up thy spirit thou fainting soul for Christ hath redeemed thy body from the grave and thy soul from death by his Resurrection he hath conquered all the enemies of thy salvation sin hath no condemning power over thee death is advantage to thee hell is lockt up from thee and the Devill himself cannot go beyond his commission for thy hurt Though the world doth frown upon thee h Joh. 16. 33 and thou findest tribulation here yet be of good chear and lift up thy head for Christ hath overcome the world and he will sanctifie all thy tribulations to thee Thou livest here subject to shame and reproach to diseases of body and sorrow of spirit and to all miseries and calamities but death will put an end to all thy labour and travell the grave will refine thy body from all imperfections and diseases and thy resurrection will bring thee to thy reward which is laid up for thee in heaven If the powers of darknesse set themselves in array against thee if the terrours of death assault thee fear not but keep close to the Resurrection of thy Saviour by faith he hath overcome them all and will also subdue them unto thee i Eph â— 30. If thou art a member of his body of his flesh and of his bones thou must be made conformable to him as to thy head as well in his glory as in his shame as well in his resurrection as in his death and buriall If the crosse must try thy strength he will not tire thee with a greater burden than thou art well able to bear If pain or sicknesse brings thee near unto death the faithfull hope of a joyful resurrection will greatly refresh and comfort thy soul for though thy soul must be parted from thy body yet neither thy soul nor thy body shall be parted fuom Christ but thou shalt rise again out of the dust with a spirituall and immortal body to be joyned unto Christ thy head for ever Now think on these things with holy affections and they will minister heavenly comfort to thy soul when thou art in any perplexity of minde or body Consider now to whom Christ appeared after his Resurrection it was first to holy Women who in their pious devotion and love to him came to imbalm his body with spices and sweet odours then he appeared to his Disciples at sundry times and also to many Brethren that they all might be well confirmed in the truth of his Resurrection and of his Deity to comfort them in their sorrowes to uphold them in their sufferings to strenthen their faith against all persecutions and bloody tryals and to be able to strengthen others in the Doctrine of the Resurrection Thus did the holy Apostles testfiie that they had seen the Lord Jesus after he was risen to confirm their Doctrine of his Resurrection But Christ did not appear to any wicked or ungodly men for they could neither believe it nor understand it nor receive any comfort or benefit by it because they have no spirituall eye to discern his glorified body but chiefly because they have no relation to him as their Saviour Christ doth appear to us at this day by his Spirit when he doth manifest to us the truth of his Resurrection by his Word and doth give us grace to apply it to our selves for the confirmation of our faith in the Resurrection of our bodies at the last day But chiefly Christ doth appear to us when by faith we draw vertue and power from his Resurrection to rise from the death of sin to the life of grace when we can raise up the affections of our hearts from earthly and worldly cares to heavenly contemplations and when we can with the wings of faith mount up above the sinfull delights and pleasures of this life and above all the calamities and tribulations that we shall meet with here upon earth to have our conversation in heaven and can draw comfort to our selves in all our sorrowes and miseries from the hope of our resurrection There will also be a day of resurrection to the wicked which will be most sad wofull and miserable to them for they shall not rise with purified and glorified bodies but with filthy ugly and unclean bodies all besmeared with the guilt of sin which will make them odious to look upon and they have no covering to hide their sins but onely the Divels liverey which is a guilty conscience that they may be known to whom they belong For there is no place and no inheritance in heaven for such unclean monsters but they shall be thrust down into the lowest hell to partake with the devil and his angels in their everlasting torments which is the reward of all wicked men for their evill works Of CHRISTS Ascension up into Heaven VVHen Christ had fully instructed his Apostles after his Resurrection in those things which concerned the Kingdom of Heaven and had taught them how to plant his Church here upon earth he was taken up in the sight and view of them all and ascended up into heaven where he sitteth at the right hand of God in fulnesse of Majesty and glory until he shall come again to judge both the quick and the dead whereby Christ is now become our eternall Advocate with the Father to make intercession for us and he is also our eternall high Priest to present our Prayers and oblations to God At his Ascension he carried up our humane nature with him into heaven and hath advanced it above the Angels and above all Principalities and powers also Christ hath taken possession of that heavenly Inheritance which we shall hereafter injoy for he keeps it for us Wherefore now let the thoughts of our hearts be raised up in our holy Meditations to contemplate the transcendent glory of Christ now he is at the right hand of the Father that we may firmly confide in him and have a longing desire to be with him to injoy that place of true blessednesse a John 14. 2 which he hath prepared for us in his Fathers house Also let all our Prayers and sacrifices proceed from an upright and a believing heart that they may be such as Christ will present to his Father for us and then we may confidently believe that God will graciously receive them Here is also great comfort for us that though we sin dayly through humane frailty or through the corruption of our nature b 1 John 2. 1 2. that we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins who will intercede for us and will present the merit of his blood unto him in full satisfaction for all our sins whereof we may have an holy assurance by faith and true repentance If we do faithfully believe that we have such an high Priest and such an Advocate in heaven why do we give our selves liberty in sin to displease him Why do we cherish any darling sin
to Meditate upon his Almighty power his Divine Wisedome his glorious Majesty and his admirable goodnesse to the sons of men a Rom. 1. 20 For the invisible things of God that is his eternall power and Godhead are seen by the Creation of the world being understood by the things that are made to the intent that every man should be without excuse Thus saith the Prophet b Jer. 10. 12 He hath made the earth by his power he hath established the world by his wisdome and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion And thus saith the Psalmist c Psal 111. 6 7. He hath shewed his people the power of his Works that he may give them the heritage of the heathen The works of his hands are verity and judgement d Psal 104. 24 25. O Lord how manifold are thy Works in wisdome hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches so is this great and wide sea wherein are things creeping innumerable both small and great beasts Also David saith thus e Psal 19. 1. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament sheweth his handy work But if we consider the goodnesse of the Lord in all his Works we shall finde no end thereof f Exod 34. 6 He is abundant in goodnesse and truth g Psal 33 5 The earth is full of the goodnesse of the Lord. h Psal 52. 2 The goodnesse of God endureth continually There is no creature though it be never so contemptible but it findeth the goodnesse of God and there is no moment of time but we have experience of his goodnesse and mercy to us Behold and see the beauty and splendor of the Sun of the Moon and of all the Sarres admire their gloririous bodies and what lustre they cast down upon the earth how they rejoice to run their course in their severall orbs wherein God hath placed them and yet they do not crosse or hinder each other in their motions also how God doth by them measure out time how he governeth the day by the Sun and how he ruleth the night by the Moon and Starres Consider also how usefull and comfortable these glorious creatures are to us and how God divided the year by them into Winter and Summer Spring-time and Harvest and hath continued these severall seasons even to this day as he said to Noah presently after the flood i Gen. 8. 22 While the earth remaineth seed time and Harvest cold and heat summer and winter and day and night shall not ceâ—se All these do clearly set forth the glory of God the Wisdome the Power and the goodnesse of the great Creatour What shall we say now to our selves Shall these irrationall Creatures keep their appointed stations and shall we go astray from God Shall they obey the will of God and shall we rebell against him Shall they run their course with joy and delight according to the will of God and shall we be backward in a Religious and pious course of life contrary to his will Shall we have no heavenly thoughts no holy desires to do the will of God and no sincere devotion in the worship and service of our God Oh let the comfortable presence of the Sun and the beauty of the Moon and the brightnesse of every Starre move us day and night to raise up our thoughts and to set our Meditations upon God their Maker whose Glory doth infinitely surpasse the brightnesse of them all and let us study to praise and magnifie him for his goodnesse and for his wonderfull works that he hath wrought for the sons of men If we look upon the birds and â—ouls of the aire or upon the beasts of the field and consider how God provided food and rayment and weapons of defence for them all how he preserveth them in their kindes and what great increase they bring forth through his blessing we may see a glympse of the glory of God even in them his care in providing for them and his great Wisdome in the variety of their kindes k Job 39. What goodly wings and feathers hath God given to the Peacock and to the Ostrich what strength to the horse what swiâ—tnesse to the Eagle how terrible is the Leviathan none is so â— Job 41. 19 fierce that dare stir him up who then is able to stand before God m Luk 12. 27 How hath God cloathed the Lillies Solomon in all his glory was not arraied like one of them There is no creature so base and contemptible in our eyes but that we may see the print of Gods finger upon it and there is no plant that groweth in the earth but is full of the goodnesse of God and usefull to man The Psalmist telleth us n Psal 148. that both the senselesse and sensible creatures have a voice to praise the goodnesse of the Lord how can we then be silent Consider the Lark to imitate her for the higher she mounteth the more cheerfully she singeth so likewise the higher we raise up our affections toward heaven in singing praises unto God the sweeter will our melody be in his ears If our spirits mount up to heaven in our contemplations upon the Works of God we cannot but acknowledge to his honour and glory what excellent Workmanship and Wisdome he hath shewed even in the least of them and how wonderfull good and gracious he hath been to us because he hath made them all for our good that we should glorifie God in the right use of them But if we look upon the Creatures with a superficiall eye and if we have the dayly use and service of them and can finde no matter to ruminate upon for the glory of God o Deu. 29. 4 then the Lord hath not given us an heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear what great things God hath done for us and what blessings he hath bestowed upon us to this day Consider further how plentifully God hath provided for man he hath given him some creatures for nutriment some for cloathing others for ornament some are for his delight and lawful pleasure and others are for his necessary occasions so likewise p Luk. 12. 22 God doth feed the fowles of the aire and every living creature and he doth cloath the very grasse of the field Thus saith the Lord unto Job q Job 38. 41 Who provideth for the raven his food when his young ones cry unto God they wander for lack of â—eat This was to strengthen Jâ—bs confidence in God for though he were now brought down from greatest plenty to the greatest want and penury from the highest honour to the lowest degree of ignominy and reproach yet God had still a care of him and was all sufficient to raise him up again to honour and to provide what was needfull for him Also though he were now in the furnace of affliction and upon the test for the tryall of his
