will be in vain To this agrees the Doctrine of that Great Man the Son of Sirach He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body if he touch it again what availeth his washing So it is with a Man that fasteth for his Sins and goeth again and doth the same Who will hear his Prayer or what doth his humbling profit him Ecclus. 34.25 26. One Request now concludes the Preface That they who use this Book and find Benefit by it would not only give Glory to GOD for it to whom alone it wholly belongs But also that they would Remember its unworthy Composer in their daily Prayers especially on the days of their Devout and Solemn Addresses to Heaven ☞ That the plain Reader might meet with no Difficulties to stop or hinder Him in the perusing this Treatise some few things not altogether so obvious and easy as the Rest are taken out of his way by being thrown back in the Quality of Notes to the End of the Book THE Holy Mourner c. CHAPTER I. The Usefulness of our Faculties and Passions What Religious Mourning is Two Sorts of it Publick and Private The two Kinds of Private Mourning with the respective Branches of them AS GOD hath given us a lofty Nature and endued that Nature with excellent Faculties So He designs those Faculties for worthy Ends. He intends them not only for Ornament but Use and by them means to make us better as well as higher than other Creatures Thus He gave us an Understanding that we might know Himself as well as other things A Will that we might chuse our Duty as well as other Advantages A Memory that we may treasure up Divine as well as other Truths that so within our selves we might not only have Matter to entertain our Thoughts profitably but also be competently furnish'd with some good Principles from whence to take the measures of our Practice And if we look more downward into the Frame of our Being we shall see that our Passions tho' much inferior to the mentioned Faculties were contrived by the all-wise GOD Who made them for our very Souls Improvement For when He put them into us it was that they might be instrumental to our heavenly and eternal as well as to our temporal and secular Interests Love for instance He planted in us to fix our Hearts immoveably on Himself and to carry them out in Desires towards Him with all the Force and Vigour and Vehemence which that Sweet and Powerful Principle has Fear to awe our Minds into Seriousness and so to balast them as to keep them steady that they being tossed with no Lightness or Folly we may be kept from all Loosness and Sin Hope to draw us to true Religion and not only to induce us to it but to encourage us in it while lively Expectation of its future Rewards carries us through all its present Difficulties enabling us with Laudable Patience and Zeal to perform both its active and passive Duties Joy to enliven and elevate our Spirits that so besides zealous Patience and Constancy we may persist in our Duties with Alacrity and Pleasure For where Joy intermingles with the Offices of Religion it abates or takes off the uneasiness of them and turns them into real and high Delight To mention no more even Grief it self as mean a Passion as men think it and as bitter and irksome as it seems to be is of singular use to the Sincere Christian and serves him in his best and noblest concerns with an happy Efficacy Tho' to instance in what Particulars it does it would be to anticipate the Matter of this Treatise in the Sequel of which they will Sufficiently appear At present therefore we note but this much That Grief is eminently serviceable to good Christians as it ministers to holy or religious Mourning and is an essential or constituent Part of the same This will be evident if we do but consider what religious Mourning is And that I think may not improperly be thus described It is a blessed Work of the HOLY GHOST whereby we grieve heartily upon some spiritual account It is a work of the HOLY GHOST Nor can it be otherwise For where a plentiful Effusion of HIM is promised we find holy Mourning in the true Church to be an immediate Fruit of it I will pour upon the house of David and upon the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the SPIRIT says GOD Zech. 12.10 And then it follows in the next Verse in that Day there shall be a great Mourning To Mourn as Men is incident to all and indeed inevitable As Nature hath given us Power to do it So our Circumstances give us Occasion enough here in this State of Mortality and Misery But to Mourn as Christians is quite another thing Religious Sorrow grows at no time upon the Stock of mere Nature tho' never so well cultivated by Virtuous Education That no where flows with any laudable Stream but where the HOLY GHOST first opens the Springs He bloweth with His Wind and the Waters flow Psal 147.18 St. Jerom from a literal turns the Text to an Allegorical Sense and by the Wind understands the Spirit of GOD. But then the Waters which by His means flow are no other than those of pious Tears which cannot flow unless He causes them to do it And therefore by the Way we have no Reason to think that divine Comforts are either the Sole or the Chief Indication of the Good SPIRIT 's kind and propitious presence Godly Sorrow is as clear a Symptom and assure a Proof of the HOLY GHOST's resting upon us or residing in us as the most refreshing Joys can be And therefore as humble Acknowledgments should be made to GOD and as hearty Praises rendred to Him for the one as for the other The Cloudy Pillar was as evident a Token of GOD's Providential Care of the Jews and of His special Residence with them as the Pillar of Fire tho' all know it was not so bright a one And tho' the SPIRIT 's Consolations are a more lightsome Sign of His Descent upon us yet holy Mourning must be as plain a Mark of his gracious Presence as being as much an Effect of His favourable Influence And then It is a blessed Work of His. Blessed in the entire Capacity of it For as it is wrought in us by a blessed Cause the breathing of this Glorious SPIRIT we speak of and as it is of a blessed Nature being a lamenting of our Wandrings from and Actings against the Laws and Interests of Righteousness So it hath a most blessed Tendency For it tends directly to the purging our of Sin to the purifying of the Soul to the making us upright and holy upon Earth and happy in the Kingdom of Heaven for ever We farther describe it to be a Grieving heartily As there can be no Mourning where there is no Grieving so on the other side where the Mourning is holy the Grief will be hearty There are two
