Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

CHAP. XVII.

That all our Care is to be caft upon GOD.

1.

M

JESUS-CHRIST.

Y Son, be content that I fhould difpofe of thee and all thy concerns, as I fee fit: I know what is expedient for thee. Thy thoughts are the thoughts of a man; and human affections byafs thy judgment in most things.

THE SOUL.

Lord, what thou fayft is true. Greater is thy care for me, than all the care I can take for my self. For the state of that man is very precarious, very tottering, that cafteth not his whole care upon thee. Lord, fo long as my heart is right towards thee, and stedfastly bent to pleafe thee, deal with me in what manner foever it feemeth best to thee. For it can be no other than good, whatsoever thou doft with me.

II. If it be thy will, that my foul fhould dwell in clouds and darkness, praised be thy Name: And if it be thy will, that my understanding should be illuminated, and my night Q 3 turned

turned into day, again praised be thy Name. If thou vouchlafe to comfort me, bleffed be thy Name: And if it be thy pleasure that I fhould be in affliction, for both equally be thy holy Name eternally blessed.

JESUS-CHRIST.

Son, this must be the pofture of thy foul, if thou defire to walk with me. Thou oughteft to be as ready to fuffer, as to rejoice. Thou oughteft to be as contented to be poor, and in want, as to be rich, and to abound.

THE SOUL.

III. Lord, I will chearfully fuffer for thy fake, whatsoever thou art pleased should befall me. I am ready to receive from thy hand good and evil, fweet, and bitter, joy and forrow indifferently; and for all things that happen unto me, to give thanks. Preferve me from all fin, and I fhall not fear either Death, or Hell. So long as thou caft me not away for ever, nor blot my name out of the Book of Life, whatsoever load of tribulation comes upon me, it fhall never

hurt me.

CHAP.

CHAP. XVIII.

That Temporal Miferies, after the Example of Chrift, ought to be born with Calmnefs and Evennefs of Mind.

JESUS-CHRIST.

I. ON, I came down from Heaven for thy Salvation, I took upon me thy miferies, not by conftraint, but out of pure love; to the end thou mighteft learn patience, and bear temporal miferies without reluctancy and murmuring. For from the hour of my Birth even to my Exit upon the Crofs, I had not a moment's intermiffion from pains and fufferings. I lived in extreme want of the neceffaries of life: My ears were continually pierc'd with complaints against me: Shame, and contempt, and reproach I receiv'd with gentleness and calmnefs of fpirit: My good deeds were repaid with ingratitude, my miracles with blafphemies, and my doctrine with calumnies and vile mifrepresentations.

THE SOUL.

II. Lord, fince thou wert patient during

thy whole life, accomplishing, herein principally, the commandment of thy heavenly Father; it is very meet and right, that I, who am a wretched finner, fhould patiently fubmit to thy holy will, and bear, for my own Salvation, the load of this corruptible life, fo long as thou fhalt think fit to continue me in it. For tho' the prefent life be burdenfome and painful, yet by thy grace it is now become very meritorious; and by the contemplation of thy example, and that of thy Saints, it is render'd much easier, and more fupportable to our weakness; yea and abundantly fuller of comfort too than it was heretofore under the Old Law, when the gate of Heaven remained fhut, and the way to the high and holy Place feemed more dark and dim, and few applied themselves to feek a future and fpiritual Kingdom. Nay more, thofe that were then righteous, and ordain'd to Salvation, could not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven before thy Paffion, and the rigid fatisfaction of thy holy Death.

III. O what thanks am I bound to render unto thee, that thou haft vouchsafed to fhew unto me, and to all the Faithful, a direct and fure way to an everlasting Kingdom! For thy life is our way, and in the path of holy patience we walk to thee, who

art

art our Recompence and Crown, Hadft thou not gone before us, and fhewn us the way, who would have the heart to follow? Alas! how many would hang back, and be quite distanc'd, if they had not thy glorious Example in their eye? Behold, we are still cool and lukewarm, after having heard fo many miracles and precepts of thine: What would be our cafe, had we not fo clear and fhining a light to follow thee?

CHAP. XIX.

How we ought to bear Injuries; and of the Marks of a true Patience.

I.

WH

JESUS-CHRIST.

'HAT is it thou fayft, my Son? Ceafe thy complaints, upon the confideration of my fufferings, and those of other Saints. Thou haft not yet refifted unto blood. What thou fuffereft, is inconfiderable, in comparison with those who have endured fo many things, been fo vehemently tempted, fo grievoufly afflicted, so ma

• Heb. xii. 4.

nifoldly

« AnteriorContinuar »