is so excellent Difficilia quae pulchra the more excellent any duty is the more difficult it is And another reason why it is so difficult is because it is so contrary to corrupt nature now the more contrary any duty is to corrupt nature the more excellent it is The difficulty of the duty should not so much discourage us as the excellency of the duty should quicken us Now that I may help you against the difficulty of this duty I shall lay down three sorts of rules 1. Rules for the right qualifying of the person that is to meditate 2. Rules for the right ordering the Subjects upon which he is to meditate 3. Rules for the right meditation upon these Subjects I. I shall lay down Rules and Directions for the right qualifying and ordering the person that is to practise this Divine duty of Meditation and for that purpose I shall give you in these Rules 1. Convince thy soul of the absolute necessity of Divine Meditation I have shewed it is a duty expresly commanded by God a duty required of all sorts of persons of Kings of Generals of Armies of young Gentlemen of Women of Ministers David Ioshua young Isaac in my Text practised this duty and many Women and many holy men Let me add that this very duty is the life and soul of all Christianity you are but carcasses of Christians if you be not acquainted with it it is as impossible to live without a soul as it is to be a good Christian without Divine Meditation As it is impossible for a man to be nourished by meat if he want digestion and concoction so it is impossible for a man to be nourished in grace if he neglect the duty of Divine Meditation for Divine Meditation is the spiritual concoction and digestion of all holy things and all holy duties As a man without concoction I mean without a faculty of digestion and concoction so is a Christian without the practise of Divine Meditation 2. Convince your souls and the Lord convince you of the great benefits and advantages that are obtained by a conscientious practise of Divine Meditation as I have shewed Divine Meditation is a mighty help to the begetting grace and increasing grace 1. It is a mighty help to the begetting repentance as David saith Psal. 119. 59. I considered my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies It was the consideration of the evil of his ways that made David turn his feet to Gods Testimonies And it is said of Peter Mark 14. 72. When he thought thereon he wept what made Peter repent the meditation of the unkindness of the sin he committed against Christ. And what made the Prodigal child come home to his father Luk. 15. 17. When he came to himself he considered and said how many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough and to spare and I perish with hunger It was consideration that made the Prodigal child come home to his father he considered how much bread there was in his fathers house and he ready to starve 2. Divine Meditation is a mighty help to the love of God for to an inconsiderate Christian God is as a picture with a curtain drawn over it but consideration takes away the curtain unveils God to a man and shews him all the beauty and excellency that is in God and it is like a fiery furnace to kindle a Divine fire of love in the soul of every Christian. 3. It is a mighty help to beget in us the fear of God Oh did you meditate much of the power of God and the goodness of God and the forgivenesses that are in God Oh you would fear God for his goodness and for his greatness the reason why we love God no more is because we think of God no more study God no more 4. It would be a mighty help to the love of Christ for Christ Jesus to an unmeditating Christian is like a book that is sealed like a treasure that is lockt up but Meditation opens this book unlocks this treasure and that man that solemnly meditates of the excellency and love of Christ cannot but love Christ. 5. It is a mighty help to the contempt of the world for the world is like gilded Copper there is a glittering excellency in it but meditation of the vanity of the world will wash off all the gilt the whorish paint the glittering excellency that is in the world a man that looks upon the world a far off sees nothing in it but excellency but when you come to meditate of the vanity of the world and all worldly things meditation will make you contemn the world and all worldly things 3. Consider the unconceivable and unexpressible mischiefs that come upon a Christian for want of Divine Meditation What is the reason why men go on in their sins without repentance it is for want of Meditation Ier. 8. 6. No man repenteth because no man saith what have I done What is the reason the Word of God takes no more impression upon your hearts and there is no more good done by Preaching it is because you do not meditate upon what you hear as a plaister that is put to a wound if it be pluckt off as soon as it is put on it will never do you good so if a Sermon be forgotten as soon as it is heard it will never profit you And what is the reason that the mercies of God do no more good that men are no more thankful for mercies and no more fruitful under mercies because they do not consider their mercies come from God Hos. 2. 8. She did not know that is she did not consider that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold which they prepared for Baal They would not have prepared their silver and gold for Baal had they considered that God gave it but they would have served God with it that is the reason why you are so proud of your mercies and sin against God with your mercies because you do not meditate that the Lord hath given you all the mercies you have and what is the reason men get no more good by afflictions because they do not consider why God afflicts them what is the meaning of Gods rod and how they might get their afflictions sanctified the want of the practice of Divine Meditation is the cause of all punishment as well as of all sin Ier. 12. 11. All the whole land is made desolute because no man lays it to heart 4. If you would be rightly qualified for Divine Meditation labour to get a sufficient furniture of spiritual knowledg for the reason why this duty is so difficult and why men cannot continue long at it is for want of sufficient matter to meditate upon For as I shewed you Meditation is a dwelling a musing an abiding upon the things we know of God or Christ or the Promises it is an unlocking of the treasure of knowledg concerning
more good by our afflictions I have observed many of us the Lord pardon it unto us as soon as ever we are recovered from our afflictions we forget God presently we never consider the mercies of God in recovering us and then we return to our old vomit again for want of meditation 7. The reason why the Providences of God take no more impression upon our hearts is for want of this grace of meditation The Providences of God are very mysterious and God in the Government of the World doth walk in the Clouds And truly I am very confident that which God doth especially require of his children in these days is to meditate upon his Providences as well as upon his Ordinances there are many rare lessons to be learned from the consideration of the Providences of God the Providence of God toward England and toward Scotland and toward the Ministry God is now depriving you of Minister upon Minister many Ministers the Lord hath taken from you God is as I may so speak disburthening the Nation of this great burden of the Ministry which is a burden to a great many God takes his Ministers up to Heaven Now what is the reason that the Providences of God of late years do no more good though they have been wonderful toward England Scotland and Ireland towards all sorts of people The reason why we are never the better by them is because we do not study the meaning of all these Providences Isa. 57. 