take us from God but what we love better And though there is no felicity to be compared to Piety nor any diversions so delightful as Devotion when we love God and serve him with sincerity yet we mind it not enough that mind it most too much no man can LXXIV WE are naturally apt to cozen our selves with thinking we believe what we do not believe and for want of due consideration of all our ways we run on in such undiscernible errors as must offend God while we think we serve him best and this by indulging many kinds of innocent diversions until they become crimes though we know that vain and idle thoughts do often grow to foul suggestions which pious men should therefore not admit of LXXV WE are often misled by thinking too much of what may be and too little of what must be in providing too much for our uncertain hope of living from year to year with too little regard â—o our assured death that must come as if our moments here were of more value then our Eternity in Heaven though we do know that nothing in this World is worthy to entertain our Immortal Souls with true delight but by making ready to go unto God with chearful hearts of which few men do think enough and none can think too much because it is the greatest felicity that our Piety can reach and a sure mark that the Holy Ghost is working in us which no habitual sinner is capable of LXXVI NO man can want a subject for Meditation nor have a more useful entertainment than frequently and seriously to consider and examine his own life by recollecting what mercies what blessings and deliverances he has had from God and to enquire of his own heart how little obedience gratitude and love he has return'd what vows made in sickness dangers and in times of trouble but never kept And above all to consider how often God has knocked at our hearts for entrance and been denied or delayed to admit of some more pleasing Guest or whenever permitted to enter how coldly received and slightly treated until thrust out again to make room for some darling sin that must be welcomed This if fully considered may bring us to a sense of our offences and shame to think how unfit we are for our Death-beds and Eternity to come with the amazing terrors to think how we can call on our so much offended God for mercy which He could never prevail with us to accept of and what hope then can such insolent contemners of God have in their last day But on the contrary this Meditation will bring comfort to a Regeneâ—ate man who has entertain'd Christ in a chearful heart with sincere integrity to such a joyful trust in God's love by his fixed Faith that no carnal affections can remove his transports for Heaven the expectation whereof is delightful to him above the terrors of death to lessen LXXVII THe sum of all the great Lessons we can learn is to shew that a faithful penitent sinner who is become so Regenerate as to forsake all his iniquities and can perform an universal obedience to all God's Laws with such Evangelical sincerity as to make a total resignation of himself with all his Interests into God's hands must be led by the Spirit of God which will keep up his heart to Heaven in a constant concern for God's favour where Satan dares not appear to tempt when he sees us so united unto Christ and this will bring a Penitent to endure his Pilgrimage through all the storms of this World and defend him from the glittering vanities also so as to know no fear nor joy to interrupt his expectation of Heaven and the happy hour to breath out his Soul into the Bosom of God which holy ambition will entertain his heart here with more present happiness than all the Worlds wealth can afford to a wilful habitual sinner LXXVIII A Prayer LOrd I beseech thee let thy Holy Spirit direct my prayers in my approaches to thy Throne of Mercy and there pray within me that so guided I may find grace from Heaven to support me in my passage out of this World unto thy habitation of Eternal Bliss And now wean me from longer wandering in the vain Labyrinths and Glories here by having ever in mind that all the greatness and various pleasures I have seen and shared in are vanished like a Dream and thereby find that nothing is so delightful to a Regenerate reconciled sinner as a retired habitation free from the noise of Worldly affairs where by thy Grace peace of conscience may encourage me to be ever ready at thy call O God! with a joyful heart to make my last step into the glorious Eternity I hope for by the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ. LXXIX WHen the Holy Ghost dwells in our hearts we shall find new principles of a Divine Nature producing there an universal Victory over all our carnal appetites and an universal obedience to all God's Laws with trust in his Providence and such Faith in Christ's Merits and Intercession as will assure us of all God's promises as if now actually in our possession from whence will arise continual comforts with hearty gratitude for such love and mercy to penitent sinners And by this first Resurrection from Sin to Grace be assured of our second to Glory so that to be thus sanctified by the Holy Ghost we are united unto Christ brought home to God the Father as his adopted Children and do begin to enter on our everlasting happiness even in this World by our continual Meditations and Prayers so to raise this Holy flame as high as here we can reach without presumption so to fix in our hearts the joyful practice of such a Divine Life and Divine Love to God as will produce Divine joys here and for ever in Heaven which no carnal fruitions can attain And thus we are led by the Spirit of God and do become the adopted Sons of God LXXX IF the most voluptuous sinners could discern the felicity of an Holy life what constant elevated joys the peace of a quiet conscience brings to those who can wean their minds from the fading pleasurâ—s and drudgeries of this World to fix their hearts on things above sinners would make hast to become Regenerate For if we consider right of Eternity we must know that our Immortal Souls when freed from the slavish appetites of flesh and bloud can have no transports like those immortal joys they find when settled in their Centre God's Bosom from whence they came so that our Souls can relish no felicity like the hope of Heaven nor be much concerned for any thing less then Eternal Bliss which though of our selves we cannot reach yet if we give our hearts to God we cannot miss it But if in contempt of God we live and die in endless sinning we may justly fear that our Eternity will be in scorching flames We ought also to consider
