the multitude of thy mercies And hide not thy face from thy servant for I am in trouble Oh haste thee and hear me Draw nigh unto my soul and save it Oh deliver me because of mine enemies Psal 86.1 to 8. Bow down thine ear O Lord and hear me for I am poor and in misery Preserve thou my soul for I am holy save thy servant that putteth his trust in thee Be merciful to me O Lord for I will call dayly upon thee Comfort the soul of thy servant for unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul For thou Lord art good and gracious and of great mercy unto all them that call upon thee Give ear Lord unto my prayer and ponder the voice of my humble desires In the time of my trouble I will call upon thee for thou hearest me Jer. 17.13 14. O Lord the hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be ashamed and they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth because they have forsaken the Lord the fountain of living waters Heal me O Lord and I shall be healed save me and I shall be saved for thou art my praise Luke 18.1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint Joh. 16.24 Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my Name ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full 1 Thes 5.17 Pray without ceasing 5. Meditation upon spiritual and heavenly things Deut. 22.29 O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Psal 15.1 2 c. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle or who shall rest upon thy holy Hill Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life and doth the thing which is right and speaketh the truth from his heart He that hath used c. Whoso doth these things shall never fall So Psal 24.3 4 5 6. Psal 90.12 So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Psal 143.4 5. My spirit is vexed within me and my heart within me is desolate Yet do I remember the time past I muse upon all thy works yea I exercise my self in the works of thy hands 2 Cor. 4.16 17 18. For which cause we faint not but though our outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day For 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 that are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal Col. 3.1 2 3 4. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affections on things above not on things on earth For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory Rev. 20.11 12. And I saw a great white Throne and him that sate on it from whose face the earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works 6. Choice of company fit for that time 1 Sam. 21.14 15. Achish said unto his servants Lo you see the man is mad wherefore then have you brought him to me Have I need of madmen that ye have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence shall this fellow come into my house Job 13.4 5. Ye are all Physicians of no value O that you would altogether hold your peace and it should be your wisdom Chap. 15.2 Should he a wise man reason with unprofitable talk or with speeches where with he can do no good Chap. 16.5 I would strengthen you with my mouth and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief Chap. 33.23 24. If there be a messenger with him one of a thousand to shew unto men his uprightness Then he is gracious unto him and saith deliver him from going down into the pit I have found a Ransome Psal 26.4 5. I have not dwelt with vain persons neither have I had fellowship with the deceitful I have hated the Congregation of the wicked neither will I sit amongst the ungodly Psal 101.8 c. Mine eyes look unto such as be faithful in the Land that they may dwell with me Whoso leadeth a godly life he shall be my servant There shall no deceitful person dwell in my house he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight 2 Cor. 6.16 17 18. What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols for ye are the Temple of the Living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and will be their God and they shall be my people Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you And will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and my daughters saith the Lord God Almighty Eph. 4.29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers Jam. 5.14 Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church Vers 16. Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much 7. Hearing and Reading the Scriptures Psal 119.92 93. If my delight had not been in thy Law I should have perished in my trouble I will never forget thy commandements for with them hast thou quickned me Trouble and heaviness have taken hold upon me yet is my delight in thy Commandements Joh. 5.39 Search the Scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life Acts 8.28 Who the Eunuch returning and sitting in his Chariot read Esaias the Prophet Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope 2 Tim. 3.15 From a Child thou hast known the Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus Rev. 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophesie and keep those things that are written therein The Portion of Holy Scripture that may be seasonably read to the sick are the penitential Psalms as they have been commonly called that is to say the 6th 32 38 51 102 130 143. The 15 39 90 103. Job 14. Mit. 26 and 27. Mark 14 and 15. Luke 22 and 23. Joh. from chap. 13 to 20.1 Cor.
