CHAPTER 6:

 

The fittest Time and Place for this Contemplation, and the Preparation of the Heart unto it.

 

 THUS I have opened to you the nature of this duty; I proceed to direct you in the work; where I shall, First, Show you how you must set upon it: Secondly, How you must behave in it: and Thirdly, How you shall shut it up. I advise thee, 1. Somewhat concerning the time. 2. Somewhat concerning the place. And 3. Somewhat concerning the frame of thy spirit.

 

 And 1. for the time, I advise thee that as much as may be, it be set and constant. Proportion out such a part of thy time to the work.

 

 (1.) Stick not at their scruple, who question the stating of times as superstitious:: if thou suit out thy time to the advantage of the work, and place no religion in the time itself, thou needest not to fear lest this be superstition, As a workman in his shop will have a set place for every one of his tools, or else when he should use it, it may be to seek; so a Christian should have a set time for every ordinary duty, or else when he should practice it, it is ten to one but he will be put by it. Stated time is a hedge to duty, and defends it against many temptations to omission. GOD has stated none but the LORD'S Day himself; but he has left it to be stated by ourselves, according to every plan's condition and occasions, lest otherwise his law should have been a burden or a snare. Yet has he left us general rules, which, by the use of reason, and christian prudence, may help us to determine the fittest times.

 

 It is as ridiculous a question of them that ask us, Where Scripture commands to pray so oft, or at such hours as if they asked, Where the Scripture commands that the Church stand in such a place; or, the pulpit in such a place; or, my seat in such a place Or, where it commands a man to read the Scriptures with a pair of spectacles

 

 Most that I have known to argue against a stated time, have at last grown careless of the duty itself, and showed more dislike against the work than the time. If God gave me so much money or wealth, and tell me not in Scripture how much such a poor man must have, nor how much my family, nor how much in clothes, and how much in expenses; is it not lawful, yea, and necessary, that I make the division myself, and allow to each the due portion So if God doth bestow on me a day or week of time, and give me such and such work to do in this time, and tell me not how much I shall allot to each work; certainly I must make the division myself, and proportion it wisely, and carefully too. Though God has not told you at what hour you shall rise in the morning, or at what hours you shall eat and drink yet your own reason and experience will tell you, that ordinarily you should observe a stated time. Neither let the fear of customariness and formality deter you from this. That argument has brought the LORD'S Supper from once a week, to once a quarter, or once a year and it has brought family duties with too many, of late, from twice a day, to once a week, or once a month.

 

 I advise thee, therefore, if well thou mayest, to allow this duty a stated time, and be as constant in it, as in hearing and praying-: yet be cautious in understanding this. I- know this will not prove every man's duty: some have not themselves and, their time at command, and therefore cannot set their hours; such are, most servants, and many children of poor parents; and many are so poor that the necessity of their families will deny them this freedom. I do not think it the duty of such to leave their labors for this work just at certain set times; no, nor for prayer. Of two duties we must choose the greater, though of two sins we must choose neither. I think such persons were best to be watchful, to redeem time as much as they can, and take their vacant opportunities as they fall, and especially to join meditation and prayer, as much as they can, with the labors of their callings. There is no such enmity between laboring, and meditating, or praying in the spirit, but that both may be done together; yet I say, (as PAUL in another case,) " If thou canst be free, use it rather." Those that have more spare time, I still advise, that they keep this duty to a stated time. And, indeed, it were no ill husbandry, nor point of folly, if we did so by all other duties: if we considered the ordinary works of the day, and suited out a fit season and proportion of time to every work, and fixed this in our memory and resolution, or wrote it in a table, and kept it in our closets, and never broke it but upon unexpected and extraordinary causes if every work of the day had thus its appointed time, we should be better skilled, both in redeeming time, and performing duty.

 

 (2.) I advise thee, also, concerning thy time for this duty, That as it be stated, so it be frequent: just how oft it should be, I cannot determine, because men's conditions may vary it; but in general, that it be frequent, the Scripture ture requireth, when it mentioneth meditating continually, and day and night. Circumstances of our condition may much vary the circumstance of our duties. It may be one man's duty to hear or pray oftener than another, and so it may be in this of meditation; but for those that can conveniently omit other business, I advise, that it be once a day at least. Though Scripture tells us not how oft in a day we should eat or drink; yet prudence and experience will direct us twice or thrice a day.

 

 Those that think they should not tie themselves to order and number of duties, but should then only meditate or pray, when they find the SPIRIT provoking them to it, go upon uncertain and unchristian grounds. I am sure, the Scripture provokes us to frequency, and our necessity secondeth the voice of Scripture; and if through my own neglect, or resisting the SPIRIT, I do not find it so excite me, I dare not therefore disobey the Scripture, nor neglect the necessities of my own soul. I should suspect that spirit which would turn my soul from constancy in duty: if the SPIRIT in Scripture bid me meditate or pray, I dare not forbear it, because 1: find not the spirit within me to second the command: if I find not incitation to duty before, yet I may find assistance while I wait in performance. I am afraid of laying my corruptions upon the SPIRIT, or blaming the want of the SPIRIT'S assistance, when I should blame the backwardness of my own heart; nor dare I make one corruption a plea for another; nor urge the inward rebellion of my nature, as a reason for the outward disobedience of my life: and for the healing of my nature's backwardness, I more expect that the SPIRIT of CHRIST should do it in a way of duty, than in away of disobedience and neglect of duty. Men that fall on duty according to the frame of their spirit only, are like our ignorant vulgar, who think their appetite should be the only rule of their eating; when a wise man judgeth by reason and experience, lest when his appetite is depraved, he should either surfeit or famish. Our appetite is no sure rule for our times of duty; but the word of GOD in general, and our spiritual reason, experience, necessity, and convenience in particular, may truly direct us.

 

Three reasons especially should persuade thee to frequency in this meditation on heaven.

 

 1. Because seldom conversing with him will breed a strangeness betwixt thy soul and GOD,: frequent society breeds familiarity, and familiarity increaseth love and delight, and maketh us bold and confident in our addresses. This is the main end of this duty, that thou mayest have acquaintance and fellowship with GOD therein; therefore, if thou come but seldom to it, thou wilt keep thyself a stranger still, and so miss of the end of the work.

 

 2. Seldomness will make thee unskilful in the work, and strange to the duty, as well as to GOD. How clumsily do men set their hands to a work they are seldom employed in Whereas frequency will habituate thy heart to the work, and thou wilt better know the way in which thou daily walkest, yea, and it will be more easy and delightful also: the hill which made thee pant and blow at the first going up, thou mayest run up easily when thou art once accustomed to it.

 

 3. And lastly, Thou wilt lose that heat and life by long intermissions, which, withmuch ado, thou didst obtain in duty. If thou eat but a meal in two or three days, thou wilt lose thy strength as fast as thou gettest it: if in holy meditation thou get near to CHRIST, and warm thy heart with the fire of love, if thou then turn away, and come but seldom, thou wilt soon return to thy former coldness.

 

It is true, the intermixed use of other duties may do much to the keeping thy heart above, especially secret prayer: but meditation is the life of most other duties; and the way of heaven is the life of meditation.

 

 (3.) Concerning the time of this duty, I advise thee, that, thou choose the most seasonable time. All things are beautiful in their season. Unseasonableness may lose thee the fruit of thy labor; it may raise disturbances and difficulties in the work; yea, it may turn a duty to sin; when the seasonableness of a duty doth make it easy, doth remove impediments, doth embolden us to the undertaking, and ripen its fruit. The seasons of this duty are either, First, ordinary; or Secondly, extraordinary.

 

 First, The ordinary season for your daily performance cannot be particularly determined, otherwise GOD would have determined it in his word. Men's condition of employment, and freedom, and bodily temper, are so various, that the same may be a seasonable hour to one, which may be unseasonable to another. If thou be a servant, or a hard laborer, that thou hast not thy time at command, thou must take that season which thy business will best afford: either as thou sittest in the shop at thy work, or as thou travelest on the way, or as thou liest waking in the night. Every man best knows his own time, even when he has the least to hinder him in the world: but for those whose necessities tie them not so close, but that they may choose what time of the day they will, my advice to such is, that they carefully observe the temper of their body and mind, and mark when they find their spirits most active and fit for contemplation,-and pitch upon that as the stated time. Some men are freest for duties when they are fasting, and some are then unfittest of all. Every man is the meetest judge for himself. The time I have always found fittest for myself, is the evening, from sun-setting to the twilight; and sometimes in the night, when it is warm and clear.

 

 The LORD's Day is a time exceedingly seasonable for this exercise. When should we more seasonably contemplate on rest, than on that day which doth typify it to us Neither do I think that typifying use is ceased, because the antitype is not fully come. However, it being a day appropriated to worship and spiritual duties, we should never exclude this duty, which is so eminently spiritual. I think, verily, this is the chief work of a Christian sabhath, and most agreeable to the intent of its positive institution. What fitter time to converse with our LORD, than on that day which he has appropriated to such employment, and therefore called it the LORD'S Day What fitter day to ascend to heaven, than that on which our LORD did arise from earth, and fully triumph over death and hell, and take possession of heaven before us

 

 Two sorts of Christians I would entreat to take notice of this especially.

 

 1. Those that spend the LORD's Day only in public worship; either through the neglect of meditation, or else by their over much exercise of the public, allowing no time to private duty: though there be few that offend in this kind, yet some there are, and a hurtful mistake to the soul it is. They will grow but in gifts, if they exercise but their gifts in outward performances.

 

 2. Those that have time on the LORD’s Day for idleness and vain discourse, and find the day longer than they know how well to spend: were these but acquainted with this duty of contemplation, they would need no other recreation; they would think the longest day short enough, and be sorry that the night had shortened their pleasure.

 

 Secondly, For the extraordinary performance, these following are seasonable times.

 

 1. When God doth extraordinarily revive thy spirit; when God has enkindled thy spirit with fire from above, it is that it may mount aloft more freely. It is a choice part of a Christian's skill, to observe the temper of his own spirit, and to observe the gales of grace, and how the SPIRIT of CHRIST doth move upon his. " without CHRIST we can do nothing: “ therefore let us be doing when he is doing; and be sure not to be out of the way, nor asleep, when he comes. A little labor will set thy heart going at such a time when another time thou mayest take pains to little purpose.

 

 2. When thou art cast into troubles of mind, through sufferings, or fear, or care, or temptations, then is it seasonable to address thyself to this duty. When should we take our cordials, but in our times of fainting When is it more seasonable to walk to heaven, than when we know not in what corner on earth to live with comfort Or when should our thoughts converse above, but when they have nothing but grief to converse with below

 

 3. Another fit season for this heavenly duty, is, when the messengers of God summon us to die; when either our grey hairs, or our languishing bodies, or some such forerunners of death, tell us that our change cannot be far off: when should we more frequently sweeten our souls with the believing thoughts of another life, than when we find that this is almost ended, and when flesh is raising fears and terrors Surely no men have greater need of supporting joys than dying men; and those joys must be fetched from our eternal joy.

 

 It now follows that I speak a word of the fittest place. Though God is every where to be found, yet some places are more convenient than others. 1. As this is a private and spiritual duty, so it is most convenient that thou retire to some private place: our spirits had need off every help, and to be freed from every hinderance in the work. For occasional meditation I give thee not this advice; but for set and solemn duty, I advise, that thou withdraw thyself from all society, that thou mayest awhile enjoy the society of CHRIST.

 

 And as I advise thee to a place of retiredness; so also that thou observe more particularly, what place and posture best agreeth with thy spirit; whether within doors, or without; whether sitting still, or walking. I believe ISAAC'S example in this also, will direct us to the place and posture which will best suit with most, as it doth with me, viz., " His walking. forth to meditate in the field at the eventide." And CHRIST's own example gives us the like direction. CHRIST was used to a solitary garden and though he took his disciples thither with him, yet did He separate himself from them for more secret devotions.

 

 I am next to advise thee somewhat concerning the preparations of thy heart. The success of the work doth much depend on the frame of thy heart. When man's heart had nothing in it that might grieve. the SPIRIT, then was it the delightful habitation of his Maker. God did not quit his residence there, until man did repel him by unworthy provocations. There grew no strangeness, until the heart grew sinful, and too loathsome a dungeon for GOD to delight in. And. were this soul restored to its former innocency, God would quickly return to his former habitation: yea, so far as it is renewed and repaired by the SPIRIT, the LORD will yet acknowledge it his own, and CHRIST will manifest himself unto it, and the SPIRIT will take it for its temple and residence. So far as the soul is qualified for conversing with God, so far it doth actually enjoy him. Therefore, " keep thy heart with all diligence, for from thence are the issues of life."

 

 More particularly, when thou settest on this duty, 1. Get thy heart as clear from the world as thou canst; wholly lay by the thoughts of thy business, of thy troubles, of thy enjoyments, and of every thing that may take up any room in thy soul. Get thy soul as empty as possibly thou canst, that so it may be the more capable of being filled with God. It is a work that will require all the powers of thy soul, if they were a thousand times more capacious and active than they are, and therefore you have need to lay by all other thoughts and affections, while you are busied here.

