of Judgment A concern so great that no man can guess at the terrible terrors of a dying despairing sinner but he that has felt them nor can any man know the Felicity of living ever ready to die but he to whom God has given the grace to live so and to accustom himself to compare frequently those past amazing terrors of despair from which God did then deliver him with such new light by grace from above as will exalt his Soul out of those dark despairing clouds to expire in a full reconciliation to God at his last hour XIII IF we believe Christ on earth did all those Miracles the Gospel mentions and that by Faith so many of all sorts were healed of their Infirmities the same faith now no doubt will procure the like mercies from the same Christ now he is ascended anâ— united unto God the Father where he sees all our Maladies and hears our Cries and is as ready now to Cure our Leprous Souls our Withered Limbs our Bloody Issues and to cast out as many Legions of Devils thaâ— possess us with Pride Envy Lust Revenge Gluttony Avarice and all the rest of that black train So that if we be now as desirous to be Cured as they were then anâ— do cry out for Mercy as they did we shalâ— be made whole like them and follow Christ 〈◊〉 ever after until we enter into 〈◊〉 Eternal Rest. XIV IF we observe how the Holy Ghost works on our Souls when our sincere â—â—evotions do raise our hearts to Heaven â—â—d how much our fancy soars above â—â—r own reach in Extasies of joy and â—elestial delight at that time we may â—ereby know how God accepts such Saâ—â—ifices and by his returns of comfort â—nd ardent desires to repeat such adresses as often as our affection and feliâ—ity does encrease by our devotion for â—â—en God meets our sincere prayers with â—â—ch consolations and inward depenâ—ance on his mercy and grace as will â—â—lighten our hearts with divine love and â—â—ing us to a constant conversation with â—im by living a divine life So to wean 〈◊〉 from the World and fill us with such â—oly flames from Heaven as nothâ—ng â—â—all shake our faith nor divert our â—houghts from making ready for our â—ourney thither But 't is neither writing â—hus nor talking thus nor praying thus â—â—ut doing thus must bring us thither XV. IT were well if we did treat God with as much respect as we give to one another for men generally when invited to a great man's house in common civility do dress themselves to their best advantage suitable to such Company and fit for such respect and welcom as they expect there How much more ought we to prepare and adorn our Souls and Bodies when we are invited by the glorious Majesty of God unto Heaven and by his Holy Spirit are daily solicited to come where we are sure to be received and welcomed by his Son our Saviour and all the Host of Heaven with Divine Caresses suitable to the dress we appear in and what we want of that innocent whiteness we shall find the Angels adorned with there his Son will make up by covering us all over with his bright Rayment of Celestial purity So then such men whose hearts are ambitious of that Ornament and that Honour will prepare for it before they go and then will not miss of being so arrayed when they come thither So that our sincerity in making ready is our work here as it is Christ's work to own us there and is also in a great measure the business of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost all three as one to encourage and contribute to assist us in our desires and endeavours towards this Holy dressing for our blessed reception into Heaven and our whole lives are given us here for time to make ready to enter into that Eternal Glory at the Resurrection Let no man then who has faith in Christ's Bloud afflict himself with doubts or fears that he knows not how to serve God acceptably for God sees through the hearts of men and observes such as are set humbly and sincerely to love fear and obey him unto such he will send his Holy Spirit to fill their Souls with his guiding Light so fully as thâ—y cannot miss their way to Heaven XVI IF we consider the Soul of man as an Extract of the Divine nature we may well think that true devotion is the highest Epicurism we are capable of in this World where we may make Evangelical Righteousness our superlative delight and by it express our gratitude to God in raising our hearts to Divine love of Him So to manifest our high and glorious extraction by a constant joyful conversation with God in humble Addresses and so fix our election as the consummation of God's prime purpose to adorn his best Creature Man with his greatest blessings for nothing can be greater than to give himself as He always doth unto those who desire him in whom they have all that Heaven and Earth contains XVII WE are to seek God and not to leave seeking till we find him and we may be sure to find him who desires to be found by those that seek him as they ought and delights to be so sought that we may be sure we have found him that is when we delight in him more than in all his â—reatures So we do not deceive our selves by mistaking our delight in God but are pleased with all his methods in weaning us from the uncertain glories of this perishing World that our Souls may be ever â—oaring up to Him when we have found him so as not to lose him again But we too often meet with men who have skill to make the World believe they have found God and do enjoy him above others and are full of Divine joys in shew from their dissembled Piety professed so to obtain credit and trust to deceive the Innocent which when gained they soon unmasque themselves to act as they designed And then how vaâ—t a difference is seen betwen such and a truly Regenerate man that has found God indeed and does converse with his Great Maker in full tranquility of Soul through the expectation of his joyful Resurrection from the grave while the Hypocrite has an aking heart in the midst of all his joys and all his hopes that fears to find God too soon whom he never had a thought to seek XVIII THe Divine Lover who is accustomed to converse with God at midnight will then at first waking find his heart so full of fervent zeal so glowing hot that no sleepiness can suppress those devout flames from soaring up towards Heaven where his Soul enjoys those refreshing comforts it is used to find from the kind welcomes of his beloved while that holy flame lasts and when his Soul descends from this early visit it retains the Idea of that delight the whole day after still exciting this Divine Lover to retire and repeat those
Christ praying in y e Garden â—u 〈◊〉 And there appeared an Angel c. v. 43. And when he rose up from Prayer and was come to His Disciples He found them sleeping c. v. 45. And said unto them c. v. 46. Mid-night THOUGHTS Writ as some think by a London-Whigg OR A Westminster-Tory Others think by a QUAKER OR A JESUIT But call him what they please they may find him a true PENITENT Of the Church of CHRIST London Printed for Benj. Clark Bookseller in George-Yard in Lombard-street 1682. THe Constant Meditations of a Man who for many â—ears built on Sand which every blast of cross Fortune â—as defaced But now he has â—aid new Foundations on the Rock of his Salvation which no Storms can shake and will out-last the Conflagration of the World when time shall melt into Eternity TO THE READER YOV are to know that the Author being no Scholar had no design to teach others nor other Aims by writing these his Mid-night Thoughts then by reviewing them to keep up his own heart to Heaven But by this practice he grew to such a habit of Nightly Meditations at his first waking as prov'd more pleasant then sleep and in a short time became more delightful then any other Thoughts could entertain his mind with So that without any intent to publish them they swell'd into this bulk you see and brought him such consolation that he thought it Gods Mercy to bring him this way to Heaven And if any Reader do find the like advantage by doing the like he will have as 〈◊〉 cause to thank God as the Author has who set his fancy on work this way to defend his heart from indulging such vain Thoughts as day and night did formerly invade and seduce him unto evil purposes And on this account the Author was perswaded by some Friends to transcribe these loose Papers as they were first writ and tacked together without any method of coherence observed as appears by the frequent repetitions of the same expressions in many of them yet they wish'd him to keep them as they were to shew how such unlearned men as himself might better imploy their busie fancies at all times on the serious thoughts of their Eternity then to drop into their Graves without any consideration whither they are going And the Author on the same account was some time after by the same Friends against his own Iudgment over-ruled and perswaded to permit them to be Printed without his Name who gave him such Arguments for it as he could not resist hoping that amongst so much sincere natural Devotion something of great use may be found to enrich the Souls of those who are of no more capacity then himself who knew no true felicity until he learnt to meditate on his Eternity which every man has some Talents to practice on Mid-night THOUGHTS I. MOst men do miss of the Feâ—icity they seek on Earth because the Wealth and Honours that we gain and all our joys in them are with our selves still perishing in the height of our Fruitions and in a little time must all return unto the dust we came from Yet nothing does disturb the heart of man so often and so much as pampering of it with hopes of what we seldom reach and always over-valuing what we aim at which our Fancies like Magnifying Glasses represent unto us with such multiplied Felicities as dazle our understanding and captivate our reason with an expectation of what we never find But