my self once more to be the Lord's more unfeignedly more firmly than ever I have hitherto done that the Bonds of God upon me may be strengthned and my Soul more throughly ingag'd to be the Lord's O help me to do it with the greatest seriousness as the most important Affair of my whole Life by thine aid and Grace alone shall I be sincere and cordial in this surrender and Dedication of my self O breathe upon my Soul most Holy Spirit the Power of the Highest that there may be no Hypocrisie or Reservation in this so weighty and solemn Transaction between God and me O most Blessed and Glorious TRINITY Father Son and Holy Spirit Thy favor is my Life and thy Lovingkindness is better than Life Thy Will should have been my Rule thy Word my Law thy Glory my end to please thee my principal Business and to injoy thy Love and Presence my ultimate Felicity But I am one of thy revolted Creatures who have lost thine Image and rebell'd against thy Law slighted thy Authority and rejected thy Grace and deserve to be cast out of thy sight and banisht from thy Presence for ever Nevertheless O most merciful God and Father upon thy gracious invitation and call I now return to thee my rightful Lord acknowledging thee as my Almighty Wise and bountiful Creator my absolute Owner my Righteous Governour my End my Happiness and Chief Good. I now accept thine offer'd Mercy I now submit to the Scepter of thy Grace and give up my self to Thee as my King and my God to rule and sanctify me now and be my Everlasting Portion I desire to be no longer my own but Thine to whom of right I belong and ought to be devoted I yield my self to Thee O my Lord Accept and possess that which is thine own I lay my self at thy Foot at all Times and in all Conditions to be at thy dispose and in every thing to acquiesce in thy Good Pleasure Deliberately resolving with unfeigned and free consent of my Will to walk before Thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life Hereby I consecrate and devote my self to be thy perpetual Avowed Servant Lord I am thy servant I am thy servant the Son of thine Handmaid Though other Lords have had dominion over me I will now make mention of thy Name and of thy Righteousness only by Jesus Christ O Blessed Jesus my All-sufficient Saviour Thy dying Love infinite Condescention and matchless Grace hath at last overcome me and constrain'd me to resolve to be wholly Thine who hast redeem'd and bought me with thy most precious Blood. I now acknowledg and own Thee as my Lord and my Jesus my Prophet Priest and King my Sacrifice Surety and Ransom to satisfy for my Sins and reconcile me unto God to instruct me in his Will and teach me the Mysteries of his Kingdom and the way to the Father How often hast thou open'd thine arms and called me yea beseecht me to come unto thee and accept of Life but I refused to come I adore thy merciful Condescention that yet thou wilt receive me on such easy Terms O thou Lord of Life and Glory now accept of an unworthy helpless Sinner who flies to Thee as his only Refuge and Hope who is convinc't that None but Christ None but Christ can make his Peace with God and save from wrath to come I acknowledg thy Title to me and my obedience and to all I have by dying for me I desire to take thy Yoke upon me for it is Easie and thy Burthen which is Light. I desire to be intirely and for ever thine in an Everlasting Covenant never to be broken to take up the Cross and follow thee whithersoever thou shalt lead me through the straight Gate and the narrow way I will reserve no Lust refuse no Labour grudge at no Suffering stick at no difficulty so I may please and honour thee and continue in thy Love. O shed abroad more of thy Love in my Heart to make all Things easie for his sake who hath loved me and washed me from my Sins in his own Blood. O God the Holy Ghost I acknowledg Thee as my Great Teacher and Sanctifier and give up my self to Thee as the Author of all saving Knowledg and Holiness By Thee I have been convinc't of my Sin against the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ and of my necessity of his Merit Satisfaction and Righteousness to justify my guilty Soul by procuring the Forgiveness of Sin and my acceptance with God and of the freeness of his Love the Riches and alsufficiency of his Grace towards all who come unto God by Him. I adore Thee O most Blessed Spirit as proceeding and sent from the Father and the Son to renew all the Powers of my Soul and restore the Divine Image there to enlighten my mind to know and receive the Truth as it is in Jesus and purify my Heart and to sanctify all the Members of my Body and make them Instruments of Righteousness unto Holiness which before were Servants unto Sin and gradually to deliver me from the power the defilement and abode of Sin as from the Guilt and Punishment by the Blood of Jesus And as the Witness of God to the Truth of the Holy Scriptures and as the Great Paraclete to comfort and establish the Hearts of Believers sealing them up to the day of Redemption and giving them the Earnest of the Heavenly Inheritance O blessed Spirit be thou my Witness that though I have violated the Law of God and defac'd his Image and formerly undervalu'd the Love of Christ and the Grace of the Gospel yet by thine Aid I now accept what I have so long neglected and thankfully devote my self henceforward to be the Lord 's in a Covenant Relation But fearing and distrusting my self I give up my self entirely to the conduct of thy Grace depending upon it for my establishment and perseverance O form my Heart into an obediential Frame that in every thing I may endeavor to answer the Ends and Obligations of this Devoted State. To this One God I have once again dedicated and resign'd my self to serve and please and honour Thee in Thought Word and Act to the last moment of my Life in the Performance of all Duties even those which I have been most averse from in the mortification of every Lust and the forsaking of every Sin even those which I was once most addicted to Resolving deliberately to allow my self in nothing great or little secret or open which I shall know or believe to be contrary to thy holy Will making it my business to be fruitful in good Works to the praise of my Redeemer waiting in the use of all his appointed means for higher measures of Grace and Holiness to be more victorious over inward Lusts and outward Temptations still pressing towards the mark for the prize of my high and holy Calling even Eternal Life I call Heaven and Earth O Lord
Persevering Obedience how full and extensive it ought to be and yet humble by what means we may be assisted to perform that which we resolve p. 208 XXVIII The Import and Obligation of our Baptismal Covenant The renewal of it by a solemn Dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit exemplifyed and recommended p. 217 XXIX Practical and consolatory Reflections on the preceeding Self-dedication or Covenant with God. p. 224 XXX Thanksgiving to God for his Innumerable Benefits and Mercies particularly in the Year Past with some Direction and Advice concerning it p. 234 THE Introduction From what Time the Jews reckoned the Beginning of their Year of the difference between their Sacred and Civil Account The Feast of Trumpets on the first day of the Year ' its Institution Nature and Design the Traditions and Customs of the Jews respecting that Day UPon the deliverance of the Jews out of Aegypt the first month which began with the new Moon next to the vernal Equinox was to be accounted (a) Exod. 12.1 the beginning of Months it answers to the latter end of our March and the Beginning of April and is sometimes called Nisan and sometimes Abib It was ordinarily after that Deliverance reckon'd the First month of the year in their Sacred or Ecclesiastical Account Therefore the Passover kept in this month is said to be observed in the first month and the Feast of Purim which was kept in our February is said to be in the last month that is of the Sacred year A Period so remarkable and extraordinary as that was to the Jews deserved very well to be particularly remembred and taken notice of and might justly be accounted the First or chiefest of their months And by comparing Exod. 12.41 with Gal. 3.17 it may be concluded that Abraham received the Promise on the fifteenth day of this month and 't is computed that about the same time of the year Isaac was born and the Tabernacle afterwards erected in the wilderness As the Redemption of Israel from their Bondage in Aegypt was but a Type of a more glorious one be the Messiah he was pleased to suffer Death in this (b) John. 18.28 Month. According to this Computation the Month Tisri which began with the first new Moon next to the Autumnal Equinox is often called the Seventh Month but was not so accounted before the Deliverance of Israel out of Aegypt As to Civil and Political Affairs it was for the most part reckoned the First Month of the year on this Account this Month (c) Heidegeri Hist Patriarch Tom. 1 diss 12 §. 22. de Anno Patriarcharum tisri which answers to part of our September and part of October on the Fifteenth day of the Month was the Feast of Tabernacles when the (d) Exod. 23.15 16. See Ger. I. Vossii Isag Ckronol dissert 23 caliger de Emend Temp. Lydiat de variis Annorum formis Selden de Anno Cirili vet Jud. Joel 2.23 1 Kings 8 2 Lightfoot Horae in Math. Cap. 2. v. 1. Fruits of the Earth were gather'd in and is said to be in the End of the year Much hath been said by many Learned Men for the date of the Worlds Creation and the Begining of the year from the Vernal Equinox or the Spring and the Aegyptians are alledged as keeping the great Festival of Aries or of the New Year when the Sun enters into Aries But however uncertain that be and how difficult to determine it yet in Autum is Computed by the Jews the Creation of the World the Birth of the first Patriarchs the Reparation of the Tables of the Law the Dedication of the Temple the Three Great Solemn Feasts of the Beginning of the Year and other Remarkable Passages As many Religious assemblies and Solemn Feasts were appointed to the Jews in this Month Tisri as in all the year besides That the Birth and Baptism of our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ should be at this time of the Feast of Tabernacles is as Considerable as that his Passion should be about the time of the Jewish Passover He was Sacrificed for us at that time when by God's appointment the Pascal Lamb was to be offer'd as his Type And at the Feast of Tabernacles he came to pitch his Tent in our nature to (e) John. 1.14 tabernacle in our Flesh and dwell among us The Scepter was so far gone from Judah that the Jews were compell'd by a foreign Power instead of observing the feast of the Tabernacles at Jerusalem every one to repair to his own City to be taxed as the Emperour Augustus had commanded and 't is not very likely he would appoint that in the depth of Winter the time of our Christmas and now was the Season for Shilo to appear The Eighty first Psalm composed by Asaph for the first day of this Month or the feast of (f) Dr. Hammond in loc Godeau univer Hist de l Eglise Tom. 4. c. 1. §. 6. Hospinian de Fest Judaic Trumpets is supposed to have been in Remembrance of that Deliverance out of Aegypt the Sounding of Trumpets being a token of Liberty This Feast of Trumpets on the First Day of the New Year according to their Civil Account is thus commanded Levit. 23.24 Numb 29.1 10. cap 10. that it should be a Sabbath and a Memorial of blowing of Trumpets an holy Convocation c. Some think it is called a Memorial of Trumpets to preserve the memory of Isaac's Deliverance by the substitution of a Ram to be sacrificed in his stead to this purpose it may be alledged that it is sometimes called by the Jews the Binding of Isaac which they suppose to have been in the same day of the year By others termed Festum Cornu the Feast of the Horn. But it is more probable that this name was not given with any respect to Isaac but on the account of that kind of Trumpets which were then sounded viz. such as were made of sheeps or rams horns Others think it to have been Appointed as a grateful remembrance of former victories which God had afforded them Particularly that at Jerico where was the first opposition they met with in their passage to Canaan and the walls of the City fell down at the Sound of such Horn-Trumpets Josh 6.13 20. But the most likely account of it is this That it was intended to solemnize the Beginning of the New Year to mind them of the Beginning of the World and to excite their thankfulness for the Fruits and Blessings and Benefits of the year preceeding The extraordinary Blowing of Trumpets by the Priests at this time in all their Cities as well as at Jerusalem where two Silver * Lightfoot's Temple Service chap. 16 §. 5. Trumpets were also used at the Temple as well as these of Horn and the Levites sung the 81 Psalm might serve both to stir up the People to bless God for the Favours of the Year past acknowledging his
