take us from God but what we love better And though there is no felicity to be compared to Piety nor any diversions so delightful as Devotion when we love God and serve him with sincerity yet we mind it not enough that mind it most too much no man can LXXIV WE are naturally apt to cozen our selves with thinking we believe what we do not believe and for want of due consideration of all our ways we run on in such undiscernible errors as must offend God while we think we serve him best and this by indulging many kinds of innocent diversions until they become crimes though we know that vain and idle thoughts do often grow to foul suggestions which pious men should therefore not admit of LXXV WE are often misled by thinking too much of what may be and too little of what must be in providing too much for our uncertain hope of living from year to year with too little regard â—o our assured death that must come as if our moments here were of more value then our Eternity in Heaven though we do know that nothing in this World is worthy to entertain our Immortal Souls with true delight but by making ready to go unto God with chearful hearts of which few men do think enough and none can think too much because it is the greatest felicity that our Piety can reach and a sure mark that the Holy Ghost is working in us which no habitual sinner is capable of LXXVI NO man can want a subject for Meditation nor have a more useful entertainment than frequently and seriously to consider and examine his own life by recollecting what mercies what blessings and deliverances he has had from God and to enquire of his own heart how little obedience gratitude and love he has return'd what vows made in sickness dangers and in times of trouble but never kept And above all to consider how often God has knocked at our hearts for entrance and been denied or delayed to admit of some more pleasing Guest or whenever permitted to enter how coldly received and slightly treated until thrust out again to make room for some darling sin that must be welcomed This if fully considered may bring us to a sense of our offences and shame to think how unfit we are for our Death-beds and Eternity to come with the amazing terrors to think how we can call on our so much offended God for mercy which He could never prevail with us to accept of and what hope then can such insolent contemners of God have in their last day But on the contrary this Meditation will bring comfort to a Regeneâ—ate man who has entertain'd Christ in a chearful heart with sincere integrity to such a joyful trust in God's love by his fixed Faith that no carnal affections can remove his transports for Heaven the expectation whereof is delightful to him above the terrors of death to lessen LXXVII THe sum of all the great Lessons we can learn is to shew that a faithful penitent sinner who is become so Regenerate as to forsake all his iniquities and can perform an universal obedience to all God's Laws with such Evangelical sincerity as to make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands must be led by the Spirit of God which will keep up his heart to Heaven in a constant concern for God's favour where Satan dares not appear to tempt when he sees us so united unto Christ and this will bring a Penitent to endure his Pilgrimage through all the storms of this World and defend him from the glittering vanities also so as to know no fear nor joy to interrupt his expectation of Heaven and the happy hour to breath out his Soul into the Bosom of God which holy ambition will entertain his heart here with more present happiness than all the Worlds wealth can afford to a wilful habitual sinner LXXVIII A Prayer LOrd I beseech thee let thy Holy Spirit direct my prayers in my approaches to thy Throne of Mercy and there pray within me that so guided I may find grace from Heaven to support me in my passage out of this World unto thy habitation of Eternal Bliss And now wean me from longer wandering in the vain Labyrinths and Glories here by having ever in mind that all the greatness and various pleasures I have seen and shared in are vanished like a Dream and thereby find that nothing is so delightful to a Regenerate reconciled sinner as a retired habitation free from the noise of Worldly affairs where by thy Grace peace of conscience may encourage me to be ever ready at thy call O God! with a joyful heart to make my last step into the glorious Eternity I hope for by the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ. LXXIX WHen the Holy Ghost dwells in our hearts we shall find new principles of a Divine Nature producing there an universal Victory over all our carnal appetites and an universal obedience to all God's Laws with trust in his Providence and such Faith in Christ's Merits and Intercession as will assure us of all God's promises as if now actually in our possession from whence will arise continual comforts with hearty gratitude for such love and mercy to penitent sinners And by this first Resurrection from Sin to Grace be assured of our second to Glory so that to be thus sanctified by the Holy Ghost we are united unto Christ brought home to God the Father as his adopted Children and do begin to enter on our everlasting happiness even in this World by our continual Meditations and Prayers so to raise this Holy flame as high as here we can reach without presumption so to fix in our hearts the joyful practice of such a Divine Life and Divine Love to God as will produce Divine joys here and for ever in Heaven which no carnal fruitions can attain And thus we are led by the Spirit of God and do become the adopted Sons of God LXXX IF the most voluptuous sinners could discern the felicity of an Holy life what constant elevated joys the peace of a quiet conscience brings to those who can wean their minds from the fading pleasurâ—s and drudgeries of this World to fix their hearts on things above sinners would make hast to become Regenerate For if we consider right of Eternity we must know that our Immortal Souls when freed from the slavish appetites of flesh and bloud can have no transports like those immortal joys they find when settled in their Centre God's Bosom from whence they came so that our Souls can relish no felicity like the hope of Heaven nor be much concerned for any thing less then Eternal Bliss which though of our selves we cannot reach yet if we give our hearts to God we cannot miss it But if in contempt of God we live and die in endless sinning we may justly fear that our Eternity will be in scorching flames We ought also to consider