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
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
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
hearts be inriched with some portion thereof to carry us to heaven and in our way thither so to arm us here that no approaching evils may divert us We are also to consider that the Gospel does not invite us to forsake the pleasures of this World to go into a Dungeon which were a hard lesson but to remove from hence to inhabit Heaven with all its glory to Eternity yet this natural cowardly disease of fearing to die being born with us is without cure until the Holy Ghost do fall so on us and dwell so in us as to overcome our frailty by his grace and to make us see and understand how to value our Interest in Heaven on Christs account and by that faith to raise in us such holy courage as to pass through the Grave with joy to our Eternal Bliss which requires a Divine valour beyond the reach of a Natural mans fancy with assistance from above VI. MOst men do forget that our greatest affair on Earth is to serve God frequently diligently and publickly to own him in the first place to secure our blessed Eternity by his favour while we have time to do it And in the second place to follow our Callings for a Subsistance by his providence prospering our labour during our abode here But we do often invert this by doing quite contrary all our Lives by hungring and thirsting after perishing Goods and serving God at spare times only as our least concern until the Agonies of a Death-bed shews our mistake too late For it is a great presumption to neglect God all our days and expect a Crown of Glory at our last gasp as a reward for our neglect it is dangerous to provoke God so VII IF we did set our hearts to take pleasure in Piety as we do to improve our delight in other things we should find that Heaven Gates would fly open to our sincere addresses and perceived the Spirit of God working in our hearts with Divine transports full of unexpressible joys while that Sacred flame burns bright within us And such Emanations from the Holy Ghost are the greatest invitations we can have to encourage us to prepare for a place in Heaven and to make us esteem those Celestial joys above all the glories of this world where the greatest Princes terminate their highest ambition to die the Sons of God or should do so VIII WHat God hath revealed to us at Mid-night alone shall be our portions in the next World And if we can repeat the same Communication with joy in the day-time which we had with Christ in the night we may entertain a comfortable assurance that the Holy Ghost was at first and is at last enkindling those Divine flames within us to raise our elevated transported Souls to Heaven IX THe greatest Epicure cannot have so much pleasure in satisfying all his Appetites as a regenerate man has in his conversation with God during his devout Addresses in which he finds the Holy Ghost raising up his heart to an assurance of his favour with God and giving his Soul a delight far above all Carnal fruitions by the very victory over them But this is only intelligible by Pious hearts and requires a Divine Valour to encounter and overcome in such skirmishes with Satan and to relish the Felicity and Glory of such triumphant joys as follow every such victory X. IF we consider that God asks nothing of man for all his benefits bestowed but the heart of man and that nothing but man can give the heart to God and that we ever heard nor read of any man that ever made that sincere Present to God but did receive it back infinitely enlightned and enriched with treasures of never fading blessedness who then can believe this and omit to make so advantagious a Present of his whole heart unto God To shew his Faith his Love and Obedience as his greatest happiness on Earth For we may in a way of speaking and I hope without offence suppose the heart of man was made Triangular as three Seats for God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost who are all one God as the three Corners are one Heart which can no more be divided than the Godhead Who will so fiâ— when he dwells therein as to leave no place for the World the Flesh or the Devil to abide there And from hence it is that God forsakes us when we forsake him When we deliver up his Habitation in our hearts unto his enemies when we thrust him out to admit of any of those Rivals into any corner of our hearts we then affront the whole Trinity and drive away all them all him to entertain and court a destroying Guest instead of the Lord of Life XI GOd will not suffer those that are his to live in the dark for if God be with us he will make us see that he is with us and will never go out of our sight until he has brought us where we shall never go out of his and will sometimes make us start with a surprizing joy to find he is so near us as to give our hearts a taste of the same