of my sins and of whose sins I have been many ways guilty All the good Creatures of God I have abused and his mercies in them all those evil deeds I have committed and the many good offices I have wittingly omitted all which stand upon record in the Lord 's black book of remembrance and mine own Conscience shall bear witness to all these undeniable Evidences These are the Books that shall be opened against me and I have not what to answer for my self Psal 26.1 But my trust is in the tender mercies of the Lord therefore I shall not fall and be cast in my trial Holy Jesus who wast condemned being innocent acquit me though greatly nocent through Faith in thy Bloud Judge me O Lord Ps 35.24 according to thy righteousness not after mine for 't is little and good for little but 't is thy righteousness Holy Jesus both active and passive I must plead for my acquittance when judged by thee then O then let not mine enemies triumph over me Let them not say in their hearts there there so would we have it neither let them say we have devoured him But in the hour of death and in the day of Judgment Good Lord deliver me MEDITATIONS UPON THE General Judgment WHen the Son of man shall come in his Glory Mat. 25.31 and all his holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory And before him all nations shall be gathered This is called The day of the Lord 1 Thes 5.2 by way of Eminence as being of all days the greatest I. And that first in respect of the great appearance which shall be upon this day both of the Judge and the persons to be judged 1. Great and glorious terrible and amazing shall be the appearance of the Judge himself with all his numerous attendants His personal appearance shall be in Majesty and great glory not in respect of his Divine nature for that appears not to the eyes of flesh but in respect of his Humane nature assumed That nature which appear'd here upon earth poor mean contemptible wherein he was despised and scorned whipt and scourged beaten and buffetted bespattered with ignominious spittings and vile reproaches rack'd disjoynted distorted deformed nailed and pierced crucified and died shall upon this day appear cloathed with Majesty and crowned with glory Every eye shall see him even they also who pierced him and the marks in his nailed hands in his nailed feet and in his gored side shall appear as so many shining Stars for their glittering splendor 2. A great day in respect of the numerous attendants upon this great Judge of whom Dan. 7.9 when the ancient of days did sit thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the judgment was set and the books were opened When this day of the Lord cometh the Sun shall be turned into darkness and the Moon into bloud and all the glittering Stars shall fall from their Orbs but then the Sun of righteousness shall shine attended by all the triumphing Saints and Angels of Heaven who shall appear as so many Stars in the Firmament above dazling the eyes and astonishing the hearts of all persons to be judged and this renders 3. This day a great day in respect of the appearance that shall then be even of all the Men that ever lived or shall live upon the face of the earth and of all the Angels also who are more numerous than men in the judgment of the Schoolman who saith T. Aq. p. 1. q. 50. Art 3. that there be as many if not more of spiritual than of corporal Beings 4. A great day in respect of the multitudinous Trials even of all the works that ever have been done from the Creation to the dissolution of all things under the Sun And not our works only but 5. Of all our words even of every idle word an account must be given By thy words thou shalt be justified Mat. 12.36 37. and by thy words thou shalt be condemned 6. Not our words and works only but even the inward thoughts intentions and desires of our hearts shall be expos'd to open view and censure the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of all hearts 1 Cor. 4.5 The most seared Conscience of the wicked and the most subtle secret Conscience of the Hypocrite shall by the all-piercing light of the divine Majesty be displayed and appear as manifest and open as if all the counsels thereof had been written with a beam of the Sun Ps 90.8 For thou O Lord hast set our misdeeds before thee and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance 'T is recorded of Agathon a person famous amongst the Aegyptian Fathers for strictness and holiness of life that he was notwithstanding exceedingly afraid upon his approaching death And being demanded the reason of his fear by such as knew the innocence of his life He answered That the judgments of God do vastly differ from the judgments of Men Every way of man is right in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the spirits Prov. 16.2 Woe woe to the most holy and innocent life amongst Men if the mercy of God do not interpose in the day of Judgment For alas who is so holy who so pure and innocent as to stand with any confidence in that all-discerning light of the Sun of Righteousness Eccl. 23.19 Whose eyes are a thousand times brighter than the Sun beholding all the ways of men and considering their most secret parts I have been guilty most merciful Father I have been guilty of manifold miscarriages which I have now forgotten nor can I through the strictest examination of my self recal to my memory many of mine offences Job 14.16 17. But although I cannot yet thou numbrest my steps dost thou not watch over my sin my transgression is sealed up in a bag and thou sowest up mine iniquities So surely are all my transgressions kept in store against the day of my Trial whilst I sensual and secure think all is well enough with me and that my sins are forgotten Ps 19.12 O cleanse thou me from all my secret faults and as they are hid from my memory Ps 51.9 so hide thou thy face from them blot them out of thy Book of remembrance that they appear not to my confusion on that great and last day II. 1. The Lord hath made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil Prov. 16.4 The great day of Judgment is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the day of evil As for which day the Lord hath reserved the full execution of his severe justice upon all the evils of the world In the Creation of all things the power of God was most especially manifested in the government of the world doth his wisdom most appear In the Redemption of mankind his
his Eyes quite sunk into his head and in the two holes thereof two loathsome Toads were feeding Then turning towards his Mother he said What now dear Mother is become of the great Caesar whose pomp and power and policy whose riches honour and dignity whose many victories conquests and triumphs rendred him the most admired Heroe the world afforded Where now is all his glory Where the Conquering Armies he commanded The Cities Nations Countries he subdued The numerous train of Nobility Gentry Souldiery that attended him The vast riches and boundless authority he acquired Whereunto the pious Matron answered O my Son no sooner did his Spirit fail and his breath expire but all his splendid enjoyments all his flattering worldly felicities forsook him His riches his friends his attendants all his conquests and triumphs all the honour which he got through manifold travels pains and perils have all now left him alone in this gastly silent Sepulchre accompanied only with Worms Stench and Corruption Such is the end of all flesh All flesh is grass Isa 40.6 and all the goodliness thereof as a flower of the field The flower is more gay and gawdy than the grass for a little space but when the verdure of both decays they have the same withered complexion they rot and corrupt both alike and commonly the more gawdy flower is more ugly and stinking than the grass 'T is even so with the rich and the poor the honourable and the base in this world they differ only in their outward fashion and appearance but when death doth seize them they are equally obnoxious to the same solitude poverty and nakedness to the same stench corruption and rottenness 'T is as true of the greatest Prince as of the meanest Peasant When a man is dead Eccl. 10.11 he shall inherit creeping things Beasts and Worms All the difference in the Grave betwixt the rich and the poor is this That the dust of the rich through the luxury lasciviousness and intemperance of their life is more corrupt and loathsome after their death than is the dust of the poor whose food and nourishment was more course and sparing Why then my Immortal Soul art thou so fond of thy corruptible companion the Body Remember its beginning is uncleanness and its end rottenness 'T is thy servant for the present but if thou too much cocker and pamper it 't will rebel subdue and lead thee captive to a worse death than that whereunto it self is liable even the death of the nether Hell Mar. 9.44 Where the Worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched 2. Death is the wages of sin And I have sinned vile wretch that I am I have sinned and what shall I do or what shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of man All that I can say is the same still Psal 38.18 I have sinned and as long as I have a day to live I will say it I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for my sins Mercy good Lord mercy I humbly beg Job 7.20 21. O why dost thou not pardon my Transgression and take away mine iniquity Are not my days few cease then and let me alone that I may bewail my sins and take comfort a little in the hopes of the pardon of them through faith in the blood of my dear Redeemer Job 10.20 21. before I go to the place from whence