Jews but that he gave them full liberty to take up Arms to defend themselves to attack their Enemies and to make them suffer all the evils that they intended against them I find something like unto this proceeding for God would not call back the sentence of Death that he had pronounced against Mankind in the Garden of Eden nevertheless he allows us nay he commands his true Israel to take up Arms against Death to conquer and trample it under feet In the first place Jesus Christ who is our head hath encountered with Death and conquered it he hath pursued it into its Trenches and overcome it in its own Fortification Death thought to have devoured him but it hath been devoured it self as the Fishes are taken by the Hook that they think to swallow and as the Bees do hurt those whom they sting and doe greater harm to themselves for they cause but a present pain in our body and a heat that soon ceaseth but it causeth to it self greater damage for it breaks its sting and looseth thereby its life Thus Death by fixing its sting in the Humanity of Jesus Christ hath put him to a great deal of pain for a time but it hath thereby lost all strength vigor and sting by this means The men of Juda to satisfy the furious Philistins delivered into their hands Sampson bound with Ropes when they saw him the Philistins gave several joyful shouts but the Spirit of God came upon him in such a manner that he tore in pieces the two Ropes wherewith he was bound and overcame them by whom he was led away prisoner and kill'd a thousand of them Thus the miserable Jews for fear of the Romans deliver'd unto them our Lord Jesus Christ their Brother according to the flesh bound like a Malefactor when Hell saw him nailed to the Cross and afterwards laid in a Grave it did wonderfully rejoyce the Devil and his Angels began to sing Songs of Triumph But it was altogether unpossible that the Prince of Life should be detained in the Prisons of Death he hath not only broken out of the Grave by his infinite power but he hath also trampled under feet all his most furious enemies and overcame millions of infernal Fiends and to declare how Life and Death were in his power he hath Commanded Death when he was as it were a prisoner shut up in its Dungeon He hath broke open the Gates of this black prison and torn in pieces all its Fetters for when he was yet in his Grave he raised to life many that were dead who were seen in the Holy City and yet at present he holds in his hand the keys of Death and of Hell Therefore as Children do rejoyce at their Fathers Victory and as the Subjects are concerned at the prosperous proceedings of their King and as the Members are the better for the Glory and Honor of their Head thus we may justly glory in the most notable Victories and famous Triumphs of Jesus Christ who is our Father King and Head we may also justly glory that we are Lords of Death and that we have overcome it in the person of our Great God and Saviour I say this after the Apostle St. Paul That God hath quickened us together and raised us together and made us sit together in Heavenly places with Jesus Christ Eph. 2. Moreover as our Saviour hath once overcome Death for us he continues to overcome it in and by us he doth not suffer us to encounter with our enemies alone nor doth he leave us in time of need but as in a day of Battel a wise and provident General hath an eye in every place and encourages by his action and voice his Soldiers whom he perceives at handy-blows with the Enemy some he loads with praises others with promises by that means he encourageth such as behave themselves bravely rescues the weak and feeble and to such as are over-born he furnishes them with fresh Supplies Thus deals with us our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the great God of Hosts who sits above in the Heavens in his triumphal Chariot and beholds all our combats and encounters when he perceives us too weak that we might not be overcome by our most dreadful Enemies he furnisheth us with his Holy Spirit and his own Armor as Jonathan did to David when he deliver'd to him his Cloak his Bow his Belt and Sword besides this merciful Saviour disarms Death of its most hurtful weapons and takes away all its Arrows and Darts As the strength and power of Sampson did lodge in the hair of his Head which the Philistines could never have imagined so the strength and power of Death consists in such things as the world do least dream of The most dreadful weapons with which it terrifies and beats us are the Thunderbolts and Curses of the Law and our sins are as the poison in which it dips its Arrows or rather our sins are the fiery Dart with which it wounds and destroys us Now Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law when he became a Curse for us Gal. 3. He hath carried our sins in his Body upon the Cross 1 Pet. 2. And as the He-Goat Harazel he hath transported them away into an inhabitable Desart Levit. 