Shall torture thee to all eternity Now tell me Soul what thy Objections are Is it Christ's Yoke Rod Cross that doth thee scare His Yoke is easie and his Burthen light His Laws not grievous but the Soul's delight All his Commandments are holy just good And better far than thy appointed food They sweeter than the Honey-Comb shall prove For all his Laws are summed up in love The love of God who is the chiefest good And of our Neighbour our own flesh and blood To the in hatred is on Earth a Hell But it 's a Heaven on Earth in love to dwell Shouldst thou not love the Lord with all thy heart Who goodness is and doth good impart With all thy soul since he 's the God alone Which to the soul gives satisfaction With all the mind for he doth fill the mind And cannot be by finite thoughts confin'd With all thy strength Thy Powers are not able Him to desire as he is desirable Tho all thy soul to th' utmost thou extend It cannot boundless goodness comprehend Love sweetly joins the heart to God alone And other gods before him will have none It will have none on Earth or Heaven above But God for its desire delight and love The Spouse disdains this is love's holy pride By Christ's companions to turn aside To please the Lord love doth the soul dispose And with his will in every thing to close Love worship's God according to his mind And loves to be within his will confin'd Love fears his Jealousie and stands in awe To take ought from or add ought to his Law. It casts all worship forged by man's will And doth the sale of Idol-mongers spill Love God and then his glorious Name to thee As precious Ointment poured out will be Strongly yet sweetly Love will thee restrain From taking his most holy Name in vain Love God so sabbath-Sabbath-days from morn till night Shall be by thee accounted a delight These Sabbaths of the Lord are holy blest Love's tristing times feast-Feast-days and days of Rest Then the beloved blesseth Saints with grace And glory then they see his lovely face He entertaineth them in holy rest Days in his Courts of all days are the best From love to God neighbourly love doth flow From this sweet root this pleasant plant doth grow Since man was made in Gods similitude Since all men are of the same flesh and blood It 's for God's honour and our own behoof That we our Neighbour as our selves should love The light of Nature cries it's righteous To do as we would men to do to us If thou thy neighbour love thou wilt delight To keep him blameless and to do him right Love turns Superiors to Fathers kind And makes them of a condescending mind Love bounds their wrath moves to commiseration Love tempers rigour pleads for moderation When Justice matcht with Mercy sweetly reign Then all of Justice and of Mercy sing Blest is the land in which the law of love Doth rule in those below and those above Love maketh Equals deal with one another As every one were one another's brother Where Love prevaileth in inferiors It makes them kindly honour higher powers Love envies not superiors higher place But doth in God's Order still acquiesce Love maketh Subjects patient and mild Like to a kindly tender hearted child Who tho injur'd with grief and shamefac'dness Conceals his Father's faults and nakedness Love maketh man abhor man's blood to shed â—ince God hath man in his own Image made To sinful Anger Hatred Envy Spite Malice Revenge Love is most opposite Pure love destroys vile filthy lusts and flies From Fornications and Adulteries â—t purifies the heart and guards the eye And will not wrong a Neighbour's chastity He who is loving seeks his Neighbour's wealth And wrongeth none by Rapine or by stealth Love is most tender of a Neighbour's Name It thinks no evil and will not defame It loveth truth and doth abhor all lies False-witnessing reproaches calumnies Love is contented well with its own lot And what belongs to others covets not It 's opposite to the first inclinations Which tend to ill to sinful delectations Since Love's the end and sum of all the Law It 's pleasant in Love's easie yoak to draw The Law of Love is holy good and just But Oh! the lawless Law of sin and lust Like to a stinking humour spoils the taste Of Lust-sick men that the sweet food distaste To man's stiff Neck which galling lust doth spoil The Yoak seems hard which softer is than Oil. Yea no meer man is able since the Fall To keep these perfect Laws but breaks them all And every sin deserves God's curse and wrath Both in this present life and after death Yet O poor sinner turn not desperate Since with the Father there 's an Advocate Even Jesus Christ the Righteouss who hath Fulfill'd the Law appeas'd revenging wrath He hath the Law establisht answered All that it did demand or threatned Justice hath found a Ransom in the Son Full satisfaction for transgression He under lay the curse that he might free All from the curse who unto him do flee Come unto him who is the Lord's salvation And thou shalt not come into condemnation For all sins of omission and commission Thou shalt receive a full and free remission He will take off thy rags of filthiness And cloath thee with white robes of righteousness Was ever Traitor so perverfly mad To slight a pardon when it might be had To seek for cautioneis poor debters run Wilt thou an able off'red Surety shun Art thou with sins too heavy burden prest Come weary soul and Christ shall give thee rest Art thou for foughten and quite out of breath With the old man that man of sin and death Groan unto him that he may pity thee Say I 'm opprest Lord undertake for me He who cri'd out O wretched man am I Within a little sung of Victory Cry Help Lord sins prevail against me do Purge me subdue them and them quite undo Since without him thou canst do nothing right Be strong in him in the power of his might When thou com'st up out of the wilderness Lean upon him lean on him all thy stress Would thou have peace and comfort come to Jesus He is the peace and he alone can ease us By Faith receive him to dwell in thy heart He will thy conscience purge and ease its smart Take him as off'red in the Gospel-Call With this great gift the Father giveth all Stay wholly on him rest on him alone For to accomplish thy salvation To save thee from all sin and misery And with all goodness thee to satisfie Is not this work of Faith the hearts delight Is not this labour ease this burden light A hungry thirsty man will never think That it 's a grievous work to eat and drink It 's easing to a man with loads opprest To be disburden'd and to find a rest The wind tost traveller is glad to