by and strengthen me I know I shall be able to do all things I shall not then be flatter'd or frighted out of the way of my Duty no Wind that can blow shall then turn me to another Point nothing shall then be able to prevail for my consent to a wilful and deliberate forsaking of God no Argument no Temptation though Privacy Opportunity Impunity from Men with Rewards of Worldly Gain and Honour should all concur to enforce a Temptation But by that Heavenly Assistance I shall be preserv'd Humble Temperate Chast Patient Thankful Self-denying Crucified to the World and hold fast my Integrity till I die still perfecting Holiness in the fear of God growing in Grace and in the Knowledge of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ waxing stronger from day to day be seldomer surpriz'd offend less and repent more quickly and watch more narrowly afterwards till at last I receive the Crown Especially let me watch against my Constitution Sins such as I am most inclined to and where a Temptation doth most easily enter where the Devil can take the fastest hold and be least suspected where he hath formerly sprung a Mine and made a Breach I have known some humble watchful Christians after being recovered from their Backslidings who abhorr'd every Temptation to that sin by which they had been defiled and wounded they can hardly put up a Prayer but they mention it hardly have their hearts affected in any ordinance but they are inwardly asham'd of it hardly hear of any one guilty of the like but they are ready to burst out into Tears Fix therefore I beseech thee most Gracious God! my unfeigned Resolutions of cleaving to thee with full purpose of Heart and shew thy strength in my weakness by inabling me to do what I now resolve To that end teach me to watch over my Heart to keep it with all diligence to be more conversant with my own Thoughts examining the motions that arise in my Heart whence they come and whither they go and what they tend to that I may suppress the beginnings of Sin. The unsearchable Deceitfulness of the Heart the rovings straglings and wandrings of the Thoughts the ungovernable motions and stirrings of the Passions and Affections with the corrupt Inclinations that are ready to comply with Temptation make such a constant Watchfulness necessary Let me live no longer as a stranger to my self but by Self-reflexion dwell more at home reckoning my principal Work to be within doors to keep my own Vineyard Teach me to watch over my Senses to guard the door of my Lips to govern my Passions to be wary in the Choice of my Company and in the Right Vse of it to be Circumspect in every step of my daily walk to call my self frequently to a Reckoning to cast up my Accounts at the foot of every page by every days review of my Actions to live always as in God's presence and be awed every where by the thought of his Holy Eye to shun the occasions and appearances of Evil c. By the neglect of this Spiritual Distempers will insensibly creep upon us There is such a venom and malignity in Sin to wound and weaken the Soul to put us off the Hinges to disorder and unfit us for any Spiritual Service to make our Hearts vain and frothy lazy and listless that we shall easily let slip our Opportunities lose our Seasons and languish and pine away notwithstanding all the means of thriving and growth And hence it is that so many Professors mourn and complain lick the dust and lye among the clods are dead under the most awakening Ministry and barren under the most fruitful means Hence it is they do little Good as well as taste little Comfort some duties are neglected and others perform'd slightly and in none of them do they meet with that Sweetness and Satisfaction that Refreshment and Advanvantage Fruit and Benefit as formerly And all from the neglect of Watchfulness making bold with Temptation and not standing upon their Guard in the use of their Christian Armour And because no Place no Condition no Imployment is exempted from Temptations let me fortify my self every morning against all Assaults for that day by Serious Prayer as Holy David was wont to do My voice saith he shalt thou hear in the morning O Lord in the morning will I direct my Prayer unto thee and will look up Psal 5. v. 3 4. Let the Law of God be my daily and delightful study that I may be able presently to bring my Words and Actions to the Touchstone and know how to manage the sword of the Spirit on all occasions against the fiery Darts of the Devil that knowing the rule I may not be doubtful or at a loss when ever I am tempted I may not make a stand to parley but immediately summon all my forces to Resist and reject the Snare being assur'd from God that the Continuance of this Warfare shall end in a most Glorious Victory He will shortly tread down Satan under my feet Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord. XXVIII The Import and Obligation of our Baptismal Covenant The renewal of it by a solemn Dedication of our selves to God the Father Son and Holy Spirit exemplify'd and recommended ALL this O my Soul which I have now resolv'd on is no more than what I am obliged to by my Vow in Baptism to renounce the Devil and his Works the Flesh and the Lusts thereof the World and conformity to it that I may Love and Serve the Lord agreeable to the undoubted Right which God hath in me by Creation Redemption and his inuumerable other Benefits But the outword washing of Baptism and a visible profession of obedience will not save me without the Answer of a good Conscience towards God 1 Pet. cap. 3. v. 21. May I not by the consideration of my Baptismal Covenant suppose God speaking to my Conscience to this effect Will you take me for your whole Portion and Felicity and my Law for the constant Rule of your obedience and fight against the World the Flesh and the Devil to your lives end Will you believe in Jesus Christ and receive him as a Prince and Saviour and adhere to the faith and obedience of the Gospel how hazardous and difficult soever the profession and practice of it may be Will you receive the Blessed Spirit as your Teacher Sanctifier and Comforter and cherish all his Motions to inlighten purify confirm comfort and assist you 'T is my hearty consent to these Terms and resolved compliance with them which Baptism obligeth to and this is the Answer of a good Conscience towards God. I have often renewed this Covenant on several occasions but did I ever duly consider the tenor and obligation of it How have I lyed unto the God of Truth dealt deceitfully with him and been False and Fickle Treacherous and Unfaithful to what I promised O let me now again repeat it and give up
to witness this day That I own and avow this to be my Mind and the setled Prevailing Purpose of my Soul. This I again ratifie and confirm without any Clauses or Exceptions So help me O my God. Glory be to God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit XXIX Practical and Consolatory Reflections on the preceding Self-dedication or Covenant with God. I Have this day solemnly avouched the Lord to be my God to walk in his ways thereby to fortifie my Resolutions that I and my Deut. 6. c. 17 18. House and All that I can persuade to be of my mind will serve the Lord. I intend desire and hope never willfully to violate the Faith which I have now plighted in the presence of God but to continue stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord c. Should I undertake any new Imployment or enter into any new Condition or change the place of my Abode where I might see more of God's dishonour and meet with more and stronger Temptations to Sin and be called to the performance of more difficult duties greater watchfulness and self-denial c. I would hope hereby to ingage the presence of God with me and his Blessing on all my Affairs on which depends the success of all that I undertake and would hope the better to preserve my Integrity not only This Year but in all the remaining portion of my Time by the abiding sense of my Covenant with God thus seriously renewed This is the method I have been often advis'd to for Peace of Conscience under doubts and scruples concerning my spiritual State to put the matter out of doubt by again accepting the offered mercy and Grace of the Gospel and heartily consenting to the new Covenant giving up my self to God in Christ to be ruled and saved by him Blessed be God I have now done so Lord say Amen to thy part of the Covenant that Thou art and wilt be my God as I desire unfeignedly to do to mine that I will be thy Servant But beeause Articles are sooner consented to than made good tho I seriously intend never to disown this my solemn Act and Deed but firmly to adhere to it as long as I live that having sworn I will endeavour to perform it that this shall be my Everlasting Choice never to be recanted or alter'd yet considering the sad Instances of my former weakness and the vigilance and subtle malice of my Great Adversary I again implore the succour of Divine Grace to keep it for ever in the purpose of my Heart that it may be as the Laws of the Medes and Persians never to be reversed I have given up my name to be Thine O put thy fear into my Heart that I may never depart from Thee Imprint thy Laws upon my Heart that my obedience may be uniform and universal unwavering and perpetual suitable to so honourable and near a Relation to Thee I am sensible I want Wisdom and Strength to that purpose but thou hast bid me ask it of Thee who givest liberally to All without desert and upbraidest not with present unworthiness or former faults O lead me not into Temptation but deliver me from Evil. Stand by and Strengthen me in the Hour of Trial lest I forget my vows and deny Thee O that my Soul may never draw back lest Thine have no Pleasure in me I can serve no better Master O let mine Ears be bored to the door of thine house as the Token and Assurance of my being thy Servant unto Death I know 't is my Duty I am sensible 't