so likewise doth it more pierce a sinners heart to hear God say as you read in the Prophets Why will you dye Wilt thou not be made clean When shall it once be Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as this than barely to tell him that there is no reason a Man should destroy himself and that He is very desirous of his good and that it is high time also a sinner should amend and if he will not that He cannot suffer it but will certainly punish such continued contempt of his forbearance And therefore you need not doubt but your Soul will sooner open to you at such knocks as these and more speedily bring forth its conceptions and passions by the Midwifry as I may call it of such like questions and arguings with your self than by any other way whereby you endeavour to help its delivery Let me present you with an example of such a discourse sutable to the drift and design of this Treatise O my Soul may you or I say are we now to learn that there is a God Dost thou know nothing but what thine Eyes see and thy Hands feel and thy Pallate tasteth Strange that thou shouldst so forget to look into thy self And must I be ever demonstrating to thee that thou art not of this earth but a parcel of another World What Dost thou not call God thy Father Is it not him thou seekest With him wouldst thou not live for ever Say wouldst thou not Is not this thy earnest desire Speak and tell me if thou art not of this mind Need I use so many words to extort from thee this confession O how dull art thou if thou dost not yet understand the difference between his favour and all the Kingdomes of this Earth And is it possible thy memory should be so perfidious as to have no remaining sense of the incomparable happiness thou hast sometime seen he is preparing for thee Where hast thou been What hast thou been doing What is become of all those holy thoughts and of that blessed Hope of immortal life which was so lately the joy of thy heart Is that happiness grown less or is it less certain than it was that thou art grown so cold so listless and indifferent Let me hear thee speak what thou thinkest of it Is it true or is it not Do we Dream or is it a certain Report which comes to our Eares when Jesus tells us he will give Eternal Life to them that obey him What answer dost thou return Would a man take all the World in exchange for his Portion in such a bliss Shall our present satisfaction here be dearer to us than our future repose and fulness of joy in the presence of the Lord What did I say Satisfaction Alas how far are we all from that The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear filled with hearing Who hath bewitched thee then to think of seeking thy happiness here Is there so much as room for thy choice whom thou wilt love and to whom thou wilt cleave as thy chiefest good Doth not necessity carry thee to God and to the eternal World if thou meanest to have satisfaction O how glad am I to find that there is thy heart What a pleasure is it to love thy God and to hope thou art beloved of him Dost thou not hold every thing for thy enemy which would rob thee of such a Pleasure But alas how long shall I find thee full of these apprehensions Canst thou assure me how many days this sense will abide with thee O how suddenly may I feel thee altered and become a sensless thing How treacherous wast thou lately how false to thy own resolutions Would one think thee a rational being when thou so forgattest thy greatest interest Was it thou who then didst govern me or some brutish soul that came for a time and officiated in thy stead How often hast thou told me of a World of Enemies that watch for our ruine and yet how negligent and supine art thou as if we had none Need I remember thee how long ago it is since thou didst yield and submit thy self to the weakest of them Thou knowest very well that on such a day thou wert very angry but canst thou tell me for what On another day would I could say but one day thou wast lazy Were thine Enemies then all asleep At another time a slight occasion made thee omit a good duty O at what a small rate art thou willing to part with thy peace Can one trust any more such a silly and fickle thing as thou art Can one rely on any of thy promises How wilt thou be able to hold out in such a long contest as we are engaged to maintain how wilt thou be patient to the end Such a dull and lazy Soul as thou art so timorous so inconstant so easily abused so soon pusht down with every occurrence what hopes can one have of it By this vehement inveighing against your self it is possible your Heart may be much awakened even in its most listless moods to some generous resolution and it may answer it self after this sort Sad things are here objected against me or if that be too mild a word why did not I say insufferable things Much sloth idleness impatience I wish thou couldst tell me all I am accused of and alas my present dulness assures me it is too true O that I could deny it without any fear of a terrible rebuke But must I therefore be so cast down as to be discouraged Can he that hath done ill never be so happy as to be able to do well again May I not hope so much as that I may be chidden into better behaviour Where is the doom passed that I shall never amend Show me that it is impossible or else I will not despair of it True it is I need a great deal of patience but where should I begin to practise it but upon my self Is it not fit to attend and wait till I can grow better Many enemies indeed I have but shall I become an enemy to my self also and shall I imagine that I have no Friend I have been inconstant and peevish and discontented and a lover of the World c. But must I therefore be always so No Therefore I will not be so always It is confessed my indeavours have been careless and lazy What should I do therefore but be more vigilant and industrious I have faln sometimes but is it wisdome therefore to lye still Do you call this good reasoning Is there any sense in such a conclusion Rather I will take more heed to my self and walk with greater care What though I have given back in some assaults May not a Man recover his courage and behave himself more valiantly O the folly of humane Nature that we should undo our selves at every turn first by doing amiss and then
by despairing to do otherwise Bless the Lord O my Soul that we are aware of this dangerous mistake And let us not despond though we have no reason to boast and glory in our resolution Was not this the condition of other of the Saints long before I was born Am I the only example of an heavy and sluggish Soul Must I be recorded the first in the Catalogue for inconstancy What helps and assistances then had they to restore themselves and to preserve them to the end which are strangers to our eares Must I dispatch a message to some Forreign Country for their Recipe's as we send for Drugs and Spices Cannot we tell without the charge of going to Hippo what Holy Austine strengthned himself withall Must we take a Pilgrimage to Rome to learn St. Hierome's Medicines Sure my Soul thou hast the same gracious Saviour the same compassionate High-Priest the same cordial promises the very same hope of the Gospel which revived and supported their hearts or if thou hast not speak that I may go and seek them Look then on thy blessed Saviour look on his holy Apostles nay look upon all those excellent Persons in the Church that have succeeded them Shall we not follow such glorious Leaders Are their Examples impossible to be imitated If they be they are not examples How can we be cold when we think of the flames of their love How can we be lazy and unwilling to do when we see how forward how vehemently desirous they were to suffer What should hinder us from going on when we have such a Multitude of Triumphant Souls before our eyes whom nothing could drive back Shall pleasures shall the incumbrance of business shall Relations and Friends yea shall dangers shall Death No I am not inchanted I am not affrighted with these words Be gone you false and deceitful pleasures How dare you perplex me you impertinent imployments No more of your importunity I charge you if you will be my Friends Welcome contempt welcome reproach welcome poverty or any other thing which will certainly bring me nearer to my God But what is it that gives you this suddain confidence How come you of a coward to grow thus couragious Of a Snail who made you thus to mount up in your thoughts like an Eagle Who will believe that thou wilt do such things I will believe it may you answer again to your self whatsoever can be objected against it Why are these called suddain thoughts which are my most deliberate resolutions Through the Lord I shall do valiantly He it is that shall tread down mine enemies under me The like discourse you may have with your self about God or any other subject You may consider not only that he is gracious and merciful but cry out O how great how great is his goodness Is there any thing thou canst name comparable to his loving-kindness What makes thee then so unwilling to go to him What 's the cause of such a diffidence and unbelief as hath deadned and dispirited thine heart Could I think that any thing would make thee fall into this stupidity Didst thou not once look upon him as the first Beauty as the joy the health and the life of our Souls Who is it that is altered and hath suffered a change He or thou Is he not the same to day yesterday and for ever Why shouldest not thou be the same too Or why shouldst thou not think that he will make thee the same again How many times is it repeated in the Book of God that his