such men as can set their hearts on God above all his creatures and delight in him and his Celestial joyes will find a constant Felicity here by an inward assurance of Eternal Glory hereafter for sâ—ch a man can never want arguments to encrease his joys on earth when his repeated sorrows for past sins do create new joys for those sorrows and every new victory over a new temptation does afford him fresh joys for such frequent conquests over Satan and himself So that if we can set our whole hearts sincerely to delight in God and his service We may have so many tasts of his Heavenly joys here and such frequent glimpses of that glory that we cannot hide our comforts in the Holy Ghost from our own hearts while we live and when we die our Souls will rejoyce to fly into Christs arms for the consummation of all our hopes all our joys unto Eternity And whoever doth observe will find that the deepest sorrows for sin does raise the highest joys for our reconciliation and will prove our fullest happiness on earth II. THe more we search into the ways of Devotion the clearer we shall see and experimentally find that true Divine Philosophy when fixed in the heart of a Divine Lover is the highest extract of all the blessedness that mans nature is capable of in this world For God may be said to delight in filling those Souls with his Celestial joys that study him and will bring a regenerate man to such a sense and contempt of his past life that he shall soon arrive at so great a degree of Felicity in his approaches and converse with him in Holy Meditations as to lament when he thinks of what joys he has lost by wandring so long from God For the felicity to love God and to be beloved of God is a pleasant Meditation to entertain a pious mans heart his whole life And will invite him to spend more time with God then with all his creatures III. WE should always pray with such intention of Spirit in that great duty unto God and with such fervent zeal as if our Souls were that moment to expire and to carry our Pardon with us to Heaven And every time that we receive the Holy Sacrament we should consider that we are climbing a step nearer to Heaven then we were before so to shew our desires to be there And whoever will have patience to read these plain Lessons and mind them so seriously as to practice them sincerely will find more pleasure therein then he can fancy before he tries if he never tried to Meditate till now because a firm fixed ratified Devotion has in all Ages been experimentally approved of for the highest delightful diversion that the heart of man can enjoy IV. DElight in the Lord and he will give thee thy hearts desire that thou maist still increase that delight more and more in his mercies and blessings in his love and thy trust therein with a comfortable peace of Conscience until he brings thee unto the supream delight of all delights to see his face in Glory and until then to entertain thy heart with the joyful assurance of that Felicity to come as the highest desire a man can have by continual improving thy delight in God for from him who is the Fountain of Mercy and Grace continual joys do flow V. WE are to seek earnestly and to pray daily for Christs righteousness as our chief treasure and not to rest until our
momentary touch of a sharp Lancet that makes him bleed for future health So that men prepar'd for Heaven may change the terrible aspect of a grisly Death into a Divine Angelical form fit to be courted with a most hearty welcome who is sent by God to conduct us unto Him where every wise good man desires to be and this is a great â—ark of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of men to bring sinners to such an Evangelical felicity to live so in Gods favour as to rejoyce to ride on Deaths Chariot in Triumph into Heaven XXIV A Pious man is never alone when most alone but then takes more delight in his approaches to God then this World can afford the greatest Epicure for his devout heart is ever on the wing towards the Throne of mercy from whence his Soul is filled with Divine comforts beyond expression for God never fails to entertain a sincere Soul with high consolations XXV WAtch thy first waking thoughts which will declare thy Soul unto thy self whether Carnally minded or Spirituallized for then is thy fancy fresh unclogg'd with Worldly affairs and then the time to blow up thy flaming gratitude to God in some proportion towards what thou hast received from Him in mercies and in blessings though short in point of merit yet such holy aimes such pious ambitious contests God allows of and is well pleased to see such use made of his grace by such Divine emulations in the hearts of men who do endeavour to raise up their gratitude in competition with his benefits But this must be in such humble Addresses as doth become Dust and Ashes who can do nothing of our selves that is good nor think beyond what we receive and must thank God for the thanks we give him For it is the Holy Ghost that excites and enables us to such a frequent and free conversation with our Great Maker by which elevated zeal and sincere affection in our daily acknowledgments we â—hew that we have some taste of that joy and some glimpse of that glory here which we expect in Heaven and is some Testimony that we have not received the grace of God altogether in vain For no Man can give effectual thanks to God for his mercies until he find some assurance of his reconciliation by the Bloud of Iesus Christ which is the Fountain of all mercies and the great argument for our gratitude to the Father of mercies who forgives transgressions to raise our gratitude to Love XXVI WHoever has so much Faith as to create true notions of the Holy Trinity and Gods eternal habitation of Glory and Bliss in Heaven where he believes that Christ has purchased places for all penitent reconciled sinners that man cannot chuse but wish and indeavour to be one of that blessed number so redeemed from Hell and raised to everlasting Glory on Christs account But how to attain unto this felicity and to find in our hearts that we have attained it is our greatest work in this World and our most joyful entertainment here which is a pre-possession of Heaven as much as our frail nature is capable of with the Divine assistance of the Holy Ghost So then we must observe if our hearts are become so Regenerate as to find more pleasure in our approaches to God and our devout conversation with Him then all the fruitions this world can afford us for then we shall find an inward dependance on God in our own hearts such as will guide us by his Divine guiding Light unto the means and methods of attaining our wished salvation and within a little time certainly grow to a much more habitual delight in Piety then our forsaken sins formerly were and will hold our hearts up to Heaven ever ready to enter in when Death comes to conduct us thither and it will be great joy to pass the pangs of a Death-bed and â—errors of the Grave with an assurance that our Souls shall be with God the moment that we depart from this World if we live Righteously in it XXVII IF we give our whole hearts to God wherever we are whatever we do our minds will be fixed on Him the only Centre of our Souls intrinsick happiness 't is like a man forced from his beloved companion by some great affair he dispatches it quickly and with speed returns where he left his heart And thus we may try our hearty Love to God But when trivial objects and vain diversions do easily withdraw us from his converse and then detain us whole days in idleness so as to afford God but some few moments for our morning and evening Sacrifices we may reckon that our Love bears the same proportion with the time spent in his service we may also find on a strict search that we are mistaken in the Donation of our hearts to God by keeping of a small corner of our hearts in reserve for diversions only to gratifie some fair-faced appetites which do insensibly rob the major part until that corner have ingrossed the whole heart by which we fool our selves to think our All-seeing God will be mocked with such thin Vizards on our hearts Take heed therefore of idle diversions and pray for grace to become Regenerate to set thy heart on things above which begets true Love to God with Blessedness here and for ever which eternity can never be too much thought on nor the Lord who disposes of Eternity be too much loved or too much feared and if when we lye down to sleep we could but learn to think that we might wake in the other World we should labour to live close up to God so that Satan may find no time to come between to tempt and then such reconciled sinners would discern their conversion to be a sure Testimony of God's mercy and the Spirit of Faith fixing the foundation of true Piety by which we must ascend as the first step of that Ladder towards Heaven XXVIII IT is a stupendious thing to think how our corrupt Dust and Ashes may be exalted when the Spirit of God is at work in the heart of man when a great sinner is cleansed from his pollutions and all his past transgressions are so wiped off by the Holy Ghost in the receiving of the Sacrament that he finds Christ born within him and his Soul filled with a new kind of Divine transports which raise him in Meditations up to Heaven by such devout Addresses as grow higher and higher in ambitious zeal to be near God until he obtain to be owned an Adopted Son and while he remains on Earth by Faith to share with Angels in some degree of Heavenly joy and to perceive some beams of their Glory which he shall participate of at the Resurrection and until then be here feasted with such devout Celestial delights as will give him an assurance that these are the marks of his Election to comfort and to fix his heart on God who will guide his Soul through his Pilgrimage on Earth