thus Self-recompens'd And when these its natural in-bred Satisfactions are raised and strengthen'd by those adventitious ones which the HOLY GHOST derives unto us its Reward must needs be exceeding great I confess indeed which does not diminish but rather greaten the Reward we speak of that to set forth these Comforts in their genuine Sweetness is not possible As hath been said already more than once there is no expressing them to the heighth All that hath been spoken by me and all that can be spoken by others will amount at best but to a dark and dim to an imperfect and injurious representation of them Yet to speak of these Comforts and the Pleasures of them being very delightful as well as to enjoy them forgive me if I add what follows concerning them They are the Wealth of the Poor and the Happiness of the Rich the Light of the Blind and the Music of the Deaf the Glory of the Obscure and the Crown of the Honourable The Solace of the Young and the Support of the Old the Strength of the Weak and the Cordial of the Sick and the Joy of all pure and sanctifi'd Minds And besides that they fill us with Solid Joys they enrich us with many Substantial Benefits They elevate our Thoughts and they open our Eyes and they help us to discover the Dignity of our Nature by our very capacity of enjoying such delights They convince us there is a GOD by an Argument from inward Sense and demonstrate His Existence by His affecting Influence as the Sun is prov'd to shine by his chearing Beams They do not only assure us that there is a DEITY but they induce us to love Him and they entice us to obey Him and they make the Duties we owe Him to be as easy and pleasant as they are useful and excellent At the same time and by the same Strengths that they enable us to serve and honour GOD they impower us effectually to resist the Devil to despise the World to crucify the Flesh and to deny our selves And as they help us to eschew Moral Evils with Diligence so likewise to endure afflictive ones with Patience And from hating and declining all Evil things they carry us on to the practice of every thing that is Good And so by assisting us to live righteously in the World they dispose and fit us to dye piously and chearfully These are a few of those many Advantages which Comforts from Heaven and the pleasures of them derive unto us But he that undertakes to recite them all may task himself in the next place to tell over the Stars or to sum up the Sands on the Sea-shore or to count the number of those busie Atoms which dance unweariedly in the Sun-shine They are too numerous for Calculation But then that Religion which is fraught with such Comforts as lead to such Pleasures and conduce to such Benefits can never be empty of competent Rewards And yet these Benefits Pleasures and Comforts do all abound to the unfeigned and active Professors of Christianity Were there any thing in the entire Body of it any one thing in all the Whole Systeme of its various Duties Inconsistent with these its remunerative Comforts in likelihood it should be Mourning as being one would think most opposite to Joy Yet Holy Mourning is so far from being inconsistent with or destructive to the Christians Comforts that it never damps them in the least so far from damping them that as we have shewed it is Fuel for them and helps to kindle and inflame them For any to talk therefore that the Christian Religion which is so marvelously encourag'd at present and even by Mourning is a vain and empty and rewardless thing it but to slander that and disparage themselves And as many amongst us as are so unadvised I heartily wish happier in a better Experience which may rectify their Mistake and capacitate them to give a truer Judgment in the case Two Words more shall now close up this Chapter The one I direct to loose and careless Christians the other to such as are strict and circumspect To the Careless and Dissolute I have this to say Be not enemies to your selves 'T is too too much to be Enemies to GOD be not Enemies to your own Happiness also Yet such you are and must be so long as you are cold and careless in Religion For so long you exclude your selves from that Felicity which is prepar'd for the Zealous and promised to them That I may see the felicity of thy chosen and rejoyce in the Gladness of thy People So we read Psal 106.5 Whence it is manifest that GOD's chosen People have a peculiar Felicity belonging to them and that this Felicity consists in Joy and Gladness Why then do you barr your selves from the fruition of it What makes you so indiscreet as to slight or overlook so valuable a Privilege Alas without any long Inquiry we may easily find out the Reason of the Folly and it is this You are so taken with low and sensual Pleasures that you have no concern for those that are spiritual So intent upon mean and secular Delights that your Minds are drawn off from such as are divine O unwise and preposterous course Men are Lovers of Pleasures more than Lovers of GOD when the Love of GOD which is the Top of Religion contains the truest and the sweetest Pleasures Yea the only Pleasures which are fit for their Souls and adequate to them and so alone able to render them blessed now and for ever Is it possible that Creatures indu'd with Reason should be so inconsiderate That they should throw away the Kernel to keep the Shell and preferr the Shadow before the Substance Strange to think yet thus it is Even the dimmest Eye which sees any thing may discern this that loose Religionists are devoted to Pleasures Yea without dissembling or mincing the matter they are too eagerly bent and set upon them Touching many of them it is obvious enough to every ones Notice that their Thoughts and their Studies their Wits and their Arts their Cares and their Pains are imployed chiefly for their Pleasures For Inventing that is or for Procuring them or else for Preserving or Promoting of them Their Time they waste in following them their Strengths in injoying them and count nothing too much for continuing and inhancing them When they project and labour to increase their Wealth to inlarge their Knowledge to advance their Power Honour or the like what do they aim at in the ultimate Scope of their Intentions but to heighten their Pleasures For were they pleased as highly with the Things that they have or with the Circumstances they are in why should they desire or why should they endeavour to alter either But Pleasures they must have at any Rate and to their Pleasures they will add whatever it costs them And which is very deplorable not only their Time their Estates and their Strength but their