 

 2. Be sure thou set upon this work with the greatest seriousness that possibly thou canst. Customariness here is a killing sin. There is no trifling in holy things; God will be sanctified of all that draw near him. These spiritual duties are the most dangerous, if we miscarry in them, of all. The more they advance the soul, being well used, the more they destroy it, being used unfaithfully; as the best meats corrupted, are the worst.

 

 To help thee, therefore, to be serious when thou settest on this work; First, Labor to have the deepest apprehensions of the presence of God, and of the incomprehensible greatness of the majesty which thou approach est. Think with what reverence thou shouldest approach thy Maker: think thou art addressing thyself to Him "that made the worlds with the word of his mouth; that upholds the earth as in the palm of his hand; that keeps the sun and moon, and heaven, in their courses; that bounds the raging sea with the sands, and says, "Hitherto go, and no further: “ thou art going to converse with Him, before whom the earth will quake, and devils tremble; before whose bar thou must shortly stand, and all the world with thee, to receive their doom. O think, I shall then have lively apprehensions of his majesty; my drowsy spirits will then be wakened: why should I not now be roused with the sense of his greatness, and the dread of his name possess my soul

 

 Secondly, Labor to apprehend the greatness of the work which thou attemptest, and to be deeply sensible both of its weight and height. If thou wert pleading for thy life at the bar of a judge, thou wouldest be serious; and yet that were but a trifle to this: if thou wert engaged in such a work as DAVID was against GOLIATH, whereon the kingdom's deliverance depended, in itself considered, it were nothing to this. Suppose thou Overt going to such a wrestling as JACOB'S; suppose thou wert going to see the sight which the three disciples saw in the mount; bow seriously, how reverently, wouldest thou both approach and behold If some angel from heaven should but appoint to meet thee, at the time and place of thy contemplation, how apprehensively wouldest thou go to meet him Why, consider then, with what a spirit thou shouldest meet the LORD, and with what seriousness and dread thou shouldest daily converse with him.

 

 Consider, also, the blessed issue of the work. If it succeed, it will be an admission of thee into the presence of GOD; a beginning of thy eternal glory on earth; a means to make thee live above the rate of other men, and admit thee into the next room, to the angels themselves; a means to make thee live and die both joyfully and blessedly: so that the prize being so great, thy preparation should be answerable.

 

 CHAPTER 8:

 

What Affections must be acted, and by what Considerations and Objects, and in what Order.

 

 To draw the heart nearer the work, the next thing to be discovered, is, What powers of the soul must here be acted, what affections excited, what considerations are necessary thereto, and in what order we must proceed.

 

 1. You must go to the memory, which is the magazine or treasure of the understanding; thence you must take forth those heavenly doctrines which you intend to make the subject of your meditation: for the present purpose, you may look over any promise of eternal life in the Gospel; any description of the glory of the saints, of the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting: some one sentence concerning those eternal joys, may afford you matter for many years' meditation; yet it will be a point of wisdom here, to have always a stock of matter in our memory, that so, when we should use it, we may bring forth out of our treasury things new and old. If we took things in order, and observed some method in respect of the matter, and did meditate first on one truth concerning eternity, and then another, it would not be amiss. And if any should be barren of matter through weakness of memory, they may have notes or books of this subject for their furtherance.

 

 2. When you have fetched from your memory the matter of your meditation, your next work is to present it to your judgment. Open there the case as fully as thou canst; set forth the several ornaments of the crown, the several dignities belonging to the kingdom, as they are partly laid open in the beginning of this book: let judgment deliberately view them over, and take as exact a survey as it can; then put the question, and require a determination. Is there happiness in all this, or not Is not here enough to make me blessed Can he want any thing who fully possesses GOD Is there any thing higher for a creature to attain Thus urge thy judgment to pass an upright sentence, and compel it to subscribe to the perfection of thy celestial happiness, and to leave this sentence as under its hand upon record. Thus exercise thy judgment in the contemplation of thy rest; thus magnify and advance the LORD in thy heart, until a holy admiration has possessed thy soul.

 

 3. But the great work, which you may either premise or subjoin to this as you please, is, to exercise thy belief of the truth of thy rest; and that both in respect of the truth of the promise, and also the truth of thy own interest and title. As unbelief doth cause the languishing of all our graces; so faith would do much to revive and actuate them, if it were but revived and actuated itself.

 

 If we did soundly believe, that there is such a glory; that within a few days our eyes shall behold it; O what passions would it raise within us! Were we thoroughly persuaded, that every word in the Scripture concerning the inconceivable joys of the kingdom, and the inexpressible blessedness of the life to come, were the very word of the living GOD, and, should certainly be performed to the smallest tittle, O what astonishing apprehensions of that life would it breed! How it would actuate every affection how would it transport us with joy, upon the least assurance of our title! If I were as verily persuaded, that I shall shortly see those great things of eternity, promised in the word, as I am that this is a chair that I sit in, or that this is paper that I write on; would it not put another spirit within me Would it not make me forget and despise the world And even forget to sleep, or to eat And say, as CHRIST, " I have meat to eat that ye know not of" O, Sirs, you little know what a thorough belief would work.

 

 Therefore, let this be a chief part of thy business in meditation. Read over the promises; study all confirming providences; call forth thine own experiences; remember the Scriptures already Fulfilled both to the Church and saints in the former ages, and eminently to both in this present age, and those that have been Fulfilled particularly to thee.

 

 Set before your faith the freeness and the universality of the promise; consider God's offer, and urge it upon all, that he has excepted from the conditional covenant no man in the world, nor will exclude any from heaven, who will accept of his offer. Study also the gracious disposition of CHRIST, and his readiness to welcome all that will come; study all the evidences of his love, which appeared in his sufferings, in his preaching the Gospel, in his condescension to sinners, in his easy conditions, in his exceeding patience, and in his urgent invitations: do not all these, discover his readiness to save Did he ever manifest himself unwilling Remember also his faithfulness to perform his engagements. Study also the evidences of his love in thyself; look over the works of his grace in thy soul: if thou do not find the degree which thou desirest, yet deny not that degree which thou findest. Remember what discoveries of thy state thou hast made formerly in the work of self-examination: remember all the former testimonies of the Spirit, and all the sweet feelings of the favor of GOD, and all the prayers that he has heard and granted, and all the preservations and deliverances, and all the progress of his SPIRIT, in his workings on thy soul, and the disposals of providence, conducing to thy good; the vouchsafing of means, the directing thee to them, the directing of Ministers to meet with thy state, the restraint of those sins that thy nature was most prone to: lay these all together, and then think with thyself, whether all these do not testify the good will of the LORD concerning thy salvation,; And whether thou mayest not conclude with SAMSON'S mother, when her husband thought they should surely die, "If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not have received an offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things; nor would, as at this time, have told us such things as these." (Jud es 13: 22, 23.)

 

 When thy meditation has thus proceeded about the truth of thy happiness, the next part of the work is to meditate of its goodness; that when the judgment has determined, and faith has apprehended, it may then pass on to raise the affections.

 

 1. The first affection to be acted is love; the object of it is goodness: here then is the reviving part of thy work. Go to thy memory, thy judgment, and thy faith; and from them produce the excellencies of thy rest; take out a copy of the record of the Spirit in Scripture; and another of the sentence registered in thy spirit, whereby the transcendent glory of the saints is declared; present these to thy affection of love; open to it the cabinet that contains the pearl; show it the promise, and that which it assureth thou needest not look on heaven through a multiplying glass; open but one casement, that love may look in; give it but a glimpse of the back parts of GOD, and thou wilt find thyself presently in another world: do but speak out, and love can hear; do but reveal these things, and love can see: it is the brutish love of the world that is blind; divine love is exceedingly quicksighted. Let thy faith, as it were, take thy heart by the hand, and show it the sumptuous buildings of thy eternal habitation, and the glorious ornaments of thy FATHER'S house; show it those mansions which CHRIST is preparing, and display before it the honors of the kingdom: let faith lead thy heart into the presence of GOD, and draw as near as possibly thou canst, and say to it, " Behold, the Ancient of Days; the LORD JEHOVAH, whose name is I AM: “ this is He who made the worlds with his Word; this is the Cause of all causes, the spring of action, the fountain of life, the first principle of the creatures' motions; who upholds the earth, who ruleth the nations, who disposeth of events, and subdueth his foes; who governeth the depths of the great waters, and boundeth the rage of her swelling waves; who ruleth the winds, and moveth the orbs, and causes the sun to run its race, and the several planets to know their courses: this is He that loved thee from everlasting, that formed thee in the womb, and gave thee this soul; who brought thee forth, and showed thee the light, and ranked thee with the chief of his earthly creatures; who endued thee with thy understanding, and beautified thee with his gifts; who maintaineth thee with life, and health, and comforts; who gave thee thy preferments, and dignified thee with thy honors, and differenced thee from the most miserable and vilest of men. Here, O here is an object worthy thy love; here thou mayest be sure thou canst not love too much: this is the LORD that hash blessed thee with his benefits, that has spread thy table in the sight of thine enemies, and caused thy cup to over flow. This is he that angels and saints praise, and the host of heaven must magnify for ever.

 

 Thus do thou expatiate in the praises of God, and open his excellencies to thine own heart, until thou feel the life begin to stir, and the fire in thy breast begin to kindle: as gazing upon the dusty beauty of flesh doth kindle the fire of carnal love, so this gazing on the glory and goodness of the LORD will kindle spiritual love. What though thy heart be rock and flint, this often striking may bring forth the fire; but if yet thou feelest not thy love to work, lead thy heart further, and show it yet more; show it the SON of the living God, whose name is "Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting FATTIER, the Prince of Peace: “ show it the Kind of Saints on the throne of his glory, " who is, and was, and is to come: who liveth and was dead, and behold, he lives for evermore; " who has made thy peace by the blood of his cross, and has prepared thee, with himself, a habitation of peace; his office is to be the great peace-maker; his kingdom is to be a kingdom of peace; his Gospel is the tidings of peace; his voice to thee now is the voice of peace: draw near and behold him. Dost thou not hear his voice He that called THOMAS to come near, and to see the print of the nails, and to put his finger into his wounds, he it is that calls to thee, Come near, and view the LORD, thy Savior, and be not faithless, but believing: "Peace be unto thee; fear not, it is 1:" He that calls, Behold me, behold me, to a rebellious people that calls not on his name, doth call out to thee, a believer, to behold him; he that calls to them who pass by, to behold his sorrow in the day of his humiliation, doth call now to thee to behold his glory in the day of his exaltation. Look well upon him: dost thou not know him Why, it is He that brought thee up from the pit of hell; it is He that reversed the sentence of thy damnation; that bore the curse which thou shouldest have borne, and restored thee to the blessing that thou hadst forfeited, and purchased the advancement which thou must inherit for ever; and yet, dost thou not know him Why, his hands were pierced, his head was pierced, his sides were pierced, his heart was pierced with the sting of thy sins, that by these marks thou mayest always know him. Dost thou not remember when he found thee lying in thy blood, and took pity on thee, and dressed thy wounds, and brought thee home, and said unto thee, Live Hast thou forgotten since he wounded himself to cure thy wounds, and let out his own blood to stop thy bleeding Is not. the passage to his heart yet standing open If thou know him not by the face, the voice, the hands; if thou know him not by the tears and bloody sweat, yet look nearer, thou mayest know him by the heart; that broken, healed heart is his; that dead, revived heart is his; that pitying, melting heart is his; doubtless it can be none but his. Love and compassion are its certain signatures; this is He, even this is he, who would rather die than thou shouldest die; who chose thy life before his own; who pleads his blood before his FATHER, and makes continual intercession for thee. If he had not suffered, O, what hadst thou suffered What hadst thou been, if he had not redeemed thee Whither hadst thou gone, if he had not recalled thee There was but one step between thee and hell, when he stepped in and bore the stroke; he slew the bear, and rescued the prey; he delivered thy soul from the roaring lion: and is not here fuel enough

 

for love to feed on Doth not this loadstone snatch thy heart, and almost draw it forth out of thy breast Canst thou read the history of love any further at once Doth not thy throbbing heart here stop to ease itself; and dost thou not, as JOSEPH, seek for a place to weep in Or do not the tears of thy love bedew these lines Go, then, for the field of love is large; it will yield thee fresh contents for ever, and be thine eternal work to behold and love. Thou needest not, then, want work for thy present meditation.