the power of sin will be killed in us that by the sanctifying Grace of the holy Ghost we may be raised up to newnesse of life If we did seriously consider these things we should not keep at so farre a distance from Piety and vertue and we should not be such strangers to a Christian life and conversation but we would use all means to get into nearer society with Christ by true saving faith and by heavenly contemplation that the spirituall dew of his heavenly graces may distill into our hearts to sanctifie us throughout both in soul and in body that in Christ we may be made new creatures To this end we must endeavour to keep our faith still in action and continually to use it upon all occasions and in every condition of life for thereby we shall draw strength and power from Christ to carry us on through all temptations and tryalls and to support and comfort us in all sorrows and tribulations it will purifie our hearts from dead works and suffer no sin to continue with us without repentance to hinder the salvation of our souls This rare example of the goodnesse and mercy of Christ to this believing Thief may keep us from despair because g Ezech. 18 21 22. there is mercy for a sinfull soul if at any time he doth truly repent and turn to the Lord with a full intent and purpose of will to reform his evill it doth also teach us not to be secure or carelesse of our salvation for it is extreamly dangerous to loose any opportutunity of grace that God shall give us or to take so much liberty to sin as to forget to make our Peace with God in time for we must give an account at the last day of all that we have done in the flesh and our condition then wil be most miserable if our reckoning be not made perfect in the righteousnesse of Christ by faith while we live here upon earth and therefore it is the greatest punishment in this life to have no sense of our spirituall misery and not to fear or remember the dreadfull day of judgement Also this consideration should keep us from rash judgement and censuring of any mans condition though he be a notorious sinner for God can give him grace to repent when he pleaseth As this one example of the mercy of Christ to this penitent sinner may keep us from despair from security and from rash judging of others so let it keep us from presuming upon sin in hope of pardon we do wilfully delay our repentance from day unto day and so continue impenitent to the last part of our life because this man had all his sins forgiven even in a moment and was received to mercy at the last hour for God may justly deny us mercy if we refuse grace when the means is offered to us So likewise let it keep us from presuming upon repentance because it is not in our power to repent when we will This heavenly grace is the gift of God and it is the first fruits of faith which the holy Ghost will work in us if we are ready to yield obedience to his holy inspirations or to make the right use of such meanes as he is pleased to use to make us willing to seek unto him for it for if the Spirit of God doth not work it in us we can have no hope ever to obtain it Now consider the strength of faith that was in this poor sinner he gave the highest title of honour to Christ when he we was scornfully mocked and in a most contemptible condition to the eye of all men he did imbrace him and vindicate his honour when he was upon the crosse he did believe that heaven was his Kingdom though he were now reviled and despised of all men and that he had the disposing of all honours and preferments in that Kingdom which made him pray unto him Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdome also his heart was touched with a sensible feeling of his sins he made a pious confession of them and therefore he did pray for mercy out of a true sense of his misery If we can shew the faith of this penitent Thief though our life hath been as vicious as his was and though we turn to Christ late as he did yet we may have good hope of the pardon of our sins and we may comfortably expect his felicity for Christ will return the like gracious answer to our Prayers and the like promise of future happinesse But what faith can we shew if we still dishonour Christ with our words and works how can we trust in him if we do not believe that all regall power both in heaven and in earth is given unto him And how can we hope for future blessednesse from him if we are not confident that he is the disposer of all the glorious mansions that are in heaven what godly sorrow have we for our sins if we still go on in a presumptuous way of sinning And what hope is there of true repentance if we still cherish foster our sins in our bosome if our faith and repentance be no better then thus Christ will not hear our Prayers nor grant our requests Wherefore let not the devill delude thee with security or presumption lest he brings thee to perdition for many have perished with the shadow of this deceitful hope Look well to the truth of thy faith that it be well grounded upon the true knowledge of Christ and of those excellencies that are in him that thou maist firmly rest upon him in all troublesome and dangerous times but chiefly for the redemption of thy soul Neglect not the means of grace and defer not thy repentance for God hateth such as upon confidence of repentance in their old age do presume to sin the moâ—e freely as if God did not know the deceit and hypocrisie that is in their hearts h Deut. 29. 19 20 If thou dost flatter thy self in thy wickednesse and doest blesse thy self in thy heart saying I shal have peace though I walk in the imagination of my heart to ad drankenes to thirst then know that the Lord will not spare thee but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against thee and all the curses that are written in his book shal lye upon thee and the Lord shall blot out thy Name from under heaven Consider further how much this penitent sinner was humbled in the sense of his sins and of his unworthinesse and also how bountifull and good Christ was to him for he durst not presume to beg any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ but onely some remembrance of him when he came into his Kingdome but Christ did grant him a present possession of his Kingdome Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise This Paradise was the place of blessednesse where all the Saints of God shall be untill the generall
resurrection whereof the earthly Paradise was but a shadow i Psal 16. 1. 1. This blessed place is in the presence of God where we shall have fullnesse of joy and it is at Gods right hand where there are pleasures for evermore k Exod. 34. 6. Thus is Christ abundant in goodnesse and in truth if we have but little comfort in this short time of our life yet when we come to the end of our dayes we shall have fulnesse of joy in the Paradise of God together with Christ our Saviour for evermore Wherefore though this life be full of vexations and troubles the meditation and hope of heavenly happinesse which we shall hereafter injoy to all eternity will sweeten the bitternesse of all our momentany afflictions and tribulations Now comfort thy self O penitent sinner if thou art so cast down in the apprehension of thy sins that thou darest not come into the presence of God in regard of Divine justice l Luk. 18. 13. or lift up thine eyes unto heaven with the poor Publicane to crave what thou wantest or desirest because thou hast justly incurred his high displeasure by thy manifold transgressions yet be not disheartned faint not but come cheerfully to Christ with true faith and firm confidence to be received for he will open a Fountain to thee from whence all Divine mercy floweth and thou wilt find him alwayes ready and willing to accept of thee make thy condition therefore truly known unto him put up thy prayers and supplications to him and though thou desirest but a drop of comfort yet he will give thee abundant consolation in what thou sufferest and much more than thou desirest By the example of this Malefactor we may draw holy Meditations upon the Divine Nature of true faith for our instruction and comfort for it looketh beyond the eye of reason and above the reach of nature it maketh us evidently to apprehend that which our reason or naturall capacity cannot shew us and it will make us believe in hope even against hope that which is impossible to nature and incredible to humane reason This miserable sinner had no reason to believe in Christ and to confide in him for his salvation for we do not read that ever he heard his preaching or saw any of his miracles but he saw him now ready to dye an ignominious and cursed death upon the crosse and he heard him thus reviled m Mat. 27. 39. If thou be the Son of God come down from the crosse Also he heard him mocked in this manner by the chief Priests and Elders He saved others himself he cannot save if he be the King of Israel let him come down from the crosse and we will believe in him He trusted in God let him deliver him now if he will have him for he said I am the Son of God Though these and the like blasphemous words were spoken in derision against him which were sufficient in all reason to keep back this Malefactor from trusting in him yet the holy Ghost did so work upon his heart that he did faithfully believe that Christ was the Son of God that he was the King of Israel that he had saved others and therefore he could save him also which made him to apply himself to Christ for comfort and for his salvation and in his addresses to him he came with all modesty and humble submission he gave him all due honour and reverence as much as he was then able to expresse and then he made this humble suite and supplication to him and no sooner was his request made but it was granted because Christ did see truth and sincerity in his heart and integriry in his expressions We may observe from hence for our instruction and consolation that the holy Ghost can work the conversion of a sinner either without meanes or by contrary meanes he doth sometimes work very strangely upon the will and upon the affections of the heart for Christ was now preached by his deadly foes out of scorn and mockery n Phil. 1 15 as there were some in Pauls time that did preach Christ even of envy and strife others of love and good will yet the Spirit of God did so enlighten the understanding of this sinfull man and did so work upon his will and so seasoned his heart with saving grace that he received holy instruction thereby and what the enemies of Christ did speak in his disgrace he did apply it to himself to confirm him in the truth of his Divinity which made him stick close to him by faith when he was in the lowest degree of his humiliation his faith made him rest upon Christ and upon his promise above the strength of nature and contrary to all humane reason If he had seen the glory of Christ in his transfiguration upon Mount Tabor and if he had seen some of his great miracles or had heard his Divine Doctrine and powerful Preaching his faith had not seemed so great but now he did see him onely upon Mount Calvary nailed to his crosse as the worst of Malefactors are and rejected of his own nation so that to the outward eye he appeared nothing else but a pitiful spectacle of woful misery and yet this penitent sinner did expresse an admirable faith in the pangs of a cruell and violent death though his faults had been intolerable in his dissolute life for nothing but faith could move him to honour and reverence Christ now he was in this sad condition and to sue unto him to be remembred in his Kingdome By the eye of his faith he did see in Christ more than humane meeknesse and patience in his sufferings undaunted courage above the strength of nature to go thorough with all constancy those torturings and torments which with all cruelty and malice were inflicted upon him and he did see some glympse of Divine mercy in him when he heard him pray so graciously for his persecutors and tormentors and for those that put him to death In the last place ponder well in thy heart upon the mercifull answer of Christ to this penitent Malefactor Verily I say unto thee To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise whereby he did shew his power to forgive sins upon earth Thus he said to the sick of the palsie o Mar. 2. 5â— 10. Son thy sins are forgiven thee and hereby also he did shew that he had power to dispose of heaven at his own pleasure p Mat. 28. 18. for all power was given to him both in heaven and in earth therefore he did assure this Petitioner that though his body did now suffer the torments of a cruell death yet his soul should live and presently injoy a most happy and blessed condition in the Paradise of God and in the mansions of heaven to all eternity which place q John 14. 2. Christ hath prepared for his servants We shall meet with labour and toil troubles and crosses in this
a spirituall manner because Christ will draw him to himself by his Spirit Thus is Christ also present with us by his grace and holy Spirit to assist and support us to teach and instruct us in what condition soever we be There is the same relation by faith between Christ and us as is between the head and the members and we shall injoy the comfort of this blessed relation by our heavenly Meditations of him for then by his Spirit he is present with us to teach us some heavenly instructions for our edification which we ought carefully to practice that he may be honoured thereby There is no time or place but we may take occasion to Meditate something on Christ for the good and comfort of our souls either as he is our Mediator and Redeemer or as he is our Prophet to teach and instruct us our high Priest to present our Prayers and oblations to God or our King to rule and govern us by his Spirit If we Meditate upon his passion upon his death and buriall he will shew us how low he did humble himself to advance us and it will much comfort us in our afflictions and sorrowes and also it will fit and prepare us for death and for the grave that we may as willingly lye down in the grave where we shall rest in peace as we take our rest and sleep in our beds By these and the like Meditations of Christ we shall injoy his sacred society by his Spirit and he will make us feel true consolation thereby But if we Meditate upon the Exhortation of Christ we must raise our affections up to the highest heavens for there he sitteth at the right hand of God above all principalities and powers and then he will shew us how victoriously he triumpheth over all his enemies and that he hath subdued all the enemies of our salvation to teach us to fear and reverence his sacred Majesty to perform all dutifull obedience to his Commands and to submit to his rule and government And because he is our Advocate with the Father we may come boldly to him in all our wants troubles and necessities Also faithfull Prayer is another speciall means to injoy the comfort of this happy relation and Communion which we have with our Saviour Christ in all conditions of life and upon all occasions whatsoever to give us comfort in all our distresses strength of grace against temptations protection in all dangers and deliverance out of all troubles If our Prayers proceed from a faithfull heart they cannot return without a blessing for they will open Christs rich treasury and whatsoever is there we shall have so much of it as is good for us This kind of prayer will yet reach higher for it will so prevail with Christ that he will open his heart to us and conceal nothing from us that may conduce to an holy and sanctified life here and to the injoyment of eternall blessednesse hereafter If