being the third Branch of that Blessedness which rises from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They are a Seal of our Assurance Which Assurance makes Religion very easy to us and Us zealous in That Which again strengthens Assurance AS there is nothing more excellent than true Religion in its Nature so of all things it leads to the most incomparable Ends. For besides that it here renews us in our Minds and Spirits and transforms us into the beauteous Image of GOD it fits us by degrees for immense Joys above and translates us at last into the glorious Felicities of the eternal World And then over and above these admirable principal Ends of it there are many collateral or by-Advantages to which it serves and of these Assurance is one of special Note and Worth I mean Assurance of our Pardon here and of future Happiness in the Everlasting State That there is such a Thing may fairly be inferr'd from the Intimations of it given us from Heaven Some think they meet with it in 2 Pet. 1.10 But there we have only a Command to make our Calling and Election sure To be so careful and diligent in the business of Religion as that the Call GOD hath given us to Righteousness and Salvation may prove effectual and that we may be found in the event to be of the Number of those choice Persons that are dear to Himself and shall enjoy Him for ever This Text therefore whatever it may seem to do meddles not with the Assurance we are speaking to There is great Difference between our Callings and Elections being made sure and our being sure that they are so Even as much as there is between * Certitudo objecti the certain being of a Thing and †Certitudo subjecti a man's certain perswasion that it is One may have a very good Title to an Estate and yet not know it and one may have Right to Heaven and not be sensible of it And so tho' his Calling and Election be really sure in themselves yet he may not be sure that they are so But S. Peter however some have mistaken him saying nothing of Assurance in the place cited for it makes not the least mention of it we must look farther if we would see Scripture assert it Assurance has been too much mistaken by some while they have made it a Sign of Grace when at the same time they have lived in a state of Sin But we suppose it an Effect of true Grace and a concomitant of Holiness And First the great Evangelical Prophet points at it Isai 32.17 The Work of righteousness shall be Peace and the Effect of righteousness Quietness and assurance for ever Here unto the Righteous three most rich and invaluable Mercies are promised one in Gradation or point of Dignity rising above the other The first is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Peace which includes all outward Prosperity The second is †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quietness that is inward Tranquility Else the adding of that Word to the former would have made but an indecent Tautology The third is †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Assurance Assurance that is of GOD's Love or Favour For it is an Assurance for ever And bating the unchangeable Love of GOD of what else can we be so assured But being once well assured of the ALMIGHTY's Kindness we may remain so to Eternity nothing but our unworthy selves can ever extinguish it and deprive us of it A Second Text to our purpose occurrs Heb. 6.11 There we read of the full assurance of Hope Which Words do not only assert Assurance but in some measure explain the Nature or Notion of it For as they grant there is Assurance and full Assurance so at the same time they allow it to be but * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a full Assurance of Hope So that when we advance to the highest strongest and fullest Persuasion Certainty or Assurance of the Pardon of our Sins and of the Salvation of our Souls still all amounts but to a confident lively and well-grounded Hope And so it is as much as Isaiah's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above which Montanus renders Fiducia Assurance And That Martinius describes thus †Est spes roborata ex aliqua firma opinione Vid Lexic Philologic in vocabulum Fiducia It is Hope strengthned by some firm Opinion They that would rise higher in Assurance than thus must go out of this World and go into Heaven And there as Faith shall be converted to blessed Vision So Hope shall be turned into actual Fruition But tho' it be impossible that Assurance here should be raised higher than a full Persuasion or Certitude of Hope yet divine Comforts do strangely quicken and invigorate it When they at any time come upon this Assurance or back and second it in way of Accession or Addition to it like the Broad Seal upon a Royal Patent they throughly ratify it And therefore indeed I call them the Seal of Assurance For as a Seal confirms the Deeds to which it is put so Comforts supervenient to Christians Assurance are a means to make it more sound and unquestionable Whoever are happy in the sweet Plerophory or full Assurance we speak of when their Comforts come they stamp it for Current or Legitimate And no marvel they should when they really bring with them an ante-tast of Heaven it self and are those very Joys in a lower Degree which shall crown the Saints in the State of their Felicity And as these Comforts thus prove or evidence our Assurance to be genuine so if any Discomposures chance to befall it or any Interruptions or Breaches happen in it they are useful to redintegrate or make it whole again For as highly pleasing as this Assurance is and as loth as Christians should be to part with it upon that Account it may yet be diminisht and miserably destroyed by their own Follies Tho' it be never so well settled it may be convuls'd and shaken by their Sins of Infirmity yea disjointed and shattered by their Sins of Presumption But then to the Restoration and Re-establishment of it holy Comforts contribute in both Cases First In case it be weakened by Sins of Infirmity Good Christians that have pure Minds have also nice and tender Consciences And those Failures which are little to others and seem as light as Feathers to them are great and heavy and troublesome They lie upon them as Ponderous Loads and the Pressures of them are very uneasy The Darkness of their Understandings the Crookedness of their Wills the Violence of their Appetites the Turbulency of their Passions the Weakness of their Virtues the Shortness of their Attainments the Slightness of their Performances things which slip the Notice or are little observed by most in the World to them are extreamly grievous and afflictive They ruffle their Minds and disturb their Thoughts and discompose their Spirits and disorder their Judgments insomuch
