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Senfe and Appetite; take that away, and the Beast runs away with the Rider, and hastens him into a thousand inconveniencies.

CHAP. VI.

Of the various Advantages of ferious Confideration; it's that, which makes a Man Mafter of all Chriftian Duties; it helps a Man to improve Sublunary Objects into Heavenly Contemplations. It's the greatest Support under Afflictions; difpofes a Man to be a Worthy Receiver of the Lord's Supper; prepares him for an Angelical Life on Earth; makes him prudent and difcreet in Secular Affairs, and Bufiness.

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HO' in the preceding Chapters we have already in a great measure difcovered, what Man may hope for from Confideration, and of what ufe it is to a truly serious and Christian Life; yet we must not leave so rich a Subject thus, without giving an account of fome other pofitive Advantages, which do render it very defirable to a rational Man. And,

I. It hath most certainly a very great influence upon all Chriftian Duties; the Celestial Luminaries have not a greater influence upon the Bodies of Men, and Beasts, and Plants, than Confideration hath upon thefe Spiritual Endowments; whatever Qualification Chrift or his Apoftles require

require or recommend, it's by Confideration of the Excellency and Dignity of that Duty, that Men must expect to arrive to it.

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The First and Great Commandment is, Thou Jhalt love thy God with all thy heart, and with allthy foul, and with all thy mind. But he fhall never be Master of this Duty, that doth not frequently and seriously confider the immenfe and ftupendious Love of God to him; and indeed, then I may hope to be acquainted with a fincere and cordial Love to God, when I give leave to fuch Confiderations as thefe, to impregnate my Understanding. Omy God! Can I think of fo great, fo holy, fo infinite, fo merciful, fo munificent a Being, and forbear to be enamoured with thee? Thy Greatnefs over-awes, 'thy Holinefs directs, thy Infinity fupports, thy Mercy charms, thy Munificence invites thy poor unworthy Creatures: Whence are all my Mercies, but from thee? Thou art the Spring, the Fountain of them all. Whatever Bleffings are conveyed to me by the hands of fecond Caufes, they come originally from thee, and thou moveft and ordereít thofe fecond Caufes, to come in to my Affiftance. By thee have f been upheld ever fince I was born; when I lay in the shades of Nothing, thou didst awake me into a Being, gaveft me a Rational Soul, a Soul capable of admiring, adoring, and worshipping Thee; and ever fince thy Mercies have followed me; and thou hast been a Pillar of a Cloud unto me by Day, and a Pillar of Fire by Night; what Parts, Gifts or Abilities I have, they are thy Gifts, and Characters of thy Compaffion:

Thou

Thou ordereft my Steps, thou art about my Bed, and about my Paths, and doft preserve me in all my ways; many a time should I have stumbled, and fallen, and perifhed irrecoverably, but that thou haft fupported me,.and given charge to thy holy Angels to be my Guardians. I had been a barren Wilderness, if thou hadst not rained fhowers of Grace upon me, and made me fruitful. I had brought forth nothing but Death, if thou hadftnot shined upon me. I had continued lying in the Mire, if thou hadft not pulled me out; and muft have remained in the horrible Pit for ever, if thou hadft not fet my Feet upon a Rock. I had continued blind, if thou hadst not opened mine Eyes; deaf to thy Admonitions, if thou hadft not unlocked mine Ears. I could never have rifen, if thou hadft not lent me thy helping Hand. I muft have funk, if thou hadft not fupported me; and perished, if thou hadft not guided and directed me. I had committed greater Sins, if thy reftraining Power had not kept me; and what could have hindred me from running with others into excefs of Riot, if thou hadst not removed the Snares which were laid for me to catch me in Ruin? It is thy doing that I have not done fo; that I have abstained from these Evils, thy affiftance is the caufe; and that I have believed thee, I am beholden to thy Mercy. O my God! how often have Ideferved thine Anger? And yet in the midft of thy Wrath thou thinkeft upon Mercy. What Judgments mighteft not thou have inflicted on me for my wilful Sins? But thou haft fent none as

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yet, and all to magnifie thy Mercy. Every Morning thy Mercies are renewed upon me, and with the Natural there rises upon me the Sun of Righteousness, with healing under his Wings, Thou profpereft my Endeavours, giveft fuccefs to all my lawful Undertakings, thou preferveft me from those Difafters which befal other Men. How wifely doft thou order my Affairs? How often doft thou bring Light out of Darkness, and turneft my Affliction into the greatest Joy? How wonderful are thy Providences to me and mine? How often have I feared fuch an accident would be my ruine, and God hath turned it into the greatest good? How wifely haft thou many times denied me temporal Mercies, because thou hadst a mind to enrich me with spiritual Bleffings in heavenly Places? What Friends, what Benefactors haft thou raifed me? How miraculously haft thou turned the Hearts of Men fometimes into Mercy and Compaffion for my Good? How often haft thou heard my Prayer, and granted me the request of my Lips? When I have been in the greatest Straits, how haft thou fhewn me a way to escape? How strangely haft thou wheeled things about for my deliverance? How halt thou allured me by the various tokens of thy Love to love thee better than the World? How great hath been thy care of my temporal concerns, but how far greater thy care of the concerns of my Soul? How ftrong have been the convictions thou haft vouchfafed me? How great the light thou haft imparted to me? How bright that knowledge thou haft revealed to

me?

me? How numerous the checks of my own Confcience which thou haft fent me? How frequent the motions of thy Spirit thou hast shed into my Soul? How often haft thou reasoned the Cafe, and expoftulated with me, and, as the Angel did to Balaam, ftood in a narrow way, where there was no turning neither to the right nor to the left; and all, because thou would'st not have me ftand out any longer against thy moft gracious offers of Salvation? How haft thou adjured me by the Bowels of Jefus, by the Wounds and Agonies of the Son of God, to die unto Sin, and to live unto Righteousness? How strange hath been thy condefcenfion! and doth not all this deserve my Love? Is not here enough to warm my Affections towards thee! Falfe, ftubborn Heart! What canft thou plead for thy averfenefs from God, after fuch a profpect of his Favours? Notwithstanding my long contempt of these Loving-kindneffes of the Lord, I am yet alive, and on this fide Hell! How may I ftand amazed at this prodigious long-suffering of my God! Had any Man fhewn me but the ten thousandth part of that Love which God hath manifested to me, how fhould I love him! How should I adore his Name! How should I ftudy to please him! What pains fhould I take to manifeft my gratitude! How fhould I revere his Memory! How fhould I speak of his Favours! How should I praise his Munificence! How fhould I employ my Rhetorick, and ranfack my Poetry, ftudy Eloquence, speak by my Eyes, my Pofture, my Geftures, to make him understand my Affecti

on!

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