mercy endureth for ever For whom was it but such trembling Souls as thou that he proclaims himself so often to be abundant in mercy goodness and truth But must we not then believe it Is this the way to obtain his mercy by distrusting of him What a preposterous course is this How unseemly nay how unkind is it to question these gracious declarations of his love Let us be confidently perswaded he hath a greater desire than we that we should be true and faithful to him Let us rest our thoughts in this conclusion that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor heighth nor depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now when you find any benefit by such expostulations and reasonings with your self hope it would do you some good if you should use the like in an humble address to God you may be furnished with several strains of devout Admiration and Pathetical Appeals to his all-seeing Majesty out of the Holy Scriptures There are Examples also of the other but expostulations with God are not to be imitated without much caution and holy fear and ought not to be commonly used It may be sufficient to conclude the foregoing Meditations with some such form of words as this A PRAYER O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth who hast set thy glory above the Heavens When I consider thy Heavens the work of thy Fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained What is miserable man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of man that thou visitest him For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with Glory and Honour Lord what honour is that which thou hast conferred on him in setting him now in the Person of Jesus above the Angels themselves For to which of the Angels didst thou say at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again Let all the Angels of God worship him Who in the Heaven can be compared unto the Lord Who among the mighty can be likened unto the Lord And therefore whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee O God thou art my God early will I seek thee My Soul thirsteth for Thee and longeth after Thee O when wilt thou come unto me There be many that say Who will shew us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me Show me thy self and it sufficeth Lord what wait I for Truly my hope is in Thee My Soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from him By thee O Lord have I been holden up from the Womb thou art he that took me out of my Mothers bowels My Praise shall be continually of Thee But who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord Who can shew forth all his praise Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred O how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee which thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the Sons
greatest repute in his faculty to look after their health and administer Medicines to them Just thus it is in the case of our Souls it is too much presumption and careless confidence to rely upon our own counsel alone in the setlement of our everlasting estate or in the Cure of those Disorders and Distempers in our mind which threaten danger we ought to take good advice and for fear of mistake have the judgement of some more skilful Person to secure us as well as our own And indeed from hence you may learn what account God makes of your Soul and how highly it ought to be valued by your self for the safety of which He hath made such careful and plentiful provision Having next to the gift of his Son and of the Holy-Ghost setled an order of men to minister unto Souls to look after them and see that they do not perish for want of instruction or good advice As he would have our Saviour lay down his life for them so he hath thereby made him a most compassionate High-Priest and preferred him to a Kingdome which is nothing else but an Office Power and Authority to take care of Souls and do them good continually By vertue of which he hath committed Authority unto others in a perpetual succession that they should watch for Mens souls as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks declaring to them their own worth and his love ingrafting that Word in them which is able to save them calling them to repentance establishing them in the Faith incouraging their Progress in vertue ordering their goings feeding them with his blessed Body and Blood absolving them from their sins assisting them in their last agony that they may finish their course with joy This is the effect of a peculiar kindness to Souls He hath not dealt so with our Bodies for we never heard of a Company of Men appointed by God to invent pleasures and contrive ways for the feasting of our Senses There are none separated and set apart by him to teach the World how to get riches and improve their Estates and fill their Coffers But all the wisdom of Heaven is employed to other purposes having ordained Men to teach us how to live above those things and to replenish our minds with his knowledg and our wills with his love This he hath made their constant function and perpetual employment to the Worlds end And therefore be not slack to use their Ministry nor doubt of the blessing of God upon it But have so much love to your Soul as to apply your self to them for assistance who are particularly concerned to give it and so much love to God as to be confident he will make those means successful which he hath particularly ordained for your good A PRAYER I Adore Thee O Lord the Father of Mercies who hast designed Mankind to the greatest felicity in everlasting Life And hast not left us in pursuance of it to the uncertain guesses of our own Mind but sent thy dear Son into the World both to assure us of that happiness and to direct us by his holy Doctrine and Example how we may attain it Blessed be the tender mercy of our God whereby the Son of Righteousness hath visited us from on high to give light to them that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace Great is thy love O Lord which after he had left the World sent his Apostles and other Ministers of thy Word to be the Messengers of Reconciliation and Peace the Leaders and Conducters of Souls the Stewards of thy Mysteries and the Guides unto Blessedness Great is thy love which to this day continueth a merciful care over Souls in providing a succession of faithful Pastors and Instructors to teach us our duty to reduce us when we go astray to resolve us when we doubt to help us when we are weak or weary and by their counsels admonitions and comforts to bring our Souls back again safe to Thee the Father of Spirits I see O Lord how dear and precious our Souls are in thy sight for which our Saviour hath done and suffered so much and imployeth still the care and pains of so many Persons to take the charge and oversight of them and guide them unto their Rest My Soul blesses Thee and all that is within me praises thy holy Name as for all other thy Benefits so for the many good Instructors I have met withall the many good Lessons I have been taught and the pious Counsels and Advices I have received I thank thee for putting me into the Hands of such Friendly and skilful Guides and that I have never hitherto wanted some to conduct me in all the dangerous and troublesome passages of my Life Be pleased still to favour me with the continuance of the like happiness enduing me with wisdome to chuse and grace to follow such a person who may on all occasions clearly inlighten my understanding settle my doubts confirm my resolutions quicken my endeavours direct my zeal keep all my passions in order and secure my goings in thy paths That so I may neither miss my way nor proceed with irregular motions nor be discouraged in it but hold an even steady and constant course in well doing till they to whom thou hast committed the care of me deliver me up in peace and safety into the hands of the great Shepheard and Bishop of our Souls Christ Jesus To whom be Glory and Dominion for ever Amen XIV BUT when you are in your best moods and think your self furthest off from danger it will be good to exercise an Holy Fear and Jealousie over your self least you should give way to any thing which may make you grow worse Remember how false and treacherous the conquered Enemy is and therefore it ought to be narrowly watcht Though it promise fair Remember that you must not trust it without a constant Guard And mark the least beginings of an evil for fear if they be slighted as small faults they draw you into a greater Though we must not be dejected for our little irregularities yet we must not pass them over neither without a serious observance If a Father laugh or smile when he chides a wanton Child it is so far from being a check to his follies that it doth the more embolden him to play those idle tricks for which he is reproved And so it is to be feared we shall find our selves disposed if we be not in good earnest displeased at our selves for any thing that borders upon Vice and do not reprove our selves seriously for making too much use of our liberty We may be in danger by this mildness and gentleness to take the boldness to proceed to further transgressions But I may seem to forget to whom I write and considering what a great quantity you have of this fear I had need give it a large dash of some other mixture least it turn