is my Privilege and Honour I am convinc'd that 't is my Interest and Felicity my Soul my Life my present and everlasting Welfare and All depends upon it that thou shouldst be my God for ever O conduct me by thy Holy Spirit of Grace that I may walk and act as having heartily consented he should be so and direct my Heart into thy Love and the faithful keeping of thy Commandments That when so many Professors make shipwrack of Faith and a Good Conscience and discredit the Religion of my Lord by their shameful Falls thou mayst make me to stand and improve the warning of their Examples to walk humbly and while I stand to take heed least I fall Having thus surrendred my self to God what is there O my Soul that is ever like to prevail with me to go back and revolt from him Is the gratification of a Lust the securing of an Estate compliance with a Friend the pleasing of a Superior living in Ease and Honour and outward Prosperity for a little while the saving my Body from Suffering or my life from Violence or what ever else be the Motive of my unfaithfulness to God and Apostacy from Him Is Any is All of these any way considerable compared with the Blessedness of having God to be my God For thereby I have the forgiveness of all my Sins and the Assurance of his Favour the certainty of present Protection and Provision all Creatures reconciled to me and to be imployed for my Good as the Friend of God All things to work together for my Advantage and by the evidence of my Adoption a well grounded Hope of Eternal Life God as my Sun and Shield will give Grace and Glory and with-hold no Good Thing So unspeakably Comprehensive are the Privileges of so near a Relation to God in Christ O happy are the People who are in such a case Blessed are the Persons whose God is the Lord. Do I resolve to abide by my Choice and to trust in Christ for persevering Grace and shall I not ought I not to take Comfort in it Shall I not give God the Glory of his infinite Goodness by adhering to him and rejoycing in him notwithstanding all Temptations to the Contrary Casting all my Care upon him and quieting my self in the Alsufficiency of my Heavenly Father having a God in Covenant who will supply all my wants and take care of me as his own Shall I not give him the glory of his Truth and Power by trusting him in every Condition By confidence in his Promise Dependance on his Word Faithfulness to his Interest and Constancy in his Service to the end Is it not a most encouraging Thought That God doth never Abandon any who do not first forsake him And after such strict Engagements as I have laid upon my self shall I ever strike the fatal stroke with my own Hand Shall I be off and on say and unsay promise and retract And after I have proceeded thus far shall I forsake the Fountain of Living Waters and turn again to broken Cisterns After I have examin'd my self consider'd my ways confest my Sins and upon serious Deliberation am come to a Resolve and in pursuance of it have devoted my self with such solemnity to be the Lord's shall I ever after this forsake Him and my own Mercies and lightly esteem the Rock of my Salvation Now I have
Goodness in preserving them to the beginning of another and withal excite them to pray for his Protection and Blessing for the New Year on which they now entred Maimonides the famous Jewish Rabbin thinks the sounding of Trumpets at this time was designed to signifie some such Exhortation as this (a) Canones de Poenitent cap. 3. can 6. Arise O ye sleepers out of your sleep and you that slumber awake out of your slumbering Search your works and turn by Repentance Remember your Creator you that have forgotten the Truth and have exchanged it for the Vanities of the World and have all your Lives wandred after Vanity which will not profit or deliver you Consider your Souls consider your Ways and Works and let every one of you forsake his evil way and his thoughts that are not good Some have imagined a typical Representation of the two Covenants in this Feast The Old Covenant figured by the Year passed and the Covenant of Grace or the Gospel state by the New Year then begun and that by the sound of Trumpets was prefigured the future Preaching of the Gospel according to that of the Apostle Their sound went forth unto all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World and so the Feast of Trumpets is abrogated by the Preaching of the Gospel if that were typically signified by it The publication of the Gospel is the joyful sound Psalm 89.15 And Ministers are to lift up their Voice like a Trumpet Isaiah 58.1 the discharge of their Office as Watchmen is exprest by setting the Trumpet to their mouth Hos 8.1 Ezek. 33. When the Jews shall be converted to the Faith of Christ it is said in that day the great Trumpet shall be blown and they shall come who were ready to perish Isaiah 27. ult 'T was the Office of the Priests to sound these Trumpets Numb 10.8 The publick Dispensation of the Gospel is committed to Ministers set apart for that Work as the Sons of Aaron for theirs We read but of two Trumpets at first for Eleazar and Ishamar the two Sons of Aaron Numb 3.4 But David added many musical Instruments And in Solomon's time at the dedication of the Temple we read of one hundred and twenty Priests who sounded with Trumpets 2 Tim. 5.12 Without supposing any Type here in a strict and proper sense we may yet farther consider the Parallel and observe how the Joy and Gratitude of these Trumpets did excite is exceeded by that greater rejoycing promised and foretold by the Prophets when the glad tidings of the Gospel of Salvation by the Messiah should be publisht to the World Isa 54.1 Luk. 2.11 Gal. 4.27 which hath been in part accomplisht And will be more compleat in that Kingdom of Peace and Purity which Christ will establish upon Earth toward the end of the World And shall be finally perfected at the end of Time when Days and Years and Time thus measured shall be no more When the Messiah our B. Saviour having finished his mediatory undertaking as to what concerns Earth shall come again from Heaven with the Trump of God to raise the Dead and summon all the World to their final Judgment Then shall he deliver up the Kingdom to his Father And the Faithful enter into the Joy of their Lord and be for ever with him There is a Tradition among the Jews mentioned by Maimonides (b) Canones de Poenit. ch 3. can 5. that on the first day of the New Year God enters into Judgment for the Sins of the Year and Life past That every ones Faults are weighed against his good Works He that is found Righteous is sealed unto Life And he that is found Wicked is sealed unto Death And 't is a general Custom that hath obtained among the Jews for the ten first days of the New Year to rise out of their Beds in the Night and to continue in their Synagogues praying and worshipping until break of day The superstitious and ridiculous Ceremonies of the (c) Vid. Ceremones Cout parmi les Iuifs d'aujourdhuy par 2. c. 53 modern Jews on this Day I shall not repeat However vain and groundless superstitious and absurd many of their Customs and Practises are on this Day Yet this blind Devotion of the Jews may justly shame and condemn the Christians of our Age Who commonly spend the Beginnings of every Year worse than any other parts of them and instead of any solemn Retirement for Prayer and Meditation which might assist them to number their Days and prepare for Eternity instead I say of such seasonable Exercises how do vain and hurtful Sports and Pastimes or trifling and unedifying mirth and fruitless conversations consume the greatest part of the Days and Nights too of the beginning of the Year And thus when the first fruits of the Year are offered up to Sin and Vanity 't is no wonder if the following parts of it are imployed to no better purpose without any due concern for the Soul and an Everlasting State. To endeavour some Remedy to those disorders and give some Assistance to them who desire seriously to make Religion their Principal Business is the end of publishing these Reflections I most heartily beseech the God of all Grace to influence by his Holy Spirit the Conscience of every Reader that some such effect may be attained Having found the Practice recommended to be of some use to my self and my own Heart warmed in composing the substance of these Papers tho' without any Intention at that Time of exposing them to the World 't is not unreasonable to hope That what hath been beneficial to one may be helpful to another It cannot certainly be unadviseable or improper to Begin the Year with God with whom we should begin every Day 'T is decorous and becoming to Dedicate our selves to Him in a more solemn manner than ordinary at such a Time Thankfully to acknowledge the Favours and Blessings we have particularly received the Year Past And to recollect the Sins we have been guilty of to aggravate them with Humility Contrition and deep Remorse to renew our Covenant with God to repeat and fortifie our Resolutions of living better imploring his Grace to assist us in it to reflect seriously on the Mutability Frailty and Brevity of our present Life to consider the Swiftness Uncertainty Irrecoverableness and consequently Value of our Time to look forward to a Blessed or Miserable Eternity one of which we must share in and to confirm our Faith in the Certainty thereof and consider our near Approach to such an unchangeable State to think what Improvement we should make at the Death of others especially of Relations and Friends who have lately been called home To make the Supposition in good earnest that we may follow them this Year and dye before another New Years-Day to imprint such a Thought on our Hearts and the Inferences that may naturally be deduced from it to beg of God to inable us to Redeem