joy we shall have in Heaven though infinitely increased then and superinvested with Glory How great comfort then must this be when long habitual sinners are thus Blessed thus Converted and thus reconciled to God by faith in Christ's blood when God does so eminently manifest his glorious goodness in visiting the Souls of sinners and powerfully calling us great Criminals to become chosen Vessels where himself vouchsafes to dwell To think fully of this is to think of nothing else in comparison of this our great concern which now begins and now assures our Eternity with God which is above all earthly Felicities that pass away like Dreams As what signifies the Persian Grecian or the Roman Empires now Where are those Great Glorious Glistering Bubbles now Never worthy to come into competition with the higher aims of regenerate men indued with Divine love whose Immortal Souls are fed with such Celestial joys as can only flow from their Immortal object God on whom their ambitious hearts are fixed with such a lively Faith as doth create a contempt of all earthly Fruitions and stand ever ready as adopted Sons of God with joy to pass through the Grave to an immediate possession of a Crown of Glory for when God is pleased so to descend and dwell with us here it is to assure our Souls they shall ascend and dwell with him in Heaven XII HE that has heard the Bell Toll for him to the Grave and lives after it will do well to call to mind what Agonies he then felt and what Vows he then made to God on his Recovery and now every day to examine his heart how well he has performed those Vows and how much fitter he now is for his next Summons thither For every Bell that he hears now Toll for others is his Alarm to make ready for his day
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
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
by a constant graâ—â—â—ude which is as acceptable as prayers and the pious use of his Creatures and daily Blessings we shall fiâ—d a double delight in all the good things we receive from God's hand because we do enjoy Him in them and shall avoid all such evils as we dare not own to come from God And if we consider that our lâ—ves here are only to make our journey to Heaven we cannot have a better Guide thither then the Holy Ghost who will never mislead them who desire to be guided by Him and from whom we shall get such a habit of Holiness as will bring us to such an intimate acquaintance with Christ as will in a short time wean us so much from the Love of this World as to be chearfully ready to die when we see that the end of our journey is God's call to take possession of the Crown of Glory prepared for us LXVII APious man that lives ever ready to die has a continual prospect of his glorious Resurrection and can have no greater happiness on Earth then his inward assurance of being one of God's Elect who Christ says shall sit on his right hand in Heaven when the Reprobate are cast down into Everlasting flames LXVIII IT is said in Scripture that when Iacob found God was so near him he was afraid which may teach us that no man ought to think himself fit for a familiar acquaintance with his great Maker such as to remove the reverential fear that is due unto so high and supreme a Majesty and yet we may believe and find that His Kingdom of Grace is already come and is amongst us now so that we may with humble hearts say as Iacob did Surely the Lord is in this place and in our hearts too when we are led by his Holy Spirit to study Him and can fully consider that though all our senses are naturally inclined to like and covet varieties of all sorts and that our busie fancies are as readily subservient to work the same way and as eagerly do pursue the various desires of every appetite though we every day find that all objects do by fruition soon decay and cloy our highest desires that are not Rooted in Eternity How fit is it then to consider this and how much better it will be to perswade our Immortal Souls to rob our perishing senses of their depending fancies and imploy them on things above as far as they can reach towards the glorious Habitation of God where such objects are as Immortal as our Souls are and where our variety of joys will increase by such fruitions as never fade but will grow and multiply the more for gathering so as to be ever filling our hearts with high delights but yet never so full but still to admit of more and more felicity as our desires rise until we reach the Fountain of Eternal Bliss where our Souls will be replenished with Celestial joys but never so to overflow as to be weary of them And thus we may be as happy as Iacob was if we can perswade our hearts to throw out Satan with all his disguised flattering Troops and entertain the Holy Ghost as chearfully as we have indulged our blind affections that led us on towards our Eternal ruine And when we have thus discarded Gods Enemies as our own we must approach His glorious Majesty with fear and trembling though we do adore and worship Him at the same time with comfort LXIX IF we did well consider of dying and the joy our Souls will have as they expire when reconciled to God before that hour comes it will be ample reeompence for our whole lives spent in his service and 〈◊〉 worthy of our continual Meditation and devotion to prepare for so immense a mercy to penitent sinners such as will turn the terrours of the Grave into a joyful assurance of a blessed Resurrection to Glory beyond which no man can fancy a concern fitter for his thoughts to work on and his utmost eudeavours to obtain of God who never rejects a sincere heart offer'd up to Him in a daily Sacrifice which the Pious man never fails to do with delight and never misses of the consolation he seeks at his hour of death