16. He hath removed them from the eyes of our God as far as the East is from the West he hath cast them into the bottom of the Ocean and drown'd them in his Bloud so that we now see fulfilled what was foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none and the sins of Juda and they shall not be found chap. 50. Therefore being invested with the Grace of God and armed with the Vertue of his Holy Spirit Let us shew our courage and defie death let us look it in the fâ—â—e without fear laugh at all its threats and encounter with it without dread for it is now but like a Soldier who without his weapons carries himself proudly It is like a Bee that buzzeth about without its sting It is like an old Lion that roars but hath lost all his Claws It is like a Snake that would cast its poyson but hath no venemous Teeth left because they have been all pull'd out by him who hath bruised the Serpents Head If you consider nothing but Deaths Exterior its Face and fearful appearance its frightful Eyes its meager Body its iron'd Hands you cannot perceive any difference between the death of Gods Children and that of the most wicked Varlets but if you lift up the vizard and examine the Death of the one and of the other more exactly you will meet with as much difference as between Heaven and Earth the Paradise of God and Hell for as Moses's brazen Serpent which he lift up in the Desart had the form and appearance of a burning Serpent but nothing of the Prison and Fire thus the death of the faithful appears as the
be that they have not enjoyed any unusual Plenty yet this wise Purveyor hath furnished them the things that have been necessary for them so that not only both they and their Children have subsisted in the greatest calamities but they have had the Honor of assisting God's Prophets and as that poor Widow of the Gospel gave Alms out of her poverty such Mites have been more pleasing to God than the Treasuries of the wealthy Morever when the Son of God was in the World he was pleased to express how much care and compassion he had of Widows for when he met at the Gate of the City of Nain a poor Widow weeping bitterly for her only Son that was carried out to be buried he was moved with a tender feeling of her affliction therefore he raised the young man to life again and restored him to his Mother It was also at the solicitation of some devout Widows that St. Peter raifed Dorcas from death to life I must needs take notice here of an admirable story proper to comfort every faithful servant of God The Widow of a deceased Prophet made this bitter complaint unto Elisha Thy Servant my Husband is dead and thou knowest that thy Servant did fear the Lord and the creditor is come to take unto him my two Sons to be bond-men 2 King 4. God who hears the cry of the afflicted had compassion of that poor distressed Widow so that he gave unto her by Elisha's means in a wonderful manner sufficient for the payment of her debts and for to nourish her Family by this glorious example God declares the care that he will have of his Prophets Widows whilst they walk in his fear and continue in his Holy Covenant In short the modern and antient Histories are full of notable examples of wise and vertuous Widows that have discreetly governed their Families and upon whom God's Blessings have visibly appeared Almighty God who is wonderful in all his Works doth sometimes order affairs in such a manner that Fathers don't gather up for their Children but he gives to some such Children in his Mercy that make provision for their Fathers such are an extraordinary Blessing to their Family as Joseph was to Jacob and his Houshold Such wise and vertuous Children who are so necessary to their Parents whom they Love and Honor might out of their violent affection for them speak unto Death in the language of the young man of the Gospel Suffer me to go first and bury my Father Let me alone awhile in the world suffer me to live O death until I have accompanied my Parents to their Grave until I have closed their Eye-lids and performed the last duties that Nature requires But hearken officious Son what the Lord saith to thee Suffer the dead to bury the dead but thou follow me Leave to them that remain after thee the care of Worldly affairs but do thou yield thy self at God's Call Thy Charity for others must not cause thee to be cruel to thy self and disobedient to the Commands of thy God Fear not to leave thy Father and Mother when thou art going to cast thy self into the ravishing embraces of thy Spiritual Bridegroom and of thine Heavenly Father The great God who hath given thee or rather lent thee to them and who caused them to subsist before thou hadst a Being can feed and bless them without thee his Mercy is not tied to thy Person nor confin'd to thine industry When our Lord and Saviour was upon the Cross seeing the Blessed Virgin and the Disciple whom he loved said to his Mother Woman behold thy Son and to St. John Son behold thy Mother John 19. and from that hour that Disciple took her unto his own home In the like manner when God cals unto his Eternal Rest him who was the supporter of his Family as Joseph was he provides for them by some other means so that if Elkanah had good cause to say to his Wife when she wept because she had no Child Am not I better to thee then ten Sons 1 Sam. 1. we may say with more reason that God's Grace his Assistance and the Comforts of his Holy Spirit are better worth than Ten thousand Children The strongest Passion and that which I judge to be the most apt to hinder a good Man is that which Fathers and Mothers have for their little ones especially if they be in an age unable to help themselves but that this natural passion may not hurry us beyond the limits prescribed by Reason and Piety consider well the promise that God made to Abraham I am thy God and the God of thy seed after thee Gen. 17. and what St. Peter told the Jews To you and to your Children was the promise made and to all such as are afar off as many as the Lord our God shall