I shall not return to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death 3. I know that to flesh and blood death is of all terribles the most terrible Job 18.14 but my blessed Redeemer hath pulled out the sting and quelled the terrors of death 1 Cor. 15.55 Heb. 2.14 56 57. He hath also destroyed him that had the power of death that is the Devil So that now when death approacheth through Faith and a good Conscience I shall have hope with all patience and contentment to drink off that Cup how bitter and painful soever saying with my blessed Lord and Master upon his approaching death Mat. 26.42 Father not my will but thine be done The Prayer ASsist me mercifully O Lord to subject my rebellious flesh to the guidance of the Spirit and my spirit to the Laws of my Redeemer that when my body shall be the inheritance of Worms and creeping things my Soul may possess an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen MEDITAT V. Of Preparation unto Death I. AS there is nothing more certain than death Psal 89.47 For what man is there that liveth and shall not see death So there is nothing more uncertain than the time of death Mat. 24.36 for of that day and hour knoweth noman 'T is therefore unknown Luk. 12.40 that it might be alway suspected and awaited The Son of man cometh in an hour when you think not That his coming may be hourly thought upon Latet dies ultimus Aug. ut observentur omnes dies The day of our death is hidden from us that all our days should be no other but a preparation thereunto the certainty of the one engaging us unto sincerity in the other * Veri hominis Christiani vita nihil aliud quam continua ad mortem praeparatio esse debet Every danger foreseen is best prevented And thus death the greatest of dangers may be rendred the least dangerous by a prudent fear and careful provision for the same Qui pavet cavet qui negligit incidit Bern. Prov. 14.16 which may best be englished in the language of the Holy Ghost The wise man feareth and departeth from evil but the fool rageth and is confident †Timeat semper in vita mortem qui mortis metum evadere velit II. The great end of this mortal life is to prepare for death or rather for a safe passage through death to life Immortal For upon the well or ill spending of the few minutes of this present life depends either a blessed or a miserable Eternity It was the advice of a wise man to his friend to have engraven in capital Letters in some such place of his house as might be most frequent in his view to be often considered Momentum unde pendet Eternitas III. There is no consideration our blessed Lord hath so frequently inculcated by commands counsels exhortations admonitions parables similitudes arguments and reasons as this of the Christian watch i. e. to prepare to provide to be ready to wait for the coming of the Lord or for the approach of Death Luke 12.38 whether he shall come in the first or in the second or in the third watch whether in the time of youth or manhood or old age Mark 13.34 35 36 37. at all times and in all ages he commands all men to be upon their watch This watch implies many particulars which are so many preparatives unto death 1. To watch is to
makes so many millions of persons die unpreparedly And so pass from a temporal to death eternal For death is then most generally the nearest when 't is conceited to be furthest off Bern. Mors enim propior esse solet cum longius abesse putetur 2. 'T is the thought of a longer and still of a longer life that is the great impediment of Repentance and amendment of life whereby the Devil hurries men by throngs to be his woful companions in his Region of blackness of darkness for ever And the great Reason is because Repentance delayed till Sickness or Old Age come is not only uncertain and unsafe but very seldom or never truly and sincerely performed 'T is a dreadful saying of S. Hierome That scarce one of ten thousand who have continued in any sinful course of life without the conscientious practice of a true and timely Repentance do ever so perfectly repent as to obtain the remission of their sins in the hour of death For the prevention of so great and general a mischief and perdition of ungodly men the All-wise and good Providence of Heaven hath ordained that in all ages and conditions of men this life shall take end that so none how young and lusty soever with his bones full of marrow should yet dare to live unprepared for death presuming still upon further time for Repentance and Amendment of life Tu in senectutem sana defers consilia inde vitam vis inchoare quo pauci perduxerunt stultitia magna est tunc vivere incipere cum desinendum est Blessed Lord suffer me not thus to deceive my self through the sly insinuations of Satan and my own sensual inclinations and desires but make me so mindful of my end that I may pass the remainder of my days in the constant practice of Repentance and Godly fear that living in thy fear I may die in thy favour and in a well grounded hope to live with thee for ever Amen VI. 1. Every change in my frail constitution every little pain and ache in my corruptible flesh all distempers and diseases are as so many memorials of my mortality but the older I grow Heb. 8. ult the nearer still is the approach of my dissolution by the hand of death for that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away 2. Happy is the man who on his bed of death can say with the Apostle 2 Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good sight against all the assaults of the Devil the World and the Flesh which war against the Soul I have finished my course as the course of my life so the course of godliness in all its respective duties enjoyn'd me I have kept the Faith untainted by any Atheistical imaginations heretical opinions or sinful practices and I have been faithful in the discharge of those offices and relations wherein my great Lord and Master hath entrusted and enstated me If my heart condemn me not in any of these respects I may thence conclude with joy and exultation from henceforth there is laid up a Crown of righteousness which the righteous Judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but to all them also that love his appearance The Prayer LOok graciously upon me O Lord I beseech thee in the time of my approaching dissolution and the more the outward man decayeth strengthen me so much the more continually by thy Grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man give me unfeigned repentance for all the errors of my life past and a stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus that my sins may be done away by thy mercy and my pardon sealed in Heaven before I go hence and be no more seen II. IN the midst of life we be in death of whom may we seek for succour but of thee O Lord who for our sins art justly displeased Yet O Lord God most holy O Lord most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal Death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of our hearts shut not up thy merciful ears to our Prayers but spare us O Lord most holy O God most mighty O holy and most merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge eternal suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of Death to fall from thee III. IN my last hour O Lord I humbly beg thy protection from the busie suggestions and direful insultings of my grand enemies the Devil and his Angels Oh let not then my Faith fail or my Hope wither or my Charity wax cold with the waining flesh but when all my joynts shall tremble by the batteries of death mine eyes be darkned and my tongue falter then O then let my heart be enlarged towards my God waiting upon thee longing for thee and incessantly praying shew me thy mercy O Lord and grant me thy Salvation The XXXIX Psalm Verses 1. I Said I will take heed to my ways that I offend not in my tongue * The meditation of death makes every wise man careful of all his ways and more especially to avoid the offences of the tongue 2. I will keep my mouth as 't were with a bridle while the ungodly is in my sight * The tongue is an unruly evil and must be tam'd as a wild horse with a bridle especially when provok'd by captious contentious and quarrelsome persons 3. I held my tongue and spake nothing I kept silence yea even from good words but it was pain and grief unto me * Reproaches are for the most part best answered with a discreet silence so was our Lord as a Lamb dumb before the Shearers 4. My heart was hot within and while I was thus musing the fire kindled * To abstain from good words is sometimes necessary for the avoiding of an evil construction but such silence is grievous to the pious Soul which burns with the fire of divine love and zeal to God's glory The zeal of thine house hath even eaten me up and at the last I spake with my tongue ‖ Though it be often inconvenient to speak before wicked Men yet it is alway necessary to speak unto God by Prayer 5. Lord let me know mine end and the number of my days that I may be certified how long I have to live * 'T is a blessing we ought alway to pray for to be feelingly sensible of the shortness of our life 6. Behold thou hast made my days as 't were a span long and mine age is nothing in respect of thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity * The life of man if compar'd with God's everlasting Being is rather to be called a death than a life a vanity not a verity of being 7. For man walketh in a vain shadow he disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them * The hearts of men are darkned with the shadows of happiness whilst they vainly care
