give thy self to thy God and it shall be with thee as it was with Cornelius thy Memorial shall be with God thy Comfort with thy self thy Conversation with an Angel No maâ—… can be exempted from the terrours of 〈◊〉 dreadful Judgement but he that dares trust God with his soul and no man dares trust God with his soul that is not either Innoâ—…ent or Penitent And if you will ask me â—…hich of these two dares trust him most 〈◊〉 who my self am laden with sin must say â—…he Penitent For the Innocent offers unâ—… God his own Righteousness but the â—…enitent offers unto him his Sons Righteâ—…sness and certainly he dares most trust â—…od who offers him that Righteousness â—…hich he is sure God can least refuse in â—…dgement SECT III. The best way to expell the terrours of the Day of Judgement THE greatest happiness of a Christian is not to be troubled in Consciâ—…ce but the next to this is speedily to be â—…livered from all his troubles He is hapâ—…st that prevents the terrours of a guilty â—…nscience but he is next happy that exâ—…ls them And we have all most need to â—…k after this for there is guiltiness enough â—…thin the most innocent soul to betray it â—…d open the doors to let in these terrours and therefore we must labour to see thâ—… be faith enough in the guilty soul to expâ—… and thrust them out again And surely the Doctrine of Justification by Work though it pretend to be a great friend Righteousness yet is it in this respect great enemy to the Righteous wâ—… can never attain to that perfection Righteousness as to be able to stand up his own legs in the last Judgement Theâ—…fore Saint Paul imputeth our peace 〈◊〉 God to Justification by faith Rom. 5. Being justified by Faith we have peace 〈◊〉 God through our Lord Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 is a League that cannot be broken a Peâ—… that cannot be disturbed which is throâ—… our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the 〈◊〉 from heaven said This is my beloved Sâ—… whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. 17. 〈◊〉 that voice cannot but speak comfort to according to the Learned Zanchies gâ—… lib. 4. de Tribus Elohim cap. 1. 〈◊〉 beneficia iis paucis verbis docet Paâ—… Christum nobis Communicari Dilectiâ—… Reconciliationis Adoptionis seu Regâ—…tionis Three great blessings inâ—… few words doth the Father himself 〈◊〉 us are communicated by Christ to good Christian the blessing of Love â—…e is beloved in himself we beloved in â—…m the blessing of Filiation or Adoptiâ—…n for he was his Son by nature we his â—…ns by adoption and grace And the â—…lessing of Reconciliation for God is wellâ—…leased with Christ for his own sake and with us for Christs sake For wherefore â—…d there come forth blood and water out of thy side O sweet Jesus was it not that â—…he water should wash my soul and the â—…lood should heal it I confess that I have â—…ierced thee by my sins more deeply then ever the souldiers spears pierced thee yet â—…et me still look on thee by a lively faith that the Scripture may be daily more and more fulfilled which saith They shall look on him whom they pierced John 19. 37. Thus did holy men heretofore look upon thee nor had Saint Bernard any other answer to return to the Devil when he accused him as he supposed at Gods Judgement-seat but only this Fateor non sum Dignus Ego nec propriis possum meritis Regnum obtinere Coelorum Caeterum duplici jure illud obtinâ—…ns Dominus meus Haereditate sc. Patris merito Passionis Altero ipse contentus Alterum mihi donat ex cujus Dono jure illud mihi Vindicans non confundor in vita S. Bernardi lib. 1. cap. 12. I confess that I am not worthy nor can I plead mine own merits why I should obtain the Kingdom of heaven But my Lord having a double right thereto one from his Father by inheritance the other from himself by the merit of his Passions he being contented with one of them hath given the other unto me and I claiming heaven by his gift cannot be confuted and much less confounded in my claim Thus hath Saint Bernard taught me to answer the Devil and sure he is too old too cunning a Sophister to be answered by any Fallacy There is no silencing him but by a down-right Truth whose evidence is undenyable and whose power is unresistable Nay yet more Thus hath Saint Anselm taught me to answer God himself in the form of Visitation of the sick antiently used in this Kingdom for Saint Anselm that used it was Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who after some questions to the dying man concerning his Faith and Repentance thus concludes his exhortation for the quieting and setling of his conscience I will put the words into English as thinking it most reasonable that what equally concerns All should be in a Tongue equally understood by All. Therefore still give him that is your blessed Saviour