Soul therefore I say again an unmoveable belief of Christs great and precious promises and present them to your heart that it may be affected with them and value them according to their worth Then you will not be unwilling to do nor backward to suffer any thing that he would have you This will give you a great spirit and courage and joy in both You will take a great pleasure in godliness which hath such a recompense of reward Nay all the afflictions of this present time will seem inconsiderable in compare with the glory that shall be revealed Can any heart think much to abstain a while from sinful pleasures when he believes nay tastes the pleasures he shall shortly enjoy at Gods right hand Will not any covetous desires be content to be denied when you see it is for a Kingdom and a Crown of Life Of what should a Soul be ambitious beside whose desires are pitcht upon so noble a good as honour glory and immortality with Christ Who would not watch and pray unweariedly that he may come to this Celestial Rest with the People of God Can there be any higher pleasure than to lift up our mind to our heavenly Country and to think of the happiness which there expects us In what can we better spend our time than in meditating of the great love of God which hath prepared such excellent things for those that love him It is a good thing sure to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto his high and holy Name There can be no more delicious life than this which will conclude in his everlasting praises And suppose we must sometime take up a cross where is the mischief of it what should render it intolerable if we look at Jesus who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despising the shame is set down at the right hand of the Throne of God From thence he stretches forth his hands to call us there his Armes are open to embrace us and there he would gladly see us Out of that glorious place he holds forth a crown of life to us saying Follow me and let none of these things dismay you Behold the Majesty wherein I am enthroned see the glory to which I am promoted Do not faint in your mind nor be weary of well-doing but press on towards the mark for the prize of the high-calling of God in me your Saviour There is nothing sure can hinder us or pull us back unless we cease to look at Jesus and turn away our Eares from hearkning to his gracious voice For do you not see what power a worldly faith hath over Mens hearts How fast one rides to take possession of an Estate of which he hears he is left the Heir How another sailes through dreadful dangers because he believes he shall arrive at a rich Country which will send him home laden with precious Commodities at the last Why should we think then the Christian Faith is less powerful or fancy that we are in truth indued with it unless our belief of the other World have the same effects Let it lay its commands upon all the powers of our Soul and engage them to do their several works Let it excite our minds and our wills and our affections and our endeavours to a constant pursuit of these Heavenly enjoyments that we may know indeed that we believe to the saveing of the Soul Look upon that faith which was built on weaker grounds and lesser evidences and darker promises See how it wrought in Abraham Isaac and Jacob and in the rest of the ancient Patriarchs whose belief of the Word of God made them forsake their own Countries quit all their Possessions when he required it live as Pilgrims and strangers in the Earth and depend meerly on the love and care of his never failing providence By faith they slighted the pleasures of Kings Courts the Honour of a Throne and the Riches of Egypt By Faith they wrought Righteousness subdued Kingdomes stopped the mouths of Lyons indured all reproaches and afflictions would not accept of deliverance and life it self that they might obtain a better Resurrection Now since the Christian Belief relies upon better Promises a clearer Revelation and stronger grounds of hope by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead what a shame will it be if we do nothing worthy the name of Men much less of the Disciples of Christ and of the Sons of God To what cause can it be imputed but because there is no Faith in the Earth or it rests only in the brain and floats in the imagination but never descends to touch the heart and affections Bring it down then My Friend and stir up your self to a serious and affectionate belief of the life to come Spare no pains to consider and lay to heart that which is the greatest comfort of your life all the glorious things which you read of in the Gospel of Gods grace which Christ hath sealed by his blood and God confirmed by his Resurrection and hath been attested by signs and wonders of the Holy Ghost and by the Life and Death of a number of great Souls who have followed Jesus even to his Cross and declared their belief of those things by sacrificing all that was dear unto them here to win his favour in another World Look often upon their constancy upon their zeal upon their contempt of Riches and Pleasures and Life it self when it came in competition with the will of Christ for whose sake they rejoyced that they were accounted worthy to suffer especially since he had assured them their present troubles should work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory And then in imitation of them you will put on their resolution and lifting up your Eyes to Heaven will be moved to speak to this effect O blessed God how much am I beholden to thee that thou hast shewed me such things as these How much am I beholden to thee that thou hast inclined my heart to make them my choice I would not be as I was before for all the World Away you frivolous temptations you vain delights you unprofitable labours Never renew your importunities for I will not hearken I tell you I will not listen to you any more I am resolved to proceed in this holy course to the end of my days You will but make me meditate the more and pray the more and lay to heart the more the love of my God I shall but fix my Eyes the more stedfastly on that blessed place where Jesus my Saviour is at Gods right hand At his will I hold my riches my honours yea and my life also Let him dispose of them as he pleases And let it please the Lord of life and glory to accept of this most hearty oblation which I make of all I have unto him Let it please him to strengthen me in my holy resolutions to open my eyes that I
may still see more of that wonderful love which he hath discovered in his Gospel and to accompany me with his grace till I arrive at his heavenly Court O let his good Spirit breath upon me and carry away my Soul in holy desires towards him Let it guide my course through this troublesome Sea wherein I am tossed Let it shine upon me and prosper my endeavours Let it bring me safely to a quiet haven in Eternal Rest and Peace These pious aspirations you may still pursue at the end of these Meditations in some such Prayer as this A PRAYER I Praise Thee I magnify thy wise and mighty Goodness O Lord who hast made this great World the Heavens and the Earth with all things contained therein to the everlasting honour of thy Name I thank Thee with all my Soul for bringing me into it and for advancing me so much above the rest of thy Creatures here below that I see the glory of thy Majesty shining every where and hear thy Name proclaimed and praised by all thy works of wonder But above all I acknowledg thy bounty with the most admiring thoughts and the devoutest affections of my heart for sending Jesus Christ upon Earth to open unto us the Kingdom of Heaven and to show us the glories of another World O the exceeding greatness of that love which gave him to dye for us and rewarded all his sufferings with a blessed Resurrection and then translated him to Heaven and appointed Him Heir of all things and setled his Throne for ever and ever on the right hand of thy Majesty on high From thence he hath sent the Holy Ghost to be witness of the fulness of his Royal Power and Love and hath shown himself sometime in Majesty and Glory above the Sun when it shineth in its strength that we might hope in thee for the like Resurrection to a glorious immortality in the Heavens No tongue can utter nor heart conceive what Honour Glory and Peace what joy and gladness of heart thou hast prepared there for those that love Thee But blessed for ever blessed be the riches of thy grace whereby I understand so much as to feel most earnest longings in my Soul after a fuller sense of that which thou hast made me taste and relish beyond all the pleasures of this Life O raise and inlarge my Spirit unto clearer more comprehensive thoughts of that supreme blessedness Thou who entertainest all thy Creatures with so much liberality who causest thy Sun to shine upon the good and the bad and the showers of Heaven to fall on the just and the unjust deny not to satisfie the pious desires of a Soul in whom thou hast excited an ardent thirst after its proper and eternal good But inlighten the eyes of my understanding that I may know more and more what is the hope of thy Heavenly calling and what the riches of the glory of thy Inheritance in the Saints and what the exceeding greatness of thy power to us-ward who believe according to the working of thy mighty power which wrought in Christ when thou raisedst him from th dead and set him at thy own righâ— hand in the heavenly places O life up my mind to that high and holy place where thou dwellest and where Jesus is inthroned and where the Angels and Saints continually behold and praise with joyful hearts the Majesty of thy glory and where our Lord hath promised all the faithful shall live and reign with him for ever Help me to climb up daily by all thy Creatures on which thou hast set such marks of thy Greatness Wisdome and Goodness to the contemplation of that