and if we can improve this Holiness so as to become Divine Lovers of Him we shall be admitted as it were into the Bed-chamber of the King of Kings to enjoy all the Priviledges and Immunities that His departed Saints have there To know this and to do thus is to enjoy Heaven on Earth in which felicity the Atheist and the Hypocrite can have no share with a Divine Lover who is ever ready to be snatch'd up into Heaven while he is meditating of his going thither CLXXVII IF we have joy in Earthly fruitions what will our happiness in Heaven be and if the hope only and expectation of Heaven in pious hearts be pleasure above all our enjoyments here what transporting joy will the possession of Eternal Bliss be when we shall see God and participate of his glory as the Angels do and if we be so Regenerate as to believe this and do take delight in such contemplations it is a sure sign that the Holy Ghost is at work within us and will beget such holy courage in our hearts as to pass us through the Grave with chearful Souls to be with God And if we love and trust in Him as we ought there can be no Diversions so delightâ—ul as such Devotion is to a Divine Lover who converses day and night with God that is never absent from them who do sincerâ—ly delight in Him CLXXVIII WE are taught to pray against sudden death that is to perswade and lead us on to be always so prepared that no kind of death may be too sudden but that we like Eliah may every moment expect to be snatch'd up into Heaven by a fiery Chariot or taken up in a flaming zeal of Divine Love by an Apoplexy or some other accident of as quick an ascent as his Chariot was But generally our mistake is to pray for lingering long sickness only to gain time for terrors to awake our sleepy Souls with sighs and tears to move God to mercy then which we valued not before But the Regenerate man who has so cleared his accounts with God at the Holy Sacrament as to have Christ new born within him and is so led by the Holy Ghost as to sâ—nctifie his future life that he lives ever ready and willing to die That man will find the most sudden death to be God's mercy and a favour to free him from the Agonies of a tedious sickness for we too often do mistake such sudden dissoluâ—ions for God's Judgments to see men fall so when themselves feel a joy to be caught up into Heaven without pain to take possession of their Eternal Bliss Now God grant that all men may be so well prepared for all kind of deaths as none may be too sudden for any who call on his Holy Name CLXXIX A Prayer O Holy Ghost Lord God the Comforter who art never absent from those that desire thee with sincerity vouchsafe I beseech thee so to enter my heart that I may find thee there consecrating of it for thy Temple by thy abode therein and now direct me how to welcom so great a Guest with gratitude and joy for such Divine comforts as flow in hearts where thou inhabitest and where Satan dwelt before Lord keep possession against Him and all invading Enemies for I cannot defend my self without Thy aid nor of my self know when or how to approach the Throne of Mercy unless my Addresses be so guided and so sanctified by Thee as God will not reject them CLXXX A Prayer O Lord God I beseech thee give me Grace to imploy the great fancy thou hast given me on my greatest concern to obtain thy Mercy and Grace with Christs Righteousness to work out my Salvation that I may no longer mis-spend the time which every moment hasts on to my Eternity but with diligent zeal to pray for Faith in Christ such as will be the foundation for a Divine Life to shew my love to Thee my God by an universal obedience with purity charity and such humility as will raise my heart unto the highest pitch of Divine Love that my conversion may be now more eminent then my crimes have been And now O God! I beg thy Grace to confirm and fix my Soul in the assurance of my Reconciliation and Adoption by receiving â—he Holy Sacrament this day with such faith and due preparation as to put off the Old man for ever And so to eat and drink the consecrated Bread and Wine as the Body and Bloud of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with all his benefits as He himself gave himself to his Disciples here on Earth that I now by thy Holy Spirit led may like them walk after Him And let thy mercy O Lord supply my defects in the peâ—formance of this great Duty according to the sincerity of my heart entirely offer'd up to Thee my God in this days Sacrifice so as the Records of my sins may be cancell'd in Heaven and my Name be now writ in thy Book of Life amongst thy reconciled Sons on my Saviour Jesus Christ's account CLXXXI TO spend our time on idle thoughts is like pursuing of vain waking Dreams a folly so much less then nothing that only Mad-mens fancies can delight in and is a shame for sober men to imitate whose Souls refin'd by Piety may be ever on the wing towards Heaven filled with felicities above the reach of any worldly hearts to guess at which is the Pious man's continual entertainment and delight so to pass his time with his Creator here on Earth as to find his heart full of something so Divine that he does think himself in Heaven while that Celestial flame enlightens him CLXXXII IDleness is the fountain of all evil the Devil directs his chief Emissaries on Earth with Addresses to an idle person who is then fit to take impressions from all sorts of temptations when God is absent 't is such men that invite Satan to steal by degrees into their empty hearts in such disguises as He well knows suits best with their idle fancies so to divert them from all Holy purposes with some Idea's of past delightful objects until they quite forget their sacred Vows to have God ever in their sight which secure them from all such assaults And it is but a slight Argument which many men use to excuse their time spent in idleness because they want Learning and the use of Books for their diversion when all Ages shew that Piety is not nor ever was confined to Learning 'T is not our Wisdom nor our Eloquence but our Faith and our saâ—ctified affections that is most acceptable to God and such sincere affections will never want devout entertainment to keep our hearts so fixed on Heaven and our concern there as will bassle Satan with all his Arts as often as He attaques us CLXXXIII TO be really contented is an Epicurism seldom thought on and so far from being understood as but little valued by the most of men who are over-busie in
to find how much better and pleasanter it is to delight in God and by our utmost endeavours to improve that delight by frequent and fervent Addresses until we obtain new Celestial joys which soon discard all our old Carnal fruitions by a constant fixing of our whole hearts on Heaven so as to be really offended at the most necessary diversions when they interrupt our Divine communication with Christ for the hastning on of our preparation towards that Eternal Glory he has purchased for us Which is the most joyful expectation of a Regenerate man who sees the difference between momentary Vanities and everlasting Bliss and sets him on fire to desire above all things to fix his heart on God and to delight in Holiness as his supreme felicity on this side Heaven CXCI. WHoever has the patience to read and the Piety to practice these plain Lessons if he observe it will find that his felicity does increase with his Devotion and that his days will grow fuller and fuller of tranquility in the midst of Worldly Storms and feel them not Let him also observe with what security he sleeps with what joy he awakes at all hours to find his heart at work with God before his Eyes are quite open giving God thanks for all his Mercies and above all the rest for thus turning him from all his Iniquities before it be too late that he might not trust unto the uncertain security of the best Death-bed Repentance but to live and die so reconciled to God as to manifest his pre-conversion by a chearâ—ul Righteous life and a joyful Resignation of his Soul unto Christ when he expires will be joy indeed CXCII JUdge not the serious looks of every pensive man as if his heart were oppressed with discontents who may that minute be conversing with God in Meditation and triumphing over the Glories of this World which thou enjoyest with all its delights and which he may have had as high as mortal man can fancy fading happiness But now as tired with busie Crouds and cloyed with glistering Vanities He entertains his Soul with inward elevated joys for so great a Victory over himself which thou seest not and dost therefore pity or condemn what thou wouldst admire if clearly understood CXCIII IF the Spirit of Divine Meditation were wâ—th sincere affection fully improved by the diligent practice of raising our Souls as near to God as our mortal fancies can reach the Holy Ghost would at such times assist us with such increase of Piety and such growing joys in our near approaches to the Throne of Mercy as would shew us some bright Rays of that glorious Majesty we adore to affect our Souls with such transporting thoughts as would set our hearts on fire with eager desires to be amongst those Angels that do attend on the Majesty of Heaven whose love and goodness in mercy admits us Dust and Ashes so to converse with Him as a clear Testimony to our own hearts of our Adoption by which pious practising to fix our affections on God we shall so delight in Him as now to conquer all those Imperious Appetites that have so often conquer'd us and may soon learn the Celestial Military Art to subdue all temptations that assault us and from their Ruines raise fresh Trophies every day most acceptable to God and so beneficial to our selves that we may discern our Souls mounting up to Heaven thereon CXCIV WE ought to look on Death as chief Goaler on Earth God's prime Officer