the Number and Heinousness of thy Sins and Miscarri ages; and thou shalt find that God's Punishments are far lefs than thy Deferts; and that for one fenfible Stroke of a bitter Pain that thou feelest, thou haft deserved many Thousands. So that thou shalt have Cause to confefs with the Prophet Daniel, O Lord, Righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us Confusion of Faces, Dan. 9. And thou wilt say with David; Innumerable Evils have compassed me about, mine Iniquities have taken hold upon me, So that I am not able to look up, they are more than the Hairs of my Head, therefore my Heart faileth me; there is no whole Part in my Flesh, because of thine Indignation, nor Reft in my Bones, because of my Sin, Pfal. 40. 2. Confider how many are in the World, to be prefer'd before thee for Piety, and yet fuffer sharper and longer Evils, than thou hast hitherto endured, and have not had fo much Comfort and Affiftance. If thou compareft thy Condition with theirs, thou shalt find that God fpares and favours thee very much." 3. Caft thine Eyes upon the Death and Paffion of our Lord and Saviour; who being just and innocent, hath fuffered for us wicked and abominable Sinners. Thine Affliction is painful, I confefs, but that which this merciful Redeemer has undergone for thee, was far more unfufferable. Let his Exclamations, his Tears, and Drops of Blood, which came out of his Veins, be a Witness; and that earnest Prayer which he repeated three Times upon his bended Knees, Father, If it be possible, let this Cup pass from me, that I may not drink it. Let that doleful Voice upon the Cross declare it, My God, my God, why haft thon forsaken me ? 4. Weigh in just and equal Scales of the Sanctuary, all the Sufferings of this Life, with the Torments of Hell, which thou hast justly deserved. Compare them together and thou wilt quickly conclude, that all thy Pains are nothing in Comparifon to the grievous Tor tures of that Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where there is weeping and gnashing of Teeth. If thou art fenfible of these vanishing Pains, confider well, how much R2 thou thou art obliged to the Goodness of God, who hath freely pardoned all thine Offences, and redeemed thee from that eternal and unspeakable Misery of the other Life. 5. Thou must imitate those Men, who having their Sight dimm'd with the extraordinary Splendor of bright Colours, or of a Body of Light, turn off their Eyes to look upon less offenfive Objects. Instead of handling always thy Wounds and Sores, inftead of thinking of the Afflictions that lye heavy upon thee, meditate upon the Goodness and Favours of God, vouchsafed to thee fince thy Conception until now. I give thee Leave to put one Side of the Scales, all thy Crosses, Loffes, Diseases, Pains, and Grief, upon Condition, that in the other Scale thou wilt cast all the Mercies, Favours, Bleffings, and Deliverances, which thou haft received from God's liberal Hand. 'Tis true, thou groanest under thy Misery, and complainest of thy Condition. Thou verily believest that there is none so miferable as thou art, so that willingly thou wouldst say with the Prophet Jeremiah, Doth not this move ye, O ye that pass by? Behold and fee if there be any Sorrow like unto my Sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the Day of his fierce Anger. But when there should be nothing else but this alone, that God hath called thee to the Knowledge of his Holy Will, enriched thee with the Graces of his Divine Spirit, and fown in thy Heart the Seeds of Eternal Life, and the blessed Hopes of feeing his Face in Glory; thou oughtest to look upon thy self, as one of the happiest Creatures under Heaven. 6. Finally, Thou must meditate with a Religious Attention, upon the Joys, and the eternal Blessedness of Paradife; for I reckon, with the Apostle, that the Sufferings of this present Life are not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us, Rom. 8. When we caft our Eyes upon the Earth alone, we judge it to be very spacious and large. Our Sight is lost in the Contemplation of so many Provinces, Cities, and 1 Kingdoms; but when we compare it with Heaven, we find it to be but a Point. Likewise, when we look upon, and reckon up the Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years of our Sufferings, the Time appears very tedious and long; but when we compare all these Parcels of Time with Eternity, they feem to us but a Moment. Tho' we should have been plung'd in the Depths of Evils and Miseries, from the first Instant of our Entrance into the World, until the last of our going out: Yet we have Reason enough to say with St. Paul, Our light Affliction, which is but for a Moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory; while we look not at the Things which are seen, but at the Things which are not feen; for the Things which are seen are temporal, but the Things