every man have naturally a Love of himself and desire to conserve his own ease then should he also have fear of peril whereby he is to fall into extream calamity This St. Bernard expresseth excellently according to his custom O man saith he if thou hast left all shame which appertaineth to so noble a creature as thou art if thou feelest no sorrow as carnal men do not yet lose not fear also which is found in very beasts We use to load an Ass and weary him out with Labour and he careth not because he is an Ass But if thou wouldest thrust him into fire or fling him into the ditch he would avoid it as much as he could for that he loveth life and feareth death Fear thou then and be not more insensible than a beast Fear Death fear Judgment fear Hell. This Fear is called the beginning of Wisdom and not shame and sorrow for that the Spirit of fear is more mighty to resist sin than the Spirit of shame or sorrow Wherefore it is said Remember the end and thou shalt never sin That is Remember the final punishments appointed for sin after this life III. First therefore to speak in General of the punishments reserved for the Life to come If the Scriptures did not declare in particular their greatness unto us That they are most severe dolorous and intolerable For first as God is a God in all his Works That is to say great wonderful and terrible so especially he sheweth the same in his punishments being called for that cause in Scripture a God of Justice as also a God of Revenge Wherefore seeing all his other Works are full of Majesty and exceeding our capacities we may likewise gather that his hand in punishment must be wonderful Also God himself teacheth us to reason in this manner when he saith And will ye not then fear me and tremble before my face which have put the sand as a stop unto the sea and have given the water a commandment never to pass no not when it is most troubled and the floods most outragious As if he should say If I am wonderful and do pass your imaginations in these works of the Sea and others which you see daily you have cause to fear me considering that my punishments are like to be correspondent to the same IV. Another conjecture of the great and severe Justice of God may be the consideration of his infinite and unspeakable Mercy the which as it is the very Nature of God and without end or measure as his Godhead is so is also his Justice and these two are the two arms as it were of God embracing and kissing the one the other as the Scripture saith Therefore as in a man of this world if we had the measure of one arm we might easily conjecture of the other so seeing the wonderful examples daily of God's infinite mercy towards them that repent we may imagine by the same his severe justice towards them whom he reserveth to punishment in the next life and whom for that cause he calleth in the Scriptures Vessels of his Fury or Vessels to shew his Fury upon V. A Third Reason to perswade us of the greatness of these punishments may be the marvellous patience and long-sufferings of God in this life As for example in that he suffereth divers men from one sin to another from one day to another from one year to another from one age to another to spend all I say in dishonour and despite of his Majesty adding offence to offence and refusing all perswasions allurements good inspirations or other means of friendship that his mercy can devise to offer for their amendment And what man in the world could suffer this Or what mortal heart can shew such patience But now if all this should not be requited with severity of punishment in the world to come upon the obstinate it might seem against the Law of Justice and Equity and one arm of God might seem longer than the other Saint Paul teacheth this Reason in his Epistle to the Romans Rom. 2. where he saith Dost thou not know that the benignity of God is used to bring to repentance And thou by thy hard and impenitent heart dost hoard up vengeance unto thy self in the day of wrath and appearance of God's just judgment which shall restore to every man according to his works He useth here the words of hoarding up of vengeance to signifie as a covetous man doth hoard up money to money daily to make his heap great so the unrepentant finner doth hoard up fin to fin and God on the contrary side hoardeth up vengeance to vengeance until his measure be full to restore in the measure against measure as the Prophet saith and to pay us home according to the multitude of our abominations This God meant when he said to Abraham that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full up Also in the Revelation unto St. John the Evangelist when he useth this conclusion of that book He that doth evil let him do more evil and he that liveth in filth let him yet become more filthy For behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to render to every one according to his deeds By which words God signifieth that his bearing and tolerating with sinners in this life is an Argument of his greater severity in the life to come which the Prophet David also declareth when talking of a careless sinner he saith The Lord shall scoff at him foreseeing that his day shall come This day no doubt is to be understood the day of account and punishment after this life For so doth God more at large declare himself in these words Ezek. 7th And thou Son of man this saith thy Lord God The end is come now I say the end is come upon thee And I will shew in thee my fury and will judge thee according to thy ways I will lay against thee all thine abominations and mine eye shall not spare thee neither will I take any mercy upon thee but I will put thy own ways upon thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold afflictions cometh on the end is come the end I say is come it hath watched against thee and behold it is come the day of slaughter is at hand crushing is now come upon thee Shortly will I pour out my wrath upon thee and I will fill my fury in thee and I will judge thee according to thy ways and I will lay all thy wickedness upon thee mine eye shall not pity thee but I will lay thy way upon thee and thine abominations in the midst of thee and thou shalt know that I am the Lord that striketh Hitherto is the speech of God himself VI. Seeing then now we understand in general that the punishments of God in the Life to come are most certain to be great and severe to all such as fall into them for which cause the Apostle
