like a Bird from the perch or melt away like Ice before the Sun and so leave the immortal soul to sink for ever so that the creature will not onely make thee restless but leave thee miserable I see then that I shall never rest till I rest in God he that is the Father of Spirits the Fountain of Bliss the Ancient of Dayes he only is the adequate object for thine immortal soul the rest of the creatures is in its end the end of the soul is its God Therefore Lord seeing thou hast made me for thy self fill me fully with thy self or take me wholly to thy self XXIX Meditat. DOth Sathan tempt thee either by pleasures dignities or profits O my soul Stand upon thy guard gird on thy strength with such thoughts as these What can the World profit me if the cares choak me How can Pleasures comfort me if the sting poyson me Or what advancement is this to be triumphing in honour beforâ— the face of men here anâ— to be trembling for shamâ— before the throne of Goâ— hereafter What are thâ— delights of the World tâ— the peace of my Conscience or the joy that is iâ— the Holy Ghost Whaâ— are the applauses of meâ— to the Crown prepared bâ— God Or what is the gaâ—â— of the World to the loâ—â— of my Soul The vanity the creature is far beneaâ—â— the excellency of my soul Therefore Sathan you aâ—â— I must keep at an everlaâ—ing distance for you bid me loss XXX Meditat. A Black cloud makes the Traveller mend his pace and mind his home whereas a fair day and a pleasant way wasts his time and that stealeth away his affections in the prospect of the Country However others may think of it yet I take it as a mercy that now and then some clouds do interpose my Sun and many times some troubles do eclipse my comforts for I perceive if I should find too much friendship in my Inn in my pilgrimage I should soon forget my Fathers house and my heritage XXXI Meditat. There is a generation of men that wiâ—â— praise and adore the Saint in Heaven and yet mocâ— and afflict the Saint on Earth so that were aâ—â— those Saints alive again whom they so much honour in their day I daâ—â— affirm they would persecute them in their person like the Jews the can garnish the Sepulchre of thâ— Righteous and yet plaâ—â— the Jew with the Person 〈◊〉 the Righteous Dissembling World thy tongâ—â— embalms a dead Saint whil'st thy hand strikes a wound into the living Saint and thou canst praise God for those that are departed in the faith and yet persecute God in those that will not depart from the faith O foolish World must thou needs condemn thy self for thy praise hath lest thy practise without excuse XXXII Meditat. ALexander being asked where he would lay his Treasure Answered very well Apud Amicos Among his friends being confident that there it would be kept with safety and return'd with use What needest thou enlarge thy Barnes Knowest not thou where to lay thy plenty Make the friends of Christ thy treasury let the hands of the widdow the bowels of the poor be thy store-house here is is sure no thief can steal it no time can rust it no change can lose it and hear 't is improved A temporal gift is here turned into an eternal reward no ground so fruitful as the bosome of the poor that brings forth an hundred fold XXXIII Meditat. O My Soul What makest thou groveling on the Earth Every thing here below is too base for thine excellency too short for thine eternity thou art capable of a God and must have a being when these poor things are reduced to nothing the creature is too base a metal to make thee a crow of glory too rotten a bottom to carry thee through eternity Oh fill thy self with God so shalt thou raise thy dignity to perpetuity XXXIV Meditat. WHere any thing presents its self think if Christ were now alive would he do it Or if I were now to dye would I do it I must walk as he hath walked and I must live as I intend to dye if it be not Christs will it is my sin and if I dye in that sin it will be my ruine I will therefore in every action so carry my self as if Christ were on the one hand and Death on the other XXXV Meditat. OUr life is but a moment of time and yet in this moment of time we sow the seeds of eternity in this transitory hour I am framing to my self either a good or a bad eternity These words that now I speak these works that I now act though they here seem to rot yet they shall spring up to eternity Therefore as the Poet answered one upbraiding him for being three dayes about three Verses whereas he could make an hundred in one day Oh saith he At tui ad triduum modo mei in omne aeternum dur aturi sunt Thine are but for three dayes as it were but mine must continue for ever according to my carriage now my Name must either rise or fall for ever So may we answer this foolish World upbraiding us of too much strictness and preciseness Oh! had not we need to be exact indeed when the works we are about are not to be written in sand but in the records of eternity the lines that now we draw must run parallel with eternity and according as we carry our selves in this moment of time our souls must live or dye for ever O Lord help me so to improve the brevity of my life by the integrity of my actions that I may turn this moment of misery into an eternity of bliss XXXVI Meditat. THe Soul of man saith the Philosopher is the horizon of time and eternity now if the Son of Righteousness be not risen in our horizon we must expect nothing but a clouded time and a stormy eternity gross darkness here and utter darkness hereafter for ever But as for those blessed Saints into whose souls the oriental splendour of the Sun of Righteousness is shed abroad how do they live in his sight What celestial excellencies What reviving comforts What advancing principles are darted forth from the face of beauty into their spirits And as for the triumphant Saints in whose horizon Jesus Christ is in the eternal meridian of his glory Oh what full beams of bliss and consolation without the least shadow of bitterness and discontent warms and delights their blessed souls to all eternity Lord lift up the light of thy countenance in my horizon so shall time be the morning and eternity the noon of glory in my soul XXXVII Meditat. THe World hath many servants because it gives present wages where Christ hath but a few Disciples because their reward is in another life Most live by sight and therefore must have to satisfie sense they had rather with Ishmael be sent away with a small gift than with Isaac to wait for
