with me as to worldly Matters I was not a little comforted and refreshed also by the last Verse of that Psalm which saith Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the Days of my Life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord for ever I am sure Goodness and Mercy have followed me to this very Day therefore I will not distrust the merciful Kindness of God to me to my Life's End But if I should be stripp'd of earthly Blessings I beg I may have the Liberty of God's House here and the Happiness of dwelling with him for ever hereafter If I should with Lazarus be clothed with Rags and fed with Crumbs all my Days if my Body should be full of Sores yet if God will own me and approve me and at Death receive me to himself I may with tolerable Patience bear the Inconveniencies of my Pilgrimage-state knowing that they will not last long And that I may with the more Confidence cast my poor fatherless Children upon God I will call to mind those Places that did quiet me under the Loss of my dear and loving and tender Father which were these that God was pleased to promise to be a Father to the Fatherless and that when Father and Mother forsake then the Lord would take them up God hath bidden poor Creatures to cast their Burden upon him assuring them that he takes Care of them and sustains them And the forementioned Place Isa. 41. 10. is a sufficient Cordial to keep any Soul from fainting and sinking under any Distress whatsoever therefore I hope and trust and believe that the good God who hath been so bountiful so merciful and so kind to me to extend so many Favours to me will also take pity of my fatherless Babes With him the Fatherless find Mercy Lord I therefore commit them into thy Hands as unto a faithful Creator and Redeemer and beg that thou wouldst here guide them with thy Counsel and afterwards receive them to Glory Sometimes when my Children have been taken very ill so that there was no room for hope of Life to outward Appearance yet even then hath my good God supported me by some comfortable Portion of his Holy Word Once one of my Children being given over I was in great Perplexity of Mind that Place came to my Thoughts Call on me in the day of Trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me I was extremely revived at the Consideration of that Place for that was then a Time of Trouble to me And then being incouraged that if I called upon God he would deliver me I did then with firm Hopes and Confidence rely upon my merciful God and Father whom I have found ready to help and deliver me out of many Distresses Blessed and for ever blessed be his Name who was pleased to hear the Cries and Groans of his poor unworthy undeserving ill-deserving and Hell-deserving Creature And seeing God was pleased to deliver me from my great Fears my next Inquiry should be how I may glorify this good God Lord help me to make it the Care and Business and Study of my Life how I may please thee and honour thee and serve thy Blessed Majesty the remaining part of my Days Amen Amen PAPER VII WHat a Cordial to the Godly is the first of Peter the first Chapter the second Verse and so on Where we find that God intends Heaven for them and is graciously pleased to reserve and preserve them for it it being a reviving Consideration to me sometimes to see how God deals with his poor Children and what Steps he takes to bring them to Glory I will for the Benefit of my too often desponding Soul ruminate on this Place of Scripture where I find these Words of Peter an Apostle of Iesus Christ who writes to the Strangers scattered throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia Elect according to the Fore-knowledg of God the Father through Sanctification of the Spirit unto Obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Iesus Christ Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied In this Verse I observe how the whole Trinity are imployed in the Salvation of Sinners God the Father he elects he fore-knoweth whom he will bring to himself then the Spirit sanctifieth those whom God hath elected and makes them obedient to their Heavenly Father and they are sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus Christ their Sins for his sake are all done away therefore the Apostle may well say Grace unto you and Peace be multiplied for who can want Grace or Peace whom God the Father Son and Spirit are contriving how to bring them to Glory We may well go on with the Apostle blessing God for his unspeakable Mercies saying Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively Hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the Dead to an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation O Blessed Blessed Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here in this Life we want Time and Hearts to bless the Lord for his abundant Mercy towards us Eternity will be little enough to sing forth the Praises of the King of Kings for giving us a lively Hope that one Day we shall be so happy to be admitted into the Heavenly Society that are continually viewing the Face of the Lamb and contemplating his Glory This inestimable Privilege is only procured and purchased by the Sufferings Death and Resurrection of our alone Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who hath provided an Inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away O the Emphasis of these Words an Inheritance What a poor Mortal to be an Heir of Heaven And this Inheritance is incorruptible not