Celestial Bliss And possess me with such a constant sense and desire of it that nothing here may ingage my heart which will indispose me for the happy company and society of the blessed Assist me good Lord by such Meditations as these to discern more and more the incomparable and surpassing greatness of that felicity which thy Royal bounty will bestow upon our advanced spirits and bodies in the world of rewards and recompences Affect my heart more powerfully with it and fill me with love and joy unspeakable and full of glory when I turn my eyes towards it Stir me up thereby to prepare my self with diligence and care by a lively resemblance of the Lord Jesus for the day of his appearing and to wait with patience for that blessed Hope when I shall not see as now through a Glass darkly but face to face and be made compleatly like him by seeing him as he is Enable me always to live upon this Hope and according to it that growing in all goodness by a chearful obedience to his holy commands I may be found of him in peace and be so happy as to hear at last those gracious words of his Well done good and faithful Servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Amen III. I Need say no more to excite one of your vertue to the frequent exercise of such Meditations as these which are no less delightful than they are useful Let me next unto this advise you to study the truest notions of God and of Religion the love of which is the way to that transcendent bliss and happiness of which I have spoken As you must believe things unseen and perswade your self thoroughly that they are so it is necessary you should inform your mind aright what they are And in particular look upon Religion as a most pleasant thing and represent it to your self with a face as fair and beautiful as you can If it seem cloudy dark and melancholy it will make you to be of the same complexion But if it have a lovely and chearful aspect it will encline you always to smile upon it The poor Norwegian whom stories tell of was afraid to touch Roses when he first saw them for fear they should burn his Fingers He much wondered to see that Trees as he thought should put forth flames and blossomes of Fire before which he held up his hands to warm himself not daring to approach any nearer But as he you may be sure was happily undeceived when he came not only to touch but likewise to smell those innocent Flowers which seemed to burn in his eyes so will it be with us when we come rightly to understand and feel the pleasure that Religion gives us which at first sight before we come acquainted with it looks as if it intended to make us Martyrs but not to crown us with any joys or contentments As the Martyr said of the real fire wherein he was covered that it seemed to him as if it were a Bed of Roses so shall we say of true Religion which we are afraid will scorch us and prove too hot for us Its flames are but the flames of love and it makes us not lye down in sorrow but in the most comfortable sense of the tender love of our dearest Lord. Think with your self therefore
Liquor which by long labour and many Operations you have fetcht out of a number of excellent Herbs or Spices or other rare Ingredients For though you must not have recourse to them every day yet there may be a season you see when they will do you so high a pleasure that you may owe your life or your chearfulness to them They may stand you at least in so much stead as to preserve you from utter distast of your self and despair of Gods favour when you are apt to droop nay sink under the weight of your Body or any other load that lies very heavy upon you Chear up your Soul then with some of its own sublimer thoughts and turning your self to the Father of Mercies say A PRAYER O My God What pledges of thy Love are these which I have received already from Thee How precious are thy thoughts towards me and how dear and precious have they been in mine eyes O how great is the summe of them I see I see how gracious thou art I am not without many tokens of thy readiness to help me and of thy kind intentions to promote me by patient continuance in my duty to everlasting happiness O how sweet is the remembrance of that time when thou wast pleased to visit me and inspire my heart with devout affections to thee How joyful hast thou made me with the light of thy countenance which is better than life it self Accept of such thanks as I am now able to offer thee for thy abundant goodness to me Blessed be thy goodness that I have not lived all my days as a stranger to thee that my Soul hath not always grovelled on the earth but been lifted up sometime unto Heaven Blessed be thy goodness that it hath not lay'n continually as a barren Wilderness but been fruitful in some good thoughts and pious affections and zealous resolutions and worthy designs to do thee honour and service in the World O that this remembrance of thy past loving-kindness and of the powerful operations of thy holy Spirit in my heart may at this time mightily move and excite me to the like devout expressions of my love to thee O that I may feel it renewing my strength or reviving my Spirit at least to a comfortable hope in thee that thou wilt never utterly forsake me There is all reason I confess most thankfully that I should confide in thee and wait upon thee still with a stedfast faith for fresh influences from Heaven to make me howsoever persevere with a constant mind notwithstanding all the discouragements I conflict withall in a careful and exact observance of all thy commands This I know is the best proof of my love to thee And therefore help me as to pray always so to exercise my self in works of mercy to do justly to be clothed with humility to preserve my body and soul in purity and to discharge all the duties of my place and relations with an upright heart willing mind And when thou graciously vouchsafest to enlarge my Spirit in abundance of delightful thoughts of thee and to raise me to the highest pitch of love to thee O that it may not only please me but make me better Lift me up thereby above all the temptations of this World and quicken me to be the more fruitful in all good works and to excell in vertue to increase especially and abound so much in love towards my Brethren and towards all Men that my Heart may be established unblameable in Holiness before Thee my God and Father 1 Thess 3.12 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints Amen VIII AND here I cannot but commend to you frequent Meditation and serious consideration which you might expect to have heard of before as of singular use for the continuance either of your diligence or of those delectable affections in it For the Soul is a thing so entire in it self that if one part be strongly moved the other will be so too just as when the Nave of a Wheel turns round it makes the outermost circumference to circle about with it Much is said by many on this subject and therefore I shall only direct you how to Meditate when you are dull and unfit as you imagine for any thoughts When we discourse you know with a Servant and desire to affect him with what we say if he be stupid and heavy and seems not at all to be concerned in our words then we are wont to make use of interrogations beseechings objurgations exclamations corrections of our selves admirations and such like ways to rouse his apprehension For we find that if an object touches any of our senses gently and softly we mind it not while we are intent upon other matters but if it strikes us with some smartness and comes with a vehemency and importunity it alarmes the whole Soul and makes it not only hear but demand what 's the matter And thus it is in our discourses if they barely present themselves before Mens Souls that are otherwise ingaged they regard them not unless by some such form of speech as I have mentioned they put on some sharpness and be armed with some Authority If we speak for example to one that hath committed a fault in such terms as these Indeed you are very much to blame You ought not to have done thus it is contrary both to God and to your self the World will cry shame of you no body will endure you c. He stands perhaps as if he were marble and had been composed of insensible materials But if we say what did you mean when you did such or such an action Whither were your wits and your conscience gone Could you do thus and not tremble at Gods displeasure Nay answer me do you think that God is an Idol who regards you not and cannot strike Oh that any Man should be so sottish that he should be such an ill Friend to himself Ill Friend did I say such a desperate Enemy I meant such a fury such a Devil to his own Soul c. This kind of language it is likely may make him seem a Man one that is made of flesh and not of stone In such like manner then may you learn to Meditate alone by discoursing with your own Soul after the way of expostulation chiding reprehension and such like wherein there is great variety and therefore great easiness and no less pleasure It was a more awakening expression for David to say Why art thou cast down O my Soul and why art thou disquieted within me XLII Psal 5 than if he had only said I do not do well to be dejected on this fashion it is to no purpose to afflict and trouble my self far better and more seemly were it for me to rest contented And the repetition of this again V. 11. and XLIII 5 gives it a greater force and adds a sharper edge to it than if it had been but a single question And