our Time and discharge the Duty of our particular places and prepare us for all the Events of the following Year and so effectually Teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts unto true Wisdom lest we be surprized by an Vnexpected Death before the period of another Year And lastly to pray for our Relations and Friends Families and Neighbours and our Enemies too and plead with God on the behalf of Sion and the afflicted and deformed state of the Protestant Churches To some of these and the like Purposes I hope what is here offered may be subservient if considered with Seriousness and Application after humble Invocation of the Blessing of God and the aids of his Spirit composing our Minds and Thoughts as in his most awful and holy Presence I have only this to request That if any shall find any real Benefit in this kind he would so far requite my charitable Assistance of him that when his Heart is most serious his Spirit most composed and devout and his Affections most vigorous and lively he would not forget to put up one Prayer to Heaven for me for Greater Holiness and Abilities to Honour God and persevering Faithfulness to his Truth and Interest what ever Temptations to desert it may be imployed by the World the Flesh and the Devil the three Great Enemies of thine and my Salvation DEVOUT REFLECTIONS ON TIME AND ETERNITY This World and the Next I. Of the changeable State and short Duration of Earthly Things especially of Man how little is is considered and believed how necessary it should be WHen I consider that yesterday was the conclusion of the last year and that I now am entred on another 't is seasonable to reflect on the mutable Condition and short Duration of all Thing in this World which are measured by Time. That as they have their Beginning so they have their End And that the distance or space of Time between the one and the other is very little Let me not then O my Soul Rejoyce and please my self too much in New Injoyments remembring a Change may be at hand and the End is certain Many who were Rich and Flourishing the last year may be reduced to Poverty and deep distress before the end of this who are now in a capacity to relieve others within a few months or a shorter space may be objects of other Mens charity The thing which hath been is that which may be and that which hath been seen in one year may happen in another so easily so quickly may a Change be made Riches may unexpectedly change their Owners and borrow wings of a thousand Accidents wherewith to fly to Heaven for a new Disposal (a) 1 Cor. 7.29 They therefore who possess should be as if they possessed not for the Fashion of this world passeth away Innumerable casualties may effect that change which no human Art or Skill can possibly foresee or hinder Afflictive unexpected evils attend us every where we cannot promise our selves Tranquility for a Day much less one Year to come They lay in wait for us on every side enter at every crevice and commonly overtake us when we are least apprehensive of their approach * Job 9.25 Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of Trouble He cometh up as a flower and is cut down fleeth as a shadow and continueth not What then are Riches Beauty Strength and Honor the accidents of this Substance which is it self but a Shadow How false is the Hope of Man and how frail is all his glory One day can make an end of all his Riches and Honours And yet what solicitude care and labour to get what we desire of these things though often we do not need 'em and then to keep what we have gotten and then to encrease it and then to defend it and at last to enjoy it and in a moment it is snatcht from us or we from it His Life is but a vapour on which they all depend then how much less are they To how speedy an alteration are they subject What numberless Instances of this doth one years experience furnish What sadning Disappointments and unexpected Calamities have befallen many since this Day Twelve-month and multitudes who are now at ease and think their mountains too strong to be removed shall meet with sharper Tryals before the end of this year Alas how few consider or believe it till they find it so All men should count upon trouble and disappointment suffering and sorrow in this world and he that hath the least share is reckoned the most prosperous man and yet he knows not how soon his Portion may be doubled We reckon our Joys by the absence of some degrees of Sorrow and Calamity that others meet with and before the end of this year our condition may be as disconsolate as theirs O my Soul though I know this to be true though I cannot I dare not deny it yet how difficult is it to conquer the Love of this World and of this Body to that degree I ought to undervalue the interest of a short a mutable uncertain and troublesom Life in comparison of the permanent possession of an everlasting Good Though I know that what is earthly and temporal must needs be thus changeable and fading and that it is as true of Man himself as of any thing under the Sun yet how do I forget what Man is not only mutable in his State his Body and his Life but in his Mind too so as to love and hate to chuse and neglect to delight in and abhor such things at one time as he did not before He doth not pass the same Judgment nor retain the same Affections at one time as at another How do I live as if all this were as certainly false as it is unquestionably true admire love fear trust in Man as if he were the direct Contrary to what he is and seek for Immortality upon Earth and act as if I were assured of it and were not lyable to any Change though I acknowledge and know the contrary Though the last years Experience and the observation of every day doth convince me of it though all History and all the Records of the Grave attest it though all Mankind in every Age have found it so though it be a manifest notorious Truth legible in the various changes and calamities but especially in the dust and ashes of all who have lived before us our Graves being often made of our Predecessors Dust and the Earth we bury in having once been living yet how little is it believed how seldom considered The Confirmation of it which one year gives us hath little influence on our hearts or lives with respect to the next We ought therefore to accustom our selves to these thoughts before such changes happen to which our Final change shall e'er long succeed They will be less efficacious if never admitted till our minds
spend my whole Life in Diversions from the main business of it Have I nothing else to do but to gather Shells if they were Pearls the absurdity were still the same and pile them upon heaps till I am snatcht away past all recovery Shall I be regardless of an Eternal State and run the hazard of being undone for ever by sollicitous care about pretended Necessaries for a long abode on Earth Much less for Superfluities when I am not certain of the Possession this one Year Shall I magnifie and admire what is so soon to be parted with Value my self upon these things so as to despise those that have less and envy such as have more and suffer my Mind to be distempered and my passions immoderate on every Change of these things Tho' I know besides my own Mortality that to inforce the Argument there is a principle of Corruption in all these things that our very Manna here in a little while will stink and Bread which is the staff of Life moulder our richest Garments wax old and rot Silver and Gold rust and the greatest Beauty wither and every thing that is Earthly decay and perish And shall not this teach me to sit loose from all such things Can I imagine that in my last hour it will be easier to part with much than little or better in the day of Judgment to have a great Estate to answer for than a lesser one We read concerning the Patriarch Abraham who rightly understood the transitory nature of Riches and his own mutable Condition that the only purchase he made with his Riches was a Grave chusing to take Possession of the Land promised him rather by a mark of his parting with it than of his possessing it Did I think oftner and more seriously O my Soul of tarrying here but a little while I should more easily be perswaded that a little of this World were sufficient to carry me through it I should consider more that my Heaven-born Soul is made and designed for another an endless World and therefore should not so far forget his own People and Fathers House as eagerly to pursue and seek what is suited only to the Body for a little while and whereof a little with Contentment will be sufficient The same Reflection may be useful to contract our Thoughts to present Duty that we may not perplex our Minds with long designs and Projects which if we dye this this Year will come to nothing Our great Business in this World is adapted to the little portion of Time which is allowed us Not that good Designs for the publick Benefit may not be begun by one and finisht by others or that we are not obliged prudently to provide for those who shall come after us by attempting many Things of probable Advantage to Posterity But considering the shortness and uncertainty of Life not only should the most necessary Things be first minded and not put off by prosecuting such designs as may signifie somewhat to others when we are Dead But we should not now omit that which we may hope to compass our selves to begin such things whose accomplishment must depend on the Pleasure of our Successors Consideration and faithful Counsel would in this case have prevented the fruitless Expence of many Mens Time and Money which if otherwise imployed might have turned to good account to themselves and others And this heightens our Folly that while we pursue great Projects in reference to this World and dye without effecting them our preparations for Eternity are neglected and so we are suddenly cut off in the midst of our Folly and all our Thoughts perish How easily how soon may they do so The difference and distance between Death and Life being no more than that of a Candle lighted from its being blown out and if it is exposed to all Winds how quickly may that happen XVIII The consideration of the certain near Approach of an Everlasting State amplified and prest to inforce an Holy Life IN this World we begin a Year and quickly come to the end of it and ere long the little number of our Years and Days will be expired But when Death conveys us into the World of Spirits the day of Eternity shall never be closed with an Evening Of how fearful consequence is that Death by which an Eternity must be decided What attention what seriousness what diligence what care doth the dicision of so important a matter call for ETERNAL what will be the next word O my Soul how much am I concerned to know it will it be Blessedness or Misery will it be Life or Death This one word is the Joy of Angels and the Horror of Devils the unspeakable delight of blessed Saints and the confusion and despair of condemned Sinners At the Creation of the World Time got the start of us and was five days elder then we but our Immortal Souls shall endure beyond the utmost limits of Time and last as long as the Everlasting Father of Spirits of whose duration there is no end Shall I then exist and live though my Body perish and see corruption Shall my Soul my Self exist beyond the Grave in Felicity or Misery and that for ever and according to my present Actions What am I then most concerned to mind What am I to chuse What am I most to fear to wish to do What is a shadow of Honour and Reputation among dying Men What are a few drops of fleshly Pleasure for a Moment to eternal Rivers of Pleasure at God's right hand What are the sufferings of an hour or two to the pains and anguish of Eternity What can the World Flesh or Devil give me comparable to eternal Life What can I suffer in the way of Holiness that may be set in the Balance against an Everlasting Hell And yet how often O my Soul how boldly how unconcernedly how foolishly do I hazard the one and forfeit the other for the Sins and Vanities of this World Whereas one prospect of Eternity should make every thing that is Temporal appear little in my Eyes the highest elevation of earthly Greatness abundance of Riches the great Affairs Business and Imployments of the World Pomp and Splendor and Reputation and all that now flatters the Senses and the vanity of Mankind Oh that I could but live as believing and expecting an Eternal State as having it in my Eye managing all my affairs with a visible reference to it discovering to all the World by my Behaviour and Deportment that I do in earnest believe it certain for be it never so Certain if I do not apprehend and consider it as such it will no more affect me than a Fable Neither is it enough to consider it as certain but as near for the most weighty the most terrible things apprehended as at a great distance will little move Thinking of the long Interval between the advantage of being exempted from such Evils for so long a time will please me