to it thou shalt goe either to Heaven or to Hell upon the easiest or hardest terms XLIX Meditat. ME-thinks I hear six voices cry aloud The first voice is of dying man The second is the voice of the Damned The third is the voice of my precious Soul The fourth is the voice of Jesus Christ The fifth is the voice of Evil times The sixth is the voice of the Day of Judgement First Methinks I hear dying man breathing out these groans Oh lose not a moment of time for thy time is but a moment Oh now make sure of Heaven for thou knowest not how soon thou must leave the Earth And then methings I hear the damned man roaring forth these lamentations Oh! Come and see the end of sin in these that know no end of sorrow Oh come and learn thy price of time from those that must for ever suffer for the loss of time And then me-thinks I hear my precious Soul using these expostulations Oh my Body What a fool am I to satisfie thy lusts thou art but for a moment of time but I must endure for ever when thou art wrapt up in rottenness where shall I spend my eternity I might now get Heaven for my Mansion Angels for my Companions God for my Possession and dost thou think I will lose my felicity to satisfie thy dainty Is it not better that I should carry thee to Heaven than that thou shouldest carry me with thee to Hell And then me-thinks I hear Jesus Christ using these invitations Behold I stand at the door and knock till my head is filled with dew and my locks with the dew of the night here I stand weeping knocking begging and waiting Oh open to me My tears begg my tears knock my blood knocks my groans knock Oh open to me My patience knocks and waits Oh open to me Let not sin lodge in thy heart and Christ wait at the door let not damnation rule within salvation wait without And then me-thinks Evil times use their invitations Oh now be living Christians for these are dying dayes Oh now be growing Christians for these are back-sliding times Oh now make Jesus Christ thine own for here thou knowest not what is thine own And then lastly me-thinks I hear the voice of the Archangel summoning the dead to come forth to judgment Arise ye holy and blessed Saints take your places with God and his holy Angels to judge the World Arise ye cursed naked Souls and take your standing in the sight of God and of his blessed Saints to be judged as you lived in the World Oh Lord let me hear with fear the first voices that I may not fear to hear the last voice L. Meditat. IN every choice we cannot take except we leave That Soul that chooseth life and grace refuseth all things else This is the heavenly breathing of such a gracious spirit Lord Let vain man follow vain fashions but cloath me with salvation and cover me with the robes of righteousness let them be all glorious without but let me be all glorious within let them crown themselves with rose-buds but crown me as thou dost thy Church with the Stars of Heaven these shall shine when those shall fade Let the wicked goe away with the World let them have all the sweetness beauties glories and excellencies of the Earth but let Jesus Christ be my portion There all things else are nothing at all where Christ is all in all therefore be serious Oh my Soul for thou hast none of Christ untill thou canst truly say None but Christ LI. Meditat. THree things methinks should make the heart of a Christian to tremble First To consider the brevity of their life Secondly The difficulty of their Work Thirdly The eternity of their end Our life is but a withering flower a flying cloud a vanishing shaddow a perishing breath the body returneth to the dust and the soul goeth suddenly to its long home the night instantly cometh when no man can work But now What work is to be done in this short inch of time Great enemies to be conquered Sons of Anach to be killed Principalities and powers to be over-powred dear lusts to be subdued right eyes to be plucked out right hands to be cut off strict rules to be followed a narrow way and strait gate to goe through to summ it up a long race to be run with a short breath a great way to be gone by a setting Sun But then What are we to expect when this Taper is out this breath is expired Even as we have sowed so to reap either to be eternally crowned or eternally damned Now therefore before the Sun be set or the shadow of the evening be stretched out whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it with all thy might for there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest Oh Lord help me so to work for thee in this moment of time that I may for ever rest with thee when time shall be no more LII Meditat. YOu have heard of the bloody Seige of Troy and yet it was said of Hellen that she was so beautiful that she deserved ten years War more and what was Hellen but a glorious heap of Clay You have heard of the hard labours of Jacob yet Rachel was so amiable in his eyes that he thought her worthy of fourteen years service If these deserved so much Oh what doth Jesus Christ deserve who is altogether lovely before whose shining glory the beauty of the whole Creation is but an indigested Chaos Therefore be not discouraged Oh my Soul though thine enemies be fierce thy assaults cruel thy resistance even unto blood thou fightest for a beautiful Christ that deserves it Neither be dis-heartened Oh my Soul though rules be strict duties hard thy labours great thou servest for an amiable Christ that will sufficiently reward it Look but upon the lovely beauties of thy Christ think but upon the glorious day of thine espousal and these fourteen years will be nothing to thee Lord let me alwayes have thy beauty in mine eye so shall I quickly find no difficulty in my hand LIII Meditat. I Have formerly with the World accounted the spirit of a Christian to be a melancholly spirit and the ways of holiness only unpleasant paths leading to the deserts of sad retiredness But now I see they have hidden Manna which the World knows not of glorious joyes which strangers do not meddle with and the closer and exacter they walk the fuller and sweeter are their joyes Formerly the very thoughts of parting with my pleasures and delights to embrace soul-humbling self-denying duties were grievous to me but now I bless my God I can say with Augustine Quà m suave suavitatibus istis carere Oh how sweet is it to want my former sweetness It is now my rejoycing to be without my former joyes for now I see there is a Heaven in the way to Heaven and that one look
of mercy If God do so much for a Slave on Earth what will he do in Heaven for a Son Therefore ye holy ones that are so offended at the flourishing of the wicked Oh leave your envy and see your glory for Heaven lyes above ground As the adversity of the Saints shall therefore give me a glimpse of Hell so the prosperity of the wicked shall give me a glance of Heaven LXX Meditat. GOd hath made all things for his elect and his elect for himself All is yours and you are Christs I will therefore serve my God in all things my self in nothing LXXI Meditat. THe Creature hath a goodness in it no further than it stands in reference to the chiefest good if you cut the stream off from the fountain it will quickly lose its sweetness pureness and it self at length the comforts and enjoyments of the wicked because they flow not from the spring of love they are but like dainty Channels mudded and imbittered with the wrath of God fading Brooks which at length will make the soul ashamed so that he which only enjoyes the creature in it self shall lose the creature and himself The purest and the sweetest mercies only run in the rivulets which are fed by the upper celestial springs of mercy Therefore O Lord Whatsoever I enjoy let it stream from the fountain of thy love and flow to me in the blood of thy Son LXXII Meditat. AS the Rivers which flow from the Sea run back again into the Sea So those blessings wich come from God must alwayes be employed for God What I have received