these Comforts being procurable by Holy Mourning what good Man who considers it well would not set Himself to Mourn that so he may be comforted and thus assured O Christian is not Assurance a most desirable is it not a most invaluable Blessing They that injoy it are too happy to have their Felicity describ'd tho' these may be some faint or imperfect Hints of it They are raised in their Minds they are generous in their Thoughts they are lofty in their Desires they are chearful in their Spirits they are even in their Tempers they are sweet in their Dispositions they are pleasing in their Converse they are innocent in their Carriage they are pure in their Intentions they are upright in their Proceedings And if we pass a little higher I mean from their civil to their religious Capacities and observe them there we shall find them as laudable in divine Accomplishments For how strong are they in Faith How joyful through Hope How full of Fear and Love to GOD and of Kindness and Charity to all Men How confident are they in Devotions How unconcern'd in Dangers How patient in Sufferings How invincible in Troubles How fearless and resigned as to Death How firm in Believing how chearful in Expecting how constant in Looking how earnest in Wishing how eager in Longing for the eternal Judgment In one word innumerable are the Benefits of this Assurance as well as inestimable Let me name but two more and insist a little upon them It makes Religion very easy to us and us to be very zealous in that First It makes Religion very easy to us The Stronger he that labours is the less irksom are his Works And the more we are strengthned * Eph 3.16 in the inner Man the less difficult will our Spiritual Exercises be Now Assurance corroborates us within It warms our Affections with an holy Vigour and an heavenly Sprightliness and so making us †Eph. 6.10 strong in the LORD and in the Power of his Might does greatly facilitate Religion to us It is not the weight of things that makes them hard to be born so we have but strength proportionable to bear them The Posts and Gates and Barrs of a City were nothing for a Sampson to take upon his Shoulders and to carry them away even to the Top of an Hill Assurance turns us into Spiritual Sampsons If we were Children before it makes us Men and if we were Men it makes us Giants It fills us with such noble Heat as raises our Strengths up to our Tasks and apportions our Abilities to our Imployments And then the weightiest Duties which lie upon our Hands become not only practicable but delightful and the serious and constant performance of them turns into the truest and most entertaining Pleasure of our whole Life And who would not purchase such a pleasure at the price of Mourning O the dull and weary Pace that many walk in the ways of Duty O the black and dismal Accusations wherewith they charge them O the grievous and bitter Complaints which they make against them CHRIST's easy Yoke galls their Necks and his light Burthen breaks their Backs and they are ready to cry out they know not how to endure them I cannot Believe I cannot Hope I cannot Pray I cannot be Meek I cannot be Humble I cannot be Patient When the Devil tempts I know I should resist Him when the World flatters I know I should despise it when the Flesh entices I know I should deny it but I cannot alas I am not able to do it This is the comfortless language of Thousands and thus with Sorrow in their Hearts and with Tears in their Eyes they bewail the Hardness of their incumbent Duties But now would such as these but change the Scene a little which they act in and turn their pensive into pious Mourning the Torrent of their Grief would soon be stopped and the Fountain of their Lamentation dried up For the Difficulties in Religion would quickly disband and the things they complain of as toilsome and troublesome would be matter of Ease and Satisfaction to them And can we stick at Mourning or any other Performance to bring this about Think O Christians and consider well with your selves Will it not be an happy a most happy Case when our Duties shall be turned into high Divertisements and divine Recreation When it shall be our Meat and Drink to do the Will of our heavenly Father When our Minds shall always be inclin'd towards Heaven and our Hearts be sweetly affected with Religion When we shall freely yield up our selves to the Government of our LORD and chearfully follow the Conduct of His SPIRIT When abhorring all treacherous Delights of Sin we shall devote our selves to the Love and Service of GOD studying His Will and rejoycing to obey it Consider wisely I say and then speak if this will not be a most blessed Condition Yet be but persuaded to be Holy Mourners and ye shall be some of these Blessed Creatures Then ye shall heartily choose the ways of Righteousness and run on in them with little Pains and ascend to Heaven with a great deal of Ease For then ye shall be strong in Faith and lively in Hope and fervent in Love and fit to Pray and swift to Hear and ready to Practise and all the Parts of Evangelical Obedience shall be but matter of Complacence to you Let all that are good Remember this and by it be induc'd to what I urge Would we not be glad to have our Duties naturalized and made easy Would we not be glad to act GOD's Will with as much Readiness and Alacrity as ever we did Satan's or our own Would it not Rejoyce us and Rejoyce us exceedingly to see all those huge and mountainous Difficulties over which we thought we should never be able to climb quite levell'd and made plain before us and so plain as to be pleasant to us Yet by Religious Mourning may this be done For that makes way for holy Comforts and They will bring on heavenly Assurance the certain Cause of this desirable Effect Secondly The same Assurance which makes Religion easy to us will make US zealous in that They who labour for uncertain Wages want the chief Motive to Diligence and so may well be cold in their Work GOD therefore to banish all Chilness out of us in His Service hath set a most incomparable Recompence before us And as the sight of that Reward if beheld with fixt and unprejudiced Eyes is enough to cure Lukewarmness so Assurance of it is enough to inflame our Zeal in the ways of Godliness What can we believe that GOD is our Father that CHRIST is our REDEEMER and that the HOLY GHOST is our constant appointed COMFORTER Can we believe fiducially that we have GOD's Graces to sanctify us His Power to guard us His Laws to guide us and His Providence to take care of us Can we firmly believe that we are happily related to