we dayly converse thus with Christ in our Meditations and Prayers we shall have our conversation with him in heaven though we live in a vale of misery here upon earth Now then examine thy self what communion thou hast had with thy dear Saviour hath he walked with thee in the field as he did with Isaack in his Meditations Hath he travelled with thee in the way as he did with the two Disciples as they went to Emmaus Went he into a strange land as he did with Joseph into Aegypt or was he in prison with thee as he was with him and with the Apostles Hast thou had his company in thy bed-chamber or in thy closet as David had Was he in the dungeon with thee as he was w th Jeremiah Hast thou had his company when thou hast been among spoilers as Daniel had among the Lyons and as Paul had when he was in the Lyons mouth And hath he been with thee upon thy sick-bed as he was with Hezekiah Then surely thou hast received some blessing from him then thou hast learned holy instructions of him how to bear thy crosse without murmuring and how to endure thy sufferings with meeknesse of spirit Then also thou hast learned how to pray zealously how to live piously how to fix thy trust and confidence on him and how to set thine affections upon him by the plentifull experience which thou hast had of his goodnesse to thee that so thou maist dye in his love and favour Examine thy self also what sin thou hast killed and buried for if thou dost leave thy sins because thou hast not ability to continue still in them thy sins do leave thee but thou dost not leave them and they are not buried with Christ in his Sepulchre for thou retainest still the remembrance of them with delight and approbation and if thou hadst ability and opportunity thou wouldst be as vicious still as ever thou wert before For unlesse faith had sealed thy union with Christ thou canst have no power from his death to mortifie thy corruptions or to bury thy sins with him neither canst thou live unto righteousnesse and true holinesse Consider in the last place what subtile policy was used to make the Sepulchre sure that the body of Christ might not be stoln away and to prevent his resurrection from the dead for they sealed the Stone and set a watch about the Sepulchre But God did hereby make the truth of his resurrection the more evident to the great comfort of his children and servants but to the perpetuall shame and confusion of his enemies and of such as will not believe it For Gods Decree must stand and nothing can prevail to frustrate his determinate Councell Whatsoever wicked men do vainly imagine or contrive God will bring to passe what he hath decreed for his own glory This is great comfort to the servants of God that are under tyrannicall pressures and can see no means how to be delivered out of their slavery for God will bring about his own purposes and will be honoured in their deliverance to the shame and rebuke of all their enemies Consider also that those malicious Jews could not but be convinced in their consciences that Christ was the Son of God by those strange wonders which they saw at his death and yet they still spit out their blasphemies against him though he were dead and in the presence of Pilate they term him a deceiver Thus it is with wicked men when they are given up to a reprobate minde for there is no end of their wickednesse against God and no end of their malicious and mischievous practises against his servants and against all that professe his Name A brief Summe of the Humiliation of CHRIST CHRIST was in the bosome of the Father from eternity where he was cloathed with fulnesse of Majesty and Glory in the highest heavens and had the Dominion and power over all things both in heaven and in earth but when he was to undertake the Work of our Redemption
thy getting get understanding This is a speciall meanes to come to the true way of holy and devout meditation Sixthly We must dayly practice this religious duty and if we learn to meditate upon our selves what our state and condition is whether it be of nature or of grace it will bring us to the meditation of spirituall things Though it be a very hard matter for a true childe of God to meditate upon heavenly things for his own benefit and comfort yet by use and exercise we may attain unto it and the sweetnesse that we shall find in it will by degrees bring us to delight in this pious duty h Phil. 3. â—0 For by this meanes we shall have our conversation in heaven though we live upon earth and we shall enjoy heaven and heavenly happinesse in some part while we live in this world for if we be frequent in our meditations on the Kingdome of heaven i 2 Cor. 1. 12 the grace of God will make our conversation in this world to be in simplicity and godly sincerity The seventh Direction is to choose such times and such places as are most fitting and most convenienient for this holy duty that we be not interrupted by any occurrence of worldly occasions but that our mindes and our hearts may agree and go together in our meditations The fittest time for this religious service is when God is pleased to give an inclination of will and to move our hearts thereunto by his holy Spirit which time we ought not to let slip nor to lose this opportunity which he tendereth to us because it is the time for grace of his own choosing and the time which he will accept If we take this time and set it apart to imploy our selves in this holy service he will then inlarge our hearts for it he will direct us in it and he will graciously assist us with his Spirit to conceive aright of those things whereon we do intend to meditate As we must be free at that time from all incumberances by our affairs so we must retire to such a place where we may be solitary and private that our hearts may wholly intend our meditations A solitary field is a fitting place to ruminate upon the works of God k Mat. 6. 6. Our closet is most convenient to meditate on the Law of God If we choose such times and places we may freely delight our selves with heavenly and spirituall contemplations Lastly we must prepare our hearts for this pious duty by faithfull prayer that God will be pleased to aid and assist us herein with his blessed Spirit to raise up our affections to enlighten our understandings and to purge and cleanse our hearts from all sinful thoughts worldly cares and from every evill concupisence that we may fully devote our selves to the meditation of heavenly things that this holy service may be performed to the glory af God to the increase of our spirituall knowledge to the strengthening of our faith and confidence in God to carry us on cheerfully through all the troublesome chances and changes that are incident to this life for our holy Meditations will lift up our hearts and affections above all worldly cares and above all the crosses and sorrows that we shall meet with here upon earth Holy Meditation is the prerogative onely of a true Christian AMong many Prerogatives that a true believing Christian hath above all other men this is not the least that he can raise up the Affections of his heart to heavenly contemplations by the power of the Spirit of grace that is in him whereas unregenerate men cannot attain to this high degree of true Christianity by all the meanes that art or nature can afford them for their Meditations reach but to the notions of the brain and are practised onely by the outward man which can yield them no spirituall consolation because they have not the power of grace to move the affections of the heart to heavenly things which only can minister sweetness true consolation to an afflicted soul and to a troubled conscience to give them good hope and assurance of the grace and favour of God and of the pardon and forgivenesse of their sins Carnall men set their mindes and affections upon carnall delights voluptuous men do dayly study how to satisfie their souls with unprofitable pleasures and worldly minded men set their hearts upon covetousness and upon the pomp and vanity of this present world These and the like kinde of men are so pressed down with the burden of sin and they are so encumbered with worldly cares and sinfull delights that they have no power to mount up toward heaven in their affections and no hearts fit for Divine contemplations because they have no interest in Christ and therefore they can have no spirituall light to discern aright of heavenly things But a true believing Christian hath the light of Gods Spirit to give him spiritual understanding he hath strength of grace to withstand all spirituall lets and hinderances and to raise up his affections above all earthly things with the wings of faith he can mount up above all the blocks and impediments that the divell or wicked men can cast in his way to depresse his spirits and to keep down the cogitations of his heart from pious and devout Meditations It cannot be denied but that the dearest of Gods servants cannot sometimes perform this religious Duty as they should because they do often finde the flesh to war against the spirit a Rom. 7. 21 23. as Paul did and that they are so yoked with their unregenerate part that when they would do good either for the glory of God or for the comfort of their own souls evill is present with them which doth disturb the peace of their consciences the quiet of their mindes and the freedome of their spirits and doth also stop the sweet influence of comfort that should come to their souls but especially they are hindered in their Meditations which is a Duty meerly spirituall and cannot be performed but by the spirit yet through Christ they get the victory and they will break through all opposition because b Rom. 7. 22. they delight in the Law of God and in heavenly contemplations after the inward man and their mindes will be set at liberty to serve him c Rom. 7. 25. though with the flesh they do sometimes serve the law of sin If we have given up our names unto Christ and are listed in his roul to fight under his banner we must look for continuall conflicts and combates with our spirituall enemies which dayly seek to ruine our souls by hindering us in our Religious duties but we are sure to have comfort in Christ and power from him to prevail against them and to get the conquest over them all if we can raise up our hearts to contemplate his Omnipotent power his infinite Wisdome and his wonderfull care of us Sometimes
if we have a true sight of our own basenesse that we are but as clay in the hand of the Potter or as an earthen pitcher which is easily broken in pieces we cannot but be afraid to draw near so great and glorious a Majesty to contemplate his greatnesse and power the breath of whose Nostrils is able to consume us But if we consider that our sins have laid us open to the rigour of his justice and have justly moved him to pour down upon us the full vialls of his wrath and indignation to our eternall destruction it must needs then strike terrour into our hearts when we come before him in our heavenly Meditations for he is a sin-revenging God l Heb. 12. 29. and a consuming fire he will suffer no sin to go unpunished This doth make our sins the more hainous and the punishment of them the more grievous because they are committed against an Omnipotent and most glorious God from whom we had our first being and from whose goodnesse we do dayly receive all blessings both spirituall and temporall that are needfull for us Wherefore we cannot Meditate with comfort upon God when the guilt of our sins cleaveth to our souls We cannot chearfully lift up our hearts unto him when our consciences do accuse us of sin that we have offended God our Creator and that we lye under the curse of his Law and are in continuall expectation to have the penalty of it inflicted upon us which we know we have justly deserved Thus it is with us until we can apprehend God to be reconciled unto us by the merit of the death of Christ which we must apply to our own hearts by faith When God doth visite us with afflictions and troubles as he hath done to many of his dear servants that we feel the smart of his rod and his hand heavy upon us it will take away the comfort of our Meditations and make us afraid of his judgements as it was with holy Job David and others because sometimes they are very terrible to us Thus saith Job unto God in his afflictions m Iob. 13. 21. Withdraw thine hand far from me and let not thy dread make me afraid Again he saith thus n Iob 6. 4. The terrours of God do set themselves in array against me If God be so dreadfull to his own servants how then can the wicked and sinners appear before him how can they withstand his judgements or bear the fiercenesse of his wrath and fury he cast the disobedient Angels out of heaven without any hope of redemption he cast Adam out of Paradise and laid a severe curse upon the earth for his sake and upon all his posterity for his sin he drowned the whole world and consumed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire he gave his own people into the hands of their enemies for their transgressions and brought grievous judgements upon many particular offenders Wherefore we cannot deny but that the Meditation of these and the like works of Gods justice must needs be dreadful and uncomfortable to us if we look onely upon the justice of God and not also upon his mercy But above all it is most dreadfull to Meditate upon the day of judgement when we must appear before this great and terrible God to give a strict account unto him of whatsoever we have done here in the flesh whether it be good or evill o Ioel. 2. 11. That day is great and terrible who can abide it Then shall all our secret sins be brought to light and laid open to the view of heaven and earth then it wil appear how we have served God what good we have done and what evill we have shunned and then we must answer for every idle word that we have spoken Then shall be great confusion both in heaven and in earth to the astonishment of all Nations for p Luk. 21. 27. they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and glory and with great authority and majesty q 2 Cor. 5. 10. All must then be presented before the judgement seat of Christ r 1 Cor. 4. 5. who will bring to light those things that were hidden in darknesse and will manifest all the thoughts of every mans heart Å¿ Luk. 23. 