by Him intrusted only with the custody of our imprison'd Bodies in the Grave until the great Goal-delivery at the day of Judgment when Death must deliver up our imprison'd Dust at a moments warning to meet our Souls at God's Tribunal where his Office ends with Himself who is then no more So that instead of quarrelling with Death for doing of his duty let us make peace and get a Reconciliation with his great Master that we be not lodged in Deaths Dungeon amongst the impenitent Malefactors but may be placed in his best Apartment with the Reconciled sinners by God's Grace become Saints and pray that we may with them appear in their glorious Resurrection with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. CXCV. I That write my own thoughts only to review them for my own satisfaction must say again and again that whoever seeks God with sincerity will certainly find him and shall find that he has found him And though early seeking and early finding be best as most safe because no man can promise himself one minute longer to seek God then his first call to it yet if he find favour to be called again and be sent to work in God's Vineyard at the last hour of his day and God see that he works then with such vigour in that last hour as if he would equal or out-do any that came in to work before him the Lord of the Vineyard observes his endeavours and rewards him equal with the first comers Though no man ought to trust unto a Death-bed Repentance on this Argument Because the best Rule is to remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth the next best is to remember Him in the time of full Manhood in the strength and vigour of thy Age but if not then the next best is to remember him in thy Old Age before thou hast quite forgot him lest it be too late for though it be last and worst yet then is not too late with God if we answer whenever He calls He will give us Gâ—ace to do whatever he calls for And to give him then our whole hearts bathed in peniâ—ential tears full of contrition for all past offences he will accept thâ—m and make us see that his Mercy has â—ollowed us through all our wild insolent conâ—empts of the highest nature which aggravates repeated sins after pardons upon pardons begged So that when God doth not forsake but follow and watch over such Reprobates and does snatch them from the brink of destruction it is to bring them to a Reconciliation and such a Resurrection from sin as will support them for ever after by his Holy Spirit which shews that his Mercy and his Grace are beyond the power of our sins to deface for if our Repentance and Contrition be His own work within us the operation of that Grace will testifie that his Mercy endureth for ever Let no man then despair of Gods Mercy or think it too late to repent if he can forsake his Iniquities so as for the future to love and serve God as he ought for above all things we must believe that God does abound in Mercy and Grace more then we can do in sins and that Jesus Christ is the Lord our Righteousness and when we find that the Holy Ghost dwells so in our hearts as to create an effectual application of God the Father and the Sons work within us we may comfort our selves with an humble assurance that all three the whole Trinity
Celestial joys as the highest and most delightful entertainment he can wish for on this side of Heaven for God is the Centre of a Divine Lovers Soul it cannot move from him without some impulsive force which we should disdain to yield unto XIX HOw frail is humane Nature that can never be so much pleased on Earth as within some time not to become weary of what we most delight in And how much greater frailty is it to know how to be ever pleased and for ever happy but cannot set our hearts sincerely to endeavour for it And yet there is another frailty in some men above all the rest most wonderful that such as have on serious thoughts of their Eternity resigned their hearts to God and for some time known no joy like their transports for Heaven that such men so raised should prove so weakly fixed as boldly dare make room for Satan in their hearts again as the more welcome guest where God did sometime dwell this were a dreadful thing to think on if the mercies of God were not far beyond the reach of sinners to deface And from hence we may learn that holiness is the peculiar gift of God and that we are raised to all degrees of Piety by his holy Spirit who of ourselves can neither rise nor stand one moment in his favour longer than supported by the same Spirit thus to give us humble thoughts of our own little or no strength And yet we are not obliged to rest in such humility but ought to labour and to pray for more and more Talents of faith and grace till their encrease do raise our Souls higher and higher in ambitious zeal to become Divine Lovers and not to be content with less preferment than adopted Sons when we find the Holy Ghost thus at work within us and so may strive to raise our new affections by holy thoughts to the highest pitch of devour extasies of Devotion and by this Divine experiment to try if we can love God too much and have more zeal in prayer than he does like of or can so tire him with our importunate addresses that He will turn away his face and deny his love unto Souls wholly devoted to serve and please him But when we find our hearts full of such sincere raptures in Devotion we may assure our selves they come from God who does ever approve and accept of such flaming sacrificed hearts as are enkindled from above and are much different from any such Enthusiams as Satan can infuse only to infect those wavering hearts that do still incline to be his Vassals XX. THose who have obtained of God to become truly Regenerate do find that a sincere repentance with contrition and conversion of heart to God are rewarded with peace of Conscience and so great a delight in humble converses with God on their meditations of Heaven and their Eternal bâ—iss that all Worldly pleasures do give way to those Divine transports which flow from the Holy Ghost within them And no time so proper to meet God as when they awake at mid-night before any Worldly concerns entertain their hearts for he that chearfully recommends his Soul to God when he lyes down to rest will to his infinite comfort find God ready to receive his first waking ejaculations who begins the day with the same adoration and trusts in him that he lay down to sleep with so that our mid-night conferences with God will by custom grow more pleasant than sleep and will fix such a Divine love on our Creator as will produce great joy here and some glimpse of that glory we shall have in Heaven for God never receives our sincere Addresses without multiplying of his favours in return by such manifestations of his grace as will preserve us in his service until we meet again to pursue those holy meditations which will bring us unto Him in Heaven when we die XXI A Righteous man is a Divine Philosopher that enjoys all his heart can wish in this World by his faith in Christ Love to God Charity to men purity and humility And the Holy Ghost is the great Chymist that conveys all these ingredients into the furnace of a pious heart and there by His influence and operation produces the grand Elixir of true righteousness which preserves the Soul unto Eternal happiness And whoever finds the Holy Ghost thus working in him will find the comfort and consolation of his Salvation in this life which with the serious consideration of his future felicity will be entertainment for his whole time here and keep him always ready for his summons to Heaven and will make his passage thither as easie to the Righteous as it is terrible to an impenitent sinner XXII IT is impossible to fancy and to find any Earthly entertainment for the heart of man but Devotion that can raise his delights higher and higher by fruitions without laâ—situde unto Eternity which elevated devotion is a felicity that the Divine Lover only has and is created in his heart with his Resurrection from sin to grace by a continual succession of growing joys on the assurance he finds of his second Resurrection to Glory at the day of Judgement which is God's peculiar work in the Souls of his Beloved to make them see that He is never absent from such as are totally devoted to love and serve Him for such and only such can securely enjoy God in all his Creatures here and have him also to eternity in Heaven If then the rugged way thither be so pleasant to a Righteous man what will his Seraphick joys be there and how worthy of our utmost endeavours to live so that we may die capable to participate of those joys then XXIII MEn do generally create terrors to fright their own hearts as they do Children with ugly Vizards we represent Death unto our fancies in dismal forms as a Messenger sent from Satan to hurry us from our present delights into everlasting flames And then 't is no wonder that habitual impenitent sinners do start back from the approach of Death when so dressed But the Regenerate Man has an Antidote against this evil He summons his Celestial thoughts and sets his Soul in order as a great Prince in State incircled with Heavenly joys as his Nobility and is also attended by crouds of Guardian Angels to receive the same Death with caresses of great friendship who appears before him drest in bright gorgeous Raiments as an Embassador sent from the King of Kings to consummate a League of Amity and to give him possession of his new Conquest with a Crown of Eternal Glory long fought for and at last obtained So that we generally mistake our passage into the next World and call it death which is assured Life and that Eternal It is our faults if we be frighted at the terrors of torment there where everlasting joys do answer every pious mans expectations who looks on the pangs of his departing Soul but as the
