If enemies rise vp against me to take away my life my goods or good name preuc̄t them of their purposes and make their counsels and practices like Achitophels If I bee persecuted for the testimonie of thy Truth giue mee perfect knowledge cōstancie courage and boldnesse through a liuely faith to suffer what it shall please thee shall be laid vpon mee In captiuitie banishment and whatsoeuer other tryalls be thou euer neere vnto me and ease me relieue me and comfort me and neuer lay more vpon mee then I shal be able to beare and in my troubles neuer leaue me nor for sake me and let all things worke for my comfort in thee Blesse and prosper vnto me my vocation giue mee wisedome and strength to execute the same and that sincerely without corruption let thine holy Angels goe with me take charge of me and defend and prosper me in all my iourneys trauailes labours enterprises and endeuours And let my conuersation be such so vpright vnblameable that the wicked haue no iust cause to carpe at the course of my life So will I giue thāks vnto thee thy praise shall be in my mouth continually The godly shall see it and reioyce and I will publish thy goodnesse towards me before the sons of men and will tell how readie thou art to help them that call vpon thee as for mee I will confesse that before I sought thee thou offeredst thy selfe to be found of me when I prayed vnto thee thou heardest mee when I came vnto thee thou reiectedst me not but pardonedst my sinnes and deliueredst mee out of all my feare Glorie bee to thy Holy Name O gracious Lord God in Iesus Christ and thy Name bee euer glorified my heart in thee comforted my sinnes by thee couered my necessities by thee truly relieued a competent estate vnto mee by thee euer preserued my hope in thee euer confirmed and all mine vndeserued enemies conuerted or confounded Make me wise O Lord to vnderstand and consider my latter end let my whole life be a preparation to death and the meditation of death the rule of my life let mee studie to bring forth good fruits in mine age and let my latter dayes bee the dayes of my chiefe spirituall comfort and mine obedience vnto thee more at the last then at the first enable me so to walke in mine old age as I may increase from strength to strength that at the length I may appear with the rest of thy Saints in that Kingdom of glorie which thou hast prepared for all them that loue the appearing of thy Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ whose comming grant to be quickly to finish these dayes of sinne AMEN Lord euermore increase my faith and multiply thy blessings vpon mee vnto the end An eye to Heauen in Earth A necessarie Watch for the time of death MEDITATION I. A Meditation concerning Death IT is a thing not seldom cōming into my mind that I must die that I haue but a short time to liue and that the Time when the Place where and the Manner how I shall dye is vtterly vnknown vnto me And that I shall come vnto Iudgement for all that I haue done or shall doe in the flesh These things I know yet haue I not learned what it is to die To die all men know is the separation of the soule from the bodie but what the soule and the bodie feele at the instant of separation may be coniectured but neuer vttered or conceiued I see men of all ages die and that by sundrie kindes of death and no doubt there is great difference of paines to the bodie for euery death is not alike tolerable nor euery humane creature of like resolution and patience which may somthing extenuate or aggrauate the paine And no doubt there is likewise great difference of the ioy or griefe of soules departing for according to the life and death of the partie so is the soule in hope or horror at the instant of separation for the Angels of God or Satan doe attend the instant of time to receiue it and to transport it to it place of diuine appointment and therefore is it sensible of present succeeding ioy or paine but in what degree of either either hath neuer any dying by whatsoeuer death returned to declare it As touching the future ioy and paine the rich man and Lazarus doe in part shew both in the extreme degree and so vnspeakeable as they cānot be truly conceiued nor expressed And whether the soule be sensible of any earthly or materiall thing in it passage from the bodie to it place as some without warrant haue dreamed is needlesse to dispute yet thus farre I am bold to affirme That the spirituall apprehension of the place whither it passeth swalloweth vp all sense affection and desire of visible creatures I leaue therefore to inquire and search into that which is no further reueiled then I haue warrant to beleeue and doe only desire to be prepared and to be readie when the time of my separation shall come A conflict no doubt I shal feele in the approching of death betweene my bodie which is earthly and my soule which is spirituall howsoeuer notwithstanding they differ in cōdition yet they are louingly linckt together and therefore vndoubtedly vnwilling to be sundred How and whatsoeuer I feele it shall bee vnto mee as is death it selfe aduantage It cannot bee auoided but a diuorce must be as testifieth the holy Ghost It is appointed that all men shall die once There is the separation and that but once It is not with the Soule and the Bodie as it is betweene Man and Wife who may admit a diuorce and yet bee conioyned againe So cannot the soule once seuered from the bodie vnlesse by speciall miracle as was that that Christ wrought