momentary touch of a sharp Lancet that makes him bleed for future health So that men prepar'd for Heaven may change the terrible aspect of a grisly Death into a Divine Angelical form fit to be courted with a most hearty welcome who is sent by God to conduct us unto Him where every wise good man desires to be and this is a great â—ark of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of men to bring sinners to such an Evangelical felicity to live so in Gods favour as to rejoyce to ride on Deaths Chariot in Triumph into Heaven XXIV A Pious man is never alone when most alone but then takes more delight in his approaches to God then this World can afford the greatest Epicure for his devout heart is ever on the wing towards the Throne of mercy from whence his Soul is filled with Divine comforts beyond expression for God never fails to entertain a sincere Soul with high consolations XXV WAtch thy first waking thoughts which will declare thy Soul unto thy self whether Carnally minded or Spirituallized for then is thy fancy fresh unclogg'd with Worldly affairs and then the time to blow up thy flaming gratitude to God in some proportion towards what thou hast received from Him in mercies and in blessings though short in point of merit yet such holy aimes such pious ambitious contests God allows of and is well pleased to see such use made of his grace by such Divine emulations in the hearts of men who do endeavour to raise up their gratitude in competition with his benefits But this must be in such humble Addresses as doth become Dust and Ashes who can do nothing of our selves that is good nor think beyond what we receive and must thank God for the thanks we give him For it is the Holy Ghost that excites and enables us to such a frequent and free conversation with our Great Maker by which elevated zeal and sincere affection in our daily acknowledgments we â—hew that we have some taste of that joy and some glimpse of that glory here which we expect in Heaven and is some Testimony that we have not received the grace of God altogether in vain For no Man can give effectual thanks to God for his mercies until he find some assurance of his reconciliation by the Bloud of Iesus Christ which is the Fountain of all mercies and the great argument for our gratitude to the Father of mercies who forgives transgressions to raise our gratitude to Love XXVI WHoever has so much Faith as to create true notions of the Holy Trinity and Gods eternal habitation of Glory and Bliss in Heaven where he believes that Christ has purchased places for all penitent reconciled sinners that man cannot chuse but wish and indeavour to be one of that blessed number so redeemed from Hell and raised to everlasting Glory on Christs account But how to attain unto this felicity and to find in our hearts that we have attained it is our greatest work in this World and our most joyful entertainment here which is a pre-possession of Heaven as much as our frail nature is capable of with the Divine assistance of the Holy Ghost So then we must observe if our hearts are become so Regenerate as to find more pleasure in our approaches to God and our devout conversation with Him then all the fruitions this world can afford us for then we shall find an inward dependance on God in our own hearts such as will guide us by his Divine guiding Light unto the means and methods of attaining our wished salvation and within a little time certainly grow to a much more habitual delight in Piety then our forsaken sins formerly were and will hold our hearts up to Heaven ever ready to enter in when Death comes to conduct us thither and it will be great joy to pass the pangs of a Death-bed and â—errors of the Grave with an assurance that our Souls shall be with God the moment that we depart from this World if we live Righteously in it XXVII IF we give our whole hearts to God wherever we are whatever we do our minds will be fixed on Him the only Centre of our Souls intrinsick happiness 't is like a man forced from his beloved companion by some great affair he dispatches it quickly and with speed returns where he left his heart And thus we may try our hearty Love to God But when trivial objects and vain diversions do easily withdraw us from his converse and then detain us whole days in idleness so as to afford God but some few moments for our morning and evening Sacrifices we may reckon that our Love bears the same proportion with the time spent in his service we may also find on a strict search that we are mistaken in the Donation of our hearts to God by keeping of a small corner of our hearts in reserve for diversions only to gratifie some fair-faced appetites which do insensibly rob the major part until that corner have ingrossed the whole heart by which we fool our selves to think our All-seeing God will be mocked with such thin Vizards on our hearts Take heed therefore of idle diversions and pray for grace to become Regenerate to set thy heart on things above which begets true Love to God with Blessedness here and for ever which eternity can never be too much thought on nor the Lord who disposes of Eternity be too much loved or too much feared and if when we lye down to sleep we could but learn to think that we might wake in the other World we should labour to live close up to God so that Satan may find no time to come between to tempt and then such reconciled sinners would discern their conversion to be a sure Testimony of God's mercy and the Spirit of Faith fixing the foundation of true Piety by which we must ascend as the first step of that Ladder towards Heaven XXVIII IT is a stupendious thing to think how our corrupt Dust and Ashes may be exalted when the Spirit of God is at work in the heart of man when a great sinner is cleansed from his pollutions and all his past transgressions are so wiped off by the Holy Ghost in the receiving of the Sacrament that he finds Christ born within him and his Soul filled with a new kind of Divine transports which raise him in Meditations up to Heaven by such devout Addresses as grow higher and higher in ambitious zeal to be near God until he obtain to be owned an Adopted Son and while he remains on Earth by Faith to share with Angels in some degree of Heavenly joy and to perceive some beams of their Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection and until then be here feasted with such devout Celestial delights as will give him an assurance that these are the marks of his Election to comfort and to fix his heart on God who will guide his Soul through his Pilgrimage on Earth
