stars and suns: therefore dare I lay down my carcass in the dust, intrusting it not to a grave, but to thee; and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till thou raise it to the everlasting rest. Return, O Lord, how long! O let thy kingdom come! thy desolate bride saith, Come; for thy Spirit within her saith, Come, who teacheth her thus to pray, with groanings which cannot be expressed: the whole creation saith, Come, waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God: thyself hath said, Surely I come: Amen; even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

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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 God. From him I deliver it thee, and his charge I lay upon thee, that thou entertain and practise 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 hath 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 savour 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 wealth, nor health, 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: thou wilt be as one that standeth on the top of an exceeding high mountain; he looks down on the world as if it were quite below him; how small do the fields, and woods, and 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 honours 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 these 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 greater 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 hast 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 lie by, as neglected or forgotten! Some there be that say, It is not worth so much time and 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 hath 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 mis chiefs 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 it will make men have as rare and unpleasing speech of God; for who will care for talking of that which he hath no delight in? What makes men still talking of wordliness, 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 couldst once delight in God, thou wouldst easily delight in duty; especially that which bringeth thee into the nearest converse with him; but till 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, ineffectual pleasures of the flesh; and when that is 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 hath no delight in? Or who would leave his pleasure here, except it were to go to better? But if men take delight in God while 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 not? 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 farther. Let thy family perceive, let thy neighbours perceive, let thy conscience perceive, yea, let God perceive it, that thou art a man that hast thy conversation in heaven. God hath now offered to be thy daily delight; thy neglect is thy refusal. Take heed what thou dost: refuse this, and refuse all thou must have heavenly delights, or none that are lasting. God is willing thou shouldst 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 hath 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 Saviour, and I know it is your grief that your hearts are not more near him; and that they do not 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 till they are spiritualized and refined, and second these thy servant's weak endeavours, 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 hath 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 savour of life to both.

Glory be to God in the highest: on earth peace, good will toward men.

THE END.