vpon dead Lazarus who though he had beene so long dead as he stunke in the graue yet Christ by vertue of his Word which was God raised him soule and bodie so that he may be said to die twice which was an extraordinarie miracle to shew the glorie of God as was also that of the Rulers daughter whom Christ made to liue being dead This was by the power of the great Prophet And both Eliah and Elisha did the same thing by the power of the same GOD. The first in giuing life to the dead sonne of the Widdow of Sarepthah the other to the sonne of the Shunamite Woman these may bee also said to die twice But hath any man learned by their relations what it is to die Or may a man by their examples presume that though hee die hee may yet reuiue againe as did the Souldier cast into Elishaes graue And so by often dying learne to die better No it is neither permitted nor necessarie to fore-know the moment of our naturall death for the houre wherin are many minutes and the minute wherin are many moments as touching naturall
heart a sanctified spirit that I may walke here before thée and here doe thy will as thy Saints and heauenly Companies doe thy will in Heauen that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may bee numbred among thy Saints Militant that I may not feare to bee translated from this place of banishment vnto that Inheritance purchased by Christ my Redéemer where I shall partake of his glory with thy Saints now Triumphant in that most glorious new Ierusalem While I liue here let thy Word bée deare vnto me let the Crosse of my Lord and Sauiour Christ be euer before the eyes of my mind euer assuring my selfe that his death is my life make mee therefore holy as he is holy And as hee layd downe his most sacred bodie in the Earth for a time and rose againe to glorie and as hee resigned his afflicted yet innocent Soule into thy hands euen for me to follow him so grant that whensoeuer or howsoeuer my soule shall leaue this mortall bodie it may follow my Loue Iesus to the place to which hee is gone before While I liue here leaue me not Father vnto my selfe for I am weake and mine enemies are strong but thou art Truth the strongest kéepe mée vnder thy feathers and bind mée vp in the bundle of thine Elect neuer to be deuided or set apart from them that shall bee saued make my life perfect to euery good worke and worke in mee that which is pleasant in thy sight through Jesus Christ Amen Lord increase and euer confirme my faith MEDIT. III. THough death now be the end of my fleshly part it is sufficient that I am assured of the continuing life of my soule after the temporall death of my body which yet shall not so perish but it shall haue a future being and bee re-vnited to my soule and so bee made one glorified body by the glory of Christ my Redeemer The present consideration of death can therefore but put mee in minde of and giue mee desire to bee dissolued to enioy a better life And thereby so much the more mooue me to frame my life in my health as if I were presently dying Death is certaine common to all the time vncertaine to all yet all liue not as if their death were neer or that they did think that death would come at all But let no man deceiue himselfe by his long life that death is farre off or that it hath forgotten him it will come as a Thiefe suddenly to some sooner to some later to all when they least suspect it In the first Age of the World men liued long many hundred yeeres Methusalah almost one thousand yeeres Adam Noah and many others to an extraordinarie age In their dayes it might haue beene conceiued by the number of their yeeres that they might haue liued many thousand yeeres But being all seene in their times and turnes to dye the opinion of a perpetuall life in earth was found erronious As the World grew in age so decreased the ages of men In Dauids time the age of man was seldome aboue threescore and ten if hee liued to fourescore it was reputed a great age rare yet nothing pleasant to the partie for weaknesse and infirmities of so many kinds commonly possesse the bodies and mindes of that age as these dayes are but a burden vnto them yeelding only sorrow heauinesse griefes and miseries And yet many of that decrepit age are loth to dye which may argue no godly preceding life Moses before Dauids time liued one hundred twenty yeeres and was then in that state of strength and agilitie of bodie and perfection of his sences as in his best age and strongest yeeres yet he dyed Mine own naturall father liued one hundred and three yeeres lusty and strong much admired for his agilitie euen to that age yet I doe not by these precedents collect any probabilitie or hope that I shall liue much more then halfe his yeeres though I presently feele no apparant tokens but desire of my dissolution And therefore I account my life but a meere watch for the time of death If I had seene the man that had liued many thousand yeeres and were yet in health and strength I should bee farre from flattering my selfe that I might liue the longer for his long life yet I see that one man couets to attaine vnto the yeeres of the most aged The man of sixtie or seuentie yeeres desires to liue to eightie he of eightie to one hundred yet doe we scarcely see one man of ten thousand to see one hundred nor one of one hundred seuentie yeeres nor one of fiftie fortie yeeres If I should liue one hundred yeeres when death comes it is but as if I were in my Cradle Twentie yeeres in expectation seemeth farre