a Change do we think it would work upon us But if we will nor hear Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles neither should we believe tho one came from the Dead XX. The Eternal Blessedness of HEAVEN considered as the Perfection of Holiness to quicken our desires and endeavours after greater Meetness to possess it DOth one year after another hasten me to the end of Time And doth the Blessedness of Eternity depend on the Communications I now receive from God On the Preparations I now make and the Meetness I can now attain for Eternal Felicity in the Presence of my God and Saviour O with what Intenseness of mind should I now prosecute that glorious Object with what unwearied diligence should I run the race that is set before me lest I fall short of the Incorruptible Crown of Life How should every thing be undervalued and rejected that would divert retard or hinder me from pursuing this end Lord be not a stranger to my Soul in this distant Wilderness state Let me see more of thy Light be transform'd more into thine Image experience more of thy Love feel more of thy vital Presence and quickening Spirit let the Divine Life in my Soul be more powerful and the Characters of thy Likeness be more legibly stampt upon it by the daily exercise of Faith and Hope and holy Affections carry me through this World till my Pilgrim state be over and thou hast brought me to perfect Everlasting Holiness And let the believing fore-thoughts of it till all the Powers of my Soul with Joy and Wonder Desire and Love Give me Lord to think a right of the Heavenly Glory as a confirmed State of positive perfect Holiness of heavenly Light Love Liberty and Joy with the satisfying Vision of God in the Face of Christ and his impressed Likeness dwelling for ever in the direct and steady view of his transforming Glory with compleat conformity of the Soul to Eternal Goodness Truth and Love as its Perfection esteeming nothing desiring nothing but that God and Christ may be glorified with an intire Subjection to his Will adherence to him Rest and Confidence in him swallowed up in the Love Admiration and Praise of God and our Lord Jesus living in joyful repeated Acts of Subjection Adoration and acknowledg'd Dependance ravisht to behold the Glory of God in the Face of Christ to see his blessed Image perfect in every one of the Saints c. When all the present Blindness of our Minds the Errors of our Judgment the Perversness of our Will the Disorder and Rebellion of our Passions the remaining Aversation from God and Disaffection to him which in this World we complain of shall all be done away The Flesh shall no more Lust against the Spirit or the Law in our Members against the Law of our Minds but an everlasting Tranquility and holy Peace take place a Peace which passeth all understanding without any outward Molestation or inward cause of Disquiet Our corrupted Nature shall no more cast forth Mire and Dirt as now we shall have no more vain or wicked Thoughts no more sinful Fears or foolish Hopes unbecoming Heats unruly Desires sensual Inclinations earthly Affections feeble slothful spiritless Duties dead and heartless Prayers cold Thanksgivings c. but as we shall then know God without Error and see our Lord Jesus face to face so we shall love him without reserve more than now we can think and serve him without Dulness and Distraction and Praise him without Weariness the spiritual Actings of our Souls shall have no allay of Dross And thus shall we be with him and admire and injoy him without end Thus when Death is swallowed up in victory and what was imperfect is done away and what was Corruptible and Mortal hath put on Immortality God in Christ shall be All in All And when it is truly and perfectly so Then it is Heaven The blessedness whereof is unconceivable A Blessed Person is not exprest in the singular Number by the Hebrews but in the abstract and in the Plural Beatitudes instead of Blessed because the Blessings are as many and great as they have Powers and Capacities to partake of Blessedness so will it be in Heaven A Word tho commonly used as little understood as Holiness which is one of the greatest Mysteries in the World. But will hereafter be fully and delightfully understood by the Blessed Saints as the Malignity and intrinsick Evil of Sin shall be by the damned Spirits Oh that I might now feel more of this Heavenly Life begun and carried on in my Soul by a farther Participation of his holy Image and Conformity to his Will by more vital Effects of his indwelling Spirit in my Soul forming it to be a Temple to himself for his own delightful Residence that forgetting that which I have received I may still be Covetous and desirous of more forgetting what I have attain'd I may press on with an holy Eagerness and Fervency towards the Mark When I seriously examine my own heart had I nothing else to prove the weakness of my Grace and the sinful remainders of Unbelief but the low desires and few comfortable Thoughts the seldom joyful prospect of this Blessed State how sad an Evidence were it of my low attainments that I breathe with no more Impatience after that Blessed Holy Rest in the injoyment of God and Christ and labour no more in preparing for it When we profess to believe that all the Desires of our Souls shall be fix'd on Him and filled with Him as our Infinite and Supreme Good and all the Expectations of Faith and Hope swallowed up in endless Admiration Gratitude and Joy being fully satisfied and at Rest in the Presence and Vision of God without the least Inclination or Desire of Change. And by consequence There will be no need of Novelty as now to give a relish to our Happiness All Happiness in this World is by comparing a Man's present Condition with his past or with that of some Inferiors But the Intrinsick Good Felicity and Joy of Heaven will need no such Foil to set it off no such Comparison to make it prized The Blessed Spirits will never lose the lively Sense of that low and miserable Condition from which they were raised to so great a Glory and so will ever equally rejoyce in the Happiness of their Translation and wonderful Change. And what was at first delightful will for ever be so and not be disdain'd or lessen'd by a continuance as it happens in this World from the Emptiness Shallowness and Vanity of the Creature An Affectation of Variety and desire of Change proceeding always from a Sense of Want. But Holy Souls shall never be weary of seeing loving and injoying God his blessed Presence will afford us undecaying and endless Satisfaction Pleasure never to be interrupted or abated and never to cease The blessed Object is absolutely Infinite and so will be always new to a finite understanding and
continual fresh Communications from his infinite fulness must needs make our subjective Happiness to be always new and eternally such Let me by such Thoughts quicken and excite my diligent Endeavours after a greater meetness to injoy so great a Bliss And to that end consider whether any of those happy Souls who have finisht their Course and obtained the Prize do now regret their utmost Diligence Patience and Perseverance during their short abode here to secure the Blessedness of an endless Life No no they are far from repenting the Time they spent the Trouble they were at the Care they used the Difficulties they met with the Sufferings they indured to conflict with the World and the Flesh to resist Temptation to watch over their Hearts and Words and Ways to work out their Salvation to please God and be faithful to him c. They find to their unspeakable Comfort and everlasting Joy that Heaven makes amends for all they could do or suffer in order to their coming thither Yea they find that they were not Diligent and Humble and Patient and Circumspect enough That they did not love God and seek his Glory redeem their Time and improve all their Talents and Opportunities of doing and receiving Good and give up themselves intirely to prepare for Heaven to that degree they should have done They find by the transcendency of the blessed Recompence that it deserved infinitely more than the most Active Zealous Christian upon Earth did ever do in order to it Lord quicken my Resolutions and Endeavours by such thoughts as these Inspire my sluggish carnal Heart with holy Light and Life and Zeal and Fervour that looking to the things which are not seen which are Eternal I may * 1 Tim. 1.19 lay up a good Foundation against the Time to come and so lay hold of eternal Life But alas How much have I neglected the great Duty of Holy Meditation How little skill and experience have I in it How tastless and insipid oftentimes are my Thoughts of God! how confused and unsteady how little Pleasure or Advantage have I by contemplating his highest Excellencies Yet methinks could I but retain the same awakened lively thoughts of Heaven and Eternal Life which sometimes I have had might I continually feel the sweet and sacred Influence as for a little season I have sometimes felt it how little how very a Nothing would all this World be to me how comparatively weak its strongest and most alluring Snares to draw me off from God! with what an unshaken mind could I refuse and resist ' em with what an unconcerned indifference could I look upon all its most charming Glory Could I maintain such a frame of Spirit as I have sometimes had for a little while in the serious Contemplation of Divine Mysteries in Fervent Prayers and other Solemn Duties of Religion when the acts of Faith were strong and lively my Heart set on fire with love to God and holy breathings after him admiring his matchless Grace to fallen Sinners and to my Soul in particular when he brought me to the very Suburbs of Heaven tho alas how seldom by the delightful Thought of what the Blessed Spirits above injoy in being where Christ is and beholding his Glory when I was ready to say within my self 'T is good to be here this is no other than the Gate of Heaven Oh when shall Mortality be swallowed up of Life But when I thought at any time to fix and settle in such sweet Contemplations how quickly did my lazy backward Heart fly off how soon did the flame decay and dye away how soon did I find my self fallen down to Earth again sunk down from the Bosom of my Lord presently forgot my self and Heaven to dwell among the Pots and imbrace a Dunghill 'T was not on my own Wings O Lord that I soared so high but I hope by the breathings of that holy Spirit of Light and Love who bloweth when and where and how long he listeth Who gave me at any time any such first fruits of the Spirit who convinc't me of the Certainty of the Heavenly Inheritance by a lively believing foresight of it who made me earnestly desire the Wings of a Dove to be gone and appear before God in Sion made me Pant and Groan to be delivered and to be with God and Christ with inexpressible Desire and Joy unconceivably mixt with Sighs and Groans O my God! let not this experience be only such a Taste of the Powers of the World to come as is consistent with final Apostacy only the seeming Zeal of the stony Ground the rapturous Joy of an Hypocrite from the Power of Imagination and a heated Fancy from the workings of meer natural Self-love upon mistaken apprehensions of God and a false Opinion of Heaven but by the holy effects let me be assured of the Cause and Principle that it was of God! Teach me from the sweetness of a Spiritual Communion with God now in any of his appointed Ordinances to argue to my self what that most ravishing Satisfaction will be that the Enjoyment of God in Heaven will afford the Soul. Our Holiness is now imperfect to what it shall be and therefore our Consolation Peace and Joy is but in part and incomparably less than we are assured it will be when we shall be admitted to behold the Glory of the Lord. 'T is now at most but as the Break of Day to the Lustre of the Meridian Sun. But if in this low imperfect State we can sometimes obtain so near a View of his Glory and feel such sweet Communications of his Grace how much more of this Consolation and Joy is reserved to Heaven If in this Pilgrim State the Gifts and Graces and Comforts of the Holy Spirit are so refreshing O! what hath God prepared beyond the Grave for those who love him If now he sometimes shed abroad his love in our Heart after such a manner how much better shall I love him and feel the influence and evidence of his Love to me when I shall be with him and see him Face to Face If the apprehensions of this future Blessedness do now encourage raise and animate my drooping Soul O what shall I know and see And how shall I rejoyce when the Vail is removed If a Sacramental Communion with God and Jesus Christ be sometimes so sweet and so affecting what will the Blessed Communion with God and all his Saints above amount to when I shall sit down with all the Children of God in the Presence of the Bridegroom at the last great Supper of the Lamb in Glory If the Earnest of our Inheritance be so reviving what will be the full Possession of it If the Hopes of that glorious Day by holy Meditation be so transporting what will be the end of our Faith and Hope If a Grape or two in the Wilderness be such a Cordial what will be the whole Vintage in the Land of Promise Shall I after all