call Acts 2. especially meditate well upon and imprint in your minds that which God speaks unto you from Heaven by the Prophet Jeremiah Leave me thy Fatherless Children and I will give them to eat and let thy Widows trust in me Jer. 49. God is the Father of us all but more especially of the Fatherless he hath compassion of them and provides for all their necessities thy Children are more tender to him than to thee for thou hast been but a feeble instrument in his hand to put them into the world but he is the Creator of their Soul the fashioner of their Body and the redeemer of them both He loves them with a stronger and more constant Love than the best Fathers and the most tender-hearted Mothers therefore he assures us by his Holy Prophet that when the Mother should forget the Child unto whom she gives suck and when she should have no pity of the Fruit of her Womb he will never forget us so that all the Children that fear God may say as David When my Father and my Mother should have forsaken me the Lord will receive me Psal 27. Seeing that Job hath had a care of the Orphans Job 31. and Pharaoh's Daughter hath had compassion of the Tears of a little strange Child how much more shall God who is the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort have pity of Children that he hath redeemed with the precious Bloud of his only Son Exod. 2. 2 Cor. 1. Seeing that he hears the cries of the young Ravens he will sooner hear the Prayers Sighs and Tears of his Servants Children Psal 147. Matt. 6. he cloaths the Grass of the Fields which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven Gen. 21. how much rather will he cloath your Children O ye of little Faith Doth your Heavenly Father nourish the Birds of the Air and will not he rather feed your Children that are better worth than all the Birds together Jon. 4. In short seeing God hath had compassion of little Ishmael and of the Children of Ninivy how much rather will he regard Children that have been sanctified to
thee and bring all thoughts to thine obedience Let the World be confounded in all its purposes and let it never have the power to scare me by its threatenings or to corrupt me by its fair promises Let Satan once more fall from Heaven as a Lightning and let him be for ever shut up in the bottomless pit Shut up the mouths of all false Prophets and let thy Truth be victorious over Error that we may see the Congregations of thy true Catholick Church increase in number of persons that may worship thee with more Affection and Zeal or rather increase in them thy Grace and Heavenly Blessings O let me always consider that the Sheep that I am to feed belong not to me nor to any mortal Man but to thee Lord Jesus who hast created them by thine infinite power and redeemed them by thy wonderful Goodness Thou hast willingly offered thy self to the sufferings of a painful death that thou mightest deliver them from the Wolfs Paw and Claws of the infernal Lion Let me remember that I am shortly to appear before thy Glorious presence and to give thee an account of my Stewardship O Lord who knowest all things unto whom nothing is hid thou seest the very bottom of my Heart and spiest my most secret thoughts Thou knowest how faithfully and affectionately I have been employed in thy service I have led thy Sheep to the wholsome feeding of thy Heavenly Pastures I have led them to the Waters that burst forth unto Eternal Life my Conscience bears me witness before thee and thy Holy Angels that I have declared nothing neither by Word nor Writing but that which I firmly believe to be agreeable to the Oracles of the Prophets Apostles and Evangelists I have drawn out of the Sacred Treasuries of thy word things new and old for the beautifying of thy House and for the instruction of such as dwell there I have labour'd day and night in the hings that thou hast put into my heart for thy Glory for the advance of thy Kingdom and the comfort of thy Children In the important passages of my life I have not taken counsel from Flesh and Bloud but I have preferred the Honour of thy great Name and the Glory of thy Divine Truth to all Earthly advantages and to my particular interest I have despised all the Riches of this World and the Honors of the Age for the sake of the spiritual Treasuries and of that Heavenly Light which thou hast put into me as into an Earthly Vessel that all Glory may be ascribed to thee who art the Author of all good and of all perfect Gifts My most delicious Meat and my most pleasant Drink was to do thy Holy Will and to perfect thy Work I have taken a singular delight in declaring the wonderful Councils of thy Wisdom and discovering the Mysteries of thy Kingdom I have shared in the evils and sufferings of thy Members I have not been sparing of the comforts which thou hast furnished me in all my afflictions and temptations Thy Holy Law is in my Heart and thy Gospel is there engraven with the finger of thy Blessed Spirit Thou hast kindled in me an earnest desire of saving Souls and bringing them to Righteousness O Lord who searchest into the bottom of the most secret Hearts Thou knowest that I may say with the Holy Prophet The zeal of thine House hath caten me up Or with the Apostle The care of thy Church cometh upon me daily But for all this I pretend not to be justified in thy presence I am so far from resting upon mine own Righteousness and of being puft up with the opinion of my deservings that I confess my self a poor and a miserable