for or expected It is the Saviour which is Christ the Lord. First for the expectantes We i. e. nos fideles We Christ's faithful ones we as the Mother of Sisera Judg. 5.18 Look'd out at a window and cried when she expected his return with victory over the Israelites Why is his Chariot so long in coming So we look through the Casement of Hope for Christ's second coming to Judgment Now Hope is the expectation of some great good which we believe we shall receive because he is faithful that promised it For this cause Clem. Alexandrinus calls Hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blood or Life of Faith for that it keeps our Faith warm without the which it would languish and faint Faith without Hope may be in Hell as well as on Earth The Devils believe Jam. 2.19 That Christ will come to be our Judge but they are afraid and tremble as the wicked do when they think of it because their torments shall be encreased then as the joy of the good Angels and Saints augmented with a clearer or fuller Vision of Almighty God They only look for Christ with Hope expecting his second coming they only who believe in him as their Redeemer We look says the Apostle excluding all unbelievers we look for the Saviour So it is Expectatio fidem testificans such an expectation as testifies our faith in Christ and by this as an infallible Rule we may assure our Souls of the soundness and Truth of our Faith in Christ that our sins by him and through him are pardoned and our Persons justified if with Hope joyn'd with inward Joy and Comfort we wait for his second Advent For in the second place This expectation is Expectatio animam exhilarans it is such a looking or expectation which in the midst of all their sorrows refreshes and revives the Spirits of the Saints for they reason thus with themselves Here in this life our bodies are oft upon the rack of sickness pinch'd with pains and tortur'd with Aches but then at the Resurrection or last day of Judgment they shall rise as so many bright shining Suns out of the dark celles of their graves and in a moment be invested with those glorious qualities that adorn the body of our Lord Christ as is attested by the Apostle in the next verse to the Text. Again They believe that they shall find Christ then at his Appearance not their Judge to condemn but their Advocate to plead for them Why then say they should we be dismaid for fear of that Judgment wherein he is to be the Judge who at first suffer'd for us in his body on the Cross as a Surety or Redeemer that he might satisfie his Father's Justice for our sins and having paid our debts by his death hath ever since pray'd for us as an Intercessour and will at last be our gracious Rewarder Thus the Saints look for Christ with an expectation which rejoyces the heart They delight in the coming of their Saviour Thirdly This their Expectation or looking for Christ is Expectatio vitam purificans such an Expectation as is attended with purity of life and holiness in a strict conversation They ever have as S. Hierome professes that he had the voice of the Archangel Arise ye dead and the noise of the last trumpet sounding as it were in their ears When those that are Christ's that lived and died his faithful servants shall rise first out of their graves and meet their Lord in the air to receive an everlasting Crown the reward of their service Then the sinners and ungodly shall be raised their bodies being as black as the Infernal darkness and having received their sentence from the mouth of their Judge their bodies and souls shall be sent back to their dark Prisons in Hell where they shall be ever burning and never consumed in flames of fire and brimstone The consideration of these everlasting burnings as it makes the Saints to set an high price or value upon the Lord Jesus so it engages them to a strict performance of all holy Duties as continual prayer sobriety and watchfulness being assur'd that none at that great day shall escape the sentence of Condemnation with the wicked who are surpris'd by Death and snatch'd away in their sins of which they have not repented For most true is that saying of S. Aug. Epist 80. to Hesychius In quo quemque invenerit suus novissimus dies in hoc eum comprehendet mundi novissimus qualis in die illo quisque moritur talis in die altero judicabitur In what condition a man is found at the hour of Death in the same shall he be looked upon at the great day of Judgment If he be surprised by Death in the state of Impenitency he shall then be condemn'd as an Impenitent without mercy If death finds thee without sin it being severed from thy soul by an hearty Repentance thy Soul shall not be separated from God but shall with thy glorified body partake of everlasting blessedness To conclude He that shall come i. e. Christ who is designed by God to be our Judge will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 i. e. not fail to come on that very day which is appointed for him to summon all men to Judgment Of that day and hour knoweth no man Matth. 