a spirit free and full of life is most useful being indued with more strength and ability than any other it ought to be preserved in its alacrity and when it droops and languishes be excited to recover its chearfulness again I know you do not think it a crime to laugh nor are you in love with a studied face You are none of those who take innocence and severity to be such inseparable companions that they can never be found asunder nor that judg a free carriage to be a certain sign of an ill mind and a merry humour to be a constant token of levity of spirit or want of judgment But I desire that you would not only think it lawful but necessary to be pleasant and that you would by no means suffer your self to become sad under the notion of being serious The Ancient Christians were so cautious in this Point that we read in Palladius of an old Hermite who having five hundred Scholars would never dismiss them without this Lesson My Friends be chearful do not forget I beseech you to be chearful This was his constant lecture which he repeated as often as St. John did those words which he is reported always to have had in his mouth My little Children love one another He took it I suppose out of St. Paul who gives this admonition thrice to the Philippians III. 1. IV. 4. Rejoyce in the Lord. Rejoyce in the Lord always and again I say rejoyce It is an unseemly thing for you to be sad and heavy who serve so good a Master from whom you shall receive the reward of an Eternal Inheritance If they that traffick in earthly Goods rejoyce in an advantageous bargain Why should not Religious People whose Merchandise is Wisdome a choiser thing than Silver or Gold who have many divine blessings already in possession and are in certain hope of more and greater cherish a perpetual joy and ever be of good comfort By which you may see whence we are to derive our chearfulness and to what we must be principally beholden for it It springs out of an hearty and solid belief of the blessed Gospel and out of a sincere obedience to it and increases with our growth in spiritual knowledg and understanding and in love to God and all our Brethren All which it would be easie to show you is comprehended in those words of the Apostle to the Colossians 11.2 3. where he expresses his earnest desire for them and other Christian People that their hearts might be comforted being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge But when our natural spirits fail and sink within us we must use natural remedies to recruit them and raise them up again None are to be rejected which are not sinful or will endanger to make us so But those especially are to be chosen which will chear the Body and yet do no injury but rather prove beneficial to the Mind Of which sort I shall recommend one to you when I have concluded this Advice as I have done the rest with a short Prayer to God A PRAYER O Father of Mercies and God of all comfort who hast given us everlasting consolation and good hope through thy grace in Christ Jesus Blessed be thy abundant love which hath exceeded towards us in him beyond all our desires O how excellent is thy loveing kindness O God which hath so blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus that it is become our duty to rejoyce in him alway and to be exceeding glad even in the midst of all the troubles of this life O that I could keep such a perpetual and fresh remembrance of his benefits in my mind as may make me rejoyce evermore That so I may recommend the Religion of our Lord Jesus to all others and testify to all the World by my alacrity in doing and suffering his blessed will that his Yoke is easie and his burden is light Possess me with such right notions and apprehensions of thee and bless me also with such integrity of heart that I may both have the peace of a good conscience which is a continual feast and be filled likewise with joy in the Holy-Ghost out of a sense of thy divine favour to me which is better than life it self Deliver me both from unprofitable sadness and from vain mirth Preserve me constantly in an equal tranquillity of mind and a becoming chearfulness of spirit Bear me up I beseech thee above all the afflictions which may befall me by the joyes of faith and hope and love And when I shall need the relief of inferiour pleasures O that they may never make me lose the tast of Heavenly delights but rather dispose me by the refreshments of my body to a more lively discharge of all my duty and to a quicker sense of all divine enjoyments And teach me to be so wise in the choice of my pleasures that they may not leave me sad afterward but I may remain innocent and unblameable before thee and be better pleased also in the humble expectation of the times of refreshment which shall come from the Presence of our Lord. Amen X. THIS puts me in mind to speak a little of Good Company as a singular means not only to chear and refresh your spirits but to quicken and improve your mind also in wisdome or vertue The joy of one Soul is no joy say the Hebrews in their common Proverb which is much-what the same with that of the Greeks One man is no man Good Company will help to divert our thoughts and yet not let us spend our time unprofitably It will make us chearful and yet wise and serious It will delight us and do us no harm but make us rather much better Some chearfulness I confess is supposed in a Mans spirit to make him good Company for his Neighbours for it renders his conceits quick and pleasant his words gracious and acceptable and his very countenance smooth and obliging But if some dulness at present make him not to be a good Companion for them yet they may be the better company for him and their chearfulness may serve to revive his spirits and make him as brisk and well pleased as themselves For it is not more natural to us to yawn when others do than to be uncloudy in our countenances when the Faces of others shine We can scarce refrain from sighing when we are entering upon a very long Journey through ways in which there are many dangers and which we have never gone before But to perform it all alone is so uncomfortable that we are apt to grow weary as soon as we have begun it and therefore are mighty inclined to seek for some Fellow-travellers to make it seem less tedious Our very Horses will go the better when they
you In brief This is an holy Feast where our Lord not only makes you good chear for the present but renews your decayed strength and begets in you a greater liveliness for the future One great end of the institution of publique Feasts among all Nations in the World was for the maintaining of unity love and friendship among the People that lived under the same Laws and for the recreating of those who were tired with their constant labours And it is the design we likewise see of our private Feasts which are times of ease and refreshment for our neighbours and preserve also good will among them according to that of Ben Syra a famous Person among the Jews Spread the Table and contention ceases We are all good Friends at a Feast Upon which account Plato was of Opinion that their Gods themselves in much pitty to Man-kind whose life is full of labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Lib. 2. de Leg. did appoint those Festival times for them that they might have a little relaxation and be incouraged by those publique joyes to proceed without any murmuring in their several imployments We are very sure that God hath instituted by his particular command this Holy Feast like to which none ever was and which we may celebrate as oft as we please upon the Body and Blood of his dear Son Whereby a great love sure will be begot in our hearts to him and his service whose guests we are and at whose cost the entertainment is made meerly out of his extraordinary grace and royal favour towards us This sure will be a singular refreshment and restorative to our spirits when we grow weary and almost spent in the work of our Lord. The sweetness of this will be like Wine to the Heart or like Marrow and Fatness to the Bones It will stir us up when we are listless and comfort us when we are sad and put life into us when we are dead and make us not only able but willing to be Religious being both our pleasure and our food Seneca speaking of times of relaxation and rest from labours saith he knew some great Men L. de tranq animi who once a Moneth would give themselves a Day of play and others that every Day would allow some Hours wherein they would not so much as write a Letter or meddle with any thing that had the show of business If we in like manner did though not every Day yet every Moneth take this sweet repast if out of love to Christ and consideration of our own necessities we did lay aside all other thoughts and give up our selves to those delightful Meditations which here present themselves unto us it would ease us of many cares and troubles and make us more chearfully do the will of God at other times and dispose us to attend the whole business of Religion as the pleasure rather than the labour of our life But if you be cast into a place where you have not the opportunity so frequently to celebrate the remembrance of Christ's death by receiving the outward and visible signs and pledges of his Divine Grace then you may the oftner communicate with him spiritually in your own heart and represent his dying love as lively as you can to it in your retired thoughts Beseeching him to accept of your unfeigned desires to make him your publick acknowledgments and to joyn with all those pious Souls which are then met together throughout the Christian World to show forth his praise and to offer up themselves in holy love to him and to our blessed Redeemer Christ Jesus For