1. The righteous perisheth and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come This is the reason why we get no more good by the death of the godly and by the Providences of God because we do not lay them to heart we do not muse and study upon them 8. What is the reason that the Saints of God are so distrustful of Gods Providences when they are ready presently to sink and to say they are undone It is for want of meditation and therefore Christ Luk. 12. saith Take no thought what you shall eat or what you shall put on consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap which neither have store-house nor barn and God feedeth them how much more are ye better than the fowls Consider the lillies how they grow they toil not they spin not and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Did you consider the lillies and the ravens did you study the love of God to you you would not distrust him under any sad Providences The reason why the Saints of God are so full of unbelief when they are in a low condition is for want of meditation they do not consider the ravens and the lillies they do not study the Promises that God hath made to his children in their lowest condition 9. The reason why the professors of Religion are so censorious of other men and so little censorious of themselves why they judg every man and examine every man but themselves which is the condition of these days it is for want of meditation Mat. 7. Iudg not that ye be not judged for with what judgment ye judg ye shall be judged and with what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brothers eye but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye If men did reflect more upon themselves they would censure themselves more and others less And the reason why people are so rash in censuring is for want of self-reflection 10. The reason why professors of Religion do offer the sacrifices of fools to God when they come to worship him why they pray headily and rashly why they rush upon Ordinances without preparation is for want of meditation Eccles. 5. 1. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to offer the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God Why do people rush upon Sacraments without preparation rush upon Sermons rush upon Prayer rush upon holy Duties why they do not consider what they do 11. What is the reason that people prepare no more for death Because they do not consider the shortness of life They do not meditate of the vanity of this life of the certainty and uncertainty of death and therefore it is said Deut. 32. 29. Oh that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Because men do not consider their latter end therefore it is that they are so unprepared for their latter end 12. And lastly What is the reason that we come so unworthily to the Sacrament and when we are there we gaze up and down and carry our selves so unseemly at that Ordinance what is the reason that we lose all the fruit of that Ordinance but meerly for want of preparation before we come and meditation when we are come now preparation cannot be without meditation preparation includes meditation in it 2. The want of the practise of this duty is the cause of all punishment Isa. 12. 11. The whole land is laid desolate because no man layeth it to heart Oh this is the cause of the sword that hath drunk so much blood in this Nation no man lays to heart the Judgments of the Lord therefore the land is become desolate Psal. 28. 5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation of his hand he shall destroy them and not build them up because they do not meditate of Gods works therefore they Lord will destroy them Nay let me add that that is above all this for God to give a man over to a slight spirit an unmeditating spirit to a rashness and slightness of spirit is one of the greatest Judgments in the world A man of a slight head can never have a good heart a slight hearted Christian can never be a good Christian he that thinks slightly of God will speak slightly of God and he that speaks slightly of God will worship God slightly and he that slights God God will slight him now there cannot be a more cursed frame of spirit than to be given over to an unconsiderate frame of spirit an unconsiderate Christian is an inconsiderable Christian. Isa. 42. 24 25. Who gave Iacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord he against whom we have sinned for they would not walk in his ways neither were they obedient to his law Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battel and it hath set him on fire round about yet he knew not and it burned him yet he laid it not to heart Here is the curse of curses not so much to be burnt as not to know it
comforteth you who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die and the son of man that shall be made as grass and forgettest the Lord thy maker that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth As if he should say If thou didst remember and think on the Lord thy God who made the Heavens and the Earth and hath all things in his hand Thou wouldest not fear a man that shall die c. Jer. 10. 6 7. first the Prophet breaks out into an admiration of God Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee doth it appertain forasmuch as among all the wise men of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee The meditation of God stirs up the Prophet to fear God Ier. 5. 22. Fear ye not me saith the Lord will you not tremble at my presence which hath placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass though the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet cannot they pass over it Did we meditate much upon the power of God we would fear him and stand in awe of him 4. This Divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us a love to Iesus Christ for Jesus Christ is a fountain sealed a spring shut up a garden inclosed Now you know no man is the better for a book sealed up or a treasure lockt up to a careless Christian Christ is a fountain sealed a treasure lockt up but meditation is the key that unlocks the treasury of all the Excellencies of Christ and opens the book to let us read all the Excellencies that are in Christ. Meditation doth as it were open the fountain and did we study what Christ is that he is the choicest of ten thousand altogether excellent the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his Person and did we study the love of Christ to poor sinners the height the depth the length the breadth of the love of God toward us did we study how Christ became poor to make us rich how he became a curse to free us from the curse how he was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God thorough him did we bury our selves in this meditation did you take half an hour in a day to meditate on the Excellency of Christ did you when you walk in the fields meditate on the love of Christ I am confident it would beget in you a love to Christ. 5. Divine meditation is a mighty help to inable us to believe and trust in God To trust 1. In his Providence in all outward streights 2. In his Promises in all spiritual troubles 1. It will help you to trust in his Providence when you are in any streights when all creature-helps fail and you are ready to sink then meditation will raise your faith and help you to trust in Gods Providence for outward provision Mat. 6. 