And whoever are bewitched by thee, and fall in love with thee; I will defy, and dread, and abhor thee; as the price of the blood of my foul; my poifon, my bane, my death and damnation. And never fhall my heart envy the Dives, the jolly finner, who is treasuring up to himself wrath againft the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; and foon will find the fad awakening, out of his golden dream; to open thofe eyes in the pains of hell, that were shut against all the things of his peace. O let me not eat of their dainties, that have fuch bitter and dreadful afterchewings; nor be taken with the broad and fmooth ways, that conduct to the black, horrible jail; whence there is never any getting out. May I ever live in his holy fear, that has power to kill and caft into hell; and cry fervently for mercy, in this day of mercy; that I may not be the curfed fubject of all this mifery. For a day or an hour may do that, to obtain pardon, peace, and grace now; which all eternity cannot do hereafter. Now then, may I take the time, to prevent the lofs of my foul; and think nothing too much to do for my fecurity, that on me the fecond death may have no power.

But, O my foul, how canft thou ever enough admire and celebrate the mercy, which here has found a remedy, to pluck thee, as a loft fheep, out of the jaws of hell; as a brand out of the everlasting fire; and paid thy ransom, for this thy faddeft portion! O how dear fhould thy Jefus be to thee; for delivering thee from the wrath to come; and that by his own paffion, which (through the infinite dignity of his divine perfon,) was even equivalent to this damnation! I will love thee, my Saviour, and mighty deliverer; and O that I may ftill find thee fuch to me! not only to fave me once, but even as often as I need. Save me, Lord, or I perifh. Save

me

me from that faddeft end, even the foreft of all mi fery, which fhall never end; and from every peril. ous path, that thither tends; for thy own fweet mercy's fake. Amen, Amen.

A

THE PRAYE R.

LMIGHTY and moft holy God! how intol erable is it, to endure thy dreadful wrath, "which it is fo grievous but to confider! O how "can I ever bear up under it, when it even kills

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my heart, but to think upon it! I have known "fome of thy terrors, O Lord; at fuch times as "thou haft made me feel that melting and horror "within my foul, which I am not able to utter "with my tongue: when my fins, fet home by thy

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Spirit's conviction, have caft me into confterna"tion, as a loft creature; in my own apprehenfion, "juft finking into everlafting damnation. O gra"cious Father! teach and help me, fo to believe it, "and lay it to heart; that I may never come to groan "under it, and cry out, my punishment is greater "than I can bear: all is loft: there is no hope: the

mercy of God is clean gone, for ever: he will be "favourable no more. O quicken me, I befeech "thee, to escape, for the life of my foul, and flee "from the wrath to come: that that I may not be "fwallowed up in the burning gulph of that fiery "indignation, O good God! keep me from dafh"ing against the rocks of prefumption; and from "every great and wilful tranfgreffion. Yea, give "me fuch a fhare in my bleffed Saviour's redemp. "tion; that whatever be my portion here, I may "not suffer for ever; but may have all my evil "things in this life, and hereafter, reft, and ease, "and fulness of joy and glory, in thy heavenly "kingdom everlafting. Amen.

MEDITATION XLVII.

Of Heaven.

MY foul, it does not yet appear, what thou

fhalt be. It is only heaven itself, will tell thee to the full, what heaven is. Though I am fure, it is an everlasting ftate of complete holiness, and perfect happiness: of fome things there, I can conclude with a certain knowledge, yet abundance more, I must leave to a prying faith, and probable conjecture: and for every particular, and for all the manner of the bleffed enjoyment, O what am I, that I fhould be accountable? I know there will be a full fatisfaction taken, in the vision and fruition of God: who having in himself, the fulness and perfection of all truth and goodness, is the bleffed centre, where happy fouls will, with the higheft extafies of joy above expreffion, fix for ever: as apprehending nothing at all, further to be known and loved, than what there is already seen and enjoyed. So much as now we have of God, fo much have we of heaven upon earth. For what indeed deferves the name of life, when we have not his face, with favour fhining upon us? but when he fhall be pleased to admit us into all the treasures of his goodness and love; and fill us all over, as full as ever we can hold, with his blessed felf, given us for our own; and, by his holy image perfected on our fouls, fit us to perceive, and to receive all that blifs into ourfelves then joy must needs be full indeed: fuch a joy, as we might read, and hear, and think of, but never faw, nor felt, nor understood before. For VOL. I. E e

here,

here; it is above our reach, even to imagine, as well as to enjoy. Though pleasure is all the world's darling, yet there is rather a troublesome hunting after it, than the eafy poffeffion of it. But God that is above all manner of uneafiness, and ever full of the highest pleasure, gives alfo the truth and complement of pleafure; where he vouchfafes to fhew and impart himself, in the way of favour and fweet endearment. He gives the pleasures that please even a God: and fuch alfo, wherewith he will fhew, how much he can please his creatures. And when we have travelled quite to our journey's end; and there find, not only all that we expected and hoped: but are moft gladly surprised with exceedingly more and better, than ever we could tell how to afk, or think; there we fhall lay down our staff, and take our ease, from any further purfuits: and never think of relinquishing the glorious object, wherein we find our fouls at full reft; and every thing to the very utmoft wishes of our hearts: even all fweet, and all good, without any diminishing mixture; nothing to damp the joy, nothing to dafh the pleasure. But day, without night; light, without clouds; calm, without ftorms; fulnefs, without fatiety; enjoyment, without fatigue. A perfect vacation from the trouble of feeking to mend our condition fatisfaction, without delufion, and be yond all our expreffion. Briefly, we fhall be quite as we would be: and have all, that ever we would have all the highest rejoicing, and all the reason in the world for it.

But where I cannot fpeak worthily of the glori ous fubject, yet I will not fo leave it. Because I know, 'tis not lefs material, than pleafant, to entertain ourselves with fome profpect of the joy fet before us; and to hearten ourfelves on, upon the way, by a contemplation of the bleffed end. And that I may not look upon heaven, as a blue, thin landfkip,

that

that gives only a faint confused fight of things at a distance; without the invitation, that is in objects near us, to be well difcerned by us: let us go, my foul, to Holy Scripture, (the great charter of our glorious hopes,) for fome better information: and there we fhall find more particular defcriptions, that are taking with us, and affecting to us; from the place, the company, the entertainments, the goods, and delights as in a kingdom, a city, a house, and paradife; ftocked and furnished with the noblest and eafieft fociety, the trueft and dearest friendship, the sweetest and best of all fruitions; the richest treasures, the highest honours, and all variety of the moft tranfporting pleasures. There is a kingdom, of the most wide extenfion, for the greatest foul to expatiate in; and not only to wear a crown, but to poffefs fuch dominions, as make the richest king on earth, a very poor man compared with the meanest faint in heaven. There is a city, that of the living God: the worst of whofe materials, and even its walls, and ftreets, are of pure gold: and the whole fo fet and adorned with all manner of precious ftones, that its magnificence, beauty, and luftre, outfhines all the most renowned cities upon earth; as much as gold is better than dirt; as a pearl outvies a pebble, a star excels a candle, or the fun a torch: yea, as God the Creator of heaven, outdoes all the builders on earth. A city, fo compact together; that all there are unanimous, and of one heart, and one foul; without ever the leaft breach, in deed, in word, or fo much as a thought but every one rejoices in another; and is even equally pleafed with his neighbour's bliss, as with his own. A city, that's free indeed; enjoying the moft glorious liberty, from the yoke of fin, from the bondage of death, from the fear of enemies, and from all the neceflities and drudgeries of the world.

There's