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A31893 The art of divine meditation, or, A discourse of the nature, necessity, and excellency thereof with motives to, and rules for the better performance of that most important Christian duty : in several sermons on Gen. 24:63 / by Edmund Calamy ... Calamy, Edmund, 1600-1666. 1680 (1680) Wing C227; ESTC R952 107,034 224

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punishment of loss what a cursed thing it is to be excluded from the presence of God for ever and ever that is one great part of hell to be shut out of Heaven to be shut out from the Beatifical Vision from the glorious presence of God and Christ and the Saints of God 2. You must study poenam census the punishment of sense for the damned are not only shut out of Heaven but they endure endless easless torments you must meditate of the hell-worm and the hell-fire the Scripture speaks of a hell-fire and a hell-worm and of the eternity of the hell-fire and the eternity of the hell-worm Mat. 9. 44 46. Where the worm never dieth and the fire never goeth out What is meant by this worm nothing else but the gnawing of an awakened conscience Oh think of this hell-worm and this hell-fire that you may never come to be so miserable as to be made partakers of it These are the first four things In the next place to give you some more he that would thrive in all godliness and avoid all sin must meditate often of God of Christ of the Holy Ghost and of himself 1. He must meditate of God and that is a rare subject of meditation David saith Psal. 104. 34. My meditation of God shall be sweet 1. Sometimes you must meditate of the Attributes of God of his Eternity a God from everlasting to everlasting You must meditate of his unchangeableness a God in whom there is no shadow of turning You must meditate of his Omnipresence a God that fills Heaven and earth with his presence Of his Essence you must meditate of his Omnipotence a God that is able to do all things nothing is impossible with God You must meditate of his Omniscience a God that knows all things to whom all things are naked You must meditate of his Simplicity and the perfection of his nature of his all-sufficiency and his self-sufficiency here is a sea of matter What rare Christians should we be if we did often and often meditate on these things instead of meditating on vanities and follies 2. You must meditate of the works of God of the work of Creation of the glorious fabrick of Heaven and Earth and you must meditate of the work of Redemption that glorious work of God in sending Jesus Christ into the world this meditation is that which swallows up the Angels and Saints in Heaven You must meditate of the wonderful love of God in giving Christ to become a curse for us You must meditate of the incomparable goodness of God in giving the Son of his love his natural Son to die for his adopted Sons 3. You must meditate in what relation you stand towards God whether you stand in a Covenant-relation to God or no whether you stand reconciled to God or no whether God be your reconciled Father in Christ or no 2. You must meditate upon Christ. 1. You must meditate of the Divine Nature of Christ he is God from everlasting he is coequal coessential coeternal with his Father 2. You must meditate of the humane nature of Christ of God manifested in the flesh of God made man the union of two Natures into one Person 3. You must meditate of the Offices of Christ of the Kingly office the Priestly office the Prophetical office of Christ but more especially you must meditate of the Life the Death the Resurrection the Ascension the Intercession of Christ. 1. You must meditate of the Life of Christ and examine whether thy life be answerable to his life if thou dost not live as Christ lived thou shalt have no benefit in Christs Death and Passion thou must meditate of Christs life to follow the example of his life 2. You must meditate of his Death that is a rare meditation to prepare you for the Sacrament 1. You must meditate what Christ suffered what he suffered when he was in the Garden when he sweat drops of blood and prayed Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Oh the bloody agony that Christ was then in And then you must meditate what Christ suffered when he was upon the Cross when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me When there was darkness for three hours together upon the face of the earth when there was darkness without and darkness within too when there was a withdrawing the light of Gods countenance from Christ. You must meditate what Christ suffered in Pilates Hall when he was whipt scourged buffeted Oh what love to Christ would this kindle in your hearts if you had serious meditation of these things 2. You must meditate for whom Christ suffered all these things for us when we were his enemies us wretched damned creatures not the blessed Angels but us us sinful men 3. You must meditate who he was that suffered all this even Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God 4. You must consider with what love he suffered all this infinite love the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of God in suffering all this for us 5. You must consider what interest you have in Christ crucified whether Christ was crucified effectually for thee or no 3. You must study the Resurrection of Christ. 4. You must study the Ascension of Christ. 5. You must study the Intercession of Christ the sitting of Christ at the right hand of God the Father where he lives for ever to make Intercession for you 3. You must meditate of the Holy Ghost and there are rare things to fill up your thoughts 1. You must meditate of the Divine nature of the Holy Ghost that the Holy Ghost is the third person in the Trinity that the Holy Ghost is God blessed for ever 2. You must meditate of the Office of the Holy Ghost it is the office of the third Person in the Trinity to bring us into the possession of all the Father hath decreed and the Son hath purchased to make us partakers of the decree of the Father and the purchase of the Son 3. You must study the Divine motions of the holy Spirit and we must meditate how often we have quenched the Spirit of Christ how often we have resisted these motions how often we have imbraced these motions 4. You must meditate of the grace of the Spirit this will open a door to a great deal of excellent matter you must meditate of the grace of faith the grace of repentance the grace of love to God and Christ and thy neighbour the grace of fear of God and the grace of humility that is you must meditate whether your faith be a right faith or no whether it be the faith of a Simon Magus or the faith of a Simon Peter whether it be an Historical faith only or a justifying faith and whether your repentance be a true repentance or no and whether your love to Christ be a true love or a counterfeit love 4. You must meditate of your selves 1.