sinner therefore with my whole Heart I desire the forgiveness of my great imperfections and miscarriages which I have been guilty of in thy service I have not been enflam'd with a Charity pure enough nor with a disinteressed Zeal I have been sometimes too indulgent and sometimes too severe in the reprehension of Vice and I have not been as I ought the Director of my Floâ—k in all manner of good Works the love of my self hath crept in with that affection that I owe to thee alone and I have have not served thee only for thy sake and for thy Divine perfections but also for the expectation of the Rewards which thou hast promised to thy faithful Servants when thou shalt render unto every one according to his Works I have been too sensible of the wrongs done to mine own Person and especially when I have seen my best deeds misinterpreted and my most charitable cares requited with ingratitude I have not always possâ—ssed my Soul with patience and I have not had that Meekness Love and Humility which thou Divine Jesus hast recommended to me by thine example on Earth O Lord if thou should est treat me according to the exacâ—ness of thy justice and require at my hands the Souls that are perished by my negligence or evil example I should be cover'd with shame and confusion and I should soon be cast with the unprofitable Servant into the Eternal Torments of Hell where are weeping and gnashing of Teeth But O Merciful Lord thou art goodness it self Love and the very being of Charity Thou acceptest the Will for the Deed and the Vndertaking for the Performance and thou hast thy Arms always wide open to receive thy poor Servants that weep for their mistakes and that humbly prostrate themselves before thee to implore thy Mercy and Forgiveness O Divine Saviour Thou art rich in Goodness and ready to cause thy Glorious Countenance to shine upon such as call upon thee to their unspeakable joy and comfort and upon such as draw near to thee by a true and serious Repentance Therefore I pour forth my Soul before thee and acknowledge that thou hast heard me and accepted the contrition of my heart and heard the voice of my Tears Thou strengthenest my Faith raisest my Hopes and fillest my Soul with refreshing and excellent considerations of thy Love Thou causest me to tast the Salvation which thou often preachest to others I feel thy Gracious Hand drawing me to thyself I see that thou openest to me the Gate of Paradise unto which I have had so many good and Holy Souls that rest now in the enjoyment of thy Glory Thou causest me to have the confidence of saying with the Holy Apostle I know that God will show Mercy unto me and receive me into his Heavenly Kingdom O Good and Merciful Lord I feel my Body consuming away and my strength decaying but thou art the Rock of my Heart and my portion for ever I see death coming apace to me but instead of afflicting and frighting me it comforts and rejoyceth my Heart for it comes to put an end to this miserable life that is no better than a languishing kind of death it comes to take me from my continued labors and loose me from my greivous and
in time In short we must not only quit and abandon all our Honors Dignities Treasures and Riches but we must also quit this Body this Flesh and Bones cover'd with this beautiful Skin O Man remember that thou art but dust and that thou shalt return to Dust 16. Saladine the famous Sultan of Egypt hath left to posterity an illustrious Testimony of the vanity of all Riches and worldly Grandeur for upon his Death-bed he Commanded that his Winding-sheet should be carried at the end of a Lance by an Herauld who was to proclaim Here is all that this great Prince hath carried away of his Riches Glory Principalities and Lordships which he hath enjoyed on Earth 17. Consider that it is a great cause of grief that we know not who shall inherit the Fruits of all our Labors which we keep with so much care and restless fears Who knows but our greatest Enemies and that which is worse Gods enemies shall cloath themselves with our spoils and that which we have been so long gathering many years shall be spent in a moment of this vanity and evil the Royal Prophet complains in the 39 Psalm Surely every man walketh in a vain shew surely they are disquieted in vain he heapeth up Riches and knoweth not who shall gather them 18. Consider well Christian people the dangerous effects wrought in us by the love of the World and the deceitfulness of Riches it stifles in our Hearts the good seed of the Gospel Matt. 3. it hinders it from growing up to salvation it keeps many from glorifying God and making an open profession of the truth As it is said of some of the chief Pharisees that they believed in our Lord Jesus Christ but they would not confess him before Men because they did love more the glory of Men than the glory of God therefore when Cyrus made Proclamation that the Children of Israel should have full liberty into their own Countrey to rebuild Jerusalem to repair God's Temple and to re-establish his neglected service there were many Jews that cared not to obey this Prince's Command nor God's Call because they were setled in Babylon they were too much wedded to the pleasures and delights of that City and therefore loath to part with their Concerns there for Jerusalâ—m for the same cause that young man mentioned before would not follow the Saviour of the World nor obey his Command because he had much Riches and had setled his Heart and affections upon them As