the Father raiseth and quickneth the Dead thou dost also quicken them whom thou hast chosen Thou hast fashioned my Body of Dust and created this Dust of nothing and shalt not thou be able of the same dust into which this my Body shall be turned by Death to make and fashion it again Thou hast by thine Almighty power created my Soul and infused it into this Body and canst thou not return it again when it shall please thee to live for ever in a more blessed society than ever it hath been before O Prince of Life Death hath sufficiently felt thy great and overflowing power It intended to swallow thee up but thou hast swallowed it up in a glorious manner into Victory Thou hast been dead but thou art returned to life and thou livest for ever and ever And now thou holdest in thy hands the Keys of Death Thou openest and shutest up thy black Dungeon at thy pleasure Thou killest and makest alive thou castest into the Grave and fetchest up again Lord Jesus who art the Resurrection and the Life as thou hast an ability to cause my Body to come out of the Dust thou art willing and resolved to take it out again for thou hast promised to awake with the sound of the Archangels Trump and to lead away with thee all them that sleep in thee and repose themselves upon thee when thou shalt come from Heaven with thy powerful Angels at the great day of thy Triumph and at the Crowning of thy Spouse all the Prisons of Death shall be opened and the prisoners set at liberty It shall not be long O Lord before thou wilt cause the last Trumpet to sound to publish and proclaime the great Day of Rest and Joy Thou shalt then put us in possession of all the advantages which we have lost Thou shalt command the Sea the Earth and the Grave to restore all the Bodies which they have swallowed up and they shall readily obey thee Thy mighty word that Created the World and sustains it shall be heard in our very Graves and at that instant we shall go out to appear before thy dreadful Tribunal We shall not go out in the same manner as Lazarus with our winding sheets about us we shall leave in the Grave all tokens of our former infirmities Thou shalt not only draw our Bodies out of their Tombs but thou shalt make them more beautiful more perfect and glorious than ever they were before so that we are able to say for a truth I hat the glory of this second House shall be greater than the glory
of the former For thou shalt change this vile body and make it like to thy glorious body this corruptible shall put on incorruption and whatsoever is mortal in us shall be overcome and swallowed up by life With these same languishing eyes I shall behold thee upon a Cloud of the Heavens and a Throne of fire with these ears that are going to be stopt I shall hear the sound of the last Trump and the Songs of the blessed Angels with this Tongue that can scarce speak and move I shall sing forth thine Eternal and Divine praises with the Church Triumphing with these dying hands I shall embrace and take hold of thee with these feet that are already in the Grave I shall follow thee whither soever thou goest and walk about the streets of the new Jerusalem this same Body that is now dropping into the rotten Grave shall be carried up into Heaven to shine as the Stars or as the Sun for ever and ever O Lord I am ready to depart out of this Tabernacle there is nothing but a breath in my nostrils the shadow of Death appears upon mine eye lids and my Soul is upon my lips but I am fully perswaded that in this flâ—sh which shall be cast away to the worms and left in a rotten Grave I shall behold thy Glory and magnificence I shall see thy face and shall be satisfied with thy likeness when I shall awake again Amen CHAP. 24. The Twelfth Consolation the Destruction of Death and the Eternal and most Blessed Life which we shall enjoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection WE have sufficiently treated of that happiness which is prepared for our Souls at their departure from the Bodies and of the glorious Resurrection promised to these Bodies when Jesus Christ shall come down from Heaven in his Glory to judge the quick and the dead It seems 〈◊〉 we have nothing more to say but as Moses when he had made the Ark of Shittim wood and lined it with fine Gold he put round about a Crown of Gold upon the Top. In the same manner now that we have declared unto you the incorruption and future glory of our Bodies which are to be look'd upon as sacred Arks 〈…〉 God 's Majesty shall dwell for ever Now that we 〈…〉 how by the Almighty and gracious power of 〈…〉 they shall become more uncorruptible than the 〈◊〉 wood and more glorious than fine Gold I will nâ—w with Gods a â—â—â—ance draw about them a Crown more precious than the purest Gold and richer than all the â—ewels in the World I mean to Crown this work and intend to end it with as perfect a Picture as I am able to draw of the Eternal Glory and Happiness which we expect to enjoy both in Soul and Body after our Resurrection But first I must say something of the entire and perfect destruction of all our Enemies and represent unto you the overthrow and the fatal end of Death When Jesus Christ shall appear again to Judge the World in Righteousness he shall sit upon a glorious and a most splendid Throne Solomons magnificent Throne was but its shadow and imperfect Type he shall then send forth his Angels who shall gather together the Elect with the sound of a Trumpet from the four parts of the World and from one end of the Heavens to the other The sight of this glorious Saviour shall then fill us with an unspeakable joy and cause us to burst forth into this Language Is 25. Lo this is our God we have waited for him and he will save us This is the Lord we have waited for him we will be glad and rejoyce in his Salvation But when all the kinreds of the Earth shall behold this glorious King in the Clouds of Heaven with power and great glory they shall lament and strike their Breasts in despair they shall call to the Mountains and Rocks Revel 6. Fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come who shall be able to stand It is then that the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness and shall manifest the thoughts of the heart with the most secret contrivances The Books shall be opened not only of the guilty Consciences where Satans Image and Deeds shall be engraven but also the other Books where God himself hath written with his own finger all our actions words and our most secret thoughts All Men shall be judged according to the things written in the Books St. John declares this in the 20. of the Revelations I saw a great White Throne and him that sate on it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was no place for them And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their works Unto this St. Paul agrees we must all appear before the judgement Seat of Christ that every one may receive in his Body according as he hath done whether it be good or evil There are three sorts of persons that are to stand before this glorious Tribunal such as never had any other teacher but Nature who were not acquainted with any other Works of God but of Creation and Providence for God hath not left himself without witness in doing good The second sort have been assisted with a Divine Revelation from above under the Law which hath distinctly taught them what Works are pleasing to God These may have heard something of a Messias from the ancient Prophets they may have seen his pourtraiture in the Types and Shadows of Moses ordinances The other sort have had the Grace of God clearly and plainly revealed unto them unto whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel There are none of these persons if they have lived in Impiety and debauchery and are dead in impenitency that shall be able to excuse themselves in this dreadful day of Judgement But some are more guilty than others therefore they shall be condemned to more greivous Tortures The knowledge that God hath bestowed upon Man hath been darkened by the Prince of darkness but it hath not been totally extinct and that Law which God hath engraven in the Soul of Man hath not been altogether blotted out but there remains yet some relicks So that there is no Man living that can affirm that he hath done all the good deeds which his Conscience was perswaded that he ought to perform and that he hath omitted all the evil acts of which his Conscience did convince him They who have lived and are Dead without any Law of God revealed unto them shall be judged without the Law Such shall be condemned for having taken pleasure in