24-36 It is hid from the eyes of our understanding and knowledge but let not the thought of it be banished from our hearts let us expect our Lord's coming every day he comes first by Death before he comes to judgment Therefore let our expectation of him be in the last place Expectatio attentè vigilans an Expectation or looking for him attended with an attentive watchfulnes All our watching all our praying with other holy duties should drive at this end that when Death comes it may find us well doing or in an holy frame of living and we it our friend which is an enemy to the Impenitent and ungodly sinners Suppose thou seest Death marching towards thee with a cup of deadly poison in one hand and a Crown in the other and that if it take thee in the midst of thy sins that Poison will be thy potion but if it find thee watching and praying that Crown shall be thy lot or portion Oh! then put on Job's resolution Chap. 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expectabo wait is but a Syllable but of a large and spreading signification and comprises the main if not the whole duty of man He that waits does watch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an awful care and circumspection with an holy Fear and Jealousie over himself ever suspecting his own weakness so that he is ever upon duty always busied either in the immediate Acts of Piety or in the ordinary works of his Calling that the Devil or his own imbred corruptions may not supplant or hurt him nor Death surprise his Person
the Mother of five gracious Daughters Alice Douglasse Frances wife of Sir Gilbert Kniueton Knight Anne wife of Sir Robert Holburne Late of Lincolnes Inne all these Deceased And Katherine the onely surviving Picture in Piety and goodness of her Lady Mother and Widow of Sir Richard Leveson Knight of the Bath The Town of Stonely in which our Illustrious Dutchess was born has more reason to glory in that She breath'd her first breath in it than the seven Cities had in Homer the Prince of Poets who by all of them was challenged all laying a claim or Title to his birth in them But as her Ladiships being born in the foresaid Stoneley will not add any inward virtue though it may an outward luster to it so Her being descended from and related to an Ancient Noble Family is the slenderest part or piece of her Character and Glory That she was born of God by Spiritual Regeneration and so His Daughter by Adoption and a Sister of Christ by love and likeness of Him this is her Chiefest glory the highest degree of her commendation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So said S. Chrysostome in a Panegyrical Oration The principal thing to be look'd at and commended in recounting a Genealogy is the Virtue of a man or woman If we consider the whole Series or course of her life we shall have a just occasion to say that in her person and by her actions she gave a stop or check in a way of answer to that doubtful Question of Solomon Prov. 31.10 Who can find a Virtuous Woman who can without God's special blessing obtained by Prayer unto Him and without God's Divine appointment and Ordination This sure was the wisemans meaning But to return to my purpose from this short digression The precious balme of Grace that was powred by God's blessed Spirit into the Soul of our Renowned Dutchess at her Baptism or in her Infancy being strengthned with the addition of a godly Education brake forth in such a sweet perfume even from her Childhood to Her riper years that she was look'd upon as an Earthly Saint an Angel clothed in Flesh a lawful Image of Her Maker and Redeemer a model of Heaven made up in Clay the living Temple of the Holy Ghost This was evidenced by these ensuing Graces First By Her Extraordinary Piety or Religion Her behaviour towards God was rare and admirable for being instructed in and perswaded of the truth of that Religion which we profess as distinct from that false one of the Church of Rome and being firmly grounded in those Fundamentals and saving Truths which our Religion teaches us viz. That God alone is to be prayed unto and worshipped not Saints nor Angels That by Christ only we can be saved by his merits and Gods mercy not by our own works she accordingly upon these grounds served God night and day as that good old Prophetess Anna did Luke 2.37 with fastings and prayers especially during the time of her Virgin-widowhood she was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 5.5 a widow indeed such as was that famous Paula and Marcella by S. Hierome in his Epistles so highly magnified She well knew that though second marriage is no sin yet as one says Iteratò nubere est signum Incontinentiae c. She therefore to preserve in her fame the honour and in her soul and body the joy and sweet content of Continency refused to marry declaring thereby that though many great persons