 

 Hast thou forgotten the time when thou wast weeping, and He wiped the tears from thine eyes. When thou wast bleeding, and he wiped the blood from thy soul When pricking cares and fears did grieve thee, and he did refresh thee, and draw out the thorns Hast thou forgotten when thy folly wounded thy soul, and the venomous guilt seized upon thy heart When he sucked forth the mortal poison from thy soul, though therewith he drew it into his own

 

 I remember it is written Of good MELANCTHON, that, when his child was removed from him, it pierced his heart to remember, how he once sat weeping with the infant on his knee, and how lovingly it wiped the tears from the father's eyes: how then should it pierce thy heart to think how lovingly CHRIST has wiped away thine! O how oft has he found thee sitting weeping, like HAGAR, while thou gayest up thy state, thy friends, thy life, yea, thy soul for lost; and he opened to thee a well of consolation, and opened thine eyes also that thou mightest see it How oft has he found thee in the posture of ELIAS, sitting under the tree forlorn and solitary, and desiring rather to die than to live; and he has spread thee a table from heaven, and sent thee away refreshed and encouraged How oft has he found thee as the servant of ELIAS, crying out, " Alas, what shall we do; a host doth compass the city " And he has opened thine eyes to see more for thee than against thee, both in regard of the enemies of thy soul and thy body. How oft has he found thee in such a passion as JONAS, in thy peevish frenzy, weary of thy life; and he has not answered passion with passion, though he might have done well to be angry, but has mildly reasoned thee out of thy madness, and said, " Dost thou well to be angry," or to repine against me How oft has he set thee on watching and praying, or repenting and believing, and when he has returned, has found thee fast asleep; and yet he has not taken thee at the worst, but instead of an angry aggravation of thy fault, he has covered it over with the mantle of love, and prevented thy overmuch sorrow with a gentle excuse: " The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak He might have done by thee, as EI'AMINONDAs by his soldier, who, finding him asleep upon the watch, run him through with his sword, and said,’ Dead I found thee, and dead I leave thee:' but he rather chose to awake thee more gently, that his tenderness might admonish thee, and keep thee watching. How oft has he been traduced in his cause, or name, and thou hast, like PETER, denied him (at least by thy silence) whilst he has stood in sight Yet all the revenge he has taken, has been a heart-melting look, and a silent remembering thee of thy fault by his countenance. How oft has conscience haled thee before him, as the Pharisees did the adulterous woman; and laid most heinous crimes to thy charge And when thou hast expected to hear the sentence of death, he has shamed away thy accusers, and put them to silence, and said to thee, " Neither do I condemn thee; go thy way, and sin no more."

 

 And art thou not yet transported with love Can thy heart be cold when thou thinkest of this, or can it hold when thou rememberest those boundless compassions Rememberest thou not the time when he met thee in thy duties; when he smiled upon thee, and spake comfortably to thee When thou didst " sit under his shadow with great delight," and " when his fruit was sweet to thy taste " When " he brought thee to his banqueting - house, and his banner' over thee was love " When " his left hand was under thy head, and with his right ]land he did embrace thee " And do st thou not yet cry out, " Stay me, comfort me, for I am sick of love " Thus I would have thee deal with thy heart; thus hold forth the goodness of CHRIST to thy affections; plead thus the case with thy frozen soul, until thou say as DAVID in another case, " My heart was hot within me."

 

 If these arguments will not rouse tip thy love,'thou hast more of this nature at hand: thou hast all CHRIST'S personal excellencies to study; thou hast all his particular mercies to thyself; thou hast all his sweet and near relations to thee, and thou hast the happiness of thy perpetual abode with him hereafter: all these offer themselves to thy meditation, with all their several branches. Only follow them close to thy heart, ply the work, and let it not cool: deal with thy heart, as CHRIST did with PETER, when he asked thrice over, " Lovest thou me" until he was grieved, and answers, " LORD, thou knowest that I love thee." So say to thy heart, Lovest thou the LORD And ask it the second time, and urge it the third time, Lovest thou the LORD; until thou grieve it, and shame it out of its stupidity, and it can truly say, Thou knowest that I love him.

 

 9. The next affection to be excited, is desire. The object of it is goodness not yet attained. This being so necessary an attendant of love, and being excited much by the same considerations, I suppose you need the less direction, and therefore I shall touch but briefly on this; if love be hot, desire will not be cold. ,

 

 When thou hast thus viewed the goodness of the LORD, and considered the pleasures that are at his right hand, then proceed on thy meditation thus. Think with thyself where have I been, What have I seen O the incomprehensible, astonishing glory! O the rare, transcendent beauty! O blessed souls that now enjoy it! That see a thousand times more clearly what I have seen but darkly at this distance, and scarce discern through the interposing clouds! What a difference is there betwixt my state and theirs! I am sighing, and they are singing: I am sinning, and they are pleasing GOD: I have an ulcerated soul, like the loathsome bodies of JOB or LAZARUS, but they rae perfect and without blemish: I am here entangled with the love of the world, when they are taken up with the love of GOD: I live indeed amongst the means of grace, and I possess the fellowship of my fellow-believers; but I have none of their immediate views of God, none of that fellowship that they possess: they have none of my cares and fears they weep not in secret; they languish not in sorrows; all tears are wiped away from their eyes. O what a feast has my faith beheld, and what a famine is yet in my spirit! I have seen a glimpse of the court of God, but, alas! I stand but as a beggar at the doors, when the souls of my companions are admitted in. O blessed souls! I may not, I dare not envy your happiness; I rather rejoice in my brethren's prosperity, and am glad to think of the day when I shall be admitted into your fellowship. But O that I were so happy as to be in your place; not to displace you, but to rest there with you. Why must I stay, and groan, and weep, and wait My LORD' is gone, he has left this earth, and is entered into his glory: my brethren are gone, my friends are there, my house, my hope, my all is there, and must I stay behind to sojourn here What precious saints have left. this earth If the saints were all here; if CHRIST' were here; then it were no grief for me to stay: but when my soul is so far distant from my GOD, wonder not if I now complain; an ignorant MICAH will do so for his idol, and shall not my soul do so for GOD And yet if I had no hope of enjoying, I would go and hide myself in the deserts, and spend my days in fruitless wishes: but seeing it is the promised land, the state I inust be advanced to myself, and my soul draws, near, and is almost at it, I will live and long; I will look and desire: I will breathe out, How long, LORD, how long! How long, LORD, holy and true, wilt thou suffer this soul to pant and groan; and wilt not open and let him in, who waits and longs to be with thee!

 

 Thus, Reader, let thy thoughts aspire. Thus whet the desires of thy soul by meditation, until thy soul long, (as DAVID's for the waters of Bethlehem,) and say, 11O that one would give me to drink of the wells of salvation!" and until thou canst say, as he, "I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD."

 

 3. The next affection to be acted, is hope. This is of singular use to the soul. It helpeth exceedingly to support it in sufferings; it encourageth it to adventure upon the greatest difficulties; it firmly establisheth it in the most shaking trials, and it mightily enlivens the soul in duties. Let faith, then, show thee the truth of the promise, and judgment the goodness of the thing promised; and what then is wanting for the raising thy hope Show thy soul, from the word, and from the mercies, and from the nature of GOD, what possibility, yea, what probability, yea, what certainty thou hast of possessing the crown. Think thus, and reason thus with thy own heart: Why should I not confidently and comfortably hope, when my soul is in the hands of so compassionate a Savior, and when the kingdom is at the disposal of so bounteous a GOD Did he ever manifest any backwardness to my good, or discover the least inclination to my ruin Has he not sworn to the contrary to me in his word, that he delights not in the death of him that dieth, but rather that he should repent and live Have not all his dealings with me witnessed the same Did he not mind me of my danger, when I never feared it And why was this, if he would not have me to escape it Did he not mind me of my happiness, when I had no thoughts of it And why was this, but that he would have me to enjoy it I have been ashamed of my hope in the arm of flesh, but hope in the promise of God maketh not ashamed. I will say, therefore, in my greatest sufferings,’1 The LORD is my portion, therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him; it is good that I both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

 

 The LORD will not cast off for ever; but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." Though I languish and die, yet will I hope; for he has said, " The righteous has hope in his death." Though I must he down in dust and darkness, yet there " my flesh shall rest in hope; " and when my flesh has nothing in which it may rejoice, yet will I keep " the rejoicing of hope firm to the end."

 

 4. The last affection to be acted, is joy. This is the end of all the rest: love, desire, hope, tend to the raising of our joy. And is it nothing to have a deed of gift from GOD Are his infallible promises no ground of joy Is it nothing to live in daily expectation of entering into the kingdom Is not my assurance of being glorified one day, a sufficient ground for inexpressible joy Is it no delight to the heir of a kingdom, to think of what he must hereafter possess, though at present he little differ from a servant Am I not commanded to "rejoice in hope of the glory of GOD "

 

 Here take thy heart once again as it were by the hand; bring it to the top of the highest mount; show it the kingdom of CHRIST, land the glory of it; say to it, ’All this will thy LORD bestow upon thee, who hast believed in him, and been a worshipper of him.' "It is the FATHER'S good pleasure to give thee this kingdom.' Seest thou this astonishing glory above thee Why all this is thy own inheritance. This crown is thine, these pleasures are thine, because thou art CHRIST'S, and CHRIST is thine; when thou wert married to him, thou hadst all this with him.

 

 Thus take thy heart into the land of promise; show it the pleasant hills and fruitful valleys; show it the clusters of grapes which thou hast gathered, and by those convince it that it is a blessed land, flowing with better than milk and honey; enter the gates of the holy city, walk through the streets of the New Jerusalem, walk about Sion, go round about her, tell the towers thereof, mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that thou mayest tell it to thy soul: " The foundation is garnished with precious stones; the twelve gates are twelve pearls; the street of the city is pure gold, as it were transparent glass; there is no temple in it, for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and the Lamb are the temple of it. It has no need of sun or moon to shine in it; for the glory of GOD Both lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof, and thee nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it. This is thy rest, O my soul, and this must be the place of thy everlasting habitation. "Let all the sons of Sion, then, rejoice, and the daughters of Jerusalem be glad; for great is the LORD, and greatly is he praised in the city of our GOD; beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion; GOD is known in her palaces for a refuge."

 

 Yet proceed.’The soul (says AUSTIN) that loves ascends frequently, and runs familiarly through the streets of the heavenly Jerusalem, visiting the Patriarchs. and Prophets, saluting the Apostles, and admiring the armies of Martyrs and Confessors.' So do thou lead on thy heart as from street to street, bringing it into the palace of the Great King; lead it as it were from chamber to chamber; say to it, Here must I lodge, here must I live, here must I love, and be beloved. I must shortly be one of this heavenly choir; I shall then be better skilled in the music: among this blessed company must I take my place; my tears will then be wiped away. There it is that trouble and lamentation cease, and the voice of sorrow is not heard. O when I look upon this glorious place, what a dungeon, methinks, is earth O what a difference betwixt a man feeble, pained, groaning, dying, rotting in the grave, and one of these triumphant, blessed, shining saints! Here shall I drink, then, of the river of pleasure, " the streams whereof make glad the city of GOD. For the LORD will create a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered; we shall be glad and rejoice for ever in that which he creates; for he will create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy: and he will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in his people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying:

 

there shall be no more then an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days."

 

 Why do I not then arise from the dust, and lay aside my sad complaints, and cease my mourning Why do I not trample down vain delights, and feed upon the foreseen delights of glory Why is not my life a continual joy; and the savor of heaven perpetually upon my spirit

 

 I do not place any flat. necessity in thy acting all the forementioned affections in this order at one time, or in one duty. Perhaps thou mayest sometimes feel someone of thy affections more flat than the rest, and so to have more need of exciting; or thou mayest find one stirring more than the rest, and so think it more seasonable to help it forward; or if thy time be short, thou mayest work upon one affection one day, and upon another, the next, as thou findest cause.' All this I leave to thy own prudence.

 

CHAPTER VIII.

 

Some Advantages and Helps, for raising the Soul by Meditation.

 

 THE next part of this Directory is, to show you what advantages you should take, and what helps you should use, to make your meditations of heaven more quickening, and to make you taste the sweetness that is therein. For this is the main work, that you may not stick in a bare thinking, but may have the lively sense of all upon your hearts; and this you will find to be the most difficult part,of the work. It is easier to think of heaven a whole day, than to be lively and affectionate in those thoughts one quarter of an hour. Therefore let us yet a little farther consider what may be done, to make your thoughts of heaven piercing, affecting thoughts.

 

 It will be a point of spiritual prudence, and a singular help to the furthering of faith, to call in our senses to its assistance. If we can make us friends of these usual enemies, and make them instruments of raising us to GOD, which are the usual means of drawing us from GOD, we shall perform a very excellent work. Sure it is both possible and lawful to do something in this kind; for GOD would not have given us either senses themselves, or their usual objects, if they might not have been serviceable to his own praise, and helps to raise us to the apprehension of higher things; and it is very considerable, how the HOLY GHOST doth condescend in the phrase of Scripture, in bringing things down to the reach of sense; how he sets forth the excellencies of spiritual things in words that are borrowed from the objects of sense. Doubtless, if such expressions had not been best, and to us necessary, the HOLY GHOST would not have so frequently used them. He that will speak to man's understandings, must speak in man's language, and speak that which he is capable to conceive.