the Eye Of th' Understanding Scripture-light to see The light of truth he unto them doth show That truth from error they may clearly know He shows what 's right what 's wrong what 's good what 's ill For to inform the Mind reform the Will. He takes them by the arms learns them to go And holds them that they reel not to and fro If thou art weak thy help on him is laid Who mighty is in straits a present aid Thou filthy art without unclean within He is a Fountain opened for sin Thou art diseased this Physician can Heal all Diseases incident to Man. This Man 's the Peace in midst of Enemies The heart's support under Infirmities He is the Ark in midst of a Deluge When wrath pursues a City of Refuge If thou art dead he 's life if lost salvation If comfortless he 's Israel's consolation Jesus is All by Jesus Name alone To Men is given God's salvation All they which are in him are justified Regenerate adopted glorified Come come to him and then thou shalt be free From condemnation and accepted be As Just through his Obedience to the Death Imputed to thee and receiv'd by Faith. Thy sins and guilt shall never thee confound Though they be sought for they shall not be found They are renew'd who are in him that 's true Old things are past and all things are made new Christ lives in them and Christ in them is found And to his Image they are all conform'd They die to sin they live to him who died And rose that they might be all sanctified As many as receive him who doth come To them they all the Sons of God become They have his Spirit they have access free To Grace and Abba Father they may cry They by his Name are call'd by him protected Provided for they 'r chast'ned and corrected Yet not cast off their Father's power and love Keeps-them to their inheritance above They all are Heirs of life perpetual Heirs and joynt-heirs with Christ the Heir of all They persevere and never fall away From Grace in which they firmly stand for ay For God's Foundation standeth ever sure He knows his own his love doth still endure There 's none there 's nothing whatsoever that Them from the love of Christ can seperate He will not leave them he doth promise make That he will not them leave nor them forsake They shall not leave the Lord for in their heart He puts his fear that they may not depart None can them pluck away they firmly stand As holden in the Son 's and Father's Hand Christ's Intercession which doth still prevail Procureth that their Faith shall never fail They persevere in Grace in Grace they grow From Christ in them moe benefits do flow Assurance of God's favour and his grace In midst of trouble inward rest and peace Of Conscience the joy of God's salvation Which makes them glory even in tribulation Their Souls at death are perfectly made free From sin to glory pass immediately Their bodies sleep in Christ in whom they have Rest till the Resurrection in the grave Then their vile body so by Death deform'd Shall to Christ's glorious body be conform'd The Soul and Body being unite shall be For ever with the Lord and clearly see His Glory in his Light they shall see Light There is no darkness there there is no Night Shadows are fled the Lattess here below Did well through which the Lord himself did show But when the perfect day is come and grace Is crown'd with glory they see face to face Not in a glass nothing doth interveen To mar their sight they see as they are seen And known there needs no Candle there Nor Moon nor Sun these lights are darkness where God's Glory shines and where the Lamb 's the light He fills the eye and perfect makes the sight In his own glory they his glory see And like him are because they perfectly Behold him as he is The Light Divine Inlightens them that like the Sun they shine They see his love it 's in their heart and eye That he is God their Soul doth taste and see And in his love the Spring of Life Divine They Water drink that 's better far than Wine Rivers of pleasures in upon them flow And fill their Soul throughout and overflow Yet do not drown These living waters give Eternal life to all who in them live Their love is perfect God's love makes abode In them they dwell in love and dwell in God. And then a whole Burnt-offering they prove Wholly inflam'd but not consum'd by love They 'r free from sin free from all that defiles From all temptations from all Satan's wiles No spot remains Holiness is perfect Here they lov'd cleanness there they wake in white No trouble 's there dishonour nor disgrace But perfect Glory Honour Rest and Peace There is no grief nor ought that can annoy Christ's Joy's in them they enter into Joy. No doubts perplex them nor suspicious fear For God's Name is in all their Fore-heads clear Come now to Christ and then he unto whom Thou comest will kindly thee invite to come Into his Kingdom yea he will thee own As a Joynt-Heir and thee with Glory Crown And which doth pass all admiration Thou shalt be fet with him upon his Throne They who will not come now must then be gone From Christ to Hell and to destruction For when the Lord whom now they will not hear Shall as great Judge at the great day appear His words shall thunder terror through their heart When they shall hear the dreadful Doom Depart Depart ye curst to fire unquenchable With Satan and his Angels execrable Where there is endless weeping fruitless tears Gnashing of teeth through anguish and where