wanted her or rather as the fashion of the world is her money yet she had no need of any to be joyn'd with her in a conjugal society An enlargement of her Estate she never designed nor desir'd by the addition of a Joynture but moving in the Sphear of her own fortune and contenting her self with the portion God had given her she clave close to God and was joyn'd to Him by Faith and Affiance and so she was espoused to God and the Lord of Heaven married to her being her Husband as he professes himself to have been to Israel Jer. 31.32 in regard of his Love Care and Providence to her Religious Person who spent as much time or more in reading of God's word and other godly books the extracts of it as others do in their Glasses by which they correct the defaults in their dresses and blemishes in their faces not regarding in the mean while the blots and spots the defilements and stains of sin that disfigure the native beauty of their Souls which are usually left naked and for want of prayer to God divested of Grace but clothed with the black mantle of Lascivious and Unclean thoughts Our pious Dutchess took into her prime care her righteous soul the spouse of God by Prayer and Meditation with which a soul is winged she sent it up in a flight to Heaven every morning and thus conversing with God in the mount of Devotion it return'd again into her bosome as Moses did from the Mount with it's face shining and lightsome with joy and inward Consolation The more familiar conference we have with God in prayer the more do we partake of him He that passes by the fire may have some gleams of heat but he that stands by it will have his Colour changed It is not possible a man should have any long conference with God in Prayer and Meditation but that his heart shine with inward illumination and being enflamed with the love of God partake of some Divine Inspiration And thus she acquainting her self daily and conversing with God in her Closet or Private and more publike family devotions which she never omitted was wonderfully beautified and strengthned in her soul by Grace which had taken up it's lodging in her and displayed it self outwardly in five special Saint-like Qualities which made her conversation amiable pleasant and Venerable to all her Equals and Inferiors The first was a winning and obliging way or disposition that sweetly scatters favours by this being a desire of doing good to all even to our very enemies we attract friendships and make friends even of those that hate us Thus did that good Dutchess The second is Affability this was eminently in her joyn'd with a becoming Grace and sweet behaviour and hath in it a power to charm Souls that are in any the least way or degree inclined to Honesty and Civility She was Courteous to all even the meanest person who might find her ear open to any just Request or Modest Petition When she bestowed any favour or gave an Alms She gave it cheerfully without grudging or any the least repining so the loaf which she gave was not Panis Lapidosus as Seneca speaks but pure and fine Manchet without any mixture of Gravel An Alms given with hard Language reproach or an harsh exprobration is gravel-bread and at once loses both it's thanks and commendation The third Prudence a gracious Quality of the Soul which is ever joyn'd with Wisdom as it 's inseparable Companion as appears by
is the Son of God will not murmure at any dispensation of his Providence should I lead your Meditations through all the Stages of her sufferings in the late bloody Rebellious times truly I might tire yours though they did not overcome Her Patience But she with a most Heroick Christianlike Courage and Spirit bore up against all the batteries and storms of plundering Persecutours of railing Shimei's and backbiting Rabshakes against whom her Innocency was no fence to keep of their approaches And as those lesser lights of Heaven shine brightest in the dark Winter nights and fire burns hottest in the cold frost so the Star of her profession shind most gloriously the fire of her Zeal to the Truth glowed with a greater heat under the rage of those who did persecute her with their hands robbing her of her goods because she would not be as they were bad rebels against the King and Church and blasting her reputation with their black Tongues not dreading to report she was a Papist or as one said before a Committee something like one and why Because she was loyal to her Soveraign a lover and Patroness of Orthodox Divines and abounded in good works If it were only Charity that did constitute a Papist I would not refuse or dislike to be so called but her soundness in her opinion and practice of the true Religion manifested to the World that she was a rare Christian a Christian indeed and not only in name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ign. One of a most exact conversation and fit to be proposed to this loose and sinful Age as a pattern of good living