 

 1. Go to, then: When thou settest thyself to meditate on the joys above, think on them boldly, as Scripture has expressed them; bring down thy conceivings to the reach of sense. Excellency, without familiarity, doth more amaze than delight us; but love and joy are promoted by familiar acquaintance. When we go about to think of God and glory without these spectacles, we are lost, and have nothing to fix our thoughts upon; we set GOD and heaven so far from us, that our thoughts are strange, and we look at them as things beyond our reach, and are ready to say, That which is above is nothing to us. To conceive no more of GOD and glory, but that we cannot conceive them; and to apprehend no more but that they are past apprehension, will produce no more love but this, to acknowledge that they are so far above us that we can not love them, and no more joy but this, that they are above our rejoicing. And therefore put CHRIST no farther from you, than he has put himself, lest the divine nature be again inaccessible. Think of CHRIST as in our own nature glorified; think of our fellow-saints as men there perfected; think of the city and state as the SPIRIT has expressed it, only with caution. Suppose thou wert now beholding this city of GOD, and that thou hadst been companion with Jon N in his survey of its glory, and hadst seen the thrones, the majesty, the heavenly hosts, the shining splendor which he saw; draw as strong suppositions as may be from thy sense for the helping of thy affections. It is lawful to suppose we did see for the present, that which GOD has in prophecies revealed, and which we must really see in more unspeakable brightness before long. Suppose, therefore, with thyself, thou hadst been that Apostle's fellow-traveler into the celestial kingdom, and that thou hadst seen all the saints in their white robes, with palms in their hands; suppose thou hadst heard those songs of MOSES, and of the Lamb, or didst even now hear them praising and glorifying the living GOD; if thou hadst seen these things indeed, in what a rapture wouldest thou have been! And the more seriously thou puttest this supposition to thyself, the more will the meditation elevate thy heart.

 

 I would not have thee, as the Papists, draw them in pictures, nor use such ways to represent them. This, as it is a course forbidden by God, so it would but seduce and draw down thy heart; but get the liveliest picture of them in thy mind that possibly thou canst; meditate of them as if thou wert all the while beholding them, and as if thou wert even hearing the hallelujahs; until thou canst say, Methinks I see a glimpse of the glory! Methinks I hear the shouts of joy and praise! Methinks I even stand by ABRAHAM and DAVID, PETER and PAUL, and more of these triumphing souls! Methinks I see the SON of GOD appearing in the clouds, and the world standing at his bar to receive their doom! Methinks I hear him say, "Come, ye blessed of my FATHER;" and see them go rejoicing "into the joy of their LORD!" My very dreams of these things have deeply affected me and should not these just suppositions affect me much more What if I had seen, *, those unutterable things! Should I not have been exalted (and that perhaps above measure) as well as he What if I had stood in the room of STEPHEN, and seen heaven opened, and CHRIST sitting at the right hand of GOD! Surely that one sight was worth the suffering his storm of stones. O that I might but see what he did see, though I also suffered what he did suffer! What if Iliad seen such a sight as MICAIAH saw " The LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left." Why these men of GOD did see such things; and I shall shortly see far more than ever they saw, until they were loosed from the flesh, as I must be. And thus you see how the familiar conceiving of the state of blessedness, as the SPIRIT has in a condescending language expressed it, and our strong raising of suppositions from our bodily senses, will further our affections in this heavenly work.

 

 2. There is yet another way by which we may make our senses serviceable to us, and that is, by comparing the objects of sense with the objects of faith; and so forcing sense to afford us that medium, from whence we may conclude the transcendent worth of glory, by arguing from sensitive delights as from the less to the greater. And here for your further assistance, I shall furnish you with some of these comparative arguments: And, (1.) You must strongly argue with your hearts, from the corrupt delights of sensual men. Think, then, with yourselves, when you would be sensible of the joys above: Is it such a delight to a sinner to do wickedly; and will it not be delightful indeed to live with GOD Has a drunkard such delight in his cups and companions, that the very fears of damnation will not make him forsake them Sure, then, there are high delights with GOD! If the way to hell can afford such pleasure, what are the pleasures of the saints in heaven

 

 (2.) Compare also the delights above, with the lawful delights of sense. Think with thyself, How sweet is food to my taste when I am hungry especially, as ISAAC said, "That which my soul loves" What delight has the taste in some pleasant fruits, in some well relished meats! O what delight then must my soul have in feeding upon CHRIST, the living bread, and in eating with him at his table in his kingdom! How pleasant is drink in the extremity of thirst! Then how delightful will it be to my soul "to drink of that fountain of living water, which whoso drinks shall thirst no more"

 

 (3.) Compare also the delights above, with the delights that are found in natural knowledge. This is far beyond the delights of sense, and the delights of heaven are further beyond it. Think then, can an ARCHIMEDES be so taken up with his mathematical invention, that the threats of death cannot take him off Should I not much more be taken up with the delights of glory, and die with these contemplations fresh upon my soul especially when my death will perfect my delights, but those of Archimedes die with him. What a pleasure is it to dive into the secrets of nature! to find out the mysteries of arts and sciences! If we make but any new discovery in one of these, what singular pleasure do we find therein! Think, then, what high delights there are in the knowledge of GOD and CHRIST. If the face of human learning be so beautiful, that sensual pleasures are to it but base and brutish; how beautiful then is the face of GOD! When we light on some choice and learned book, how are we taken with it! We could read and study it day and night; we can leave meat, and drink, and sleep, to read it. What delights, then, are there at GOD’s right hand, where we shall know in a moment more than any mortal can know!

 

 (4.) Compare also the delights above, with the delights of morality, and of the natural affections. What delight had many sober Heathens in the practice of moral duties; so that they took him only for an honest man who did well through the love of virtue, and, not only for fear of punishment: yea, so highly did they value virtue, that they thought the chief happiness of man consisted in it.

 

 Think, then, what excellency there will be in that rare perfection which we shall be raised to in heaven; and in that uncreated perfection of GOD which we shall behold! What sweetness is there in the exercise of natural love; whether to children, to parents, to yoke-fellows, or to friends! The delight which special faithful friends find in loving and enjoying one another, is a most pleasing, sweet delight. Even CHRIST himself, as it seemeth, had some of this kind of love; for he had one disciple whom he especially loved. Think then, if the delights of cordial friendship be so great, what delight shall we have in the friendship of the MOST HIGH, and in our mutual amity with JESUS CHRIST, and in the dearest love and comfort with the saints! Surely this will be a closer and stricter friendship than ever was betwixt any friends on earth; and these will be more lovely and desirable friends than any that ever the sun beheld; and both our affections to our FATHER, and Our SAVIOR, but especially his affection to us, will be such as here we never knew; as spirits are so far more powerful than flesh, that one angel can destroy a host, so also are their affections more strong and powerful; we shall then love a thousand times more strongly and sweetly than now we can; and as all the attributes and works of God are incomprehensible, so is the attribute and work of love. He will love as many thousand times more than we, even at the most perfect, are able to love him. What joy, then, will there be in this mutual love!

 

 (5.) Compare also the excellencies of heaven with those glorious works of the creation which our eyes now behold. What a deal of wisdom, and power, and goodness, appeareth in and through them to a wise observer! What a deal of the majesty of the great Creator doth shine in the face of this fabric of the world! Surely his works are great and admirable, sought out of them that have pleasure therein. This makes the study of natural philosophy so pleasant, because the works of GOD are so excellent. What rare workmanship is in the body of a man! yea, in the body of every beast, which makes anatomical studies, so delightful. What excellency in every plant we see 1 in the beauty of flowers! in the nature, diversity, and use of herbs! in fruits, in roots, in minerals, and what not! But especially if we look to the greater works; if we consider the whole body of this earth, and its creatures and inhabitants; the ocean of waters, with its motions and dimensions, the variations of the seasons, and the face of the earth; the intercourse of spring and fill, of summer and winter; what wonderful excellency do these contain! Why, then, think if these things, which are but servants to sinful man, are yet so full of mysterious worth; what is that place where GOD himself cloth dwell, prepared for the just who are perfected with CHRIST!

 

 When thou walkest forth in the evening, look upon the stars, in what numbers they bespangle the firmament. If in the day time, look up to the glorious sun; view the wide expanded heavens, and say to thyself, What glory is in the least of yonder stars! What a vast, what a resplendent body has yonder moon, and every planet What an inconceivable glory has the sun! Why all this is nothing to the glory of heaven. Yonder sun must there be laid aside as useless; for it would not be seen for the brightness of Gon! I shall live above all yonder glory. Yonder is but darkness to the lustre of my Father's house; I shall be as glorious as that sun myself.

 

 So think of the rest of the creatures. This whole earth is but my FATHER'S footstool; this thunder is nothing to his dreadful voice; these winds are nothing to the breath of his mouth: So much wisdom and power as appear in these; so much, and far much more greatness, and goodness, and delight, shall I enjoy in the actual fruition of God. Surely, if the rain which rains, and the sun which shines on the just and unjust, be so wonderful; the sun, then, which must shine on none but saints and angels, must needs be wonderful and ravishing in glory.

 

 (6.) Compare the things which thou shalt enjoy above, with the excellency of those admirable works of Providence, which God doth exercise in the Church, and in the world. What glorious things has the LORD wrought! And yet we shall see more glorious than these. Would it not be an astonishing sight, to see the sea stand as a wall on the right hand and on the left, and the people of Israel pass safely through, and PHARAOH and his people swallowed up If we had seen the rock to gush forth streams, or manna or quails rained down from heaven, or the earth open and swallow up the wicked; would not all these have been wondrous, glorious sights But we shall see far greater things than these. And as our sights shall be more wonderful, so also they shall be more sweet. There shall be no blood or wrath intermingled; we shall not then cry out, as DAVID, a Who shall stand before this holy LORD God Would it not have been an astonishing sight, to have seen the sun stand still in the firmament Why, we shall see when there shall be no sun to shine at all; we shall behold for ever a sun of more incomparable brightness. Were it not a brave life, if we might still live among wonders and miracles; and all for us, and not against us If we could have drought or rain at our prayers, as ELIAS; or if we could call down fire from heaven, to destroy our enemies; or raise the dead to life, as ELISHA; or cure the diseased, and speak strange languages, as the Apostles Alas, these are nothing to the wonders which we shall see and possess with God, and all those wonders of goodness and love! We shall possess that pearl and power itself, through whose virtue all these works were done; we shall ourselves be the subjects of more wonderful mercies than any of these. JONAS was raised but from a three days' burial, from the belly of the whale in the deep ocean; but we shall be raised from many years' rottenness and dust, and that dust exalted to a sun-like glory, and that glory perpetuated to all eternity. What sagest thou Is not this the greatest of miracles or wonders Surely if we observe but common Providences,-the motion of the sun, the tides of the sea, the standing of the earth, the warming it, the watering it with rain as a garden, the keeping in order a wicked, confused world, with multitudes the like, they are all very admirable; but then to think of the Sion of GOD, of the vision of the Divine Majesty, of the comely order of the heavenly host; what an admirable sight must that needs be! O what rare and mighty works have we seen! what clear discoveries of an Almighty arm! what magnifying of weakness! what casting down of strength! what wonders wrought by most improbable means! what turning of tears and fears into safety and joy! such hearing of earnest prayers, as if God could have denied us nothing! All these were wonderful works; but what are these to our full deliverance to our final conquest to our eternal triumph and to that great day of great things

 

 (7.) Compare also the mercies which thou shalt have above, with those particular providences which thou hast enjoyed thyself. If thou be a Christian indeed, thou bast, if not in thy book, yet certainly in thy heart, many favors upon record; the very remembrance and rehearsal of them is sweet; how much more sweet was the actual enjoyment! But all these are nothing to the mercies which are above. Look over the excellent mercies of thy youth, the mercies of thy riper years, the mercies of thy prosperity and of thy adversity, the mercies of thy several places and relations: are they not excellent -and innumerable Canst not thou think on the several places thou hast lived in, and remember that they have each had their several mercies The mercies of such a place, and such a place; and all of them very rich and engaging mercies O bow sweet was it to thee when GOD resolved thy last doubts! when he overcame and silenced thy fears and unbelief! when he prevented the inconveniencies of thy life, which thy own counsel would have cast thee into! when he eased thy pains, when he healed thy sickness, and raised thee up as from thce very grave! Were not all these precious mercies Alas, these are but small things for thee in the eyes of GOD: He intendeth thee far greater things than these, even such as these axe scarcely a taste of. It was a choice mercy that God has so notably answered thy prayers, and that thou hast been so oft and evidently a prevailer with him; but O think, are all these so sweet and precious, that my life would have been a perpetual misery without them Has his Providence lifted me so high on earth, and his merciful kindness made me great How sweet then will the glory of his presence be And how high will his-eternal love exalt me And how great shall I be made in communion with his greatness If my pilgrimage and warfare have such mercies; what shall I find in my home, and in my triumph If I have had so much in this strange country, at such a distance from him; what shall I have in heaven in his immediate presence

 

 (8.) Compare the joy which thou shalt have in heaven, with that which the saints of GOD have found in the way to it, and in the foretastes of it. When thou seest a heavenly man rejoice, think what it is that so affects him. It is the property of fools to rejoice in toys; but the people of GOD are wiser: they know what it is that makes them glad. When did GOD reveal himself to any of his servants, but the joy of their hearts was answerable to the revelation When MOSES had been talking with GOD in the Mount, it made his visage so shining and glorious, that the people could not endure to behold it; but be was fain to put a veil upon it. No wonder, then, if the face of GOD must be veiled, until we are come to that state where we shall be capable of beholding him, when "the veil shall be taken away, and we all, beholding him with open face, shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory." Alas, what are the back parts which MOSES saw from the clefts of the rock, to that open face which we shall behold hereafter What is that revelation to JOHN in Patmos, to this revelation which we shall have in heaven How short doth PAUL'S vision come of the saints' vision above with GOD How small a part of the glory which we must see, was that which so transported PETER in the Mount I confess these were all extraordinary foretastes; but little to the frill beatifical vision. When DAVID foresaw the resurrection of CHRIST and of himself, how doth it make him break forth and say, "Therefore my heart was glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope." Think, then, if the foresight can raise such ravishing joy, what will the actual possession do How oft have we read and heard of the dying saints, who, when they had scarce strength and life to express them, have been as full of joy as their hearts could hold And when their bodies have been under the extremities of their sickness, yea, ready to feel the pangs of death, have yet had so much of heaven in their spirits, that their joy Math far surpassed their sorrows And if a spark of this fire be so glorious, and that in the midst of the sea of adversity; what then is that sun of glory itself