passionately love and because there is not one thing here below that can express unto us the Glory and Happiness of Paradise so many perfections are not to be found in one only thing Therefore the Holy Ghost gathers together all the Excellencies Riches and Beauty scattered about in the inferior Creatures and borrows the Ideas and Notions of those things that are rarest and most glorious and that give us the greatest pleasure and satisfaction to represent unto us Heaven's Glory To begin in the first place with the word Paradise it signifies a delightful and a pleasant Garden it is often made use of to express to us the Joys and Happiness of the life to come and to make us sensible that what we have lost by Adam is restored to us by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Saviour who is goodness it self shall bestow upon us another Eden another Garden of pleasure watered with living water in the midst of it is the Tree of Life that brings forth its Fruits every moneth instead of an earthly Paradise subject to change we shall find an Heavenly and an Unchangeable Paradise The earthly Paradise is no more to be seen it is thought that it was swallowed up and destroyed by the Waters and Deluge but the Heavenly Paradise can never be destroyed by the most furious Fire nor by the most swelling Waves It is above all the Winds and Storms and Tempests therefore St. Peter assures us That it is an incorruptible inheritance that fadeth not away It hath no need of an elemental Water for it is watered every where with the River of living Water that proceeds from the Throne of God and the Lamb. And whereas Cherubims armed with a flaming Sword stood at the entrance of the Earthly Paradise to hinder Adam from approaching near to the Tree of Life and from gathering of its Fruits Now whole Legions of Cherubims are to carry us up upon their wings to the true Tree of Life which stands in the midst of the Heavenly Paradise and Jesus Christ himself the Prince of all the Angels of all the Cherubims and Seraphims promiseth to admit us to partake of its delicious Fruits by these blessed words To him that shall overcome I will give him to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God It is the common custom of Men to have an high esteem of beautiful and great Cities whereof the buildings are stately and the Inhabitants many Therefore the Jews were wont to boast of Jerusalem and to call it The City perfect in Beauty the joy of the whole Earth Therefore the Holy Ghost represents unto us the Glory and Happiness of Heaven by a City which he names Jerusalem And St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews mentions the same comparison for when he had said That Abraham by faith sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Countrey dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaack and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same promise he adds immediately after For he looked for a City which hath foundations whose builder and Maker is God and a little after God is not ashamed to be called their God for he hath prepared for them a City Heb. 11. And in the 12 Chapter of the same Epistle he speaks to Believers in this manner Ye are come to mount Sion and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels And elsewhere We have no continuing City here below but we seek one to come Heb. 13.14 God is pleased not only to describe unto us our future Paradise under the general notion of a City and of Jerusalem but he declares unto us its Heavenly Beauty its Glory and Magnificence you cannot find a richer and a more excellent Image than that of St. John who himself had been a spectator of the new Jerusalem and had beheld all its rarities and wonders for when the Angel who had in his hand a Golden Reed to measure this Glorious City had said unto him Come I will shew thee the Spouse the wife of the Lamb. He carried him in the Spirit to an high Mountain from whence he had a prospect of that great and Holy City Jerusalem which came down from Heaven from God decked as a Spouse prepared for her Husband having the Glory of God and his Light This faithful witness assures us that its Buildings and the Streets of this blessed City were all of fine Gold as bright as Chrystal its Foundations were of precious Stone it s twelve Gates were twelve Pearls at each of them stood an Angel of God This Holy City hath no need of the light of the Sun or of the light of the Moon for the Light of God enlightens it and the Lamb is the Light thereof there is no Temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it It is our delight to abide in stately and magnificent Houses and in rich and glorious Palaces Therefore Paradise is expressed unto us by a Dwelling and by a Palace which God himself hath built with his own Hands This is the Picture that the Royal Prophet represents unto us in the 65 Psal when he speaks of God's House and of the Holy place of his Palace And St. Paul doth the like in the 1 Cor. 5 Chap. when he saith We know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens And our Saviour when he was ready to leave the World he comforts his Apostles in this manner In my Fathers House there are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And St. John heard a mighty voice from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God with Men he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall he their God with them Every one desires to be rich there be some that esteem it their chief Happiness therefore the Holy Ghost represents the Happiness of Heaven under the notion of Riches and Treasures our Saviour himself speaks of it in this manner in the 6 of St. Matthew Lay not up for your selves Treasures upon Earth where Moth and Rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for your selves Treasures in Heaven where neither Moth nor Rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal Therefore when the Holy Ghost describes Heavens Glory and mentions Gold Pearls and precious stones it hath a regard to this consideration And because Men are for the most part desirous of Honors Greatness and Dignities and that there is nothing in the world more esteem'd than Scepters Crowns therefore the Glory of Heaven is express'd by a Kingdom by Thrones Crowns and Triumphs Our Saviour speaks in this language to his Apostles To you all who have continued with me in my afflictions I appoint a Kingdom as my Father hath
appointed unto me Luk 22. In another place he speaks to all his Church in general Fear not little flock for it is your Fathers pleasure to give you the Kingdom Luk 20. And at the last day he will say Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Matth. 25. And to the Angel of his Church in Smyrns and to all faithful Souls this Divine Saviour makes this promise Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Revel 2. And to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea To him that over cometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne Revel 3. And St. Paul tels us That we run to obtain an uncorruptible Crown 1 Cor. 6. And when he saw himself at the end of his Race he cries out I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearing 2 Tim. 4. And St. James speaks in the same Language Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the Crown of Life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him Jam. 1. Finally we read that the glorified Saints have Palms in their Hands and Crowns of Gold upon their Heads and in their Songs of Praise they speak thus to our Saviour Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us to our God Kings and Priests and we shall reign on the Earth Revel 4.4 The great Men of the World delight in gorgeous Apparel some in perfum'd Garments therefore the Holy Ghost condescends to this weakness of Man and promiseth in Heaven Robes more flagrant than the perfumes of Arabia he promiseth a Garment whiter than Snow and brighter than the Light it self And Solomon when he considers his Spouse as the Type of the Church he saith The Kings daughter is full of glory within her clothing is of wrought Gold she shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle work And when God himself speaks of the glory of his Church which he begins now and will consummate hereafter he saith that he adorned her with Gold Silver and precious Stones that he hath clothed her with fine Linnen with Silk and Needle-work therefore the Church speaks in this manner I will greatly rejoyce in the Lord my Soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath clothed me with the Garments of Salvation he hath covered me with the Robes of Righteousness as a Bridegroom decketh himself with Ornaments and as a Bride adorneth her self with her Jewels And if you take notice of such as stand before the Throne of God and in the presence of the Lamb that worship him day and night in his Temple you shall find them clothed with long Robes whitened in the Bloud of the Lamb. Look also upon that Glorious Woman of the Revelations the true Type and representation of the Church and you shall see her clothed with the Sun and a Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head In a word hearken to the Song of the glorified Saints and you shall hear them speaking to one another Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honor to God for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his Wife hath made her self ready and to her was granted that she should be arayed in fine Linnen clean and white for the fine Linnen is the righteousness of Saints Men commonly love good cheer to