and as St. Augustine referr'd those that desired to profit in Virtue to the life and conversation of S. Paulinus Vade in Campaniam disce Paulinum Go to Campania and study Paulinus so would I say to any person that should desire to attain to some degree of perfection in Grace Goodness and Piety Vade ad Sancti Aegidii oppidum Disce Ducissam Dudleyam Have recourse to St. Giles's and enquire after the Life and manners of Dutchess Dudley conform your Life to Her Religious Conversation who hath left behind her there many Ladies much like unto her so may you prove a good proficient in Religion Her Patience likewise discovered it self highly all the time of her sickness which was long and tedious and in the midst of all her pains which were sharp and grievous her Soul was drowned in the Contemplation of that great Ocean of bliss in Heaven to which she was sailing through the narrow channel of this life She never complained with murmuring or bitter Lamentation as too many do in their sickness nor saying as Rebekah did Gen. 25.22 when the twins strugled in her womb If it be so why am I thus No she knew that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the gate is strait which leadeth into the City of bliss and that through many tribulations we must enter into heaven which she had learned out of Acts 13.22 and therefore embraced her Cross with cheerfulness and why should a living man complain a man for the punishment of his Sin Lam. 3.39 She in effect oft said what St. Hierome suggested to Paula concerning the death of Blaesilla Bonus est Dominus quodcunq â—ecerit bonus Deus non potest non esse boâ—… The Lord is good and whatsoever a good God doth cannot be bad To conclude this particular She look'd upon her troubles as the Lot of God's Children the Physick of the Soul the Pledge of Divine Love the Badge of her profession as a Christian the Incentive of her Devotion and a mark of her Conformity with Christ her Head and the Captain of our Salvation and therefore following him she bore all with Patience To whom that she might by a closer Union be joyned Now that her Soul was drawing towards Heaven having spent all the time of her sickness in Prayer and Repentance and heavenly Conferences of which I could give a large account She as she had done oft-times before desired to receive her last Viaticum that heavenly food which might as it did strengthen her Spirit in it's last conflict with Death and in it's long journey to eternity or everlasting life I mean that which is a Sacrament as of a thankful Commemoration of Christ crucified so of a blessed Confirmation for that it confirms our Faith that Christ is and will be in all respects to our Souls I had rather say to our Persons what the Bread and Wine is to our Bodies Had you been then present and seen with what flaming devotion with what burning affection and lowly Reverence upon her Knees when she could hardly stand upon her feeble legs she received that heavenly Food that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Ign. calls it which Physicks the Soul for Eternity the seal of her pardon and token of her Communion with Christ had you then beheld her devout deportment and heard the Divine expressions which immediatly fell from her gracious lips you would hence have concluded that she was a rare Saint Having thus got a firmer hold of Christ by Faith in the Merits of his Death and Passion and grasping her Saviour in the Arms of Her Love and Thankfulness She ever after chaunted out old Simeons Song Luke 2.29 Domine nunc dimittis c. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace She as St. Augstine says of Faith tore of Death's grim Vizard and beheld under it a comely smiling face so as whiles unto the enemies of God those that are not reconcil'd unto him by Faith in Christ and the amendment of their lives it is no other than a terrible executioner of Divine Vengeance it seemed to her an Herauld of Peace a messenger of Joy a plausible and sure Convoy unto Blessedness For this cause or upon these considerations she longed after her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 her dissolution even as the weary Traveller after he hath measured many tedious miles as she had years and passed many dangers both by Sea and Land and felt the harsh entertainments of a stranger rejoyces to draw near in his return to a pleasant and Rich habitation Thus she desired earnestly to be released from Her Prison the body is such and no more to the Soul She often wished to be dissolved and to be admitted into a nearer familiarity or Communion with Christ a few days after the Lord in Mercy made her partaker of her holy wish and desire gave her an happy Release by Death and Grace to utter these last words of the Protomartyr Saint Stephen Act. 7.59 Lord Jesus receive my Spirit and when she had said this she after ninety years current spent in God's service fell asleep Death was no more to this Illustrious Dutchess then a sleep Her body after many vexatious Toils Troubles and Disquiets in this World shall sleep or rest for a while in it's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's Dormitory the Grave But her soul