mans best policy is to lead a pious Life which will fully satisfie all his ambitions and answer the highest affections his heart can fancy by having God so by whom he has all that is in Heaven and in Earth And whoever God does thus give himself to will find that he has Him and will perceive this is his Spiritual Adoption to incourage and inable him to live Righteously all his days in more honour Glory wealth and felicity then all the Empires of this World can afford without God so that Piety is the best policy to establish our happiness in this World and the next XXXVI THere can be no comfort in this World beyond an assurance of sins forgiven with a full reconciliation to God and no man can have surer marks of his Election then to find his former contempt of God turned into Divine Love of him with the Holy Ghost converting the Hell that was in his heart into a Paradice by his habitation there which is an infallible earnest of Glory for when God gives us grace to will and to do his will by the power of his Spirit we shall want no comforts here and be also filled with holy courage and a joyful Faith to turn the terrors of the Grave into a delightful desire to be with God which is a Righteous mans greatest consolation XXXVII IF a Regenerate man blessed with Divine Love do observe how the Holy Ghost works in his heart at the time of his sincere vigorous Addresses to the Throne of mercy He will find that his delight in the service of God does increase with his devotion and that his devotion is raised by that delight so that his Soul by custom in such approaches does grow higher and higher by so joyful a confidence in God's favour that no allurements can divert his Love nor storms shake that trust on which his peace of conscience is surely founded here and his salvation at the Resurrection as sure Yet care must be had that such Elevations of the Soul may not grow beyond those Gospel Rules set us to follow So that the felicity of piety may be sometimes allayed by humble recollections of our own unworthiness when at best lest Spiritual pride do puff up our hearts with such Seraphick joys as use to rise from such extasies in devotion so as to think if Angels in the presence of God do rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner what joy may that sinner have above those Angels who is so much more concerned then they are when he finds himself snatched up from the brink of Hell and become as an Angel in Heaven before he arrives there Which is a kind of Epicurism in devotion and may be too much indulged if not acknowledged from whence it comes with gratitude for so great a benefit received XXXVIII CHrist gave us a sure Rule to know and to shew our Love to God which is to obey his Commandments and not to treat Him like our fellow creatures with passionate words sighs or tears or joys but by the sincerity of our thoughts and actions to shew our obedience better thâ—n by vehement extasies in devotion though such exterior declarations from the heart do advance our zeal they may deceive us with flattering hopes of our being better then really we are for 't is not our frequent prayers nor hearing the Word preached with dâ—light nor receiving the Holy Sacrament with an elevated Faith that â—ully expresses or denotes such Love to God as He expects from us but it is our 〈◊〉 endeavours in all selfdenials towards an uniform obâ—dience to all his known Commandments an Evangelical sincerity in the duty required that manifests our Love to God and is most acceptable to Him for though our performances do prove short of our Duties God sees our integrity and esteems us for that our sincerity towards obedience is very acceptable with God XXXIX GOd sees our frailties and knows that no mans fancy can reach the felicity of Divine Love but his who is endued with it from Him nor can that man by words express those joys that his transported Soul finds in such welcoms as God affords in his Divine endearments to his true Lover by such Celestial Raptures as do make him forget that he dwells on Earth while that bright flame of his Devotion lasts and on his return from Heaven while the thoughts of that Blessed Address remains it grieves him to find that he is still on Earth so that his body cannot mount upwards with his Soul to the Throne of Glory and fix there together XL. HOw weak is our Faith in the matter of Death and how strong the frailty of our nature that makes us fear to go where we desire to be So to create terrors in the passage when there is really none or if any they are such as cannot be avoided how vain then is it to raise melancholly-Clouds to Eclipse the Glory and dull the joy we are entring into the moment that we Die XLI GReat converted sinners ought frequently to consider the wonderful goodness of God for his double mercies who does not only forgive all past transgressions on our reconciliation but on our future obedience our Faith Love and gratitude He rewards such great sinners with grace to obtain Eternal Bliss easie conditions to be admitted by God's immense goodness unto this purchase of mercy and reward on Christs account Which grace we must improve by rising still higher and higher in God's favour for the future and then we shall have a double joy in all such fruitions and diversions as we may own in God's sight here and at the day of Judgment and may now thank him for with hearts full of purity and such bright shining innocence as God delights in XLII GOd's Spirit is never absent from those that seek him sincerely and whoever observes it will find it so God Loves a Souls whiteness that flies all approaches towards sin with detestation When God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither XLIII AS a good conscience is a continual feaâ—t and a great blessing so 't is a dangerous thâ—â—g to â—e over-much delighted 〈…〉 duties though peace be in 〈…〉 should forget from whenâ—â—â—ll 〈◊〉 pâ—â—â—ormances do come and so 〈◊〉 attribute holiness to our seâ—â—es â—â—ich is God's peculiar gift There ought also great care to be haâ— that 〈◊〉 be not mistaken to think we do enjoy truâ— peace of conscience when we have it not and that we do not flatter and abuse our own hearts with some things of fancy like more holiness then we have and so believe our vows and desires to Piety are effectual performed before our actions do justifie those good resolutions and self-denials to avoid such snares as lie concealed under innocent diversions lest we fall when we think our selves most safe So that a Pious man is to be
as careful how to manage his Piety as a sinner is to obtain it XLIV WHen we are assaulâ—ed by any temptations to sin we may recollect our thoughts thus shall I for this moment of sensuality part with my interest in God shall I quit my Sonship now I am reconciled and my Title to an Eternal Crown of Glory in Heaven to satisfie my vitious fancy and a few momentary appetites on Earth and now cast off the felicity and security I have by peace of conscience while I Love fear and serve God and by my trusting Faith in Christ do stand fast fixed above the reach of malice and all the storms this World can raise Shall I depart from this Regenerate state so full of Blessedness to become a trembling Coward frightned at every shadow of every evil that approaches me and so become justly terrified with the horrour of a despairing Soul when Death approaches which may be this minute to step into that Eternal woe denounced against the sin I am tempted to commit Such reflections with such sincere prayers as such Mediations will suggest are surely good guards to defend and free us from the danger of yielding to any temptations to sin XLV A True penitent sinner whose heart is touched by grace from Heaven with remorse for his wicked life and a sence of God's many mercies to him He repents and recollects to the best of his memory all the actual and mental transgressions of his whole life and offers them up to God in confession with an humble sincere contrition and makes new vows for an universal cleansing from all iniquiâ—ies with a total resignation of himself Soul and body in a full obedience unto all the Gospel Laws for the future Thus this Penitent sets himself with holy vigour and his utmost endeavours to walk after his Saviours steps submitting his will to God's will in all things whose favour he now seeks with so great hungering and thirsting affection that God in mercy has cancelled all the Records of his long neglects and insolent repeated sins so as to remember them no more and also by his Divine power does raise this Penitent to a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and so fills his contented converted heart with frequent comforts and such assurance of his Adoption as to encourage him to perform this new Covenant unto the end of his Life By whiâ—h infinite mercy and grace this Penitent does become so Regenerate as to perceive the Spirit of God at work within him raising his Soul to such a Sacred Love of his great Maker as to think all time mispent that is not imployed in gratitude to God for his diliverance from Hell and his Promotion towards Heaven of which Glory he has now some prospect and from hence he grows higher in Gods favour until his holy ambitions do increase desiring to be always in his Creators â—ight and aiming at a Favourites Sons place in the Court of Heaven Thus by degrees his Soul becomes so elevated and transported with these Celestial honours that he contemns the Empires of this World with all the glistering objects here below as unworthy to divert his thoughts on such perishing trifles as he did admire before his heart was fixed above on his Eternal Bliss which now fills his Soul with such continual joyful extasies in Devotion that he is sometimes frighted at the joy he feels lest he may embrace