Celestial joys as the highest and most delightful entertainment he can wish for on this side of Heaven for God is the Centre of a Divine Lovers Soul it cannot move from him without some impulsive force which we should disdain to yield unto XIX HOw frail is humane Nature that can never be so much pleased on Earth as within some time not to become weary of what we most delight in And how much greater frailty is it to know how to be ever pleased and for ever happy but cannot set our hearts sincerely to endeavour for it And yet there is another frailty in some men above all the rest most wonderful that such as have on serious thoughts of their Eternity resigned their hearts to God and for some time known no joy like their transports for Heaven that such men so raised should prove so weakly fixed as boldly dare make room for Satan in their hearts again as the more welcome guest where God did sometime dwell this were a dreadful thing to think on if the mercies of God were not far beyond the reach of sinners to deface And from hence we may learn that holiness is the peculiar gift of God and that we are raised to all degrees of Piety by his holy Spirit who of ourselves can neither rise nor stand one moment in his favour longer than supported by the same Spirit thus to give us humble thoughts of our own little or no strength And yet we are not obliged to rest in such humility but ought to labour and to pray for more and more Talents of faith and grace till their encrease do raise our Souls higher and higher in ambitious zeal to become Divine Lovers and not to be content with less preferment than adopted Sons when we find the Holy Ghost thus at work within us and so may strive to raise our new affections by holy thoughts to the highest pitch of devour extasies of Devotion and by this Divine experiment to try if we can love God too much and have more zeal in prayer than he does like of or can so tire him with our importunate addresses that He will turn away his face and deny his love unto Souls wholly devoted to serve and please him But when we find our hearts full of such sincere raptures in Devotion we may assure our selves they come from God who does ever approve and accept of such flaming sacrificed hearts as are enkindled from above and are much different from any such Enthusiams as Satan can infuse only to infect those wavering hearts that do still incline to be his Vassals XX. THose who have obtained of God to become truly Regenerate do find that a sincere repentance with contrition and conversion of heart to God are rewarded with peace of Conscience and so great a delight in humble converses with God on their meditations of Heaven and their Eternal bâ—iss that all Worldly pleasures do give way to those Divine transports which flow from the Holy Ghost within them And no time so proper to meet God as when they awake at mid-night before any Worldly concerns entertain their hearts for he that chearfully recommends his Soul to God when he lyes down to rest will to his infinite comfort find God ready to receive his first waking ejaculations who begins the day with the same adoration and trusts in him that he lay down to sleep with so that our mid-night conferences with God will by custom grow more pleasant than sleep and will fix such a Divine love on our Creator as will produce great joy here and some glimpse of that glory we shall have in Heaven for God never receives our sincere Addresses without multiplying of his favours in return by such manifestations of his grace as will preserve us in his service until we meet again to pursue those holy meditations which will bring us unto Him in Heaven when we die XXI A Righteous man is a Divine Philosopher that enjoys all his heart can wish in this World by his faith in Christ Love to God Charity to men purity and humility And the Holy Ghost is the great Chymist that conveys all these ingredients into the furnace of a pious heart and there by His influence and operation produces the grand Elixir of true righteousness which preserves the Soul unto Eternal happiness And whoever finds the Holy Ghost thus working in him will find the comfort and consolation of his Salvation in this life which with the serious consideration of his future felicity will be entertainment for his whole time here and keep him always ready for his summons to Heaven and will make his passage thither as easie to the Righteous as it is terrible to an impenitent sinner XXII IT is impossible to fancy and to find any Earthly entertainment for the heart of man but Devotion that can raise his delights higher and higher by fruitions without laâ—situde unto Eternity which elevated devotion is a felicity that the Divine Lover only has and is created in his heart with his Resurrection from sin to grace by a continual succession of growing joys on the assurance he finds of his second Resurrection to Glory at the day of Judgement which is God's peculiar work in the Souls of his Beloved to make them see that He is never absent from such as are totally devoted to love and serve Him for such and only such can securely enjoy God in all his Creatures here and have him also to eternity in Heaven If then the rugged way thither be so pleasant to a Righteous man what will his Seraphick joys be there and how worthy of our utmost endeavours to live so that we may die capable to participate of those joys then XXIII MEn do generally create terrors to fright their own hearts as they do Children with ugly Vizards we represent Death unto our fancies in dismal forms as a Messenger sent from Satan to hurry us from our present delights into everlasting flames And then 't is no wonder that habitual impenitent sinners do start back from the approach of Death when so dressed But the Regenerate Man has an Antidote against this evil He summons his Celestial thoughts and sets his Soul in order as a great Prince in State incircled with Heavenly joys as his Nobility and is also attended by crouds of Guardian Angels to receive the same Death with caresses of great friendship who appears before him drest in bright gorgeous Raiments as an Embassador sent from the King of Kings to consummate a League of Amity and to give him possession of his new Conquest with a Crown of Eternal Glory long fought for and at last obtained So that we generally mistake our passage into the next World and call it death which is assured Life and that Eternal It is our faults if we be frighted at the terrors of torment there where everlasting joys do answer every pious mans expectations who looks on the pangs of his departing Soul but as the