the adorable TRINITY that Heaven is ours even to Eternity and that Death it self as formidable an Evil as many think it is but the Term of our Misery and a safe Passage into blessed Immortality Can we stedfastly believe that we shall one day shine as bright as the Sun and dwell above as high as the Stars and become as pure and glorious as the Angels and be made as blessed as our Hearts can wish Can we thus believe I say and be competently assured of all this and not be zealous in the Works of GOD That 's impossible as it is for Combustibles to lie in the Fire and not be burnt Yet Mourning brings on this Faith and Assurance O let us mourn then let us mourn Religiously that so we may be comforted and so comforted as to be thus assured Then our Assurance will elevate our Zeal and our Zeal will exalt us in the Practice of Righteousness Exalt us to such an extraordinary Pitch as that we shall not only be Good our selves but rarely exemplary unto others For it will make us to be Lambs in the midst of Wolves and Doves in the midst of Vultures It will make us Saints in this World of Sinners and while we are but Men will make us live like Angels It will make us shine like Lights to all about us and cause us to shame their baseness by our purity and brightness And tho' we cannot change the Hearts of the dissolute yet it will help us to dazle their Eyes I mean by the beauteous Lustre of our Innocent Behaviour and the sparkling Glories of an uniform Righteousness I add but this As Assurance helps to beget Zeal so Zeal again helps to strengthen Assurance as being one of the best and most evident Tokens of religious Sincerity If a Man Hears and Speaks and Breathes and Moves we may be sure he is alive these are undeniable Symptoms of that So if we hear GOD in His Word and speak to Him in Prayer and breathe after Him in Desires and bestir our selves in His Service and do all this with zealous Diligence here 's abundant Proof of Spiritual Life in us And one main Reason why People are generally so full of Doubts and so much in the Dark as to their own Sincerity and Salvation is their want of fervent Zeal in Duty Did that but burn in their Souls as it should it would yield such a clear and convincing Light as that by it they might easily discern their Integrity and be well assured of their Approaching Happiness Let as many therefore as would be blessed upon Earth mourn piously considering what this Chapter says For by so doing they shall be greatly comforted and by their Comforts their Assurance shall be sealed Which being done Religion shall become very easy to them and they shall become very zealous in that and so shall be more Assured and Blessed still CHAP. XI A Seventh Motive to Mourning in General being the Fourth Branch of that Blessedness which rises from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They support us in Afflictions Which are incident to all tho' mostly to the Righteous Good Christians need not fear Afflictions Tho' others are unhappy under them TRue are the Words of the Son of Sirach * Ecclus. 40.1 3 4.5 6. Great Travel is created for every Man and an heavy Yoke is upon the Sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their Mothers Womb till the day that they return to the Mother of all things Even from him that sitteth on a Throne of Glory unto him that is humbled in Earth and Ashes from him that weareth Purple and a Crown unto him that is clothed with a Linnen Frock there is Trouble and unquietness and little or nothing is his Rest But then how inconceivably Good is our Gracious GOD For as He rais'd and rankt us high at first in the Classis or Order of the animal Creation by induing Man with a reasonable Nature and making Him Head of this Sublunary World So He hath taken great care of that excellent Being wherewith He honoured us even now since Man unworthily debas'd it and shamefully ruin'd it and brought many grievous Necessities upon it Thus as He hath prepared heavenly Graces to help our pitiable Weaknesses and Infirmities So He hath provided holy Comforts to sustain us in our various Sufferings and Afflictions And these supporting Comforts in good People is the next piece of Blessedness which we are to consider In case we think but what we are and where we live that we are Men and that we dwell upon the Earth we shall soon be convinc'd that we are exposed to Miseries and that they will inevitably fall upon us And therefore Job laid it down as a certain Aphorism which he had found most true by sad Experience as well as Observation that * Job 14.1 Man born of a Woman is full of Trouble So far from being empty or void of Miseries that he is brim-full of those bitter Waters These are Streams that flow through the whole course of Mans Life They begin to spring at His Birth and he must wade through them to his Grave He is born crying and he dieth sighing he takes his Life and he leaves His Breath with a Sorrowful Accent And so common is this Evil that none indeed can be exempted from it 'T is a general Infelicity upon all Mankind Yea ever since the Fall Trouble seems to be complicated or twisted with our very constitution 'T is so inseparable from us that I had almost called it a Property of our Being wherewith it is signifi'd to be naturally coincident Job 5.7 Man is born to trouble as the Sparks fly upward As if it were not more natural for Sparks to ascend than for Man to be afflicted And if Men as Men be subject to Afflictions then if they be good and pious Men their Afflictions must be numerous For Goodness and Religion soften Mens nature and makes them tender and passive and so apt to be struck with spiritual Evils that produce such pungent Troubles as the ungodly are wholly unacquainted with and by reason of the hardness of their Hearts and the Deadness of their Consciences can in no measure be sensible of And then the same Goodness and Religion heighten Mens Relations to GOD and to His People and the more nearly at any time they are related to both the more passionately concern'd will they be for either when Injuries or Indignities which fall under their Notice are thrown upon them Yea according to the Spirit and Temper and Law of their Religion they are solicitous for the welfare of their worst enemies and deeply affected with their misfortunes and miscarriages especially with their sins and the grievous Dangers to which they expose them And thus Afflictions must needs be multipli'd and much increased to the Religious while they are made obnoxious to many troubles which others are ignorant and incapable of and while by virtue of