30. Rev. 6. 16 Then the wicked shall say to the hills fall upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb because the great day of wrath is come This terrour will be so unspeakable that it will make every mans heart to tremble for the just men and the Angels themselves are said to fear surely then it must needs be dreadfull to think upon it What a fearfull day will it be to carelesse and loose livers who carry the guilt of sin upon their souls with them unto judgement how will it terrifie them when they see such dreadfull feares and miseries to rush in upon them t Math. 24. 29. Then they shall see the Sun to be darkened and the moon not to give her light then the Stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken Thus saith the Prophet u Isa 13. 13 14. The earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the LORD of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger and it shall be as the chased Roe and as the sheep that no man taketh up Then shall they see all sepulchers open and to yield forth their dead bodies of all men high and low rich and poor to stand there naked before the Judge and before his Angels and in the face of all creatures their sins shall be revealed their secret offences shall be laid open and they shall be constrained to give an account of those things whereof they would disdain to have been told in this life Consider now who can Meditate upon the eternall God this great and terrible Judge without much fear and dread if he cannot appear before him with a good conscience and who can think upon that fearfull day of account without much terrour and trouble of spirit if he hath not some good assurance of the pardon of his sins by his true repentance and that he is reconciled to God by faith in Christ Wealth and honours cannot help the Judge will not be partiall neither will he be corrupted an evill conscience will not be silent no intercession of worldly friends can prevail at that day all things wil cry for vengeance upon the wicked and reprobate to yield them cause of fear and terrour but nothing will yield them any hope of comfort Above them shall be their dreadfull Judge who is offended with them for their wickednesse beneath them they shall see hell open and the cruell furnace ready boyling to receive then on their right hand their sins accusing them on the left hand the divels are ready to execute Gods eternall
end shall be comfortable to thee according to this of David x Ps 37. 35 37 38. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace But though the wicked are in great power spreading themselves like a green bay tree yet they shall be destroyed together and their end shall be cut off If we have these benefits and comforts and much more by the operations of the holy Ghost we must then study how to be thankfull to him for his goodnesse and how to expresse it by our conformity to his will and by our ready obedience to his holy motions Also we must have recourse unto him by fervent prayer for what we want as it may stand with his good pleasure to grant But we must take heed with what heart and with what affections we make our addresses unto him for if there be any secret or darling sin lurking in us he will easily find it out he can search into the most secret corners of our hearts and nothing can be hidden from his all seeing eye If our hearts are more set upon carnall pleasures or worldly profits than to meditate on his gracious operations and how to enjoy him he will soon discover our hypocrisie and it will stop the current of his graces to our hearts but if he findeth truth and sincerity in our inward parts he will then plentifully bestow his heavenly gifts and graces upon us for he will give us more meeknesse of spirit more patience in our troubles more comfort in our sorrowes and more grace to cleanse and purge away the leprosie and filth of our sins Also he will put our hard and stony hearts into a gracious condition fit to receive the print of his own image to seal unto us the assurance of our salvation No duty then in the service of God can be hard to us if we are guided by this eternall Spirit and nothing that we suffer can be bitter to our souls if this heavenly comforter hath made his abode in our hearts In the last place we must consider that no saving and sanctifying grace can be wrought in us but by the holy Ghost and we can discern nothing of the deep things of God for our comfort if we have not a spirituall light from him he worketh faith in us to unite us to Christ and to make application to our selves of the merit of his sufferings for our redemption he works repentance to assure us of the pardon of our sins and to manifest the power of Christs death and resurrection in us by the mortifying and killing of the power of our sins and by the quickening of us up unto newnesse of life The holy Ghost worketh our filiall love to God our hope in his promises our Christian patience in bearing the crosse with a meek and a contented minde our Christian fortitude and courage in all our spirituall combates and tryalls and our constancy to hold out untill we have obtained victory He gives us the assurance of our justification the sanctification of our lives ability to pray unto God and to meditate on him as we ought and he worketh the renovation of the whole man in us These heavenly graces are as so many precious jewells to adorn our souls that we may be all glorious within y Psal 45. 13 like Solomons Queen to be espoused unto Christ for if we be decked with these ornaments of grace and cloathed with the righteousnesse of Christ to cover the shame and the deformity of our sins then God will accept of our persons and of our offerings and will hereafter wed us to his own Son Wherefore when we come into the presence of God to partake of his Divine Ordinances or to perform any holy service unto him we must humbly crave the assistance of the holy Ghost to give us understanding hearts and sanctified affections and to put an holy zeal into our prayers and Meditations that they may mount up above all earthly things and ascend up to the throne of grace where they shall be heard and graciously accepted z Acts 7. 30 32 33. When Moses perceived that God was in a flame of fire in a bush he trembled and durst not behold untill he had put off his shoes from his feet because the place where he stood was holy ground So likewise a Josh 5. 13 14. though Joshua was so valiant as to withstand a man of war that stood over against him with his sword drawn in his hand yet when he understood that he was the captain of the host of the Lord even God himself he fell on his face to the earth and did worship and losed his shoe from off his feet because the place whereon he stood was holy Thus we ought to appear before God with fear and trembling and to come with all due reverence into his Presence when we perform any holy duties unto him also to put off all our filthinesse and to put on the righteousnesse of Christ by faith because we come into an holy place where God himself is present who will not suffer any unclean thing to come near unto him If we can thus Meditate on the holy Ghost we shall find much sweetnesse and comfort in our Meditations Now let thy heart Meditate freely on this blessed Comforter with an holy devotion and pure affections when thou art in any sorrowfull or afflicted condition or when any anguish of spirit doth seize upon thee for true consolation is no where to be found but onely in him Let thy heart also ruminate upon those severall resemblances of the holy Ghost which will help thine understanding to discern how he worketh in thy heart to purge thee from thy corruptions to instruct thee in the wayes of godlinesse to confirm thee in the Truth to change thy sinfull disposition into a sanctified condition to seal the assurance of thy Redemption to thy soul to blow away all vain and sinfull cogitations out of thy minde and to give thee all spirituall abilities meet for a Christian warfare in this life that thou maist have a Crown of righteousnesse in the life to come How to Meditate upon the Works of God IF we consider and look well upon the works of God in the Creation of the Heavens and of the Earth how he hath beautified and adorned the Heavens with innumerable glorious bodies and replenished the Earth with all varietie of Plants and fruitfull trees and with all kindes of living Creatures both great and small also how he hath filled the bowels of the Earth with rich and precious mineralls and the seas with fishes of all kindes we cannot then but admire the Omnipotent Power the infinite Wisedome the transcendent glory and the wonderfull Goodnesse of God the great Creatour who hath made them all for our use and service and that he might be glorified by them This consideration will help our understandings in the knowledge of God and to raise up our hearts
But in the Redemption of man Christ Jesus the second Person in the sacred Trinity laid aside all his celestiall and heavenly glory which was his due from his first incarnation and from eternity and came down from his Throne of Majesty in heaven and humbled himself to the meanest condition of life here on earth and to the basest and most accursed death even to the death of the crosse that he might Redeâ—m us from the lowest degree of misery and advance us to the highest degree of happinesse even above the blessed Angels in heaven This will be exceeding great joy and comfort to us if we have an holy perswasion of our Redemption by faith in Christ for hereby we have a near relation unto God being made his sons by adoption in Christ and then our souls will so delight in him that nothing will will be hard to us that we shall suffer for his sake and nothing will be too dear for him that he shall require and it will be the desire of our hearts to do his will and the joy of our souls to be joyned nearer and closer unto him also we shall willingly part with our dearest sins rather than our sins shall part us from our God This holy perswasion if it be well grounded will make us fear no adversary power and our spirituall enemies shall not daunt us for we will flee unto Christ as our best refuge in all our troubles and sorrowes we will crave his protection in all our perills and dangers for he is our Redeemer and our Saviour he is the Rock of our salvation in whom we must trust he will give us strength of grace to endure our tryalls to fight his battels and to stand for the truth against all opposition We may safely rest upon Christ and put our confidence in him for comfort and succour when any calamity doth oppresse us for help and deliverance when any spirituall enemy doth assault us for he will be our hiding place in times of danger and our comfort in all our sorrowes and afflictions k Eph. 1. 20 21 22. For God hath set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places farre above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named noâ— onely in this world but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Wherefore let the consideration of all these benefits which we have by our Redemption stir us up with all care and diligence to perform that duty and obedience which we owe unto Christ and to expresse all filiall fear and reverence all love praise and thankfulnesse to him for our Redemption which Work neither God nor man could effect for us but onely Christ who was both God and Man The time of grace GOd is the sole Disposer of Time and he keeps that precious Jewell in his own Cabinet to give to the sons of men what time he pleaseth and he appointeth every one to improve their time for the gaining of the grace and favour of God and of those things that do conduce to the kingdom of heaven and not to spend it vainly sinfully and licenciously To some he giveth more time and to some lesse and all must imploy it to the glory of God and to the good of his neighbour God doth measure out our life by time and some have a longer measure than others and this measure is dispensed to us by moments for we cannot recall the time that is past and we do not injoy the time that is to come so that we have onely the time that is now present which is but a moment and when one moment of time is gone God doth give us another until the measure of time that God hath allotted us be fulfilled If we look upon an hour-glasse we shall see how swiftly one grain of sand runneth after another and so continueth untill all be run out Thus it is with the moments of our life one moment followeth swiftly after another which God would have us duly to consider that we may not waste our time in vain things but imploy it to that end for which God gave it and that is to the working out of our own salvation that God may be honoured and glorified thereby and therefore about whatsoever we spend our time if it doth not conduce to that end it is but lost and vainly spent God hath given us a time for all our necessary occasions here upon earth that all things may be done in their season For as the Preacher saith To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven â— Eccles 3. 1 2. A time to be born and a time to dye a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted and we do observe the times and seasons of the year when to till the ground and when to sow our seed when to reap our harvest and when to gather in the fruits of the earth The Coelestiall Bodies know their times as the Psalmâ—st saitâ— b Psal 164 19. He appointeth the Moon for seasons the Sun knoweth his going down Also the fowles of heaven and the birds in the air have their times appointed for thus God upbraideth his own people by his Prophet c Jer. 8. 7. The Stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times and the Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the times of their coming but my people knoweth not the judgement of the Lord. We are wise enough to know our times for earthly things but we have no care to observe the times of grace how and when we may gain the grace and favour of God that he may accept of our persons and of our holy oblations that we offer unto him and also when we may obtain from him the saving and sanctifying graces of his most blessed Spirit The time of our life is the generall and longest time of grace that God hath given us wherein we should seek his gracious acceptance of us in Christ and wherein he doth work grace in the hearts of all his Elect by his Spirit Now if we measure this time of grace by the length of our dayes accoâ—ding to the course of nature or according to the health and strength of our bodies or by our own foolish fancy that measure is very uncertain for who knoweth whether his dayes shall be many or few Are we not dayly subject to casualities and to sudden death if we be strong and have our health to day we may be weak and sick to morrow though we dream of long life yet it is but a dream for we have no assurance of it If we thus measure the time of grace we shall put it off with delayes untill God doth suddenly bereave us of all time But we must measure out our dayes by the Rule of Gods Word and then we