presumptuous Enthusiasms by such high consolations as his Soul delights in when his Meditations and Addresses do ascend in such bright flaming zeal unto the Throne of Mercy But when he considers that God who sees his sincerity through his heart will not reject such sinâ—ere Sacrifices He then hopes that these joys do arise from the Emanation of the Holy Ghost to let him see how God receives and welcoms a whole heart offer'd up to Him with such Divine Lights as Earthly Souls can neither see nor comprehend and by this tast of Bliss and by this beam of Glory here he judges how much greater he shall have in Heaven And thus upon a full search of his whole heart throughout this Penitent now finds with great felicity that God is pleased to dwell in his heart where Satan did so long triumph until these new transports for his Celestial Bliss have quite extinguished those dim shadows of delight that formerly misled him to neglect his God without a serious thought of Heaven or Hell or the least concern for his Eternity until his Soul was thus raised above the reach of his iniquities by his conversing day and night in Heaven And thus the Soul of this new Convert is caressed with bright Seraphick joys by Grace so fixed and so enlightned from above that his inward dependance on God is his continual consolation and support full of such high comforts as he must think do proceed from the Holy Ghost to furnish this his new Temple with sufficient Grace where he now intends to dwell And by all these Blessed guiding Lights this Penitent is invited to live such a Righteous Life as will give him an humble assurance to trust and rejoyce in his reconciliation with a settled Faith that he shall see the face of God in the face of Death the moment that he dies his Soul shall be with Christ where his departed Saints abide until the Resurrection XLVI WE need no better Argument for God's Love to us then our Love of Him which is the highest work of his Grace planted in our hearts by which only we are enlightned to know how to love and serve God as we ought that we may be capable to enter into his Eternal Glory prepared for his Lovers XLVII A Prayer LOrd Jesus I beseech thee forgive my transgressions and now send down thy Holy Spirit to cleanse my heart from all impuriâ—ies and then dwell there to guide my Meditations and Prayers aright with such servent Zeal as will encrease my Faith my Love and trust in thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my approaches to thy Throne and from thence impower me so to practise these great Lessons I have writ as to live with holy courage ever ready to die and fit to appear at thy Tribunal on the great day of Judgment with such reconciled Sinners as by thy infinite mercy are become the Sons of God Lord I beseech thee let my heart be now so filled with Divine transporting thoughts of Thee and thy Salvation as to leave no place for Satan there that my enlightned Soul may be ever on the wing hasting towards that Eternal Bliss which Thou hâ—st purchased for me at so high a rate And though my Zeal supported by thy Grace do now encrease let me never think my self near enough to Heaven till I am there For now I find that no repulses will make Satan quit the Field nor my Rebellious Sences to obey that I may gain a perfect Victory beyond the reach of a surprize nor can I alone
though God has promised pardon unto penitent sinners He has not promised one hour of Life to repent in since therefore we can neither prevent death nor foresee it let us always expect it as at hand and prepare for our Eternal Glory in the presence of God while we have time to do it LXXXI MOst men do say and do believe they love God and no doubt many good men do more or less but all mankind ought to enquire into their own hearts if they find not more joy in their idle diversions then in God's company if they be not quickly weary of conversing with God in Meditation and Prayers hasting to return unto their diversions which they love better then Him and then consider the consequence of such contempts and how much our selves do scorn a divided heart where we love much more then doth God despise those who prefer his Creatures before Himself LXXXII GOD knows our frailties and doth allow us diversions but they must be such as we may own in his sight and see Him in them with grateful hearts for such refreshments as Humane Nature does require and such as we may glorifie his Name in their frâ—itions and be sure not to flatter our selves into evil temptations by our fair-fac'd diversions too much indulged lest they sting us to death with smiles LXXXIII THere is another kind of happy and blessed diversions free from sinful vanities and fading glories of the World which David so much delighted in by his retirements to converse with God as his Souls chiefest joy and whoever seeks God with the like zeal no doubt will find Him as David did and be as fully happy as he was in God's esteem which is an ambition that does become good Christians as the best diversions we can have to raise our hearts to Heaven LXXXIV MEn ought with great care to watch their diversions for we are often betrayed into a neglect of God even by innocent diversions which by custom do insensibly engage our hearts to consent unto evil actions when we design nothing that is ill So that if we serve God as we ought we shall delight to converse with him in our retirements and account our holy Meditations of Heaven to be our most pleasant diversions so to refresh our Spirits when tired with Worldly affairs and we shall find that such Celestial diversions will be blessed with Divine joys that cannot be shaken by Carnal appetites nor by glistering Vanities when once fixed and ratified by God's reception of us into his List of Adopted Sons and then be so guided by his Holy Spirit as to grow higher and higher in his favour till we participate of his Glory which inward assurance will be a more pleasant subject for our diversion then all the Wit the Wealth the Honours and Beauties of this World can entertain our hearts with And when God dwells thus in the Souls of men it is the most ravishing diversion we can have to see our selves live ready to enter into His Eternal joy at a minutes warning LXXXV WHen we approach God with sincere hearts there can be no diversion more delightful then our Souls union with Him who knows all our wants all our oppressions and sees all our concerns whatever and is as ready to redress our grievances and to bless our honest endeavours as we can be to desire it which our pious diversions above all other diversions the most delightful so that the best of idle diversions though innocent is like warming frozen Vipers in our breasts until we give them strength to bite us to death And if we do observe it we shall find that there is no real essential pleasure in any diversions but in true Devotion which the Regenerate man finds to be true LXXXVI WE have two very remarkable notions fit for frequent consideration to judge how our hearts stand towards God and how we may discern his love to us The first is to observe if we have more joy in our retired Devotions then in the fruition and conversation of his Creatures in which we cannot be mistaken if we diligently observe how his Holy Spirit works in us at those times From whence arises the second consideration to observe how our Souls are elevated by his Divine comforts descending on us in such Devotions which is the best assurancc we can have that we do love God above all his Creatures and doth also shew that He sees it likes it and rewards us for it by his returns of Grace in giving a delightful perseverance in such sincerity to Him which is the highest experiment that our frail Natures can make when we love God so well as to câ—nverse with Him in our humble Addresses before all Carnal selicities and can rejoyce to go to Him when He calls for us LXXXVII AFter all that has or can be said the only way which God himself hath in his Holy Gospel fixed on for the exaltation of his Glory in the forgiveness of sins is that all sinners should come to Him merely upon the account of Grace in the bloud of Christ and not to rest on nor support our selves with general hopes of mercy mixed with our endeavours and obedience but to come up to the Gospel Rule by a fixed Faith in Christ and make that way our all by giving Glory to God therein as He hath appointed lest we perish Eternally For no man shall receive pardon and forgiveness of sins but those who come unto God by the bloud of Christ. And the sin against the Holy Ghost is only excepted from such forgiveness LXXXVIII ALl the Arguments we can hear or read or fancy to our selves by conversing with God in holy Meditations of Heaven and Eternal Bliss in his presence there will not extinguish the natural affection between our Souls and Bodies so far as to desire or to be willing to have a separation by death without a miraculous addition of Faith and Grace to work beyond the reach of our Nature though we do believe that the time between our Death and our Resurrection is but a moment to Eternity and though that moment should last an hundred thousand years it will be as undiscernible for its duration as while we sleep one minute So that we must be satisfied in this mystery without farther enquiry and pray to be contented in that point to be as happy when we die as God's departed Saints are until they and we arise together And this is great comfort to know that we shall be with them in death if we do sincerely endeavour to live and die in God's favour as they did And so make ready to go where we all pretend to desire to be when we can stay no longer here LXXXIX WE must not entertain Spiritual Pride nor welcom flattering Enthusiasms in our devotions nor attribute such Holiness to our selves as is the immediate gift of God but we may nay we must joy and rejoyce to find the Holy Ghost at work within our hearts