from God in his mercy he must have it back again in his glory Therefore Lord Whatever I enjoy let me find thee in it and serve thee with it LXXIII Meditat. LOve should alwayes be the life of motion Amor meus pondus meum eo terror quocunque terror That soul goes true that hath true love to way it and that soul loves truly that hath a true object to center it a gracious spirit loves the Lord not because he does good but because he is good I will not weigh that friends affection that loves a fluent sweetness before an inherent goodness that soul that loves Christ for himself though you take away all weights else yet there is strength enough in love to move and constrain the soul O blessed be that Saint Lord that 's so taken with thy love that can truly say Were there neither Heaven nor Hell yet sin should be my Hell and holiness my Heaven LXXIV Meditat. TO speak the truth our Life what is it but a vital death The Poet being asked What he did Answered very well Paulatim morior I dye by little and little We do but then begin to live indeed when we begin to live to God our life before is but a race to the sepulcher but when we live to God then we are in our way to eternity As Alexander when he reckoned up his age counted not his years but his victories so when I take an account of my life I will not reckon up my time but my duties LXXV Meditat. O Thou precious Saint thou gracious Soul Three questions calls for thy answer thy answer for thy praise 1. What wast thou 2. What art thou 3. What shalt thou be 1. What wast thou A Rebel to thy God a Prodigal to thy Father a Slave to thy Lust an Alien from the Common-wealth of Israel 2. What art thou The Son of God the Spouse of Christ the Temple of the Holy Ghost begotten of the Immortal Seed born of the Blood Royal of Heaven made free among the Denizens of Sion written among the living of Jerusalem 3. What shalt thou be A glorious Saint a Companion of Cherubins a triumphant Victor a crowned King and an Attendant on the Lamb wheresoever he goeth a spectator of those soul-ravishing and ineffable excellencies that are in God the beholding of the King of glory face to face and enjoying immediate communion with Jesus Christ Nay more made one with Jesus Christ cloathed with his excellencies enthroned with his glories crowned with his eternity filled with his felicity The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Oh! Stand amazed at free grace and seeing God hath made thy soul a vessell filled with his mercy make thy self thy life a spring flowing with his praise LXXVI Meditat. THe Soul takes its rise from every creature to Heaven When I see the Stars Lord I think if one Star be of such magnitude what are the dimensions of those Heavens in which so many are fixed Nay how immensible is that God whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain When I see the Sun I think if one Sun make such a glorious and lustrious day what a glorious Heaven will that be wherein every Saint shall be a Sun and every Sun so farr brighter than this as this is brighter than our bodies And yet all these Suns are but a shadow to the Sun of righteousness Again when I consider the rising Sun how by the perfection of his beams he puts beauty life and joy upon the face of the whole Creation paints the Flowers guilds the Corn puts a flourish upon the Plants chears and exhillarates the Birds and makes the Valleys shout for joy I then think what shall be the shining beauty and soul ravishing delights of that soul upon which the brightness of thy glory shall fully rise and rest and into which the glorious splend our of thy beauty shall clearly shine to all eternity And when I consider the Air this is my thought That as here I cannot think at all unless I draw in this Air so I cannot think well at all except thou puts goodness into my thought Lord When I view the variety of thy Creatures and see one excell in beauty another in strength another in wisdome another in love and of others in swiftness Lord I think these are but beams of thy brightness and streams of thy fulness as they had only their being from thy hand so they have only their perfection in thy essence here they are mixt but there they are pure how happy then shall that soul be that enjoyes all perfection in God and God infinitely above all Lord I see stately buildings shady groves and crystal brooks and pleasant meadows and yet perhaps a wicked man the owner why then I think if Simeon goes away with such a mess what will Benjamin's portion be If the Children of the Concubines have so large a gift what shall be the inheritance of a Son of Promise Again when I look upon my self in temporals Lord I bless thee that I have a convenient sufficiency a goodly heritage my tents are by the wells of Elim my portion is from the hands of thy wisdome and though corruption may think it of the least yet wisdome it self knows it to be best Now Lord if thou givest me so much in the time of my vanity what wilt thou do
Praise of those that were slain in the Wars by the Lacedemonians received this answer from him Quales igitur nostros esse putas qui istos vicerunt If those were such brave and valiant men what dost thou think that we are that overcame those What though now we read a sad relation of the potency and policy of our enemies and find the heavy experience of it yet how glorious and victorious dost thou think we shall one day be when in the strength of Christ we shall have overcome those enemies What though my assaults be many my enemies mighty if God strengthen me I have enough to comfort me for the greater my enemy the more glorious my victory and the more glorious my victory the more triumphant my glory LXXXIII Meditat. I Have seen some Christians that for ordinary losses have been inordinate in their mourning as if not only the Stream but the Fountain had been exhausted whereas if the understanding part of the soul did truly act it self it would reason thus What must the stream of my sorrow run altogether in this channel Is there no mourning to be made for sin What shall I suffer my heart to swim away in tears Are there no duties to be performed for God And do I not know that a sad heart cannot serve a good God I have lost the Creature but I must keep my God I have parted with an outward comfort but I shall meet it again with advantage in Jesus Christ I have lost something were it more were it all so that I were not the owner of any thing yet enjoying Christ I should be the possessor of all things The failing Stream shall but therefore send me to the flowing Fountain Thus did the soul put forth it self it would quickly sweeten those bitter waters and presently turn those tears into duties For my part I will mourn for the loss of the Creature but it shall be in the Cause which is Sin so shall my sorrow be godly and not worldly and I will never be satisfied till I make good the absence of the Creature but it shall be in the Fountain which is Christ so shall it be a gain and not a loss LXXXIV Meditat. T Is observed as a point of wisdome in Husbandry to set those Plants together that have an Antipathy in their natures and draw severall juyces out of the Earth therefore it is thought a Rose set