partake of sumptuous Feasts therefore the Heavenly Delights are represented to us under the notion of rare Meats and exquisite Drinks of Noble Feasts and Magnificent Banquets In this manner the Royal Prophet speaks of them in the 36 Psalm How excellent is thy loving kindness O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy House and thou shalt make them drink of the River of thy pleasures And in the 65 Psalm Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts he shall be satisffed with the goodness of thy house even of thy holy Temple And the Prophet Isaiah speaks in the same language In this Mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make unto all people a Feast of fat things a Feast of Wine on the Lees of fat things full of Marrow of Wines on the Lees well refined This consideration causeth a Doctor in the Gospel to say Blessed is he that shall eat Bread in the Kingdom of Heaven And our Saviour himself saith that many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit at Table in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Ahasuerus's Feast continued 180 days but the Feast of which we shall be partakers in Heaven and which hath been preparing from the foundation of the World shall continue for all Eternity Of all Feasts such as are prepared for Nuptial Solemnities are most esteem'd when they are for Kings and Princes of the Earth for in such occasions there are the greatest and the most extraordinary rejoycings therefore the happiness of Heaven is expressed by a Marriage our Saviour himself makes use of this comparison in the 22 Chapter of St. Matthew The Kingdom of God saith he is like unto a King which made a Marriage for his Son This caused the glorified Church to speak in this manner Let us rejoyce and be glad and give glory to the Lord our God for the Marriage of the Lamb is come Finally The Holy Ghost hath Commanded to Write and Record these words for ever Blessed are those that are called to the Marriage-Feast of the Lamb. Some persons are very much delighted with the sweet and pleasant Consorts of Musick Therefore the Holy Ghost to signify unto us That in Heaven there shall be all manner of pleasures and nothing wanting tells us that about God's Throne millions of Angels and glorified Saints shall sing forth the Divine Praise Besides it acquaints us with the substance of their Heavenly Songs when Isaiah mentions these wonderful Seraphims that fly round about God's Glorious Throne he saith That they cry one to another Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts the whole Earth is full of thy glory And when St. John speaks of those glorified Saints he saith that they stand before this magnificent Throne playing with their Harps and singing a new Song that is to say a most rare and excellent Song and that they have always in their mouths the song of Moses and of the Lamb and that Heaven it self resounds with their Sacred Halelujah's which signifies Praise
must take notice of two or three distinctions which if we understand well we shall find no more difficulty in this question First God may be considered in three several respects as he is in Himself and in his proper Being It is in this respect that our Souls do earnestly long for h m and desire to draw near to him and be united unto him as to their Soveraign Good and the bottomless Fountain of Glory and Happiness Secondly as he doth reveal and discover himself on Earth by certain Images and Tokens of his favourable Presence Thirdly as he shall manifest himself in Heaven by the Glorious Images and Divine marks of his Glorious Presence Secondly we must distinguish the several kinds of sight for there is the sight of the Body which looks only upon the objects whereof the Images and Species are within the reach and capacity of our Eye-sight as are Colour and Light There is the sight of the understanding which sees and beholds the things that are at a distance from our sences as the spiritual and invisible substances and the Essential forms of the Body There is also the sight of Faith which riseth yet something higher than our understanding as it is during our abode here below when it is enlightened with God's Divine Grace it sees and beholds things which the eye of the Body never saw and the sensual understandings of Men can never comprehend as the Mysteries of Christian Religion and the powers of the World to come Lastly we must distinguish the knowledge of the Understanding for sometimes it is obscure and confused at other times it is plain and distinct Moreover that knowledge which is most certain and the plainest is of two sorts the one hath bounds and limits suitable to its subject that is to say suitable to the ability and reach of the Understanding the other is absolute and of the same nature as its object that is to say as the thing it self which the understanding looks upon and beholds God as he is in himself and in his own Essence and Being hath never been seen by the Eye of the Body and shall never be neither in this life nor in the life to come for God is a Spirit and of an invisible Nature 1 Timothy 6. In this respect St. Paul affirms That God dwels in a Light which no man can approach unto that no man hath ever seen him nor can see him John 3. But this good God who of himself is invisible delights to shew him self to his Creatures in several ways First God shews himself unto all Men in the works of the Creation of the great World for as St. Paul saith in the 1 of the Romans The invisible things of God from the creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead Especially he hath been pleased to give in the Light a production of Nature and the first of all visible Creatures a lively Image of himself for as there is nothing more ample purer and more beautiful than the Light Likewise there is no visible Creature that represents so well this great God who is a Being most pure most beautiful and perfect the Father of Lights and the true Sun of our Souls Secondly God discovers himself in all the workings of his wonderful Providence and chiefly in his extraordinary and miraculous Operations for when men perceive productions which exceed all the ordinary strength of Nature they are forced to acknowledge that they come immediately from an infinite Power As Pharaoh's Magicians for when they saw that by their Magick Art they were not able to counterfeit Moses's Miracle they confessed That it was the finger of God Thirdly God discovers himself in his Holy and Divine Word which is to us as a beautiful and perfect Looking-Glass where we may see his Image and the brightness of his Glory This was St. Pauls judgement when he saith That all we that behold as in a Glass the glory of the Lord with open face are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Cor. 3.18 Fourthly God revealed himself to the Church of Israel in the Ark the Signe and ordinary Token of his Gracious Presence He did speak unto this People from the midst of the two Golden Cherubims and did publish his Divine Oracles there he was pleased to discover himself in divers representations chiefly in the Cloud and Fire which came down from Heaven Therefore the Signe bearing the name of the thing signified is sometimes stiled The Lord as in that passage where David saith My Soul is athirst for God for the mighty and living God O when shall I go and appear in the presence of God Psal 42. Fifthly God manifested himself to the Patriarchs and Prophets in Dreams and Visions by Divine Raptures and Prophetical Elevations In this manner he appeared to the Patriarch Jacob in Bethel for when it is said that God was at the end of the mystical Ladder which reach'd up to Heaven without doubt he gave some Sign and Testimony there of his Presence And when the Prophet Isaiah mentions his Glorious Throne he makes no difficulty to say I saw the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his Train filled the Temple above it stood the Seraphims each one had six wings with two he covered his Face and with two he covered his Feet and with two he did fly and one cried to another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his Glory and the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the House was filled with smoak Isai 6. And the Prophet Micah when he speaks of his Vision he saith I have seen the Lord sitting upon his Throne and all the Hosts of Heaven standing at his right hand and at his left 1 King 12. And the Prophet Daniel describing one of his visions speaks in this manner I beheld till the Thrones were cast down and the antient of days did sit whose Garment was white as Snow and the hair of his Head like the pure Wooll his Throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as hurning fire a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Sixthly God shewed himself unto Moses in a particular manner not only when he appeared unto him in Horeb and spoke to him out of the flaming Bush but especially when God appeared unto him in the Holy Mountain and for the space of forty days and forty nights discoursed with him familiarly as with a friend for at that time he exposed before him such Glorious and Magnificent Tokens of his Divine Presence that it was almost the same thing as if he had seen God himself God gave him more Light and Knowledge of his Glory than to any other of