which purpose I would advise you to make use of all such Meditations Prayers and Thanksgivings as are wont to attend those Solemnities altering only those words which relate to your actual receiving at the Table of the Lord. The profit of such a frequent remembrance of our Lord one way or other will be exceeding great for the securing your duty and the making all those Counsels which I have given you the more effectual It will put you in mind of the worth and dignity of your Soul for which Christ hath done and suffered so much and on whom he bestows such precious tokens of his love It will quicken your love to him which is the life of Religion You shall taste how sweet it is beyond all comparison to be Religious whereby we have such hope in God There you shall be remembred how gainful it is to be good beyond all the purchases of this World for Christ imparts himself to you and all his benefits There you pray with the greatest devotion and offer up Spiritual Sacrifices and you represent also the Sacrifice of Christ to prevail for blessings for you And there you are most likely to have the most plentiful communications of God's Holy Spirit to you and to feel your Heart dilated in the largest affection unto Him There you confirm your promises to God and he seales his to you You cannot there be of another judgment if you would than this that since Christ dyed to give you life you ought not henceforth to live to your self but unto him which dyed for you and rose again This I make no doubt is one reason why those promises wherein Men stand engaged to God are no better performed because they do not frequently repeat this holy action in the exercise of which they find their hearts at present fully resolved for God and goodness This is the cause that they waver again and all their Promises and Vows wherein they bind themselves fall off like cords of vanity Whereas did they upon all occasions communicate with our Saviour they would find their resolutions grow so strong and stedfast that no temptation would be able to break them They would be like Bands of Iron or Chains rather of Gold that would hold them for ever to their duty You have heard I believe the story of Mithridates who by often use of the Antidote which he invented so fortified his Spirits that they resisted the force of all Poyson Insomuch that when to avoid the Roman slavery he would have dispatched himself by a strong venemous draught he was not able to effect it Such a soveraign vertue you will find in the frequent devout receiving of the Sacrament of Christs Body and Blood It will secure the life of your Soul confirm your strength arm you against the bitings of the old Serpent and make it in a manner impossible for you to be impoisoned by any naughty affections But I have writ so much on this Subject in other Books already that I need not say any more of it here You find I hope those Treatises useful to the stirring up Devotion and to the making a Soul more forward and unwearied in Gods service And there likewise you may meet with a particular Prayer for Love to the Holy Communion wherefore let me proceed without any stop to the next Advice XIII IF
hitherto in performing my duty to Thee Yea I have tasted so often how gracious thou art that I account thy service the most perfect freedome and find that in keeping of thy Commandements there is great reward My Hope is that thou Lord who hast never failed those that seek thee Psal 9.10.19.11.138.8 wilt perfect that which concerneth me and not forsake the works of thine own hands It is Thee whom my Soul seeketh that I may have a more lively and prevailing sense of Thee that I may most ardently love Thee and constantly adhere to thy will and do Thee honour by a chearful observance of all thy Commands And from Thee it is that I have received these good inclinations and holy desires They are the fruit of thy love and therefore cannot but be thy delight which makes me still trust in Thee that thou wilt rejoyce over me and do me good I have thy Word to incourage me upon which thou hast caused me to hope And I know that thy Word is true from the begining 119. Psal 90.160 and that thy faithfulness is unto all Generations They are not the things which thou hast never promised us that I come to beg of Thee riches honours long life or the rest of the goods of this World for which I refer my self to thy wisdom to give me what portion of them thou pleasest but thy Holy Spirit which my Saviour hath told me thou wilt as readily give to those that ask it as a tender-hearted Parent will give food to his hungry Children when they cry unto him I desire only that thy own life may be nourished and protected in me and vanquish all its enemies and be compleated in a blessed Immortality I beg of thee more of the Grace of Humility of Meekness of Temperance of Patience of Brotherly-kindness and of Charity Endue me with moderate desires of what I want and a sober use of what I enjoy with more contentedness in what is present and less solicitude about what is future with a patient mind to submit to any loss of what I have or to any disappointment of what I expect with a pious care to improve my precious time in all other actions of a Christian life and with a willingness to conclude my days and return back to thee to be with Christ which is best of all Let I pray thee thy merciful kindness in these things be for my comfort 119. Psal 58.76 1. Colos 9.1 Phil. 11.15 Rom. 13.14 1. Pet. 5.10.48 Psal 14. according to thy Word unto thy Servant I entreat thy favour with my whole Heart Be merciful unto me according to thy Word Which hath pronounced those blessed that hunger and thirst after righteousness and promised that they shall be filled Fill me O Lord with the knowledge of thy will in all wisdome and spiritual understanding Fill me with goodness and the fruits of righteousness And fill me with all joy and peace in believing that thou wilt never leave me nor forsake me but make me perfect stablish strengthen settle me and be my God for ever and ever my Guide even unto Death Amen XV. AND now is there any need to use many words to show how much force there is in the Meditation of Death to make you lively It is the common opinion that all things intend themselves more earnestly and act in the extremity when they meet with their contrary which threatens their destruction As Springs are hottest in the coldest seasons and Fire it self most scorching in frosty weather Even so if we set Death very seriously before our mind and laid the thoughts of it close to our heart would it cause our life to be more full of Life We should gather together all our might to do as much as we can if we lookt upon our selves as going to the Grave where there is no work to be done at all The mind of Man is too apt to feed it self with the fancy of several pleasures that either Nature affords or Art hath invented Among all which a good natur'd mind findes none so delicious as the conceit which frequently starts up in it of the excessive pleasure he should enjoy were he always in the company of a Friend whom he loves intirely and might they spend their days even as they list themselves and dispose of all their Hours according to their own inclinations But if a thought of Death interpose it self when he is in the height of this delight it dashes all these fine Bubbles of the imagination in pieces All 's gone and vanishes into a sigh or there is nothing of them remains but a drop as big as a tear And therefore if it be so sharp a curb to the forwardness of our desires and serve as a Bridle to hold in our head-strong passions we may use it also as a good Spur to prick them on when they are too sluggish and to stir them up when they have no list to move at all When we are ready to fall asleep did we but think of dying it would make us start and say Who would sleep and dream away his time in this manner when for any thing he knows he hath but a few Sands left in his Glass Death is coming to draw the Curtains about me and to make my Bed for me in the dust Awake then up and be doing because there is a long Night near at hand wherein we must rest and not work And is it not a very great grace if for so small so short a work we shall receive so vast so long a reward It is a great shame to stand all the day idle if it be but for this very reason that our best diligence though it could be continued for many more years than it is like to be can never deserve such a recompence Place your self therefore as if you were upon your Death-bed and think with what ardent desires with what passionate groans with what an heartful of sighs you would seek after God if your Soul was just taking its flight out of this Body and perhaps this will send it out beforehand in the like sighs and groans which will help to waft You towards Heaven Just as when a man is to write to the dearest Friend he hath in the World and thinks they are the last Lines that ever he shall send him his very heart dissolves and drops it self into his Pen So would all our affections melt and flow forth towards God if we seemed to our selves as if we should never speak to him more with a Tongue of Flesh nor look upon him through these Windows of Clay but should shortly dwell in silence and go down into the House of Darkness O how would our Souls thirst for God as David speaks for the living God! How much should we love him and endeavour to confirm our friendship with him that when our Bodies are disposed of into the Earth our Souls might still live and rejoyce with Him in