by Garlick is sweeter because the more fetid juyce of the Earth goes into the Garlick and the more odorate into the Rose I am sure 't is true in spirituals therefore I wonder not why afflictions are the portion of the righteous for I see prosperity is too strong a sucker to exhaust and steal the spiritual sap and celestial vigour of the Soul and so to debilitate the principles of growth and life Whereas adversity hath a contrary extraction it only draws out what may be malignant and leaves behind it what may be for nourishment it takes the dregs and leaves the spirits whereby the soul is elevated and made more fruitful in the works of holiness Therefore Lord so I may but grow if the Flowers of the World be too succulent transplant me among the Bryars LXXXV Meditat. WHen I look up to Heaven how oft do I both see the Sun shine and set When I look down into my soul how oft do I see my comfort rise and fall Eye but that Ship which now seems to touch the clouds and you shall see it in the depth anon as if it would be swallowed by the waves One while a Christian is upon mount Tabor and hath a glance of Heaven another while lyes in the valley of Bochim weeping because he hath lost the sight of his Country Joshuah's long day is many times turn'd into Paul's sad night God would quicken our affections therefore now and then he gives us a glance of Heaven that so we might be in love with what we see and now and then he draws a black veil over that bright vision that so we might not loath what we did love He suffers our happiness here to be imperfect that so we may be pressing on to that place where we shall be perfectly happy Lord when thou shewest thy self let me love thee and when thou withdrawest thy self let me follow thee and under all these changes here let my soul be always breathing panting longing and reaching after thee till I shall so perfectly enjoy thee that I may never lose thee LXXXVI Meditat. WHere the King is there is the Court and where the presence of God is there is Heaven Art thou in Prison with St. Paul and Silas If God be with thee thou wilt sing thy Hallelujahs Art thou at the Stake with blessed Martyrs As the beams of the Sun puts out the fire so the beams of Gods Countenance puts out the flames and turns their troubles into comforts so that 't is but winking and thou art in Heaven Therefore that soul that enjoyes the Lord though it may want the Sun or Moon to shine in Creatures comforts worldly delights to solace it yet it needs them not for the glory of God doth enlighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof God himself irradiates it with the brightness of his beauty and Christ himself fills it with joy unspeakable and full of glory This God brings his Heaven with him and that man that enjoyes God carries Heaven about him so that here is his happiness cast him in a Dungeon in a Furnace when you please yet he is still in Heaven Therefore for my part Lord give me thy self and then deal how thou pleasest with me LXXXVII Meditat. MArk the wicked man though his Intrat may be Comical his Exit is alwayes Tragical Belshazzar in his first Scene is revelling out his time in sin and pleasure feasting carousing with his Concubines in the vessels of the Lord but view him in the Catastrophe and you shall find the hand writing and him trembling Darius rending away his Kingdom and Death snatching away his Life If you look upon the entrance of a wicked man his gates are riches his seats honours his paths pleasures he goes delicately fares deliciously every day he hath more than hart can wish But wait his going out and see a sad conclusion in a moment he goes down to Hell The man is cast out from God as an everlasting curse Destruction closes her mouth upon him and his place beholds him no more His body is wrapt in the dust his soul is buried in the flames and his name is covered with darkness But now behold the perfect man it may be thou mayest see a few tragical Scenes the World hating mocking persecuting him but the end of that man is peace Though he may come forth weeping yet he goes off rejoycing Though he come forth combating yet he goes out triumphing so that the Saints and Angels clap their hands for joy When I therefore judge of a happy
it that thou aim'st at Is it a full enjoyment of thy God Why then whil'st thou art present in this body be always drawing near to the Lord so when thou shalt be absent from this body then thou shalt be always present with the Lord. VI. Meditat. HOw apt many are at the sight of a rich Worldling to envy him for what he hath But for my part I rather pity him for what he wants he hath a Talent but it wants improvement he hath a Lamp but it wants Oyl he hath a Soul but it wants grace he hath the star but he wants the Sun he hath the Creature but he wants the Creator In his life he doth but float upon a Torrent of vanity which empties it self into an Ocean of vexation and after death then take this unprofitable servant bind him hand and foot and cast him into utter darkness goe set his Soul adrift for ever in an impetuous Lake of fire and brimstone Where now is the object of your envy It is not his silver that now will anchor him nor his gold that shall land him nor his friends that can comfort him therefore if he be worth the envying who is worth the pitying If this be felicity then give me misery Lord rather make me poor with a good heart than rich with a bad conscience VII Meditat. I Am frail and the World is fading but my Soul is immortal and God is eternal If I pitch upon the creature either they may take wings like an Eagle that flyeth towards Heaven or my Soul may take its way with the rich fool and go to Hell but if I choose God for my portion then mercy and goodness shall follow me whil'st I live and glory and eternity shall crown me when I dye I will therefore now leave that which I shall soon lose that so I may embrace that which I shall always enjoy VIII Meditat. I See the wicked have their Heaven here and their Hell hereafter and on the contrary good men have their Hell here and their Heaven hereafter Dives had his good things in this life and Lazarus evil now Lazarus is comforted and Dives is tormented I will not therefore envy the prosperity of the wicked nor be offended at the affliction of the righteous seeing the one is drawn in pomp to Hell whil'st the other swims in tears to Heaven IX Meditat. AS there is a sad mirth so there is a joyful mourning look upon the voluptuous man however laughter may appear in his face yet sadness ever centers in his heart his carnal delights are not only vain but vexing like Musick they play him into a melancholly fit whil'st the Banquet lasts the Sensualist sings but when the reckoning comes his spirit sinks his burning candle presently goes out in a stinking snuffe his shining Sun instantly sets in a watery cloud Solomon gives us the summe of it thus Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness But now come to the penitential person as his tears are the joy of Angels so they are the joy of his heart and the solace of his soul the salter his tears the sweeter his comforts the deeper his sighs the fuller his joy the beams of consolation alwayes shine