mercy is most transparent And in the day of Judgment shall his justice most eminently shew forth and exercise its strict and severest measures 2. Sad and dismal is the sentence that upon this great day shall pass upon all such whose Faith hath not according to ability and opportunity been fruitful in the good works of Charity Mat. 25.41 42. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat And if these shall be eternally damned who have not given of their own goods for the relief of others what shall become of the Oppressor the Extortioner the Cheater the Thief and of every one who either by force or fraud publickly or secretly hath either taken or detained what of right belongs unto others Surely if the one shall go the other shall be driven hurried with a vengeance into everlasting fire Ver. ult 3. Great unconceivably great shall be the perplexity and anguish of the impenitent sinner in this great day beholding as Anselm meditates on the one side his sins accusing him and on the other the strict and impartial justice of Heaven ready to pass sentence upon him seeing below him the mouth of Hell gaping to devour him and above him an angry Judge condemning him to that place of Horror feeling within an accusing Conscience tormenting him and without the whole world in consuming flames 1 Pet. 4.18 And if the righteous shall scarcely be sav'd where shall the ungodly and sinner appear or where shall he hide himself that he may not appear For any wicked one to lie hidden on that day is impossible and to appear is dreadful and intolerable S. Chrysostom saith that the very sight of an angry Judge shall be then more unsupportable than a thousand Hells 4. This is that dismal day foretold by our Lord himself wherein they shall say Blessed are the barren Luke 23.29 and the womb that never bare and the paps which never gave suck Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us and to the hills cover us And hide us from the face of him that siteth upon the throne Rev. 6.16 and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand Woe is me that I have sinned woe woe is me that I have offended this great and terrible Judge of all the world but as is his Majesty so is his Mercy great and wonderful Have mercy upon me O God on that great day have mercy upon me and deliver me now in this world from the society from the temptations from the guilt of the wicked Ps 141.4 Let me not be occupied in any ungodly works with the men that work wickedness that I be not reckoned and ranked amongst them in the world to come III. The day of Judgment is not only of all days the most dreadful but the most joyful also The righteous and the holy and the just shall appear in glorified bodies encircled with the shining rays of excessive light but the wicked in bodies or carcasses rather both hideous and loathsome To the impenitent and wicked of the world 't is a day of the greatest terror but to the holy and humble of heart and life a day of Jubilee and greatest joy a day of shame and confusion to the one of glory and consolation to the other How great then shall be the glory of the holy Christian and how great the shame of infidelity and Atheism how great the joy of the true Believer whose Faith has been fruitful in all good words and how great the sorrow of the Heretick Hypocrite the profane and dissolute for then and not fully till then shall God render to every man according to his works Rom. 2.6.7 To them who by patient continuing in well doing do seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life But to them who are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile But glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good For there is no respect of persons with God What heart can worthily think of these things without trembling and great astonishment if not purified and sincerely devoted to the service of God Teach me O Lord thy way Ps 86.11 and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy name fear to offend thee the great and righteous Judge of the world in the least particular of thought or desire of word or of deed Lord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love keep us we beseech thee under the protection of thy good providence and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen IV. When the Son of man cometh Luk. 18.8 shall he find faith upon the earth All we who are called Christians profess to believe both the certain coming of Christ to Judgment and the uncertainty of the time That we must all stand before his dreadful Tribunal and receive every man according to his works but this is generally a dead Faith it quickens not the affections it excites not to such holy conscientious actions as the firm and cordial Belief of all this does imply and command and so will prove as dangerous to the Souls of such Believers as if they had no faith at all With most of men the Judgments of God and all the amazing concerns of Eternity are no more but words which they hear they have but very narrow very shallow and dark conceptions of them they understand not their great astonishing importance and are not therefore deeply affected therewith to become wise unto Salvation O raise up thy stupid Soul I do here summon there whosoever thou art that regardest these Meditations and thou art hereby summon'd particularly as by name to make thy appearance at this general Assizes to be held at the great and last day and there to give an account of every passage throughout thy whole life which shall be as strictly and throughly sifted and examined as if there were none but thy self to be tried as if no cause but thine alone were to be heard Eja Charissime Consider my dear Christian brother out of what great danger thou mayst now deliver thy self and from what great fear thou mayst be freed if now thou dost alway stand in awe and sin not if now thou beest alway suspectful of death and solicitous of the Judgment to come T. K. l. 1. c. 23. Prepare then prepare thy self now now that thou hast time and leisure prepare thy self for that great day for upon thy Trial then depends either thy everlasting well-being 1 Cor. 11.31 Jam. 4.8 9 10. Act. 10.4 Luk 2.37 2 Cor. 11.27 or
miserable undoing for ever Now then cast up thy accounts carefully examine try and judge thy self confess thy manifold amisses Humble thy self greatly under the mighty hand of God Appease the wrath of the great Judge of the world by Prayers and Tears Eccl. 7.17 and all the sacred offices and acts of true Repentance by Alms and Offerings and Fastings often and in a word 1 Pet. 2.5 by all the kinds of those spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable unto God through Jesus Christ Stir up we beseech thee O Lord the wills of thy fatithful people quicken our dead and cold Faith with the sacred fire of holy Charity the very bond of perfection and all vertue that we plenteously bringing forth the fruits of good works may of thee be plenteously rewarded at the last day through Jesus V. And there was a cry at midnight Mat. 25.6 Behold the bridegroom cometh Woe unto me then saith a devout Father if I be found sleeping in my bed at midnight Ambr. in Luc. when the great Judge of all the world shall appear it concerns me much rather to resolve with holy David Psal 119.62 at midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous Indgments Happy are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find upon their watch Mar. 13.33 34. awaiting his coming with their loins girt their lusts restrained and their Lamps burning The light of the holy and true Faith flaming by divine Love and shining through all the actions of their life Mat. 5.26 that others seeing their good works may glorifie God the Father of Heaven I will stand upon my watch to guard the innocency of my Soul Mat. 26.41 I will watch and also pray that I fall not into the snare of the Devil when tempted by him and that day come upon me unawares There be two sorts of sins especially against which my blessed Redeemer hath commanded me to watch that the day of the Lord surprize me not First Surfeiting and Drunkenness Luke 21.34 or the pleasures of the flesh Secondly The cares of the world or Ambition and Covetousness against these grand enemies which continually war against my Soul it concerns me continually also to watch and pray Blessed Lord let not I humbly beseech thee any importunate cravings of this corruptible flesh seduce me nor the flattering false felicities of worldly wealth and dignity deceive me but grant that I being free from all pollutions both from the one and the other may await thy coming in all holy but humble confidence to be ranked not amongst the cursed goats on thy left hand but amongst thy blessed Sheep on the right hand and hear that joyful sentence saying Come ye blessed of my Father receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world Grant this O heavenly Father Our Father which art in Heaven c. The XXVI PSALM PARAPHRASED BE thou my judge O Lord Verse 1 not to condemn me for my sins but to accept of my services though imperfect and weak for I have walked innocently not according to the Innocency of thy Saints in Heaven but according to that of frail Man upon Earth Neither do I herein presume to justifie my self but my trust hath been also in the Lord 't is not my innocency but the Lord's mercy I rely upon and therefore shall I not fall in the day of Judgment Examine me O Lord and prove me now is the time assisted by thy all-piercing Spirit to examine my self in order to my grand examination in that day Try out my reins and my heart as the silver is tried when the dross is purged out and this even in the furnace of affliction if it so seemeth good unto thee