 

 (9.) Compare also the glory of the heavenly kingdom, with the glory of the Church on earth, and of CHRIST in his state of humiliation; and you may easily conclude, if CHRIST standing in the room of sinners, was so wonderful in excellencies, what is CHRIST at the FATHER'S right hand And if the Church, under her sins and enemies, has so much beauty; something it will have at the marriage of the Lamb. How wonderful was the SON of GOD in the form of a servant! When he is born, the heavens must proclaim him by miracles; a new star, must appear in the firmament, and fetch men from remote parts of the world to worship him in a manger; the angels and heavenly host must declare his nativity, and solemnize it with praising and glorifying GOD. When he sets upon his office, his whole life is a wonder: water turned into wine, thousands fed with five loaves and two fishes, the lepers cleansed, the sick healed, the lame restored, the blind receive their sight, the dead raised; if we had seen all this, should we not have thought it wonderful The most desperate diseases cured with a touch, with a word;

 

the blind eyes with a little clay and spittle; the devils departing by legions at command; the winds and the seas obeying his word: Are not all these wonderful Think, then, how wonderful is his celestial glory! If there be such cuttings down of boughs, and spreading of garments, and crying, Hosanna, to one that comes into Jerusalem riding on an ass; what will there be when he comes with his angels in his glory If they that hear him preach the Gospel of the kingdom, have their hearts turned within them, that they turn and say, "Never man spake like this man; " -then sure they that behold his majesty in his kingdom, will say,’ There was never glory like this glory.' If, when his enemies come to apprehend him, the word of his mouth doth cast them all to the ground; if, when he is dying,-the-earth must tremble, the veil of -the temple rend, the sun in the firmament hide its face, and the dead bodies of the saints arise: O what a day will it be, when He will once more shake, not the earth only, but the heavens also, and remove the things that are shaken when this sun shall be taken out of the firmament, and be everlastingly darkened with the brightness of his glory when the dead must all rise and stand before him;’and all shall acknowledge him to be the SON of GOD, and every tongue confess him to be LORD and King If when he riseth again, the grave and death have lost their power, and' the angels of heaven must roll away the stone, and astonish the watchmen until- they. are as dead men, and send the tidings to his dejected disciples; if the bolted doors cannot keep him out; if the sea be as firm ground for him to walk on; if he can ascend to heaven in the sight of his disciples, and send the angels to forbid them gazing after him: O what power, and dominion, and glory, then, is he now possessed of, and must we ever possess with him.

 

 Yet think further, Are his very servants enabled to do such miracles when he is gone from them Can a few poor fishermen and tent-makers cure the lame, and blind, and sick; open prisons, destroy the disobedient, and raise the dead O, then, what a world will that be, where everyone can do greater works than these It were much to have the devils subject to us; but more to have our names written in the book of life. If the very preaching of the Gospel be accompanied with such power, that it will pierce the hearts, and discover its secrets, bring down the proud, and make the stony sinner tremble; if it can make men burn their books, sell their lands, bring in the price, and lay it down at the Preacher's feet; if it can make the spirits of Princes stoop, and the Kings of the earth resign their crowns, and do their homage to JESUS CHRIST; if it can subdue kingdoms and convert thousands, and turn the world thus upside down; if the very mention of the judgment and life to come, can make the Judge on the bench to tremble: what then is the glory of the kingdom itself What an absolute dominion have CHRIST and his saints! And if they have this power and honor in the day of their abasement, what will they have in their full advancement

 

 (1O.) Compare the mercies thou shalt have above, with the mercies which CHRIST has here bestowed on thy soul; and the glorious change which thou shalt have at last, with the gracious change which the SPIRIT has wrought on thy heart. Compare the comforts of thy glorification, with the comforts of thy sanctification. There is not the smallest grace in thee, which is genuine, but is of greater worth than the riches of the Indies; nor a hearty desire and groan after CHRIST, but is more to be valued than the kingdoms of the world. A renewed nature is the very image of GOD; the Scripture calls it, "CHRIST dwelling in us," and "the SPIRIT of GOD dwelling in us; " it is a beam from the face of GOD himself; it is the seed of GOD remaining in us; it is the only inherent beauty of the rational soul; it enables man above all nobility; it fitteth him to understand his Maker's pleasure, to do his will, and to receive his glory Think, then, with thyself, If this "grain of mustard seed" be so precious, what is " the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of GOD" If a spark of life be so much, bow glorious, then, is the fountain and end of this life If we are even now said to be like God, and to bear his image, and to be holy as he is holy; sure we shall then be much more like GOD, when we are perfectly holy, and without blemish. Is the desire of heaven so precious a thing what then is the thing itself Is love so excellent what then is the beloved Is our joy in foreseeing and believing so sweet what will be the joy in the full possession O the delight that a Christian has in the lively exercise of some of these affections! What good doth it to his very heart, when he can feelingly say, he loves his LORD! Yea, even those troubling passions of sorrow and fear are yet delightful, when they are rightly exercised. How glad is a poor Christian, when he feeleth his heart melt, and when the thoughts of sinful unkindness will dissolve it! Even this sorrow doth yield him matter of joy: O what will it then be, when we shall do nothing but know GOD, and love, and rejoice, and praise, and all this in the highest perfection! What a comfort is it to my doubting soul, when I have a little assurance of the sincerity of my graces! How much more will it comfort me, to find drat the SPIRIT has safely conducted me, and left me in the arms of JEsus! What a change was it that the SPIRIT made upon my soul, when he first’1 turned me from darkness to, light, and from the power of SATAN unto Gon!" To betaken from that horrid state of nature, wherein myself and my actions were loathsome to GOD, and the sentence of death was passed upon me, and the ALMIGHTY took me for his utter enemy; and to be presently numbered among his saints, and called his friend, his servant, his son, and the sentence revoked which was gone forth; O what a change was this! To be taken from the state wherein I was born, and had lived so many years, and if I had so died I had been damned forever; and to be justified from all these crimes, and freed from all these plagues, and put into the title of an heir of heaven; O what an astonishing change was this! How much greater will that glorious change then be! Beyond expressing! beyond conceiving! How oft, when I have thought of this change in my regeneration, have I cried out, O blessed day! and blessed be the LORD that I ever saw it! How, then, should I cry out in heaven, O blessed eternity! and blessed be the LORD that brought me to it! Was the mercy of my conversion so exceeding great, that the angels of GOD did rejoice to see it Sure then the mercy of my salvation will be so great, that the same angels will congratulate my felicity. This grace is but a spark that is raked up in the ashes; it is covered with flesh from the sight of the world: but my everlasting glory will not be "under a bushel, but upon a hill," even upon Zion, the Mount of GOD.

 

CHAPTER 9:

 

How to manage and watch over the Heart, through the whole Work.

 

 THE last part of this Directory is, To guide you in managing your hearts through this work, and to show you wherein you have need to be exceeding watchful. I have showed before, what must be done with your hearts in your preparations to the work, and in your setting upon it: I shall now show it you in respect of the time of the performance. Our chief work will here be, to discover to you the danger, and that will direct you to the remedy. Let me therefore acquaint you beforehand, that whenever you set upon this heavenly employment, you shall find your own hearts your greatest hinderer, and they will prove false to you in one or all of these four degrees: First, they will hold off, that you will hardly get them to the work; or else they will betray you by their idleness in the work, pretending to do it, when they do it not; or they will interrupt the work, by their frequent excursions, and turning aside to every object; or they will spoil the work by cutting it short, and be gone before you have done any good on it. Therefore I forewarn you, as you value the unvaluable comfort of this work, faithfully resist these four dangerous evils.

 

 1. Thou shalt find thy heart as backward to this, as to any work in the world. O what. excuses it will make; what evasions it will find out; and what delays, when it is never so much convinced; either it will question whether it be a duty or not; or, if it be so to others, yet whether it be so to thee It will take up any thing like reason to plead against it; or, if thy heart have nothing against the work, then it will trifle away the time in delays, and promise this day and the next, but still keep off; Or lastly, if thou wilt not be so baled with excuses or delays, thy heart will give thee a flat denial, and oppose its own unwillingness to thy reason; thou shalt find it draw back with all the strength it has. I speak all this of the heart so far as it is carnal; for so far as it is spiritual, it will udge this work the sweetest in the world.

 

 But take up the authority which God has given thee, command thy heart; if it rebel, use violence with it; if thou be too weak, call in the SPIRIT of CHRIST to thine assistance; he is never backward to so good a work, nor will deny his help in so just a cause: GOD will be ready to help thee, if thou be not unwilling to help thyself. Say unto him, I LORD, thou gayest my reason the command of my thoughts and affections; the authority I have received over them', is from thee, and now, behold, they refuse to obey thine authority; thou commandest me to set them to the work of heavenly meditation, but they rebel and stubbornly refuse the duty; wilt thou not assist me to execute that authority which thou hast given me O send down thy SPIRIT and power, that I may enforce thy commands, and effectually compel them to obey thy will.'

 

And thus doing, thou shalt see thy heart will submit; its resistance will be brought under: and its backwardness will be turned to compliance.

 

 2. When thou hast got thy heart to the work, beware lest it delude thee by a loitering formality; lest it say, I go, and go not; lest it trifle out the time, while it should be effectually meditating. When thou hast perhaps but an hour's time for meditation, the time will be spent before thy heart will be serious. This doing of duty, as if we did it not, doth undo as many as the flat omission of it. To rub out the hour in a bare lazy thinking of heaven, is but to lose that hour, and delude thyself. What is to be done in this case Why, do here also as you do by a loitering servant; keep thine eye always upon thy heart; look not so much to the time it spendeth in the duty, as to the work that is done: you can tell by his work, whether your servant has been painful: ask, what affections have yet been acted How much am I yet got nearer heaven Verily many a man's heart must be followed as close in, this duty of meditation, as an ox at the plough, that will go no longer than you are calling or scourging; if you cease driving but a moment, the heart will stand still.

 

 I would not have thee of the judgment of those who think that while they are so backward, it is better let it alone; and that if mere love will not bring them to the duty, the service is worse than the omission: these men understand not, First, That this argument would certainly cashier all spiritual obedience; nor do they understand well the corruptness of their own natures; nor that their sinful indisposedness will not suspend the commands of GOD; nor one sin excuse another; especially they little know the way of GOD to excite their affections; and that the love which should compel them, must itself be first compelled, in the same sense as it is said to compel: love, I know, is a most precious grace, and should have the chief interest in all our duties; but there are means appointed by GOD to procure this love; and shall I not use those means until I can use them from love That were to neglect the means until I have the end. Must I not seek to procure love, until I have it already There are means also for the increasing of love where it is begun, and means.for exciting it where it lieth dull; and must I not use these means, until it is increased and excited Fall upon the work, until thou art constrained to love; and then love will constrain thee to further duty.

 

 3. As thy heart will be loitering, so will it be diverting. It will be turning aside like a careless servant, to talk with every one that passeth by: when there should be nothing in thy mind, but the work in hand; it will be thinking of thy calling, or of thy afflictions, or of every bird, or tree; or place, thou seest, or of any impertinency, rather than of heaven. The cure here is the same with that before; to use watchfullness and violence with your own imaginations, and as soon as they step out, to chide them in. Drive away these birds of prey from thy sacrifice, and strictly keep thy heart to the work thou art upon.

 

 4. Lastly, Be sure also to look to thy heart in this, that it cut not off the work before the time, and run not away through weariness, before it have leave. Thou shalt find it exceeding prone to this. Thou mayest easily perceive it in other duties: if in secret thou set thyself to pray, is not thy heart urging thee still to cut it short Dost thou not frequently find a motion to have done Art thou not ready to be up, as soon almost as thou art down on thy knees So it will be also in thy contemplation of heaven; as fast as thou gettest up thy heart, it will be down again; it will be weary of the work; it will be minding thee of other business to be done, and stop thy heavenly walk, before thou art well warm. What is to be done in this case also Why, the same authority and resolution which brought it to the work, and observed it in the work, must hold it to it, until the work be done. Stick to the work until thy graces be acted, thy affections raised, and thy soul refreshed with the delights above; or if thou canst not obtain these ends at once, ply it the closer the next time, and let it not go until thou feel the blessing. a Blessed is that servant, whom his LORD, when he cometh, shall find so doing."

 

 Thus I have directed you in this work of heavenly contemplation, and led you into the path where you may walk with God. But because I would bring it down to the capacity of the meanest, and help their memories who are apt to let slip the former particulars, I shall here contract the whole, and lay it before you in a narrower compass. But still I wish thee to remember, it is the practice of a duty that I am directing thee in, and therefore, if thou wilt not practice it, do not read it.