such an High-priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sins and made higher than the heavens When Christ did offer up himself a sacrifice to God his whole humane nature was bound to the altar of his Divinity with the cordes of unseparable union and love e Isa 53. 10 and his soul was made an offering for sinne as well as his body which was crucified and his precious blood which was poured out upon the Cross f Heb. 7. 27. This sacrifice though it were but once offered was sufficient to satisfie the justice of God to appease his wrath to blot all our sins out of his book of remembrance and to perfect for ever them that are sanctified This is also piously to be considered g Rev. 1. 6. that Christ by his eternal Priesthood hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father h 1 Pet. 2. 5 and an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ These sacrifices are our prayers our praises thanksgivings and a broken and a contrite heart for our sins i Phil. 4. 1â— also our deeds of charity to the poor members of Christ are and odour of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable an well pleasing to God Paul did beseech the Romans k Rom. 12. 1 to present their bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is their reasonable service so that whatsoever we offer unto God it must be offered with a sanctified heart which is washed and purified in the blood of Christ by faith and indued with sanctifying grace from above and then our sacrifice will be clean and accepted of God Though our prayers and praises be imperfect and come farre short of that which they ought to be yet if they proceed from a sincere heart and are offered up by Iesus Christ our High-Priest then he will perfect them with his own righteousness and present them to God his Father for us and we may rest assured that God will be pleased to accept them graciously Wherefore seeing Christ hath made us Priests unto God because we belong unto him we must offer up our prayers and oblations to God and not to Saints or Angels for he is the author and the giver of every blessing and mercy that we receive he provideth for us food and raiment and whatsoever is needful both for this present life and for that which is to come he doth protect us from dangers he doth support us in our tribulations and delivereth us out of our distresses when we cry unto him with a faithful heart We have therefore great cause to ascribe all honour and glory unto him and thankfully to acknowledge that God is the sole author of all our good to whom we must return all praise and thanks for it Also if our prayers and oblations have no relation unto Christ by faith they cannot be accepted neither can we confidently hope to receive a gracious return of them with a blessing except we believe that Christ our Advocate will present them to God his Father If we did duly consider how much we stand in need of Gods helping hand and of his assisting grace to carry us on through all the troubles and dangers that we shall meet with in this life also how God doth continually follow us with his tender mercies and loving kindness we would not be so slack in our prayers and praises unto him and if we did consider that our prayers must mount up even to the throne of Gods Majesty they would not be so cold so dull and so much clog'd with worldly cares and sinful thoughts as commonly they are which doth hinder their swift ascent up to heaven but we would labour to be more heavenly minded and to put more holy zeal and fervency into them and to send our faith along with them which will soon bring them unto Christ and then he will present them unto God for us So likewise if we consider how careless we are in the worship and service of God how ready we are to fall from him how imperfectly our best duties are performed what sins we dayly commit and what wrath and fury we do justly deserve for them we should then be more humble more affected with godly sorrow and more carefull to renew our repentance every day our sighs and groans for our sinnes would proceed from our hearty contrition and from true compunction of spirit and then our faith in Christ will give us a firm assurance of the pardon and forgivness of them all for thus saith the Lord l Isa 66. 2. To this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word Also m Isa 57. 15 Thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Wherefore now if we think to have our wants and necessities supplied by our industry in our callings without prayer if we think to be supported in our troubles or to be delivered out of our miseries with prayer to be nourished at our tables or refreshed in our beds without prayer and to be eased of our paines or recovered of our diseases without prayer we shall either miss our desires or else we shall have them without a blessing We cannot conceive how prevailing faithful prayer is with God if it be presented to him by Christ Thus saith James n Jam. 5. 15 16 17 18 The prayer of faith shall save the sick and if he commit sins they shall be forgiven him And again The effectual servent prayer of a righteous man availeth much Elias prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six moneths and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit o Gen. 20. 17 At the prayer of Abraham God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maid servants and they bare children p 1 Sam. 1. By prayer Hannah obtained a sonne q Exod. 32. 11. Moses by prayer did stop the flud gates of Gods fury that were ready to be poured out upon his own people for their idolatry in worshipping the golden calf By prayer we may obtain any blessings from God and escape any judgement that he hath threatned Likewise our interest that we have in Christ by faith will make our praises and thanksgivings to God for blessings received to be accepted and will also make them not to return empty again into our bosomes If our repentance for our sinnes be without faith in Christ it will give us no good assurance of pardon though we do express all the outward signes of true humiliation and though we break our hearts with grief yet we can
blasphemous words and cruell torments upon the crosse even to the pouring out of his very heart blood to purge and cleanse us from the guilt and from the filth of all our sins and that he suffered whatsoever the malice and power of the devill could inflict upon him and also that for the time his Divine nature did refuse to minister comfort to his humanity in these his bitter torments what thankfulnesse then do we ow to our dear Saviour for his wonderfull love to us What can be too dear for him that did account nothing too dear for us what duty what reverence and fear do we ow unto him who hath paid so great a price for our redemption Our best expressions of love and duty are no way answerable to that which Christ hath deserved and which we are Sound to perform unto him yet if they come from a willing minde and from a sincere heart Christ our Saviour will accept them and out of his fulnesse will supply what is wanting in us and God will be well pleased with it for his sake Here is much matter of heavenly comfort for us if our hearts can devoutly Meditate upon it and receive it Our life may be full of misery and our hearts full of sadnesse and perplexity our faith may be so weak that we can have no apprehension of the love and favour of God and our spirits may be so cast down that we cannot raise them up towards heaven we may be pressed with troubles crosses and sorrowes beyond our strength and the light of Gods countenance may be so eclipsed that we can see no token of his grace and favour to sweeten the bitternesse of our sufferings and to support us under the pressure of them but we are ready to faint and to cast off all hope of relief and comfort b Psal 42. 11. but for all this we need not fear our souls need not be disquieted within us for if we wait on God he will be our present help he will be our God and he will not forsake us The brightnesse of his countenance may be darkened for a few hours as it was with the Sun at this very same time c Mal. 4. 2. but the Sun of righteousnesse will again appear to us with healing in his wings then we shal see the salvation of the Lord if we can look up with the eye of faith to our sweet Saviour who was brought to a lower degree of spirituall desertion in the apprehension of his humane nature thn we can be and yet he found a return of the gracious aspect of his Fathers countenance toward him whereby he hath sanctified and sweetned whatsoever can betide us to sink our spirits or to shake our faith and confidence in God If our ear is spiritually bored to hear those dolefull and lamentable words which our Saviour uttered upon the crosse when he was ready to yeild up his Spirit to God his Father and yet apply them to our selves by faith we may then draw vertue and power from them to strengthen our faith and to support our hope in the assurance of his love that he will not bring us to so low a degree of spiritual desertion because our weaknesse will not bear so great a tryall but will make us to hold out to the end by the Almighty power of his eternall Spirit Now learn O my sorrowful soul so to imprint the crucifying of thy dear Saviour in thy heart by faith that thou maist draw grace and vertue from thence to crucifie all thy corruptions and the evill concupiscence of thy flesh that thine affections may not be carried after worldly vanities that thine eyes may not delight to gaze upon obscene spectacles that thine eares may be dull to unsavory speeches but swift to hear words that tend to edification and that thy tongue may have no motion to utter any thing that is dishonourable to God or hurtfull to thy neighbour d Gal. 6. 14. Thus by the power of Christ crucified the world shall be crucified to thee and thou unto the world if thou dost truly believe that he was crucified for thee because it will dull the edge of thine affections to all earthly things it will work in thee an hatred and detestation of all sinfull pleasures and thou wilt dayly labour and e Col. 3. 9. Eph. 4. 22. strive to mortifie the old man of sin that hath had his habitation in thy bosome above these threescore years In thy first creation thou wert a lovely creature beloved of thy God without spot or blemish in soul or in body thou wert beautified and adorned with all graces and holy vertues reverenced and obeyed of all other creatures here upon earth and the celestiall orbs did cast no evill aspects upon thee but now thou art deformed with sin thou art polluted in all the faculties of thy soul and in all the parts of thy body for thou art spiritually blinde naked and void of all goodnesse thou art deaf and dumb to heavenly things thou art lame and impotent and canst not walk in the paths of righteousnesse also thou art so bent and bowed to the earth that thou canst not raise up thy heart toward heaven and so full of spirituall diseases and infirmities that there is no sound part in thee But this is thy comfort O my soul that the blood of thy crucified Redeemer which was spilt upon the crosse will take away all thy deformities of sin and will heal all thy spiritual diseases and his righteousnesse will make thee lovely in the sight of God If this be our condition by nature if we are thus deformed with the guilt of sin that cleaveth to our souls by our fall in Adam and if we have no meanes to regain our first happinesse in Adams first innocency but by Christ and to be cleansed from all our sins but by his blood then our chief care must be how to injoy Christ and how to have this great benefit by his blood If we are ingrafted into him by faith we shall injoy him in his whole nature as he is God and Man we shall partake with him in all his excellencies and graces he will work a new creation in us by his Spirit and a thorough change in all the faculties of our souls and in all the affections of our hearts that no sin shall cleave to our souls for our condemnation for he will also nail the the guilt of all our sins to his crosse upon which he shed his most precious blood to make an attonement for them all He will also take away the stains and filth of our sins by his sanctifying grace and holy Spirit and will put upon us the robe of his own righteousnesse which will cover all our deformities and will make us amiable and lovely in the sight of God By the merit of Christs blood our sins shall never be laid to our charge by the power of his death we are made able