25 c. I say unto you saith Christ take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what ye shall drink nor yet for your body what you shall put on be not solicitous for your outward provision But how doth Christ argue what way should we take that we may not distrust God saith he Meditate upon the fowls of the air behold the fowls of the air for they sow not v. 28. Why take you thought for raiment consider the lillies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these The meditation of the lillies and the fowls of the air is a means to help us to trust in the Lord in the day of our streights 2. It will enable you to relye upon the promises for the good of your souls Did you when you read the promises of the Bible chew them how sweet would they be the reason why the Promises are not sweet to you is because you read them but you do not chew them by meditating upon them if you did meditate upon them they would be sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb especially if you did join application with meditation Abraham was the Father of the Faithful and he was strong in faith and what made him strong in faith because he considered not his own body now dead neither the deadness of Sarah's womb but he considered the promise of God Rom. 4. 19. And the reason why the Saints of God are so void of comfort and hang down their heads and walk so disconsolately is because they consider the deadness of their own souls they consider their imperfections but they do not meditate upon the promises the freeness and the riches of them Mat. 16. 8. Which when Iesus perceived he said to them Oh ye of little faith why reason ye among your selves because you have brought no bread Here Christ reproves them for want of faith but how came they to want faith Do you not understand neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets ye took up and do ye not remember the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you took up As if Christ should have said If you had meditated on my former miracles you would never have doubted this miracle but because you do not remember what I have formerly done therefore it is that you are so full of unbelief Now the way to fill your souls with comfort is to meditate upon the Promises of God 6. Divine meditation is a mighty help to beget in us a contempt of the world and all worldly things for the world is like unto gilded copper it is an easie matter for a man to mistake gilded copper for true gold unless he considers what he takes for if a man take gold without consideration he may quickly be cozened there is a glittering excellency in the world the wealth and riches of it are glorious things to a carnal eye but meditation of the world will wash away all the paint that is upon the world the studying the vanity of the world the nothingness of all earthly things the unsatisfiableness of them and the perishing nature of them this will take away the glittering excellency that seems to be in the world and certainly you would never be so covetous and so worldly and dote so much upon the world did you meditate upon the vanity of it as you should do this is the course Solomon takes the book of Eccles is called The Book of the Preacher and the subject of it is to wean us from the love of the world But what course doth Solomon take Eccles. 1. 3. I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things done under
work of Meditation for want of matter to meditate upon for meditation supposeth knowledg meditation is a dwelling upon that we know and therefore the ignorant Christian cannot be a meditating Christian he that is ignorant of God cannot meditate of God he that is ignorant of Christ crucified cannot meditate of Christ crucified and this is one reason why so many Saints of God are so barren in Sacramental meditation because they know so little of Christ crucified the ignorance of God and Christ is not only a sin but it is the root of all sin It is said 1 Sam. 2. 12. of the two Sons of old Eli They were sons of Belial and they knew not the Lord. All sin is wrapt up in ignorance as a child in swadling clouts as Toads and Serpents grow in dirty and dark Cellars so doth all sin grow where ignorance dwells And therefore Chrysostome saith That ignorance is a deep hell And one saith very well An ignorant Christian is the Devils shop wherein he forges all manner of wickedness 2. There is the forgetful Christian for meditation is a meditating of what we know concerning God and Heaven and the day of Judgment it is a bringing of the things we know unto our selves and therefore a forgetful Christian cannot be a meditating Christian he that forgets the Mercies of God can never meditate on the Mercies of God This sin of forgetfulness of God is a sin that the Children of Israel were very guilty of Psal. 106. 7. The Prophet complains of them our Fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt they remembred not the multitude of thy mercies but provoked him at the Sea even at the red Sea v. 13. they soon forgot his works v. 31. They forgot God their Saviour which had done great things in Egypt therefore he said that he would destroy them The forgetfulness of God and the mercies of God is made the root of all sin as well as the ignorance of God Iudg. 3. 7. The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God therefore they did evil in the sight of the Lord. And therefore God lays a charge upon the children of Israel that when they came into the land of Canaan and should have the fulness of all outward blessings Deut. 8. 11. Beware saith he that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day lest when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein v. 14. Then thy heart be lifted up and thou forget the Lord thy God You that forget the mercies of God God will forget to be merciful unto you and you that do not remember what good things God hath done for you God will take order that you shall have no good things to remember The good Thief on the Cross when he was dying his great request to Christ was Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom It is the great desire of all Saints that God would remember them in mercy but certainly you that forget the mercies of God God will forget to be merciful unto you 3. I am to reprove the rash-headed Christian that rushes upon Duties and upon Ordinances and publick Offices without consideration that comes rashly to the Sacrament and kneels down rashly to his private and publick devotion that doth not consider before-hand when he comes to worship the Lord our God this I call the rash-headed Christian we have many such among us And there are four things worthy your observing that may be said of a rash-headed Christian. He is a spiritual fool and all the Sacraments he receives and the prayers he makes they are the sacrifices of fools as you have it excellently set down Eccles. 5. 1 2. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil Be not rash with thy mouth and let not thy heart be hasty to utter any thing before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth therefore let thy words be few Out of which two verses I gather these two things 1. That it is the duty of all Christians in all their addresses to God to consider who this God is to whom they draw near to consider their own vileness and Gods excellency to consider that God is in heaven and they are upon earth 2. That whosoever doth rush upon Ordinances without consideration he doth offer up the sacrifice of fools because he doth not consider that he doth evil when you come rashly to publick duties here upon the Sabbath-day and you come rashly to the Sacrament and when you are hasty to utter words to God you come as so many spiritual fools 2. A rash-headed Christian will many times speak that which he will wish he had not spoken and he will do that which he shall have cause to repent of We have many examples of the Saints of God that have paid dearly for their rash-speaking and their rash-practising for this rashness is a sin that the Saints of God are very much subject to we read of Peter that he fell three times into this sin Mat. 16. 22. there Christ told Peter That he must be crucified and Peter began to rebuke him saying Be it far from thee Lord this shall not be unto thee Peter spake very rashly now Christ said unto him Get thee behind me satan thou art an offence unto me And Luk. 9. when Christ was transfigured then Peter began to utter a rash speech saith Peter to Christ Master it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias not knowing what he said It was a rash speech and especially Luk. 22. when Christ told him that one of you shall betray me saith he very rashly Master though all betray thee yet will not I betray thee But he spake rashly not knowing the deceitfulness of his own heart We read of the two brethren Iames and Iohn that they spake very rashly unto Christ Luk. 9. 54. When his two disciples Iames and Iohn saw this they said Lord wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elias did but he turned and rebuked them and said Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of We read of Moses that he spake unadvisedly with his lips and God was angry with him Numb 20. Shall we bring water for you out of he rock he spake unadvisedly and the Lord was angry with him Iephtha made a rash vow Whatsoever I see I will offer in sacrifice He had cause to repent of that Vow And that which I say of words I may say of deeds the Saints of God have done many things in their haste that they have cause to repent of David rashly