and in his way to it LXX THe true Idea of Holiness is Divine Love which we may judge of by entirely resigning our wills to the will of God and the perfection of Righteousness is to live a Divine Life such as takes delight to abhor the crimes we have loved and to press on in our devotions until we obtain a full Victory over all our carnal passions and by worthy receiving the Holy Sacrament to fix and confirm our Christianity on the assurance we find by a lively Faith thus qualified to live ever ready for our call unto Eternal Bliss which may be the next minute and cannot be too often thought on by those who love God and desire his Love on whose free mercy our Eternity depends LXXI WE may flatter our selves with a mistaken belief of Holiness which we have not and we may abuse the World with a disguised shew of Holiness which we know we have not but when Death comes such Vizards vanish and our hearts will be display'd in their true colours to our selves and others So that the best marks for Regenerate men to know themselves by is strictly to observe if they love God with their whole hearts with an universal delight therein that is with thankful hearts to praise his holy Name to fear obey worship and trust in Him with such a lively Faith and clear affection as to be ever ready to forsake all we have in this World and chearfully to breath our Souls into God's bosom when He calls for them And whoever shall obtain this Treasure of Grace to find these marks in himself will have such a proportion of that joy and that glory as will encourage him to persevere in Righteousness until he arrives at God's Eternal Rest where such blessed Souls desire to be who do know no diversions so delightful here on Earth as a daily preparation for Heaven LXXII TO think and try are two small words of great consequence because that man who will not think or dares not think what he has done or what he is doing or what he intends to do is in a sad condition for he can neither confess his sins nor repent nor forsake nor ever hope for a pardon for them while he neither thinks nor trys to learn to think of his Eternity He is past cure without a miracle of mercy for his conversion which is seldom afforded to such stubborn hearts as will not think nor ever try to think seriously of their Salvation before it be too late LXXIII NO Christian in his senses will own to love God's Creatures better then we love Him yet we do it and see it not that is not observe how often and how long we lay God aside to enjoy them for nothing can
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
and though we cannot reach David's highest perfections as an inspired Prophet we may like him give continual thanks to God for all we have and sing praise honour and glory to his Holy Name whose mercy endureth for ever CIII DId men watch the deceitfulness of sin and would heartily check the first appearance of evil thoughts with the remembrance that our All-seeing God is ever present to observe if we do fight or do invite our long known Enemies to their accustomed conquest of us such precautions would make us either fear to offend or joy to please our God and would soon teach our careless hearts how to subdue those Tyrant appetites a far off which so often do enslave us when permitted to approach at a nearer distance who do hold such a natural intelligence within that if we but admit a Parley to Treat with those subtle Enemies they will with fair pretences lead us on until they undermine our Souls and blow us up before we can discern the danger we are in and when once entred at such a Breach 't is then too late to grapple with a Foe that is in possession of a Fort without resistance gained Yet this sad truth by long experience taught is seldom learnt because we too much love those glistering Fetters and consent to put them on before they be imposed and then fear to be too soon freed from such a pleasant Bondage vainly thinking we can at our own pleasure shake such shackles off and be at liberty until surprized by some unlook'd-for Doom from whence is no redemption CIV A Frequent examination of our hearts is of use to keep men close up to Godliness and some Rules are very necessary to examine our hearts by to know when we walk aright as well to check remissness as to cherish those Divine motions which do raise hearts up to Heaven and may keep them there when so raised which is a great assurance for flesh and bloud when converts and will beget a joyful hope of being received into God's Bosom when become so Regenerate as to find a sincere delight to dwell there which is a great degree of blessedness and a good assurance that we shall be so for ever in the next World What labour then or what time spent can be too much to obtain Grace to become so universally cleansed from sin and universally obedient to Gods commands as will produce a total resignation of our selves and all our Interests into Gods hands and keep our hearts close up to Heaven until we arrive there For when God is the prime object of our Souls desire we shall take all opportunities to retire from the World to converse with God in humble Addresses for our Eternal hâ—bitation with Him in Glory But if this Duty of Meditation be used as a servile Drudgery to avoid a Rod held over us we are not right at heart and far from being Regenerate far from loving God if we take no delight in being with him for though Humane Nature cannot reach to Angelical Holiness yet Evangelical sincerity may be acquired by the Divine assistance if rightly sought and then as many as are led by the Spirit of God are become the Sons of God beyond which no man can wish nor think and when this state of Bliss is obtained with what diligence ought we to keep it up to the highest pitch of love