and for others and for thy whole Church for the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ our only Mediator and Redeemer Amen For a Family BLessed Lord God the Father of all the Families of the Earth who art no respecter of Persons but requirest every one to walk faithfully in that vocation wherein thou hast placed him we humbly beseech thee for thy blessing on every member of this Family that each of us may perform his duty in that integrity and uprightness of heart as becometh them who profess the same Gospel of thy son Christ Jesus O drive away and keep off from hence as all other so especially the sins of this corrupt Age. Let not Atheism Drunkenness Swearing Pride Idleness Hypocrisy Unclean Lusts Covetousness Lying or any other sin whatsoever become a fretting Leprosie in the walls of this House But as thou hast given us a Blessing above many other our Brethren so give us grace to express a more special performance of duty in acknowledgment thereof Let the hand of thy good providence be stretcht forth to defend us in all dangers of Soul and Body give us wisdom to discern and courage to withstand all assaults of the Flesh the World and the Devil Let thy Fatherly corrections of us be always an advantage to our Religious Conversation Give us thankful hearts for all thy Blessings And so guide us in all things with thy merciful hand that finally we may be brought to the land of everlasting Life there to reign with thee World without end through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen An Evening Prayer O Most Powerful God and Merciful Father to whom the light discovereth nothing and from whom the Night cannot conceal us but the darkness and the light to thee are both alike leave us not we pray thee to the dangers and discomforts of this Night but let thine eye which slumbereth and sleepeth not watch over us for the good both of our Souls and Bodies O let not the darkness of the night nor the privacy of our retirements betray us to do any thing unworthy of our Christian calling and that inaccessible light in the presence and by the power of which we live and move and have our being But sit and prepare each of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit to a constant and sincere obedience of thy Holy Will that both in publick and in private we may do as becometh an holy seed and a People zealous of good works endeavouring in all things to shew our selves mindful of that inestimable price which our Lord Jesus Christ hath paid for us vile and miserable sinners And we humbly pray thee O Lord to pardon as all other so the sins and imperfections of which we have been guilty this day That if any of us shall be summon'd from the bed of our rest to that of our death we may through thy mercy have a comfortable and cheerful passage from this life of misery and mortality unto a life of everlasting happiness and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Amen FINIS A Brief Catalogue of Books newly Printed and Reprinted for R. Royston Bookseller to his Most Sacred Majesty THE works of the Reverend and Learned Henry Hammond D. D. containing a Collection of Discourses chiefly Practical with many Additions and Corrections from the Author 's own hand together with the Life of the Author enlarg'd by the Reverend Dr. Fell Dean of Christ-Church in Oxford In large Folio Σ Υ'МВΟΛΟΠΘЕΟΛΟΓΙΚΟ'ΠOr a Collection of Polemical Discourses addressed against the Enemies of the Church of England both Papists and Fanaticks in large Folio by Jeremiah Taylor Chaplain in Ordinary to King Charles the First of Blessed Memory and late Lord Bishop of Down and Conner Animadversions upon a Book Intituled Fanaticism Fanatically imputed to the Catholick Church by Dr. Stillingfleet and the Imputation Refuted and Retorted by S. C. The Second Edition By a Person of Honour In Octavo A Serious and compassionate Inquiry into the Causes of the present Neglect and Contempt of the Protestant Religion and Church of England In Octavo Reflexions upon the Devotions of the Roman Church With the Prayers Hymns and Lessons themselves taken out of their Authentick Authors In Three Parts In Octavo New The Christian Sacrifice and the Devout Christian and Advice to a Friend these last three Books written by the Reverend S. P. D. D. in 12.
Go in Peace Containing some Brief DIRECTIONS For Young MINISTERS In their Visitation of the Sick USEFUL For the People in their state both of Health and Sickness Deut. 32.29 O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end LONDON Printed by A. M. for Richard Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty at the Angel in Amen-Corner 1674. To the Right Worshipful Sr. George How Baronet The Author prayeth the increase of Grace here and Glory hereafter Honoured Sir IT is receiv'd for a truth of the greater magnitude 〈…〉 12.19 by One whose Profession renders his conceptions unsuspected of any bias by interest That the Gospel it self and the Ministers thereof are ever weighed in the same ballance of human judgment and the estimate of both whether of honour or contempt always alike The sincere esteem you have for the Duties of the Gospel doth not only manifest the certainty of that Maxim but also lay open the Root out of which your pious regard for the Ministers thereof doth grow and prosper Both which daily thriving by the Celestial showers of Divine Grace falling on your heart are become so conspicuous in the World like a City set on an hill that cannot be hid that it hath engag'd my weak endeavours to contribute something to the present imitation and future memory of your Vertues Sir I am confident whatever others may do yet you will not esteem your self unconcern'd in the purpose and benefit of this Collection For who can do so that believes That it is appointed to men once to dye and after that the Judgment Much less then a Person who dyes daily whose