Man Lastly That after the Resurrection God shall be in us all in all which expression declares the highest and most compleat Happiness and Glory Others think the contrary that in Heaven there shall be an inequality of Glory and several degrees of Happiness This their opinion they strengthen chiefly with two passages of Holy Scripture the one is in the 14 of St. John where Christ saith to his Apostles In my Fathers house there are many Mansions The other is in the 1 Cor. 15. where St. Paul discoursing at large of the happiness of the Saints after the Resurrection saith There is one Glory of the Sun another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another in Glory so is the resurrection of the dead There are some that are not content to believe an inequality of Glory and Happiness but they undertake further to discourse of this matter with as much boldness as if God had admitted them to the knowledge of his Eternal Secrets as if he had discovered to them all the wonders of the Heavenly Jerusalem more plainly than to his beloved disciple Such tell us not only that there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but they inform who they are that shall obtain such and such Degrees they prescribe in a Dogmatical and Magisterial manner which shall be the Glory of Virgins which shall belong to Confessors which shall be that of Martys In a word some are so much puffed up with an high conceit of themselves and of their own deservings that they make an open profession of being of the number of such as shall obtain the highest degrees of Glory and Happiness But my opinion is that the Truth is to be found between these two extreams I shall not impose any Law upon the Consciences of any Man in this particular whereof the decision is not absolutely necessary to Salvation yet we may say that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Glory and Happiness but we dare not describe them nor venture to apply them to any persons or to tell who of us shall possess such and such degrees This were a bold attempt upon Heaven and a taking of the forbidden Fruit by such an impudency we should loose our selves instead of saving others for such as are so audacious as to search into the Divine Majesty shall be swallowed up by his Glory Prov. 25. And although we verily believe degrees of Glory yet we may say without offence to any person that this belief is not to be established upon the fore-mentioned passages from whence we cannot gather any such conclusion for in the 14 of St. John our Saviour saith not that there are divers Degrees or divers Mansions whereof some are Richer and more Glorious than others but only that in his Fathers House there are many Mansions The meaning of this Divine Saviour is as clear as the day he had an intent to raise up the drooping courage of his Holy Apostles and to comfort them in his absence for that purpose he assures them that he is going to lodge in an House where there is not only room for himself but also for them and for all that shall believe in him by their Teaching He expounds his words plainly in the 17 Chapter of the same Gospel where he speaks to God in this manner Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me For the other passage of the 1 of the Corinth I beseech you devout Souls read over the Apostles words and consider with a Religious observation what goeth before and what follows after you shall find that the Apostle intends not to compare the Saints the one with the other but only to discover the difference which is between our Bodies as they are in this corruptible and mortal life and as they shall be when they shall have put on incorruption and immortality Therefore when he had said One is the Glory of the Sun another is the Glory of the Moon another the Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory He doth not add likewise so shall be the Glory of one blessed Person differing from another but he saith So shall be the resurrection from the dead The Body is sown in corruption it shall be raised in incorruption it is sown in dishonour it it raised in glory it is sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body From whence is it therefore that we gather these divers degrees of Glory and Happiness I answer First from the divers and different pains and punishments of the damned For as in Hell there shall be several degrees of Torments Likewise it is very probable that in Heaven there shall be divers degrees of Happiness and several degrees of Glory Secondly God to declare his Divine Wisdom which is various in all things bestows at present all his Blessings and Riches with a wonderful variety and with an admirable order Thus you may see in nature that God hath scattered up and down the World divers gifts and excellencies for example the smell and beauty of Roses is different from that of the Lillies the brightness of the Diamonds is not like that of Rubies the light of the Sun differs from that of the Moon and Stars Likewise it is very probable that above all the Heavens there shall be divers degrees of Light and Glory Amongst the Holy Angels there are Titles of Honor and several Dignities therefore they are named Archangels Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers As therefore amongst the Angels there are divers degrees of Glory it is also likely that the same order shall be observed amongst the Glorified in Heaven Besides as in the Church militant the Graces of God differ very much The Souls of the Faithful are not the same in all respects they have differing qualities and excellencies there are in them divers degrees of Light of Knowledge of Faith of Hope of Charity and Holiness Likewise according to the Analogy of Faith there should be also in the Church glorified divers degrees of Glory and Happiness and the rather because Glory is nothing else but the compleating and perfection of Grace This reason is so much the stronger because in the parable of the Talents Jesus Christ gives to his servants a Glory proportionable to the former Riches of his Grace None can conceive that the words relate to God's Favors bestowed upon his Children on Earth for our Lord speaks of that which he intends to do to them when he shall come down from Heaven to judge the World The words relate to the time when he shall say to such as have well employed the Talents of his Mercy Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord They relate also to the time when he shall cause the
this there be any other Sphere whereof the motion is so furious and swift as to carry with it the inferior Globes and to cause them to roul round in the space of four and twenty hours Of this Heaven David speaks in the 19 Psalm The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy-work be hath put in them a Tabernacle for the Sun Now above all these Heavenly Spheres mentioned by the Astrologers some reckon up nine or ten and others more There is yet a third Heaven spoken of by St. Paul 2 Cor. 12. I know saith he a man in Christ which was taken up into the third Heaven I know that he was taken up into Paradise and heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for Man to utter The Holy Apostle removes in these words all doubts concerning the place intended by this Third Heaven for he calleth it Paradise where he heard unspeakable words which are not possible to be uttered The Celestial Globes rowl about continually but this Third Heaven which for its excellency is stiled Heaven is fixed and without motion in Eternal Rest And as much as these beautiful Orbs have a greater Light and Glory than the Air and the inferior Bodies so much the more doth this Third Heaven excel them It is my judgement that Solomon means this Third Heaven scituate above all the rest which exceeds them so much in Beauty and Glory when he speaks to God of the Heavens and of the Heaven of Heavens 1 Kings 8. That is to say the most Excellent the highest and the most Glorious of all the Heavens are not able to contain thee and God himself saith by his Holy Prophet The Heavens are my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool Isai 66. for in this high Heaven God hath placed his Throne where he discovers his Glory and the brightness of his surprizing Countenance there the Seraphims fly and thousand thousands worship him and ten thousand Millions stand continually before him Isai 6. Dan. 7. Here it was that the Blessed Soul of our Saviour Christ was admitted assoon as it had left the Body according to what he promised to the crucified Thief Verily I say unto thee this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luk 23. Hither this Glorious Saviour is ascended both in Soul and Body after his Resurrection and here it was that St. Stephen saw him when he cryed out I see the Heavens open and Jesus Christ fitting at the right hand of God Acts 7. And hither it is that the Souls of all such as dye in his