which are not Seen are eternal, 2 Cor. 4. The only Spring of all our Comforts, is God's gracious Promise of seasonable Help in Time of Need. Imprint therefore in your Minds these Divine Passages, When he that loveth me shall call upon me, I will answer him; I will be with him in Trouble, I will deliver him, and honour him, Pfal. 91. The Lord delivers from all Temptations them that honour hins; he is rich unto all that pray unto him, 2 Pet. 2. He is near to all them that call upon him; yea, to all them that call upon him faithfully, Rom. 10. He accomplisheth the Defire of the bumble, he hears their Cry, Pfal. 149. The Righteous is encompassed with many Evils, but the Lord will deliver him from them all, Pfal. 34. Call upon me in the Day of thy Distress, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me, Pfal. 58. When a poor Subject is courted and vifited by his Prince, in the Time of his Sicknefs, he looks upon it as a great Favour, and an Happiness indeed. And when we enjoy the Prefence of a dear Friend, whom we desired to fee, in the midst of our moft grievous Pains, we are wont to say, Methinks I feel no more Pain, now that I have the Satisfaction of your good Company. Now the Glory of God's Majefty accompanies the Tenderness of his Love. He is the Fa R3 ther ther of Mercies, and the God of all Comfort, who Notwithstanding our Children's Imperfections and Mifcarriages, we cannot fuffer to fee them in Distress, but we are moved with Compaffion, and perswaded to help them according to our Ability; and shall thy God who loves thee more fincerely, and more cordially than the best of Fathers, and the most tenderhearted Mothers do their Children, forsake thee in the Day of Affliction. This merciful and loving Father, who did take thee into his Protection, when thou didst enter into the World, and who fince hath furnished plentifully to all thy Neceffities; shall he deny his gracious Afsistance now in the Time of this thy Calamity? He who hath fulfilled his Praise by thy Mouth, when thou didft fuck at thy Mother's Breast; who hath crowned thy youthful Days with his Divine Bleffings, will not forsake thee now in thine Old Age. He will not caft thee off in the laft Moments of thy Life, when thy Strength is decayed, and thou art scarce able to help thy felf. When we offer any Assistance to our fick or wounded Friends, we labour to leffen their Pain; we employ all our Skill, and discover our most excellent Secrets; al leaft, we endeavour to make them fenfible of our Difpleafure and Grief for their Diftemper, by our Sighs and Tears, and by all good Offices. Their Complaints and Groans, are Darts that strike us to the Heart: Likewife our merciful God is sensible of our Calamitics; when he fees us oppressed with grievous Pains, his Bowels yearn, his Heart is as it were moved, and his tender Love for us is concerned. In all our Afflictions : flictions he is afflicted; and whofoever toucheth us, toucheth the very Apple of his Eye, Hof. 1. Ifa. 63. He is faid to weep and grieve at the Torments that we feel, and to be fenfible of our Infirmities, Luke 2. He binds up our Wounds, and pours into them his Divine Balm; he cures the diseased Heart, and caufeth the bruised Bones to rejoyce, Job 5. He cafteth into our Beds of Sickness, his most excellent Perfumes, and drives from thence all Grief and Difpleafure. When a peftilentious Fever hath feized upon you, this Heavenly Phyfician can give you fome Cordial Waters, powerful Antidotes, to keep the Poison from the Heart, Fer. 30. Pfal. 147. Pfal. 51. Pfal. 34. Cant. 1. His gracious Hand can drive from thy Soul the Venom with which the Old Serpent labours to infect it. He will, in thy Need, clap upon thy Head, to thy Stomach, or rather to thine Heart, not a bleeding Pidgeon, but the living and cherishing Virtue of his Ho : ly Spirit. Only difcover to him the afflicted and diseased Part or Member of thy Soul, cr Body, and he shall anoint it with the Oyl of Joy and Gladness, that shall run down into thy Joints and Marrow. If thou feeleft thy felf weak or fainting, fay to him, as the Spouse in the Canticles, Comfort my Heart with Wine, Chap. 9. and he will not fail to prefent unto thee of the new Wine of his Kingdom. If thou art thirfty, ask him fome Drink, and he will give thee of that Water, which if a Man drink, be shall never be athirst. My Brother, or my Sifter, caft thy felf upon God, for his Power is as great as his Love to thee. He understands better than thou or we can, what is expedient and good for thee. In his due Time he will make thy Pains to ceafe, and will pull out of thy Flesh its incommodious Thorns; either he will drive from thee the Spirit that afflicts thee, or accomplith his Vertue in thine Infirmity. He will strengthen thee in such a Manner, and with fuch Patience, Constancy, and Faith, and fill thee with fo much extraordinary Joy and ComR4 fort, |