and gratitude that our fancy and our Faith can reach for by such emanations from the Holy Ghost we may judge of Gods love to us and thereby guess what immense Glory we shall have in Heaven And thus we may daily feast our Souls with Angels food if we can conveâ—se with God aright So that to be Regenerate multiplies our joys here and assures our happiness in Heaven and though no man can of himself attain to this state of Grace without the Divine assistance it is never denied if sincerely begged nor was â—ver given in vain to deceive any man in the point of being Regenerate CV WE have no better way to express our love and gratitude to God for all his Mercies and Blessings then by our self-denyals For our obedience to his Laws is duty and no virtue to forbear a sin that we take no delight in but to crucifie a beloved darling Lust rather then offend God by it that is self-denyal And unto whomsoever God gives grace to do so he gives a joyful satisfaction to his Soul for so great a victory as lays a firm foundation to raise his Thoughts to Heaven on And is a good argument to shew that he fears Gods Threats and trusts in his Promises as the greatest Testimony of an active Faith so much required And when all this is done our Christian Warfare is not done For when Carnal sins do cease and our Appetites are overcome by Grace Satan still pursues in hope to frustrate the felicity of our Conversion by disturbing our Piety with Spiritual Pride or some Enthusiasms to reduce us into his power again So that when we are best we must Watch and Pray most for supplies of Grace to enable us to fight on lest we end worse then we begun The sum of all that can be taught is to bring men to Godliness and Honesty which is the perfection of Christianity CVI. IT is said in Scripture That without holiness no man shall see the Lord By which we may observe that Gods Injunctions are designed for mans greatest Happiness because Holiness is certainly our only true Felicity in this World and cannot be less in the next For if by Righteousness and Faith we may see a glimpse of Gods Glory here We shall see him in fulness of Glory at the Resurrection and enjoy him too on Christs account CVII NO man did ever seek God with a sincere heart that missed to â—ind him God loves to be so sought and to be so found as we shall be sure we have found him by our delight in him All which is the work of the Holy Ghost within us to our great comfort here always to enjoy God if our delight be set on him above all earthly fruitions And thus we may find God and enjoy him as well in Courts of Princes as in a Wilderness if we prefer nothing before the finding of him and so the greatest Courtiers may live like Saints on Earth and be Saints in Heaven when they die CVIII 'T Is not amiss for a Righteous man sometimes to fancy himself on hâ—s Death-Bâ—d with his Friends bewailing his deparâ—ure from them while he pities their mistake who pities him that is going to see the face of God in the face of Death and to meet Christ who with open Arms comes to receive his Soul into his Eternal rest Such Meditatations will raise our hearts to endeavour to die so and will bring us great Consolation while we live so in Gods favour that our Faith fail not at the last gasp CIX THere is no Felicity like Piety no Peace no Security
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
and gives sufficient grace accordingly at the hour of Death CXXXIII A Great Reprobate by the Grace of God become Regenerate can experimentally judge how much the felicity of Piety doth exceed his former Epicurisms Men in this World without putting Eternity into the Scales against moments and observes that the continual tranquility of a quiet Conscience is much more pleasant then all his past unlawful Fruitions attended with such Terrors as a guilty Soul is loaded with CXXXIV EVery Pious man that has forsaken his sins for fear to offend God who he pretends to love also does begin well And when God sees his sincerity to obey him in all things He will not let him rest there but adds Faith and Grace till his heart longs for a nearer Communion with Christ in Heaven and by a daily custom of such elevated Meditations God will bring this Pious man to despise this World and to overcome the Terrors of the Grave by his expecâ—ation of Heaven where his Soul longs to be CXXXV WE must not desire to die to be rid of affliction here But if we can obtain Grace for so Divine a Love to God as to be glad to go to Him when He calls for us That will be enough and such holy courage at the hour of death will bring great Joy to our expiring Souls CXXXVI THe Souls of Righteous men are said to be with God the moment they expire But to what degree of Bliss they are admitted before the Resurrection is not revealed unto men But it is enough for us to believe that God takes care of those Souls that served and trusted in Him as well as for his departed Saints We need to desire no more then to be with them CXXXVII THe Design of Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Fasting is to bring us to lead such Pious Lives as may shew our Faith and Love to God And so to divert our hearts from Worldly vanities by constant Meditations on the Ioys of Heaven to invite us thither And also encourage our timerous Souls with grace from above to contemn the Grave where they shall not rest one moment Which if well considered our Holy Resolutions would scorn to fear and shrink back from the last step we must make to take possession of the Crown we seem to labour for which will shew that we have but cold desires to be with God CXXXVIII NO Regenerate man can be mistaken in Gods Service who sets his Hâ—art sincerely to that workâ— for God who sees our hearâ—s throughout will not lose such a Votarrâ— but