favour are carried up Therefore St. Paul to the Hebrews mentions immediately after the thousands of Angels The Spirits of just Men made perfect and the Church and Congregation of the first-born whose names are written in Heaven In short it is the Glorious Seat where we hope that God will receive us both in Soul and Body at that day when we shall be taken up into the Air above the Clouds of Heaven to be for ever with the Lord Jesus Some inquire then what shall become of this Elemental World whether this Heaven that appears to our Eyes and this Earth which sustains us shall perish or whether they shall remain yet after the great day of Doom Certain prophane Atheists are perswaded that the World shall remain for ever as it doth at present and that there shall be no manner of alteration The Apostle St. Peter hath Prophesied of these Persons and described them in their own Colours There shall come at the last day mockers walking after their own Lusts saying where is the promise of his coming for since the Fathers are asleep all things continue in the same manner since the beginning of the World I need not trouble my self in a refutation of such impieties I speak to none but to the devout Souls which reverence the Divinity of the Holy Scriptures and are fully perswaded of the Truth of all the Articles of our Creed It oft-times happens when Men oppose a false Doctrine and an erroneous opinion they run from one extremity to another therefore some imagine that the World shall totally perish and that as God hath called the Heavens and Earth and the rest of the Elements out of nothing he will reduce them all again into the same Nothing and that he intends to create others more beautiful more Holy and far more Glorious There are two kinds of expressions that seem to favor this opinion The first which speaks of the Heavens and of the Earth as of perishing and decaying Creatures In this manner David discourseth of them in 102 Psalm and after him the Apostle to the Hebrews Thou Lord hast established the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure they shall wax old as doth a Garment and as a Vesture shalt thou fold them up and theyshall be changed And our Saviour tells us in the 24 of St. Matt. The Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my Words shall not pass away Especially the words of St. Peter in the 2 Epistle and the 3 Chapter are remarkable The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt up The other passages mention new Heavens and a new Earth as in the 65 of Isaiah Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former things shall be remembred no more Likewise in the fore-mentioned Chapter the 3 of the 2 Epistle of St. Peter We look for new Heavens and a new Earth according to his promise wherein dwelleth Righteousness And in the 21 Revel I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Moreover St. Paul to the Hebrews speaks of the World to come from hence some conclude that the old World ought to be abolished and that God shall create a new World There is no man that is a Christian can doubt of that wonderful change which shall happen to the world at the last day if he considers the fore-mentioned passage of Holy Scripture especially that of St. Peter The Heavens shall pass away with a noise and the Elements shall melt with heat and the Earth with the Works that are therein So that as the Walls of Jerico fell at the sound of the Priests Trumpets Likewise this great world shall be turned upside down at the blowing of the Arch-Angels Trumpet Our Reason alone being enlightened by Divine Revelation seems to confirm this Truth for seeing that the House infected with a spreading Leprosy was to be demolished how much the rather should the world be destroyed because in it is to be seen apparently the spots and blemishes of sin the Spiritual Leprosy But although this great Fabrick of the World ought to be ruined and turned upside down we do not believe that it shall
be reduc'd to nothing its qualities shall be changed and it may be its form shall be altered but its substance and matter shall continue always the same for First As God hath created the World for his own Glory he cannot be disappointed of the intent of his Creation And because this world hath not glorified him as it ought he will put it into a condition proper to glorify him according to that purpose for which he drew it out of nothing Secondly Seeing that this World was created to serve Man as a Looking-Glass to behold the Eternal Power of God and that this beautiful Looking-Glass hath been spotted and sullied by sin It is yet possible to cleanse it and make it brighter that it might represent its Creator better and shew forth a more perfect Image of his Divine Majesty Thirdly Seeing that God doth nothing in vain there is no likelyhood that he should destroy the World totally and reduce the primitive Matter to nothing from whence it is drawn to create new Matter because he is able of this old Matter to make a new Earth and new Heaven as pure and undefiled as if the Matter had been newly created Fourthly Sin hath spoiled and disfigured the Works of the Creation but it hath not touched neither the first Matter nor its Being so that God can take away this defilement and remove the deformity without touching the Matter which of it self is innocent and harmless In Man the little World and the compendium of the great I find a beautiful and perfect Image of that which God shall do with the whole World God intends not to destroy the substance of our Souls but only to purge them from all vicious qualities and beautify them with Righteousness and true Holiness so that they shall be as the Angels of Heaven Likewise he intends not to destroy the substance of our Bodies but he will free them from corruption from death and cloath them with Glory and Immortality so that this vile Body shall be rendred conformable to the glorious Body of the Son of God and shall shine as the Sun Likewise God will not altogether destroy the World and abolish its substance but he will rectify all its imperfections and add to it a greater Glory If it be lawful for me to discover here all my thoughts I must say that I put a great difference between Heaven and Earth for the Earth is altogether corrupt and spoiled with sin it is the Earth especially that groans under the burden of so many iniquities which reign in it but if Heaven is guilty of any crime it is because it hath given Light to such as have been Rebels against the Divine Majesty and assisted the cursed Earth by its Gracious and continual influences Because of this great difference it is my opinion that the Earth shall be destroyed by Fire and that all its beautiful Buildings and proud Palaces shall be turned into Ashes but the change which shall happen in Heaven shall only be to make it more beautiful and brighter that Children of God might have there a more Glorious Palace This seems to have been typified in the ceremonial Law for as we have already observed speaking of that which shall happen to the Soul and Body that when an Earthen Vessel was defiled it was to be broken to pieces but such Vessels as were of a more precious Metal as of Brass of Silver or of Gold were to be purified with Fire Likewise the Earth with all its works shall pass through the Flames so that it shall loose its present shape and qualities But Heaven that is as Brass or rather as fine Silver shall only he purified by the Fire of the last Judgement If you remove the cause you take away also the effect if you remove away sin you also remove its punishment Now it is because of Man's sin that the World hath and shall see so great a change Therefore as God by his infinite Mercy hath forgiven Man's sin it is also to be expected from the same Mercy that he will not totally destroy the World but that he will rather free it from corruption unto which our sins had enthral'd it Unless God deals in this manner our Joy and Comfort cannot be accomplished and God will not appear perfectly satisfied While a Subject continues in rebellion and in the displeasure of his Prince not only his person is pursued and punished but all that belongs to him bears the marks of the wrath and indignation of the Prince whom he hath offended his dwelling House is commonly pulled down his Woods are cut and mangled and his Inheritance is destroyed but when his Peace is concluded and his pardon granted his houses are built up again al signs of the King's displeasure are taken away and every thing appears with a more pleasant countenance likewise because of our Rebellion and our Treason against God he hath punished the World for our sakes and hath made it sensible of his wrath But now that our peace is made or rather God having made peace by the blood of his Son we may justly expect that he will remove all signs of his displeasure and revenge I remember upon this subject what David saith to God when he saw the Angels destroying Jerusalem I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these Sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24. In the same manner every Believer may say