when you go into your Closet and betake your self to your private retirements I am going to God my exceeding joy to my happiness to my hearts delight Welcome beloved hour which hast more of eternal life in Thee than of Time Rejoyce my Soul that thou art among Angels now and not among men Yea let my flesh be glad to become of a poor Souls Cottage the Temple of the most High God! Look upon Prayer as that which brings down Heaven to you and upon Praise and Thanksgiving as that which lifts you up to Heaven and upon Meditation as that which is the bond of the two Worlds and ties Heaven and Earth together Yea let every other good action seem a favour rather than a charge a recreation rather than a work And then for your notions of God do not look upon him as a rigid and unmerciful exactor of your labours but as a loving Father who is easily pleased and makes a most gracious allowance for your weaknesses and unavoidable impediments and is ready to forgive your many oversights and frequent neglects When we represent him to our selves as exceeding angry at every little indisposition and dulness that seises on us that very thought makes us more dull and indisposed because we imagine that we shall never be able to please him Or if we deem him though not implacable yet much in love with revenge and ready to strike upon every offence that we give him I know no readier way to render his service a most tedious task unto us because we shall go in perpetual fear of thunderbolts hanging over our heads and ready to fall down to do some mischief or other to us As we ought to have a great and scrupulous care to avoid all that is evil so we must believe when we commit a fault against our will and design that there is an Advocate with our Father who is a propitiation for our sins And when we look upon him thus as one ready to forgive that had rather do us all good than any harm and desires rather to see his commands better observed than the penalties for the breach of them inflicted this will incourage us to address our selves with a fresh chearfulness to his service and breed in our hearts a great love to him which above all other things hath a most powerful hand upon our obedience The more you heighten your love to God the more motion and activity will the heat of it give you and the more you heighten his love to you the greater flames will there arise in your heart to him Just as you see the Sun in its nearest approaches to us when its beames are directly over our heads produces a vigorous heat and life in all Creatures but when it is in the Southern Countries and looks upon us with an oblique aspect is not able to make us warm by its rayes So it is with the Divine Goodness which is the life and comfort of our hearts If we think that he looks asquint upon us and cares very little for us we shall be cold and frozen like so many dead Creatures in our affections to him but if we think his face is towards us and that his eye and the light of his countenance as the Scripture speaks is full upon us that he highly favours us and his heart is very desirous to pour down a world of blessings into us it will make our Souls leap for joy our love will spring up apace and the odors of it will be like the smell of Spices sweet both to God and to our selves We love God commonly if not always in the beginning of our friendship with him because of the good that he doth or that we think he will do to us and though afterward this breeds a strong inclination in us to love that most excellent Nature from which all good comes yet that inclination will still grow stronger by the continued thoughts of his kindness to us And therefore this belief is by all means to be nourished and preserved in our hearts especially considering that the stronger our love and inclination towards him grows by frequent reflecting upon his love and good will to us the more chearful and constant obedience shall we pay to him I have represented this so largely in another Discourse which you know very well that it may seem unnecessary to add any thing to it it here But it will not be unprofitable I am sure to recommend to you this one consideration more That the hearty love of God which naturally springs out of a stedfast and unmovable belief of his love to us is a thing so comprehensive and so powerful that it includes in it all the means which are necessary for the accomplishment of our end and contains the force of all those rules helps and furtherances which are commonly prescribed for the better observing of Gods commands Let me instance in these Five great Exercises to which you are often exhorted both in Sermons and good Books for the preserving you in his Obedience First To live as in Gods sight Secondly To pray continually Thirdly To watch Fourthly To depend on God for his assistance And Fifthly To look for his mercy to Eternal Life and plainly show you that they are all comprehended in Divine Love and cannot be separated from it For the first it is well known that this passion is not wont to let the Object on which it is fixed be absent from it but at whatsoever distance it be removed love brings it near and sets it ever before the eyes of him to whom it is dear And therefore if our hearts be full of love to God we cannot be without his Presence but shall live as in his sight Or to speak in the language of David Psal 16.8 We shall set the Lord always before us Whatsoever we do we shall think of him and consequently do it well and exactly we shall study purity of heart and the greatest clearness in our intentions because he sees us and penetrates into our secret thoughts There is no more easie observation than this that nothing makes a Man so diligent so curious so circumspect so decent and comely in all his behaviour as to be continually under the eye of one whom he loves to whom he desires every way to approve himself And it is as certain that ardent love makes a Person ever present to us and will not let us be divided from him When Phidias the famous statuary made the Image of Jupiter Olympius one of the goodliest that ever was he could not forbear but he must privately ingrave upon his little Finger the Name of one whom he dearly loved in these words PANTARCES IS FAIR 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For it was not Jupiter saith Clemens Alexandrinus from whom I have this story who was fair in Phidias his eyes but the youth whom he loved The thoughts of his God could not put out of his mind the thoughts of him
into timorousness and hurt your Soul And this indeed is the skill we should all learn to behave our selves with such caution and evenness in the exercise of fear that it do not make us Superstitious nor through a despondency of Spirit cast us into that dulness and weakness which we are striving to avoid You must let your Fear therefore be tempered with so much of a Divine Faith that like heat and moisture they may make up one healthful constitution Faith in God I say is another thing that you must carefully and daily foster in your Soul if you would be constant in his Service Be verily perswaded that he loves you infinitely more than you love him and therefore is more desirous than you can be to see you do well and continue in well doing to the end Think that his eye is upon you that his arm is under you that he is as near to you as you are to your self for in all regards we live and move and have our Being in Him Think therefore that you behold Him the Father of Lights sending in rayes of light into your mind as you see the Sun looking in at your Windows and filling the room with its chearful beams and that you feel Him pouring in life constantly into your will as the Heart spurts out blood into all the Arteries of the Body Never entertain such a thought of Him as though he was willing to desert you and cast you out of his friendship now that he hath done so much for you and you have been so long acquainted By no means hearken to any jealous thoughts that are but whispered of his goodness whatsoever the jealousies be which you have of your own inconstancy Was it not He that called us when we were in horrid darkness and forgetfulness of him bending all our thoughts and desires to our own ruine and his dishonour Was it not He that assisted us to get the victory over so many Enemies Who but He is it that hath hitherto enabled us in our study to live vertuously and please Him in all things What should now move him to alter his mind After such numerous tokens of his love what is it should make him hate us Will he bear with no weaknesses or shall a fault that we have committed wholly alienate his affection from us If when we lay in our filthiness he took pitty on us pulled us out of the Mire and laid us in his bosome now that we are washed all over will he shake us off and cast us out of his embraces because our Feet as our Lord speaks still need some washing He that invited us so kindly when we were strangers and took us into his house and made us become not his servants only but his Children will he now turn us out of doors presently and thrust us into the wide world again because we have offended Him When we had no strength did he inspire us and hath he thus long tenderly followed us and trained us up in his service and will he now forsake the conduct of us and abandon us to the mercy of our Enemies Why did He then with so much labour purchase our love Why hath He been at such vast expence on our account Why would He take such incredible care to lose us when we might have perished by his no care of us O unworthy thoughts of so gracious a Master so loving a Father so tender a Husband Rather let us think the Sun may refuse to rise and shine upon us or the Sea may be