 

 The sum is this, As thou makest conscience of praying daily, so do thou of meditation; and more especially on the joys of heaven. To this end, set apart an hour, or half an hour every day, wherein thou mayest lav aside all worldly thoughts, and with all possible seriousness and reverence, as if thou wert to speak with God himself, or to have a sight of CHRIST, or of that blessed place; so withdraw thyself into some secret place, and set thyself wholly to the following work: if thou canst, take ISAAC'S time and place, who " went forth into the field in the evening to meditate: “ but if thou be a, servant or poor man that cannot have that leisure, take the fittest time and place that thou canst, though it be when thou art private about thy labors.

 

 When thou settest to the work, look up toward heaven, let thine eye lead thee as near as it can; remember, that there is thine everlasting rest; study its excellency, study its reality, until thy unbelief be silenced, and thy faith prevail: if thy judgment be not yet drawn to admiration, use those sensible helps and advantages which were even now laid down. Compare thy heavenly joys with the choicest on earth, and so rise up from sense to faith; if this mere consideration prevail not, then plead the case with thy heart preach upon this text of heaven to thyself; convince, inform, confute, instruct, reprove, examine, admonish, encourage, and comfort thy own soul from this celestial doctrine; draw forth those several considerations of thy rest, on which thy several affections may work, especially that affection or grace which thou intendest to act. If it be love which thou wouldest act, show it the loveliness of heaven, and how suitable it is to thy condition: if it be desire, consider thy absence from this lovely object: if it be hope, consider the possibility and probability of obtaining it. if it be courage, consider the singular assistance and encouragements which thou mayest receive from God, the weakness of the enemy, and the necessity of prevailing: if it be joy, consider its excellent ravishing glory, thy interest in it, and its certainty, and the nearness of the time when thou mayest possess it. Urge these considerations home to thy heart; whet them with all possible seriousness upon each affection: if thy heart draw back, force it to the work; if it loiter, spur it on; if it step aside, command it in again; if it would slip away, and leave the work, use thine authority; keep it close to the business, until thou hast obtained thine end; stir not away, if it may be, until thy love flame, until thy joy be raised, or until thy desire or other graces be lively. Call in assistance also from GOD, mix ejaculations with thy soliloquies; until having seriously pleaded the case with thy heart, and reverently pleaded the case with God, thou hast pleaded thyself from a clod to a flame, from a forgetful sinner to a mindful lover; from a lover of the world, to a thirster after GOD; from a fearful coward, to a resolved Christian. In a word, what will not be done one day, do it the next, until thou hast pleaded thy heart from earth to heaven; from conversing below, to a walking with Gon; and until thou cant lay thy heart to rest, as in the bosom of CHRIST, in this meditation of thy full and everlasting rest,

 

CHAPTER 10:

 

An Example of this Heavenly Contemplation, for the Help of the Unskillful.

 

 Rest! How sweet a word is this to mine ears! Methinks the sound doth turn to substance, and having entered at the ear, descendeth down to my very heart: methinks I feel it stir and work, and that through all my parts and powers, but with a various work upon my various parts. To my wearied senses and languid spirits, it seems a quieting powerful opiate; to my dull powers it is spirit and life; to my dark eyes, it is both eye-salve, and a prospective; to my taste it is sweetness; to mine ears it is melody; to my hands and feet, it is strength and nimbleness: methinks I feel it digest as it proceeds, and increase my native heat and moisture, and lying as a reviving cordial at my heart, from thence doth send forth lively spirits, which beat through all the pulses of my soul. Rest! not as the stone that rests upon the earth, nor as these clods of flesh shall rest in the grave; so our beasts must rest as well as we; nor is it the satisfying of our fleshly lusts, nor such a rest as the carnal world desireth: No, no; we have another kind of rest than these. Rest we shall from our labors, which were but the way and means to rest; but yet that is the smallest part. O blessed rest, where we shall never rest, day nor night, crying, "Holy, holy, holy, LORD God of Sabbath! " Where we shall rest from sin, but not from worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from solace! O blessed day, when I shall rest with GOD; when I shall rest in the arms and bosom of my LORD; when I shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising; when my perfect soul and body together, shall in these perfect actings, perfectly enjoy the most perfect God when GOD also, who is love itself, shall perfectly love me, and rejoice over me with joy and singing, as I shall rejoice in him! How near is that most blessed joyful day It comes apace; even " He that comes will come, and will not tarry: “ though my LORD seem to delay his coming, yet a little while and he will be here. What is a few hundred years when they are over How surely will his sign appear; and how suddenly will he seize upon the careless world Even as the lightning that shines from east to west, in a moment. He who is gone hence, will even so return: methinks I hear the voice of his foregoers! Methinks I see him in the clouds, with the attendance of his angels in majesty and glory! O poor secure sinners, what will you now do where will you hide yourselves, or what shall cover you Mountains are gone, the earth and heavens that were, are passed away, the devoring fire has consumed all, except yourselves, who must be the fuel for ever. O that you could consume as soon as the earth, and melt away as did the heavens! Ah, these wishes are now but vain; the Lamb himself would have been your friend, he would have loved you, and ruled you, and now have saved you; but you would not then, and now it is too late! Never cry, LORD, LORD: too late, too late, man. Why dost thou look about Can any save thee Whither dost thou run Can any hide thee O wretch, that hast brought thyself to this! Now blessed are ye that have believed and obeyed; this is the end of your faith and patience; this is that for which ye prayed and waited. Do you now repent your sufferings and sorrows your self-denying and holy walking Are your tears of repentance now bitter or sweet O see how the Judge doth smile upon you! There is love in his looks: the titles of Redeemer, Husband, Head, are written in his amiable face. Hark! doth he not call you He bids you stand here on his right band; fear not, for there he sets his sheep. O joyful sentence pronounced by his mouth! "Come, ye blessed of my FATHER, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world." See how your SAVIOR takes you by the hand, the door is open; the kingdom is his, and therefore yours there is your place before his throne; the FATHER receiveth you as the spouse of his SON; he bids you welcome to the crown of glory; never so unworthy, crowned you must be: This was the project of free redeeming grace, the purpose of eternal love. O blessed grace! O blessed love! O the frame that my soul shall then be in! But I cannot express it! I cannot conceive it!

 

 This is that joy which was procured by sorrow; this is that crown which was procured by the cross: my LORI) did weep, that now my tears might be wiped away; he did bleed, that I might no' rejoice; he was forsaken, that I might not now be forsaken; he did then die, that I might now live. This weeping, wounded LORD, shall I behold this bleeding SAVIOR shall I see, and live in him that died for me. O free mercy, that can exalt so vile a wretch free to me, though dear to CHRIST! Here must I live with all these saints! O comfortable meeting of my old acquaintance, with whom I prayed, and wept, and suffered; with whom I spake of this day and place! I see the grave could not contain you; the sea and earth must give up their dead; the same love has redeemed and saved you also. This is not like our cottages of clay, our prisons, or earthly dwellings. This voice of joy is not like our old complainings, our groans, our sighs, our impatient moans; nor this melodious praise like our scorns and revilings, nor like the oaths and curses which we heard on earth: this body is not like the body we had, nor this soul like the soul we had, nor this life like the life that then we lived; we have changed our place, we have changed our state, our clothes, our thoughts, our looks, our language; we have changed our company for the greater part, and the rest of our company is changed itself. Before, we were weak and despised, but now, how glorious! Where are now our different judgments, our divided spirits Now we are all of one judgment, of one name, of one heart, of one house, and of one glory. O sweet reconcilement! O happy union! which makes us first to be one with CHRIST, and then one with ourselves! Now our differences shall be dashed in our teeth no more, nor the Gospel reproached through our folly. O my soul, thou shalt no more lament the sufferings of the saints; never more condole the Church's ruins; never bewail thy suffering friends, nor he wailing over their death-beds, or their graves. 

 

 Thou shalt never suffer thy old temptations from SATAN, the world, or thy own flesh; thy body will no more be such a burthen to thee; thy pains and sicknesses are all now cured; thou shalt be troubled with weakness and weariness no more; thy head is not now an aching head, nor thy heart now an aching heart; thy hunger and thirst, and cold and sleep, thy labor and study, are all gone. O what a mighty change is this! from the dunghill to the throne; from a body as vile as a carrion in the ditch, to a body as bright as the sun in the firmament; from all my doubts and fears, to this possession which has put me out of doubt; from all my fearful thoughts of death, to this most blessed joyful life! O what a change is this! Farewell sin and suffering for ever: now welcome most holy, heavenly nature; which as it must be employed in beholding the face of GOD, SO is it full of GOD alone, and delighted in nothing but him. O who can question the love which he doth so freely taste or doubt of that which, with such joy, be feeleth Farewell repentance, confession, and supplication; farewell hope and faith; and welcome love, and joy, and praise. I shall now have my harvest without ploughing or sowing; my wine without the labor of the vintage; my joy without a Preacher or a promise, even all from the face of GOD himself. Whatever mixture is in the streams, there is nothing but pure joy in the fountain. Here shall I be encircled with eternity, and come forth no more: here shall I live, and ever live; and praise my LORD, and ever, ever praise him. My face will not wrinkle, nor my hair be gray, but "this mortal has put on immortality, and this corruptible incorruption, and death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory! " The date of my lease will no more expire, nor shall I lose my joys through fear of losing them. When millions of ages are past, my glory is but beginning; and when millions more are past, it is no nearer ending. Every day is all noontide, and every month is May or harvest, and every year is there a jubilee, and every age is full manhood; and all this but one eternity. O blessed eternity the glory of my glory! the perfection of my perfection.

 

 Ah drowsy, earthy, blockish heart, how coldly dost thou think of this reviving day Dost thou sleep when thou thinkest of eternal rest Art thou hanging earthward, when heaven is before thee Hadst thou rather sit thee down in dung, than walk in the court of the presence of God Dost thou now remember thy worldly business Art thou thinking of thy delights Wretched heart, is it better to be there, than above with GOD Is the company better Are the pleasures greater Come away, make no excuse, make no delay; God commands, and I command thee; Come away; gird up thy LORDs, ascend the mount, and look about thee with seriousness and with faith. Look thou not back upon the way of the wilderness, except it be when thine eyes are dazzled with the glory, or when thou wouldest compare the kingdom with that howling desert, that thou mayest more sensibly perceive the mighty’difference. Fix thine eye upon the sun itself, and look not down to earth as long as thou art able to behold it except it be to discern more easily the brightness of the one, by the darkness of the other. Yonder is thy Father's glory: yonder must thou dwell when thou leavest this earth; yonder must thou remove, O my soul, when thou departest from this body; and when the power of thy LORD has raised it again, and joined thee to it, yonder must thou live with God for ever. There is the glorious "New, Jerusalem, the gates of pearl, the foundations of pearl, the streets and pavements of transparent gold." Seest thou that sun which lighteth all the world Why, it must be. taken down as useless there, or the glory of heaven will darken it, and put it out; even thyself shall be as bright as yonder shining, sun; "God. will be the sun, and CHRIST the light, and in his light shalt thou have light."

 

 O wretched heart, has GOD made thee a promise of rest, and wilt thou come short of it, and shut out thyself through unbelief Thine eyes may fail thee, thy ears deceive thee, and all thy senses. prove delusions, sooner than a promise of GOD. can delude thee. Thou mayest be surer of that which is written in the word, than if thou see it with thy eyes, or feel it with thy hands. Art thou sure thou livest Or sure that this is the earth which thou standest on Art thou sure thine eyes see the sun As sure is all this glory to the saints, as sure shall I be higher than yonder stars, and live for ever in the holy city, and joyfully sound forth the praise of my Redeemer, if I be not shut out by " this evil heart of unbelief, causing me to depart from the living GOD."

 

 And is this rest so sweet, and so sure! O then, what means the careless world! Do they know what it is they so neglect Did they ever hear of it, or are they yet asleep Do they know for certain that the crown is before them, while they thus sit still, or follow trifles; when they are hasting so fast to another world, and their eternal happiness lies at stake Were there left one spark of reason, they would never sell their rest for toil, their glory for worldly vanities. Ali, poor men! That, you would once consider what you hazard, and then you would scorn these tempting baits. O blessed for ever be that love, that has rescued me from this mad bewitching darkness!