can do for me more abundantly than I can ask or think exceed my largest thoughts out-strip my highest Expectations And no man was ever disappointed who made Thee his Hope When I meet with Crosses and Wrongs Unfaithfulness Contempt Hatred and Persecution from Men I need not wonder I was never told by God it would be otherwise here Did I look for less from Creatures and expect more from God Did I reckon this World to be a state of Trial and not a place of Rest and Satisfaction My Faith and my Desires would be stronger with respect to God and Heaven and temporal Calamities and Disappointments less afflictive and vexatious And what is there O Lord in Heaven or in Earth my Soul can desire besides Thee Is there any thing desirable but as it is thine of thee and from thee And bears some Impression of thine Excellence or brings some Intimation of thy Love And what can I reasonably desire what that is worth desiring or having but thou art able to be and do and give In whom or what shall I Rejoyce but in Thee O Lord shall I solace my self in transitory Goods that slip between my Fingers and perish in the Using or relish carnal Joys which pollute and debase the Soul When I may and ought to Rejoyce in Thee at all Times as the only Source of perfect Everlasting Joy. Let me then stir up my drooping desponding unbelieving Heart to rejoyce in God who takes Pleasure in the chearful Service and Obedience of his Children who delighteth in those who delight in him Is not * Vid. Mr. Howe Of Delighting in God. Delighting in God a most essential vital part of Religion Should it not be my constant Frame Hath not God sufficiently provided that it may be so Can I say and believe that God is the Portion of my Soul that he is my God and I hope to live with him for ever and not Rejoyce Or can I consider the Grace of the new Covenant the matchless Love of Christ and the precious Promises of the Gospel and not see reason to Rejoyce Yea doth my Soul love God and endeavour to please him and is not the very Act and Exercise of holy Love mixt with unspeakable sweetness Whom is there in Heaven or in Earth or Hell that I ought to Fear but Thee Who hast a negative Voice in all the Designs of Men and Devils an hook in their Nostrils a Bridle in their Mouths to make them fulfil thy Pleasure and in every thing accomplish thy Soveraign Decree Is there any other in whom I may repose my Trust but in Thee O Lord the Rock of Ages The might of thy Power the unsearchableness of thy Wisdom the righteousness of thy Nature the stability of thy Truth the riches of thy Grace and the immutability of thy Promise are a sure foundation for my Soul to trust to and rely upon Thy word stands firm for ever and the Truth of thine ability and readiness to help in every time of need endures the same throughout all Generations At all times and in all places my soul may trust in thee and find relief And they who know thy name will do so for in the Lord Jehovah is Everlasting Kindness and Strength To answer all my doubts to supply all my wants to fill all my desires May not God take it unkindly that I trust him no more And is it not a criminal unkindness that I give him not the glory of all these Excellent Attributes which are the grounds of Trust by a constant steady intire dependance on him for all that I need I have none in Heaven but Thee O Lord as the object of my Invocation and Worship Let other Christians have recourse to new Mediators and call upon other Gods I will make mention of thy Name and of thy Righteousness only And ask of thee whatsoever I need for the sake of thy Christ my only adorable Mediator Him thou hearest alway with him thou art always well pleased I honour the holy Angels as glorious Attendants about thy Throne and bless thee for them as Ministring Spirits for the good of thy Servants but I dare not invoke or worship 'em because they are Fellow Servants On the same account I honour the memory of Departed Saints but neither invoke them or pay them religious worship That Glory thou wilt not give unto another I have no precept in Holy Scripture to direct no promise to encourage no Example to authorize the invocation of any other but Thee in whom I believe and trust Rom. 10.14 Having such a God in Heaven what can I need on Earth His Eyes behold me his Wing is over me his Hand can supply me his Grace provide for me I can want nothing that is Good unlese I should need somewhat which God the infinitely Blessed and Allsufficient God cannot bestow If thou art the Portion of my Soul all mine Enemies cannot make me miserable unless they can void Heaven of the presence of God hinder his care bind up his hand or obstruct his Love. But tho my Enemies cannot I fear my Sins may They alone can separate between God and my Soul. And considering the multitude and aggravations of them and thine unspotted Holiness and Justice I should have too much reason to fear and tremble yea and utterly despair If I had none in Heaven but Thee But thy word assures me that I have a Mediator there a faithful and a compassionate High Priest Jesus Christ the Righteous whom thou hast exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins Who lives for ever in Heaven to make Intercession till he hath brought me there to behold his Glory and partake of it That Glory O Lord thou hast reserved for Heaven in this world we only desire believe and hope to injoy it Whom have I in Heaven That is the place of Fruition What can I desire upon Earth This world is the place of Desires as the other of full Injoyment Most of that which men call Injoyment in this Life consists but in Desire Desire or Lust is all that is in the wicked world 1 John 2. c. 13. the Riches of a Covetous worldling makes him desire more and the great mystery of Intemperance is to create and increase desires and Desires of another kind are the portion of good men in this world O that I could breathe after a state of perfect Fruition in Heaven with more importunate desires Who will give me to be in Heaven with Thee On Earth I desire nothing So one version Let me O my Soul think of Heaven as such a place or state of blessed Injoyment speak of it seek it long for it prepare for it as such And let Jesus Christ who is the desire of all Nations through whom all Divine Communications are made to fallen Sinners be the great object of my present desires and love Let me desire nothing but as in him and for him that believing
his Word obeying his Law adoring his Person imitating his Example trusting his Promise constrained by his Love partaking of his Image filled with his Grace and comforted by his Spirit my meditations of him may be sweeter and my love stronger and I may have nothing more left to desire for my self but that God who hath raised and exalted Him would keep alive my faith and hope and holy desires till he hath made me meet to be with him and after having guided me by his Grace and Spirit and Councels here on Earth would receive me to his most Blessed and Glorious Presence in Heaven Amen Amen XXII The Glorious Appearance of Christ to Judgment considered as Certain The Terror and Astonishment Confusion and Despair of Wicked Jews and Christians to behold their Judge and hear his condemning Sentence to EVERLASTING Destruction WHen our Blessed Saviour shall appear to judge the world I read that it shall be in his own Glory the Glory of his Father and of the Holy Angels If by the glory of his Father be meant that of the Divinity as the Original and Author of all things in nature as the Almighty Creator of the World and by the Glory of his holy Angels be understood that of the Legal administration the Law being given by the disposition of Angels and by his own Glory that of the Gospel as he is the Messiah that in the Glory of all these he shall come to Judgment we have a summary account of the three different Revelations which God hath made of himself to mankind by the Light of Nature that of the Law and the more manifest one of the Gospel According to which every man is to be judged at the last day Tho we cannot distinctly tell what or how great our Lord's Glory will then be we may be certain it will be suitable to the dignity of his Royal person suitable to the grandeur of his Father's Majesty with the splendor of a Triumphant Prince who is Heir of all Things and hath all power in Heaven and in Earth committed to him the Great Lord of both Worlds Head of Angels and Men and suitable to his glorious office as Mediator and the appointed Judge of Quick and Dead If at his Transfiguration his Face shone and his Rayment was white and glittering How much more splendid will his last Appearance be When the Bodies of his Saints shall be seven times brighter than the lustre of the Sun And if his Members shall then be so glorious how transcendantly more so will their Head their Lord appear If the delivery and promulgation of the Law on Mount Sinai was accompanied with such circumstances of terrible Majesty how much more may we suppose the Great Assize will be attended with When he comes to judge for the violation of the Law and the contempt of the Gospel And if even Moses did then exceedingly quake and fear what will be the consternation and trembling of the wicked World at the Coming of Christ When he shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming Fire with a glorious retinue of his mighty Angels as so many bright Stars about the more glorious Sun of Righteousness The lights of Heaven shall be Eclips'd the visible Sun shall vail its blushing head as infinitely out-shone the present glory of the Creation be all benighted by reason of his transcendant Brightness Yea the Heavens shall be wrapt up as a scroll the Elements melt away with a mighty noise the Earth and all its works be burnt up and the whole Universe as one great Bonefire to adorn the Triumph of our Lord's Appearance And this ushered