God's Ark and Dagon cannot dwell together under one roof 1 Sam. 5. so the love of God and the love of the World can never subsist together therefore St. John adviseth us Love not the world nor the things that are in the world If any man love the World the love of the Father is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 19. Take notice that this is the passion that stops so many in their first beginnings of Piety for as Lots wife was changed into a Statue of Salt assoon as she had looked behind her so when God sends us his Angels to take us by the hand and drag us out of the spiritual Sodom there is nothing more dangerous than to look with regret and longings for carnal Delights and worldly advantages which we are then totally to quit that alone is able to stop our proceeding forward to stifle our zeal and to cause all our pious intentions to vanish into the Air Therefore we must imprint in our minds this excellent sentence of our Saviour No body that puts his hand to the Plow and doth look back is fit for the kingdom of God 20. From hence it is that so many persons esteem'd well-grounded in Religion and Piety are perswaded at last to turn their backs to God and to make shipwrack of their faith What was the cause of the Israelites murmuring so often and desiring to return into Egypt was it not as we have already taken notice because their Hearts and Affections were setled and fixed in that cursed Land from whence God had deliver'd them by so many miracles and wherefore did Demas leave St. Paul and Christ's Gospel It was because he loved too much this present World In short our own experience confirms to us the saying of our Saviour No man can serve two Masters for he will hate the one and love the other or he will cleave to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon 21. Consider that if these worldly Goods and Honors don't produce in us these woful and lamentable effects they produce them in our posterity many would live happier in the World and be honester Men if their Parents had not left them so much Riches and so many Honors to possess Their Riches and Honors therefore do occasion many evils and oft-times they cast them headlong into several debaucheries and insolencies it is that which fills them full of a ridiculous vanity and of an unsufferable pride that renders them hateful to God and Man In a word it is that which makes them forget God and unmindful of the Treasuries and advantages of his Kingdom Prov. 30. Therefore Agar presented this excellent Prayer unto God Give me neither poverty nor Riches feed me with food convenient for me lest I be full and deny thee and say who is the Lord or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain Wretched Man to what purpose dost thou labor so carefully to gather up Riches for thy Children It may be that these Riches which thou dost snatch from others or which thou dost get with the loss of thy Soul shall serve but to get Golden Calves be the substance of infamous Idols as Gideon's Gold plunder'd upon the Midianites was employed in an Ephod which became a snare to his House and to all Israel Thus it happens many times that the Goods which are gotten with the expence of much blood and sweat and the Honors unto which we climb up with so much earnestness and passion become snares to our posterity they cast them headlong in an Abysse of misery 22. I should not forget that death is a kind of sleep therefore in Holy Scripture to dye and to fall asleep are to be understood in the same sence now as we cannot conveniently fall asleep unless we set aside and forget all the troublesome affairs of the World Likewise it is altogether impossible to dye comfortably and peaceably if we don't banish out of our hearts betimes all the foolish fancies that disturb us and all the cutting cares that undermine and consume us 23. To this purpose profane History tells us of a remarkable passage of Cyneas a great Minister of State to Pyrrhus King of Epirus That when he saw his Master so busy in raising of an Army to march against the Romans he began to argue with him in this manner Sir If it please God to grant you the victory over the Romans how will you employ your self next The
all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy might And in the 26 of Isaiah Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your fear and your dread and in the 55 Chap. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon In the 2 Chapter of Joel Turn ye to the Lord with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning And in the 1 Chapter of Malachi The Son Honors the Father and the Servant his Lord If therefore I am your Father where is the Honor due unto me If I am your Lord where is the fear of my Name 2. Jesus Christ is not come to abolish the Law but to fulfil it Matt. 5. Therefore in the New Testament he calls upon us as frequently to study Piety and Vertue As in the 5 Chapter of St. Matthew Let your Light so shine before Men that they seeing your good Works may Glorify your Father which is in Heaven And in the 1 Chapter of St. Mark Repent ye and believe the Gospel And St. Paul to the Romans exhorteth in this manner I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God hate evil and cleave to that which is good Rom. 12. And in the 13 Chapter Wâ—lk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness 〈…〉 chambering and wantonness not in strife and envyâ—â—â— but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no 