is now awake in Heaven wearing the Crown of Perseverance and singing with the triumphant Chorus of Angels and Saints glorified a joyful Song to the Lamb Christ Jesus sitting upon a golden glorious Throne who will at the great day raise up her body from it's long sleep by virtue of that Spirit which rais'd him from the dead Rom. 8.11 and dwelt by a full measure of Grace in the Soul of our deceased Saint who being dead yet speaketh as the Apostle attests of righteous Abel Heb. 11.4 and methinks bespeaks as now on Earth her survivers from Heaven in the words of St. Paul Let your conversation be as mine was in Heaven where I raign now in the Embraces and Glories of my Saviour and Be ye followers of me as I was of the Lord Jesus in Faith and Love in Humility Meekness Piety and Patience and suppose too that she bespeaks you all in the words of Gideon to his Souldiers and of Abimeleck to his Judg. 7.17 chap. 9.48 Look on me and do likewise what ye have seen me do and shall hear I have done even so do ye according to your abilities and several capacities ☞ Clothe the backs of the poor and feed the hungry bellies adorn God's Houses and contribute to the Rebuilding of decaied and by war and fire wasted Churches endow poor Vicaradges with Annual Accessions or Augmentations of large Salaries relieve poor Widows in Hospitals by yearly Pensions give good and competent Summes for the redemption of Christian Captives now chain'd up to slavery in the hands or under the power of Infidels and for placing out of poor Children or Orphans yearly to be Apprentices Honour your Ministers who are set over you in the Lord especially those who labour in the Word 1 Tim. 5.17 i. e. take great pains to dispense the lively Oracles of it and administer frequently the holy Sacraments for the edifying and saving of your Souls give what is due unto them and take nothing by fraud or violence from them and if they want an house to dwell in provide one for them All that has been said the Illustrious Dutchess did and gave to God the Glory of it who afforded Her by his blessing that good and plentiful seed which she liberally sowed and scatter'd in the fields of the poor and hath sprung in a rich and large crop of blessings which she now enjoys with God in the Coelestial Paradise Pauperum fundus est foecundissimus The poor man's field affords the largest Crop And though all cannot keep an even pace or go along with her in her Bounty and Magnificence yet follow her though at a distance by conforming your lives and actions to her Charity and goodness Thus if you do as her good deeds in a manner exhort you and declare the Sincerity or Truth of your Faith by your goods works Imitating Christ the King of Saints and this deceased Dutchess a Queen among her Sex for her rare exemplary Virtues and Graces you shall be for ever blessed as She is and Crown'd with Everlasting Glory and Happiness Trin-uni Deo Laus honor Gloria c. A Memorable and Exact CATALOGUE OF ALL THE RENOWNED DUTCHESS Her Good or Most Charitable Deeds AS to abound in Good Works is an Argument of a Lively Faith in Christ and a true mark of Christianty so to disperse the same upon a self-seeking Interest out of a design to gain praise and get glory by it is an infallible note or sign of Hypocrisie This Pharisaical vice never lodged in the Soul of our deceased Dutchess so Renown'd for her stupendous Charity the fire whereof burnt hot in her Religious brest but was cover'd over with the Ashes of Humilty She whilst living loved not to hear her just praises sounded in her Ear for well-doing but contented her self with God's approbation whilst she did all for His Glory that the poor releived by her bounty might have an occasion to say Blessed be the Lord for his merciful goodness that hath open'd the heart and hand of his servant to help and succour us in our want She was such a stranger to Pride which never enter's into a gracious Soul and so far from Ostentaion in her life that I am perswaded had any come to her before her death and mention'd the design of publishing the ensuing Catalogue after it she would not have consented to that motion but rather forbad it However now that her Grace is out of the reach of Flattery and cannot be suspected for the guilt of Vain-glory I shall blow the Trumpet of her praise by presenting to the World a list of her good deeds that those who peruse it may thereby be induced to follow her steps to conform their lives to the exemplary pattern of her bountiful goodness to abstain from superfluities in Apparel and Diet which murther Charity that what they spare or gain by abandoning all excess in needless expenses they may contribute the same to the relief and comfort of Christ's poor Members his