fears Consuming terrors horrors do abound Shame and contempt eternally confound There they who would not look to Christ the Light Shall be for ever shut out from his sight In utter darkness in an endless night Blackness of darkness shall them still affright They who despise his love shall drink his wrath And streams of Brimstone kindled by his breath The wine is wrath the wrath of God without All Mixture is unto them pour'd out Of Divine Indignation's dreadful Cup. They swallow wrath and wrath them swallows up With wrath and fury they are fill'd and drunk And in a lake of fire and brimestone sunk Their torments smoak ascendeth up for ever They have no rest their torment ceaseth never Now life and death are set before thee chuse What thou wilt take what thou wilt refuse Wilt thou fool turn eternal life to death Wilt thou refuse God's favour chuse his wrath And turn from Jesus Christ to go to Devils Refuse all good and chuse all sorts of evils Darkness prefer to light wilt thou refuse Rivers of pleasures streams of brimstone chuse If thou the God of Truth Love Mercy Grace Forsake and lying vanities embrace Thy conscience the worm that doth not die
you may see The laws of God most holy and most high Whose Will 's the rule of all holiness Of love and mercy and of righteousness These pure commands light to the eyes impart They 'r right and good and do rejoice the heart Receive them in thy mind since they are light And since they 'r good make them thy hearts delight Great peace have they O Lord thy law that love Nothing to them a stumbling-block shall prove Would you read Proverbs much sence in few words The Scripture Proverbs plenteously affords In Scripture rare Epistles you will find Where to his Friends Christ writes his heart and mind And as their case requires so he in love Sometimes commends and sometimes doth reprove Would you read news here 's news both great and true Good tidings of great Joy and ever new That God was manifest in humane flesh Will be for ever wondrous news and fresh He is the same to day and yesterday And is the same for ever and for aye His love 's the same it never waxeth old His blood 's still fresh his vertue grows not cold He 's white and ruddy still his beauty rare Doth never fade no age can it impair His locks are black no grey hairs there are seen His Marriage bed continues ever green All earthly things do languish and decay The fashion of the world doth pass away These things are nothing else but shadows fleeing Which seem to be and have no solid being But Christ is truth and new creatures true Old things are past lo all things here are new These things fade not with time they grow not frail They are eternal and shall never fail New creatures wax not old they never die Newness of life lasts to eternity New are their hearts their spirits minds and sense Their acts are acts of new obedience Their way is new as light it shines alway Still more and more unto the perfect day These creatures new have a new secret name And a new City New Jerusalem A new Heav'n and new Earth which far excell This World for there all righteousness doth dwell New various fruits they gather from the tree Of Life and drink new wine perpetually Eternal draughts of Light Love and Joy While God himself they fully do enjoy Ah Fools who seek for needless Novelties To feed fantastick Curiosities Of precious time so prodigally lost Your brave new nothings will not quit the cost Search for the new things that are great and true And of this labour thou shalt never rue These news thy soul to wondering will raise And yield sweet matter of new Songs of praise Art thou dispos'd to sing apply thine ear In scripture thou a joyful sound shalt hear Of Psalms and Hymns and Songs Spiritual Which make a melody celestial No Poet now can such Composures write For the great Maker did these Songs indite They came from Heaven and by a heavenly strain They lift the soul from Earth to Heaven again There are high Songs made touching the great King Who hath pre-eminence in every thing There are most stately Songs of acts divine Sweet Songs of Love which better are than wine Here mournful Songs and Songs of joy and gladness And here are Songs compos'd of mirth and sadness The Psalm begins sometimes with sighs and tears And sad complaints of dangers and of fears But while the Psalmist sings the grief and fray Evanish and are sweetly sung away These fingers travel much aloft to raise Their hearts and tongues to highest Notes of praise They call for help invite the creatures all In Earth Seas Air the Hosts celestial But all the praise that creatures can afford Is far below the praise due to the Lord. This rent will never fully payed be Through all the Ages of Eternity But they who ever praise are ever blest In restless praise there is eternal rest Unto the word the Lord subjoined hath The Sacraments for to confirm our Faith That as we hear so we may clearly see Christ and his Grace presented to our eye In Baptism behold Christ doth apply His Blood and Spirit us to purifie To purge away our guilt and filthiness To give us holiness and righteousness Be pure and clean and of a holy frame Since thou wast washed in God's holy Name Unto the holy One the holy Three Thou offer'd wast should'st thou not holy be Think never shame holiness to avow Glory to stand to thy Baptismal Vow Abhor the filthy lusts of Swinish Hogs Disdain to cast what 's holy unto Dogs Watch fight against all worldly lusts and evils Resist unclean lying and murthering Devils Be strong in God and in his power of might The War is holy and the Cause is right Put on Gods armour stand stand do not flee Upon the Captain always fix thine eye He is the Captain of Salvation Cleave unto him and thou shalt surely win For he hath given to all thy Foes the foil Come after him and gather up the spoil He will thee feast in midst of all thy fight Cover thy Table in thine Enemies sight A Banquet in the fight expect thou may Since Christ Love's Banner doth o're thee display O! let it not be ever said of thee That from Christ's Colours thou away did flee Christ and his fulness in the union-feast We may