mans best policy is to lead a pious Life which will fully satisfie all his ambitions and answer the highest affections his heart can fancy by having God so by whom he has all that is in Heaven and in Earth And whoever God does thus give himself to will find that he has Him and will perceive this is his Spiritual Adoption to incourage and inable him to live Righteously all his days in more honour Glory wealth and felicity then all the Empires of this World can afford without God so that Piety is the best policy to establish our happiness in this World and the next XXXVI THere can be no comfort in this World beyond an assurance of sins forgiven with a full reconciliation to God and no man can have surer marks of his Election then to find his former contempt of God turned into Divine Love of him with the Holy Ghost converting the Hell that was in his heart into a Paradice by his habitation there which is an infallible earnest of Glory for when God gives us grace to will and to do his will by the power of his Spirit we shall want no comforts here and be also filled with holy courage and a joyful Faith to turn the terrors of the Grave into a delightful desire to be with God which is a Righteous mans greatest consolation XXXVII IF a Regenerate man blessed with Divine Love do observe how the Holy Ghost works in his heart at the time of his sincere vigorous Addresses to the Throne of mercy He will find that his delight in the service of God does increase with his devotion and that his devotion is raised by that delight so that his Soul by custom in such approaches does grow higher and higher by so joyful a confidence in God's favour that no allurements can divert his Love nor storms shake that trust on which his peace of conscience is surely founded here and his salvation at the Resurrection as sure Yet care must be had that such Elevations of the Soul may not grow beyond those Gospel Rules set us to follow So that the felicity of piety may be sometimes allayed by humble recollections of our own unworthiness when at best lest Spiritual pride do puff up our hearts with such Seraphick joys as use to rise from such extasies in devotion so as to think if Angels in the presence of God do rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner what joy may that sinner have above those Angels who is so much more concerned then they are when he finds himself snatched up from the brink of Hell and become as an Angel in Heaven before he arrives there Which is a kind of Epicurism in devotion and may be too much indulged if not acknowledged from whence it comes with gratitude for so great a benefit received XXXVIII CHrist gave us a sure Rule to know and to shew our Love to God which is to obey his Commandments and not to treat Him like our fellow creatures with passionate words sighs or tears or joys but by the sincerity of our thoughts and actions to shew our obedience better thâ—n by vehement extasies in devotion though such exterior declarations from the heart do advance our zeal they may deceive us with flattering hopes of our being better then really we are for 't is not our frequent prayers nor hearing the Word preached with dâ—light nor receiving the Holy Sacrament with an elevated Faith that â—ully expresses or denotes such Love to God as He expects from us but it is our 〈◊〉 endeavours in all selfdenials towards an uniform obâ—dience to all his known Commandments an Evangelical sincerity in the duty required that manifests our Love to God and is most acceptable to Him for though our performances do prove short of our Duties God sees our integrity and esteems us for that our sincerity towards obedience is very acceptable with God XXXIX GOd sees our frailties and knows that no mans fancy can reach the felicity of Divine Love but his who is endued with it from Him nor can that man by words express those joys that his transported Soul finds in such welcoms as God affords in his Divine endearments to his true Lover by such Celestial Raptures as do make him forget that he dwells on Earth while that bright flame of his Devotion lasts and on his return from Heaven while the thoughts of that Blessed Address remains it grieves him to find that he is still on Earth so that his body cannot mount upwards with his Soul to the Throne of Glory and fix there together XL. HOw weak is our Faith in the matter of Death and how strong the frailty of our nature that makes us fear to go where we desire to be So to create terrors in the passage when there is really none or if any they are such as cannot be avoided how vain then is it to raise melancholly-Clouds to Eclipse the Glory and dull the joy we are entring into the moment that we Die XLI GReat converted sinners ought frequently to consider the wonderful goodness of God for his double mercies who does not only forgive all past transgressions on our reconciliation but on our future obedience our Faith Love and gratitude He rewards such great sinners with grace to obtain Eternal Bliss easie conditions to be admitted by God's immense goodness unto this purchase of mercy and reward on Christs account Which grace we must improve by rising still higher and higher in God's favour for the future and then we shall have a double joy in all such fruitions and diversions as we may own in God's sight here and at the day of Judgment and may now thank him for with hearts full of purity and such bright shining innocence as God delights in XLII GOd's Spirit is never absent from those that seek him sincerely and whoever observes it will find it so God Loves a Souls whiteness that flies all approaches towards sin with detestation When God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither XLIII AS a good conscience is a continual feaâ—t and a great blessing so 't is a dangerous thâ—â—g to â—e over-much delighted 〈…〉 duties though peace be in 〈…〉 should forget from whenâ—â—â—ll 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—ormances do come and so 〈◊〉 attribute holiness to our seâ—â—es â—â—ich is God's peculiar gift There ought also great care to be haâ— that 〈◊〉 be not mistaken to think we do enjoy truâ— peace of conscience when we have it not and that we do not flatter and abuse our own hearts with some things of fancy like more holiness then we have and so believe our vows and desires to Piety are effectual performed before our actions do justifie those good resolutions and self-denials to avoid such snares as lie concealed under innocent diversions lest we fall when we think our selves most safe So that a Pious man is to be