to GOD and baneful unto us That they expose us at once to temporal Miseries spiritual Judgments and eternal Punishments And therefore in this Ordinance we earnestly beg that GOD's SPIRIT and Grace and Power and Providence may rescue us from Sin and secure us against it for the time to come as well as that His Mercy may Pardon what is past And when to GOD ALMIGHTY in the Presence of His Angels we make such humble Acknowledgments and importunate Requests and that deliberately and devoutly publicly and privately daily and continually if then we still run on in Sin we must needs go against a very clear Light A Light so bright and strong as will not fail to turn into fire Either into the fire of Repentance and Zeal or into that of a tormenting Conscience The latter of which if we do not extinguish it while we live when we dye will turn to those unquenchable Flames which will burn us for ever but not consume us 3ly We have sinned against the Sacrament of the LORD's Supper This methinks sends forth such Beams of Light as should quite turn our Eyes from looking after Impiety For it shows as much terror to Sinners as can be exhibited by showing as much severity against Sin as can be expressed For here we see the Body of the SON of GOD by bearing our Sins on the Tree broken and His precious Bloud for the Remission of our Sins shed And can Men or Angels or GOD Himself invent a mightier Discouragement from Sin Yet we have not only sinned under this Discouragement but directly against it even against this very Ordinance For either we have not come at it at all or else not so frequently as we might or else not so worthily as we ought Now is not this a monstrous Aggravation of our sinfulness thus to sin against the Light of Ordinances I know not what to say to it nor yet to them that are guilty of it better than this Beg of GOD to give you true Repentance for your great Offences that ye may never relapse into the same Sixthly We have sinned against the Light of Examples Examples are of two sorts Active and Passive By Active Examples I mean the Examples of such as have been noted for doing their Duties By Passive ones such as have been remarkable in suffering from GOD for Disobedience Plenty of both Occurrs in Scripture and afford considerable Lights respectively Active Examples yield a Light of Encouragement to invite and draw us to things that are worthy Passive Examples a Light of Determent to estrange and beat us off from unlawful Practices Both I say are set down in the sacred Books to these very Purposes That they recommend Active Examples to us to the End aforesaid is evident Isai 51.3 Look unto Abraham your Father and unto Sarah that bare you for I called Him alone and blessed him and increased him So that Examples of Piety and of GOD's Blessing upon them that practise it are notified in the holy Volume that we may look at them and be influenc'd by them And the same is true of Passive Examples as appears 1 Cor. 10.6 Now these things were our Examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted Which being spoken of the Israelites who perished in the Wilderness for their high Provocations plainly shows that Examples of Lewdness and of GOD's severe Judgments upon the Impious are filed up by Heaven as Warnings to us As awful Warnings to keep us from rushing into those Sins which have ruined others But then lo another sad Aggravation of our sinfulness that we have sinned against both these kinds of Examples at once 1st Against the Light of Active Examples Thus as many of us as have been incredulous or unbelieving have sinned against the Light of Abraham's Example who against hope believed in hope As many as have been Fierce and Choleric and guilty of causeless or excessive Anger have sinned against the Light of Moses's Example who was of a most quiet and gentle Temper and for * Numb 12.13 meekness incomparable As many as have been peevish and sullen murmuring and discontented under Troubles and Afflictions have sinned against the Light of Job's Example Who did not only bear his Adversities with Patience but with great †Job 1.21 Thankfulness As many as have wronged oppressed or defrauded their Brethren have sinned against the Light of Samuel's Example Who tho' he was great in Power was of equal Integrity For when he resign'd the Government of Israel to Saul he declar'd he had never been injurious to any and justifi'd the honourable Declaration he made by a public ‖ 1 Sam. 12.3 Appeal to GOD the King and the People at once As many as have absented from the Worship of GOD and neglected to attend the Duties of His House have sinned against the Light of Anna's Example who notwithstanding the Infirmities of extreme Age as being about fourscore and four years old * departed not from the Temple but served GOD with Fasting and Prayers night and day As many as have not educated their Children piously and instructed their Servants virtuously and taught their Families religiously injoining them to love and fear and worship GOD have sinned against the Light of his Example who was the Father of the Faithful Of whom the HOLY GHOST hath thus pronounced I know him that he will * command his Children and his Houshold after him and they shall keep the way of the LORD As many as have fallen into any known and presumptuous Crime and have not been troubled at it and afflicted for it and cut and wounded to the heart by it and by sincere Repentance raised out of it have sinned against the Light of many famous Examples as of Sampson David Manasseh S. Peter S. Paul Mary Magdalen c. who being hainous and notorious Offenders became as humble and hearty Penitents As many as have been defective in Duty and short of GOD's Glory by not walking up to the Rules of the Gospel and the Laws of that excellent Religion we profess have sinned against the Light of those memorable Examples which they have set us who stand upon record for strict and zealous Worshippers of the DEITY and fervent Lovers of the Adorable LORD JESUS Yea we have sinned against JESUS's own Example who as He came to do his FATHER's Will so He did it most fully and faithfully and therein was a great and glorious Pattern to His whole Church obliging every true Member of the same to a laudable Imitation of Himself Now such eminent Active Examples as these being fairly entred in the sacred Register on purpose that we might view and imitate them for us to sin against the Light of obedience which they afford must needs be a Monstrous Aggravation of our sinfulness and in the Days of our Repentance or sorrow for Sin ought to be Remembred with much Bitterness 2ly We have sinned against the