or sealing up all the benefits of our Redemption and it is an exhibition of Jesus Christ it is a deed of gift of Christ God goes about giving of Christ to thee and me and all that labour to come worthily Oh! there cannot be a greater feast wherein Christ is the gift that is bestowed Christ is the banquet Christ and all his benefits 5. You must meditate of your own unworthiness O Lord I am not worthy to pick up the crumbs that fall from thy Table I am not worthy to eat my daily bread much less worthy to eat the Sacramental bread Oh the thought of this will make you say with Mephibosheth What am I a dead dog that my Lord and King should invite me to his table What am I dust and ashes sinful wretch that the Lord Jesus should invite me to such an Heavenly banquet 6. You must meditate of your spiritual wants and necessities what grace dost thou want that thou maist get supplied what sin doth bear most sway in thee that thou maist get it more mortified Now the more sensible you are of your spiritual wants the more will your appetite be quickned to this blessed feast 7. You must meditate of the cursed condition of an unworthy receiver an unworthy receiver is a Christ-murderer a soul-murderer a body-murderer he is guilty of the body and blood of Jesus Christ he eats and drinks down his own damnation he is guilty of bringing diseases For this cause that is for unworthy coming to the Sacrament many are sick and many weak and many die 8. I would have you meditate of the happy condition of those that come worthily to the Sacrament though you do not bring a legal worthiness yet if you have a Gospel-worthiness God will accept of you and the bread that we break shall be the Communion of the Body of Christ and the cup of blessing which we bless shall be the Communion of the Blood of Christ to you the communion of all the blessings of Heaven to thy soul. It shall be the bread of the Lord to you and the bread of life and the cup of Salvation unto you 9. I would have you meditate sometimes of the Sacramental Elements when you see the bread I would have you meditate of the analogy and proportion between bread and the body of Christ you know that bread is the staff of life so is Christ the staff of a Christian bread is not for dead folks but for living folks bread doth not beget life but increaseth and strengthneth life so the Sacrament is not for those that are dead in sin the Sacrament doth not beget Grace but nourish and increase Grace And then I would have you consider the analogy between Wine and the Blood of Christ As Wine refresheth the spirit and cheereth the heart so the Blood of Christ cheereth the soul of every worthy receiver 10. I would have you meditate of the Sacramental actions for all the actions of the Minister at the Sacrament are mystical they all represent Christ Christ is to be read by a spiritual eye in every thing that is done by the Minister the breaking of the bread represents Christs body being broken upon the Cross for our sins and the pouring out the Wine represents how Christs Blood was poured out for us and the giving of the Wine represents how Christ is offered and tendered unto us the taking of the bread and wine represents how thou by faith takes Christ for thy everlasting comfort Every thing in the Sacrament is the object of Meditation and it is a rare thing for a Christian to make the Sacramental Elements to be his Bible when he is at the Sacrament and when he finds his heart dull to look at the Elements the breaking of bread and pouring out of wine which are all spiritual helps to raise up thy heart unto Christ. 11. You must meditate of the Sacramental Promises Christ Jesus hath promised Take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me that is the Sacramental Promise This is my blood which is shed for you do this in remembrance of me Christ hath promised that whensoever we do take this bread and drink this cup worthily he will convey himself to us Now we must feed upon this promise and come to the Sacrament in the strength of this promise and he hath promised that the cup of blessing shall be the cup of the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread that is broken shall be the communion of the body of Christ Now we must meditate upon these Promises and act faith upon them 12. When all this is done I mean when thou hast received the Sacrament then thou must meditate what retribution to make unto Christ for this you must say as David doth Psal. 116. 7. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me Thou must say to thy soul Oh how ought I to love that Christ that hath loved me and became a curse for me how ought I to be willing to die for that Christ that hath shed his blood for me Oh what singular thing shall I do for that Christ that hath become man that hath left the Throne of Heaven and hath taken my nature and hath given himself for me upon the Cross unto me at the Sacrament what great thing shall I return unto this God! Oh that I were made up all of thankfulness Oh that I could do something worthy of this God! This must be your Meditation and you must study to find out some rare piece of service to do for this Christ that hath done and suffered so much for you and you must never leave meditating till you have found out some singular thing As for example such an enemy hath done me wrong I will requite him in loving him the more I will do him the more offices of love that is to walk worthy of Christ who loved me when I was an enemy and then there is such a deed of charity such a poor Christian his family is undone I will do this service for Christ I will give him some proportionable gift some worthy gift that his soul may bless God for me Again Christ Jesus this day hath given me himself he hath given me his body and blood I will go and be willing to die for him I will say with Thomas Come let us die for him I will be willing to suffer reproach for him if he shall call me These are the Meditations wherein you are to spend your time when you are at the Sacrament Now let me say but thus much What rare Christians would we be if from month to month we did thus spend our Sacramental hours surely great would be the benefit and the fruit of it Thus I have done with the time when we are to meditate 3. I am to speak of the properties and qualities of Divine Meditation in all holy duties it is not so much the