contemplation minutely suggest unto him the memento's of mortality and whose life is an entire design to prepare for death Did other foresee what kind of thoughts would suprize them at that woful day unless their spirits are congeal'd by some narcotick stupidity they would deem it as much beneath the sagacity of men as the wisdom of Christians to leave the most important business of their life to be huddled up in a few tempestuous hours encumbred with sorrow pain anguish horrour and amazement in themselves and others And who is there that can make a death-bed so well that an Vlcerous Soul may lye easie on it under the throws and pangs of a wounded Conscience It is to this almost insuperable task that I have adventured to set an helping hand rather indeed endeavour'd to prevent the huge difficulty of that work to bring out of the Sepulchre of a crucified Jesus a precious Relique as I may say some part of the Napkin that was bound about his head as an Handkerchief or Apron from the body of an Apostle wherewith to stanch the blood respite and avert the death of a sinner yea bring to him pardon life and immortality instead of it And who is he that dares reject a medicine how desperate soever be the state of the Patient the ingredients whereof are gathered out of the Garden of God the Book of Scriptures Who shall limit that mercy that is above all his works the supreme effect of Divine Omnipotency And now Sir though I do not altogether despair of the prosperous success of this charitable enterprize on others yet thus much I can safely promise my self which will abundantly recompence the little trouble I shall give them that it will free my Brethren from all umbrage of ingratitude to so sincere a Lover of the Clergy and put the World in mind how great a price is to be set on Vertue and Goodness when set-out and imbellish't with Greatness This being the Compass whereby the inferior world of men do steer their course and is the Anchor of Church and State under all the 〈◊〉 and Vicissitudes of Fortune THE Preface THere are some I presume amongst the Reverend Clergy of that Diocess of which I profess my self an unworthy member who need not be put in mind of a passage touching the Concerns of their Function that fell from the Blessed lips of a late godly Prelate of our Church in his Speech at his Primary and last Visitation in which he prest them to a zealous discreet and sedulous performance of their duty of Preaching For which amongst other he gave these two important Reasons The one from an observation himself had made whilst he liv'd in Exile for he was one of those Abiathar's 1 King 2.26 that was afflicted in all wherein his Majesty was afflicted of the gross and barbarous ignorance of the common People in those parts beyond the Seas where himself converst which he imputed chiefly to the want of frequent Sermons amongst them And his other was taken from the state of things in this Church which though by its Canons and Rubricks it exacts from Ministers sincere and diligent Preaching to the People yet hath it not laid any coercive obligation on the People themselves to have private recourse to their Ministers It is the latter of these Reasons that I principally reflect on as a very importunate motive to all zealous and pious Ministers of our Church to lay hold on every precious opportunity they can for private Discourse with them whose souls are committed to their charge thereby to facilitate a way to their own comfort and the salvation of their Brethren Both which are so nearly concern'd in their Visitation of the sick that One later than the Eleventh hour for that sort of address that I have taken the boldness to put them in mind of their duty 2 Pet. 1.12 though they know it already by delivering into their hand sundry pertinent and useful passages of Scripture proper to supply the unskilfulness of such as are but newly entered on that sacred Function The moment of which duty let me recommend to them in the words of Salvian an Ancient and Holy Bishop of the Church It is says he Revocare ab inquisitione ultimi Remedii durum ac impium est Spondere autem aliquid in tam sera curatione temerarium Sed melius est nihil inexpertum relinquere quam morientem non curare Maxime quia nescio an in extremis aliquid tentare medicina sit certe nihil tentare perditio Salv. ad Eccl. Cathol l. 1. an harsh and impious thing to discourage any one from slying to the last Remedy And no less rash is it to promise any thing in so late an undertaking the spiritual cure Yet better is it to leave nothing untried then not to have regard to a departing Soul Especially seeing I know not whether to attempt something may not prove successful but it would certainly prove destructive to make trial of no remedy at all But a greater than Salvian is here When I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely dye and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life the same wicked man shall dye in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thy