by a constant graâ—â—â—ude which is as acceptable as prayers and the pious use of his Creatures and daily Blessings we shall fiâ—d a double delight in all the good things we receive from God's hand because we do enjoy Him in them and shall avoid all such evils as we dare not own to come from God And if we consider that our lâ—ves here are only to make our journey to Heaven we cannot have a better Guide thither then the Holy Ghost who will never mislead them who desire to be guided by Him and from whom we shall get such a habit of Holiness as will bring us to such an intimate acquaintance with Christ as will in a short time wean us so much from the Love of this World as to be chearfully ready to die when we see that the end of our journey is God's call to take possession of the Crown of Glory prepared for us LXVII APious man that lives ever ready to die has a continual prospect of his glorious Resurrection and can have no greater happiness on Earth then his inward assurance of being one of God's Elect who Christ says shall sit on his right hand in Heaven when the Reprobate are cast down into Everlasting flames LXVIII IT is said in Scripture that when Iacob found God was so near him he was afraid which may teach us that no man ought to think himself fit for a familiar acquaintance with his great Maker such as to remove the reverential fear that is due unto so high and supreme a Majesty and yet we may believe and find that His Kingdom of Grace is already come and is amongst us now so that we may with humble hearts say as Iacob did Surely the Lord is in this place and in our hearts too when we are led by his Holy Spirit to study Him and can fully consider that though all our senses are naturally inclined to like and covet varieties of all sorts and that our busie fancies are as readily subservient to work the same way and as eagerly do pursue the various desires of every appetite though we every day find that all objects do by fruition soon decay and cloy our highest desires that are not Rooted in Eternity How fit is it then to consider this and how much better it will be to perswade our Immortal Souls to rob our perishing senses of their depending fancies and imploy them on things above as far as they can reach towards the glorious Habitation of God where such objects are as Immortal as our Souls are and where our variety of joys will increase by such fruitions as never fade but will grow and multiply the more for gathering so as to be ever filling our hearts with high delights but yet never so full but still to admit of more and more felicity as our desires rise until we reach the Fountain of Eternal Bliss where our Souls will be replenished with Celestial joys but never so to overflow as to be weary of them And thus we may be as happy as Iacob was if we can perswade our hearts to throw out Satan with all his disguised flattering Troops and entertain the Holy Ghost as chearfully as we have indulged our blind affections that led us on towards our Eternal ruine And when we have thus discarded Gods Enemies as our own we must approach His glorious Majesty with fear and trembling though we do adore and worship Him at the same time with comfort LXIX IF we did well consider of dying and the joy our Souls will have as they expire when reconciled to God before that hour comes it will be ample reeompence for our whole lives spent in his service and 〈◊〉 worthy of our continual Meditation and devotion to prepare for so immense a mercy to penitent sinners such as will turn the terrours of the Grave into a joyful assurance of a blessed Resurrection to Glory beyond which no man can fancy a concern fitter for his thoughts to work on and his utmost eudeavours to obtain of God who never rejects a sincere heart offer'd up to Him in a daily Sacrifice which the Pious man never fails to do with delight and never misses of the consolation he seeks at his hour of death and in his way to it LXX THe true Idea of Holiness is Divine Love which we may judge of by entirely resigning our wills to the will of God and the perfection of Righteousness is to live a Divine Life such as takes delight to abhor the crimes we have loved and to press on in our devotions until we obtain a full Victory over all our carnal passions and by worthy receiving the Holy Sacrament to fix and confirm our Christianity on the assurance we find by a lively Faith thus qualified to live ever ready for our call unto Eternal Bliss which may be the next minute and cannot be too often thought on by those who love God and desire his Love on whose free mercy our Eternity depends LXXI WE may flatter our selves with a mistaken belief of Holiness which we have not and we may abuse the World with a disguised shew of Holiness which we know we have not but when Death comes such Vizards vanish and our hearts will be display'd in their true colours to our selves and others So that the best marks for Regenerate men to know themselves by is strictly to observe if they love God with their whole hearts with an universal delight therein that is with thankful hearts to praise his holy Name to fear obey worship and trust in Him with such a lively Faith and clear affection as to be ever ready to forsake all we have in this World and chearfully to breath our Souls into God's bosom when He calls for them And whoever shall obtain this Treasure of Grace to find these marks in himself will have such a proportion of that joy and that glory as will encourage him to persevere in Righteousness until he arrives at God's Eternal Rest where such blessed Souls desire to be who do know no diversions so delightful here on Earth as a daily preparation for Heaven LXXII TO think and try are two small words of great consequence because that man who will not think or dares not think what he has done or what he is doing or what he intends to do is in a sad condition for he can neither confess his sins nor repent nor forsake nor ever hope for a pardon for them while he neither thinks nor trys to learn to think of his Eternity He is past cure without a miracle of mercy for his conversion which is seldom afforded to such stubborn hearts as will not think nor ever try to think seriously of their Salvation before it be too late LXXIII NO Christian in his senses will own to love God's Creatures better then we love Him yet we do it and see it not that is not observe how often and how long we lay God aside to enjoy them for nothing can