〈…〉 for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof And in the 1 Ep. Corinth 15 Chap. Awake to Righteousness and sâ—n not And in the 4 Ephesians Put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts and put you the New man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness And in the 3 Coloss Mortify your Members which are upon Earth Fornication Vncleanness inordinate Affection evil Concupisâ—ence and Covetousness which is Idolatâ—y In the 1 Ep. Thessalonians 5 Chap. Watch and be sober abstain from all appearance of evil And in Phil. 4. Whâ—tsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any Vertue and if there be any Praise think on these things I might with as much ease number the Stars of the Sky as to reckon up all the passages that call upon us and exhort us to an Holy life 3. God doth not only Command us to apply our selves to Holiness Justice and Innocency of life but he proposes himself also for our example That as the obedient and good Children delight to imitate their Fathers Vertues we also might endeavour to coppy out in our lives the Divine perfections of our Heavenly Father and imprint in our Hearts his Sacred Image Therefore in the 11 Levit. he tels us Be ye Holy for I am Holy And St. Peter repeats the same passage in this manner As he that calleth you is Holy so be ye also Holy in all manner of conversation for it is written be ye Holy for I am Holy 1 Pet 2. And our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ gives us the same Lesson Love your Enemies bless those that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that persecute you that you may be the children of your Father that is in Heaven Matth. 5. for he causeth his Sun to rise upon the good and the bad and sends his Rain upon the just and the unjust be therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect The Apostle St. Paul speaks in the same manner to the Ephesians Be followers of God as dear children put off the old man and put on the new man which is created according to God in justice and true holiness Chap. 5. And in the 3 Coloss Now put off all these Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy filthy Communication out of your mouth Lye not one to another seeing that ye have put off the old man with his Deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledg after the Image of him that created him 4. Meditate seriously upon the excellent and precious promises that God hath given to such as addict themselves to Piety and good Works As in the 20 Ex. I shew mercy unto thousand generations of them that love me and keep my Commandments And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me And in the 3 of Isaiah Says to the Righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings And in the 5 of St. Matthew our Saviour saith Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God and in the 6 Chapter Seek first the kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you over and above And in the 7 Chapt. Whosoever shall call me Lord shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven St. Paul speaks thus to the Romans If by the Spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh you shall live Chap. 8. And in the 1 Ep. to Tim. Piety or Godliness is profitable unto all things having the promises of this present life and of that which is to come And in the 21 Revel Blessed and Holy is he who hath part in the first Resurrection the second death shall have no power over him 5. Consider that the whole World trembles at the denunciation of the judgements with which God threatens to punish all impenitent Sinners as in Exod. 20. I am the Lord thy God strong jealous visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me And in 1 Sam. 2 Chap. I will honor them that honor me and will despise them that honor me And St. Matt. Chap. 12. Of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account at the day of judgement And St. John Chap. 3. Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit that is of a Spirit purifying like water he cannot enter into the kingdom of God And in Rom. 8. They who are in the flesh cannot please God And in 1 Cor. Chap. 6. Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God And the Apostle to the Hebrews is not content to tell us That without Holiness no man shall see God but he saith something
him from their Mothers womb Our Lord Jesus Christ when he was on Earth took up in his Arms the little Children that were brought unto him laid his hands upon them and recommended them to God his Father and now that he is in Glory his Love and tender compassion for them is no less Therefore if we offer him our Children with all our hearts he will take them into his protection he will stretch over them the Arms of his Mercy and will never take them away again In short seeing that he promiseth to them the Kingdom of Heaven and his Eternal Felicities he will never with-hold from them things needful for this present life We can do nothing without God but God can do all things without us A great many Children become debauch'd and are spoil'd in their Parents over-fond tuition wherecas many that are out of their sight and that live when they are departed shew good examples of Piety and Godliness for example in Isaack's House in the presence of this Holy Man there was a prophane Esau a Glutton whereas Jacob that lived at a distance from his Parents when he fled for fear of his Brother had always before his eyes