Principles not being able to hold out in meditation to keep themselves from wandring thoughts read in the Bible this in it self is not sinful but this is not sutable nor proper for certainly the proper way of meditation at the Sacrament is to be raised up in the Sacramental Elements the Sacramental actions the Sacramental promises and therefore thou must make the whole Sacramental frame and carriage to be thy Bible at the Sacrament and learn to be raised up by that to Heavenly Meditation The fifth Particular in order is the Materials of Meditation and here I am to shew you what are those Divine Truths that we are to meditate upon this is a subject of large comprehension for the truth is there is no divine object but it doth deserve our serious meditation Give me leave to make you a Common-place-book of Divine Meditation I will lay down some heads of Divinity that a Christian ought to spend his life in meditating upon sometimes upon one of them sometimes upon another of them as for example he that would avoid all sin and thrive in all godliness must meditate frequently and seriously of Death of Iudgment of Heaven and Hell these are called quatuor Novissima the four last things 1. You must meditate of death now I will not shew you how you should go about to meditate of death but I will give you some heads to help you 1. You must meditate of the certainty of death there is nothing so certain as that thou must die 2. You must meditate of the uncertainty of death there is nothing so uncertain as the time when we must die death comes certainly and death comes uncertainly death comes suddenly there is no Almanack can tell you when your death shall come your Almanacks will tell you when the next Eclypse of the Sun and Moon will be but they will not tell you when the eclypse of your lives shall be And death comes irresistibly it comes like pain upon a woman in travel it comes like an armed Giant that will not be resisted when it comes 3. You must meditate concerning your fitness for death whether thou hast got thy graces thy evidences ready for death whether thou art a wise Virgin or a foolish Virgin whether thou hast got oyl into thy lamp or no 4. You must meditate concerning death how you may so live as to be above the hurt of death that death might be an out-let to all misery and an in-let to all happiness 5. You must meditate how to live in continual expectation of and continual preparation for death 6. You must especially meditate how to be free from the slavish fear of death there are many of Gods children that live all their lives long under the bondage of the fear of death and it is the excellency of a Christian to meditate how to be above the hurt and fear of death and for that purpose you must look upon death with Scripture-spectacles you must look upon death as the going from the prison of this life to the palace of Heaven as disarmed by Christ as perfumed by Christ as a Serpent without a sting as a passage to eternal life Thus you see how you must meditate of Death 2. You must meditate of the day of Iudgment 1. You must meditate of the terribleness of the day of Judgment it is called the terror of the Lord 2 Cor. 5. 11. It is called by the ancient Fathers the great and terrible day of Iudgment In which Iesus Christ will come in flaming fire to render vengeonce upon all those that know him not 2. You must meditate of the great assizes that will be kept at that day in which all the men and women and children that ever have lived since Adam's time to the end of the world shall all appear before the Tribunal-seat of Jesus Christ. 3. You must meditate of the great account you are to give to God at that day the strict the exact the particular account it is a day in which we must answer for all our idle words for all our idle thoughts in which all our secret sins shall be made manifest 4. You must meditate of the great separation that shall be made at that day when the goats shall be placed on the left hand and the sheep on the right hand there will be a perfect separation In this life goats and sheep are mingled together but at that day there will not be one sheep on the left nor one goat on the right hand 5. You must meditate of the happy condition of a child of God at that great and terrible day of Iudgment it shall be a day of his Coronation in which he shall be crowned with glory and immortality it shall be a day of salvation to him 6. You must meditate of the cursed condition of an ungodly man at the day of Iudgment it shall be a day of perdition and everlasting destruction to him 3. You must meditate of Heaven 1. You must meditate of the joys of Heaven that are so great that eye never saw nor ear heard nor ever can it enter into the heart of man to conceive the greatness of them 2. You must meditate sometimes of the Beatifical Vision of the blessed sight of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of the happiness that that soul shall enjoy that is admitted to that blessed sight for because God is infinitely perfect and all perfection is in God whosoever is admitted to the sight of God beholds and enjoys all things in God 3. You must meditate of the perfection of the happiness of Heaven 4. You must meditate of the perpetuity of the happiness of Heaven there you shall have fulness of joy and pleasures at the right hand of God for evermore 5. You must meditate of your fitness for heaven whether you are made meet and fit to partake of that glorious inheritance you must meditate whether God hath sent Heaven down into thee for no man shall ever go up to Heaven but Heaven must first come down to him you must meditate whether that Christ that hath prepared Heaven for thee hath prepared thee for Heaven 6. You must meditate what you must do that you may be meet to go to Heaven how you may lead your lives so that you may be sure at last to obtain Heavens eternity 4. You must meditate of Hell as Bernard saith you must go often down into hell by your meditation while you live and you shall be sure not to go down to hell when you die Descendamus vivenles non descendemus morientes as Chrysostome saith excellently if the not thinking of Hell would free you from Hell I would never have you think of hell but whether you think of it or no Hell-fire burns and your not thinking of it will bring you thither And the reason why so many go to Hell when they die is because they do not think of Hell while they live 1. You must study the
how thou behavest thy self towards God and towards thy neighbour Meditate of the sinfulness of sin the vanity of the world the length of eternity and the excellency of the Gospel 1. Meditate of the sinfulness of sin sin is the greatest evil in the world it is a greater evil than banishment than death than Hell it self meditate of the intrinsecal and extrinsecal evil of sin 2. Meditate of the vanity of the creature all earthly things are vain they are vanity of vanity and vexation of spirit they are all unsatisfying and unprofitable what will all the world do you good when you are sick when you are ready to die 3. Meditate of the length of eternity Oh eternity eternity that we studied thee more that we thought more of thee Study the difference between time and eternity for Time is nothing else but an intersection between two Eternities before there was time there was eternity and when time shall be no more there shall be eternity Time in comparison of Eternity is no more than a Thatcht-house in comparison of all the houses in the world than a drop of water in comparison of the Ocean 4. Study the excellency of the Gospel Oh meditate of the glorious Gospel of Christ and what a priviledg it is to enjoy the Gospel and meditate whether thy life be answerable to the Gospel whether thou that hast lived so long under the Gospel hast lived a life conformable to the Gospel Study the Commandments of God the Threatnings of God the Promises of God and the Ordinances of God 1. Study the Commandments of God whether thou keepest them or no to be humbled for not keeping them to labour to keep them better 2. Study the Threatnings of God and stand in awe of them and fear them 3. Study the Promises of God the glorious the precious Promises the freeness of the Promises the fulness of the Promises the infallibleness of the Promises there is no condition