6â— Before I was afflicted saith he I went astray but now have I kept thy word Also he saith g Psal 23. 4 Thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me and then he concludes thus h Psal 94. 12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest O Lord. This exhortation the wise man giveth i Prov. 3. 11 12. My Son despise not the chastening of the Lord neither beweary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth even as a Father the son in whom he delighteth k Heb. 12. 11. But no chastening for the present seemeth joyous but grievous neverthelesse afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousnesse unto them which are exercised thereby Wherefore we must not measure the love of God by the outward blessings which we injoy nor his displeasure by the crosses which we suffer Consider now that none could ever claim greater priviledge from afflictions and sorrowes than the Virgin Mary and none was ever more to be honoured upon earth than she for she did bear Christ the only Son of the eternal God in her blessed womb who had the command of all creatures in heaven and in earth and who was the fountain of all true consolation and she injoyed the comfort of his sacred society many years and yet she had her cares she had her sorrowes her whole life was full of afflictions wants and necessities she was put to great extremities when Christ was born soon after she fled into Egypt for the safety of her Sons life she lost him three dayes at Jerusalem and at that time she sought him with a sorrowfull heart But above all behold and see how her soul is now pierced thorough with grief for she must now lose his gracious company for ever she now beholds him upon the Crosse she seeth how his tender body is rent and torn with the thornes and with the whip how his hands and feet are nailed to the Crosse as if he had been a notorious malefactor and she hears the revilings and blasphemies that were uttered against him in a most shameful spiteful manner which was enough to break her sorrowfull heart but especially she did see his very heart blood gush out of his side which was pierced with a spear This was the wofull and lamentable condition of the blessed Virgin at this time but Christ gave her inward comfort and strength of faith answerable to the greatnesse of her sorrowes which did uphold her heart from fainting and her soul from sinking This may be the condition of any of Gods servants they may be oppressed and pressed down with temporall miseries they may drink deep in the bitternesse of them but yet they are freed from the curse that was upon them and there is nothing in them to hurt their souls for that is taken away by these sufferings of Christ which makes the burden of them more easie that they may bear it with a willing minde When our afflictions are thus sanctified we shall find the fruit and benefit that comes thereby to be very sweet and profitable so that we shall have good cause to rejoice under them for as our sorrowes and sufferings do abound so also grace shall superabound l 2 Cor. 1. 5. and as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ Consider yet further that as the holy Virgin was continually exercised under the Crosse and had her share in common calamities so likewise she had her particular cares of want and scarcity for her condition of life was but mean and her livelihood was but small therefore she was now like to be left destitute of all comfort relief and succour But Christ her beloved Son takes care of her he provides as well for the maintainance of her body as for the comfort of her soul and commends her to John his beloved Disciple m John 19. 26 27. Woman saith he to his Mother behold thy Son and to John he said Behold thy Mother And from that hour John took her unto his own home and provided for her during her life Thus was the blessed Virgin trained up in the school of affliction and sorrow to keep her from spirituall pride though she were honoured and blessed above all other women and that her minde should not be drawen away after the pomp and vanitis of the world but still to bear Christ in her heart as sometimes she did bear him in her wombe It was also to free her from all earthly cares that the meditations of her heart might be alwayes heavenly and that the desire of her soul might be to be with Christ This care Christ will have to provide whatsoever is needfull for all those that belong unto him for he best knoweth what is good for us and he will not suffer us to want if we put our trust in him We need not carke and care for the transitory things of this life which are given to the wicked as well as to the godly We need not distrust the wise Providence of God but we may confidently rest upon Christ for he will support and comfort us in our tribulations and will provide for us in our wants and necessities troubles and sorrowes may come upon us losse of Parents Children or Friends will come and casualties may happen in our estate which we would neither foresee nor prevent these and the like will imbitter all the comfort and content that we can finde in this world but if we belong unto Christ we shall never lose him neither can any thing bereave us of the sweet consolation that we shall finde in him This we may believe to be true that our crosses and sufferings in this life may be better for us then to injoy all earthly pleasures and delights Moses refuseth to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter chosing rather to â— Heb. 11. 35 25 26. suffer affliction with the people of God than to injoy the pleasures of sin for a season esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward o Heb. 12. 12 Then lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees Let not outward crosses or afflictions too much seaze upon thee but by faith have respect unto the recompence of the reward and raise up thy Meditations to Spirituall things set the affections of thy heart upon Christ and him crucified which will make thy life comfortable here and will bring thee to reign eternally with him hereafter Now we must learn how to draw true consolation to our souls from this eternal Fountain of comfort when outward calamities or anguish of spirit doth overpresse us Our worldly preferments our natural endowments humane learning or common grace cannot reach this Fountain the well is deep and nothing can reach it but true Faith which is the onely bucket to draw this water of comfort from Christ which will refresh
now broken down which was between the Jew and the Gentile and that Christ was as freely given to the one as the other and the merit of his blood was as effectuall for the salvation of the Gentile as it was for the Jew if he were truly received by faith The vail being now rent the Gentile hath free accesse to the Mercy-seat which did typifie the Throne of grace by Christ Long before this God did choose some to be the first fruits of the Gentiles as namely Eliezâ—r of Damascus in Abrahams family Rahab of Jericho Ruth the Moabitesse and Naaman the Syrian with many more Secondly God did hereby shew that now there was an end put to the sacrifices of the Ceremoniall Law because the true Paschall Lambe was slain of whom these sacrifices were but types and shadows and that the Ceremoniall Law was now abrogated c Joh. 4. 22 23. and the true worship and service of God was not confined to Jerusalem or to the Temple but now God might be worshipped in any other place so that it be in spirit and in truth Thirdly we may see the free mercy and goodnesse of God to the Jew and also to the Gentile d Acts 15. 10. for by the death of his Son he hath cased the Jew of the great burden of Ceremonies which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear by putting an end to the Ceremoniall Law and he hath brought the Gentile within the Covenant of grace and hath admitted him into the most holy place for the vail of the Temple which before kept him out is now rent asunder God hath also sanctified every place where he is truly worshipped and served with a pure and upright heart and hath given us as great Priviledges in Christ as he gave to his ancient people the Jews Fourthly by these miraculous signes and wonders God did convince his people of the hardnesse of their hearts and of their wilfull blindnesse who would not see the fulfilling of their ancient Prophesies in Christ nor believe that he was that Messiah which was promised though they could object nothing against it Wherefore their hearts did not relent for their great impiety but the earth and the stony rocks were more sensible than they If we are thus hardned in our sins and thus blinded in our understandings it is a fearfull sign that we are given up to a reprobate minde Fifthly we may hereby see how God made the senselesse creatures to honour his Son at his death though both Jew and Gentile did most spitefully dishonour him in his life Christ honoured his Father while he was living and his Father honoureth him now he is dead by these great wonders and by the Testimony of the Centurion and others who seeing what came to passe said e Mat. 27. 54. Truly this was the Son of God Thus will God honour those that honour him by a vertuous and godly life or by their sufferings in his cause for he will make their innocency to appear and will manifest the truth of their Profession to the honour of his own Name and he will give them immortall glory in the life to come Wherefore if thou art in place of authority honour God by executing judgement and justice without exception of persons if thou art rich honour him in the right use of them and with works of mercy to the poor and needy if thou art poor be content with thy condition If thou hast children honour God in their good education teach them the fear of the Lord and let thy verteous life and good conversation be an example of piety to them Also if thou hast a family command thy children and servants to keep the way of the Lord to walk in his Statutes and to do righteously that the Lord may bring a blessing upon thee and upon thy house If thou art under the crosse honour God with thy patience hope and confidence in him whatsoever thy condition be honour him with thy thankfulnesse Sixthly God doth give us to understand by the trembling of the earth and by the renting of the rocks how powerfully the holy Ghost doth sometimes work upon our hearts at our first conversion to bring us to repentance f Acts 9. as he did at the conversion of Paul g Acts 16. and at the conversion of the Jailor and of diverse others for though our hearts be naturally as stupid and dull to any thing that is spirituall and heavenly as a lump of earth yet when the holy Ghost works upon them with his Almighty power he will make them quake and tremble and he will put a new Principle of grace into them whereby they shall be changed into a gracious condition and their natural dull and stupid properties shall be made active and ready for every holy duty And though our hearts are by nature as hard as any stone and no way capable of any gracious and heavenly impression yet the Spitit of God will break them in pieces and will mollifie and soften every piece to make it tender and flexible to the will and pleasure of God Wherefore if thou dost find this dulnesse in thine understanding this earthly mindednesse and this stupidity in thine affections that thou hast no will to serve thy God also if there be such obduracy in thy heart that thou canst not lament and mourn for thy sins and thy heart cannot melt into sighing and tears for thy transgressions and if there be such unbelief in thee that thou canst not apply any promise of mercy to thy self and canst have no hope nor assurance of the pardon and forgivenesse of thy sins upon thy repentance and turning unto God then make thy condition known to thy Saviour Christ in all meeknesse of spirit and he will put an holy light into thy understanding by his Spirit he will sanctifie thine affections and season them with grace he will take away thy hard heart of unbelief and will make it more sensible of thy miserable condition and will fit and prepare it for a deeper impression of grace Lastly God doth shew by the opening of the graves that there shall be a generall resurrection of every mans body at the last day when they must appear before the judgement seat of God to give an account of whatsoever they have done in the flesh Though our bodies are lockt up in the grave for thousands of years and though their dust and ashes are scattered abroad with the winde to the utmost parts of the earth yet at the last every grave shall be opened and shall deliver up her dead and every grain of dust shall be gathered together that every man may have his own body to deliver up his account before the great and dreadfull Judge of heaven and earth to receive the just reward of their works the wicked to be thrust down with the devils into everlasting burnings for their evill deeds and for their unbelief but such as belong unto