to perform our self-denials for us and to raise our Souls to such a selicity here in our Love to God and delight in his worship as will give us a tast of our Eternal Bliss when we shall see and enjoy Him as the Angels in Heaven do XC IT is no wonder to see men very devout in a time of danger sickness or any other afflictions but when the Evils are removed does our gratitude for deliverance justifie our Love to God by future obedience do we in health and prosperity approach God with the same vigour in our Prayers as in our sickness For Souls led by the Spirâ—t of God are alike devout in all changes and we being made whole ought to thank God and to sin no more lest a worsâ— thing come unto us XCI OVr greatest affair in this World is to make ready to go out of it for ever because every moment may be our last here and then how dismal an Eternity are we hasting to if not reconciled unto God before we die this is enough to perswade us to set our hearts on the Love and Service of God who will never let their devout endeavours be lost that seek how to please Him when with sincere affections they prepare to come unto Him XCII WHoever finds that the power of Divine Love with the expectation of Heaven at this distance doth create such joy in his Regenerate heart as doth bring him to delight in a Divine Life also by his frequent conversation with God in humble sincere approaches he will soon grow to such a habit of Holiness as will raise his Faith to foresee some beams of that Coelestial Light which his Soul shall shine in at the Resurrection as a reward of his inward dependance on God here And if thus reconciled and led by the Holy Ghost he shall also find this is a good Antidote to prevent relapses into sin and thus Armed with Divine joy he will be safe from Carnal temptations and will have his Soul full of such Heavenly comforts as will sweeten all afflictions and at last beget such Holy courage as will destroy the sting of Death by living ever ready to die for he that can love God above his creatures will gladly part with them to go to Him XCIII LEt no man boast of his own Righteousness for no man has any but what is given him from God yet let every man rejoyce and be thankful for such Grace as doth sanctifie and enable his Dust and Ashes to become Regenerate and learn so to welcom the Spirit of God in a chearful heart that he may make it Paradise where he is pleas'd to dwell And then that man's natural corruptions will be refined and his Body consecrated into the Temple of God and by this miracle of mercy the most incarnate sinner may become an Angel of Light but not by his own inherent Righteousness but by God's grace and mercy with Christ's Righteousness imparted unto Him XCIV AMongst all the great Lessons we have learnt Holiness is most worthy of our study to search our hearts if we can find there the Gospel-marks of our Election for when God invites us by his Holy Spirit to this sincere enquiry He will direct us by his Divine guiding Light to find and to feel when we have found the treasure that we seek by the comforts that will still grow until they fill our Souls with such Coelestial joy that we cannot miss of nor mistake what we search for to assure our Election for God will not be hid from such as he sees does seek Him with their whole hearts and that do hunger and thirst after Holiness and when we do obtain Grace to discern such marks of our Spiritual Filiation we may in great humility rejoyce and sing Hallelujahs unto God with the Angels in Heaven to shew the highest Adoration our hearts can express in gratitude for such mercy afforded unto men on Earth And by thus entertaining our selves within our selves avoid temptations and set our hearts above the power of all vain objects to divert us from the prime end and felicity of our Christian calling which is our Resurrection from sin to grace as the chief mark of God's favour to assure our reconciliation for Grace accepted and persevered in is the infallible earnest of Glory because Christ has made the Kingdom of Grace here all one with the Kingdom of Glory Which is much talked of by many that prepare not for it because most men in health do think themselves ready to die and do not find they are not until the Bell tolls them to their Graves hoping to jump from Hell to Heaven at once but the ascent is high steep and very hard to climb XCV THough the great art and mystery of self-denial to subdue all carnal appetites is the most difficult part of our Christian calling yet the same Holy Spirit that invites us to it will impower our hearty endeavours by diligence and custom to gain so absolute a Victory over our Tyrant fancies which before enslaved us as will raise our Souls by constant self-denials to much greater Spiritual delights even here on Earth which the Regenerate man can only judge of XCVI A Prayer O Lord prepare my heart to pray and bless me with contrition and repentance proportionable to my sins that my Love and my Obedience may now be as great as my crimes and my neglects have been who never thought on Thee in all my ways nor of my Souls Eternity till now being led by thy Holy Spirit to pray for Grace to set my heart continually on Thee my God that I may know no joy on Earth like my humble Addresses unto Thee in my retirements by which I can only judge of my new love and gratitude for thus turning of me from mine Iniquities and by this miracle of Mercy and Grace hast snatch'd me up from Hell into this Heavenly prospect of thine Eternal habitation of Glory Lord let these Divine transports in my approaches unto Thee wean me from the World that the remnant of my days may be spent in preparing of my Soul for thy summons to Heaven that the terrors of the Grave may not divert my frail nature from coming with joy unto Thee my God when thou art pleased to call And I beseech thee make this Holy flame burn still brighter and brighter when I draw near to pray that my heart may melt with joy for this my Reconciliation and comfortable hope of Eternal happiness in Heaven and that I may be so strong with Divine valour as to welcom Death that only can conduct me thither XCVII WHen God delivers a penitent sinner from the slavery of Satan to rejoyce in the freedom and felicity of his service it is to shew him a glimpse of Heaven to invite him thither How great a crime will it then be for such a man to turn Reprobate again after such mercy shewn XCVIII NOthing does ruine more Souls then not frequently examining
Melancholly thing to be Religious But a man truly Regenerate will need no other arguments to convince the contrary then what he finds in his own Heart of Delight when the Holy Ghost has taken possession there and when his Retirements with God will furnish him so fully with his Loving Kindness and those Enlightning Gifts those Beatifying Graces and Refreshing Comforts those Divine Manifestations of his presence creating such a Ioy with such Peace of Conscience that no Carnal Appetites nor all the Malice of Men and Devils can remove him from his firm Station of Bliss which he participaâ—es of in this prospect of Heaven only But no man can believe this nor guess at the Felicity of a Pious Life until he do obtain Grace to become Regenerate CXXI WHoever considers that his day of Death is his day of Judgment for his Eternal Being will find that his time yet to Live is little enough to ask God Pardon for the time he has mispent Whoever doth closely and seriously set to this great work of Conversion will find that his Sighs and Tears will produce more Joy in his Latter-days then re-acting his former Crimes would be when the two Eternities are put into the Scales CXXII LEt us not please our selves with presumptuous Thoughts That we are the Temples of the Holy Ghost till we have examined our Hearts strictly to find if we are free from all Habitual Sins in Thought Word and Deed for God will not dwell in a Polluted Temple We must next examine what proportion of Divine Ioy the Holy Spirit â—ills our New Hearts with to Confirm and Sanctify our Souls in the Love and Service of God thus dwelling in us And then observe what a new kind of entertainment it is to Delight in God with the peace of a quiet Conscience which by frequent Meditations will hold us up above the reach of any storms that Satan can raise or the malice of Men can contrive against us And then we are to fix all this Happiness by worthy receiving of the Holy Sacrament So as Christ may be Born within us and be so Vnited unto us as to confirm our Spiritual Filiation Thus qualified we may look on our selves as Temples of the Holy Ghost In all humility rejoycing to be so Blessed when we are so CXXIII WE ought to enter Caveaâ—s in â—ur Hearts against the approaches of such sorts of Temptations as we fear most and on all occasions to search the Register of our Vows made to God to see if we do not stand pre-ingaged to Him to resist the Temptation then Assaulting us and if so how unworthy shall we be so to break our Word with God upon Record and how dangerous to provoke his anger by such a Contempt thus we may destroy many designs from Satan and our selves oftentimes the worse Devil of the two CXXIV WE are too often abused by flattering diversions as if Holy Meditations were not more pleasant and more durable then vain delights Which rob us of our real Essential Joys for shadows of Pleasures that ever abuse us CXXV WE ought often to consider of how little value all is that we have on Earth which we must for ever depart from when we die and should therefore set our selves to secure a Blessed Eternity where we go And which God invites us to on the easie terms of repenting our past sins and forsaking those Crimes which we have been so often cloyed with CXXVI LEt thy Spiritual Resurrection