ruin to both But now that which intollerably aggravates our Guilt is that we have sinned against this Wondrous Love All its Flames have not consum'd our Dross all its heat hath not melted us into Obedience to that gracious GOD who loved us so exceedingly Nay we have wretchedly made this Love of His an occasion of sinning against His MAJESTY and have done amiss with more freedom and frequency because His Love abounded towards us Our Surety was able to pay our Debts and therefore we cared not how far we ran on in the Score We valu'd not stabbing our precious Souls because we had a Sovereign Medicine at hand to heal the Wounds We have made CHRIST's Death a Patent for Licentiousness and have been the more ready to offend GOD because he gave his SON to die for our Offences The biggest Aggravation of Baseness that can be It lifts up our Guilt above that of Devils the worst of which never rebelled against Redeeming Love nor committed one sin against a crucify'd LORD who laid down his Life for their Salvation A most sad consideration and did we but keep our Minds close to it and dwell upon it in serious and compos'd Reflections methinks we should need no better suasive to Mourning for our own and the Nation 's Sins Yet here we may advance a little farther some of us at least and fitly think that we have sinned against the Love of our best Friends Our truest Friends are most concern'd for our greatest Interests They look chiefly at the Dispositions and habits of our Minds and are anxious and solicitous for the welfare of our Souls With a watchful eye and a yearning heart they mark and observe us in our Spiritual relations and capacities how we carry our selves towards GOD how we are affected with Religion how we are furnisht with Christian Perfections how well prepared we are to die and how well provided to live for ever And if they find us defective in these Accomplishments it becomes an occasion of sadness to them and sinks them down into Grief and Misery A famous instance and pattern of this was the rarely virtuous and renowned Monica Mother of St. Augustine When he was young and vain and loose in his Manners this pious Matron laid his Extravagancies deeply to heart and night and day lamented his wild and exorbitant life And this may be the case of our Real Friends and at such a rate they may be afflicted for some of us They may pine at our Wickedness and pray for our Repentance and sigh and sorrow to behold our stubborness and strange Perverseness While we with delight and brutish complacence dishonour GOD and destroy our selves they may be almost overwhelm'd with sadness at the sight of our Prophaness and the sense of our Debauchery Let us think upon this and learn to mourn for our own Sins that have been so offensive to our choicest Friends They could no way shew truer never shew greater kindness to us But then the singular Cordial Affection on their side grievously aggravates the sins on ours and that aggravation should still raise our sorrow and encrease holy Mourning If thou that readest this knowest it thy case if thou knowest that thy sins afflict thy best Friends I have this Caveat to leave with thee Take heed of abusing their affectionate Tenderness There 's too much ill Principle in thy Proceedings already do not superadd ill nature to it If sin hath eat out all sense of Religion yet surely thou hast somewhat of humanity left something of common civility in thee especially to kindest Friends and Relatives Cease to sin then in respect to them who manifest such pious compassion to thee lest thou shortnest their Lives and sendest them sorrowing to their Graves O it is a rich and invaluable mercy to dissolute Persons that they have such Friends as these I speak of Friends that can weep over their provoking miscarriages and with plenty of powerful Tears and Prayers intercede to the Merciful GOD for them But let none of these sinners be so unkind and ingrateful and unhappy too as by obstinate persistence in a course of unrighteousness to break the hearts of these incomparable Friends and so deprive themselves of an inestimable Blessing CHAP. XXIV The Third Aggravation of our own and others Sins considered as the Third suasive to mourning for the same We have sinned in a most shameful manner NOW follows the last Aggravation of our sinfulness which as it is very heinous should be as affecting to us We have sinned in a most shameful manner Light could not controll nor could Love restrain us we sinned under and against them both But which adds to our Guilt and renders it much more grievous still we have sinned withal most hideously or shamefully This will appear if we will consider these Four things 1. The nature and malignity of our Sins 2. The multiplicity or variety of them 3. The repetition or frequency of them 4. Our boldness or impudence in Sinning First Our Sins are of an high Nature or Malignity As if Sins of a lower Quality or lesser Rate would not throw us fast or far enough out of GOD's Favour or sink us down deep enough into His Displeasure we have been forward to those of a worser sort and of a larger size Sinful Thoughts and sinful Words would not content us we have broken out into sinful Actions and in actual sins we have exceeded For sins of incogitancy or inadvertency would not serve us we have run into sins of Deliberation Sins of omission or neglect would not satisfie us we have plunged into sins of commission Sins of infirmity or weakness could not bound us we have rushed into sins of Presumption And all these high Acts of sin have not been of the least kinds of Sins neither For if we look narrowly into our Transgressions perhaps we shall find them of a fouler nature of a blacker stain and of a deeper Die than we are aware Yea think what sins are most odious to GOD and flagitious in themselves and these I fear will appear to have been ours in too great measure if we throughly examine our Spiritual state Secondly Our Sins are multiform and various They are not all of one sort but of several kinds According to the Character of the Impious Psal 69.27 we have fallen from one wickedness to another or have added iniquity to iniquity To Sins against GOD we added Sins against our Neighbours and to Sins against them Sins against our selves if we distinguish them according to the Object And if diversified according to other circumstances as Time and Place and Providence c. we have sinned in our Youth and in our riper years secretly and openly by our selves and with others Against Mercies and against Judgments c. But lest in diversifying sin I should here run out into too large a Series of Particulars instead of going farther I refer the Reader to those brief * See them under