do we hope for no greater felicity than what we now injoy We hâ—ve no abiding place here but we are subject to changes every moment and upon every small occasion o 1 Chro. 29 15. We are strangers and sojourners here our dayes on earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding our mansion house where we must dwell for ever is in heaven which Christ our Saviour hath prepared for us to draw our mindes from all earthly delights which are fading and transitory and alwayes mixed and imbittered with some sorrowes and vexations that our hearts and affections may be inflamed to injoy that celestial happinesse where we shall be stablished and confirmed in perfect holinesse for ever and where we shall injoy the perfection of all blessedness for evermore Wherefore p Heb. 12. 2. look unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the crosse despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God q 2 Tim. 2. i2 If we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him if we dye with him we shall also live with him if we are buried with him we shall rise with him and if we partake with him in his humiliation we shall also partake with him in his exaltation for the members must be made conformable to the Head Of the Resurrection of CHRIST VVE come now to the Exaltation of our blessed Redeemer for though he suffered his enemies to tyrannize over him at their pleasure and to put him to a most cruell and shamefull death upon the crosse because it was his heavenly Fathers will it should be so yet he rose again the third day by the Almighty Power of his Deity and cloathed himself with the glorious robes of immortality triumphing over all his enemies both spirituall and temporall The truth of his Resurrection a Luk. 24. did first appear by the testimony of two Angels to the Woman that came the third day to his Sepulchre to imbalm his body b John 20. then he appeard to Mary and to his Disciples at several times also to five hundred brethren at once and he conversed with his Disciples fourty dayes upon earth before he ascended up into heaven Many Saints that slept were raised out of their graves with him who also appeared to many in the holy City and probably ascended up with him into heaven so that we may safely build our faith upon the truth of his Resurrection which is an Article of faith that we must believe for the well grounding of our hope that our bodies shal also rise again from the dead with songs of rejoicing and triumph Here is matter of exceeding great comfort to our souls for our hearts to Meditate upon if we do stedfastly believe that Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour is risen from the dead First we may be truly perswaded hereby that he hath fully satisfied the justice of God for all our sins and that the guilt of sin is taken away from our souls and nailed to his Crosse so that if God looks upon our sins there he will also see the precious blood of his dear Son that was spilt for them Secondly we may firmly believe that Christ by his Resurrection hath gotten the victory and conquest over sin death hell and the Devill c John 10. 18 for as he had power to lay down his life so he had power to take it up again Christ hath likewise taken away the strength of sin and hath pulled out the sting of death in that he hath fulfilled all righteousnesse and fully satisfied the penalty of the Law d 1 Cor. 15. 56. for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law Wherefore we may now draw vertue and grace from Christ to overpower all the corruptions of our nature e Eph. 2. 1. and though we are dead in trespasses and sins yet by the power of his Resurrection he will quicken us and raise us up out of the grave of sin and will give us a spirituall life to live the life of grace to him here that we may live the life of glory with him hereafter for ever Why then should we fear death that hath no sting to wound us Why should we not smile upon it seing Christ hath sanctified it to us Why should we fear the Devill with a servile fear seing Christ hath redeemed us out of his bondage His malice may molest and trouble us if we be not well armed with faith but Christ hath weakened his power below our strength When our bodieslye in the dust our souls will be out of the devils reach for Christ will take them up to himself into the Paradise of God where the devil cannot come for he is cast down into utter darknesse he may be permitted to tempt or afflict us while we are in the flesh but Christ whom we serve will not suffer him to prevail against us Thirdly seeing Christ our head is risen from the dead we also that are his members must rise again at the last day for the Head will draw all the members of the body with it Christ hath redeemed our bodies from the grave as well as our souls from death if therefore we be not raised again out of the grave our redemption is not perfectly wrought Also if there shall be no resurrection of our bodies and if death hath power to keep them still in the grave then our union with Christ is not firm and our faith is not able to keep us close unto him and our hope is not stedfast but death hath not this power the graves will open and deliver up their dead and our bodies shall rise again to injoy that unconceivable happinesse with our souls of the beatificall vision of God and to be for ever with Christ our Redeemer because Christ our Head is risen Lastly our chief comfort dependeth upon our resurrection to glory for in this life we finde nothing but labour and travell sorrow and trouble vexation and anguish of spirit our hope of future rest and peace of joy and comfort happinesse and glory doth sweeten all our afflictions here and makes us bear them contentedly and chearfully for as David saith f Psal 58. 11. Verily there is a reward for the righteous and this reward is in heaven Now if there be no resurrection from the dead our hope is vain our comfort will deceive us and our life is most miserable of all men according to this of Paul g 1 Cor. 15. 15. If in this life onely we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable for we shall never injoy this reward which God hath promised but our faith is grounded upon the sure promises of God which cannot deceive us concerning the resurrection of our bodies unto glory which will yield us unspeakable consolation when we seriously Meditate upon it Wherefore now raise
in our affections Why are our prayers our praises and our thanksgivings so few and so seldome sent up to him Why are they so cold and so dull that they cannot mount up to him And why are our spirituall oblations so full of unbelief Do we think that Christ will intercede for us if we sin wittingly and willingly against God Will he procure our pardon if there be any accursed thing hidden in our hearts Will Christ present our Prayers to God if they proceed out of feigned lips And will he present our duties and services to God if they are performed with unbelieving and deceitfull hearts If we thus conceive of the intercession of Christ we delude our selves and indanger our souls to utter perdition If we did truly believe that Christ hath taken possession of that heavenly inheritance which is prepared for us our souls would be ravished with an holy desire to injoy it we would contemn the vanities of this world in comparison of that and our affections would not be carried after sinfull pleasures afflictions and crosses would not cast down and deject our spirits but we would live chearfully in the midst of all troubles and sorrowes because by faith in Christ we are made heirs of the kingdom of Heaven If that place be so perfectly pure that no unclean thing can enter there we should study to live piously and vertuously to the glory of God while we live in the flesh that we may have a sure hope to injoy it hereafter If a Kings Son that is heir apparent but to an earthly Crown should live like a base peasant and delight in the company of such as are of mean and low degree we wil be ready to say that he is unworthy of such an Inheritance Let us make this our own case and consider to what honour and dignity we are born by our adoption in Christ that we may not live in subjection to every base and sinfull lust as unworthy of that Inheritance which Christ hath prepared for us in the Kingdom of heaven Though our condition â—e mean in this world and our calling such as that we must converse with ungodly people as to the outward man yet the conversation of the inward man may be spirituall and holy c Joh. 17. 15 for Christ hath prayed his Father to keep us from the evill that is in the world that we may imitate here upon earth the blessed Angels and Saints in heaven by glorifying God and by our readinesse to fulfill his will and pleasure Thus saith the Apostle d Col. 3. 1 2 If we be risen with Christ we should seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God and there should our affections be set and not on things on the earth Thus we may have our conversation in heaven thus we may live a spirituall life upon earth and thus we may injoy the sweet communion of the blessed Trinity even in this life for God the Father will be gracious and loving to us in Christ as a Father is to his children God the Son will be righteousnesse sanctification and Redemption to us according to the nature of a Saviour to his elect people and God the holy Ghost will abide with us for ever in all difficulties and dangers according to the nature of a true Comforter A brief summe of the Exaltation of CHRIST IF we look now upon our beloved Saviour we may contemplate his great Exaltation with much joy and gladnesse of heart a Eph. 4. 8. for he is ascended up on high and hath led captivity captive b Rev. 19. 11 12 13 14 15 16. John doth describe him sitting upon a white horse because he doth judge in righteousnesse his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crownes he was cloathed with a vestare dipt in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of kings and Lord of lords c 1 Tim. 6. 15 16. He is the blessed and onely Potentate who onely hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen or can see d Phil. 2. 9 10. 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 and things in earth and things under the earth e Rom. 9. 5. for he is over all God blessed for ever f Psal 2. 6 8 God hath now made Christ a King and set him upon his holy hill of Sion he hath given him the heathen for his inheriritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession Also the Apostle saith g Col. 2. 9 10. In Christ dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily and we are compleat in him which is the head of all principality and power We may yet consider further how God hath exalted Christ h Eph. 5. 23. For he hath made him the head of his Church i Eph. 1. 22. and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Also k Psal 118. 12. Christ is become the head stone of the corner in this spirituall building and he doth so firmly binde every stone of this building to himself that they shall never depart from him Thus God is pleased to reveal in some measure how highly he hath exalted our dear Saviour after his great sufferings in his bitter passion but as we are not able to conceive what he suffered so our weak capacity cannot reach to that transcendent glory and Majesty which he now hath in the same nature as he was our Redeemer God and Man If God hath so highly exalted our glorified Redeeemer then we must study and Meditate with an holy zeal and pious devotion how to exalt him in our hearts how to prize him in our affections according to his excellencies and dignities how to have a reverent esteem of his worth how to honour and reverence him for his greatnesse and l Hos 3. 5. how to fear and love him for his goodnesse Also we must have a diligent care to obey his rule and government as he reigns and rules in our hearts by his Spirit that we may withstand and resist the temptations of the devill that the alluring vanities of the world may not insnare us and that no evill concupiscence may overpower us to make us dishonour our God or disobey the will of our dear Saviour If Christ be truly advanced in our mindes and thoughts according to the glory
them z Psal 68. 5 A father of the fatherlesse and a judge of the widowes is God in his holy habitation Also God will blesse the children if their fathers have lived in the true fear of God and he will provide for them if death takes away their parents and they are left destitute of food and rayment But this may be an advantage even to such children because then they are immediatly commended to the care and providence of God who best knoweth how to make provision for them and he will neither be wanting in the trust that is committed to him neither wil he frustrate the hope of those that rest and depend upon him for succour in time of need Consider in the last place what the Son of Sirach saith a Eccl. 41. 1 2. That as the remembrance of death is bitter to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions unto the man that hath nothing to vex him and that hath prosperity in all things yea unto him that is yet able to receive meat so the sentence of death is acceptable unto the needy and unto him whose strength faileth that is now in the last age and is vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But none can be truly willing to dye but onely a true Christian that is ingrafted into Christ and hath an holy assurance that he dyeth in the love and favour of God and doth faithfully hope for that Crown of righteousness and that heavenly Inheritance which the righteous Judge hath reserved for him If we have this assurance by our union with Christ and also a stedfast hope of salvation well grounded upon the promises of God we shall not be afraid to look death in the face nor unwilling to resign up our souls unto God before death doth violently or suddenly take them from us For Christ hath taken away the evill that is in death and hath so weakened the power of it that it cannot bereave our souls of that spiritual comfort and gain which we have by him though sometimes we cannot feel it in a sudden or violent death neither can it binde us over unto judgement For nothing can dissolve the union that is between Christ and our souls by faith Though God should take us away when we are young or in our middle age as he did that good King Josiah yet it shall be for our great Advantage that we should not see the evill that is to come and the sooner to injoy our eternall rest and happinesse with Christ Our Advantage and gain by CHRIST after death BUt the chiefest gain that a true Believer hath by Christ is after death for whatsoever he gained by him in life or in death was to fit him for the injoyment of this great gain and to give him some assurance of it and some taste how great and how comfortable it is We have this heavenly advantage by Christ in this life but in hope and we cannot come to the full fruition of it until after death and then we shall find it to be so great that no tongue can expresse it and no heart can conceive it but if we duly consider from what evils and miseries we shall be then freed and what glory and blessedness we shall then injoy we may conceive something of this unspeakable gain First we shall be freed from all the temptations and suggestions of the devil a Rev. 12. 9. for he is cast out into the earth and all his wicked Angels are cast out with him They never had any place in heaven since their fall though they flie in the air or mount up to the first or second region of heaven yet they cannot come into the heaven of happinesse where the Saints and Angels of God have their habitation for heaven is not a place for such unclean spirits Also in heaven we shall be freed from all worldly temptations from all carnal delights and earthly vanities that may intice us to sin b Rev. 21. 27 For there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth nor whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie for as the place is most pure so they that come there must be pure and holy Secondly in heaven we shall be freed from the issues of temptation and that is sin for thus saith the Prophet c Jer. 3. 17. When the Nations shall be gathered unto the Throne of the Lord they shall walk no more after the imaginations of their evill heart In this life the soul is purged and purified from the guilt of sin by the bloud of Christ and all the spots and staines of sin are taken away by the laver of regeneration the body also is purified and refined in the grave by the vertue of Christs death and burial and therefore d 1 Cor. 15. 41. though it be sown in corruption in dishonour and in weaknesse yet it is raised in incorruption in glory and in power it is sowen a naturall body but it is raised a spirituall body which is subject to no sin corruption or infirmity which are the fruits of sin and it is endowed with perfect abilities to glorifie God together with the Saints and Angels in heaven So long as we live in the flesh we cannot but sin against God but when this mortal shall put on immortality there will be then no more place for sin but our whole nature shall be made spiritural and heavenly This consideration should make us desire with Paul e Phil. 1. 23. To be dissolved and to be with Christ that we might no more sin against our God nor offend him with our pollutions but alwayes to sing praises and Hallelujahs unto him as the Saints and Angels do in heaven Thirdly we shall then be freed from all troubles and sorrowes from all pain and diseases of body from all anguish of spirit and grief of hears f Rev. 25. 4. For God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Thus are the servants of God freed from all temptations unto sin from all sin and from all misery and sorrow after death by the merit of Christs death and passion but carnal and unregenerate men carry their sins with them to the grave and death opens the gate to their eternal torments in hell for it bindeth them over to the great and terrible day of judgement when the fiercenesse of Gods wrath shall be poured out upon them to their utter confusion We come now to consider what great honour and what joy and comfort the servants of God shall have by Christ after death for though their life here be full of sorrowes yet after death they shall be freed from them all and they shall also have the fulnesse of all true comfort and consolation First we shall injoy God himself g 2