both hear and see smell touch and taste By these same ports were Satan Death and Sin Enter'd Christ Life and Righteousness come in Adam did hear take smell touch taste tâ—â— fruit And was transform'd to a vile mortal Brute He is the Living the Life-giving Bread Here is the meat indeed the drink indeed Under the shadow of this true Apple tree Sit down it 's Fruit to thy taste sweet shall be This tree of life this true and noble Vine Yields Grapes which bleed true life a life divine Christ would be broken that he might be bread And that the dead might live he would be dead He would bleed out his life that we might drink Life in his blood remember him and think Still of his Death and in his Temple still Think of his Love and of his latter Will. Thou who art willing Christ himself to take And all his fulness no more scruples make For as the bread thou eat'st and as the wine Thou drink'st belongs to thee so Christ is thine As food the empty body satiates And life and strength recruits and recreates So Christ to souls doth full contentment give He is their strength and life by which they live If he dwell in thee thou shalt filled be With all Gods fullness most abundantly And thou shalt live not thou but rather he Who is a quickning Spirit shall live in thee Faint not when to great works thou hast a call In Christ who strengthens thee thou maist do all Thou wilt him find life giving strenthening food The living Spring of all that 's truly good Prepare thy self for this great holy Feast The King himself observeth every guest He who
makes changes strange of things It life from death sweet from bitter brings Peace out of trouble out of darkness light Out of the Eater meet from grief delight What of it self did to destruction tend Grace makes it in salvation to end As for Christ's Cross be not at it offended For it can never be enough commended O! it 's a holy pleasant stately thing To be conform'd to him in suffering Remember oft his oft repeated word The Servant is not greater than his Lord It is enough and very fair that he Who 's a Disciple as his Master be Is thy condition mean canst thou not find Accommodation unto thy mind Hast thou no harboury no house nor hold To shelter thee from storms look and behold The First-begotten to the world brought in In an Out-house and not into the Inn. He unto whom the Angels worship paid Is in a Manger not a Cradle laid Foxes have holes and each fowl hath its nest Christ had not whereupon his head to rest Want'st thou wherewith to buy thy daily bread Some of their substance to him ministred Or art thou from thy Native Soil exil'd Christ driven was to Egypt when a child Art thou reproached Vile iniquities Were cast on him calumnies and lies Vile drunkenness sensual gluttony Collusion with Devils blasphemy Madness deceit and friendliness to vice And all that crafty malice could devise Was charg'd on him whom they proclaim'd abroad An Enemy to Coesar and to God. Do Friends turn Foes or do they faint and flee From thee in straits to Jesus turn thine eye His own Disciples did leave him alone They to their own were scattered and gone He was by Judas traiterously betrayed By Peter thrice most shamefully denied Art thou a Prisoner and hardly used Pursu'd to death and scornfully abused Christ as a Thief was apprehended bound As a mock-King in purple cloath'd and crown'd With pricking Thorns a Reed put in his hand As a mock-Scepter then they do command That he hood-wink't should tell who did him smite To shew at him as Prophet their despite They spit on him and scourge him cruelly And lead him out upon a Cross to die A lingring shameful painful cursed death On which he bore our sins and divine wrath These were the weights that did his soul distress His sweat was blood when bruised in this press The Cross as Christ hath left it we may say Is light Christ took its greatest weight away He wrath the bitterness of death drunk up And left no vengeance in his peoples cup For wrath and death he love and life puts in Which Marab's waters make more sweet than wine Take up his burden it is light and meet And drink his cup it healthful is and sweet To bear about the dying of sweet-Jesus Will not us kill but quicken strengthen ease us They 're highly honoured who suffer shame For Jesus sake and for his glorious Name Reproach for Christ is Riches much more great Than Egypt's Pleasures Treasures Honours State Shame for him honour is and loss is gain In death for him is life and ease in pain When all day long they 're killed for his sake Like sheep for slaughter burned at a stake They Conquerors and more than Conquerors prove Through him who them eternally doth love Turn thine eyes from the dark side of the Cross On which appears dishonour pain and loss And turn upon the lightsome side thine eye Where pleasure gain and glory thou maist see Christ's own Example will us best direct How of the Cross to take a right prospect The Son of man is glorified he said And God in him is also glorified If God in him thus glorified be God shall in him himself straight glorifie He Glory saw in being crucified He saw God by his suffering glorified He saw the heavenly glory to ensue Keep still this Triple Glory in thy view Sigh not then at the Cross as sad and sorry But shout in triumph Glory glory glory Live to God's Glory for his Glory die It is thy Glory God to glorifie If by thy death God glorified be Thou shalt in Glory live eternally They who with Christ do suffer with him reign And bearing palms eternal triumph sing If for the Name of Christ reproach'd thou be The Spirit of God and Glory rests on thee These momentary crosses which are light Work endless Glory of exceeding weight Yet go not from thy way to seek a cross Follow thy calling to God's way keep close That Cross which thy wise Lord for thee thinks meet Is in thy way in the great King 's High-street That thou must take it up or else go wrong Medling in what doth not to thee belong If in thy sufferings thou wouldst have delight See that thy call be clear the cause be right Take up thy Cross in Christ's Name and his strength That of thy race thou maist run all the length