from sin which is Gods works within thee assure thy reconciliation and confirm thy Election so as to fill thy heart with bright flames of a sincere Evangelical Devotion that thou mayest live and serve God chearfully until thy time comes to die And then with a Holy valour pass through the Grave with a lively Faith to participate of His Glory at the Resurrection For by a ready submission thou wilt Conquer that great Tyrant Death by a foresight of those Celestial joys that raise thy Soul to know thou shalt be with God the moment that thou diest CXXVII WE ought to Pray continually for the Holy Ghost to dwell in us to inform and enable us to do our duty in all things with the Spirit of Faith which will improve our zeal and to contemn this Worlds Glories and will fill our hearts with higher thoughts for a joyful expectation of a Crown in Heaven prepared for those who value it CXXVIII WE should always have in mind when the Spirit and the Flesh contest within us That our Will is the Judge between those two Solicitors and that God leaves the option of our Eternal Bliss or Eternal Woe to us that is whether we will become Spiritual Disciples or Carnal Sinners for no Temptations can make us guilty unless we consent to sin CXXIX THe greatest argument against Despair and for a Pious Life is very short That if we do repent and forsake our sins with a sincere universal obedience for the future we shall be as certain to partake of Gods promised Mercies as if we had never gone on in those former sins Though great and frequently repeated which is great comfort unto all such as Hope to go to Heaven CXXX THe generality of mankind do spend most part of their Lives on the delightful Acquisition of Wealth Honour Learning or the like and are but unskilful Merchants that purchase Rich Jeweâ—s with more hazards and at higher Rates then their intrinsick value will afford them to be gainers by when obtained And for which we pay most part of our precious time that is the only Treasure we have and of much more worth then all we can purchase in this World by the profuse expence of that time on such glistering Triâ—les as must perish with us if not before us When a tenth part of our mis-spent time would procure Eternal Wealth Hoâ—our and Ioy beyond expression for our Immortal Souls if we would devoutly Traffick for Heaven But we are naturally inclined to set our hearts on present Fruitions more then a hundred times their value in reversion because Heaven is or may be far off and we have time enough to think of that when we have nothing else to do though this minute we may be called to our Eternal Doom and too late find the difference between a Reprobate and a Regenerate Life CXXXI A Man truly Regenerate will not admit of the least contest from Carnal Appetites his heart being so fixed on Heavenly joys that he detests all approaches to divert him as below the pleasure he has in his Conversation with God in private Who he believes will assuredly bring him to Heaven if he prefer his Service before the fading Bubbles of this World CXXXII OF all the Blessings that God bestows on men There is none greater then the Peace of Conscience which a Pious man finds when he is dying with great comfort And which ought to invite all men to live Divine Lives with assurance that God sees our sincerity
practice on Deaths Image sleep every night when we lye down to Rest that we may learn to compleat our preparation for that mighty work of dying chearfully which is so much discours'd of and so seldom seen though our last Pangs do frequently seem to comply with what we cannot hinder and nothing can more conduce to cure this natural frailty then setting our hearts to love the Law of God and to shew it by word and deed and holding a constant conversation with our Creator in the daily raising of our Faith and our affection to our Resurrection from Deaths Dominion unto His everlasting Bliss in Heaven CCXVI THere is no felicity in this World without a contented mind and there can be no full contentment without such a fixed dependance on God as to be pleas'd with whatever He appoints as best for us Which Divine contentment will raise our hearts to such a gratitude to God with such a conversation in Heaven as will beget an holy courage to contemn all the crosses and all the allurements this World can afford and this Spiritual contentment we ought to cherish as Gods great favour for us to delight in while we live and to trust in when we die as a mark of our Election thus to divert us from longing after the perishing Glories of this World that never can assure us any lasting contentment by their enjoyment nor any comfort when we expire CCXVII HE that writes Devotion walks on a narrow Plank with Precipices on either side and is in danger to slip into the Gulf of Spiritual Pride on his own Righteousness or else in too much humility for his own unworthiness may presume to think that some things from the Holy Ghost informs him with Evangelical Rapsodies when his Soul soars so high towards Heaven So that in our best Actions we are with humble and grateful hearts to give the honour and the glory unto God for all that we do well CCXVIII TO love God and to be beloved of God is an immense Meditation which by practice must needs improve our Interest in Heaven for when God sees our Souls set to seek him this way He will send his Holy Spirit to raise our ambitions higher and higher to gain his favour in hope of such an union with Christ as our nature is capable of by which such elevated enlightned hearts will find a felicity on Earth that no mans thoughts can guess at that does not feel it with a joyful assurance of being received into Heaven when he dies so that we cannot have a better Argument to invite us to live Piously and to die chearfully then to love God thus for the true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy of Heaven which Death shall not take away nor interrupt it one moment CCXIX. WE may do well to observe Davids method in his Victory over his sins when they were his declared Enemies He did not retire from his charge and calling to hide himself from their assaulting temptations but forced them to fly from him and pursued them so as they might never be able to return upon him And having thus vanquished and discarded all those his old Companions when he perceived them to be his Enemies He soon became a man after Gods own heart and then found that he had strength company power joy wealth and honour enough in God alone with whom he spent the most of his time after in Prayers and in Praises So that as He did we should discard our old evil habits and all our old Companions workers of Iniquity and make them fly from us as David did and then we shall find all those joys in our conversation with God which David had CCXX DAvid says that God heard the voice of his weeping which shews that the sighs and tears of penitent sinners are heard in Heaven without words and that devout tears which cannot speak do speak aloud in Gods ears nay when we desire to weep but cannot pour out tears themselves Doctor Dunne says that God sees tears in the hearts of men before they blubber on their faces and He is said to hear the tears of a sorrowful Soul which for sorrow cannot shed a tear the very lifting up our Eyes to God in a sincere sorrow opens Him windows through which He sees a wet heart through the driest Eyes and by his returns of Grace gives comforts with the blessed peace of a quiet conscience to assure our Reconciliation unto Him that we may with chearful hearts expect Deaths summons unto our Eternal Rest in Heaven CCXXI THe supine Epicure the practical Atheist and the divine Hypocrite have gained so great a Vogue in some parts of the World as hath almost worn true Christian Religion out of Fashion and out of Countenance too while those are thought ill-bred men that practice any Piety and none so well accomplish'd as they who have those three eminent Vertues in most perfection which do very often dwell together in such careless Hearts as do not at all consider or not enough examine their integrity towards God CCXXII VVE do generally wonder at and pity the Melancholy Lives of some devout Hermits who are retir'd into desolate Habitations from the converse of Men But do not consider the blessed contentment which their Souls enjoy in a conversation with God as if themselves were then in Heaven with such an ambitious Zeal as fills their Hearts with Happiness and holds up their Souls so fixed on Christ as to despâ—se all the Glories of this World So that we ought not to pity those happy men but to look on them as Divine Objects fit for our devout Envy and immitation who do enjoy felicities above the reach of Earthly minds to judge of But yet every pious man that can give his whole Heart to God needs not give his whole time too for we are required to serve God more waies than one and may convert our Closets into Cells where we may be sure to find God as often as we desire to meet him there as well as on the tops of Rocks who will not be confin'd to time or place that is ever with us every where So that the Mountain Hermit and the City Hermit may have Spiritual entertainments and comforts alike while they Live and may Die with as high delight to be with God and may shine equally as bright in Heaven when they meet there CCXXI LEt us redeem the time we have mis-spent while we have time to do it by making ready for our summons to the Grave as our prime business here and when God sees our hearts are fully fixed on Him He will guide and conduct us through the dark rugged paths of Death by the bright consolations of his Holy Spirit to entertain us with comfort and delight in our passage unto His Eternal Rest. Let us then set our Souls joy on this great work and observe how Gods Grace and our felicity does increase together upon the