in by the voice of an Archangel proclaiming his approach and the voice of God supplying the use of a Trumpet to raise the Dead and possess mankind with an aweful Reverence of their Judge Thus in Triumph as a Conqueror and a Judge shall he come again who once appear'd in the form of a Servant to be judged and condemn'd by Man. Then he was called King in scorn now he will appear as much above all Earthly and Humane Greatness as once he stoopt for our sakes beneath it Then the Contempt of Nations and no way esteem'd Desirable when he came from the womb of his Virgin-Mother now the Terror of the World when he comes again from the right hand of his Father No more to be subject to a state of Meanness but to render vengeance to all who know not God and obey not the Gospel and to be glorified in his Saints and admired in and by all them that believe * 2 Thess 1. chap. He was put to shame in the days of his Flesh made himself of no Reputation and accounted unworthy to live but when he comes again he will put on a Garment of Vengeance to repay Fury to the Enemies of his Cross and make his wicked Despisers rise again to shame and everlasting Contempt They that once bowed the knee to him in mockery and shaked their heads at him in derision shall then see every knee bow before him of things in Heaven things in Earth and under the Earth Angels Men and Devils in subjection to him as Lord and King. Pilate who condemn'd him as his Prisoner shall appear before him as his rightful Judge and know that he was another-guess King and Monarch than the Roman Emperor The false-witnesses who accused him of Blasphemy shall be impeach'd by one another and their own guilty Consciences before his Bar with the other Jews who once drag'd him before their Tribunal and be confounded to stand before his Judgment Seat. His Crucifiers shall behold him on a Throne of Glory whom they Nailed to an infamous Cross They shall be astonish'd to behold him sitting at the Right Hand of God whose Hands they bound whose Body they scourg'd whose Side they pierc'd They who Crown'd him with Thorns shall with all the World behold him with a Crown of Glory They that spit on him and smote him on the face with the fist of wickedness shall have their own faces covered with Confusion They that approved his Condemnation to Death as a Criminal shall be sentenced from his mouth as their Judge to Everlasting Destruction They that scourged him as a Malefactor shall be beaten with many stripes They that made him stagger under the weight of his Cross shall sink under the Guilt and Punishment of despising it They that Nailed him to the accursed Tree between Thieves and Robbers shall be sentenc'd to endless Punishment in much worse Company They who gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink shall not be able to get a drop of water to cool their own Tongues Where then shall the wicked and ungodly of the Christian World appear who Crucifie the Son of God afresh since he hath declared himself to be so by his Resurrection and the Mission of the Holy Ghost and fulfilling his threatned vengeance on the Nation of the Jews c If the Jews shall have a sorer Condemnation
than Ignorant Heathens who never heard of Christ never saw his Miracles or were inform'd of his Doctrine How shall we escape For he will come again as a Conqueror and a Judge and not as a sufferer and a surety as he came at first and tho he was numbred with Transgressors and made his Grave with the Wicked at his first Appearance he shall hereafter be attended with the shouts of Angels who excel in strength and the joyful Acclamations of his Saints glittering as the Light and paying Homage to him as the Judge of Quick and Dead He whom we have despised shall then be encompast with a dazling Glory that will confound us He whom we have affronted will be clothed with a Majesty that shall astonish us He whom we have offended shall be armed with Power and with Wrath to punish us and all that continue to lift up the Heel against him shall then be made his Footstool all that refuse to kiss the Scepter of his Grace shall be broken in pieces by his Iron Rod. The holy Scripture doth frequently and expresly assure us that he will thus come again and for these ends He is exalted and gone to Heaven as the Head of his Church and the King of Glory and when he foretold his Ascension he gave a promise of his Return The Heavens are to contain him till the restitution of all things By his Providence and by the Holy Spirit he now carries on the designs of his Death and when these are accomplish'd he will appear to the Joy of Believers and the Confusion of the Wicked He is entred as our * Heb. 6 c. 19 20. 10 c. 10. Forerunner within the Veil to prepare Mansions and to take possession for us and will not always leave us in this dark and defiling World. He knoweth our Sorrows and heareth our Prayers and bottles our Tears takes notice of our Groans and in all our Afflictions he is afflicted Being reconciled by his Death at his first coming we shall be saved by his Life since he lives to make good his word of coming again How comfortable is the News of it how joyful will be the Meeting to such as expect and prepare to see him when the Sea and the Graves shall yield up their Dead and all the Prisoners of Hope lift up their heads arise go up and meet the Lord in the Air and ascend with him to the Heavenly Glory But who can express how dismal a sight this will be to the Secure and the Impenitent to all who die in their sins to behold their Judge who formerly offered to be their Saviour upon a glorious Throne and all the Children of Adam summon'd before his Tribunal to have nothing to answer against his Charge and no way to escape his condemning Sentence they despised him as a Lamb offer'd in Sacrifice to take away the sins of the World but shall no longer do so when he comes as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to devour and destroy the Enemies of his Cross Now they will not own him for their Lord but shall then find he is so by the Vengeance he will execute As a Jesus as a Saviour they rejected him making light of his Salvation despising his Mercy refusing his Grace but the neglected Gospel will then be a more killing Letter than the Law. He who by his Ambassadors doth now intreat Sinners to be reconciled will then be as deaf to their Intreaties as they have been to His Because they would not turn at his Reproof hearken to the Call of his Word and obey its Voice they must hear the Sentence of Condemnation and feel the Execution of it whether they will or no yea the Blood of his Cross will upbraid accuse and plead against them And whatever foolish Evasions they now make to continue in security they shall then be Speechless and Self-condemned Nothing will be able to hide them from the amazing Presence of their Judge or from the Wrath of the Lamb. He then will inflict an intolerable and righteous Vengeance an Everlasting Destruction upon all the ignorant and ungodly World the Greatest the Stoutest the Boldest of them shall then be humbled and stand before Christ's Tribunal upon an equal Level with the meanest seized with horror filled with guilt anguish and despair and find to their eternal Confusion that the Judge is no respecter of persons but every man shall receive according to his works The Mighty shall not be spared for his Greatness nor the mean man for his Poverty O Fool O Wretch that I am shall many then say who now brave it out in Pride and Vanity unconcern'd about a future Judgment not to be persuaded by the terrors of the Lord which I was so often warn'd and foretold of What Refuge of Hope can I now flie to What can I say for my self What can I do to escape to die to exist no longer I would have no compassion on my own Soul I would not so much as consider its danger I shall now find none from Christ I can expect none His Mercy is gone and gone for ever I am lost undone tormented and must eternally be so O the Amazement Horror and Despair of self-condemned Sinners in that day of Vengeance O my Soul what is there of greater consequence or of greater certainty from the Word of God than that I must appear to Judgment when Christ shall come again Lord teach me to believe it firmly to consider it often to lay it seriously to heart to act under the Influence and Power of it as long as I live that at the Great Resurrection from the Dead I may lift up my head with a joyful Hope and find the Judge to be my Friend my Advocate my Jesus and not my Enemy and Destroyer XXIII Meditations of the Glory of Christ in his Glorified Saints and of the thankful Admiration of Believers when He shall come again from Heaven which shall be continued to all Eternity THE terror of our Lord's Appearance to Judgment cannot be greater to the Wicked than the Comfort and Joy of it will be to the Saints When they shall see Him whom their Souls love ascend with him to Heaven and be welcom'd according to his promise with those endearing words * Matt. 25. Come ye blessed Children of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of the World. 'T was for your sakes I assumed Flesh lived on Earth and died on the Cross to purchase this Glorious Kingdom for you which I now come to give you the Possession of 'T was for this I praied and suffered on Earth for this I interceded ever since in Heaven I was heard in that Prayer accepted in those Sufferings and my Intercession granted that where I am you may be also to behold my Glory Come therefore good and faithful Servants enter into your Lord's joy O what ravishing words will these be What an Extasie of Love and Kindness is
from them considered to awaken Endeavours of a Recovery In what manner the Faith of Adherence may be acted by one who hath no Assurance IT cannot but be of use to Believers also at stated Times to examine themselves concerning their Languishings and Decays in Grace falling from their first Love to a Spirit of Indifferency and Lukewarmness disorderly walking or unfruitfulness whether gray Hairs are not here and there upon them and they know it not For God may withdraw by degrees so that his departure may not presently be perceiv'd And some kind of Activity in Duty may be continued upon false Principles and from Common Assistance while a Christian as to his spiritual State may be under a dangerous Consumption 'T is not difficult for others to observe it some times and would be visible enough to themselves would they spare a few hours to examine the matter The Punishment of such Backslidings the loss of the quickning and comforting Presence of the Holy Spirit deserves likewise to be inquir'd into in order to a speedy Remedy and should enforce the Counsel I mean not barely the Ebbing of Affections in the Duties of Religion or the want of Life and quickning from sensible Consolations which new Converts especially such as have been reclaim'd from a course of notorious Impiety have more of at first than afterwards This doubting Christians should particularly take notice of by the Instance of the Prodigal who was extraordinarily feasted at his first return but was doubtless contented afterwards with the ordinary Provisions of his Fathers house Neither doth God dispence the same measure to all alike nor to any alike at all Times Some who are called to greater Services and Sufferings than others or had greater Conflicts before Conversion may have a greater share than the rest of their Brethren Neither will the same degree of Grace imparted to some Persons