unto God Lo I have sinned O Lord I and my Brethren have done wickedly but these inaminate Creatures what have they done our sins have defiled the Earth and all things that may be objected against Heaven it is to have yielded Light and assistance to us Rebels Seeing therefore that thou hast blotted out our Sins and pardoned our Rebellions spare these harmless Creatures which are punished only for our sakes At present we can find no difficulty to understand the forementioned passages of holy Scripture and such as tend to the same purpose For when David and St. Paul assure us That the Heavens shall perish that they shall be changed as a garment I answer that they shall perish in respect of their qualities and not of their substance and that the change shall not be as when one Garment is cast off and another is taken but as when the spots and blemishes of an old Garment are taken away and it becomes fresher When your cloathing is grown old and worn out if it were in your power to make it become new again and as fresh as ever it was you should never dream of seeking for new Stuffe That which is impossible to Men is possible with God Luke 6. And when our Saviour in St. Mathew's Gospel saith That the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away I might say that these words are to be understood comparatively that is to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away rather then that the words of God should fail of
an accomplishment our Saviour confirms this interpretation when he saith in St. Lukes Gospel It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away then that one tittle of the Law should not be fulfilled The Holy Scripture is full of such kind of expressions but I would rather stick to the answers which I have already given to the former passages and to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall pass away not in regard of their substance but only in regard of their accidental qualities In St. Peters expressions I find a double comparison or allusion the one relates to the Tents that are pulled down when the pieces are taken asunder This comparison is very proper for this World is like a great Tabernacle a glorious Pavillion God shall pull off all the coverings he shall cut the Cords and separate every piece But he shall one day raise it up again gather every piece and make it a Royal Tabernacle full of splendor and glory The other comparison is borrowed from Goldsmiths who cast the Gold and Metals into pots and then melt them in the fire Now as they do not destroy by this means the Gold and the Silver but they cleanse it from drosse and from dirt they cause them to appear in all their brightness and beauty and give them a new shape and form Likewise the fire of the last Judgement shall not consume the Heavens and the Earth but shall only give them a new form and beauty The strangest objection in my opinion is occasioned by the words of St. Peter The Earth and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up But I answer to this that there is a great difference between burning and being totally consumed and abolished If it were in the power of a Man whose House is burned to the ground to raise it up again from its ruines and to make it more beautiful and glorious then before by his word alone he would never seek for other Materials Now I shall say again that what is impossible with Men is possible with God he hath already Created the World by his Word and he is able to restore it again by the same word Art hath found a way to make beautiful Vessels of melted ashes and shall not Gods Hand unto which all the skill of Art and the strength of Nature cannot be compared be able to gather up the ashes of this Earth and to make of it a Body full of glory and light From hence you may perceive how we are to understand that there shall be new Heavens and a new Earth they shall not be new in regard of their substance and matter which shall have been from the beginning of the World but they shall be new in regard of those noble qualities which God shall give them When a debaucht fellow leaves his wicked life and applies himself to the practice of Piety and Vertue we commonly say that he is not the same but that he is become another Man Besides when a Man hath cast off his old rags and puts on a glorious Garment we are wont to say that he is another Man We shall have much more cause to say that the Heavens and the Earth shall be new when God shall have renewed them In short he shall enrich the World with so many wonderful beauties he shall fill it full of so much glory and excellency he shall cause it to be so perfect that we shall have just reason to look upon it as upon a New World and to say with the Apostle The old things are passed away behold all things are become new I would not have you think Christians that this opinion is grounded only upon humane reason it is drawn from the words of St. Paul who speaking of the earthly and insensible Creatures as may appear by his intention he saith not only that they are subject to Vanity not willingly but because of him who hath subjected them he means Man who by his Sin and Rebellion hath spoiled the World and corrupted Nature but he adds immediately after That they hope to be delivered from the Bondage of corruption to be in the glorious liberty of the Children of God afterwards he saith for we know that the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now and before he saith That the earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God In which passages pray take notice that St. Paul saith not that these Creatures shall be abolished and totally destroyed but only that they shall be delivered from Vanity and from the bondage of corruption unto which the Sin of Man hath made them subject and that this blessed deliverance shall be brought to pass at the day of the Redemption of our Bodies that is to say at that day when God shall redeem our Bodies from their Graves and raise them up to the highest glory and happiness which hath been prepared for us from the Creation of the World Then shall happen that which is wont to be seen at the Marriage of a great King or at a Coronation or a Triumph for not only the Prince and his Spouse and all their Court appear in their richest and most glorious Attire and loaden with their most precious Jewels and the usual Pompe of Triumphs was as extraordinary and glorious as Invention could make it In such occasions the Princes Palace is adorned with the richest with the most magnificent and rarest ornaments and the Town where this Solemnity is kept shews forth some Signs of the publick rejoycing many places are beautified with several Rarities Theaters are erected the Streets are covered with Flowers and Tapistry fires are kindled and Torches are lighted and there is no corner but shews some expressions of the publick joy Likewise when our Lord Jesus Christ shall come down from the Clouds of Heaven upon a Charriot of Triumph when he shall come to consummate his Marriage with and to Crown his Spouse He shall not only appear in his greatest Glory and most Divine Pomp but the Church also his Spouse shall be cloathed with a Garment brighter than the Sun and Crowned with an Immortal Glory All the Blessed Saints shall appear in their attire of Joy having Palms in their Hands and Crowns upon their Heads and the Companies of Holy Angels shall sing round about At that time Paradice which shall be as his Palace and Bridechamber shall be adorned and enriched with all the light anp glory which I have already essayed to describe unto you The whole World also and every part of it shall partake of this great Glory and Celestial Pomp. The richest Coronations the most Magnificent Triumphs the most stately Nuptials are gone in a few hours Therefore the fires of Joy are soon put out the hangings of the Streets are taken down and the Arches and Pageants disappear and the City is to be seen in its wonted dress But as this Glory and Joy of the Church shall never
