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
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
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
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
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
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
remember how momentany were their sinful pleasures but never to be ended their pains Then shall they curse their Parents that begat and the womb that bare them and the paps they sucked so terrible shall be the Torment of this never dying ever-gnawing Worm that they shall curse themselves that they do still live yea and curse God himself who is blessed for ever I have called but ye have refused Prov. 1.24 Ezek. 33.11 Mat. 11.28 Joh. 6.37 44 56. saith the Lord called saying Turn ye turn ye unto me with all your heart Come unto me all ye that are weary But we vain men slight and neglect nay too many contemn such gracious invitations they are not affected or delighted with the presence of God or if they come to his house and approach his presence there 't is not either with that internal Devotion and external Reverence 't is not with such pure hearts and clean hands as becomes the presence of so great and glorious so holy and pure a Majesty and is it not then most just and equal that all such irreligious irreverent and profane persons be banish'd the blissful presence of God for ever And so hath the Lord threatned Isai 65.12 Because when I called ye did not answer when I spake ye did not hear but did evil Therefore thus saith the Lord my servants shall eat but ye shall be hungry my servants shall drink but ye shall be thirsty my servants shall rejoyce but ye shall be ashamed Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart and shall houl for vexation of spirit Whatever therefore be the guise of the multitude to walk every one after the lusts of their own hearts and to follow their own imaginations in the contempt of the Lord's admonitions and commands Psal 5.7 yet as for me whilst I have life and liberty I will come into thy house even upon the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy Temple My heart hath talked of thee and of this gracious command of thine Psal 27.9 Seek ye my face Thy face Lord will I seek O hide not thou thy face from me under the cloud of my sins and the thick cloud of my transgressions nor cast away thy servant in displeasure but vouchsafe that my approaches to thy divine Majesty may be so frequent and fervent and with such Humility Reverence and Devotion performed that my person and my services may in this life be accepted before thee that I hear not at the last day that dismal doom of the wicked Depart from me ye cursed MEDITAT II. Of the Darkness of Hell TO be banished the presence of God who is the Fountain of Light is to be involved in the terrors of Darkness Mat. 22.13 Ca. 25.30 Job 10.21 22. and therefore after Take him away it follows cast him into outer darkness And so is the place of Hell described A land of darkness and of the shadow of death a land of darkness as darkness it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where light is as darkness And this must needs be so because Hell is farthest remote from Heaven the Region of Light being seated as 't is generally believed in the centre of the earth where neither Sun Moon nor Stars display the least ray or glimmering of their Light and where not the least beam of the divine Mercy shall ever appear There is Fire indeed in Hell but such a Fire as burns without shining a Fire without light not unlike whereunto is the Fire of blind Zeal Jam. 3.6 the tongue whereof setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of Hell All the light which the sulphurous Fire of Hell affords serves only to discover the ghastly sight of infernal Fiends reviling scourging tormenting the damned without mercy without intermission and there perhaps may the wicked see some of their friends and acquaintance and of their companions in their sins involv'd with them in the same punishment which are sights so dreadful as shall augment their Torments Here is darkness then and no darkness such darkness as shall hide from the eyes whatever is pleasant and desirable and yet no darkness to hide from the dismal sight whatever is vexatious and adds the greater anguish to the aking heart This dismal darkness of Hell is call'd The outward darkness respecting the inward darkness of humane Souls and those manifold deeds of darkness which issue from the one and run head-long to the other If then thou hast followed the lusts of thine own darkned heart and obeyed the suggestions of Satan the Prince of darkness if thou hast loved and acted the works of darkness of sinfulness and error more than the sacred acts and influences of Grace and Truth it is most just that thy portion be with blackness of darkness for ever Joh. 3.19 Vouchsafe blessed Lord of light and life vouchsafe to display the sacred beams of thy Celestial light into my darkned Soul dispel and dissipate thence all the black stain and guilt of sin contracted by my daily back-slidings from thee all those clouds of ignorance and error which darken my understanding all those noisom lusts of the world and of the flesh which incessantly infest and infect my Soul that I pass not from these inward to that outward darkness where is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth MEDITAT III. Of the Fire of Hell OF all the Torments invented and practised by the malice of men or devils that by Fire is the most fierce and frightful how does it amaze the minds of men when they see it flaming in their houses and consuming their habitations and estates and yet the Fire of Hell is far more dreadful and tormenting as differing from our ordinary fire especially in three respects 1. Our fire feeds only upon gross and corporeal substances but Hell fire feeds upon spirits and damned souls and 't is therefore as much more fierce and piercing than our fire as a spirit is more quick and active than a gross heavy body Be not deceived O my Soul with any fond conceits of vain men that this fire is only metaphorical or fantastical allegorical or poetical because 't is prepared for the Devil and his Angels who are spirits and not liable to visible flames But the word of God which cannot lie and many undeniable reasons by the learned deduced thence Mat. 3.12 cap. 13.42 cap. 25.41 Mark 9.43 47. do confirm it to be a real yea a material fire but more spiritual and refined and so more eating piercing and tormenting than the fire which burns upon our hearths 2. Our fire doth alway burn and torment after the same manner but Hell-fire being the instrument of divine Justice doth more or less rage and afflict according as the persons condemned thereunto have been more or less guilty And 't is observable that the sinful Souls