subject to Corruption Alteration or Change and it is undefiled The Things of this World are defiled with Sin they are vile contemptible and vain nay Vanity it self but this Heavenly Inheritance we see is incorruptible and undefiled And to compleat our Fruition it fadeth not away but continueth throughout all Successions of Ages There is no Probability nor Possibility of Decay or End for the Immutable and Eternal God hath assured us that they fade not away but are reserved in Heaven a secure Place beyond the reach of Men or Devils It is not in the power of Friend or Foe to dispossess the Children of God of this Heavenly Inheritance When I consider the Happiness the inconceivable Felicity of the Saints above that are now Possessors of this Inheritance that is incorruptible undefiled and that will never fade away I am apt to say with Austin's Mother when she had heard a Discourse of the Glory above What do I here then So am I reflecting What do I here in this defiling World sinning against and offending God when many are got safe beyond
the reach of Sin and Sorrow and are now Possessors of this Blessed Inheritance We are told it is reserved but for whom For those who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation Lord it is thy Work from first to last it is thou that preparest this Inheritance and thou alone canst make thy People meet to be Possessors of it Let me find the comfortable Effects of thy Almighty Power which may enable me through Faith to attain Salvation that at the end of my Days I may receive the Salvation of my poor precious and immortal Soul for his sake who I hope loved me and washed me and died for me and is now at thy right Hand interceding for poor penitent Sinners Let me have a share of those Benefits he hath purchased for his Elect People Do thou O Blessed Father prepare Heaven for me and make me meet for it and however thou dealest with me in this World do not deny me Heaven at last the Hopes of that alone doth sweeten my Pilgrimage and make my Passage through this World tolerable therefore I humbly beg that whatever I miss here I may not be excluded from thy comfortable Presence but may be of the Number of those blessed Ones for whom thou hast prepared an incorruptible and undefiled Inheritance which fadeth not away but is reserved in Heaven for all those that Infinite Grace qualifies for and makes meet to be Partakers of PAPER VIII WHen thy Iudgments O Lord are abroad in the Earth the Inhabitants should learn Righteousness What 's the Lesson that I and all Persons ought to learn by the late dreadful Earthquake Hath it not a Voice Doth it not cry aloud and tell us that our Sins have reached Heaven that God is angry and displeased with us and that except we repent we shall likewise perish We are as grievous Sinners as any therefore have just cause to think God hath a Controversy with us in this Kingdom In a neighbouring Nation God hath seen meet to lay his afflicting Hand in a tremendous manner he hath visited them with a sore amazing and dreadful Judgment in permitting thousands to be destroyed by a lamentable Earthquake and Inundation of Water And who or what are we that we should expect to be exempted from the same or worse Judgments We whose Sins have exceeded theirs may rationally look to drink the Dregs of their Cup for we in England have had more Means of Grace than they but we have not improved them we have had the Gospel but we have slighted it we have had the Offers of Salvation but we have rejected them we have had Sabbath upon Sabbath Sermon upon Sermon and yet have not made a due Improvement of these precious Opportunities So that it 's but just with God to destroy us and our Habitations in which we have too too often dishonoured our good God and brought a Scandal on that Holy Profession which we have made We have the Name of Christians but too many amongst us live like Devils Incarnate How much Swearing Lying Stealing Killing and filthy Lewdness is to be found in this Land and Nation and especially in this City O the horrid Oaths and Imprecations that are every Minute uttered is dreadful to consider What little Conscience is made of keeping the Sabbath that is as a Day of Recreation to most and those that spend it best do too much think their own Thoughts and speak their own Words and do their own Actions So that every one must lay their Hand upon their Mouth and cry Guilty Guilty Have not we in this Nation cause to expect great and amazing Judgments when in our Land those Sins are found that a moral Heathen would blush to commit Our Sins as well as the Ninivites have reached to Heaven O that our Repentance was as real universal and unfeigned as theirs and then there might be still some Hopes that God in Judgment would remember Mercy and would not stir up all his Wrath though we are an undeserving ill-deserving and Hell-deserving People Lord we are in the dark and know not what thou art adoing with us Thou hast lately let us see what thou canst do in a Minute thou hast shaken the Earth and it trembled and it was of thy infinite Mercy that we were not all destroyed and sent quick to the lowest Hell Thou art God and not Man therefore is it that we are not consumed It 's of the Lord's Mercy that we are yet spared Help us O Lord to make a good Use of this Reprieve for we are as Brands pluck'd out of the Burning What Jeopardy were we in when the Earth of late trembled under us and our Houses seemed to be tumbling about our Ears our Hearts failing us no