so discernably move and comfort as it will do some others of a different Temper 'T is not therefore so much to be the matter of our Enquiry if at all it need to be so whether we have more or less of sensible Joy in the performance of Duty But Whether we are not fallen and declin'd as to the inward vital Acts of Grace and in the outward Fruits of Holiness Whether we have such clear convincing Apprehensions of Divine and Spiritual Truths and the Mysteries of the Gospel as formerly whether our minds are not become more vain and heedless whether our Knowledg of God and of the Revelations of his Will be as powerful and efficacious upon our Hearts and Lives as heretofore whether there be no less Frequency less Consistency less inward Satisfaction in holy serious Thoughts than formerly You were wont to pray and endeavour that God might be first and last in your Thoughts every day and by frequent Ejaculations in civil Affairs to maintain a dayly converse with God but now you mind not whether it be so or not yea you cannot but know that it is not thus with you still It was once your Burden to be pester'd with foolish filthy worldly vain Thoughts especially on the Lord's Day or in the Worship of God you rejected and disown'd them you lamented and pray'd against them do so much as examine whether it be thus still Consider all your Affections and their several Objects and see whether a criminal Lukewarmness hath not diffus'd it self into every of them Examine every Grace and see whether your Faith Hope Love holy Desires and Delight in God be not miserably abated as to the strength and vigor the efficacy and frequent exercise of every of them so that your Thoughts of God are few cold and lifeless without desire delight and love Consider the Opportunities of Publick Worship and solemn Occasions of approaching the Divine Presence Are they as much the desire of your Souls and the rejoycing of your Hearts as once they were Are you not more easily diverted from them less satisfi'd and refresht by them Are not all Gospel Ordinances less powerful and quickning and your profit and advantage thereby unspeakably less then formerly Do you hunger and thirst and pant as the Hart after the Water-brooks to draw nigh to God and come into his Courts Do you make Conscience of preparing before hand Do you come with a real desire and design and expectation of profiting and bettering your Spirits Do you joyn in every part of Divine worship with that attention seriousness and composure of mind and taste the sweetness and benefit of such solemnities as formerly Are such services performed with that Awe of God with that Humility Fervency and Intensness of Spirit as sometimes they were Are you not more negligent and unconcern'd before and after whether you find any thing of this or no Tho your Desires are weak your Hearts flat your Thoughts wandring your Spirits trifling so the work be done and the duty be over in how formal customary and careless a manner soever it be you consider it not you lay it not to Heart you reflect not upon it you bewail it not or at least are better contented and sooner quieted and take less notice of the frame of your Heart in such Duties than formerly Examine farther how 't is with you as to the great distinguishing Duties of an upright Christian if performed as they ought to be I mean Secret Prayer and Meditation Are you as strict and careful constant and Conscientious frequent and abundant in these as formerly May not our Closets and places of Retirement witness against us How seldome are we there How quickly are we gone How easily diverted How soon tired How do we trifle in that work and shuffle it over and take up with the shadow and image of Prayer Our former humble and importunate Prayers joyful Thanksgivings and sweet Contemplation of the Mysteries of Religion compared with our present dayly practice will testifie that we are declin'd and fallen Moreover consider the Evil of Sin and how your Heart stands affected to it Is not your Hatred of Sin and Zeal against it much decayed especially with respect to inward Spiritual sins such as the secret workings of unbelief and distrust pride envy uncharitableness c. Do you bewail it strive against it and shun the occasions and fear the temptations that may lead you into Sin as once you did Have you not lost much of that tenderness and holy Jealousy over your heart and ways you formerly had Do you not now make more bold with Temptation Are you not oftner conquered and with less Reluctance and by smaller Temptations c. Are you not more Vnserviceable Root and Fruit in a withering condition God less Honour'd and others less profited and edified by your Example and Life Do you not adhere more to the world conform to it and comply with it in many things which formerly you durst not have done and are every day waxing worse Make a pause a while and bethink your self what this will come
where God has been pleas'd to cast my Lot. Causing me to lay down in green Pastures and leading me beside the still Waters Instructing me in the Revelation of his Will and Grace by Jesus Christ acquainting me with the sublime Principles and Articles Precepts and Rules Promises and Hopes of the Gospel in order to Eternal Life I bless Thee O Lord and shall for ever do so that with any or all these Advantages and Helps thy Holy Spirit hath taught me to know the Truth as it is in Jesus heartily to believe and obey it That by thy Grace I have been convinc'd of Sin and brought to Repentance shewing me the necessity of a Saviour to make my peace with Thee the all-sufficiency of his Grace the fulness of his Merit the freeness of his Love and his readiness to receive me to Mercy inviting and calling me to it and enabling me to accept his gracious Invitation and obey his compassionate Call making me willing by a Powerful and Victorious Grace drawing me with Cords of Love and so effectually persuading me to consent to thy Covenant and comply with thy Message on the gracious terms of the Gospel Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who through his abundant Mercy hath begotten me again to a lively Hope having humbled my proud Heart and conquer'd the perverseness of my stubborn Will and brought my Soul to an entire subjection to himself who took pity on me when he saw me in my Blood spread his Skirt over me cast a Mantle upon my Nakedness wash'd me from my Sins and put his own Comliness upon me by Sanctification who open'd my eyes when I was leaping blindfold into the Pit of Destruction who healed my Soul when I was sick unto Death who rescu'd and recover'd me from the Slavery of the Devil when I was led Captive by him at his will. Shall not a ransom'd redeemed Slave be thankful to his Deliverer Shall not a miserable undone Sinner who is received to Mercy be thankful for a Pardon Awake O my Soul and utter a Song of Praise to him * Psal 103. v. 3. who forgiveth all thine Iniquities and healeth all thy Diseases who redeemeth thy Life thy Soul from Destruction and crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender Mercies Hath he made thee Partaker of his own renewed Image and Likeness given thee his Son his Grace his Spirit and taken such a wretched Creature into so near a relation to Himself and promised to be thy God and Guide thy Portion and thine Inheritance thy Friend and thy Physician thy Sun and thy Shield and thine exceeding great Reward and shall not my Soul speak aloud his Praise Hath he been * Isa 43. v. 14. merciful to my unrighteousness and blotted out my sins Hath he gathered me with his Arm and carried me in his Bosom Hath he been my Saviour and Redeemer adopted me into his Family and promis'd to make me Blessed in his Glory with the holy Angels the Curse being removed and the Hand-writing against me cancell'd the Price paid the Breach made up the Mouth of Justice stopt and the condemning Sentence of the Law exchang'd for a gracious Pardon through the Sacrifice of my Blessed Lord Jesus and shall I not praise his ineomprehensible Love and Grace I likewise thank Thee most holy Father for saving me from Guilt and Ruine when assaulted by powerful and dangerous Temptations that by preventing Mercy or restraining Grace thou hast kept me from many scandalous and presumptuous Crimes I thank Thee for making the Sins of Others a Warning and a Caution to Me an Argument to Humility and a Motive to Watchfulness for preserving my Judgment from many Errors and Delusions by which others are seduced for enabling me to improve any Opportunities of doing Good and making me in any thing useful to Others yea I thank thee for all thy Mercies to other Christians for all the Gifts and Graces and usefulness of any of thy Servants wherein as a Member of the same Body I desire to rejoyce for any Support and Comfort to me or any of them under honourable Sufferings for thy Names sake I desire unfeignedly to bless Thee for any Succour Relief and Victory with respect to the Snares and Buffetings of Satan and the vilest of his Temptations When he hath tempted me to Apostacy and Infidelity in Speculation and Practice to question the Truth of the Holy Scriptures and the Life to come to doubt of the foundations of the Christian Faith or to despair of the Mercy of God and give up the Reins to sensual Lusts or to draw me from God by the love of the World and the praise of Men by Evil Company Intemperance secret Wickedness c. I Bless Thee with my whole Soul for calling me back from any of my Wanderings and by infinite Goodness recovering me after great Falls enabling me to return when I had gone astray and seek thy forfeited favour that thou maist heal my Backslidings giving me in order to it a deep sense of my own Sin and of thy Sovereign Grace leading me to a Saviour whose Blood cleanseth from all sin when my guilty defiled Soul so much needed its pardoning and cleansing Virtue awakening me to make holy Vows and calling upon me by thy Word and Spirit and Providence to perform them I Bless Thee who hast guided my feet into the way of peace when by the terrors of an accusing Conscience and the sense of unpardon'd Sin and the apprehensions of thy deserved Wrath I was ready to despair that though thou didst most justly hide thy Face at any time it was but for a little while but didst seasonably and in Mercy return to wipe off my Tears restore the Joy of thy Salvation and chace away the clouds and darkness on my Spirit by the reviving presence of thy own Thou who art the Author wilt be the Finisher of my Faith and therefore though thou hast visited mine Iniquities with a Fatherly Rod yet thy loving-kindness thou hast not taken from me or suffer'd thy faithfulness to fail or thy Covenant of Peace to be removed but hast refreshed me with hidden Manna after great Perplexities saying unto my Soul I am God even thy God making me to hear thy Voice which was sweet and to taste thy Love which is better than Wine enabling me to say with thine Apostle Thomas My Lord and my God and to have any Communion with thee since in publick or private Duties For all these innumerable Mercies I desire to praise Thee which yet are but in order to greater to Everlasting Kindness in Heaven These are but the taste and Earnest of what thou wilt bestow hereafter O how great is his Goodness that he hath laid up for those that fear him And now Lord what wait I for my hope is even in Thee I thank thee who hast thus put it into my Heart to render thee solemn Praise and once more to renew my Covenant with Thee