we may conclude that although in Heaven we shall know one another we shall have nothing of that carnal love which we have at present and which causeth us to put so much difference between one person and another A father may know his Children but his love shall not be grounded upon considerations of flesh and blood he shall love them only because they are amongst the Children of God and the Heirs of his Kingdom and because he shall see them appear in the Image of the Heavenly Father cloathed with his Light and Crowned with his Immortal Glory Finally we shall love no body but in God and for his sake as they shall be in God and God in them In this manner it shall not be possible to love them more or less Charity or Love the Queen of Vertues shall then sit upon its Throne and attain to its highest degree and perfection If you think seriously upon this Christians you shall easily find arguments to answer the vain objections of such as say that if we come to the knowledge of one another in Heaven that shall be able to disturb our satisfaction and rest for as it will be a comfort and joy to meet there with our Parents and Friends in like manner it will be a trouble and dissatisfaction not to find there all such whom we have formerly loved We may retort the same objection in a stronger manner against those that believe that we shall not know one another in Heaven for we may say also that if we know not the persons we shall not know whether our Parents or our Friends are there and that this is as likely to disturbe and trouble the quiet and satisfaction of our minds But to argue in this gross manner is to confound Heaven with the Earth Grief and displeasure can never be admitted in a Paradice of joy and perfect happiness In this glorious condition our knowledge shall be so clear our Charity so pure our Love for God so servent that as we shall love all things which God shall love and where his Image shall appear so it shall not be possible for us to love them whom God shall hate them who shall bear the marks and similitudes of the Devil When David was yet here on Earth he said unto God Lord shall not I hate them that hate thee I hate them with a perfect hatred they have been to me as mine Enemies Ps 39. In the same manner we shall rather speak in Heaven in the estate of perfection when God shall be in us all in all and we shall be all in God Some there are that inquire what kind of language we shall speak in Heaven some reply that we shall speak the Language of Angels grounding their opinion upon what St. Paul speaks to the Corinthians When I should speak with the Tongues of Men and Angels If I have not charity I am become as sounding Brass and a tinkling Simbal But this is a Chimerian opinion for as the Angels are pure Spirits by consequence they can have no Tongue nor proper language I confess in some holy Apparitions Angels have spoken to Men but it was by moving the Tongues of their borrowed Bodies or by employing some other corporal Organ then they did speak in the Language of those unto whom they were sent they had no particular or proper Dialect But if Angels did speak their Language would excell as much that of Men as the Angelical Nature excells the Humane by the Tongues of Angels therefore our Apostle understands an excellent Tongue better then that of Men. Others fancy that in Heaven we shall speak no other Language but the Hebrew because say they that it is the Tongue which God hath Sanctified from the beginning of the World in which he spoke to the Patriarcks and Holy Prophets in which he proclaimed his Law upon Mount Sina in the audience of all the People of Israel and in which he hath Recorded his Sacred Law with his own Finger They say that it is the Language which Adam did speak in the Earthly Paradice in the state of innocency and which all the Inhabitants of the World did speak before God sent amongst them a Division of Tongues Others are yet of opinion that as then we shall attain to all Knowledge and Sciences we shall not be ignorant of all kind of Languages but that we shall speak them all in a most perfect manner and that with them we shall declare the wonderful Works of God as the Apostles did at the day of Pentecost As the holy Scripture is silent upon this matter I shall affirm nothing But in general terms I may say that as God caused a division of Tongues to punish Mans insolency and pride and that as the differing Languages of People is an effect of their Sin it is most certain that this confusion and difference shall be altogether taken away and that nothing shall be said in Heaven but shall be very well understood by all the glorified Saints I may add moreover that in case we should speak so well all manner of Languages which have been in the World it is nevertheless very likely that we shall all speak but one Language that we may all praise God with the same voice but whether this shall be the Holy Language or another more perfect and majestick which God shall sanctifie for this purpose we cannot know until God of his infinite Mercy shall have raised us to this estate of Glory and perfect Happiness From what we have already said Christians you may easily understand that our happiness hath three steps or degrees the first is attainable in this Life the second at the Egress of the Soul out of the Body the third at the great day of our glorious Resurrection for already in this Life God bestows upon us the First-Fruits of his Glory and the fore-tasts of Heaven The Spirit of God and of his Glory rests at present upon us which fills us full of an unspeakable glorious joy and with the peace of God which surpasseth all understanding When our Souls depart out of this wretched and crasie Body God gathers them up into the bundle of Life he introduceth them into the blessed company of the Angels and Glorified Spirits and admits them to the Contemplation of his Face which is fulness of Joy But in this joyful day when Christ shall come down from Heaven to judge the quick and the dead he will carry us both in Soul and Body to the highest Glory and Happiness whereof we are capable for this reason the Name of Glory is ascribed to this high degree of happiness which is promised to us at the blessed appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ as in the 8 Chap. to the Romans where the Apostle saith That the Creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope because the Creature it self shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into
the glorious liberty of the Children of God And in the 3. Chap. to the Colos he saith you are Dead and your Life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is your Life shall appear you shall appear also with him in Glory Therefore this glorious appearing is stiled a blessed Hope that is to say the fulfilling and accomplishment of all that we expect or hope for as in the 2 Chap. to Titus St. Paul saith We expect the Blessed Hope the appearing of the Glory of our great God who is the Saviour Jesus Christ Then shall be the consummation of the Glory and of the head and of the Members for then the Son of God shall cause the Damned to feel that Power which he possesseth in Heaven and in Earth and in the Depths he shall discover himself to the faithful in his greatest Glory and most Divine Splendor Therefore this glorious Day of his descent from Heaven with the Angels of his power is mentioned as the first day of his manifestation of his appearing and of his Kingdom for this cause when the Holy Ghost speaks of this day it stiles it The day of the Lord Jesus Christ or the day of the Lord Jesus as also the Day of the Lord and the day of God As it shall be the Day of the Lord Jesus it shall also be our Day therefore St. Paul calls it The day of our Redemption because that in this day our Lord shall redeem our Bodies out of their Graves and shall bestow upon both our Souls and Bodies Eph. 4. all the Fruits of that Redemption which he hath purchased for us with his Blood Rom. 8. and shall raise us up to the highest Glory and most perfect happiness Heb. 9 It is the happy Day of the Consummation of our Marriage with this Divine Lamb. It is the day of our Joy and Triumph with the glorified Men and Angels It is the day of our Coronation and of our entrance into our Kingdom when the King of Kings the Lord of Lords shall Crown us with his own hand and put us in possession of an Empire prepared for us from the beginning of the World In a word it is the day when we shall come to the Lord Jesus and be with him as he is with the Father that we may be all in one Because of the glorious and wonderful things which shall come to pass on this day it is named The great Day St. Jude calls it thus when he speaks of the Revolted Angels he saith That God hath reserved them in everlasting Chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the Great Day In this manner many understand the words of St. John when he describes the Foul Spirits and likens them to Frogs which he saw coming out of the Dragons Mouth and of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the False Prophet and saith They are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which God sent forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty Revel 16. Lastly this glorious Day is not only called The day of Judgement the Day of the Lord the Day of our Redemption and the Great day but oftimes without any addition it is stiled the Day and that Day as in the 10. Chap. to the Hebrews Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and good Works not forsaking the assembling our selves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as ye see the day approaching In the first Epist to the Thessal You are not in Darkness that that Day should surprise you Thus in 2 Epist to Timothy and first Chap. St. Paul saith I know whom I have believed and I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that Day And when he remembers the good and charitable Deeds of Mesiphorus he prays for him in this manner The Lord grant unto him that he may find Mercy of the Lord in that day And in the 4 Chap. speaking of himself he saith I have fought the good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give at that Day