thanks whiles your breath is in your body that he was pleased to die for you place all your confidence in his death commit your self wholly to it involve your self wholly in it cover your self wholly with it And if God go about to Judge thee say unto him Lord I object the death of my Saviour Jesus Christ between me and thee and thy Judgement If he say That thou hast deserved damnation then say unto him Lord I object the death of my Jesus between me and my evil deservings And I bring with me the merit of his most worthy Passion instead of the merits which I should have had but alas I have not Then let the sick man say thrice Into thy hands Lord I commend my spirit and let those that stand by say so with him and let him die securely for he shall never see the Eternal Death Thus did the antient Church think it not only comfortable but also conformable Divinity That Christ alone should answer all Objections that were made against the soul And yet a Church much antienter then this did believe and teach the same truth even the Church in the Apostles times Heb. 3. 6. Whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing oâ—… the hope firm unto the end Whose house arâ—… we that is all we that are Christians the whole Catholike Church for particular men and Churches are but several stones in this living building it is the whole Christian Church that is the House of Christ And that is his House upon this condition If it hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end as if he had said By the same means that we are built up in Christ we are still preserved in his building By the same means that we are contained we are also continued in his House that is by Faith and Hope in him By holding fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope unto the end By laying hold on my
correct me good Lord as a Father in thy Pitty to amend me not as a Judge in thy Fury to confound me Thou didst redeem me with thine own most precious blood that thou mightest convert me And how then wilt thou Judge me being redeemed with that blood that thou maist condemn me Well may my sins be condemned of thee who art the Righteous Judge for I who have been the sinner and who still am an unrighteous man cannot but condemn them and my self for them But surely thy precious blood can never come under condemnation nor my soul whiles thou lookest upon it as washed with that blood Thus thou hast given me a pledge of delivering my soul from the terrours of my death by conquering them and from the severity of Gods Justice by satisfying it And thou hast also prepared a deliverance for my body for in that thou madest thy grave with the wicked in thy death thou hast sanctified the grave as a Repository for my dead body till my flesh shall be totally wasted therein and with my flesh all the sin and wickedness which hath so long dwelt in it and cannot be destroyed before it And thou wilt at last raise me from thence after thine own likeness that I may come from the grave as thou didst go to it not having violence in mine hand nor deceipt in my mouth nor wickedness in mine heart Lord let it be thy pleasure thus to deliver me Make hast O Lord to help me Take away all my sin from my soul and then as soon as thou pleasest take away my soul from my body That having no unrepented sin in my life I may have no unsufferable sorrow in my death but may find comfort in it deliverance by it and glory after it Amen Contemplations on Heb. 12. Verse 1 2. IN my troubles and distresses either of my body or of my soul I cannot bestow my time better then in looking about me for help And in looking about me for help I cannot bestow mine eyes better then in looking up to heaven For my help cometh from the Lord who hath made heaven and earth Psal. 121. 2. And if I look up to heaven I shall soon spie there a bright cloud even a cloud of witnesses to enlighten me that I stumble not in my waies for any darkness of my understanding And if I look up yet higher through that cloud I shall behold a far greater light even the Sun of righteousness to enflame me and to quicken me lest I should sit still when I am bound to be walking for the dulness of my will and the deadness of my affections for above that cloud dwelleth he who is the brightness of Gods glory and the express Image of his person Heb. 1. 