necessitous pious Servants This was the practice of our Illustrious Dutchess and for this God has Crown'd her as he will all those that imitate her with everlasting glory and happiness A just Account of her good deeds in her life and little before her death taken out of our Churche's Register and specified in her last VVill and Testament 1. HER Charity began at the House of God which was first in her thoughts as it is usually the last or not at all in other's When the former Church here of S. Giles which was decay'd by Age lay as it were in Rubbish there being a Void space at the upper end of the Chancel which was stored with Lumber as the Boards of Coffins and Dead-mens Bones She being offended at that unhandsome prospect erected a decent Skreen to divide the said Chancel from the forenamed place and to hide it from the beholders eyes which could not but be troubled at it 2. When the foresaid Church was fallen It began to be built in the year 1623 and was finished with the wall about it Aâ—… 1631. with the fall whereof that Skreen was demolished God moved the hearts of the Parishioners to erect a new Church in the Room or place of the former which was in a few years effected and finished many hundreds of good Christians in other Parishes contributing to so good and glorious a work she most liberally as she had a magnificent large soul gave to the advance and finishing of it together with the Wall that encompasseth it many 100 l. of which her magnificent bounty the then grateful Parishioners erected a Monument which is placed over the great gate or the Northside of the Church The words engraven in a large square Stone are these QVOD FOELIX BONVMQVE SIT POSTERIS HOC TEMPLVM LOCO VETERIS EX ANNOSA VETVSTATE COLLAPSI MOLE ET SPLENDORE AVCTVM MVLTO PAROECORVM CHARITAS INSTAVRAVIT IN QVIBVS PIENTISSIMAE HEROINAE D. ALICIAE DUDDELEY
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his striving to keep a good Conscience void of offence Act. 24.16 And when we have beheld the Apostles Soul deck't with the forenamed Graces and enrich'd with that inestimable Jewel of Heaven the Souls Paradise I mean a Conscience that is quietè honestè bona quietly and honestly good to the constitution whereof there must concur these three Ingredients Puritas Cordis veritas oris honestas actionis Purity of heart Truth in the mouth and honesty in our life or conversation From hence we may infer that Heaven had in a manner enter'd into him and that he was in Heaven whilst he breath'd upon earth not only in regard of his union with Christ by Faith as a learn'd Commentator notes upon the Text but also in respect of his conformity to Christ whom he loved and resembled in his life he being as Christ was Vir doloris laboris a man of sorrows and of great sufferings likewise of a wonderful patience as is evident by the eleventh of his second Epistle to the Corinthians When his feet were in the stocks Act. 16. His mind was in Heaven Crus in Cippo animus in Coelo Aug. When he was in that great storm at Sea Act. 27. When neither Sun nor Moon appear'd for many days in the midst of that danger his Soul was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in a quiet Haven even in the bosom of God in that great darkness he had a light within the light of Joy and comfort because God was with and in him As there is all joy in Heaven so there is Heaven in the Souls inward Joy which springs from Patience in Tribulation and from the Peace of a good Conscience therefore Holy Patient Meek Humble S. Paul who was ever contented his Conscience not disquieted He might truly assert of himself and none but such as he was of the same mould of Spirit can say of themselves as he said Our conversation is in Heaven Having given you a brief Character of the Protestour S. Paul I shall now turn his Protestation into an exhortation or Precept as he intended for we must suppose that when he had said Be ye followers of me and mark such as walk so mark so as to imitate them for our Conversation is in Heaven he said thus in effect And let your conversation be in Heaven First By your Souls conversion unto God S. Hierome has a saying which is a vehement asseveration and Protestation concerning himself Testor Deum quando lachrymis madent oculi videor tunc Angelorum interesse Choris I protest and call God to witness when mine eyes are drown'd with tears springing from sorrow for my sins I seem to my self to be conversant with or in the Company of the Holy Angels Such is the nature and energy of true repentance which of all things in the world makes the greatest change it works a change in God it turns his frowns into smiles his angry displeasure into a gracious favour It transforms a carnal earthly-minded man into a Spiritual and Divine Nature from Sin to Grace from vicious customes to holy habits from drunkenness to sober practices It raises a sinner from death to life from his Prison to a Throne from Hell and the guilt of