 

 Draw nearer yet, O my soul; bring forth thy strongest love; here is matter for it to work upon. O see what beauty presents itself! Is it not exceeding lovely Is not all the beauty in the world contracted here Is not all other beauty deformity to it Dost thou need to be persuaded now to love Here is a feast for thine eyes; a feast for all the powers of thy soul. Dost thou need to be entreated to feed upon it Canst thou love a little shining earth Canst thou love a walking piece of clay And canst thou not love that God, that CHRIST, that glory, which is so truly and Immeasurably lovely! Thou canst love thy friend because he loves thee. And is the love of friends like the love of CHRIST Their weeping or bleeding for thee doth not ease thee, nor stay the course of thy tears or blood: but the tears and blood that fell from thy LORD, have all a sovereign healing virtue, and are waters of life, and balsam to thy fainting’ sores. O my soul! if love deserve, and should procure love, what incomprehensible love is here before thee! Pour out all the store of thy affections here: and all is too little. O that it were more! Let him be first served, that served thee first let him have the strength of thy love, who parted with

 

strength and life in love to thee: if thou hast any to spare when he has his part, let it be imparted then to standers by. See what a sea of love is here before thee; cast thyself in this ocean of his love: fear not, though it seem a furnace of fire, and the hottest that was ever kindled upon earth, yet it is the fire of love, and not of wrath; a fire most effectual to extinguish fire; never intended to consume, but to glorify thee. Venture into it, then, in thy believing meditations, and walk in these flames with the SON of GOD; when thou art once in, thou wilt be sorry to come forth again. O my soul, what wantest thou here to provoke thy love Dost thou love for excellency Why thou seest nothing below but baseness, except as they relate to thy enjoyments above. Yonder is the Goshen, the region of light; this is a land of palpable darkness. Yonder stars, that shining moon, the radiant sun, are all but as the lanterns hanged out at thy father's house to light thee while thou walkest in the dark streets of the earth: but little dost thou know the glory that is within Dost thou love for suitableness Why, what person more suitable than CHRIST His Godhead, his manhood, his fullness, his freeness, his willingness, his constancy; do all proclaim him thy most suitable friend. What state more suitable to thy misery, than that of mercy Or to thy sinfulness and baseness, than that of honor and perfection What place more suitable to thee than heaven Thou halt had a sufficient trial of this world: dost thou find it agree with thy nature or desires Are these common abominations, these heavy sufferings, these unsatisfying vanities suitable to thee Or dost thou love for interest and near relation Where hast thou better interest than in heaven Or where hast thou nearer relation than there Dost thou love for acquaintance and familiarity Why, though thine eyes have never seen thy LORD, yet he is never the further from thee. If thy son were blind, yet he would love thee his father, though he never saw thee. Thou hast heard the voice Of CHRIST to thy very heart, thou hast received his benefits, thou hast lived in his bosom, and art thou not yet acquainted with him It is he that brought thee seasonably and safely into the world; it is he that nursed thee in thy tender infancy, and helped thee when thou couldest not help thyself. He taught thee to go, to speak, to read, to understand; he taught thee to. know thyself and him: he opened thee that first window whereby thou sawest into heaven: hast thou forgotten since thy heart was careless, and he did quicken it, and make it yield When it was at peace, and he did trouble it; and broken, until he did heal it again Hast thou forgotten the' time, nay, the many times, when he found thee in secret all in tears; when he heard thy sighs and groans, and left all to come and comfort thee When he came in upon thee, and took thee up, as it were in his arms, and asked thee, Poor soul, what aileth thee Dost thou weep, when I have wept so much Be of good cheer, thy wounds are saving, and not deadly. It is I that have made them, who mean thee no hurt: though I let out thy blood, I will not let out thy life.

 

 Methinks I remember yet his voice, and feel those arms that took me up. How gently did he handle me! How carefully did he dress my wounds and bind them tip! Methinks I hear him still saying, Though thou hast dealt unkindly with me, yet will not I do so by thee; though thou hast set light by me and all my mercies, yet both I and all are thine; what wouldest thou have that I cannot give thee and what dost thou want that I cannot give thee If any thing in heaven and earth will make thee happy, it is all thine own. Wouldest thou have pardon Thou shalt have it; I freely forgive thee all the debt.

 

 Wouldest thou have grace and peace thou shalt have them both. Wouldest thou have myself Behold, I am thine, thy Friend, thy LORD, thy Husband, and thy Head. Wouldest thou have the FATHER I will bring thee to him; and thou shalt have him in and by me. These were my LORD’s reviving words; these were the melting, healing, quickening passages of love. After all this, when I was doubtful of his love: methinks I yet remember his convincing arguments.-Have I done so much to testify my love, and yet dost thou doubt Have I made thy believing it the condition of enjoying it, and yet dost thou doubt Have I offered thee myself so long, and yet dost thou question my willingness to he thine " What could I have done more than I have done " At what dearer rate should I tell thee that I love thee! Read the story of my bitter passion: Wilt thou not believe that it proceeded from love Did I ever give thee cause to be so jealous of me or to think so hardly of me, as thou dost Have I made myself in the Gospel a lion to thine enemies, and a lamb to thee; and dost thou so overlook my lamblike nature Have I set mine arms and heart there open to thee, and wilt thou not believe but they are shut If I had been willing to let thee perish, I could have done it at a cheaper rate. What need I then have done and suffered so much What need I follow thee with so long patience, and entreating What dost thou tell me of thy wants Have I not enough for me and thee And why dost thou tell me of thy unworthiness, and thy sin I had not died, if man had not sinned: if thou wert not a sinner, thou Overt not for me: if thou Overt worthy thyself, what shouldest thou do with my worthiness Did I ever invite the worthy and the righteous or, did I ever save or justify such or is there any such on earth Hast thou nothing Art thou lost- and miserable Art thou helpless and forlorn Dost thou believe that I am a sufficient Savior, and wouldest thou have me Why, then, take me: lo, I am thine; if thou be willing, I am willing, and neither sin nor devils shall break the match.

 

 These, O these were the blessed words, which his SPIRIT from his Gospel spoke unto me, until he made me cast myself at his feet, yea into his arms, and cry out, "My SAVIOR and my LORD, thou hast broken my heart, thou hast revived my heart, thou hast overcome, thou hast won my heart; take it,-it is thine. If such a heart can please thee, take it; if it cannot, make it as thou wouldest have it."

 

 Thus, O my soul, mayest thou remember the sweet familiarity thou hast had with CHRIST; therefore, if acquaintance will cause affection, O then knit thy heart unto him; it is he that has stood by thy bed of sickness, that has corded thy heats, and eased thy pains, and refreshed thy weariness, and removed thy fears; he has been always ready, when thou hast earnestly sought him; he has given thee the meeting in public and in private; he has been found of thee in the congregation, in thy house, in thy chamber, in the field, in the way as thou west walking, in thy waking nights, in thy deepest dangers. If bounty and compassion be an attractive of love, how unmeasurably then am I hound to love him! All the mercies that have filled up my life, tell me this; all the places that ever I did abide in, every condition of life that I have passed through, all my employments, and all my relations, every change that has befallen me, all tell me, that the fountain is overflowing goodness.

 

 LORD, what a sum of love am I indebted to thee, and how doth my debt continually increase! How should I love again for so much love! But what! shall I dare to think of making thee requital, or of recompensing all thy love with mine Will my mite requite thee for thy golden mines or mine, which is nothing, or not mine, for thine which is infinite and thine own Shall I dare to contend in love with thee or set my borrowed spark against the sun of love Can I love as high, as deep, as broad, as long as Love itself; as much as he that made me, and that made me live, that gave me all that little which I have Both the heart, the fire, the fuel, and all were his.

 

 As I cannot match thee in the works of thy power, nor make, nor preserve, nor guide the world; so why should I think any more of matching thee in love No, LORD, I yield; I am overcome; O blessed conquest! Go on victoriously, and still prevail, and triumph in thy love; the captive of love shall proclaim thy victory, when thou leadest me in triumph from earth to heaven, from death to life, from the tribunal to the throne; myself, and all that see it, shall acknowledge that thou hast prevailed, and all shall say, "Behold, how he loved him!" Yet, let me love thee, in subjection to thy love, as thy redeemed captive, though I cannot reach thy measure.

 

 O my soul, begin it here; be sick of love now, that thou mayest be well with love there; keep thyself now in the love of God, and let neither life nor death, nor any thing separate thee from it, and thou shalt be kept in the fullness of love for ever; for the LORD has prepared a city of love, a place for the communicating of love to his chosen, and those that love his name shall dwell there.

 

 Away then, O my drowsy soul, from this world's uncomfortable darkness! The night of thy ignorance and misery is past; the day of glorious light is at hand; this is the day-break betwixt them both. Though thou see not yet the sun itself appear, methinks the twilight of promise should revive thee. Come forth, then, and leave these earthly cells, and hear thy LORD that bids thee rejoice, and again rejoice! Thou hast lain here long enough in thy prison of flesh, where SATAN has been thy gaoler, where cares have been thy irons, and fears thy scourge, and the bread and water of affliction thy food; where sorrows have been thy lodging, and a carnal, hard, unbelieving heart the iron gates and bars that have kept thee in, that thou couldest scarce have leave to look through the lattices, and see one glimpse of the immortal light. The Angel of the Covenant now calls thee, and strikes thee, and bids thee arise and follow him: Up, O my soul, and cheerfully obey, and thy bolts and bars shall all fly open; do thou obey, and all will obey; follow the Lamb which way ever he leads thee. Art thou afraid, because thou knowest not whither Can the place be worse than where thou art Shouldest thou fear to follow such a Guide Can the sun lead thee to a state of darkness Or can he mislead thee that 11 is the light that mighteth every man that come into the world" Will he lead thee to death, who died to save thee from it Or can he do thee any hurt, who for thy sake did suffer so much Follow him, and he will show thee the Paradise of GOD; he will give thee a sight of the New Jerusalem; he will give thee a taste of the tree of life. Thy winter is past, and wilt thou house thyself still in earthly thoughts, and confine thyself to drooping and dullness

 

 Come forth, O my drooping soul, and lay aside thy winter mourning robes; let it be seen in thy believing joys and praise, that the day is appearing, and the spring is come; and as now thou seest thy comforts green, thou shalt shortly see them white, and ripe for harvest; and then thou who art now called forth to see and taste, shalt be called forth to reap, and gather, and take possession. Shall I suspend and delay my joys until then Should not the joys of the spring go before the joys of harvest Is the heir in no better a state than the slave My LORD has taught me to rejoice in the hope of his glory, and to see it through the bars of a prison; and even when I am "persecuted for righteousness' sake," when I am "reviled, and all manner of evil said against me for his sake," then he has commanded me to "rejoice and be exceeding glad, because of this my great reward in heaven." How justly is an unbelieving heart possessed by sorrow, and made a prey to cares and fears, when itself doth create them, and thrust away its offered peace and oy! I know it is the pleasure of my bounteous LORD, that none of his family should want comfort, nor live such a poor and miserable life, nor look with such a famished, dejected face. I know he would have my joys exceed my sorrows; and as much as he delights in the humble and contrite, yet doth he more delight in the soul as it delighteth in him. Has my LORD spread me a table in this wilderness, and furnished it with promises of everlasting glory, and set before me angels' food, and broached for me the side of his beloved SON, that I might have a better wine than the blood of the grape Doth he so importunately invite me to sit down, and draw forth my faith, and feed, and spare not Nay, has he furnished me to that end with reason, and faith, and a rejoicing disposition And yet is it possible that he should be unwilling I should rejoice Never think it, O my unbelieving soul; nor dare to charge him with thy uncomfortable heaviness, who offereth thee the foretaste of the highest delight that heaven can afford, and GOD can bestow. Doth he not bid thee "delight thyself in the LORD" and promise to give thee "the desires of thy heart" Math he not charged thee to "rejoice evermore" yea, to "sing aloud, and shout for joy"

 

 Away, you cares and fears! Away, you importunate sorrows! Stay here below, whilst I go up and see my rest. The way is strange to me, but not to CHRIST. There was the eternal dwelling of his glorious Deity; and thither has he also brought his glorified flesh. It was his work to purchase it; it is his work to prepare it, and to prepare me for it, and to bring me to it. The eternal GOD of truth has given me his promise, his seal, and his oath to assure me, that "believing in CHRIST, I shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Thither shall my soul be speedily removed, and my body shortly follow. And can my tongue say, that I shall shortly and surely live with GOD, and yet my heart not leap within me Can I say it believingly, and not rejoicingly Ah, faith, how do I perceive thy weakness! Ah, unbelief, if I had never known it before, how sensibly do I now perceive thy malicious tyranny! But were it not for thee, what abundance might I have The light of heaven would shine into my heart, and I might be as familiar there as I am on earth.

 

 Come away, my soul, then; stand not looking on that grave, nor turning those bones, nor reading thy lesson in • the dust; those lines will soon be wiped out: but lift up thy head, and look to heaven, and read thy instructions in those fixed stars; or yet look higher than those eyes can see, into that foundation which standeth sure, and see the name written in the book of life. What if an angel should come from heaven and tell thee, that there is a mansion prepared for thee; that it shall certainly be thine own, and thou shalt possess it for ever: would not such a message make thee glad And dost thou make light of the infallible word of promises which were delivered by the SPIRIT, and by the So N himself

 

 What delight have I found in my private studies, especially when they have prospered to the increase of knowledge! Methinks I could bid the world farewell, and immure myself among my books, and look forth no more, (were it a lawful course,) but shut the doors upon me, and among those divine souls employ myself in sweet content, and pity the rich and great ones that know not this happiness. Sure then it is a lliigh delight indeed, which in the lap of eternity is enjoyed!

 

 If the Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia to hear the wisdom of SOLOMON, and see his glory; O how gladly should I pass from earth to heaven, to see the glory of that eternal Majesty; and to attain myself that height of wisdom, in comparison of which the most learned on earth are but fools and idiots! If the heaven of glass, which the Persian Emperor framed, were so glorious a piece, and the heaven of silver which the Emperor FERDINAND sent to the Great Turk, because of their rare artificial representations and motions, what will the heaven of heavens be, which is not formed by the art of man, nor beautified like these childish toys, but is the matchless palace of the Great King, built by himself for the residence of his glory, and the perpetual entertainment of his beloved saints!