a child of God can be in but there is some promise or other to comfort him the universality of the tender of the Promises thy interest in the Promises whether the Promises of the Gospel belong to thee or no 4. Study the Ordinances of God that is study how to come prepared to Ordinances how to manage Ordinances so that Gods name may be honoured by them And there are four Ordinances that you must meditate of 1. You must meditate of the Ordinance of Prayer you must study the excellency of Prayer the efficacy of Prayer you must study to get the gift of Prayer to get the grace of Prayer Study how to pray in the Holy Ghost how to pray with faith with fervency with repentance 2. You must meditate of the Ordinance of reading the Word that is an Ordinance of God and you must study to read the Word with reverence and godly fear to read the Word as Gods Word to read the Word in a different way than you read any other Book whatsoever 3. You must meditate of the Ordinance of hearing the Word study the right art of hearing the Word so to hear the Word as to be transformed into what you hear to be trained up to Heaven by what you hear so to hear the Word as Gods Word with an universal resignation of thy will to what thou hearest 4. The Ordinance of the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper Oh meditate much of this Ordinance I have told you several Heads of Meditation for the Sacrament Study the errors of the times the Iudgments of God upon the Nation the changes God hath made in this Nation and the mercies of God 1. Study the errors of the times labour to get preservatives against them it is a lamentation and it shall be for a lamentation there is a great Apostacy from the Truths of Christ among many Professors of Religion you shall hardly go into a family but you shall find some or other be-lepered with error Here is thy work O Christian to study the errors of the times what to do to get antidotes and preservatives against Anabaptism against Socinianism against Anti-sabbatarianism against Anti-scripturism against those that deny the Divinity of Christ and the Divinity of the Holy Ghost to get Spiritual armour to be able to resist all the errors of these times It is a great shame and oh that you would be humbled for it that one erroneous person can speak more for the defence of his error than twenty Orthodox Christians are able to speak for the Truth for want of studying antidotes and preservatives against the errors of the times 2. Study the Iudgments of God that have been for these many years upon England Scotland and Ireland the hand of God is gone out against these three Nations and the Lord hath laid us desolate and the sword hath drunk a great deal of blood and no man lays it to heart Now let us meditate of Gods great Iudgments upon this land that we may know the meaning of Gods rod and we may know how to get all these Judgments sanctified unto us 3. Meditate of the great changes that God hath made in this Nation we have been tossed from one condition to another from one way of Government to another Study all the changes and alterations that God hath made by his permitting-Providence Oh what a shame is it that we should meditate no more of Gods ways and dealings to know the meaning of God in all these alterations and changes and what the language of God is and what use we should make of them and how we should keep a good conscience and keep close to our Principles and how we should honour God under all our changes 4. You must meditate of the several passages of Gods Providence towards us there is no man or woman here but hath had rare experience of Gods Providence either in the place of thy dwelling that God should pitch thy dwelling under such a Minister or in the manner of thy Marriage or the Providence of God at such a time under such a sickness it is our duty to take special notice of the Providence of God in raising thee up a friend in helping thee at such a time For want of Meditation we lose all the benefit of the passages of Gods Providence and God loseth all his glory 5. You must meditate of the mercies of God of National mercies Family mercies Personal mercies mercies to thy soul mercies to thy body preventing mercies following mercies what a Catalogue would here be if you would keep a daily account of the mercies of God! The sixth thing is to lay down Rules and Directions for the better practising of this most excellent and necessary duty of Divine Meditation and indeed this is the chief of all there is no Christian but he will confess it is a very difficult duty to dwell upon the thoughts of Heaven and Heavenly things Divine Meditation is an up-hill duty and the reason why it is so difficult is because it
world and the sinfulness of sin I would have you pick out soul-awakening and soul-sanctifying subjects to meditate upon there are some men and not a few of those that spend many hours in meditating when the Iews shall be converted and in finding out the time when the great slaughter and massacre of the two Witnesses spoken of in Rev. 11. shall happen and in studying out the meaning of the Prophecy of Daniel and the Revelations to know whether there shall be a Personal Reign of Christ a thousand years upon earth and when that shall happen Now you shall observe that these men are very barren in devotion that ravel out all their thoughts and meditations in finding out the secrets of God such things as God hath kept secret unto himself these men are very barren and dry in practical Divinity I have read a story of a man that studied the Critical Questions of School-divinity so long that he forgat to say his prayers he could not pray And you shall find that those that empty all their strength and ability in studying speculations and notions are very barren in matters of practice and therefore my counsel is that you would especially pick out subjects that will help you to be weaned from the world to walk humbly with God that will kindle a holy fire of love in your souls to Christ and will make you more like unto Christ and more conformable to his death and resurrection It is true a great understanding and an acute wit will make a learned man but it is the holy life that makes a good man 4. Pick and chuse out such subjects especially to meditate upon that are most seasonable to thy condition most suitable to thy relation and to that estate in which God hath set you for these will most affect the heart As for example to give you three or four instances 1. Suppose thou art a man troubled in mind exceedingly dejected thou art ready to despair because thou art a great sinner and thou thinkest God will not be merciful unto thee and thou art afraid left Christ hath forsaken thee Now I would have thee pick out such a subject to meditate upon that will suit thy condition I would have thee go and meditate of the willingness of Christ to receive poor sinners not only the ability but the willingness of Christ to pardon all that come unto to him Iesus Christ is not only able but he is willing to pardon a penitent sinner one that comes to him for life he is more willing to pardon us than we can be to ask pardon If thou be'st willing to leave thy sins Christ is more willing to receive thee than thou canst be to be received Jesus Christ would never have took such a journey from heaven to earth if he had not been very willing to save poor sinners He is so willing to save you if you come to him as that he came unsent for the Patient did not send for the Physician but the Physician came of his own accord from Heaven The Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost Mat. 18. 