will Sanctify his zeal and make hâ—m see that an humble contriâ—e heart is the Sacâ—ifice He likes And will shew by his 〈◊〉 of Comfort and Consolation to such a man that his Soul will be transported with Raptures of joy in his Divine Contemplations when he finds such inward assurance of Godâ— favor that he cannot doubt of his Reconciliation when thus enriched with Grace and thus led by the Holy Ghost his devout heart will rise higher with bright flames of Love aspiring to get into Christs bosom CXXXIX WE should in our Meditations often reflect on the unquiet and uncertain wealth and Honours of this World and how unworthy such fleeting fruitions are to be preferred before Eternal felicities that so we may not set our hearts and spend our time on such vain acquisitions when immortal happiness will be had on easier and more certain terms and we surely become the Sons of God CXL THe greatest business of our Lives is to learn to die with holy courage and not to start from the Grave nor repine at such means and methods as our kind God appoints to make us willing to come to Him and by such gentle corrections to withdraw us from the World that our hearts may be always working up towards his Throne of Mercy where Christ has purchased places for converted sinners amongst the Angels and has appointed his Holy Spirit to invite and conduct us thither by his inward comforts which grow from the Gospel-promises and is the Christian Faith that repented sins forsaken shall not be charged on us in this World nor the next which is the foundation of Divine valour in a dying convert CXLI THe generality of mankind are naturally inclined to love those who love them and to judge of Friendship and Hatred by the assisting or crossing our designs in this World and the universal object herein is Death So then we are to consider the real effects of this great Monarchs power that controuls the World and see whether he be a more general Friend or Enemy to mankind For as he cuts down some in their first Buds others in the prime Blossoms of their youth and surprizes many of ripeâ— years by hurrying them into unexpected destruction from such Wealth and Honours as their carnal hearts were most delighted with yet the same Death is kind to the most of men who are oppressed with various sorts of Agonies both of mind and body beyond the cure of the best Remedies until by Death released from all degrees of maladies and miseries Now if all this be well considered we may bring our selves to such an acquaintance with this mighty Monarch Death by a daily conversation and preparation for our submission to his unresistable command so as to rejoyce when we are freed from future evils and by Death conducted to our Eternal Rest. And the same moment that our Souls expire we shall conquer Him who conquers all the World and for ever Triumph over his Victories over us So that 't is our weak Faith and frail Nature that makes Death seem so terrible an Enemy unto unrighteous men only CXLII THe true joy of a good Soul in this World is the very joy in Heaven only there 't is superinvested with Glory which a Righteous man enjoys that moment he dies without any stop by the way CXLIII THere is nothing more worthy of our continual thoughts our utmost endeavours and hearty prayers then to obtain the Blessedness to become Regenerate For when the Holy Ghost sanctifies the heart of such a man with the comfortable marks of his Reconciliation and Adoption that man will soon find the continual feast of a good conscience while he lives to be more pleasant then all other things which this World affords and at his hour of death the felieity of his Adoption will fill his Soul with holy valour and accompany him to his Everlasting Glory Which joy no mortal fancy can conceive and is the highest works of our strongest Faith to think on and to prepare for CXLIV HE that can upon examination find such comfort in his Soul as to be ever ready and willing to appear at the day of Judgment must be enlightned and guided by the Holy Ghost and sanctified by a Spiritual Resurrection from sin to grace and from all worldly temptations so as his chief delight will be in a Divine conversation with God by frequent approaches for the continuance
is a continual Inquisition on our own hearts to consider all our thoughts how they work towards a good or a bad end and then to cherish or suppress them as they arise for some appear in forms at first fight so ugly they cannot be too soon smothered and some so disguised in pleasing shapes as may deceive a careless heart if not acquainted with the marks the wearâ— and that way Armed and well warned by former harms so as to avoid new wounds from Enemies so dangerous that we must not Treat nor dally with but make them Retreat by a brisk Charge and bold Defie We are also to study to discover another sort of Foes more dangerous then all the rest who lye in close Ambush until some opportunity do call them forth for an Assault and are of form so lovely and so innocent in shew that Charity her self would warm their cold Limbs in her own Bosom and not discern the danger until these cunning Serpents bite beyond resistance and then declare for the Supremacy over the whole man and then muster up all his senses and all his faculties against himself and thus steal a Victory by corrupting those Guards that were given for his defence So that by a long negligence we grow so ignorant of our selves that every assault from Satan shakes the whole man until at last he Roots him up for ever But if our Eternal Being is considerable we should allow some tiâ—â—le to study our own natural inclinations and affections to good or evil and to learn such Rules as may rectifie our senses to submit unto our more rational Souls when led by