that my reins and my heart may be cleansed from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit and yet even so I dare not undergo thy strict and severe examination of me but with reflections upon thine immense Goodness For thy loving kindness is ever before mine eyes 'T is my constant meditation my hope and my refuge and I will walk in thy truth inwardly delighting and outwardly performing the commands thereof and that I may do this I have not dwelt with vain persons made my abode with such as follow the pomps and vanities of this wicked world neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful I have not so delighted in the society as to be tainted by the evil examples of such as through their deceivable lusts keep not the Covenant they have made with their God nor is it enough to avoid the society but I have hated the congregation of the wicked not their persons but their wickedness and all their consultations to do evil and will not sit among the ungodly so as to continue and be delighted with the errors of their ways I will wash my hands in innocency O Lord with the tears of true Repentance I will wash the sinful works of my hands and keep them clean and innocent for the future and so not in my sins unrepented will I go to thine Altar to offer up Vows and Prayers with the precious body and bloud of my Saviour That I may shew the voice of thanksgiving publickly declare the great Thanks and Praise which is due to thy divine Majesty and tell of all thy wondrous works joyning with the Ministers of thy Temple in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs wherein thy great works both of Mercy and Judgment are celebrated To this end Lord I have loved the habitation of thy house the place where thou inhabitest more especially than any other houses and 't is my delight to come to this house because 't is the place where thine honour dwelleth where the honour of thy Name is continually celebrated for in his Temple doth every man speak of his Honour And since 't is the joy of my heart to joyn with thy people in the praise of thy Name O shut not up my soul with the sinners though in this world I cannot altogether escape their temptation and trouble yet rank me not amongst them in the world to come nor my life with the bloud-thirsty let me not perish with the cruel uncharitable and covetous of the world In whose hands is wickedness the works of whose hands are unjust and destructive and their right hand is full of gifts even their righteous actions are for bribes and sinister ends transacted and such are all they who make a gain of godliness But as for me though others pursue their worldly interest through injustice and bribery yet I will walk innocently that 's the desire and resolution of my Soul O deliver me through the precious bloud of my Redeemer which was shed for my deliverance defend me from all my ghostly enemies that would destroy mine innocence and be merciful unto me let thy mercy both pardon my by-past transgressions and support me through all the perils of this mortal life My foot
Ecclus. 28.6 Remember thy end and let enmity cease Remember corruption and death and abide in the Commandments I should not surely dare to sin against my God would I but seriously consider in every act I do and in every moment I breath I am hastening to my last breath and that then I must give account as of every moment of my time so of every work both good and evil at what time soever performed And 't was surely thus S. Paul died daily 1 Cor. 15.31 3. To die the death of the righteous is the desire even of the wicked Numb 23.10 but his last end shall be very unlike the others Vt tibi mors foelix contingat vivere disce Vt foelix possis vivere disce mori The only way to die well is to live well and he that will live well must live by dying principles saying with holy David My Soul is continually in my hand Psal 119.109 and for ought I know it may expire at my next breathing since many thousands in this very moment do breath their last And 't is only this moment I can call mine for what time of my life is past cannot return again to be enjoyed and what 's to come is not in mine Psal 31.17 Acts 17.28 but in the Lord's power My time is in thy hand In him we live and move and have our being Quam foelix prudens He is both a wise and a happy man whose endeavours are so to be qualified in his life as he desires to be found in his death T.K. In order hereunto 't is the wholsome advice of a Father Cum mane fuerit when 't is morning think that perhaps thou mayst not see the evening and when evening comes remember that 't is uncertain whether thou shalt see morning Those Indian wisemen call'd Brachmans had their Sepulchres before their doors that both upon their going out and coming in they might remember their approaching death as a curb to restrain them from all extravagant lustings after the pleasures riches and honours of this mortal life 'T is recorded of John the famous Patriarch of Alexandria that whilst he was in perfect health he had his monument framed but not finished and that he gave order upon every Festival after the publick offices of the Church were ended one of the Priests should say unto him aloud Holy Father your Monument should be finished Mat. 24.43 because 't is not known at what hour the thief cometh I cannot better advise both my self and my Reader than that in every thing we go about we would every man of us ask himself this question Would I now do this if I were ready to die 'T is the Wiseman's advice whatsoever thou takest in hand Remember the end Eccl. 7. ult and thou shalt never do amiss When an Emperor of the East was newly proclaimed before he spake to any person in the stile of Majesty a Mason comes to him and shewing him several kinds of Marble demands of which of those kinds of stone he would have his Sepulchre made intimating unto him that although he was made an Emperor he was not to forget he was a mortal and therefore it concerned him with such justice and mercy to govern his Earthly Kingdom that he might not forfeit the loss of the Kingdom of Heaven From the forgetfulness of my death and the uncertainty of my life from every evil work whereunto such forgetfulness may betray me and from a sudden and an unprepared death good Lord deliver me 4. The Lord cloathed our first Parents with the skins of Beasts to put them in mind of that mortality and corruption of the flesh they had contracted by their disobedience to his commands the which as we their sinful off-spring do daily bear about us so ought we also to have the same in a continual remembrance for the keeping under the unruly lusts of the flesh that we finally pass not from a spiritual to death eternal And thus every truly pious man thus remembers daily the unavoidable death of his corruptible body so as to keep his Soul unspotted of the world and alive from the death of sin continually mortifying all his evil and corrupt affections and daily proceeding in all vertue and godliness of living And thus in the sence of the holy Apostle of our Lord To die daily is not only daily to remember death but daily to die unto sin and live unto righteousness unto the hopes of Eternal happiness slighting all the false and flattering felicities of this fawning world as being not only empty and unsatisfying but also mortal and dying A holy confidence to die well and in hopes to enjoy Life Eternal after Death is begotten in the heart saith the spiritual A Kempis A Kempis de Imit Christ l. 1. c. 23. 1. By a perpetual contempt of the world 2. By a thorough self-denial 3. By a fervent desire and endeavour for proficiency in Grace 4. By the love of discipline or strict corporeal Austerities 5. By the unwearied labour of true Repentance 6. By a willing and ready obedience to all God's commands 7. By suffering contentedly yea even joyfully all adversities for the love of Christ And thus prepare for thy change to come looking not as becomes an Immortal Soul at the things which are seen 2 Cor. 4.28 but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal The Prayer O God the protector of all that trust in thee without whom nothing is strong nothing is holy Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy that thou being our leader and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal Grant this O heavenly Father for thy Son Jesus Christ Amen MEDITAT IV. Of the Horror of Death 1. UNder the Law when a Fowl was to be offered for a burnt Sacrifice unto the Lord The head was to be wrung off Levit. 1.16 the crop with the feathers to be cast into the place of ashes Intimating mystically that the way to mortifie the swellings of pride and luxury and make all the feathers of secular pomp and vanity to flag is to turn our eyes unto the ashes of the dead and see the horrid state of such as lye in the Grave even of the most high powerful and pompous that ever liv'd upon earth S. Augustine being with his Mother Monica invited to Rome by Pontianus the Prefect to view the stately Edifices and ancient Monuments of that eminent City amongst other rareties he saw the great Caesar's Sepulchre and therein his carcass of a livid gastly colour his face faln away to such a meagre leanness as scarce of skin and bone consisting his Lips being rotted away his Teeth were seen black and corrupted his Nose so consumed that only the wide hollows of his Nostrils appeared his Belly burst and swarming with Worms and Serpents