to perform our self-denials for us and to raise our Souls to such a selicity here in our Love to God and delight in his worship as will give us a tast of our Eternal Bliss when we shall see and enjoy Him as the Angels in Heaven do XC IT is no wonder to see men very devout in a time of danger sickness or any other afflictions but when the Evils are removed does our gratitude for deliverance justifie our Love to God by future obedience do we in health and prosperity approach God with the same vigour in our Prayers as in our sickness For Souls led by the Spirâ—t of God are alike devout in all changes and we being made whole ought to thank God and to sin no more lest a worsâ— thing come unto us XCI OVr greatest affair in this World is to make ready to go out of it for ever because every moment may be our last here and then how dismal an Eternity are we hasting to if not reconciled unto God before we die this is enough to perswade us to set our hearts on the Love and Service of God who will never let their devout endeavours be lost that seek how to please Him when with sincere affections they prepare to come unto Him XCII WHoever finds that the power of Divine Love with the expectation of Heaven at this distance doth create such joy in his Regenerate heart as doth bring him to delight in a Divine Life also by his frequent conversation with God in humble sincere approaches he will soon grow to such a habit of Holiness as will raise his Faith to foresee some beams of that Coelestial Light which his Soul shall shine in at the Resurrection as a reward of his inward dependance on God here And if thus reconciled and led by the Holy Ghost he shall also find this is a good Antidote to prevent relapses into sin and thus Armed with Divine joy he will be safe from Carnal temptations and will have his Soul full of such Heavenly comforts as will sweeten all afflictions and at last beget such Holy courage as will destroy the sting of Death by living ever ready to die for he that can love God above his creatures will gladly part with them to go to Him XCIII LEt no man boast of his own Righteousness for no man has any but what is given him from God yet let every man rejoyce and be thankful for such Grace as doth sanctifie and enable his Dust and Ashes to become Regenerate and learn so to welcom the Spirit of God in a chearful heart that he may make it Paradise where he is pleas'd to dwell And then that man's natural corruptions will be refined and his Body consecrated into the Temple of God and by this miracle of mercy the most incarnate sinner may become an Angel of Light but not by his own inherent Righteousness but by God's grace and mercy with Christ's Righteousness imparted unto Him XCIV AMongst all the great Lessons we have learnt Holiness is most worthy of our study to search our hearts if we can find there the Gospel-marks of our Election for when God invites us by his Holy Spirit to this sincere enquiry He will direct us by his Divine guiding Light to find and to feel when we have found the treasure that we seek by the comforts that will still grow until they fill our Souls with such Coelestial joy that we cannot miss of nor mistake what we search for to assure our Election for God will not be hid from such as he sees does seek Him with their whole hearts and that do hunger and thirst after Holiness and when we do obtain Grace to discern such marks of our Spiritual Filiation we may in great humility rejoyce and sing Hallelujahs unto God with the Angels in Heaven to shew the highest Adoration our hearts can express in gratitude for such mercy afforded unto men on Earth And by thus entertaining our selves within our selves avoid temptations and set our hearts above the power of all vain objects to divert us from the prime end and felicity of our Christian calling which is our Resurrection from sin to grace as the chief mark of God's favour to assure our reconciliation for Grace accepted and persevered in is the infallible earnest of Glory because Christ has made the Kingdom of Grace here all one with the Kingdom of Glory Which is much talked of by many that prepare not for it because most men in health do think themselves ready to die and do not find they are not until the Bell tolls them to their Graves hoping to jump from Hell to Heaven at once but the ascent is high steep and very hard to climb XCV THough the great art and mystery of self-denial to subdue all carnal appetites is the most difficult part of our Christian calling yet the same Holy Spirit that invites us to it will impower our hearty endeavours by diligence and custom to gain so absolute a Victory over our Tyrant fancies which before enslaved us as will raise our Souls by constant self-denials to much greater Spiritual delights even here on Earth which the Regenerate man can only judge of XCVI A Prayer O Lord prepare my heart to pray and bless me with contrition and repentance proportionable to my sins that my Love and my Obedience may now be as great as my crimes and my neglects have been who never thought on Thee in all my ways nor of my Souls Eternity till now being led by thy Holy Spirit to pray for Grace to set my heart continually on Thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my humble Addresses unto Thee in my retirements by which I can only judge of my new love and gratitude for thus turning of me from mine Iniquities and by this miracle of Mercy and Grace hast snatch'd me up from Hell into this Heavenly prospect of thine Eternal habitation of Glory Lord let these Divine transports in my approaches unto Thee wean me from the World that the remnant of my days may be spent in preparing of my Soul for thy summons to Heaven that the terrors of the Grave may not divert my frail nature from coming with joy unto Thee my God when thou art pleased to call And I beseech thee make this Holy flame burn still brighter and brighter when I draw near to pray that my heart may melt with joy for this my Reconciliation and comfortable hope of Eternal happiness in Heaven and that I may be so strong with Divine valour as to welcom Death that only can conduct me thither XCVII WHen God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom and felicity of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither How great a crime will it then be for such a man to turn Reprobate again after such mercy shewn XCVIII NOthing does ruine more Souls then not frequently examining