into this house of mourning so that his soul is in travel with a Barnabas and his labours bring forth the fruits of peace insomuch that I may truly say to mourn for sin is to weep for joy These pure and pleasant streams of consolation which is the worldlings wonder that flow and run in those Crystal rivers of eternal pleasure at Gods right hand they come from a weeping spring Why then is the mouth of wickedness opened against the way of holiness As if grace were the Calvary to intomb joy and impiety the very womb to bring forth felicity but if experience may be heard my soul hath felt both and I find such damps of spirit in worldly pleasures and such refreshing of soul in the depth of godly sorrow that I shall esteem one drop of such spiritual joy better than an Ocean of their carnal mirth X. Meditat. WHere thine happiness lyeth there thy portion lyeth If thou place thy felicity in a poor empty creature If with Judas thy spirit run so low that thou canst be content only to keep the Bagg or with Reuben for some worldly convenience to quarter on this side Jordan Why then unworthy Soul take that which is thine own and goe thy way If thou wilt be put off with a breath of honour a blaze of pleasure a snare of riches or a parcel of vanity Why then goe take thy fill look for no more from God Thou seest thy all when thou goest from hence then farewell all in the mean while remember this that when the breath shall be expired the blaze extinct and the soul for ever ensnared then thy eternity shall be spent in bewailing thy folly But now O precious Soul If thou place thy felicity in the highest excellency thy portion lyes in the chiefest good If it be thine happiness alwayes to behold the beauty of Gods face it shall be thy portion for ever to behold the beauty of Gods presence Lord let the Worldling then be sent away with some poor worldly trifles but for my part since thou hast made me capable of such heavenly excellencies I desire never to be put off with transitory vanities my happiness lyes only in thy self Therefore whatever I enjoy beside thy self I will take it as a blessing but not as a portion XI Meditat. UNsatiable desires in temporals make a poor man in spirituals a right Christian is only rich in outward things when he is contented with what he hath That man hath nothing of heavenly things that thirsteth not after more Worldly desires they alwayes leave us empty either we get not what we covet or else we are not satisfied with what we get but he that thirsteth after heavenly things is alwayes filled and the more he receives the more he desires The richest and choicest mercies that God can give sincere Desires will fetch them in What a glorious improvement might we make of this affection if we did but divert the streames and turn them Heaven-ward How many excellent mercies lye a ground and only want this tyde to bring them in Why then let I my desires run out in wast I do but make my self poor in thirsting after more of the World and more of the Creature whereas I might be rich if I would but count more of Grace and of Christ XII Meditat. USually when a worldling is dead we ask how rich he dyed Oh say many he dyed rich he hath left a great estate Alas the poor man hath slept his sleep lost his dream and now he awakes he finds nothing in his hand where lyes his golden heap Only the rust of that heap is gone to witness against him his Mammon fails him only the unrighteousness of it follows him
cowardly spirit let but a little sickness impair thy health or the thoughts of death charge upon thy spirit and what quick retreatings are there from thy bold resolutions What heaviness clouds thy looks What terrours shake thy joynts What sadness sinks thy heart So that a fancy frights thee a shadow startles thee Nabal-like thy spirits dye and sink within thee like a stone Therefore jeer on for my part I hold it better to fear while God threatens than to fall when God judgeth XXII Meditat. THe nearer the Moon draweth into conjunction with the Sun the brighter it shines towards the Heavens and the obscurer it shews towards the Earth So the nearer the Soul draws into Communion with Jesus Christ the comelier it is in the eye of the Spouse and the Blacker it appears in the sight of the World He that is a precious Christian to the Lord is a precise Puritan to the World He that is glorious to an heavenly Saint is odious to an earthly Spirit But it is a sign thou art an Aegyptian when that cloud which is a light to an Israelite is darkness to thee It is a sign thou movest in a terrestrial orb when thou seest no lustre in such celestial lights for my part if I shine to God I care not how I shew to the world XXIII Meditat. IT appears not what we are to the World and it hardly appears what we shall be to our selves for did they know that we are the jewels of God the favourites of Heaven the excellency of the Creation the beloved of Christ they would not mock and persecute us as they do Or if we did but know that we should be glorified together with Christ his happiness shall be as our happiness and that his joy shall be as our joyes and his glories shall be as our glories truly we should not be so much dejected as we are when I consider that my life is hid with Christ in God I wonder not to see the World hate me but when I consider that when Christ shall appear I shall be like him I wonder it doth so much as trouble me XXIV Meditat. WHy should I fret my self at the prosperity of the wicked Indeed when I look upon the spreading Bay and forget the withering Herb when I view their Quails and forget their Curse my feet had almost slipt but since I went into the Sanctuary of God I find that all the blossomes of their glory must dis-flourish under the blastings of Gods wrath and all their external felicity doth but only perfect the judgements of the Lord and fill up the measure of their misery for what 's their pleasure but just like the deceitful salute of Joab with Amasa What 's their honour but like Absolom's Mule it only mounts and carries them to their Gallows What is their riches but like Jaels Present in a Lordly dish it only makes way for the fatal nail for their sad account at the day of judgement This their prosperity slayes them Now who esteems that Oxe happy that hath a goodly pasture to feed himself for the slaughter Who envies that Malefactour that has a fair day to ride to execution in And why is it that the workers of iniquity flourish Is it not that they may be destroyed for ever And the larger their pasture the sooner they are fitted for the slaughter I therefore for my part when I see a sinner prosper in his wickedness will turn the flame of envy into a tear of pity XXV Meditat. THis is Heaven to be for ever with the Lord and this is Hell for ever to be without the Lord. You that can see no beauty in Christ nor glory in Heaven do you likewise see no flames in Hell no Hell in loss of God You therefore that cannot be taken with his presence Oh tremble at his absence and you that care not to be with Oh fear to be without him for this is Hell on Earth Depart from us and this is Hell when we leave the Earth Depart from me Lord thou art my Heaven and my happiness unite me