Pray to be strengthen'd by his glorious might To suffer with all patience and delight Tho thou wert burned yet if thou hast not Love burning will not profit thee a Jot Unto thy hungry Enemy give food Love those who hate thee vanquish ill with good And pray that those who do impoverish thee With the true riches may enriched be That they who cause thee wander far abroad May from their wand'ring be reclaim'd to God. Those who from Earth pursue thee till thou die Endeavour to draw them to Heaven with thee Our blessed Lord when hanging on the tree Prayed for those who did him crucifie He to his Father for their pardon pray'd And did say for them all that could be said How far was Stephen from leaving of his death On those who ston'd him witness his last breath He kneel'd and cri'd this sin Lord do not lay To their charge Thus in love he slept away O lovely blessed sleep O sure 't will be A heavenly thing in love to live and die Love is the way to Heaven love is the flame In which the soul surmounts the starry frame This is the work and life of Saints above To love and loved be for God is love He 's light and love he freely doth impart Light to the mind and goodness to the heart With his resplendent Glory fill thine eye And in his goodness place thou all thy Joy. Come see and taste Come come and taste and see With goodness fill thy heart with light thine eye The Father Son and Spirit Persons three Who are in Essence one do call on thee To come from dolesome darkness unto light From ill to good from sorrow to delight From death to life from guilt to righteousness From the vile filth of sin to holiness From want to fullness from weights which thee load To rest and ease from Satan unto God From Hell to Heaven from lusts base drudgery To that high service God to glorifie Not that we can unto his Glory add For it is boundless He hath ever had And hath and shall have to
Eternity Perfection infinite but that poor we With mind heart mouth acknowledge and confess His glory as he doeth it express In all his Works and in his holy Word And in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord And that in eating drinking in each thing We do God's Glory we may still design But surely it is wonderfully sweet To see Gods Glory and man's good unite In these same acts by which they glorifie The Lord they do enjoy his company And these same acts which do unite the soul Unto the Lord his Glory do extol By acting Faith and hoping in his Word They praise the Grace Truth Power of the Lord By acting Faith they in their heart receive The Lord to dwell in them great peace they have Whose mind and heart upon the Lord is staid Of evil tidings they are not afraid When they themselves most quietly do hide Under the shade of his wings and abide In the most secret place of the most high What harm of evil can to them come nigh Munition of Rocks doth them secure Their bread and water are to them made sure God with broad Rivers them surrounds that so No Ship nor Galley can against them go Since in them God is Glory and a wall Of sire about them surely they have all Glory within their mind and heart to fill A fire without to guard them from all ill How can they but be safe who have salvation For VValls and Bulwarks for their preservation The more they trust the more they glorifie God and his wondrous loving kindness see Which he to them hath greatly magnified Within a city that is fortified No outward force disturbeth their solace When they thus guarded see and taste his grace Love doth at once the Lord himself embrace And glorifies his goodness love and grace While we above all things the Lord do love We in our heart set him all things above While we desire him and do in him joy We move to him and God himself enjoy Yea every act whereby we glorifie The Lord in it we do the Lord draw nigh And God to us Thus are his servants blest For all their service is their interest Christ from himself servants sent not away His word is come follow me with me stay If any serve me let him follow me And where I am there shall my servant be Since Christ is foremost sure the way is right Since he 's the way the Leader and the Light The way is safe take courage talk no more Of fear and danger since God is before The way is pleasant it 's a sight most sweet To see the steps of Jesus lovely feet And to walk in them in them to walk on Since our fore-runner in these paths hath gone Tho he be gone before yet he is near He 's on the front and also on the rear And still on thy right hand thee to uphold Yea in thy heart to make thee humbly bold As he walks in them this of them is crav'd That they walk in him as they him receiv'd It is his promise to be with them still That they be still with him is his good will. Thus all the service he to them commends To Glory Union and Communion tends Their Master's Service is their interest In glorifying God they 're truly blest This is thy chief end God to glorifie And to enjoy him to eternity Come to the Mediator Jesus Christ In him alone the Lord with man's well-pleas'd Come unto God by him though thou be'st lost He will thee save unto the uttermost Come take himself and take his fulness all Deny thy self follow upon his call Follow him fully follow him with delight His yoke is easie and his burden light His holy Ordinances are most sweet His Rod is needful and his Cross is meet All service he requires is reasonable All Rods and Crosses needful seasonaable It 's only for a time if need there be That trials come in great variety And though they sadning be yet they are blest And tend to Holiness Praise Glory Rest Come come thy service all all thy distress Is for God's Glory and thy Happiness Now since by God the Father and the Spirit Thou art from sin and torments infinite Called to come through Christ the living way To Fellowship with God which lasts for aye Behold by whom from what through whom to whom Thou called art all calls on thee to come The Spirit and the Bride say Come let all who hear Say Come and let them come who thirsty are Here is Life's Fountain whosoever will Of living water freely take thy fill That all who hear may come