11. therefore he must needs be-willing For a Physician to take such a journey and to come of his own accord and when he came here and saw he could not cure his Patient but by his own death the Physician dies to cure the Patient the Physician makes a bath a medicine of his own blood to cure his Patient this did Christ and therefore he was very willing to receive you if he had not been willing to save sinners he could never have provided such Gospel-Ordinances And then again he must needs be willing for he hath sworn if any man come unto him he will receive him If any man come to me I will in no wise cast him out He hath engaged himself with promise and Christ must be a lyar I speak it with a great deal of reverence if you should come to him and he refuse you and when he was here upon earth he complains of nothing but that men would not come unto him You will not come unto me that you might have life He never complained of the greatness or the naughtiness of their diseases he cured the diseases of all that came unto him but all his complaining was that they would not come unto him Now did you go into your Closets and meditate upon these things and pray unto God to bless the meditation of these things would not this cure your troubled Consciences 2. And again you that are troubled in conscience meditate of the Promises of God and not only those Promises that are made to those that have grace but meditate of the Promises that God hath made to give grace Study the Promises God hath made not only to give pardon to them that repent but the Promises God hath made to give repentance to those that ask it God hath not only promised to give pardon to those that believe and repent but God hath promised to give repentance Act. 5. 31. and God hath promised to give faith Phil. 1. 29. God hath not only promised pardon to a broken heart but he hath promised to give a broken heart Ezek. 36. 26. Now do you go into your Closets and meditate of these things they would be very refreshing to you And then again 3. Suppose thou art in outward want the Lord hath blasted thy estate thou hast lost all thy estate and art like Job upon the dunghill thou art driven it may be to beg thy bread thou art now a poor man not worth an half-peny thou wert a rich man the Lord hath blown upon all thou hast this is a sad condition now I would have such an one spend a great deal of time in meditating of the wonderful Providences of God towards his poor children consider how God feeds the fowls of the air and the ravens how God provides for the lillies I would have him read Mat. 6. from the 24th verse to the end of that Chapter Consider saith Christ the lillies and the fowls of the air how God provides for them and therefore be not distracted in thy heart take no thought what thou shalt eat and what thou shalt drink c. but study the Providence of God And then meditate of the Promises that God hath made unto his children to give them whatsoever shall be necessary for them I would have such people as are low in estate read the Bible and pick out all the Promises that God hath made to those that want that fear his name God hath promised the young Lions shall lack and suffer hunger but they that fear the Lord shall want nothing that is good The Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly And I will never leave you nor forsake you Gather up all the Promises God hath made to believers when they are poor and have lost all 4. Art thou
pleased to put these things in practice will find his heart will never want matter to meditate upon So much for the Intellectual part of Meditation which is the knotty and difficult part 2. Now I come to that which is the easiest part of Meditation I mean easie to understand but not easie to practice I come to that which is the best part of Meditation the very life and soul of Meditation and that is to help you to get your affections warmed and heated by the things you meditate upon for the work of the understanding is nothing else but to be as a Divine pair of bellows to kindle and inflame the heart and affections the work of the understanding is to chew and prepare matter to help the affections Now then I am to give you some directions and helps for the affectionative part to get your affections warmed and heated so as to stir up piety and devotion in your souls Now for the working upon your affections learned men that write upon this subject propound six common-place-heads as so many ways to raise the affections and to get them so excited as to increase grace and holiness in the soul. 1. You must labour to get a relish and a savour of the things you meditate upon 2. You must complain before God for the want of that relish 3. You must wish you had a supply of what you want of this relish and taste of the things you meditate on 4. You must confess your inability as of your selves to do this 5. You must petition to God for help 6. You must confidently believe God will help you Here are six helps for the affectionative part of Meditation now that you may know the use of these helps I shall crave leave to go over them all by way of instance I have given you an instance concerning the sinfulness of sin I went over nine common-place heads and shewed you how you should enlarge in every particular about the sinfulness of sin now I will proceed further in this instance and shew you how you should make use of these Particulars to get your affections raised and warmed and stirred up to more holiness After that I have traversed all the heads of reason and have considered the description the distribution cause and effects of sin now I come to the work of the affections And here 1. I will labour to get my heart affected with the bitterness of sin I will labour to taste the bitterness of it and to get my heart in a mourning frame and I will thus say to my self Oh my soul is sin so odious to God that no sacrifice but the sacrifice of the blood of God can appease Gods wrath and shall it not be odious to me was sin so displeasing unto God and so defiling to the soul that no bath but a bath of Christs blood can wash away the stain of it and shall I make a mock of that sin that cost the blood of Christ was sin a burden to Christ and shall it not be a burden to me Thus I would reason with my self Did sin make Christ shed drops of blood and shall it not make me shed a few tears Did Christ cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me for our sins I mean for our sins he took upon him and shall I make a sport of sin shall I make a mock of sin Doth David complain That his sins was a burden too heavy for him to bear And doth Paul cry out Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin And shall not sin be bitter to me shall not I mourn that I have sinned against so gracious a God so merciful a Redeemer so holy a Sanctifier 2. I would proceed to the second and begin to complain of the hardness of my heart and of my unaffectedness with the sins I am guilty of and I would thus say to my soul Oh my soul how is it that thou canst mourn for any outward loss if thou losest but a child though it may be thou hast half a score if thou losest but one of them thou canst mourn immoderately if thou losest thy wife thy husband any part of thy estate thou canst mourn too much but thou hast not one tear for thy sins how is it Oh my soul that thou shouldest be thus hard-hearted and unaffected with thy sins Is not sin Deicidium is not sin a murdering of God in as much as in us lies is not sin animaecidium that which slays the soul is not sin a dethroning of God a robbing of God an injuring of God how is it then that I am no more affected with my sin how is it that after so many Sermons so many Sacraments so many years being in the School of Christ after so many mercies received from God so many afflictions the Lord hath inflicted upon me yet my heart should be so hard and so flinty and so stony I can easily hate my enemy too too soon which I should not do but Sin that is my greatest enemy I cannot hate that which I should hate most of all I must love my outward enemy but God bids me hate my Sin God doth not bid me love the Devil or the works of the Devil I can hate that