Cor. 1. 3. who is the God of all comfort for thus he saith by his Prophet h Isa 51. 11 12. The redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads they shall obtain gladnâ—sse and joy and mourning shall flee away I even I am he that comforteth you What comfort can we then want if God be our Comforter Secondly if we delight in pleasures heaven will afford us more than our hearts can desire i Psal 36. 8 9. There we shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatnesse of Gods house and he will make us drink of the river of his pleasures for with him is the fountain of life in his light shall we see light Also the Psalmist saith thus k Psal 16. 11 God will shew us the path of life in his presence is fulnesse of joy at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore For heaven is the place of all peace and comfort of all joy and happinesse and of all glory and immortality Thirdly heaven is the place of all security as Abraham said to Dives l Lu. 16. 26 Between us and you there is a great gulf sixed so that they which would passe from hence to you cannot neither can they â—asse to us that would come from thence Also thâ—â— saith Christ m Mat. 25. 10. When the Bridâ—groom cometh and they that are ready are gone in with him to the marriage the door will be shut and theâ— none can go in and none can come out n Mat. 6. 20 â—n heaven we may safely keep our spiritual â—reasure from the moth and rust and from that arch theif the devil If this precious jewel which is our â—ouâ— be laid up in heaven it will be safely kept there for nothing can corrupt it and no theif can steal it away Lastly that which makes up the fulnesse of our joy and happinesse in the Kingdom of heaven is the eternity of it for if we should injoy it but for a time it would greatly lessen the comfort of our felicity there shall be an end of time but there will be no end of our blessed condition in heaven For thus saith the Lord o Isa 65. 17 18. Behold I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered nor come into minde But be you glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy And again he saith by the same Prophet p Isa 66 22 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain bâ—fore me so shall your seed and your Name remain Thus saith John q Rev. 2 2. 5. The servants of the lambe shall be in this city of God and they shall reign for ever and ever Paul speaking of the resurrection saith thus r 1 Thes 4. 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Daniel also saith thus Å¿ Dan. 7. 18. And the Saints of the most high God shall take the Kingdome and possesse it for ever even for ever and ever Holy David saith t Psal 37. 18 that the inheritance of the upright shall be for ever Thus it is evident how great our gain shall be by Christ after death and that there shall be no end of our happinesse Consider now that whatsoever we suffer in this life is but for a short time and that the bitternesse of our sorrowes is sweetned with some comforts also that our joy and felicity in heaven is for eternity and that it is no way imbittered with any troubles or vexations that we may patiently and meekly bear whatsoever God shall lay upon us and earnestly desire to be uncloathed of this corruptible body that we may put on the glorious robes of immortality for ever Thus saith Paul u â— Cor. 4. 17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of glory So likewise if we consider and believe that we have this Gain and advantage onely by Christ it will make us study and labour by all meanes to injoy him and when we have gotten some interest in him to stick close to him by Faith to love him with intire affections and to be obedient to his will and commands Wherefore now if thou hast any holy desire to be freed from all temptations from all sin and from all sorrow vexation and calamity then set the Meditations of thy heart upon the fruition of the Kingdom of Heaven where thou shalt be freed from all these evils though here upon earth they will rush in upon thee Also if thou desirest to injoy all the happinesse that heaven can afford thee and to injoy God himself for ever then look up unto Christ thy Saviour with the eye of faith who hath purchased heaven for thee with his own blood and hath made thee the Son of God by adoption that he might bestow all this upon thee whereof he hath given thee some taste in this life but thou canst not be made perfect in it untill this life is ended u 2 Pet. 1. 10. Give all diligence therefore as Peter saith to make thy calling and election sure by a lively faith in Christ and get the seal of the new Covenant which is the blood of Christ to be stamped upon thy heart that thou mayest carry it to thy grave and then death will give thy soul free passage into the mansions of heaven where this perfect freedome is to be obtained and where this gain of eternall blessednesse is to be gotten Wherefore walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit live not as a citizen of this world but live here as a free denizen of the heavenly Jerusalem having thy minde and the affections of thy heart set upon the holinesse and righteousnesse thereof that thy life and conversation may be pure and holy here upon earth and then thy soul shall live and eternally possesse it after it is dissolved from thy body How CHRIST is our Spirituall life MAn in his first creation had a spirituall life which was free from any spot or stain of sin but he soon lost it by his transgression and defaced this lively image of God that was stamped upon his soul and then in himself he had no ability to recover his lost happinesse This leprosie of sin hath infected all his posterity that proceed from him by naturall propagation which hath brought upon them a spiritual death and layeth them open to eternall death hereafter Though this be our condition by nature yet a Eph. 2. 4 5 6 7. God who is rich in mercy for his great love where with he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together in
a peculiar people zealous of good works This purification Christ worketh in us ministerially by the Preaching of his Word for thus saith Paul Eph. 5. 25 26. Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word Also he doth wash and cleanse us Sacramentally from our sins by Baptisme a Gal. 3. 27. For if we have been baptized into Christ we have put on Christ and then we are cloathed with his righteousness and with his holiness which are the garments of a spirituall life for we must be holy as well as just b Heb 12. 14 without which no man shall see the Lord. So likewise c Acts 15. 9 faith doth instrumentally purifie our hearts as it hath relation to Christ But Christ doth most effectually purifie our hearts from sin and from uncleannesse by the holy Ghost and by him doth convey this spiritual life of grace into us without whose gracious concurrence no other means can be effectuall to us unto salvation Thus doth Christ bring us to a spirituall life that our conversation may be holy and blamelesse in the sight of God d Isa 35. 8 9 The Prophet speaketh of a way of holinesse which is not for the lyon or for any ravenous beast but for the Redeemed of the Lord they onely shall walk there This is the priviledge onely of those e Heb 9. 14. whose consciences are purged in the blood of Christ from dead works to serve the living God If Christ doth not thus wash and purifie us we have no part in him f John 13. 8 9. as he said unto Peter when he refused to let him wash his feet When we are thus cleansed from our sins and have this spiritual life by grace in Christ wrought in us then we are a peculiar people to him separate from sinners and from the vanities of this world and wholely devoted to serve him then we shall with Peter desire more washing and cleansing Lord not my feet onely but my head and my hands and then we shall have an holy zeal to do such works as God hath commanded and we shall do them by faith in Christ and to the honour and glory of God that the truth of our sanctification may appear Thirdly Christ is the exemplary cause of our spiritual life for he hath recorded his own life in the Gospel g 1 Pet. 2. 21 to be a perfect pattern of holinesse to us and an example thereby to learn how to follow his steps If we desire to live according to the rule of Christs life we must be holy and righteous in all our wayes humble and lowly toward all men meek and patient in our sufferings sober and temperate in all things charitable to the poor doing good to all frequent and fervent in Prayer and alwayes seeking the glory of God This was Christs whole life and thus ought we to regulate our lives that the fruits of a spirituall life may shine forth in the integrity of our conversation Christ did shew the purity of his Ministery by the holinesse of his life and what he did Preach to others he did practise himself h Mat. 11. 29. Learn of me saith he for I am meek and lowly in heart Though we cannot attain to perfection of holinesse in this life i Phil. 3. 14. yet we must presse towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus But this is the work of grace and not of nature to follow Christ in his steps and the servants of God have their graces according to their measure for some have more some have lesse yet all have grace sufficient to fit them for the kingdom of heaven and according to their measure of grace so is the purity of their lives and conversations Abraham excelled all others in Faith and therefore k Rom. 4. 11 he is called the Father of all them that believe Moses excelled all men in meeknesse for the holy Ghost giveth this Testimony of him l Num. 12. 3 that he was very meek above all the men that were upon the face of the earth Job was renowned for his patience Thus saith James of him m Jam. 5. 15 Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. Holy David Daniel and others excelled in Prayer and devout Meditations These and all other the servants of God had their severall graces from Christ and the streams of his fulnesse do still plentifully flow down to all that belong to the election of grace for the sanctification of their lives Lastly Christ is the finall cause of our spiritual life which is that God may be glorified thereby to this end we were born to this end should tend all our words and actions and Christ took upon him our nature that God might be glorified by our salvation Christ did alwayes seek the glory of God both in his Ministery and in his miracles both in his life and at his death Thus he saith of his Ministery n John 12. 49 50. I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandement what I should say and what I should speak whatsoever therefore I speak evâ—n as the Father said unto me so I speak Thus also Christ glorified God by his Miracles o Joh. 5. 19 36. for he ascribeth the cure of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda to his heavenly Father that he might have the glory of it because he sent him to finish all those works which he did God is very jealous of his glory p Isa 48. 11 12. he will not have his great Name to he polluted and he will not give his glory to another His hand hath laid the foundation of the earth and his right hand hath spanned the heavens when he calleth unto them they stand up together To what end did God make the great Fabrick of the Heavens and the earth but for his own glory Why doth God execute his justice upon the wicked but to get himself honour by their destruction q Exod. 14. 17. as he did upon Pharaoh and his host when he drowned them in the red sea Why doth God bestow his mercies and his blessings upon his servants but to be honoured for and by them And why doth Christ put into us a spiritual life but to honour and glorifie God thereby r Lu. 5. 25. If the man that Christ cured of the palsie glorified God for his cure then much more ought we so to do because Christ hath cured us of all our spirituall diseases Å¿ Lu. 18. If the man that received his sight followed Jesus glorifying God then ought we to follow Christ and to glorifie God for that spirituall light which he hath put into our understanding and for that spiritual life which he hath put into our souls