with the respective Branches of them Page 1. CHAP. II. Public Mourning when to be used By whom to be appointed The Practice of it ancient It s great Success noted in the Ninevites which encourages us to it when injoined p. 9. CHAP. III. Of Private Mourning as it relates to others and to our selves p. 15. CHAP. IV. What Solemn Mourning in private is It s principal Concomitants these seven Tears Prayer Fasting Alms-deeds Set-times free Forgiveness and select Associates p. 21. CHAP. V. Two Motives to holy Mourning in general It is a Christian Duty and a Duty most acceptable unto GOD. Its Acceptableness manifested in four Particulars p. 34. CHAP. VI. A Third Motive to holy Mourning in General It intitles us to divine Comforts in this Life As appears from the Nature of GOD from the Word the Office and the Disposition of CHRIST and from the Mission of the HOLY GHOST p. 47. CHAP. VII A Fourth Motive to Mourning in General the present divine Comforts which attend it yield Blessedness Four beatifying Properties of them they are Sweet Glorious Strong and Secure Which contain the first Branch of holy Mourners Beatitude p. 60. CHAP. VIII An apologetic Inference from the Doctrine in the foregoing Chapter clearing Christianity from the Aspersion of Unprofitableness With Advice to careless and circumspect Christians p. 76. CHAP. IX A Fifth Motive to Mourning in General being the Second Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts that attend it They confirm us in Religion by sweetning it to us at the beginning and by encouraging us in the Duties of it ever after p. 92. CHAP. X. A Sixth Motive to Mourning in General being the Third Branch of that Blessedness which rises from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They are a Seal of our Assurance Which Assurance makes Religion very easy to us and us zealous in that Which again strengthens Assurance p. 107. CHAP. XI A Seventh Motive to Mourning in General being the Fourth Branch of that Blessedness which rises from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They support us in Afflictions Which are incident to all tho' mostly to the Righteous Good Christians need not fear Afflictions tho' others are unhappy under them p. 122. CHAP. XII The Eighth Motive to Mourning in General being the Fifth Branch of that Blessedness which rises from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They fortify us against Temptations How divine Comforts do that p. 135. CHAP. XIII The Ninth Motive to Mourning in General being the Sixth Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Holy Mourning They animate us against the Fear of Death and instead of dreading make us Desire it p. 145. CHAP. XIV The Tenth Motive to Mourning in General being the Seventh Branch of that Blessedness which springs from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They sweeten our Life by conducing to our Health and by bettering the Temper of our Minds as well as the Habit of our Bodies p. 164. CHAP. XV. The Eleventh Motive to Mourning in General being the Eighth Branch of that Blessedness which springs up from the Comforts annexed to Mourning They supply us with noblest Delights in this Life when those that are less generous fail and forsake us Which they do by acquainting us farther with GOD and by inflaming us with Love to the LORD JESUS CHRIST p. 172. CHAP. XVI There are false Comforts as well as true How to distingush the one from the other Whence false Comforts spring p. 185. CHAP. XVII The Twelfth Motive to Mourning in General It intitles us to the Joys of the future Life The Excellency of those Joys manifested by comparing them with present Comforts and shewing how they exceed them in four Properties p. 206. CHAP. XVIII The Thirteenth Motive to Mourning in General It hath been constantly practis'd in the Church of GOD and is highly conducive to Its Happiness p. 216. CHAP. XIX Objections against Holy Mourning answered as that 't is beneath us Makes us Melancholy Disparages Religion Wastes our Time And hinders Business p. 225. CHAP. XX. Of more Particular Mourning Reasons why we must mourn for our own Sins The Gospel requires it The Nature of Sin calls for it and so do the Sufferings of our SAVIOUR We are taught it by Example It helps to Repentance and destroys Impieties It strengthens our Graces and may hasten our Translation to the endless Glory p. 235. CHAP. XXI Reasons why we must mourn for the Sins of others the Best have done it The neglect of it is blameable It prevails with Heaven It brings us Comforts It secures us from Judgments when others fall by them Both Nature and Religion bind us to it It may be we have been Sharers in the Sins of others p. 253. CHAP. XXII The First Aggravation of our own and others Sins considered as the first Suasive to Mourning for the same We have sinned against the greatest Light As against the Light of Conscience Of the SPIRIT Of the Word Of Experience Of Ordinances Of Examples Of Admonitions And of humane Laws p. 273. CHAP. XXIII The Second Aggravation of our own and others Sins considered as the second Suasive to Mourning for the same We have sinned against the greatest Love As against the Love of GOD and against the Love of our best Friends p. 269. CHAP. XXIV The Third Aggravation of our own and others Sins considered as the Third Suasive to Mourning for the same We have sinned in a most shameful manner p. 278. A Form of Devotion p. 283. A preparatory Prayer p. 284. A Confession of our own Sins p. 285. A Confession of the Nation 's Sins p. 289. A Supplication respecting our own and this Nation 's Sins p. 294. A general Intercession p. 296. A Prayer for the Holy SPIRIT of GOD and the Principal of His heavenly Graces p. 300. Ejaculations for Mourning-Days p. 319. Notes p. 321. FINIS ERRATA PAg 9. lin 15. read the. p. 46. l. 4. before high insert so p. 68. l. 28. r. innoble p. 78. l. 35. r. persisteth p. 95. l. 11. r. Lyra. p. 98. l. 36. r. Energy p. 100. l. 28. r. Muis. p. 109. l. 23. r. would p. 125. Marg. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 132. marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 146. marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 152 l. 20. r. wring p. 158. marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 165. marg before conjunctum r. ad p. 176. l. 20. del of p. 190 l. 30. after for r. then p. 207. l. 4. r. fairly p. 219. l. 16. after Exaltation for of r. to p. 226. l. 34. after crying insert and. p. 238. l. 9. r. abstemiousness The reason why Chap and Devotions are here mention'd is that the paging of the Errata may the better be understood it having happen'd that the Figures on the Tops of the Pages in part of the Book were wrong set Chap. 24th p. 278. l. 14. after we r. well Devotions p. 286. l. 25. for these r. thy p. 309. l 15. after delight insert is p. 313. l. 12. after Heart insert to p. 322. l. 35. r. of our