Place left to run to for Shelter How dejected and astonished did People look one upon another What Fears possess'd the Breasts of many all in expectation of sorer Calamities than yet felt but God hath hitherto spared us we are yet in the Land of the Living on this side the Grave and everlasting Burnings God hath of late shook the Earth O that we poor Mortals could get a Title to those unshaken Regions above which are not obnoxious to those Vicissitudes and Changes that here in this lower World we are liable to We ought to make a good Use of the late Earthquake it should awaken every one in particular to see in what Posture of Readiness we are in to meet our God What if he should repeat this amazing Judgment and not only threaten but actually destroy us It were but just with God to deal with us as lately with Iamaica How insensible have we been of their Judgments and Calamities how unreform'd are we though we see how God deals with others of our Fellow-Creatures We in probability are as great Offenders as they we spared they consumed God gives us Space to repent O that he would not deny the Grace of true Repentance We may look upon this late Warning like Ionah's Message that within a little while this City and Inhabitants shall be utterly destroyed Without dispute our Sins have reached Heaven the Cry of them is very great and should God deal with us as we have deserved we might long since have been consumed our Bodies been sent to the Grave and our Souls to Hell But we have a God whose Compassions fail not therefore is it that we are not utterly forsaken He is God and not Man wherefore it is that we are not Monuments of his Justice But his Mercies are still extended to us a sinful rebellious Nation O that they may lead us to Repentance and that the Effects of his Goodness may be shewed in our thankful Lives for this and all other Mercies which the Bounty of his Providence still vouchsafeth us PAPER IX DEath seemeth to make its near Approach to me and I am of all Persons most inexcusable who have frequent Warnings of my Departure hence if I do not
have the White Stone of Absolution and have in it a new Name written Once indeed they were Children of Darkness Children of this World but now through Grace they are made Children of Light they have the Image of God impress'd upon their Souls and though the World know it not yet the Persons that receive this inestimable Privilege find at least sometimes a Change in their Heart and can rejoice in their future Hopes that however it goes with them here yet they can be contented knowing it will not be long e're they be past the Inconveniencies of their present Pilgrimage and shall then be admitted into the Heavenly Canaan where all Troubles and Sorrows and Calamities shall be done away and they shall injoy God World without End Amen Chap. 3. v. 5. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white Raiment and I will not blot out his Name out of the Book of Life but I will confess his Name before my Father and before his Angels How many Motives are here to Perseverance Just now a Promise of hidden Manna to eat now of white Raiment to clothe the Person that overcomes This white Raiment is the Righteousness of Jesus Christ in which poor Sinners must be clothed If they should have nothing but their own Righteousness to appear in they would not be able to stand in the Judgment How blessed and happy are all those for whom this white Raiment is prepared they are assured that their Name shall not be blotted out of the Book of Life It is an inestimable Privilege to have their Names register'd in Heaven for to them Christ saith that he will confess them before his Father and before his Angels to be owned approved and commended before Men and Angels and the great Assembly of the Just. This should excite us to be diligent and faithful to the end that at the last we may overcome and be Sharers of these great Benefits that are promised unto those who are clothed with this white Raiment Ver. 11. Behold I come quickly hold that fast which thou hast that no Man take thy Crown We not knowing how soon our Saviour may come ought to be watchful careful and diligent and hold fast Faith and a good Conscience that so we may hold out to the end that none may deprive us of our Crown Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God and he shall go no more out and I will write upon him the Name of my God and the Name of the City of my God which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of Heaven from my God and I will write upon him my new Name To be a Pillar in God's Temple is an high Honour it is a fixed Place no danger of being removed if once set there and God will write his Name upon it and own it for his own and ingrave the Name of the City Ierusalem which is above as a Token that they are Denisons and Inhabitants of the New Ierusalem and then the Lord will write upon him a new Name The Lord knows them that are his he distinguisheth them from the rest of the World Happy are those that be in such a Case Blessed are those whom God hath chosen to be a Pillar in his Temple To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my Throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father on his Throne Who would grudg at a little Pains and Labour and Difficulties if at last he may overcome his Spiritual Enemies Here 's a gracious Promise that our blessed Saviour makes that if we do overcome though it must be by his Grace his Strength and Assistance he