Lord draw that we May come and run and follow after thee Come with thy Grace and Glory speedily Lord Jesus come Amen So let it be FINIS Twenty Five CONSIDERATIONS OF THE PAINS prepar'd for SIN After this Life WITH A SERMON Preached on Acts VII 60. I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write From henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 LONDON Printed for Richard Butler in White-Lion-Court in Barbican 1688. Twenty Five CONSIDERATIONS OF THE PAINS prepared for SIN After this Life I. AMongst all the means which God useth towards the Children of Men to move them to this Resolution whereof I treat the strongest and most forcible to the common sort of men is the consideration of Punishments prepared by him for rebellious sinners and transgressors of his Commandments Wherefore he useth this Consideration often as may appear by all the Prophets who do nothing else almost but threaten plagues and destruction to Offenders And this means hath often times prevailed more than any others that could be used by reason of the Natural Love which we bear towards our selves and consequently the Natural Fears we have of our own danger So we read that nothing could move the Ninevites so much as the foretelling them of their imminent destruction And St. John the Baptist John the 5th Matth. the 3d. altho he came in a simple and contemptible way yet preaching unto the people the terror of Vengeance to come and that the Axe was now put to the Trees to cut for the fire all those which repented not he moved the very Publicans and Soldiers to fear which otherwise are people of very hard metal who came unto him upon his terrible Embassage and asked what they should do to avoid these punishments II. After then that we have considered of Death and of God's severe Judgment which ensueth after Death and wherein every man hath to receive according to his works in this life as the Scripture saith it followeth that we consider also of the punishments which are appointed for them that shall be found faulty in that account Hereby at leastwise no other consideration will serve to induce Christians to this Resolution of serving God For as I have noted before If
saith It is a fearful and horrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let us consider somewhat in particular what manner of pains and punishments they shall be VII And first of all touching the place of punishment appointed for the Damned commonly called Hell. The Scripture in divers Languages useth divers Names but all tending to express the grievousness of punishment there suffered as in Latine it is called Infernum a place beneath or under ground as most of the Old Fathers do interpret But whether it be under ground or no most certain it is that it is a place most opposite to Heaven which is said to be above And this Name is used to signifie the miserable suppressing and hurling down of the damned to be trodden under the feet not only of God but of good men also for ever For so saith the Scripture Behold the day of the Lord cometh Mal. 4. burning like a furnace and proud and wicked men shall be as straw to that furnace and you that fear my name shall tread them down and they shall be as burnt ashes under the soles of your feet in that day And this shall be one of the greatest miseries that can happen to the proud and stout Potentates of the World to be thrown with such contempt down and to be trodden under feet of them whom they so much despised in this world VIII The Hebrew word which the Scripture useth for Hell is Seol which signifieth a great Ditch or Dungeon In which sense it is called in the Apocalyps The lake of the wrath of God And again A poole burning with fire and brimstone In Greek the Scripture useth Three words for the same place the first is Clades used in the Gospel which as Plutarch noteth signifieth a place where no light is the second is Zophoz in St. Peter which signifieth darkness it self in which sense it is also called of Job a dark land overwhelmed with deadly obscurity Also in the Gospel utter darkness The third Greek word is Tartaros used also by St. Peter which word being derived of the Verb Tarasso which signifieth to terrifie trouble and vex importeth an horrible confusion of Tormentors in that place even as Job saith of it There dwelleth no order but everlasting horror IX The Chaldee word which is also used in Hebrew and translated to the Greek is Gehenna first of all used by Christ for the place of them which are damned as St. Jerome noteth upon the Tenth Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel And this word being compounded of Gee and Hinnom signifieth a Valley nigh to Jerusalem called the Valley Hinnom in which the old idolatrous Jews were wont to bury alive their own children in the honour of the Devil and to sound with Trumpets Timbrels and other loud Instruments whilst they were doing thereof that their childrens Voices might not be heard which place was afterwards used for the receit of all filthiness as Dung dead Carrions and the like And it is most probable that our Saviour used this word above all other for Hell thereby to signifie the miserable burning of Souls in that place the pitiful clamours and cries of the tormented the confused and barbarous noise of the tormentors together with the most loathsome filthiness of the place which is otherwise described in the Scripture by the Names of Addars Snakes Cockatrices Scorpions and other venemous creatures as shall be afterwards declared X. Having declared the Names of this place and thereby also in some part the Nature iâ— remaineth now that we confider what manner of pains men suffer there For consideration whereof we must note That as Heaven and Hell are contrary assigned to contrary persons for contrary causes so have they in all respects contrary properties conditions and effects in such sort as whatsoever is spoken of the Felicity of the one may serve to infer the contrary of the other as when St. Paul saith No eye hath seen nor ear heard nor heart conceived the Joys that God hath prepared for them that shall be saved we may infer that the pains