 

 I cannot here enjoy my parents, or my beloved friends, without some delight; what will it then be to live in the perpetual love of GOD! For brethren here to live together in unity, how good and pleasant a thing is it! To see a family live in love: husbands, wives, parents, children, servants, doing all in love one to another! O then, what a blessed society will be the family of heaven, and those peaceable inhabitants of the New Jerusalem! where is no division, nor disaffection, nor strangeness, nor deceitful friendship,-never an angry thought or look, never an unkind expression; but all are one in CHRIST, who is one with the FATHER, and live in the love of Love himself!

 

 Awake, then, O my drowsy soul, and look above this world of sorrow! Hast thou borne the yoke of afflictions from thy youth, and so long felt the smarting rod, and yet cant no better understand its meaning Is not every stroke to drive thee hence And is not the voice like that to ELIJAH, "What doest thou here" Up, and away. Dost thou forget that sure prediction of the LORD: " In the world ye shall have trouble, but in me ye shall have peace" The first thou hast found true by long experience, and of the latter thou hast had a small foretaste; but the perfect peace is yet before, which until it be enjoyed cannot be clearly understood.

 

 Ah, my LORD, I feel thy meaning; it is written in my flesh; it is engraven in my bones. My heart thou aimest at; thy rod doth drive, thy silken cord of love doth draw; and all to bring it to thyself. Can such a heart be worth thy having Make it so, LORD, and then it is thine; take it to thyself, and then take me. I can but reach it toward thee, and not onto thee; I am too low, and it is too dull; this clod has life to stir, but not to rise. As the feeble child to the tender mother, it looketh up to thee, and stretcheth out the hands, and fain would have thee take it up. Indeed, LO RD, my soul is in a strait, and what to choose I know not; but thou knowest what to give. To depart, and be with thee, is best; but yet to be in the flesh seems needful. Thou knowest I am not weary of thy work; I am willing to stay while thou wilt here employ me, and to despatch the work which thou hast put into my hands; but I beseech thee stay no longer when this is done, and while I must be here, let me be still amending and ascending; make me still better, and take me at the best. I dare not be so impatient of living, as to importune thee to cut off my time, and urge thee to snatch me hence; nor yet would I stay when my work is done, and remain under thy feet, while they are in thy bosom. I am thy child as well as they; CHRIST is my Head, as well as theirs; why is there, then, so great a distance I acknowledge the equity of thy ways: though we are all children, yet I am the prodigal, and therefore meeter in this remote country to feed on husks, while they are always with thee, and possess thy glory. But they were once in my condition, and I shall shortly be in theirs; they were of the lowest form, before they came to the highest; they suffered before they reigned; they came out of great tribulation, who now are standing before thy throne. And shall not I be content to come to the crown as they did and to drink of their cup before I sit with them in the kingdom I am contented, O my LORD, to stay thy time, and go thy way, so thou wilt exalt me also in thy season, and take me into thy barn when thou seest me ripe. In the mean time I may desire, though I am not to repine; I may believe and wish, though not make sinful haste. I am content to wait, but not to lose thee; and when thou seest me too contented with thine absence, quicken then my dull desires, and blow up the dying spark of love; and leave me not until I am able unfeignedly to cry out, "As the hart panteth after the brooks, and the dry land thirsteth for water-streams, so thirsteth my soul after thee, O God. When shall I come and appear before the living GOD" What interest has this empty world in me And what is there in it that may seem so lovely, as to entice my desires and delight in thee, or to make me loath to come away Draw forth my soul to thyself by the secret power of thy love, as the sun-shine in the spring draws forth the creatures from their winter-cells; meet it half way, and entice it to thee, as the loadstone doth the iron; dispel the clouds that hide from me thy love, or remove the scales that hinder mine eyes from beholding thee; for only the beams that stream from thy face, and the taste of thy salvation, can make a soul unfeignedly say, "LORD, now let thy servant depart in peace."

 

 Send forth thy convoy of angels for my departing soul, and let them bring it among the perfect spirits of the just, and let me follow my dear friends that have died in CHRIST before; and when my friends are crying over my grave, let my spirit be reposed with thee in rest; and when my corpse shall he there rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light. And O, thou that numberest the hairs of my head, number all the days that my body lies in the dust; thou that writest all my members in thy book, keep an account of all my scattered bones; and hasten, O my Savior, the time of thy return; send forth thine angels, and let that dreadful, joyful trumpet sound; delay not, lest the living give’up their hopes; delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and lest thy Church, by division, be crumbled to dust; delay not, lest thine enemies get advantage of thy flock, and lest pride, and hypocrisy, and sensuality, and unbelief, should prevail against thy little remnant, and share among them thy whole inheritance, and when thou comest thou find not faith on the earth. Delay not, lest the grave should boast of victory, and refuse to deliver thee up thy due. O hasten that great resurrection day, when thy command shall go forth, and none shall disobey; when the sea and earth shall yield up their hostages, and all that sleep in the grave shall awake, and the dead in CHRIST shall first arise; when the seed that thou lowest corruptible shall come forth incorruptible; and graves that received but rottenness, and retained but dust, shall return thee glorious stars and suns. Therefore dare I lay down my carcase in the dust, entrusting it, not to a grave, but to thee; and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, until thou raise it to the everlasting rest. a Return, O Lo RD, how long " O "let thy kingdom come!" Thy desolate bride says, " Come; " for thy SPIRIT within her says, " Come," who teacheth her thus to pray with groanings which cannot be expressed. The whole creation says, "Come; waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of GOD." Thyself has said, " Surely I come; Amen, even so, come, LORD JESUS."

 

THE CONCLUSION.

 

 Thus, Reader, I have given thee my best advice for the attaining and maintaining, a heavenly’conversation. The manner is imperfect, and too much my own; but for the main matter I received it from Go D: from him I deliver it to thee, and his charge I lay upon thee, that thou entertain and practice it. If thou canst not'do it fully, do it as thou canst; only be sure thou do it seriously and frequently. If thou wilt believe.a man that has, made some small trial of it, thou shalt find it will make thee another man, and elevate thy soul, and clear thy understanding, and leave a pleasant savor upon thy heart; so that thy own experience will make thee confess, that one hour thus spent will more effectually revive thee, than many in bare external duties; and a day in these contemplations will afford thee truer content, than all the glory and riches of the earth. Be acquainted with this work, and thou wilt be acquainted with GOD: thy joys will be spiritual and lasting; thou wilt have comfort in life, and comfort in death: when thou hast neither health nor wealth, nor the pleasures of this world, yet wilt thou have comfort. Comfort without the presence or help of any friend; without a Minister, without a book, when all means are denied thee, or taken from thee, yet mayest thou have vigorous, real comfort. Thy graces will be active and victorious; and the daily joy which is thus fetched from heaven, will be thy strength g thou wilt be as one that standeth on the top of an exceeding high mountain; he looks down on the world as if it we ~ quite below him; how small do the fields, and woods, those countries seem to him! Cities and towns seem but little spots: thus despicably wilt thou look on all things here below: the greatest Princes will seem but as grasshoppers, and the busy, contentious, covetous world, but as heaps of ants. Men's threatenings will be no terror to thee; nor the honors of this world any strong enticement; temptations will be harmless, as having lost their strength; and afflictions less

 

grievous, as having lost their sting; and every mercy will be better known and relished.

 

 Reader, it is, under GOD, in thy own choice now, whether thou wilt live this blessed life or not; and whether all this pains which I have taken for thee, shall prosper or be lost. If it be lost through thy laziness, (which God forbid,) thou wilt prove the greatest loser thyself.

 

 O man, what hast thou to mind, but GOD and heaven Art thou not almost out of this world already Dost thou not look every day, when one disease or other will let out thy soul Doth not the bier stand ready to carry thee to the grave, and the worms wait to feed upon thy face and heart What if thy pulse must beat a few strokes more And what if thou least a few more breaths to fetch, before thou breathe thy last And what if thou hast a few more nights to sleep, before thou sleep in the dust Alas, what will this be, when it is gone And is it not almost gone already Shortly thou wilt see thy glass run out, and say thyself, My life is done! My time is gone! _There is nothing now, but heaven or hell. Where then should thy heart be now, but in heaven Didst thou but know what a dreadful thing it is to have a doubt of heaven, when a man lies dying, it would rouse thee up.

 

 O what a life might men live, if they were but willing and diligent! GOD would have our joys to be far more than our sorrows; yea, he would have us to have no sorrow, but what tendeth to joy; and no more than our sins have made necessary for our good. How much do those Christians wrong GOD and themselves, that either make their thoughts of God the inlet of their sorrows, or let these offered joys he by, as neglected or forgotten! Some there be, that say, It is not worth so much time or trouble, to think of the greatness of the joys above. But as these men obey not the command of GOD, which requireth them to have their affections on things above; so do they wilfully make their own lives miserable, by refusing the delights that GOD has set before them. And yet if this were all, it were a smaller matter; if it were but loss of their comforts, I would not say much: but see What abundance of other mischiefs follow the absence of these heavenly delights.

 

 First, It will damp, if' not destroy, our very love to GOD. So deeply as we apprehend his exceeding love to us, and his purpose to make us eternally happy, so much will it raise our love: love to GOD, and delight in him, are still conjunct. They that conceive of GOD as one that desireth their blood and damnation, cannot heartily love him.

 

 Secondly, It will make us have rare and unpleasing thoughts of GOD; for our thoughts will follow our love and delight. Did we more delight in GOD than in any thing below, our thoughts would as freely run after him, as they now run from him.

 

Thirdly, And I,t will make men have as rare and unpleasing speech of God. For who will care for talking of that which he has no delight in, What makes men still talking of worldliness or wickedness, but that these are more pleasant to them than GOD

 

Fourthly, Men will have no delight in the service of GOD, when they have no delight in God, nor any sweet thoughts of heaven, which is the end of their services. No wonder if such Christians complain, that they are still backward to duty; that they have no delight in prayer, in sacraments, or in Scripture itself. If thou couldest once delight in God, thou wouldest easily delight in duty; especially that which brings thee into the nearest converse with him; but until then, no wonder if thou be weary of all,

 

 Fifthly, This want of heavenly delight will leave men under the power of every affliction; they will have nothing to comfort them, and ease them in their sufferings, but the empty, uneffectual pleasures of the flesh; and when that iss gone, where then is their delight

 

 Sixthly, It will make-them fearful and unwilling to die. For who would go to a God, or a place that he has no, delight in Or, who would leave. his pleasure here, except it were to go to better But if men take delight in God whilst they live, they will not tremble at the tidings of death.

 

 If GOD would persuade you now to make conscience of this duty, and help you in it by the blessed influence of his SPIRIT, you would not change your lives with the greatest Prince on earth. But I am afraid, if I may judge of your hearts by the backwardness of my own, that it will prove a hard thing to persuade you to the work. Pardon my jealousy, it is raised upon too many and sad experiments. What say you Do you resolve on this heavenly course' or no Will you let go all your sinful pleasures, and daily seek these higher delights I pray thee, Reader, consider of it, and resolve on the work before thou goest further. Let thy family perceive, let thy neighbors perceive, let thy conscience perceive, yea, let God perceive it, that thou art a man that hast thy conversation in heaven. GOD has now offered to be thy daily delight; thy neglect is thy refusal. Take heed what thou doest; refuse this, and refuse all: thou must have heavenly delights, or none that are lasting. God is willing thou shouldest daily walk with him, and fetch in consolation from the everlasting fountain: if thou be unwilling, bear the loss; and when thou liest dying, then seek for comfort where thou canst. O how is the unseen God neglected, and the unseen glory forgotten! and all for want of that." faith which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things that are not seen."

 

 But for you, whose hearts God has weaned from all things here below, I hope you will fetch one walk daily in the New Jerusalem! God is your love, and your desire; and I know you would fain be more acquainted with your SAVIOR; and I know it is your grief that your hearts are not more near him; and that they do no more passionately love and delight in him. As ever you would enjoy your desires, try this life of meditation on your everlasting rest.

 

 O thou, the merciful FATHER of spirits, the attractive of love, and ocean of delights, draw up these drossy hearts unto thyself, and keep them there until they are spiritualized and refined, and second these thy servant's weak endeavors, and persuade those that read these lines, to the practice of this delightful, heavenly work. O suffer not the soul of thy most unworthy servant to be a stranger to those joys which he unfoldeth to thy people, or to be seldom in that way which he has marked out to others; but, O keep me while I tarry on this earth, in daily serious breathings after thee, and in a believing, affectionate walking with thee; and when thou comest, O let me be found so doing, not hiding my talent, nor serving my flesh, nor yet asleep with my lamp unfurnished, but waiting and longing for my LORD'S return. That those who shall read these directions, may not reap only the fruit of my studies, but the breathings of my active hope and love. That if my heart were open to their view, they might there read the same most deeply engraven with a beam from the face of the SON of God,; and not find vanity, or lust, or pride within, where the words of life appear without; that so these lines may not witness against me; but proceeding from the heart of the writer, may be effectual through thy grace upon the heart of the Reader, and so be the savor of life to both. "Glory be to God in the highest: on earth, peace, goodwill towards men."