to thee that I may be for ever with thee XXVI Meditat. THat good which is in riches lyeth altogether in their use like the Womans box of Oyntment if it be not broken and poured out for the sweet refreshment of Jesus Christ in his distressed members they lose their worth Therefore the covetous man may truly write upon his rusting heaps These are good for nothing Chrysostome tells us Thas he is not rich that layes up much buâ— that layes out much for its all one not to have aâ— not to use I will therefore be the richer by a charitable laying out whilâ— the Worldling hall be thâ— poorer by his covetouâ— hoarding up XXVII Meditat. WHo will part with his God I will parâ— with my life rather than with my God no marvel then the covetouâ— man so hugs his Gold iâ— is his God if you take that from him he may cry with Micah when he lost his Gods What have I more His Heaven is gone his Happiness is gone his All is gone if God be gone I will not therefore wonder so much at the closeness of his hand as at the vainness of his heart We count it singular wisdome to keep that God we choose but that is absolute folly to chuse that God we cannot keep XXVIII Meditat. OH my Soul Thou art spiritual in thine essence immensible in thy desires and immortal in thy nature so that there must be proportion and perfection of what thou â—njoyest with a perennity â—f both or else no full content no real satisfaction Now were the universal World turned into a pleasant Eden and that Eden refreshd with the living springs of immortality and thou seated in the Throne of its choicest excellencies crowned with the Diadem of its highest felicities swaying the Scepter of thy glory over all sublunary creatures nay could'st thou give reins to the Sun or guidance to the moving flames did thy Territories board upon the highest Heavens and the revenues of thy Crown flow in from the farthest parts of the Earth yet what proportion doth a material World bear to an immortal Soul Will a Lion feed upon grass Or can the Soul be satisfied with dust Thou mayest as soon feed thy body with grass as thy soul with the creature if it did bear proportion yet it wants perfection Could the Devil turn a Chymist and extract the very vitall spirits and quintessence of the purest and desirablest excellencies under Heaven yet it is of such an imperfect nature that there is more lees than liquor more thorns than flowers more smoak than fire more sting then honey so â—hat that soul shall be filled with a whirlwind of vexation that thinks to be satisfied with an object of imperfection For it is impossible that such a scanty excellency should any wayes fill such an enlarged capacity Yet again were there perfection yet there is not perpetuity it will fly away
will be alwayes warr with sin I know that while I live sin will have its being in my mortal body the Ivy will still be twisting about the house there 's no destroying of it untill the wall fall Sin was the womb of Death and only Death must be the tomb of Sin God would have my soul humbled therefore though he hath broke my prison yet he hath left the chain upon my feet God would have my graces exercised therefore though he have translated me into the Kingdom of life yet he hath left the Canaanite in the Land God would have my faith exercised therefore Goliah still shews himself in the field that so I might make out to the Name of the Lord I will therefore unbuckle Saul's Armour humble mine own abilities and betake me to the strength of Christ so though I cannot help the rebelling power of sin yet I shall alwayes hinder the ruling power of sin As it shall be my grief because sin will have its being so it shall be my care that it may never have its thriving though sin may live in me yet I will never live in sin LXI Meditat. I Must not pray simply against Temptations though I may against the evil of temptation for a Christian my be tempted and yet not overcome a Castle may be assaulted and yet not taken if Sathan inject an evi motion and I reject it this is not mine but the Devils sin this shall be a shining jewel in my crown of victory as an aggravating Item in his day of judgement Why art thou so terrified at the roaring of a Lion as if he could not rage but he must devour or as if grace temptation would not stand together As if the same afflictions were not accomplished upon thy Brethren This is an undoubted truth that spiritual wickedness is to be found in the heavenliest places and this is an excellent sign that Sathan takes thee for one that will tread upon his head when he is so violent to bruise thy heel and this a comfortable assurance that if Jesus Christ be thy Captain to lead thee in he will be thy Champion to bring thee out so that temptation shall be as a File to beautifie thy soul and as a Sword to wound thine Adversary For my part I know Sathan will be alwayes tempting therefore I will be alwayes watching and what I cannot hinder that I will be sure to hate So shall it be my joy to fall into temptation and the Devil's misery to fall into his own pit LXII Meditat. II was proudly said by Caesar crossing unknown the Sea being in a little Barque in a tempestuous storm when they were ready to be swallowed up by the waves perceiving the courage of the Pilot to fail Confide scias te Caesarem vehere Fear not for thou carriest Caesar How truly may a gracious spirit say in the midst of all dissertions afflictions and tribulations Fear nothing O my soul thou carriest Jesus Christ What though the windowes of Heaven be open for a storm or the fountains of the deep broke up for a floud dissertions from above afflictions from below yet God that sits in Heaven will not cast away his Son Christ that lives in me will not let me sink the swelling waves I know are but to set me nearer heaven and the swelling deeps are but to make me awake my Master prize thy Christ they cannot drown thee therefore shall not daunt me For while I sail with Christ I am sure to land with Christ LXIII Meditat. IF Satan cannot hinder the birth of graces then he labours to be the death of graces this is too ordinary to see a Christian lose his first love and to fall from his first works his love that was formerly an ascending flame always sparkling up to Heaven is now like a little spark almost suffocated with the Earth The godly sorrow that was once a swelling torrent like Jordan overflowing his banks is now like Job's Summer brook which makes the Traveller ashamed his proceedings against sin once furious like the march of Jehu against Ahab but now like Sampson he can sleep in Dalilahs lap whil'st she steals away his strength before he could not give rest to his eyes till God had given rest to his soul but now he can lye down with sin in his bosome and wounds in his Conscience At first his zeal did eat him up but now his decayings hath eat up his zeal How is thy excellency O Christian departed from thee How is thy crown fallen from thy head What a dangerous breach hast thou made for the entrance in of sin and sorrow Temptations find thee wracked and leave thee wounded thy graces that were once like the Worthies of David that could break through anâ— host of enemies and draw water at the wells of salvation are