the fear of Isaack his Father Gen. 27. Gen. 31. that is to say the God whom his Father worshipped In Jacob's House Ruben defiled his Father's Bed in an incestuous manner whereas Jâ—seph in Potiphera's House chose rather an apparent death and present sufferings than to touch his Masters Wise Gen. 39. David had the unhappiness to see some of his Children guilty of Incest and Murder whereas Joas and Josias two Orphan-Princes in their tenderest infancy became Vertuous and Religious Kings zealous for the service of God How many Children are there who notwithstanding all the care and labor of their Fathers fall into extremity of misery How many are taken from their Parents embraces and dragg'd from thence to the Gallows whereas there are others that without Father or Parents assistance don't only escape grievous dangers but rise to Honors and Dignities as Joseph in Aegypt Daniel in Babylon and Esther that was Fatherless and a poor Captive became a Queen and moreover God made use of her and of her credit to deliver his People from Haman's conspiracy We see every day that God blesseth in an extraordinary manner many Orphans Cast your Eyes upon the Children of the blessed Martyrs and thou shalt perceive many that God hath made notable instances of his especial favors and of the Mercy that he promiseth to shew unto thousand Generations of them that serve him and obey his Holy Commands Thou shalt find some that have much more happiness in this life than the posterity of the Persecutors Thou shalt see them with astonishment bestow their Alms upon the Children of such as have plundered their Houses and spoiled their Goods Whilst you are yet in being exhort your Children to fear God to serve and to addict themselves with all their Heart to the study of Piety that hath the promises of this life and of the life to come Teach them first to seek the Kingdom of God and its Righteousness and all these things shall be added to them over and above Finally when your life should be much more useful to your Children than it is remember what our Lord and Saviour saith He that loves Son or Daughter more than him is not worthy of him Heaven is far more excellent than the Earth The Salvation and the Happiness of our Souls is to be preferr'd to all the considerations of Flesh and Bloud It is not just that such as have given us or to whom we have given the enjoyment of a temporal life should hinder us from the fruition of a Spiritual and Eternal Life Besides when we recommend them to God we put them into the protection of a true and of a wise Friend who is acquainted with their necessities who is so Good to procure them that which shall be needful for them and Almighty to accomplish all things which may be for their advantage Let us therefore conclude that it is the duty of a good Father that fears God not to resist death not to fly from it when the Lord calls but according to the good example of the antient Patriarchs he ought to end his days willingly with the praises of God in his mouth and with exhortation to his Children to love him fear him and serve him with all their heart to continue in his Holy Covenant and to prefer him to all the Riches and Honors of this miserable Earth And as when our Saviour had bestowed his Blessings upon his Disciples a Cloud carried him out of their sight into Heaven Likewise when a good Christian shall have thus given his Blessings to his Children he will shut his eyes to all inferior things and think upon nothing but upon the Eternal Bliss of the Heavenly Paradise If God calls us to himself in a miserable and wretched time when our beloved Infants are weeping about our Bed ready to say to us as Isaack unto Abraham My Father here is Wood a Fire and a Knife but where is the Beast for a Burnt-offering Gen. 22. God causeth the visible signes of his heavy displeasure to appear every where In every corner we see nothing but Fire and Sword Death's frightful Image and the fearful appearance of Masacres do scare and terrify us Destruction is come into the Holy places the Fire hath reacht as far as God's own Sanctuary and no body is able to deliver us The deluge of God's wrath hath overspread our Land in such a manner that as Noah's Dove we cannot find where to pitch our feet All our expectation is that God would also reach down his hand unto us from above to receive us into that Ark which is above the Heavens and unto which your Soul is now departing Gen. 8. If our dear Children speak unto us in this Language Let us with the courage assurance and faith of the Father of the Faithful return unto them this answer My Children the Lord will provide Gen. 12. Rom. 4. It is he that acts beyond appearance and against all hope who causeth the dead to live and calls things that are not as if they were he will send to you his good Angels to help you in all your necessities when you shall be reduc'd to the uttermost misery ready to receive the last stroke of death God's hands will stop the sword of his justice he will change your crying and fears into joy and Eternal gladness There will be some Holy and devout Soul that loves the publick peace and tranquility that will bring to you the Olive-branch of Peace God can appease the Tempest with his breath at his Command the winds will be still and the roaring Waves that are ready to devour you will return to their former tranquility Otherwise he will preserve you miraculously alive in the midst of the greatest troubles and most fearful confusion And as