It is so stiled because of its excellency it is the Day of Dayes the end of all the Seasons the Consummation of all Ages and Times after this there shall be no more alteration of Days Months and Years Therefore an Angel is represented in the Revel lifting up his hand to Heaven swearing by the living God who hath Created Heaven and all things therein the Earth and all things in it and the Sea and the things that are there That there shall be no more Time for instead of this unconstant time which flies away without leaving any sign of its being an everlasting Eternity shall succeed an Eternity always the same always Blessed with Happiness alwayes glorious and joyful This Divine and Magnificent Day shall begin at the end of all other Days but shall never draw to an end Therefore St. Peter in these words calls it an Eternal day or Eternity 2 Pet. 3. Glory be to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ both now and for ever Amen And in expectation of this Day of Days all Creatures are groaning and travailling in pain until now but especially Believers who have the First Fruits of the Spirit groan in themselves desiring with an earnest and holy desire to see the breaking of this great and glorious Day It is the end of all the Prophecies and the accomplishment of all Gods gracious promises to his People in all the Ages of the World It is the end and price of our Spiritual Calling the fulfilling of all our desires and expectations the Crowning of all our Labors and the highest step of that glory and happiness unto which we pretend You Devout Souls that delight in the contemplation of Celestial things I pray consider with me the accomplishment and the perfection of three kinds of works which have been succeeded by their several Rests The first was that of the Creation of the World for in six days God Created the Heaven and the Earth and all things in them and when he had finished his Works and found that they were good and perfect he rested the seventh day Gen. 1. 2. Therefore he Blessed and Sanctified it The second great work was that of Redemption for when our Saviour had fulfilled all the Prophesies which meâ—tioned him when he had caused the meaning of all the ancient Types and Figures to appear in his person and in his sufferings when he had fully satisfied the justice of God and purchased for us with his Blood an Eternal Redemption he cried out all is finished John 19. and he bowed his Head and gave up the Ghost After this Christ had nothing more to do nor to suffer but he
of the Soul from the Body seeing that Death which shall separate you from your selves is not able to separate you from the Spirit of the Lord Jesus The Soul of our Souls the Seal of the promises of God and the earnest of our future Inheritance Instead of looking backwards and longing for these perishing advantages and for Honors that can only dazle the eye consider that Death shall wipe away all Tears remove all your grief and raise you above all the storms of the World above all the miseries and troubles that cover the face of the Earth That you may be able to follow this Death more chearfully Remember that it draws you out of a place all polluted with Sin and infected with Impiety to transport you into a new Heaven adorned with Righteousness and Holiness and perfumed with the Prayers Praises and Thanksgivings of the Glorified Saints remember that it frees you from all remains of corruption and gives Deaths wound to all your Lusts Mind not so much the false appearance of Death for to the wicked it is as it were the Subburbs of Hell the jaws of the bottomless pit and the beginning of their endless Torments but to you Believers it is the Gate of Heaven an entrance into Paradice and a passage to a most happy Life Learn to relish now the Joys wherewith your Souls shall be for ever satisfied when God shall Crown you with his Glory and make you Drink of the Rivers of his Pleasure Seeing that your Soul is going to put on a Garment of an Immortal colour and to dwell for ever in the Palace which God hath built with his Almighty hand Cast off willingly this wretched crasie and corruptible Body depart willingly out of this Earthly Tabernacle which turns of it self into Dust Consider well that if it falls by Death it shall rise again at the Resurrection and that when it shall have been the Dwelling and the Food of Worms it shall at last become the Temple of God and the Tabernacle of his Glory Finally O Religious Souls shut your eyes to the World and to all the vanities in it which the World adores and aspire to the real advantages which God hath prepared for you before the Creation of the World and which you shall injoy when the World shall be no more Let your precious Faith and your blessed hope enter into Eternity it self to behold that extraordinary happiness and glory which God shall accomplish when he shall bring us both in Soul and Body into his Celestial Paradice to see his face in which is fulness of Joy Seeing that this perfect happiness and infinite Glory which never entered into the Heart and thoughts of Man shall never be perfectly accomplished but at that Day when Jesus Christ shall appear from Heaven to be glorified in his Saints and to become wonderful in all Believers Think alwayes upon this Glorious Day the end of all our wishes the fulfilling of all your hopes and the perfection of all the designes which God hath conceived in himself from all Eternity You Devout Souls that are grieved to see the World prosper and Satans Empire flourish to see Gods Children subject to all the Darts of Death take good courage and rejoyce with an holy Joy for shortly all the Enemies of God and of your Salvation shall be punished with an everlasting punishment as from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Shortly the Devil his Angels his Agents and Slaves shall be bound up in Chains of Darkness and cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and shut up in the bottomless pit Shortly Death shall be no more and this Church of Jesus Christ ' whose Miseries and Afflictions cause you to weep shall be shortly cloathed with unspeakable light and glory It shall enter with Joy and Triumph into the Heavenly Jerusalem and you your selves shall sing with all the glorified Armies of Heaven Seeing that Christ shall come as a Thief in the Night and shall surprise all the Children of the World unawares prepare your Souls Believers with the love of God and an expectation of your Merciful Lord behave your selves in the same manner as you would do if you were now at the Eye of this great Festival as if you did spie already the breaking of this most happy day Entertain now the same affections and joy as if you did hear the voice of God and the Trumpet of the Archangel as if the Earth were already in a flame and as if Jesus Christ himself were coming in the Clouds of Heaven And seeing that no impure thing shall enter into the Heavenly and Holy Jerusalem and that without Holiness no Man shall see the face of God cleanse your selves Christians from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of the Lord forsake all manner of Vice give your selves over to Vertue and to the practice of good Works imitate the diligence of the Faithful Servant that you may not be ashamed at the coming of your Great Master Take heed that you be not like the Wise Virgins that slept as well as the foolish but watch and pray that you may not enter into Temptation for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak Redeem the time for the dayes are evil and make haste to put on the Garments of Righteousness and innocency fill your Hearts with the Holy Oyl of Faith of Hope and Charity Take your Lamps in your hands and let your Souls shine with a Divine Light In this blessed disposition let us go and meet our Heavenly Bridegroom and hasten his coming by our Prayers and Groans Let our Souls be full of Love let them sigh for our Divine Jesus and being moved with the same affection as St. John let us say to him with an earnest desire Come Lord Jesus and if he answers for certain I come quickly Let the Longing of our Souls increase more and more that we may be able to Pray more fervently and to cry out from the bottom of our Souls unto Heaven Come Lord Jesus even come Lord come quickly Amen A Prayer and a Meditation for a Believing Soul that rejoyceth and comforts it self in looking upon Deaths Destruction and the everlasting and Blessed Life which we hope to injoy both in Soul and Body after the Resurrection O Great Judge of the World bottomless Fountain of Life and happiness thy Gracious hand hath put into mine Heart the seeds of Immortality the first-fruits of Heavens Glory and the foretasts of everlasting Delights Thou hast made me to behold by Faith the joys and happiness of Paradice where thou shalt receive my Soul when it shall depart out of this wretched World and to Meditate upon the Glory which thou preparest for my Body when thou shalt take it to thy self to make it like to thy Glorious Body Now raise my thoughts and my hopes to this highest glory and happiness which thou hast promised to our