Grace to work upward towards God which will teach us the wisdom of Salvation and raise our Faith to such dependance on Christ as no worldly Learning can contest for the priority Let us then imploy our time so as to learn to know our selves and our duty unto God in which our everlasting happiness is most concerned CLXX THere can be no better Arguments for frequent Meditations then to think seriously of our sins of Death and our Resurrection to Judgment as we ought and to prepare for so great a concern at a minutes call to step into Eternity so ready that we may so love God and fear Him as to serve him with delight here and to have Celestial joy when we expire CLXXI. NO man ought to think himself above the reach of temptation for when Satan finds us but a little relaxed in our Devotion or any thing cold in our affection to God he can dress an old forsaken sin so like to an Angel of Light as to surprize a young Divine Lover at first sight when his Guards are withdrawn but when his Beloved sees him in such danger He will by His Divine guiding Light unmask the disguised Fiend and so reclaim his near lapsed Lover unto his devout Addresses as before and make him see by such Assaults that he can stand no longer in favour then by his Grace supported But he that is become a well-settled Regenerate man so as to stand ever on his Guard with holy courage to repell all approaches from Satan as fast as they appear will make such frequent Victories his chief delight and when our common Enemy sees that all his attempts on such a man are in vain he will desist who only watches opportunities for his attempts on those he finds remiss and who is often belyed by some men who do invite him to such easie Victories on those of his own complexion as black within and as great Devils as himself CLXXII ALas poor man dost thou complain because thou canst not sleep ten hours every night when Nature doth require but five Thou fearest to die Yet wouldst be dead near half the time thou hast to live for sleep is so like death that we cannot distinguish wherein they differ until we awake But thou art tired for want of entertainment in long Nights Alas poor man that is a sad grievance indeed and worthy of pity for thy Saintship has no sins to confess nor pardon to ask of God no cause to wash thy Bed with tears Heaven and Hell with Eternity to come are not worth thy thinking on until the Bell toll thee to thy Grave and then too late thou wilt wish for some of thy time lost in sleep then to watch and pray and to lament in Sackcloth and Ashes While the Regenerate man finds no time so fit to raise his Soul to Heaven as when he awakes at Mid-night nor any consolation so great as in those hours borrowed from sleep to converse with God in holy Meditations which fills his heart with present joy and peace of conscience that lasts the whole day after and is a good remedy to prevent such fancies as do invade the drowsie Souls of lazie men when they cannot sleep CLXXIII ARt thou fallen by a surprize who has not or may not fall so But if these falls be frequent there is much danger in such Relapses and though not fit to cause despair yet worthy of great care for the future lest thy surprizes grow into a habit and prove but an excuse when thy self betrays thy self so often which will find no credit at the day of Judgment to procure a pardon from the Almighty searcher of our hearts whose Omnipotence is affronted if we think by a trick to hide from Him those crimes we are commanded to confess bewail and forsake CLXXIV WHen God gives us grace to make holy Vows for self-denials with power to perform them He fails not by his Holy Spirit to assure us of his acceptance thereof by the joy our hearts will feel after every resistance of Satanical assaults which will in little time encourage us to take more and more delight in those Victories over our selves who are the greatest Enemies we have CLXXV IT is no easie work for men in health and prosperity to think so often and seriously of Death as is requisite for our preparation to the Grave though no other time is so proper for it For when pains and sickness dâ— distract our minds we are only diligent to seek remedies for cure and often find none but do die with a short prayer sighed out as if Lord have mercy on us were a charm to redeem threescore years mis-spent in sins and vanities without any thought of our Salvation all that time as if Heaven were too melancholly a business to trouble our idle heads with while Youth in vigour reigns which seldom affords any credit for the felicity of Piety and such Romance discourses as they understand not while a Righteous man knows no joy on Earth like his expectation of Heaven and living ever ready to die in hope to be with God there CLXXVI WHen God endows the hearts of men with Holiness it is a sure mark of his especial favour to give us a free admission into the Court of Heaven to be with Him there as often as we please in our Meditations