will grant us to sit with him on his Throne What an Honour is this to be conferr'd upon poor Mortals What to sit with Christ and his Holy Angels upon a Throne Well may we say with the Apostle Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard what God hath prepared for those that love him If we do overcome a few Difficulties and deny our selves some small things for Christ's sake will he thus amply reward us by admitting us to be Sharers with him in the Glories of Heaven He hath said it and his Word shall stand that if we overcome we shall sit with him even as he hath overcome and is set down with his Father Our Saviour indeed did the whole Will of his Father and overcame all the Hardships and Difficulties that he met with in accomplishing his Father's good Pleasure He was despised of Men he was spit upon he was mocked and buffeted and at last crucified and yet how meekly did he submit to all this We find him in his greatest Agonies saying Not my Will but thine be done and the Cup that my Father hath given me shall I not drink it And shall I dispute his Will and Pleasure Our Saviour he indured the Cross despised the Shame and is now set down at the right Hand of the Throne of God He bore all the various Difficulties he pass'd through here with an invincible Courage and Constancy and now we are assured that he is set down on the Throne of God and hath promised that those that are true Followers of him shall in due time inherit Eternal Life and shall sit down with him on the Throne of God as certainly as he is already set down with his Father Chap. 21. v. 7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my Son Here are several Particulars instanced in what those shall possess that overcome and here to conclude it is said he shall inherit all things all things necessary for this Life or a better all things conducing to this Life and the other But to compleat the Happiness of the Godly God hath promised to be his God and that he will own him as his Son And I am sure none can be miserable that have this God for their God and Portion Seeing here are so many comfortable Promises to those that overcome help me O my God that I may not seem to fall short of entering into thy Rest but help me to persevere and hold out to the End Do thou strengthen me against all needless Fears Thou that saidst Fear none of those things that thou shalt suffer give me an undaunted Spirit against all earthly Troubles What though thou meetest with many Troubles and Trials yet thy God hath told thee they shall not last long If thou sink under thy Burden thou art undone but if thou couragiously overcomest these Promises to thy Comfort thou mayst lay hold on Be faithful to the Death and then thy good God will give thee a Crown of Life which fadeth not away but is reserved in Heaven for these that love and fear him PAPER XIII O Lord I beg a Meetness for Heaven make me meet to be a Partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light I am unmeet unfit unprepared unworthy to be a Partaker of those Privileges that are injoyed above at thy right Hand by thy redeemed Ones But Lord I humbly desire thou wouldst sit prepare and qualify me for Communion with thy self in Glory Help me to be getting Dispositions for Heaven to be meet to live above I often desire to be at home at my Father's House to be there where God and Christ is where the Saints and Angels and all the Host of Heaven are continually lauding blessing praising and magnifying thy Great and Holy Name O Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts shall ever such a poor Worm as I be admitted to dwell with thee in thy Heavenly Temple I that am so ill-deserving I that am so undeserving dare I presume Can I hope upon good Grounds that I shall be of the Number of those happy Ones who shall be called unto thy Kingdom and Glory there to live and reign with thee World without End Sometimes I am overwhelmed and utterly despair of this high Honour when I consider what a vile Wretch I am by Nature And when I reflect on the Sins of my Life that my whole Life hath been one continual Provocation against thy Divine Majesty I can hardly find Day or Hour wherein I have not offended thee Nay I fear my very Prayers are Sins and Abominations to thy pure Eyes And if my Condition be such how is it like to fare with me to all Eternity Who will be my Companions in the other World if I am cast off by thee and excluded from thy Presence which Lord I earnestly implore may never be my Portion Give me leave to plead with thee I find in thy Word that the Blood of Christ cleanseth from all Sins those of a Crimson and Scarlet Dye and also I read that he came to save the Chief of Sinners that are sensible of their lost and undone Condition and that fly to him for help He hath said those that come to him he will in no wise cast out Being incouraged by thy Holy Word to come to thee in thy Son's Name I humbly beg for his sake that all my Sins may be pardoned and done away that I may be sanctified washed and cleansed in the Laver of his Righteousness Let me have a Meetness and Fitness for Heaven where I long to be Help me to be laying up a good Foundation against the time to come that I may lay hold of Eternal Life Let me be kept by the mighty Power of God through Faith unto Salvation O keep me from falling and preserve me blameless to thy Heavenly Kingdom for Christ Jesus's sake Amen FINIS * Titus Vespasian the Roman Emperor * The Circle of Instruction * Taken up amongst the Blessed