3. Wherefore my sight may not be terminated or bounded by this cloud of witnesses But through it I must be looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith if I desire the comfort of my faith when I most want it even in the day of my visitation and at the hour of my dissolution And indeed where should a good Christian fix either his eye or his heart but only on Christ And I may here see Christ in his Mystical body that is in his Church the cloud of witnesses And Christ in his natural body that is in himself Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith And the same Christ in either body destitute afflicted tormented O Lord how many arguments are here alledged to perswade me to behave my self with great constancy humility and patience in those conflicts and agonies which I must expect as a Christian unless I will renounce communion with Christ and embrace an unwarrantable and an unprofitable Christianity I think there is a Lyon in the way as said Solomons sluggard ready to devour me and I see nothing but briers and thorns in it ready to intangle my feet and to tear my flesh But God telleth me it is the ready way to heaven and the Race that I must run if ever I hope to get thither Let us run with patience the race that is set before us If it be my race then I must run it if it be set then I cannot remove it if it be set before me then I cannot decline it And truly I cannot deny but it is set before me by the dispensation of Gods Providence and the indispensable Duty of my Christian vocation And therefore I give him hearty thanks that he hath so plainly shewed unto me the manner of running this race and the reasons that I have to run it The manner of running this race is twofold First I must forsake my self and all my selfishness that is all those things to which I have naturally an immoderate desire and in which I have naturally an immoderate delight let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us For what am I or what is my flesh but a weight that doth beset me rather then befriend me even an unprofitable and an unsufferable burthen And what else cometh from me or cleaveth to me but only sin Which living in me cannot but work with me Operari sequitur esse and working with me cannot but defile my purest and my best works Secondly I must fix mine eyes and mine heart only upon my blessed Saviour looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our Faith Looking to and on nothing else either within me or without me but only Christ whether in the way of my sanctification for he is the Author of my faith whereby alone my heart is purified and sanctified Or in the way of my salvation for he is the Finisher of my Faith whereby alone my soul is saved It is he that hath brought my soul from Infidelity to Faith whereby I now see through a glass darkly It is he that will bring my faith to a clear vision whereby I shall see him face to face The Reasons I have to run this race are drawn from that grand Topick which works so much upon all the world that Pelagius thought thereby to shift off Original sin from mans nature and to put it only on his imitation This Topick is the Common-place of example And first I have the examples of all those holy men that were before Christ who through their faith in Gods promises and constancy in their faith possessed their souls in great patience whiles they lived and resigned their souls in great comfort and contentment when they dyed This innumerable company of Saints is here called a cloud of witnesses and it is such a cloud as must needs at some time or other drop down many cool showers able to allay if not to extinguish the flames of my greatest fiery tryals Secondly I have the example of Christ himself he is the Author of my faith he is the Captain of my salvation that marcheth before me to this battle instructing me by his Word encouraging me by his Promises supporting me by his
distress say effatha to my heart that it may be opened to receive thee say effatha to the heavens that they may be opened to receive my soul yea say unto my soul thou art my salvation for thou only who art All-sufficient canst speak unto my soul and thou only who art All-merciful wilt speak comfort to it And though for my sins thou art justly displeased yet for thine own Mercies thou wilt not long continue in that displeasure for thou hast proclaimed thy self to be the Lord The Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin Lord say unto me thy unworthy servant that my sins are forgiven me and that I may go hence in peace for my faith hath saved me even that faith whereby I wholly trust in the Merits and Mercies of thy eternal Son Jesus Christ. 