and gives sufficient grace accordingly at the hour of Death CXXXIII A Great Reprobate by the Grace of God become Regenerate can experimentally judge how much the felicity of Piety doth exceed his former Epicurisms Men in this World without putting Eternity into the Scales against moments and observes that the continual tranquility of a quiet Conscience is much more pleasant then all his past unlawful Fruitions attended with such Terrors as a guilty Soul is loaded with CXXXIV EVery Pious man that has forsaken his sins for fear to offend God who he pretends to love also does begin well And when God sees his sincerity to obey him in all things He will not let him rest there but adds Faith and Grace till his heart longs for a nearer Communion with Christ in Heaven and by a daily custom of such elevated Meditations God will bring this Pious man to despise this World and to overcome the Terrors of the Grave by his expecâ—ation of Heaven where his Soul longs to be CXXXV WE must not desire to die to be rid of affliction here But if we can obtain Grace for so Divine a Love to God as to be glad to go to Him when He calls for us That will be enough and such holy courage at the hour of death will bring great Joy to our expiring Souls CXXXVI THe Souls of Righteous men are said to be with God the moment they expire But to what degree of Bliss they are admitted before the Resurrection is not revealed unto men But it is enough for us to believe that God takes care of those Souls that served and trusted in Him as well as for his departed Saints We need to desire no more then to be with them CXXXVII THe Design of Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Fasting is to bring us to lead such Pious Lives as may shew our Faith and Love to God And so to divert our hearts from Worldly vanities by constant Meditations on the Ioys of Heaven to invite us thither And also encourage our timerous Souls with grace from above to contemn the Grave where they shall not rest one moment Which if well considered our Holy Resolutions would scorn to fear and shrink back from the last step we must make to take possession of the Crown we seem to labour for which will shew that we have but cold desires to be with God CXXXVIII NO Regenerate man can be mistaken in Gods Service who sets his Hâ—art sincerely to that workâ— for God who sees our hearâ—s throughout will not lose such a Votarrâ— but will Sanctify his zeal and make hâ—m see that an humble contriâ—e heart is the Sacâ—ifice He likes And will shew by his 〈◊〉 of Comfort and Consolation to such a man that his Soul will be transported with Raptures of joy in his Divine Contemplations when he finds such inward assurance of Godâ— favor that he cannot doubt of his Reconciliation when thus enriched with Grace and thus led by the Holy Ghost his devout heart will rise higher with bright flames of Love aspiring to get into Christs bosom CXXXIX WE should in our Meditations often reflect on the unquiet and uncertain wealth and Honours of this World and how unworthy such fleeting fruitions are to be preferred before Eternal felicities that so we may not set our hearts and spend our time on such vain acquisitions when immortal happiness will be had on easier and more certain terms and we surely become the Sons of God CXL THe greatest business of our Lives is to learn to die with holy courage and not to start from the Grave nor repine at such means and methods as our kind God appoints to make us willing to come to Him and by such gentle corrections to withdraw us from the World that our hearts may be always working up towards his Throne of Mercy where Christ has purchased places for converted sinners amongst the Angels and has appointed his Holy Spirit to invite and conduct us thither by his inward comforts which grow from the Gospel-promises and is the Christian Faith that repented sins forsaken shall not be charged on us in this World nor the next which is the foundation of Divine valour in a dying convert CXLI THe generality of mankind are naturally inclined to love those who love them and to judge of Friendship and Hatred by the assisting or crossing our designs in this World and the universal object herein is Death So then we are to consider the real effects of this great Monarchs power that controuls the World and see whether he be a more general Friend or Enemy to mankind For as he cuts down some in their first Buds others in the prime Blossoms of their youth and surprizes many of ripeâ— years by hurrying them into unexpected destruction from such Wealth and Honours as their carnal hearts were most delighted with yet the same Death is kind to the most of men who are oppressed with various sorts of Agonies both of mind and body beyond the cure of the best Remedies until by Death released from all degrees of maladies and miseries Now if all this be well considered we may bring our selves to such an acquaintance with this mighty Monarch Death by a daily conversation and preparation for our submission to his unresistable command so as to rejoyce when we are freed from future evils and by Death conducted to our Eternal Rest. And the same moment that our Souls expire we shall conquer Him who conquers all the World and for ever Triumph over his Victories over us So that 't is our weak Faith and frail Nature that makes Death seem so terrible an Enemy unto unrighteous men only CXLII THe true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy in Heaven only there 't is superinvested with Glory which a Righteous man enjoys that moment he dies without any stop by the way CXLIII THere is nothing more worthy of our continual thoughts our utmost endeavours and hearty prayers then to obtain the Blessedness to become Regenerate For when the Holy Ghost sanctifies the heart of such a man with the comfortable marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption that man will soon find the continual feast of a good conscience while he lives to be more pleasant then all other things which this World affords and at his hour of death the felieity of his Adoption will fill his Soul with holy valour and accompany him to his Everlasting Glory Which joy no mortal fancy can conceive and is the highest works of our strongest Faith to think on and to prepare for CXLIV HE that can upon examination find such comfort in his Soul as to be ever ready and willing to appear at the day of Judgment must be enlightned and guided by the Holy Ghost and sanctified by a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and from all worldly temptations so as his chief delight will be in a Divine conversation with God by frequent approaches for the continuance