dryed up than imagine that He should be willing to cast us into our former darkness and not let the current of his grace still run towards us Let us at least make him as good as an ordinary Mother who not only suckles her Child when it is young and indures many tedious Days and wearisome Nights in the midst of its cries and froward humours but likewise loves and looks after it when it can go alone and make some provision for its own good and safety Far be it from us to make him like the silly Birds that attend their young no longer than they are in the Nest and leave them to shift for themselves when they have once taught them to use their Wings Will not the Divine love think you indure far more untowardness peevishness and waywardness in our hearts when our grace is but in its infancy and childhood than a tender Mother indures in her little one before it can speak and tell its mind And will he not bear then with some indiscretions or faults afterwards but cast us out as Sarah did Ishmael and the Handmaid into a Wilderness where there is no provision for us Nay will He that took compassion on that poor outcast and his Mother to whom he sent his Angel for their preservation leave his dear Children to become a prey to the wild Beasts of the Desert Far be it from the Father of Mercies the God of love and all comfort to deal so with us And let me tell you that the more confidence we repose in his love the more he hates to use us so unkindly What man is there so hard-hearted that seeing his Neighbour ready to fall and hurt himself will deny him his help and with-draw his support especially when he falls into his armes and desires wholly to lean Himself on his Breast Who can indure to fail a Man and let him be undone that comes and puts his estate and his life into his hands though otherwise he be undeserving If a poor Bird fly to us for protection from the ravenous Kite that persecutes it Can we find in our hearts to throw it into its Enemies claws Who can then suspect that God who hath declared himself otherwayes willing to do us good should then cast us off and forsake us when we altogether rely upon his goodness clemency wisdom and power to help and relieve us When we fly to none else for shelter when we say as David doth LXII Psal 1 2 5. Truly my Soul waiteth upon God from Him cometh my Salvation He only is my rock and my salvation he is my defence The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God Who can let it enter into his thoughts that then He will turn away from us and suffer us to be greatly moved But more than this there is no Man among us unless he will make himself most infamous can fail and desert another who upon his earnest invitation and kind proffers of security comes and puts Himself wholly under his Wing and trusts to his Covert for safe protection Men are not arrived yet at such inhumanity but are ashamed to be so barbarous as to inveigle Men with fair promises and shows of kindness to come and take Sanctuary with them and then betray them Let the Lord of Heaven then never be held in the least suspicion of such unfaithfulness as well as unkindness to us whom he hath invited
and perswaded to confide and put their whole trust in him Never so much as imagine that he will disappoint those good Souls that rely and depend on nothing in their obedience to him but his undoubted promises Let it not come into any our minds or let the thought of it be abhorred and rejected with indignation that after he hath made us such assurances of his Care and Love he will break his word and let us fall when we have fast hold of his Mercy and his Truth Men may prove false and treacherous there may be such Monsters whose kindnesses are but flatteries and their invitations but insnarements But faithfulness it self cannot be unfaithful God's Goodness cannot mock us His infinite perfections will not let Him have any unworthy designs upon us or any ways delude us What deceive a Confident and fail a Friend Such God is pleased to esteem us when we devote our selves in love to his Service which is a farther consideration of greater moment than any else to secure us of his faithful kindness For if our heart will not serve us to let a poor neighbour fall to the ground when we can easily support him much less to desert one that hath intirely trusted us with all he hath and who by our desire reposed this trust in us then least of all can we be enclined to abandon the care of him who by long conversation with us and experience of us is become our Friend This gives him a new and a stronger title to all that we can do for him and because we have been so kind will be the best reason why we should continue to be so still Consider but the Natural works of God doth He begin to form the life of a Child in the Womb and leave it before it become a perfect Creature yea if it be but a Chicken in an Egg doth he not bring it to its full growth unless in either case something extraordinary hinder Why then should we dream that he will desist and forsake the formation of his Son Christ in us the lively Image of whom he hath already begun It must be some strange violence which we offer to our selves some very ill use of our Souls and great straining of the conscience that can make us miscarry I have askt the Question you know elsewhere and let me briefly repeat it again in this place Who was it that bid S. Peter to walk upon the Water At whose command did his body though apt to sink like a stone tread in that soft and yielding Element Was it not our Saviour that said Come and that was enough His word made the floods that they could not swallow him up He felt no more difficulty or danger in those paths as long as he believed our Saviour's Power than if he had walked on dry Land Then it was that he began to sink when his faith turned into fear His heart sunk before his body and his courage yielded before the Waters Just so it is with us who are compounded of earthly materials and yet are bid to wade through this world to heaven A Miracle it is that our dull Nature which hangs downward and is inclined to sink into the soft delights of sense should be able to look up above and not be swallowed up in a gulph of sin and misery For this we stand indebted to the Divine Power upholding and aiding our weakness And He that hath called us as he did Peter and bid us come to him continues his mighty word with us and bids us go on in the ways of his Commandements What need we fear as long as we have him in our company to go along with us And when is it that we are in danger of drowning but when we grow diffident as St. Peter did and our minds are fixed more upon the Wind and the Waves the hardships and the hazards that threaten us than upon the grace and power of our Lord that takes the charge of us And yet if through our fearfulness and distrust we chance to stagger and waver in our resolution we are not utterly undone but have a Remedy very near us Our Lord will put forth his hand even in the midst of these fears and hold us up as he did that faint-hearted Disciple of his when we cry out to Him in his words Lord save me It is stoutly resolved by an Heathen that seeing all disorders in man arise partly from the weakness of those reasons that are in his mind and partly from the excessive abundance of gross matter to which he is chained and seeing those Reasons Notions are Divine and near of Kin to the Gods themselves the insuperable and irresistible power of the Gods will come to the assistance of their Kindred Proclus L. 1. in Timaeum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and so revive renew those Reasons so comfort cherish their weakness that they shall be able to conquer the heaviness and dulness of the bodily impediments Let us much more resolutely conclude that seeing our Souls though here in this Prison are the off-spring of God and seeing likewise he is manifested in our flesh and hath married it as I may say to himself he will mightily incourage strengthen the one and help us to disburden the other and purifie both and that he will never despise the faintest essayes of any honest Soul that faithfully strugles for greater liberty but assist it in all its attempts and endeavours to be unloaded and made more free and chearful in his service These very motions derive themselves from Heaven and may as confidently expect to be succoured from thence as a Child to receive relief from his Parents when he is in distress and when by his order also he is ingaged to apply his weakness to a mighty work which without his help he knows cannot be accomplished It is incredible that the Father of Mercies should expose that which is born of him to be undone and perish which will certainly be the fate of all that is good in us without his constant care and assistance for its preservation Do not doubt but God will look after his own and see that the little portion of goodness which is remaining in this World be countenanced and incouraged In assurance of which you may address your self unto him after this manner A PRAYER O Lord who hast breathed into me the breath of life and indued me with an Immortal Spirit which looks up unto thee and remembers it is made after thine own Image and that thou hast sent Jesus Christ from Heaven to repair and renew that Image in wisdome righteousness and holiness Behold with grace and favour the ardent desires which are in mine heart to recover a perfect likeness of Thee By thine Almighty Love all Praise be unto Thee my mind is already awakened to some sense of Thee and my will overcome to yield up it self intirely to obey Thee and I have been assisted