eternal Torments to Heaven and entitles him to endless happiness In a word It carries a man to God by confessing and forsaking his sins and brings God to man in pardon and forgiveness This brings peace to the Soul and in whom this Peace resides in him God resides and dwells by his Spirit which is the Spirit of Peace Now can Heaven in the Joys and comforts of it be wanting where God is When therefore S. Paul exhorts us to have our Conversation in Heaven he says in a manner thus Make your peace with God by an hearty sorrow for your sins and declare the truth or sincerity of your sorrow by an holy and heavenly life which is the Nurse of Peace and Mother of solid comfort He is as it were in Heaven who is a true and humble Convert so was that Mary Magdelen when she lay weeping at Christ's feet she loved Christ very much because much was forgiven her Stans in terris in Coelo es si Deum diligis Aug. If thou lovest God thou art in Heaven whilst thou art on earth A sinner that is assur'd of his pardon will love his Saviour and this love will transport or carry his Soul to Heaven to converse there often by Meditation and Prayer with his Redeemer Secondly Let your Conversation be in Heaven by a frequent Contemplation of it As for our Contemplation or Meditation of Heaven I must tell you in general that for want of it or because it is so neglected virtue decays in men and vice abounds the Graces of God's Spirit our Faith and Hope as also our Charity grow weak but our Passions as Grief and Fear with others get strength and encrease in us If our thoughts be in Heaven where true Honour Wealth and Pleasure are to be found our indeavours will be after it and all our Studies for it and then Si neglectis terrestâ—… 〈◊〉 Coelum toti aspiramus as Pelacherus glosses oâ—… 〈◊〉 Text when neglecting or despising earthly things 〈◊〉 wholy pant and gaspe after Heavenly no sad event 〈◊〉 casualty here on earth will trouble us We read in Gen. 24.62 That when Isaac went out to Meditate in the field at eventide he met Rebekah his beloved so that man shall meet with joy and content as S. Paul did in all his sufferings that oft takes a walk by contemplation in Heaven the Coelestial Paradise the Garden of pure delights Meditating on it's everlasting comforts and concluding which is an Act of Faith and Hope that they are provided for him that he shall inherit them because he is fitted and prepared for them being freed by the sanctifying grace of God's holy Spirit from the bondage of corruption from the filthiness power and command of sin which raigns not in him This work of Sanctification in him is the only evidence a man has for his assurance that he is design'd to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Fellow-Citizen with the Saints in Heaven And when his Meditation of it is joyn'd with this assurance as Discomforts will flie out of his Soul in the midst of troubles so neither will a temptation to any foul sin easily seize on it For he will thus argue with himself when he is tempted I am marching or walking upward to Heaven my City and proper Country which is above but this sin is the Broadway which leads downward to Hell I am bending or moving forward toward the possession of everlasting Joys but this may turn my course backward and hurry my Soul to endless torments therefore I will not commit it Thus not only a comfortable but also an holy life is the fruit of Divine Contemplation which is the Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's prospective glass
through which at so great a distance it can look into Heaven and apprehend in some measure the glories which are there prepared and reserv'd for those that love and serve the Lord Jesus But if we raise our Souls oft upon the same wing of Meditation and look upon God in our elevated thoughts as filling Heaven and Earth with his unbounded presence so that nothing can escape the Eye of his knowledge again if we look up and behold him not only as omnipresent but also omnipotent a God likewise of supereminent Mercy and Truth who can do what he will do and will do what he hath promised This Act of Contemplation will first embolden our Faith in Prayer it will make us believe that what he hath promis'd he will grant unto us it will secondly beget in us an holy Fear and awful Reverence of his Majesty so as to do nothing that shall be displeasing in his sight or distastful to his goodness It will thirdly settle in us an attention or collectedness of Spirit and free us from wandring thoughts in our Prayers whilst our Souls are fix'd as the Prophet David's was Psal 57.8 upon God by a settled Meditation of his forenamed Attributes viz. His All-seeing Providence His Almighty Power His Mercy Truth and Justice which if we propose to the eye of our Souls and ground our Faith upon them when we commence our requests to God in the name of Christ he will deny us nothing that he knows to be good for us Seeing then that without Meditation