now like the Souldiers that follow Saul they are with thee trembling thou hast potent enemies but impotent graces often assaulted but easily conquered and as thy glorious Sun is setting so are dismal Clouds arising Thou O Christian art decreasing in thy graces and God is declining in his favours Thou drawest off Communion with the Saints and God draws off Communion from thy soul Thou offerest up thy sacrifices without the fire of zeal and he answers thy coldness with the fire of wrath In a word thy spirit hath no delight in God and Gods soul hath no delight in thee And as there is bad news from Heaven so there is sad news from Conscience What tremblings of heart What astonishment of soul What disputes against mercy What questionings of salvation will thy wounded conscience and bleeding spirit raise What flashes of lightning What claps of thunder will break out upon thy soul when the hot pangs of death shall be wrapt up in the cold and chill scruples of salvation As I will therefore draw out my soul to praise God for grace implanted so also will I put out my strength to serve God by grace improved that as every hour sets-me nearer my grave so every action may set me nearer my haven LXIV Meditat. AN Hypocrite is the Devils servant in Gods livery and therefore out of favour both in Heaven and Earth for man seeth his livery and therefore hateth him and God sees his heart and therefore will not own him Men see his outward sanctity and therefore deride him and God sees his inward hypocrisie and therefore abhors him so that he travels in the Wilderness and yet shall never rest in Canaan when he comes to cast up the summ of all his labours this he shall find to be the summ of them in stead of that blessed sentence of approbation Well done good and faithfull servant he shall have that direful sentence of detestation Who hath required this at your hands He that so cunningly deceived others doth at last as foolishly beguile himself in a word he is a man that steals his Damnation and sweats to get to Hell so that the
see him clearly and directly face to face and enjoy his immediate communion with Jesus Christ We shall then be like him indeed when we shall see him as he is our bodies shall be like his our souls shall be like his our glory shall be like his our eternity shall be like his who is the God of beauty excellency and sweetness concord happiness and eternity Oh Lord let me have such clear visions such sweet fruitions of thee that I may not only hereafter be happy as thou art happy but may likewise now be holy as thou art holy XCVI Meditat. THe life of Faith is the noblest richest contentedst easiest truest life of all It is the noblest life for it takes the Soul out of the house of Adam and carries it into the houshould of God it makes the Soul forget her Fathers house and espouseth it to the King of Glory And then it is the pleasantest life it lives upon the choicest excellency and highest felicity often wrapt up in the third Heaven to take its repast in inexpressible glory it walks in the paths of pleasantuess and under all the heats of troubles and afflictions it shades it self under the Arbour of Paradise And then it is the richest life if our desires be according to our wants it is impossible we should want above what we desire Tantum quisque habet quantum credit Every man hath saith a Father according to his faith And be it unto thee according to thy faith saith Christ And then it is the contentedst life it carries the fading creature and layes him upon Christ and under all mutabilty still holds fast all-sufficiency and so sits down contentedly Then is it the easiest life Faith looks not on the strictness or difficulty of duty but on the power and strength of Christ therefore if it meet with a hard precept it dissolves it into a sweet promise it carries it to a loving Christ pleads it out till he hath drawn out a proportionable strength to facilitate and make easie the duty In fine it is the truest and the onlyest life for he is dead in sin that doth not live by faith therefore as one said Non vivere sed valere vita est Not to live but to be well is life So may I say Not to live well only but to believe is to live and to live well indeed XCVII Meditat. IF God be the highest perfection in himself and the highest good to the creature then it is the highest wisdome of the creature to choose him and the highest piece of his duty to live in observance of him If all creatures must certainly appear before this great Majesty and bow unto him I admire the wisdome of the godly and wonder at the folly of the wicked And seeing this certainly and of necessity must be Lord let me be of the number of those that choose thee here so as for ever hereafter I may enjoy thee and not as the number of those that refuse thee here and must for ever hereafter be separated from thee XCVIII Meditat. GRaces are the very Courtiers of Heaven those wait upon Christ in his privy Chamber Honour Riches Credit and the like may do much below you may keep out your betters here but in the Pallace of the King of Glory you must stand by for ever It is only Faith Love Humility and the like that shall have admittance into the Presence Chamber moral vertues you must likewise walk without All that goe bravely are not qualified for such a Presence you are but Splendida peccata beautifull Abominations base Hearts wrapped up in brave cloaths Parts and Gifts you may stay and wait at the gates but I can tell you there is a special Command gone forth that none but Grace and Holiness shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven therefore you may receive your answer if you please only these are welcome to the King of Glory only these are familiar and conversant with Jesus Christ Therefore as the Queen of Sheba said of the servants of Solomon so may 〈◊〉 say of the Graces of Gods Spirit which are only the retainers of Jesus Christ Oh! happy are these thy men and happy are these thy servants O God which stand continually before thee and hear thy Wisdome and see thy Glory True love doth not only preserve every heavenly motion of the Soul but raiseth the Soul â—t self to the highest perfection The more I love the more I shall be beloved and the fuller participation shall I have of him who is altogether lovely St. Bernard speaks fully to it Summum bonum amare est summa beatitudo To love the chiefest good is the greatest happiness The purest and the fullest love shall alwayes wear the weightiest Crown of glory Lord perfect this Grace in me that so I may be perfect in loving thee XCIX Meditat. THe Israelites must first pass over Jordan before they can land in Canaan but no sooner did the feet of the Priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant rest in the water but the proud waves saw it and fled and the swelling streams were driven back and laid in heaps to make them pass over safe and well So every child of God is like an Israelite in the Wilderness of this World travelling to the Land of Promise Death is that Jordan that runs between this wilderness and our Canaan it is that swelling stream that over-flows the banks of every mortal creature it is that last River which must be passed over