which I should love but I cannot hate that which I should hate I cannot hate my Sin 3. I would proceed to stir up my affections to a passionate wish and I would say to my soul thus Oh that my heart were more soft Oh that I could mourn with a godly mourning not with a legal mourning but with a mourning that is out of love to God Oh that I could mourn with repentance unto life with a Gospel-sorrow for all my sins of omission commission my Sacrament-sins my family-sins my Closet-sins the sins of my youth the sins of my riper age for all my unkindness against my God Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I could mourn day and night for my sins and the sins of the times and the sins of the place wherein I live Oh that rivers of tears would run down my eyes because I have sinned against my God! Thus would I wish and passionately express my self that so I might get my heart raised up Oh that the Lord would pour down the spirit of mourning upon me 4. I would make an humble confession of my own inability to mourn and I would say thus O Lord thou knowest it is not in man to direct his own ways it is not in man to guide his own steps I know Oh Lord that I am not able of my self to think a good thought it is easier for me to cleave a rock in pieces than to cleave my rocky heart by my own strength there must be an Almighty power to get my heart to be soft for my heart Oh Lord is harder than the nether milstone and I cannot soften it I would mourn that
I cannot mourn that I have not power I can do nothing without power derived from Jesus Christ. 5. I would go to supplication after confession and I would petition to God for strength and I would say Oh Lord thou that hast promised to take away my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh hast thou not promised to work all my works in me and for me hast thou not promised to subdue my iniquities Micah 7. 19. hast thou not promised that Sin shall not have dominion over me this is the promise Rom. 6. now Lord thou hast promised these things I beseech thee perform these Promises thou God of Truth make good thy word take away my heart of stone and give me to mourn for my great abominations and work this work in me and for me and subdue my iniquities and let not Sin have dominion over me rather give me over to the dominion of men though I would not be a slave to men yet I had rather be a slave to all the men in the world yea a slave to the Turk than a slave to the Devil rather be a Galley-slave than a Devils-slave of all slavery Lord deliver me from soul-slavery And thus I would supplicate and petition and when I have done all this 6. I would encourage my self by faith in a confident hope and trust in God that the Lord will hear my prayer and give me strength against my corruptions and supply me with help in all my necessities and I would say thus Oh Lord thou hast promised that whatsoever I ask in the name of Christ shall be granted unto me blessed God! I ask this day in the name of Christ pardon of Sin and power against Sin and a broken heart for Sin and from Sin I ask repentance unto Salvation thou hast promised to give it I believe thou wilt give it I believe Lord help my unbelief And then I would say to my soul why art thou disquieted Oh my soul why art thou cast down why art thou troubled still trust in God depend upon God he is my help he is my joy in him will I put my trust Thus I have gone over these Six Heads I have given you one instance Now I would have you know whatsoever I have said of Sin I can go over of any Subject whatsoever suppose I would meditate of Heaven after I have meditated of the joys and excellencies of Heaven and all those particulars in the Intellectual part then to work upon my affections I would labour to get my heart affected with the joys of Heaven and then I would complain that I am no more affected with those joys and with the Beatifical Vision and the rare company that I shall there enjoys and then I would passionately wish Oh that my heart were more heavenly Oh that I could taste more of those everlasting joys that the Lord would come down and heavenlize me and then I would confess my inability of my self and I would supplicate for help and I would confidently believe that the Lord will send down heaven into my heart and the joys of it before I come thither That which I say of the sinfulness of sin you may make use of in all other Subjects that you meditate upon So much for the Rules and Directions for the better helping you to proceed and go on in the duty of Meditation 3. Now there remains only some Rules for the conclusion of all When thou hast begun and entred upon this duty and made a progress in it when thou comest to make a conclusion shut up thy Meditation of Divine things with thankfulness with resolution and with recommendation of thy soul to God 1. I say conclude with thankefulness lift up thy heart to God and bless his name that hath enlarged thy soul and enabled thee to spend an hour in meditation of holy things especially if you find your hearts affected with what you meditate upon if you have gotten from the intellectual part into the affectionative if you have gotten your souls raised up As for example if you have been meditating of Heaven and you find a Heavenly frame wrought in you you find a desire to be with the Lord and you find some assurance that your name is written there and some manifestations of God to your souls Oh then close up all with an Hallelujah Blessed be the Lord for the assistance of this hour So likewise have you been meditating of Sin and find at the conclusion that thy heart is somewhat soft and doth begin to mourn for thy Sin and thou art troubled that thou hast offended thy God and the Lord hath wrought in thee some confidence some spiritual assurance that thy Sins shall be mortified and that the Lord will keep thee that thy sin shall not have dominion over thee then conclude with a Hallelujah lift up thy heart and bless the Lord for his assistance I might likewise add when thou hast been meditating on the Promises or of Death whatsoever the Subject thou art meditating upon is if the Lord hath wrought thee to have a heart above the fear of death by meditating of death and thou hast learned to be willing and ready to die Oh bless the Lord for his assistance 2. I would have you close with a resolution of heart to spend thy life as becomes one that hath been meditating of holy and heavenly things As for example I have been meditating of the Promises I will shut up my Meditation with resolution by the grace of God to live more upon the Promises than ever I have done I have lived too much upon the Creature but now I will live more upon God and his Promises I will close up with a resolution by the power of my God to study my interest in the Promises more and suck out the sweetness of them more and to be more acquainted with the freeness and the fulness and riches and preciousness of them And so would you meditate of Heaven I would conclude with a resolution that I would labour to live more heavenly and walk as becometh one that looks to live with Christ for ever in Heaven You must know these spiritual resolutions are spiritualia vincula obedientiae they are spiritual bonds to tye the soul fast to God As the beast was tyed to the horns of the Altar in the old Law that was to be sacrificed so these blessed vows and resolutions are heavenly cords to tye the soul faster to God and that is the reason every why Sacrament we renew our vows and resolutions as God renews his engagements to us so do we renew our engagements to God every Sacrament Now I would have you close up your Meditation by binding your souls faster to God in a holy resolution Divine resolution is the spiritual hedg of the soul saith one to keep the soul from breaking out into ungodly courses 3. Shut up all with a short commendation of thy self thy body thy soul thy wife