know thy interest in them thou wouldest often think of them or if thou didst love them thou wouldest often think of them or if thou hadst a Heavenly heart thou wouldest often think of them Oh therefore go to Christ and whatsoever you ask in the name of Christ it shall be given unto you 2. I am to set down Rules for the right ordering the materials the subjects that we are to meditate upon And here I shall give you in these four Rules I. Be sure that in the beginning till you come to be acquainted with this duty you pick out easie subjects to meditate upon there are some subjects that are very abstruse and sublime and difficult it is a hard matter for a weak Christian to spend an hour in the meditation of the ineffable and great mystery of the Trinity or in the meditation of the Hypostatical Vnion of the two Natures of Christ in one Person or in the meditation of the Mystical Union between Christ and a Christian. And therefore my advice is that in the beginning of the practice of this rare duty you would pick out easie subjects to meditate upon As for example I should think that it were an easie thing to spend an hour in meditating upon the Attributes of God to meditate of Gods Omnipotence and Gods Omniscience and Gods Omnipresence and the All-sufficiency of God the Everlastingness of God the Eternity of God the Perfections that are in God and so to meditate upon the works of God the work of Creation to meditate what God made the first second third fourth fifth sixth day to meditate on the goodness and mercy of God in creating the great fabrick of Heaven and Earth and to meditate of the work of Redemption to meditate of Iesus Christ of the Divine and humane nature of Christ. I should conceive it were an easie thing especially to you that love Christ to spend a great deal of time in meditation of the love of God in sending Christ to become man and of the love of Christ the mysery of love the miracle of love in God becoming man and to meditate of the life of Christ and the death of Christ what Christ suffered in the Garden when he sweat drops of blood and what he suffered upon the Cross when he cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Of the love of Christ that died for us and of the persons for whom Christ died for us when we were sinners and of the patience and humility of Christ whilst he was dying for us and to meditate of the Resurrection of Christ the Ascension of Christ and the Offices of Christ the Kingly Priestly and Prophetical Office and to meditate of our interest in Christ and how we should do to walk worthy of Christ. I conceive there are few that truly fear God that are so little furnished with spiritual knowledg but are able to spend an hour in meditating upon these things I might add another meditation and that is the meditation of Heaven who is there that hath any thing of Heaven in him that cannot spend an hour in meditating 1. Of the happiness of Heaven in general It is a place where we shall have such joys that eye never saw nor ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of man to conceive it is a place where we shall be crowned with three Crowns a Crown of Life a Crown of Glory a Crown of Righteousness It is an inheritance that hath three Properties which any understanding Christian may spend many years in thinking of An inheritance immortal undefiled and that never fadeth away 2. To meditate of the happiness of Heaven in particular as for example who is there of such a low form of grace that cannot spend time to meditate of the Beatifical Vision what a happiness it will be in Heaven to see God face to face for God is an universal Good all good is in God God is all happiness and therefore he that is admitted to see God sees all happiness in God And then to meditate of the sight of Christ what a rare thing will it be for a poor soul to live for ever in Heaven with Jesus Christ and to behold his face to be with the Lord Christ And then to meditate of the company that we shall have in Heaven to be present with Angels and Archangels with all the Patriarchs and with all the holy men of God that ever have been And then to meditate of the place it self Heaven is the Paradise of God it is the Throne of God it is the first building the highest building the largest building the best building of the Creation of God And then to meditate of the perpetuity of those joys who cannot spend a little time in meditating of the eternity of the joys of Heaven not only the perfection but the perpetuity of them and then to meditate of thy interest in these joys whether thou be'st a person qualified to go to Heaven and then to meditate how thou maist do to get to be qualified to go to that holy place in which no unclean person shall ever enter That is the first Rule 2. I would have you use variety in your Meditation I would not have you always dwell upon one subject the strongest stomack will loath to eat always of one dish and therefore I gave you in several particulars to meditate upon I gave you a large field to walk in and I did this the rather that so you might have matter enough you might not be drawn dry for want of subjects that you might sometimes pick one flower and then another flower and then another flower Variety will much delight a Christian. And truly I would fain have this duty not be a burden to any but a delight to all Sometimes I would have you meditate of the vanity of the world and sometimes of death of the certainty and uncertainty of death and how to be fit for death Sometimes I would have you meditate of the day of Judgment sometimes of Hell sometimes of Heaven sometimes of the sinfulness of sin sometimes of the love of Christ. So I would have you walk in the garden of Divine Meditation from flower to flower that you may take the more delight and content in it The third Rule is this Be sure to pick out such subjects to meditate upon especially which do most of all work compunction in the heart that do most of all stir up holiness and provoke you to godliness and piety Of this kind is the meditation of the Incarnation of Christ the Meditation of the Life and Death and Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. It is a meditation if the Lord bless it that will mightily provoke you to holiness and to piety and to thankfulness so the meditation of death is a sin-mortifying meditation and so the meditation of Heaven and the day of Judgment these are soul-sanctifying meditations So likewise the meditation of the vanity of the