66. Hear my prayer O Lord and consider my desire hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness sake and enter not into Judgement with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified And let not mine enemy persecute my soul and if it be thy will let not my disease smite my life down to the ground nor lay me in the darkness as men that have been long dead But if it be thy pleasure to torment and to destroy my body yet let not my spirit be vexed within me nor my heart within me be desolate But make me so remember the time and thy works past that I may be comforted in the time and thy works to come that stretching forth my hands and lifting up my heart unto thee I may lay hold on thee by a lively Faith Hope and Love and at last come to enjoy thee by a blessed vision comprehension and fruition And my soul gasping â—…nto thee as a thirsty Land may be satisfied with the dew of thy heavenly blessings for evermore 67. O Lord remember that I am the work of thy hands the image of thy counteâ—…ance the price of thy blood And have mercy on me as thy work as thy image and as thy purchase for the paternal bowels of God the Father that created me for the bleeding wounds of God the Son that redeemed me and for the unutterâ—…ble groans of God the Holy-Ghost that sanctifieth me O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord strengthen me in my sickness receive me at my death and acquit me in the Judgement Amen 68. Hear me O Lord and that soon for my spirit waxeth faint hide not thy face from me lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit O let me hear thy loving-kindness late in the evening of this life and betimes in the morning of Eternity for in thee is my trust shew thou me the way that leadeth in the truth and unto the life for I lift up my soul unto thee Deliver me O Lord from mine enemies both corporal and spiritual for I flie unto thee to hide me Let thy loving Spirit lead me forth out of this Land of unrighteousness and lead me into the Land of righteousness Quicken me O Lord for thy Name sake and then most when I shall be nearest death and for thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of all her troubles that I may give thanks unto thee with those blessed spirits which lived here in thy fear departed hence in thy favour and now are with thee in eternal joy and glory Psal. 143. v. 7 c. 69. Deal thou so with me O Lord God according to thy Name that in the greatest bitterness of my soul I may both see and confess that sweet is thy Mercy O deliver me for I am helpless and poor and my body is tormented without me and my heart is wounded within me Psal. 109. ver 22 23. but be thou ease to my body and joy to my heart in Jesus Christ. 70. O Lord I confess to thy glory and minâ—… own shame that when I call to mind the â—…oulness of mine own transgressions I am â—…shamed when I call to mind the exactâ—…ess and severity of thy Justice I am afraid â—…o lift up mine eyes to heaven or to look â—…owards the place where thine honour â—…welleth But O look thou down upon â—…e with the eye of pity and compassion â—…ho am altogether unworthy to look up â—…nto thee with the eye of hope and confiâ—…ence and relieve me in my sickness and â—…eceive me at my death for thine infinite mercies in Jesus Christ. 71. I will alway give thanks unto the Lord â—…is praise shall ever be in my mouth yea my soul shall make her boast of the Lord â—…or I sought him and he heard me yea â—…e delivered me out of all my fear I had 〈◊〉 eye unto him and I was enlightened I â—…ave tasted and seen how gracious the â—…ord is blessed be my soul for trusting 〈◊〉 him and blessed be his grace for working 〈◊〉 my soul that trust to rely and depend â—…pon his Mercy for evermore Psal. â—…34 72. Lord touch my tongue with a coal from â—…hine Altar to take away the pollution of my lips and touch my heart with the immortal flames of thy love to take away the deadness and dulness of my thoughts that both tongue and heart being purged from the filthy dregs of flesh and sin I may in my greatest infirmities labour to praise thee according to the greatness of thy glories And because I cannot sufficiently praise thee whiles I am in this corrupted and corruptible body take my soul in thy due time away from hence that I may in thy heavenly Jerusalem sing unto thee acceptable and immortal praises for ever and ever Amen 73. Righteousness and equity O Lord are the habitation of thy seat O let righteousness and equity be fixed in my heart that thou mayest therein fix thy habitation Mercy and Truth shall go before thy face O let Mercy and Truth be alwaies in my soul Mercy to forgive Truth to be for given that when my soul shall go out of my body it may joyfully go before thy face and rejoyce in thy presence for ever more for blessed are the people O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy countenance Lord thou hast given me the first part of this blessing to rejoyce in thee here on earth O give me also the second part of it that when I shall go hence I may walk in the light of thy countenance hereafter in heaven Amen 74. Who am I O Lord God and what is this my house of clay that thou hast brought me hitherto And this was yet a small thing in thy sight O Lord God but thou hast spoken also of thy servant for a great while to come even for the daies of Eternity that thou wilt at last bring me to thy self For thy words sake and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them and