we cannot attain to a collected Attention of our Spirits in our Prayers without which Attention these as a Rabby tells us are dead vain and fruitless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like a body without a Soul for this and in regard of other great benefits which we reap or receive by it Let your conversation be in Heaven by a frequent contemplation both of it and of the great God who is our Almighty and most merciful Father and Lord of it Thirdly let your conversation be in Heaven By your eager affection or love to the things that are above or in it For if our Contemplative Meditations of Heaven draw after them our affections to it we may be said to have our abode in it even whilst we live here and move upon the Stage of this Earth A man may be truly said to be where his mind is and his mind where his heart by love is fixed Ubi jam sum ibi non sum where I am there I am not so said that fond lover in the Comedian because his body was in one place and his heart in another Not unlike to this expression is that of Origen concerning Mary Magdalen when she came to the Sepulchre of our Lord Jesus John 20. and found not his body there Maria ibi non erat ubi erat quia tota ibi erat ubi Dominus erat where she was there she was not because her love was firmly fix'd on Christ her Lord she was only where he was the place she knew not but to his Person her heart was joyn'd thus was she in her Soul present with him though in her body she was absent from Him Anima est ubi amat The soul is there where it loves Whence it will follow by a necessary induction or consequence that if a man divides his soul from his body by a voluntary separation or by setting his affection of love upon the things which are above as the Apostle exhorts Col. 3.29 he may be at the same time Accola terrae and Incola Coeli abide in this world and dwell in Heaven Now if you desire to know what the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what those things be which are above which may challenge as they deserve the prime of our affections our love and delight and desires They are first that Purity Secondly That sweet harmony of peace and concord Thirdly That Love and Amity Fourthly That Piety that Assiduity in God's Worship All which are the Jewels of Heaven wherewith the blessed Angels and the separate Souls of Saints are adorned and beautified Now he that hath set his affections on these things and withall desires to be releas'd from the Prison of this World which is an Hospital of diseases a nest of Profaneness and a cage of Impurities and warring dissensions where too hatred and malice with all kind of wickedness raign among us and now more than ever to our great reproach and shame after so many and great obtained mercies He that desires to be out of this Sodom and to be in Heaven with Christ not so much to be out of trouble and to live at ease as to be in the Company of His Saviour to be freed from the slavery of sin and to joyn with the Saints in their continued praises of the blessed and glorious Trinity He whose Soul is enflamed with these holy desires and looks upon all things here below as Pictures drawn in Sand or Snow as fading empty vexing vanities not worthy of our least affections briefly he that is thus dead to the world and alive to Christ because his whole heart is set upon him by love and leads a Divine Coelestial Life such for kind though not for it's degree in Virtue as Christ with his Saints do live in Heaven a life that is pure and peaceable full of Charity and good works also holy and pious such a one may truly say with S. Paul in my Text My conversation is in Heaven From whence his Saviour will come at the last day and rejoyn his body to his Soul by an happy Re-union and that because his Soul in this life was sever'd from his body and fix'd upon Christ by Love Which affection if pure and sincere is ever attended with a desire of union and fruition so as to be joyn'd to and enjoy the Person that is beloved Thus he that loves the Lord Jesus and woe will be to him that does not will desire his beatifical Presence which cannot be obtain'd but by Death he therefore does not fear but wish and wait for it As a full possession of glory in Soul and Body is not to be expected till that great day of Jubile the day of Judgment Therefore God's Saints his Servants are delighted w th the thought and remembrance of it as was our blessed Apostle S. Paul who in the name of all his fellow Saints protested saying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ c. This is the second General part of my Text which I term'd S. Paul's and all good Christians joyful hope or expectation we look for the Saviour c. In which words we have these three particulars to be discussed First Qui expectantes who be the expectants or those that look for Christ Secondly Qualis expectatio what kind or manner of expectation this is Thirdly Quis expectatus who it is that is looked