hand Ezek. 3.19 CONTENTS I. DIrections when a sick Person seems wholly insensible of his spiritual state p. 8. II. When he expresses some penitence for his sins p. 21. III. When he is under too great despondency p. 22. IV. When under suspicion of ungrounded confidence p. 41. V. Rules for the Trial of his State p. 49. VI. When the occasion or circumstances of his sickness trouble him p. 60. VII When oppressed with fears of dying p. 68. VIII Application to several causes that may make a person unwilling to dye p. 76. IX When the sick person seems willing to dye p. 94. X. When he complains of the want of sensible joy p. 100. XI When he doubts of the truth or seasonableness of his Repentance p. 110. XII Directions how to demean ones self in sickness p. 117. XIII Exercise of Prayer in time of sickness p. 135. XIV A Prayer to be used in a state of Health p. 145. XV. A Prayer when one perceives himself to be sick p. 148. XVI Prayers to be used in a Family p. 152. GO in PEACE Containing some brief Directions for Young Ministers c. WHen the Minister is to deal with a Sick Person he must prudently consider First of all of what Quality and Condition the Person is as well in natural as civil or moral respects his Age Sex Education Relations Offices Profession Poverty Wealth and the like All know that there are peccata diversorum statuum as the Casuists speak sins to which one State or sort of men is obnoxious and not another and some more than others to which good heed must be taken We must remember St. John Baptists method in giving to every one his due portion of whom the Father says that Singulis generationibus hominum conveniens Baptista tribuit responsum the answer the Baptist gave to all that ask'd him was such as was suitable to every ones state and condition of Life Secondly How the Sick Person in the Ministers own knowledg or in the esteem of good men hath demean'd himself in the common duties of Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety Tit. 2.12 the indispensable Rules of every ones conversation Thirdly What is the present frame and temper of his mind Whether insensible of the guilt and pollution of his sins or perplext and troubled above measure or else in a middle and seeming posture of safety and quiet And lastly what his present indisposition by sickness will not permit him to bear that the Minister opperss him not with unnessasary Discourses and Prescriptions much less with such as are impertinent 2. If the Sick Person appear insensible of spiritual dangers the Minister must prudently consider whether his insensibleness doth arise either from 1. A stupid ignorance of such things a Christian ought to know and believe to his Souls health or from 2. A presumptuous boldness and regardlesness of his spiritual state not caring how it may go with his Soul in the other World Or from 3. An ill-plac't confidence and conceit of his own performances of some Acts of common Justice Temperance or other moral Vertue whereby many are deluded thinking themselves to be something when they are nothing being in truth void of all saving Faith and other Spiritual Graces Or from 4. Resting on external conformity to the way of Worship Order and Discipline of the Church of which he is a member and the profession of the Doctrine it Teacheth without any conscionable obedience of Gods Laws Or from 5. That common Errour namely that true justifying Faith consists in believing one shall be sav'd and so all further enquiry into his state deemed impertinent and superfluous Or from 6. Present Distemper of sickness depriving him in some measure of an ability to understand and reflect on the things that concern his spiritual welfare which many times happens to them whom we ought to esteem good Christians Thirdly If the Sick Person be afflicted with the sight and sense of his Sins the Minister must with the same prudence and caution consider 1. Whether the Sins he complains of be the whole or no more but a partial cause of his troubles or indeed rather an effect than a cause it self as it commonly happens upon discontents arising from things of this World And 2. Whether his sickness be not of that kind that may dispose him to sadness of Spirit and Melancholick perturbations of mind Which cannot be more surely discovered than by considering the nature of those sins of which he complains Which if no other but common frailties they seem to point out some unusual tenderness of heart or distemper of judgment arising either from natural constitution of body reflection on former lapses present infirmity or the suggestion of Satan In which Case without sincere confession there is no relief or comfort to be given him but by accident a cure may be hit on advised it cannot be Fourthly If the Sick Person seem to be in a Christian temper and frame of mind in respect of his faith hope and charity yet is there a portion to be administred to him in this season Either 1. Of Admonition to search and assure himself of a firm and solid ground of his hope that that Anchor of his Soul deceive him not in his greatest need Or 2. Of Encouragement and exhortation to enlarge the comfort and rest of his Soul by fit Applications of Gods Word and constant Prayer and vigilancy over his heart Fifthly A Like Duty is incumbent on the Minister in some other respects as when the Sick Person expresseth great willingness or unwillingness to dye solicitude for Wife and Children payment of Debts and the like For all which and such like emergencies it is necessary that the spiritual Physician be furnish't with suitable passages and Texts of Scripture as being that which is most powerful in converting the Soul strengthning and refreshing the Spirit and supporting it against all difficulties And hath also a special property in searching out and ascertaining the heart And we may assure our selves that there is no state or condition of men in this Life for which there is not in the Book of God a portion to be found which its the Ministers duty to give him in that season And therefore that the Man of God may be readily surnish'd for that work with choice of seasonable and powerful remedies for the more common diseases of his Flock these following directions may by Gods blessing become successful when discreetly and diligently applyed to the several exigents of our Brethren Upon any of which the Minister may enlarge himself as he sees cause in the opening and applying the same on particular occasions First then When the Sick Person appears wholly insensible of his spiritual state the common danger of Christians who either feel not or pretend they feel not any gripes or mindings of their Consciences such passages of Scripture are fittest that may set before him 1. The Majesty and Greatness of God as Exod. 19.16 And