Wisdom Vault — onlinknow.co.za

ever to refuſe my own Happineſs. For this is the Sovereign Balm of wounded Conſciences; the great Preſervative of decaying Souls, the chearing Comfort of the Faithful, mourning their preſent State of Baniſhment, and ome carneſtly for a Releaſe from the Afflictions and Infirmities of thoſe Mortal Bodies, to which thy Providence hath for a time confined them.

And the oftner they thus remember their God, the- greater is that Affection, and humble Devo- tion, with which they court and embrace their beloved Spouſe and Lord, | But oh! how amazing is thy Love? And what is Man whom thou thus voucbſafeſt to viſit, when the great God, the Creator of the World, and Father of the Spirits of all Fleſh does not diſdain to deſcend into a poor Soul, and fill the hungry Wretch with all his Fatneſs?

Happy that Breaſt, which is thus honoured, and unſpeakable the Joy, with which it overflows! How glorious a Maſter, how agreea- ble a Gueſt, how pleaſant a Companion, how faithful a Friend, how beautiful, how honourable, how charming a Husband, does it entertain and embrace?

Let Heaven and Earth, and all their boaſted Excellencies, keep filence before him; for it I have my Jeſus, I have all. For I have him, from whom all other things derive their Excellence; and Their borrowed precarious Per fections can miniſter no Joy, can make no Happineſs, without this great Original.

They in themſelves are nothing, they are but what He made them; and He alone is more, incomparably more and better, than all that ever was, or could be made. | Cnay. I)hbe Pleaſures of Devout Communien. PRevent me, I moſt humbly beſeech thee, my LOSE, Lord and my God, with the Renee and Graces of thy Holy Spirit; that thy Servant may taſte thy , $weetneſs, and approach thy precious Feaſt, with ſuch Reyerence, and Zeal, and fervent Devotion, as thou wilt be pleaſed to accept.

O viſit me with thy Salvation, and awaken me from Spiritual Sloth and Slumber ; that I now may yigorouſly apply my ſelf, to draw and drink FR ORG | 5 ater, 238 Or the Imitation Book IV. Water, contain d in this Fountain opened for Sin and for Uncleanneſs.

Enlighten the Eyes of my Mind, that I may ſee the wonderous things of this thy Inſtitution, and ſtrength. en my. Faith, that I may firmly and without ſcruple be- lieve and expect thoſe Operations, which my Reaſon is not able to account for.

And why indeed ſhould I make any Difficulty to believe, what I cannot comprehend and trace the dark Footſteps. of, when J remember, that it is not the Act of finite feeble Man, but the Work of an Almighty God; not an Invention or Project of Human Reaſon, but the Inſtitution and Promiſe of Him, who worketh all things according to the wiſe and wonderful Counſel of his own unbounded Will?

To fathom theſe Depths to the bot- tom were an Attempt impracticable, even to the religned Underſtanding of an Angel. Well then may poor ſhort- ſighted Man turn giddy at the fight of this Aby ſs, and con- feſs the Well too deep, and the Cordage too ſhort.

Such and no better is. the Condition of the moſt exalted Saints; and what can I, the feebleſt even of Men, vile ſinful Duſt and Aſhes, hope to diſcover, by my moſt induſtrious Search into theſe heavenly Myſteries? s | Inſtead therefore of nice Reaſoning and unprofitable Di- ſputes, I will approach with Singleneſs of Heart, with firm and holy Hope, with an undoubting Faith, and profound Reverence.