labouring to change our conditions still aiming to get what we have not though the last acquisition rarely brings more satisfaction then what we had before Whereas a contented man has all that he desires and enjoys what he has because allotted to him by the Divine Providence who doth chuse better for those that do relie on Him then we can for our selves CLXXXIV WE ought not to repine at crosses nor to murmur at sickness or any other affliction whatever because they are God's Cordial Antidotes to repell the poison of such sins as He sees do use to infect our Souls with malignant diseases such as create a despairing conscience when we die and hazard Eternal Torments in the next World we are therefore to kiss the Rod that works so great a cure and that Hand that smites us in Love to make us fit for his Mercy by repentance and conversion from being great sinners to become his Adopted Sons and so above the venom of future biting afflictions for He only hath perfect peace whose mind is stayed on God the Rock of our Salvation CLXXXV NO man can do all that he should do but all men may do as much as they can do and God requires no more to obtain his Love here and Salvation hereafter But we are naturally so prone to flatter our selves in this point that when we think our hearts most safe we are often surprized by a forsaken sin and shamefully subdued by it For when we make a Covenant with our Eyes and Hearts not to go astray though we cannot hinder the first look or thought that is amiss we may so check them at first appearance as they shall not invade us a second time nor bite on to harm us so that if we do stumble heedlesly we may prevent wilful tumbling into Relapses and wallowing in them for which there is no excuse CLXXXVI IT is worthy of observing how some men by a long customed and settled habit of living ill have so Naturalized their sins to themselves and themselves to the Devil as in time they grow to think it a point of honour and conscience to be constant to that profession and are asham'd to quit Satans black Livery which they prefer before their first engagement to God in Baptism I have heard a Gentleman say that when he had lived many years in great Iniquities it pleased God by a long sickness to beget such remorse in his heart as upon his recovery to become a Convert But for a long time after he did conceal this change as asham'd to practise his conversion by a publick new course of life so much out of fashion and did many times in conversatioâ— seem to like what he liked not to avoid being thought an Hypocrite until he consider'd how much greater a shame it was to serve God in a corner so to smother his highest Act of Mercy towards him in not daring to own the thoughts of his Salvation and how unworthy he was to become an Adopted Son of God while he feared to declare his Hope of so high an Advancement On which account he did take courage to profess his Conversion which he thought not fully to manifest until the hour of his death By which we may see how dangerous it is to run on in habitual sins until we grow ashamed to forsake them CLXXXVII IT is a wonder to consider that mankind should be so universally bred up from our Infancy to study and by laborious callings to imploy our Talents of Sense and Reason in the acquisition of such perishing goods as the World affords and generally so late begin to inform our selves of our Souls intrinsick value being created for a participation of God's Glory when ascended into Heaven how unworthy an exchange then do we make who believe this and yet do violently labour for the short-liv'd vanities and indeed the nothingness of this World in comparison with Eternity at the immense price of our Immortal Souls loss and our Eternal joys in Heaven for everlasting flames in Hell And this because we do not consider that God did not make the World to mock man with fallacious delights in the enjoyment of his Creatures but intended it for our entertainment and diversions in our Journey to Heaven and therefore has given us rational Souls such as by living virtuously we may enjoy the World and Him together and so advance our selves by gratitude and love here to a confirmation of a full â—ruition of Him at the Resurrection Thus if we would sincerely study virtue and set a true value on the perfection of Righteousness we might enjoy this World with double pleasure and have Heaven hereafter with all its Glory also CLXXXVIII WE do mistake nothing in this World more then our pleasures which we do compell our fancies to comply in and do often take more pains to justifie those vanities then any delight we find in such short-liv'd fruitions Whereas if our hearts were set on God and our Souls raised to serious thoughts of our Eternal Bliss such Divine entertainments would grow to a continual feast â—ull of surprizing joys and such Heavenly delights that we should with pain suffer and with remorse endure our vain diversions and lament to see that our Nature does require such frequent relaxes from our most rarified and ratified Devotions CLXXXIX WE cannot want Arguments for Meditation if we call to mind our Christianity that is diligently examine if we do participate of Christs Righteousuess to such a degree that our conversion from sin and our natural corruptions be changed into such an Evangelical habit of Holiness as to manifest our Spiritual Resurrection and Election to our own hearts for then nothing can engage us unto higher gratitude and love then a true sense of so great a benefit received which when seriously considered will mount up our Souls to frequent extasies of blessed Joy by our devout approaches in Adoration of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are all three always working us up to our Salvation Then which nothing can be more worthy of our Meditation and sincere examination that we may be ready for the day of Judgment which no man can be that does not live so as to be chearfully ready to die for it is a much greater business to go out of the World then to live in it CXC NO other man can cozen us so much as we cozen our selves in what we like because we naturally raise fallacious reasonings against true reason to justifie our unlawful desires and do very easily perswade our selves to comply with our most idle fancies and eagerest appetites to what we know is against all Reason and Religion too thinking that our frailty is excuse enough to follow our blind inclinations to evil and do also indulge our aversion to goodness on the same account so long as our endeavours do prosper in wickedness But when we are Thunder-struck by some surprizing affliction then we can begin to think and