of the damned must be as great again when the Scripture saith the felicity of them in Heaven is a perfect felicity containing omne bonum all goodness so that no one kind of pleasure can be imagined which they have not We must think on the contrary part that the misery of the damned must be also a perfect misery containing all afflictions that may be without wanting any So that as the happiness of the good is infinite and universal so also the calamity of the wicked is infinite and universal Now in this life all the miseries and pains which fall upon men are but particular and not universal As for Example We see one man pained in his Eyes another in his Back which particular pains notwithstanding sometimes are so extream as life is not able to resist them and a man would suffer them long for the gaining of many Worlds together But suppose a man were now tormented in all the parts of his body at once as in his Head his Eyes his Tongue his Teeth his Throat his Stomach his Belly his Back his Heart his Sides his Thighs and in all the Joints of his Body Besides suppose I say he were most cruelly tormented with extream pains in all these parts together without ease or intermission what thing could be more miserable than this What sight more lamentable If thou shouldest see a Dog lie so in the street so afflicted I know thou couldest not but take compassion upon him Well then consider what difference there is between abiding these pains for a Week or for all Eternity in suffering them upon a soft Bed or upon a burning Gridiron and boiling Furnace among a man's Friends comforting him or among the Furies of Hell whipping him Consider this I say gentle Reader and if thou wouldest take a great deal of labour rather than abide the one in this life be content to sustain a little pain rather than to incur the other in the life to come XI But to consider these things yet further not only all these parts of the body which have been instruments to sin shall be tormented together but also every-sense both external and internal for the same cause shall be afflicted with his particular torment contrary to the Object wherein it took most pleasure and delight in this World As for Example The Eyes were afflicted with the ugly and fearful fight of Devils the delicate Ears with the horrible noise of the damned Spirits the nice smell with poisoned stench of brimstone the dainty taste with most ravenous hunger and thirst and all the sensible parts of the body with burning fire Again the Imagination shall be tormented with the apprehension of pains present and to come the Memory with the remembrance of pleasures past the Understanding with consideration of the felicity lost and the misery now to come on O poor Christian what wilt
and election sure The more you labour for Heaven the better the sweeter will your sleep be when you come to die And remember this as much sleeping in the day-time will hinder a man's Sleep at night so you that idle away way the time of your providing for Heaven in this your day you that sleep away the minute on which Eternity doth depend O! you will have a sad Sleep when death seizeth upon you Take heed therefore of sleeping whilst you live that so your sleep in the night of death may be comfortable unto you 5. And lastly If ever you would sleep an happy sleep when you die then take heed of the sleep of sin Sin in the Scripture is compared to a sleep Awake thou that sleepest that is thou that sinnest Sin is such a sleep as brings the sleep of death Sin brings the first death and sin brings the second death All miseries whatsoever are the daughters of sin If you would sleep an happy sleep and have an happy awakening at the Resurrection then take heed of the sleep of sin Awake thou that sleepest arise from the dead and Jesus Christ will give thee life Eph. 5.14 so Rom. 13.11 12 13. with which I will conclude and I pray you mark it well for it was a Text that converted St. Augustine Knowing the time beloved that it is now high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed The night is far spent the day is at hand Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envying but put on the Lord Jesus Christ FINIS Books Printed for Richard Butler in White-Lyon-Court in Barbican A Practical and short Exposition of the Catechism of the Church of England by way of Question and Answer Wherein the Divine Authority and Reasonableness of every Question and Answer every Doctrine and Practice in it recommended are Evidenced and Improved against most Contemners of it and Dissenters from it with that Moderation and Plainness that it may engage all to adhere to and especially may instruct Children in the true Protestant Religion of the Church of England Humbly offered for the good of Schools and Youth By Nathanael Taylor M. A. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or the Baptism of Infants Vindicated by Scriptures and Reasons Humbly offered in Order to a Composure of Differences at this Juncture of Time. By Nath. Taylor M. A. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Or an Alphebetical Martyrology containing the Trials and Dying Expressions of many Martyrs of Note since Christ Extracted out of Foxe's Acts and Monuments numents of the Church With an Alphabetical List of God's Judgments remarkably shown on many Noted and Cruel Persecutors Together with an Appendix of things pertinent to the understanding this Martyrology By N. T. M. A. T. C. C. Two Sermons of Hypocrisie and the vain hope of self-deceiving sinners Together with an Inspection into the Manners and Conversation of the People called Quakers whose fruits betel them to be Men of a Worldly Spirit hating true holiness and strangers to the simplicity that is in Christ All which is shewed in the following Treatise composed and published for the common good the startling and awakening of all Worldly and Opinionative Hypocrites of what Name or Sect soever and particularly the Quakers and the establishment and consolation of the upright and sound in heart in perilous and shaking times and intended for a further confutation of Quakerism By John Cheyney