have our eyes open or our minds enlightned by the holy true Christian Faith 2. That the affections of our hearts and the actions of our lives be framed according to what we rightly profess to believe 3 To have our eyes not only opened but uplifted towards Heaven above and not still poring upon the Earth below 4. In our watch we must carefully observe all the orders and commands given us by Christ the Captain of our Salvation 5. That we shake off all drowziness and sluggishness being active and vigorous in the execution of all such commands and in all the respective duties we owe to God and Man 6. That when the Lord cometh and knocketh at the door by the batteries of death we be both willing and ready to open unto him And in order hereunto 7. That our hearts be prepared to receive the Lord being so swept and cleansed that nothing be found in any corner thereof which may offend him who is the searcher of all hearts 8. We must stand upon our watch with our loins girded or all irrational lusts restrained that we may be expedite and ready to execute whatever our duty to God or Man requires Thus S. Jerome stood upon his watch professing that whether he did eat or drink rest or labour sleep or wake he always heard the voice of the last Trumpet sounding in his ears Awake and come to Judgment 9. Lastly In this watch we must persevere not to be taken off by any wiles of Satan concerns of the world or allurements of the flesh but to stand fix'd and immovable in our respective stations of Christian duty untill the great Captain and Lord of life and death shall remove us hence And may I thus blessed Lord continually wait for thy coming with my loins girt in the restriction of all the unruly lusts of my heart and of all the irrational imaginations of my head also and my Lamp of the holy Christian Faith burning continually being fed with the oil or unction of the holy Spirit of God and shining in and through all the whole course of my life by all such good works as may glorifie thee our Father which art in Heaven This is that sacred light even faith which worketh by love which will infallibly guide me through all the mazes of this mortal life and convey me safely through the gloomy shades of death into the Region of light and life everlasting Amen IV. In this life our condition is changeable from better to worse and from worse to better But in death all hopes of bettering our condition are buried with the liveless corps 2 Cor. 6.2 Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation 'T is in the day of this life I am commanded to work out my Salvation with fear and trembling Phil 2.12 When the night of death cometh no man can then work Ecclus 9.10 There is neither work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave where thou goest And it is wisely therefore advised in the following words Whatever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might Be vigorous be active Col. 1.10 be zealous be fruitful in every good work The Soul that is laden with the fruits of well-doing shall chearfully in the approach of death commit her self unto God 1 Pet. 4. ult as to a faithful Creator Those good deeds which through the merits of Christ will render us secure in the hour of death are 1. Devout and humble frequent and fervent prayers unto God and praises of him wherein we do most immediately both commit and commend our Souls unto God and gain his grace and favour especially when accompanied with 2. Fastings often Luke 2.37 By these we offer our bodies in sacrifice unto God as by Prayer our Souls Rom. 12.1 3. Charitable Almsdeeds for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Heb. 13.15 16. Such preparation for death is advised by the wise Syracides Ecclus. 14.12 Remember that death will not be long in coming and that the covenant of the grave is not shewed unto thee Verse 13. Do good to thy friend before thou die put not off to thy last Will and Testament but according to thy ability stretch out thy hand and give unto the poor To make the poor our friends or rather our Acts of charity towards them against the day of death is commanded by our Lord Luke 16.9 Make your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness in the pious and charitable distribution of your worldly goods that when you fail your bodies fail to be the habitation of your Souls they may receive you into everlasting habitations Which is yet more fully and plainly commanded by our Lord Luke 12.33 34 35 36. Thus the wise Virgins were provided for the coming of the Bridegroom with oil in their Lamps their light of Faith was kept flaming by charity and good works by which means they were admitted into the Bridal-chamber of Celestial Paradise from whence the foolish Virgins were excluded who had Lamps but no Oil Faith without Charity or else good works without sincere intentions and holy affections in the performance of them Mat. 25.3 4. 'T is not doubted but every act of Charity is transient and every good work of what nature soever takes end with the work done but the Charity the Piety the Wisdom the Righteousness of every religious work is not of a dying stamp For righteousness is Immortal Wisd 1.17 As therefore the good works of holy and good men pass away and vanish so the holiness and charity of their actions pass into Heaven and stand there upon record to plead through the merits of Christ for their admission into those Regions of bliss He hath dispersed abroad he hath given to the poor Psal 112.9 his righteousness remaineth for ever his horn shall be exalted with honour Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord they rest from their labours Rev. 14.13 and their works follow them Lord I pray thee that thy grace may alway prevent and follow me and make me continually to be given to all good works the never failing fruits of a true Christian Faith and by these inseparably conjoyn'd to make my calling and election sure scaled in the bloud of my dear Redeemer Amen V. 1. There are three general messengers of Death 1. Chance 2. Sickness 3. Old age Chance renders the life of man doubtful and uncertain Sickness makes it grievous and weariso me Old Age makes it tedious and Death inevitable Some persons are stifled in their Mothers womb and die before they see the light of this life Some die in their infancy some in their youth some in their man's estate and some there be but these are of all other the fewest in number who die in their Old age And yet the most of men do not only desire but fondly conceit they shall live to be old and yet never think themselves old enough to die which
for worldly wealth which is as transitory and uncertain as the life it self 8. And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in thee * 'T is not in riches nor in all the world affords but in God alone that all hope of true happiness is attainable 9. Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke to the foolish * Our sins deprive us of all true well-grounded hopes in God and make us liable to the scorn even of foolish men 10. I became dumb and opened not my mouth for it was thy doing * We must with a patient silence suffer the reproaches of others because occasioned by our offences and because sent from God for our amendment 11. Take thy plague away from me I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand ‖ And confess withal that we deserve to be consumed by the just judgments of God 12. When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin thou makest his beauty to consume away as 't were a moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity * Whose lightest chastisements do easily deface the beauty and decay the strength of the corruptible body 13. Hear my prayer O Lord and with thine ear consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears * Therefore the devout Soul is poured forth in Prayers with tears of godly sorrow for her offences from whence all the miseries of this life do flow 14. For I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were * The earth is a strange land to the immortal Soul whose native home is Heaven where she was framed by the hands of the Almighty after his own Image 15. O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen * Which Image being defaced by her sins she humbly begs with tears Time and Space by Repentance Faith and new Obedience to recover her native strength and beauty before she leave her tabernacle of flesh Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer SInce my days are but as a span short and uncertain I humbly beseech thee O Lord to wean my heart from the disquietude of worldly cares and that I may be fruitful in all the good works of obedience and charity to repair the breaches of thy blessed Image which mine offences have made before my departure hence that so recovering the spiritual health and strength of my Soul I may die in thy Grace and Favour through Jesus Christ The XC Psalm Verses 1. LOrd thou hast been our Refuge from one generation to another * Holy men have in all ages of the world applied themselves unto the Lord for succour support and protection in all conditions 2. Before the mountains were brought forth or ever the earth and the world were made thou art God from everlasting and world without end * Who being eternal is also immutable in his mercy goodness power and providence over all 3. Thou turnest man to destruction again thou sayst Come again ye children of men * Dispensing both health and sickness prosperity and adversity life and death to the sons of men according to his all-just all-merciful all-wise good pleasure 4. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday seeing that is past as a watch in the night * The longest course of man's life in respect of God's eternal praevision is but as a day that is already past or as one of the night-watches which is both swift and short and also dark and gloomy through frequent cross and adverse occurrents 5. As soon as thou scatterest them they are even asleep and fade away suddenly as the grass * As sleep is the Image of death so the life of man in this world is but the image or shadow of life for as a shadow it fleeth the pursuer and fadeth as the grass 6. In the morning it is green and groweth up in the evening it is cut down dried up and withered * Which the same day beholds both growing and cut down flourishing and withered 7. For we consume away in thy displeasure and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation * This frailty of humane life is the punishment of sin which incurs most justly God's indignation and wrath 8. Thou hast set our mis-deeds before thee and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance * Whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun both seeing and recording the most secret of our sinful ways 9. For when thou art angry all our days are gone we bring our years to an end as it were a tale that is told * 'T is through God's just anger for our sins that our days are shortned and our years are spent in vanity and trouble 10. The days of our age are threescore years and ten and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone * The miseries of man's life are not so great through the shortness thereof as that his sorrows and troubles are increased with his days 11. But who regardeth the power of thy wrath for even thereafter as a man feareth so is thy displeasure * God's displeasure for our sins is either more or less according as we do less or more stand in awe thereof 12. So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom * True wisdom is attained by the serious contemplation of the frailty of life and certainty of death 13. Turn thee again O Lord at the last and be gracious unto thy servants * Intermixing with our meditations devout Prayers for the propitious grace and favour of God 14. O satisfie us with thy mercy and that soon so shall we rejoyce and be glad all the days of our life * Which alone can satisfie the desires of the immortal Soul and throughly rejoyce the same 15. Comfort us again now after the time thou hast plagued us and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity * We may reasonably alledge our sufferings though for our sins as motives to implore the consolations of God's Spirit 16. Shew thy servants thy work and their children thy glory * God's proper work is mercy and 't is his glory to be gracious for the which the righteous do pray both for themselves and their Children 17. And the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us prosper thou the work of our hands upon us prosper thou our handy work * God's glorious Majesty appears by the gracious influences of his holy Spirit whereby we work the works of God to his glory and our own eternal happiness Glory be to the Father c. As it was in
the beginning c. The Prayer ALmighty God the Fountain of all Wisdom grant me so wisely to number and compare the short and sorrowful days of this mortal Life with that joyful and never ending day of a blessed eternity that despising the vanities of the one I may zealously aspire to the happiness of the other O satisfie the panting desires of my Soul with the sense of thy mercy in the pardon of my sins and let the glory of thy grace appear in prospering me to perform all those good works of Faith and Obedience which conduce to my eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ THE Second general Meditation UPON JUDGMENT And first the Particular Judgment IT is appointed unto man once to die Heb. 9.27 and after that the Judgment No sooner shall this house of flesh wherein the immortal Soul doth now inhabit be shattered in pieces by the hand of death but in the same moment the departing Soul shall be conveyed by the Angels of God before his Judgment-seat and this is call'd The particular Judgment that shall pass upon every person in particular immediately upon his death Eccl. 12.7 when the dust shall return to the earth as it was then shall the Spirit return unto God that gave it To give an account of the works done in the body whether they be good or whether they be evil That grand enemy of man the Devil awaits thy Soul's departure hence to dog thee to the great Tribunal of Heaven Ille enim tunc saeviens capit quos nunc blandiens decipit Greg. In this life he fawns to seduce but in the other he will roar to devour as a Lion over his prey to this end he will vehemently accuse thee aggravating all thy miscarriages through his suggestions committed and claiming thee as one of the subjects of his kingdom of darkness saying to the great Judge of all as several Fathers observe This person thou Judge of the world though he be thine by Creation Euseb Emiss Hom. Aug. orat cont Judaos Pag. yet he is mine by Depravation He is Thine by nature but mine by sin for he has obeyed my suggestions and disobeyed thy Laws and therefore though he belong to thee by right yet he is faln to me by default he is thine in respect of his workmanship but mine by the rebellion of his will and disorder of his affections having yielded himself to follow my temptations and to forsake the paths of thy Commandments But 't is not the Devil alone that shall thus accuse thee when arraigned at the Bar of divine Judgment but as S. Chrysostom saith the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea the Sun and the Moon and the Stars both Nights and Days and all the Creatures thou hast abused shall bear witness against thee but above all Thine own Conscience shall be as a thousand witnesses for being then freed from this clog and damp of the corruptible flesh all thy imaginations and desires all thy words and works spoken and done in the body shall appear to thy Conscience in their native genuine and proper colours without any ignorance or oblivion misperswasion or misprision which now blinds the minds of many thousands to their eternal ruine on that day O who shall then be able to answer thee one of a thousand thou most worthy Judge eternal if thou shouldst be extream to mark what is done amiss Job 9.2 Ps 130.3 and thy great mercy intervene not to mitigate the rigor of thy Justice But in thee have I put my trust Ps 38.15 Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God I have no other Advocate to plead my cause but my righteous Judge himself from whom in my daily prayers I have required that they even mine enemies should not triumph over me when I stand to be judged before the Tribunal of Heaven Eccl. 23.2 3. Who will set scourges over my thoughts and the discipline of wisdom over my heart that they spare me not for mine ignorances and pass not by my sins Lest mine ignorances increase and my sins abound to my destruction And I fall before mine adversaries in the day of my trial and mine enemies the spirits and powers of darkness rejoyce over me whose hope is far from thy mercy Meditat. II. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee Psal 119.120 and I am afraid of thy Judgments when I consider the severity of many of thy temporal judgments which are now intended to drive sinners to Repentance that thou mightest spare them hereafter I cannot but foresee the unconceivable rigour of thy eternal judgments which intend punishment only without any thought of future mercy to spare and to forgive as in this life And I vile sinner have great cause to fear as a strict examination which all must undergo so severe a sentence to pass upon me having not so conscienciously as I ought obeyed the sacred dictates of the saving grace of God teaching us Tit. 2 11 12 13. that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world With what face then shall I look for the blessed hope or hope for blessedness upon the appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ I have a greater cause to fear than to hope to wave than to await his coming But how shall I avoid or whither shall I flee from the face of my Judge whither but from an offended God to a merciful Redeemer from the Throne of thy Justice to thy Mercy-seat To meet thee now with Repentance in my heart and the fruits thereof brought forth in the actions of my life and with such spiritual wings cemented with the bloud of my Redeemer I may hope to flee from the wrath to come O God who art justly displeased for our sins Mat. 3.7 8. and pacified by our true and sincere Repentance spare O spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose consciences by sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. Meditat. III. Before Judgment examine thy self Eccl. 18.20 and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy And I upon the examination of my self do find my heart foul and polluted and my life stain'd with manifold offences but that I may escape the judgment of God I judge my self to be a miserable sinner I judge my self to have incurr'd the Lord's just indignation to have deserved the dismal sentence of condemnation to pass upon me For I have sinned and I have done wickedly and I have committed iniquity and have rebelled against the Lord by departing from his most holy Laws and Judgments Many will be my accusers when I come to my great Trial upon life or death eternal and many and great accusations have they to lay against me the Devil and his Angels whose suggestions unto evil I have too often followed many men and many women too who have been conscious
unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul being hereunto encouraged by thy grace and goodness For thou Lord art good even the inexhaustible Fountain of goodness and gracious propitiously inclined to hear the supplications of thy people and of great mercy against the greatness of iniquity unto all them that call upon thee even to all that call upon thee faithfully depending upon thee alone for help and safety Give ear to my prayer not slightly hearing the sound of my words but ponder the voice of my humble desires the intense desires of my humbled soul I humbly desire to be considered In the time of my trouble and that 's the whole time of my Pilgrimage here upon earth I will call upon thee for protection and deliverance whereof I will never despair for thou hearest me if my Prayer be pure and humble and therefore will I call upon thee as long as I live Among the Gods that be either falsly so called or be so called by participation of divine Power as the Angels in Heaven and Kings of the Earth there is none like unto thee O Lord either for Power or Wisdom there is none that can do as thou dost thy Works do far exceed the Power of any created Beings to do the like and therefore in fulness of time All nations whom thou hast made shall no longer make Gods unto themselves but shall come and worship thee O Lord the Maker of all Men and of all Things and being admitted Members of thy holy Catholick Church shall glorifie thy Name both with heart and voice and by the good Works of their Obedience to the Gospel of Christ For thou art great which all thy Works declare and dost wondrous things not to be apprehended but admired and 't is therefore in all the parts of the World confessed that thou art God alone all others being either falsly or feignedly called Gods And that I may accordingly worship thee aright Teach me thy way O Lord that I neither mistake the right way nor stumble and fall therein but stedfastly and constantly walk in thy truth and this Way and this Truth is my blessed Redeemer who by his Doctrine and Example Doings and Sufferings Life and Death is the way that leads to Life Eternal O knit my heart unto thee by the indissoluble bonds of a true Faith firm Hope fervent Charity that I may fear thy Name so as that I neither dare to sin against thee nor too much presume upon thy mercy I will thank thee O Lord my God as from whom both my whole Self and all the little good that is mine does proceed with all my heart as being hereunto excited by the fear and love of thy Name and I will praise thy Name for evermore And there is very great reason I should do so For great is thy mercy toward me not only manifested in all the good things I do enjoy but in my deliverance from manifold evils and especially from the greatest of evils for thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell in the broad way that leads thereunto I have a long time walked and 't is of thy great mercy that I have not long since been hurled headlong to that dismal place of Torments And still I have great cause to complain O God the proud are risen against me proud Lucifer and his infernal Fiends and the congregation of naughty men have sought after my soul the wicked of the world conspire with the Devil and his Angels by their sinful suggestions to subvert the innocence of my Soul to have her portion with them in the neithermost Hell But thou O Lord art full of compassion especially to all them who chuse rather to suffer than to do what is offensive to thy Majesty and mercy in pardoning the offences of the truly penitent long-suffering not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance plenteous in goodness abounding in thy blessings and truth both in performing thy promises of mercy to the penitent and in rendring to every man according to his works O turn thee then unto me who by my sins have justly provoked thee to turn away thy face from me and have mercy upon me a miserable sinner and that I may no more offend thee give thy strength unto thy servant even ghostly strength and fortitude manfully to resist the Devil and all his numerous troops of sensual and worldly lusts in all whose assaults vouchsafe to help the son of thine handmaid that I may overcome all their temptations unto evil and carefully keep my vow and promise made when I was first admitted to be a Son of thy handmaid the Church Shew some token upon me for good let some sign of thy favour towards me appear that they who hate me my ghostly enemies may see it and be ashamed when they shall behold all their conspiracies and assaults against my Soul defeated by the assistance of thy divine Grace because thou Lord hast holpen me and comforted me thy help to overcome when I am tempted unto sin is a great comfort to my Soul for I have hereupon a good ground of hope that thou wilt deliver my Soul from the nethermost Hell and that being raised up from the gates of Death I may shew all thy praises within the ports of the Daughter of Sion Saying Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The LXXXVIII Psalm PARAPHRASED Verse 1. O Lord God of my salvation my Corporal and Spiritual Temporal and Eternal Salvation is from thee and therefore I have cryed day and night at all times and seasons and in all conditions prosperous and adverse before thee as unto whom alone the inmost intimate desires of my soul are naked and open O let my prayer enter into thy presence be received and accepted by thee incline thine ear unto my calling so graciously hear as to grant my humble requests My soul is full of trouble which being the consequent of Sin is the forerunner of Death and my life draweth nigh unto hell which openeth wide her mouth to swallow down such polluted Souls I am counted as one of them that go down to the Pit look'd upon as a dead man and a cast-away and I have been even as a man that hath no strength which is derived from the Lord of life to escape the snares and terrors of death Free among the dead not likely to be freed from my troubles but by death which puts an end to all the miseries of this sinful life like unto them that are wounded by the fiery darts of the Devil and lie in the grave of corrupt conversation which leads to the grave of death the wages of sin and whosoever thus lie there are out of remembrance both forgotten by the righteous and also are cut away from thy hand repuls'd from amongst those blessed Sheep which shall be rank'd on thy right hand in the day of Judgment Thou hast laid
hearts such love towards thee that we loving thee in and above all things may obtain thy promises which exceed all that we can desire through Jesus Christ MEDITAT III. Of the Company of Heaven 1. Of God's presence there 1. GOD who is Father Son and Holy Ghost is the chief and principal Inhabitant of the Heaven of Heavens God indeed is every where in respect of his Essence Presence Power but in Heaven in respect of his Glory and the supereminent brightness of his Majesty which is in Heaven most conspicuous full and ravishing nor could Heaven be called so it were not Heaven if not enlightned and enhappied by God's superlative presence there Tho. a Kemp. And where ever O Lord thou art present either in grace or glory there is Heaven and Death and Hell is every where where thou art absent 2. But what doth it avail the company of Heaven that God is there especially present since God dwelleth with the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6.17 whom no man hath seen or can see The very Angels of Heaven cover their faces with their wings in the presence of God that the excessive brightness of his Majesty and great Glory overwhelm them not Isa 6.2 'T is true but however so much of this eminent glory shall appear and so fully the splendid Rays thereof be display'd in Heaven as shall ravish all the blessed beholders thereof with a joy unspeakable and glorious They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house 1 Pet. 1.7 Ps 36.8 viz. of Celestial glory and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures as out of a river so full and overflowing shall be their satisfaction and contentment For with thee is the Well of Life and of all the joys and consolations of Life and in thy light shall we see light even the ravishing Light of Glory in the Light of God's countenance in whose presence is fulness of joy 2. The Angels of Heaven Next to the blissful presence of God the society in Heaven is Angels and Archangels Cherubims and Seraphims Thrones and Dominions Principalities and Powers and all the several Orders of celestial Spirits Col. 1.16 The very sight of one blessed Angel upon Earth would be more joyous and ravishing than to behold the greatest beauty and most splendid excellency that is liable to the eyes of flesh yea all the pomp and glory of the World is not comparable to such a sight how much more joyful and glorious will it be not only to behold but to enjoy the society of those innumerable ministring spirits of whom we read Dan. 7.10 Thousand thousands ministred unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him Isa 6.3 c. Rev. 21.10 These rest not day and night crying Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory To make one in this Hymnidical Quire and to be received into one of these Mansions of Glory from whence the Apostate Angels fell is such an astonishing joy as cannot by the tongue of men and Angels be expressed 3. The Saints in Heaven To these Angelical spirits are joyned in society as Members of the same Church Triumphant in Heaven The glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble army of Martyrs the innumerable train of holy Confessors Priests and people of each Sex and of every condition of whose numberless number we read Rev. 7.9 Rev. 7.9 10. And I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man can number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb cloathed with white robes and palms in their hands and cryed with a loud voice Salvation to our God These are they which come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve him day and night in his Temple and he that sitteth upon the Throne shall dwell amongst them They shall hunger no more nor thirst any more The Lamb in the midst of the Throne shall feed them and lead them to the living fountains of water And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes Blessed Souls in whom the King of Glory placeth his Throne and reigneth in them for ever Blessed are those mouths which shall taste and be satisfied with the Waters of life everlasting and blessed are those tears which shall be wiped away with the right hand of God himself and everlasting joy succeed in the stead thereof Into this glorious Communion of Saints in Heaven there daily are and daily shall be for ever received all such true servants of God and stout Soldiers of Jesus Christ who under his banner have overcome the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world all the sinful lusts of the flesh who have warred a good warfare over these their ghostly enemies and kept the Faith whereinto they were baptized without any tincture of Heresie or Schism observing God's holy Will and Commandments and walked in the same all the days of their life All of these returning from their wearisome Pilgrimage through the wilderness of this world to their native home of Heaven shall be received into and rejoyce in their proper and peculiar mansions of peace each differing indeed in the degrees of glory according to their difference in the degrees of grace but all shall enjoy their full proportion of happiness and with common joy shall sing together perpetual Hallelujahs to him that sitteth upon the Throne Rev. 5.13 and to the Lamb for ever And 't is wonderful amongst the joys of Heaven and adds exceedingly to the greatness thereof That as the number of Saints is great and their joys many so are the joys of each particular Saint even as many and blissful as the joys of all And this because each one shall rejoyce as much in the felicity of others as if 't were his own peculiar happiness Happy and for ever happy were I if with a floud of Tears and incessant Prayers if with the devour surrender of all that I am and all that I have to the love and service of God I might be admitted into this celestial Society To come unto Sion Heb. 12.22 23 24. and unto the City of the living God the Heavenly Hierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels To the general assembly and Church of the first-born which are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the Spirits of just men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant All this I believe as a Christian but my Hope to be admitted into this blessed Society is too weakly grounded whilst my Charity both towards God and his Saints is too cold and benumb'd I do profess to love God and do desire that my heart may be every day more and
to the spirit rejoyce in the living God there 's no joy like the joy of his presence who giveth life and a heart to pant and breath after the joys of life eternal The sparrow hath found her a house and the swallow a nest where to lay her young even thy Altars And O that my Soul could mount as doth the Sparrow upon her wings with inflamed affections after the pleasures of thy house and that my flesh might be instrumental to my Soul in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit to be sacrific'd upon the Altar of Praise and Thanksgiving unto thee O Lord of hosts my King and my God whom alone I desire to adore worship and obey Blessed are they here in hope hereafter in fruition who dwell in thy house of Prayer upon Earth of Praise in Heaven in both they will always be praising thee 'T is our principal errand to the house of God upon earth and shall be our only employment in his house of Heaven always to praise the Lord. But we of thy house and family here below like the young birds near thine Altar are unfledged and empent in the nest of this corruptible body which weigheth down the Soul so that amount to Heaven-ward we cannot without the Divine assistance therefore Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee who derives strength of Grace from thee to praise and glorifie thee and this not only with their mouths but in whose heart are thy ways cordially resolving and uprightly walking in the ways of thy service and of their own salvation Who going through the vale of misery in their pilgrimage through the miseries of this sinful life below use it for a Well even the deep fountain of a broken heart from whence the Pools are filled with water the eyes flow with tears of that Godly sorrow which worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented They will go from strength to strength from one degree of grace to another adding to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness to Godliness Brotherly-kindness and to Brotherly-kindness Charity 2 Pet. 1.5 unto the God of Gods appeareth every one of them in Sion each person thus qualified shall appear in the presence of the supreme Majesty of Heaven which being the felicity whereunto I am created and earnestly long for I therefore humbly beg O Lord God of hosts hear my prayer thou art the Donor of all those powerfull Graces which mount up our Souls to Heaven and the Lord of all those hosts of Heaven amongst whom my Soul longeth to be enroll'd Hearken O God of Jacob assist me in all my wrestlings with my ghostly enemies that I may prevail and obtain thy blessing which is to be call'd Israel Seeing God the felicity of Heaven Behold O God our Defender against all the crafts and assaults of the Devil the World and the Flesh Look upon the face of thine anointed our blessed Redeemer sitting on thy right hand and interceding for us and may the sacred beams of his celestial light shine in our hearts and appear in the holiness and righteousness of our lives that going from strength to strength we may appear before the Lord in Sion For one day in thy Courts amongst the Quires of Heaven where the day is but one as knowing no morrow day is better than a thousand of the flitting transitory days of this mortal life I had rather be a door-keeper lie at the Threshhold submit to the lowest Condition in the house of my God the place where his Honour dwelleth who is the God of my Worship and Joy than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness be conversant amongst the Ungodly of this World in the most splendid Condition with all the Delights of the Sons of Men for 't is not all the Pomp and Glory all the Pleasures and Treasures of this Life can give any solid Satisfaction to the vast Desires of my immortal Soul For the Lord is a light and defence a light for direction in the way of peace and a defence for protection against all whomsoever or whatsoever might disturb the innocence and peace of my Soul He will give grace and worship Grace to serve him truly here and Worship or Glory to crown our services hereafter and no good thing will he withhold from them that lead a godly life who truly love and fear God and wait for his promises in the obedience of his precepts shall enjoy all that is truly good or conducible to their Eternal happiness in Heaven And therefore O Lord God of Hosts blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee not roving in his hopes and desires after the exterior empty transitory Consolations of the Creature but among the sundry and manifold Changes of the World hath his heart surely fixed there where true joys are to be found which is alone in the Presence of the God of Heaven where all do rejoyce together and sing for ever Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. AS an Earnest of this Everlasting Joy and Felicity Psal 27.4 One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit his Temple Amen FINIS THE CONTENTS OF the Four last things in general 1 Of the shortness and frailty of this present Life 5 S. Augustine 's Meditation on this subject 6 Of the frequent remembrance of Death 9 Of the Horror of Death 15 Of the uncertainty of Death and preparation for it 19 The 39 Psalm illustrated with notes 29 The 90 Psalm illustrated with notes 33 The II. general Head OF Judgment Of particular Judgment 38 Of the general Judgment 44 The 26 Psalm paraphrased 55 The 43 Psalm paraphrased 58 The III. general Head OF the pains of Hell 61 Of the pain of Loss 62 Of the darkness of Hell 65 Of the fire of Hell 67 Of the extent of Hell-pains 71 Of the bonds and chains of Hell 75 Of the Laments of Hell 78 Of the perpetuity of Hell-torments 80 The 86 Psalm paraphrased 83 The 88 Psalm paraphrased 88 The IV. general Head OF Heaven 93 Of the place call'd Heaven 1. It s greatness 97 2. It s brightness and splendor 98 3. It s tranquility and peace ibid. Of the good things of Heaven 1. Honour 100 2. Power 101 3. Riches 102 4. Pleasure 103 Of the Company of Heaven 1. God's presence there 105 2. Of the Angels of Heaven 106 3. Of the Saints in Heaven 107 Of the perpetuity of heavenly Joys 112 The 24 Psalm paraphrased 116 The 84 Psalm paraphrased 120 BOOKS Printed for and Sold by Luke Meredith at the Star in St. Paul's Church-yard Books written by Jer. Taylor D. D. and late Lord Bishop of Down and Connor DVctor Dubitantium or The Rule of Conscience in Five Books in Folio The Great Exemplar or The Life and Death of the Holy Jesus in Folio with Figures suitable to every Story ingrav'd in Copper whereunto are added the Lives and Martyrdoms of the Apostle By W. Cave D. 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