grow to such a delightful zeal to God that every step as he ascends will raise his holy ambition higher and higher with joy on joy until his last puff of breath conveys his Soul into God's Eternal Glory and all the way thither will teach him to tread on the Thorns and Thistles of this World as if he walked on Roses and Lillies through the joyful expectation of his felicity at last CCVIII A Divine Author says That every man ought to be of some calling that he may be of some use unto the State where God has made his station for he that will be good for nothing in this World is as nothing and shall be nothing in the next he is but as an Excrement on Earth none of Gods useful Creatures so that to be of a lawful calling and diligent in it may expect a blessing from Heaven on his honest endeavours And Princes whose calling is of a general concern are set on Pyramids that all the World may see and imitate their Virtues Judges must be vigilant in doing Justice great Commanders at Sea and Land must be prudently not rashly valiant the Workman must work the Courtier must wait the Merchant must travel the Preacher must teach and the greatest Reprobate if he becomes Regenerate has a great calling also for he ought to declare his conversion by his future life and conversation that his Devotion may be more eminent then his Crimes were so to manifest Gods mercy to himself and by his example to shew others the way to Heaven So that no man should hide his Talent that can by any honest means improve it for the good of others The Hypocrite is the only unhappy man this way who will himself perish though he do good by encouraging others to Piety by his example who cannot discern the Hypocrites counterfeit zeal that travels through the Church of God as his nearest way to Hell CCIX. WHen we have repented our sins and forsaken them and received the Holy Sacrament which is the Seal of our Reconciliation we are not to fright our selves with the memory of our forgotten crimes but must express our gratitude by recollecting and acknowledging the evils we have done with the highest aggravation that we can so to magnifie the free mercy of God with Christs merits for pardoning such great crimes and then to comfort our hearts with the Gospel-consolations thereon So that no man ought to despair of a place in Heaven that does sincerely endeavour to get in when the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost are so active to bring us thither and yet we find it a very hard Lesson to learn to die chearfully when the practice of our whole lives can seldom teach us in seventy years to be perfect in it when we die CCX LEt us not lament the long time we lye in Dust before the day of Judgment for those who died six thousand years since and we that die now with them that die a thousand years after us shall all awake the same moment at the Resurrection and all this time shall be but as one moment divided amongst us all for death and sleep distinguishes no time until we awake from both So that we may reckon that we shall be in Abraham's Bosom the moment we expire though we shall not know what is meant by Abraham's Bosom until we with the departed Saints arise from thence together CCXI. HE that considers what Evils he has done with all the aggravations belonging to such crimes must needs be terror-struck at his hour of death to think what great punishments are due to such innumerable offences so often repeated if not reconciled unto God before that time but if so bless'd what comforts will that black Soul find when by truâ— Repentance and Faith he is washed white as Snow by Christs Bloud in the Sacrament and purified into Adams first Innocence and so be thus metamorphosed from a Devil into an Adopted Son of God by a blessed union with Christ and filled with such serene joys as are beyond expression and yet our frailties are such that when we know this and can do thus we are still so subject unto Relapses that we cannot stand in this happy station a minute longer then by Gods Grace supported to let us see that we must not depend on our own Righteousness but are to pray continually for Christs Righteousness to bring us to Heaven CCXII. CHrist said I am in the Father and you in me and I in you he also said that if you ask any thing in my Name I will do it these are two short Lessons of mighty consequence for what can man desire more then to be in God and what can we wish for more then to have what we ask and what can sinful man ask more then forgiveness of all past sins and Grace to sin no more by Christâ— sâ—nding the Holy Ghost to sanctifie us and to dwell with us for ever and so to conduct us into Heaven when we die CCXIII. WE ought to think often and to rejoyce as often as we think that the Holy Ghost is never absent from them that sincerely desire Him and do give Him a warm welcom into a chearful heart and he that can afford this Holy Spirit a full possession at his reception may keep him ever there and will always find that He is with him by the operation of his Grace where He inhabits still exciting him to love and delight in the Law of God and impowering him by his Divine-guiding Light to live after the Law of Righteousness which will bring him to such a union with Christ here as will assure his Eternal Rest with God in Glory at the Resurrection CCXIV. THough a lazie idle retired life be not according to the Christian Rule that says no man is born only for himself but is bound to imploy his Talent given to him for Gods Glory and the good of others yet some men who have spent many years in the busie affairs of this World with honest industry in their callings may without a crime retire in their old Age from the noise and hurry of business and also quit those gaieties which they find through a long custom that their frailty cannot totally reâ—ist their participation of and on that account may retire from such diversions as do disturb the full consideration and preparation for their Eternal Being in the next World By which retiring also they may teach others to become so Regenerate as to find more felicity in private contemplations of Heaven then in all Earthly fruitions which those that live in continual crouds can hardly find time for CCXV IT is great Piety for a man in health to live ever ready to die but it is another kind of story for a dying man to rejoyce that his hour is come to go to God and to quit his share in all the glories of this World So that we are often to contemplate this great point of Religion and to
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