But this is the happiness of a Child of God That Jesus Christ our High Priest that bears the everlasting Covenant on his shoulders hath already dipt his feet in the brims of this water insomuch that the streams of bitterness are diverted the sting of death pluck'd out the water of the salt Sea is dryed up and the power of the curse cut off so that death is but a sure step unto glory Why then am I afraid to dye the channel is dry and I see the footsteps of my Saviour in the bottom and Heaven and Happiness on the other side so that the waters shall not go over my Soul they may goe over my sins they may goe over my miseries they may goe over my troubles but my Soul shall goe over to its rest Lord therefore fit and sanctifie me for my removal and then take down my Tent I cannot be too soon with thee C. Meditat. HEre the Vessel is too capacious to be filled with all the pleasures and delights the world can lay together but hereafter our pleasures and delights shall be too full for the most capacious Vessel to comprehend our Glory shall be so great that power as well as goodness shall come forth from God himself for to renew and enlarge these Vessels that so they may be capable to receive and retain that glory strength and love shall goe forth together for to prepare and raise our dispositions that they may be suitable for such a transcendent
and high condition We are too weak for such a weight of glory therefore God will bear us up that we may bear up it and because our joyes cannot fully enter into us we shall fully enter into them Who would then set so large a Vessel as the Soul under a few drops of carnal pleasure and neglect the spring and spouts of everlasting joy Oh my soul What a glorious day is there coming When the Vessels of mercy shall be cast into the Ocean of mercy and be filled to the brim with mercy When the Sons of pleasure shall drink their fills at the torrents of pleasures and be set for ever at rest in the rivers of pleasure When the soul that is sick of love shall lye in the bosome of love and for ever take its fill of love When the Children of God shall have a full fruition of God and be for ever satisfied with the presence of God the joy of which glorious presence the fulness of which joy the sweetness of which fulness the eternity of which sweetness the heart of man in its largest thoughts cannot conceive Lord Let the thoughts of the joy and glory which thou hast prepared for me in the Heavens turn away my Soul from the pleasures and delights which are presented to me on Earth that so neglecting them I may be pressing to thee and be breathing forth with thine Oh! When shall I come and appear before God! POSTSCRIPT By A READER AND now being Refreshed with these fragrant leaves what shall I say Blessed Author Art thou yet alive Breath longer in this fruitful Air and extract more out of so Rich a Stock A Scribe so well Instructed cannot have spent all but must have new or old to bring out of his Treasure Do not hide but Improve thy Talent Be not only a good and wise but faithful Steward and yield us more of thy pleasant Fruits Thou hast begun well who what should hinder thee Thy present were there no succeeding Reward is spurr enough to future Work Religion is Recreation and Heaven is the way to Heaven Good men are there on this side the grave Thy Longing Soul was still peeping into it and sending thy Thoughts as Spies to view this promised Land But art thou at Rest from thy Labours this among others thy work follows thee and hath here Erected thy Lasting Monument Where ever thou wert Buried Obscurity shall not swallow thee Every good Heart that knew thee is thy Tomb and every Tongue writes thee an Epitaph Good men speak well of thee But above all God delights in thee Thy Thoughts were still fluttering upwards Richly fraught with Divine Breathings and ever Aspiring till unladen themselves in the Bosome of thy Beloved We are hugely Thankful that a few dropt from thee for the Comfort and Example of fainting sluggish Mortals below Thou liv'd Indeed while most live onely in Shew and hast changed thy Place but not thy Company Blush and be ashamed my Drowsie Soul at Sight or Thoughts of such Active Christians These are Redeeming Times whil'st thou art Mis-spending it These are working and thou loytering These are Conversing with God whil'st thou art following or trifling in the World These are Digging in Scripture Mines whil'st thou passes over them as Barren Empty Things Backward to Read slow to Hear most averse to ruminate on the Word David meditated day and night but thou scarce day or night Shall God be to thee hereafter All in All and here as nothing at All Have all thy Thoughts then and be afforded so few now Is he thy Portion and wilt thou live no more upon him Thy Treasure and thy Heart so seldome with him Is there so much in God and his Attributes in Christ and his Offices in the Spirit and his Workings in the Law and its Exactness in the Gospel and its Sweetness in Grace and its Excellency in the World and its Vanity in the Guilt of Sin in the Beauty of Holiness in the Preciousness of the Soul in the Paucity that shall be Saved in the Frailty of Life in the Certainty of Death in the Torments of Hell in the Happiness of Heaven in the Vnalterableness of Judgement And art thou barren in so fruitfull a Soyl Only a Cumberer of the Ground notwithstanding all the Cost bestowed upon thee Oh see thou be not only alive but a lively Christian Canst thou think of an eternal weight of Glory and rest contented with a little work Who ever served God for nought Hath he not passed his word to make thee amends for all thou canst do or suffer for his sake What Harm is there in a Heavenly Life What Dishonour in Adoring thy Maker What great Danger in being strictly Religious What Discomfort to live and dye in the sense of Gods favour Where is thy best friend What is thy chief Interest What wilt thou wish upon a dying bed Who doth or can do most for thee What into another World will accompany thee O live in the sense of Dreadful Happy Eternity and of the difference to stand with boldness before the Judge when the careless World shall stand trembling Let Heaven be alwayes in thy eye the World under thy feet Christ nearest thy heart the last Trump in thy ear the Work the Word of God in thy hand and his Praises continually in thy lips Listen what Yellings under thee Heark what Acaclmations over thee Look round what Snares are laid for thee Behold whose eye is upon thee what hast Death makes towards thee how near thy course is finishing See who stands holding thy sparkling Crown how the wicked would die like thee how the Devils for Envy grinn at thee how the Angels rejoyce over thee stand round thee and long to be carrying thee thy Father will be no longer without thee Yet a little while and God shall wipe away all Tears turn every Holy Desire into an Embracement every Prayer into a Song of Praise every Sigh into an Hallelujah every Tear into a Pearl every Stone of Reproach into a Diamond in thy glittering Crown Reflection into Possession Faith into Vision Hope into Fruition the Glass into the Face for we shall see him as he is to whom be glory for ever Amen FINIS