more then one hundred yeeres past I thinke it therefore wisedome not to allow vnto my selfe the assurance of many yeeres not of many dayes nay not of one houre for I see some suddenly stricken dead yea in a moment a fearefull spectacle yet little moouing some beholders But this vse Wisedome teacheth me to make of other mens lots namely to keepe continuall watch ouer my desires wordes and wayes that I may so liue as if I saw Death with his Dart at my brest Death then being certaine and his comming vncertayne by the rule of right reason I should bee alwayes readily prepared for Death imports feare and Feare presupposeth danger Danger requireth watchfulnesse Watchfulnesse patience Patience Faith and Hope As touching the first namely feare it is both filial and son-like and seruile or slauish which last I exempt as not the feare required of mee in this expectation and watchfulnes for death But the feare which becomes a most dutifull sonne to a most louing father is it wherewith I desire alwaies to be truly qualified hauing an eye euer vnto God as the eye of a Mayden to the hand of her Mistris fearing in loue not louing for feare When Baruch read the booke of the curses against Iudah and Israel vnto the people both the good and the bad feared Some fearing as children desiring to be reformed according to the Law of the Lord some as slaues feared the horror of punishment threatned without eyther the loue of God or their owne reformation This is not the feare that Salomon prescribes where he saies Feare ye the Lord all his Saints and depart from euil He that sayes he feareth God and walketh not in his wayes feareth not at all as he ought to feare and that for want of Wisedome for as wisedome is giuen to them that feare God so doth the feare of God shew it selfe by wisedome namely by gouerning his life according to the Word of God Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and walketh in his waies So that it is not in mee nor of my selfe to feare God I must be first blessed of God before I can truly
prosperitie Teach mee good Father how to kéepe a diligent account of all the benefits and blessings I here receiue of thée and what vse I from time to time make of them knowing that there will come a day when I shall bee called to answere the same Grant therefore that I may so gourrne my selfe that I may bee able with boldnesse and truth to giue account of my time spent and my talents how I haue disposed them that I may bee found faithfull in my little and be made partaker of the greatnesse of thy Glorie in the Heauens Though I be a Stranger a Soiourner here in Earth yet grant Lord that I may haue my conuersation in Heauen Giue me Wisedome that I may finish this my Pilgrimage in thy fauour and for that I cannot so number my dayes that I can know how long I haue to liue let the residue of my life be a preparation to Death and the meditation of Death cause in mee continuall watchfulnesse for the comming of thy Sonne O God forsake mée not vnto the end so shall I neuer fall from or forsake thee Enable mee heere so to walke as becommeth thy sonne though in great weaknesse I haue finished my course to this day Grant Lord that I may bring forth better fruites from this day to the end of my dayes through thy Grace and in the end bée receiued to eternall Glorie through the merits of my alone Sauiour and Redéemer Jesus Christ to whom with thée O God the Father and the Holy Ghost be euermore ascribed all Power and Glorie Amen O Lord euermore increase my faith FINIS LONDON Printed by W. Stansby for Richard Meighen and are to be sold at his Shops at Saint Clements Church ouer against Essex house and at Westminster Hall 1619. Death certaine the time vncertaine Luk. 16. 22. Future ioy and paine in the extreme degree Body and Soule louingly linâ—kt Heb. 9. 27. Iob. 11. Io. 1. 1. Matt. 9. 25. 1. King 17. 22. 2. Kin. 4. 35 Dying twice 2. King 13. 21. Not necessarie to know the houre of death Time of the last Iudgment vnknown Mar. 13. 32 A good life must precede a happie death Luk. 16. 22. 23. Difference betweene Gods children and worldlings Phil. 1. A Christian resolution Gal. 2. 20. Reue. 3. 1. 1. Tim. 〈◊〉 Iohn 14. 6. What it is to liue carnally Matt. 20. 9. God is bountifull without our merit 2. Cor. 5. 1 2 Luke 16. 23 Our merit Gods mercies 1. Tim. 2. 5. Reue. 3. 11. Col. 2. 15. Satans policies No neede to feare Satan Iob. 26. Matt. 12. 29 Iob. 7. 1. Rom. 8. 33. 34. 1. Iob. 2. 10. Iob. 10. 28. Rom. 8. 34. The Christians hum blenesse Psal. 145. 9 Gods mer cies greater then our sinnes The assurance of a good Christian. Iudg. 15. 14 Iob. 19. 27. There is a sowing time and reaping time of bodies Life but lent vs. Christs death a Christians life 2. Pet. 3. 8. The bodie findes no tedious tarrying in the graue The graue a bed of rest Reue. 14. 13 Death a sleepe Mar. 9. 44. Death in shew more fearefull then in deede Rom. 2. 5. A spiritual and carnal life here Gal. 5. 19 20 21. Gal. 5. 19 20. Fruits of the flesh Fruits of the Spirit Counterfeit imitation of good men Hypocrisy most to be condemned Rom. 7. 16. How Will is free and not free 1. Cor. 2. 10. Mat. 7. 7 8 Prayer Psal. 25. 1 2 86. 4. Iam. 1. 6 7. Psal. 89. 48 Luke 12. 39 Iam. 4. 13. 2. Cor. 5. 6. Col. 2. 10. Col. 2. 15. The benefit of Christs death The best men often stagger at the consideration of death Ioh. 18. 17. Mat. 26. 39 Ecclus. 41. 1 Body and soule shal be glorified Death will come not looked for Gen. 5. 25. verse 4. Gen. 9. 29. Decrease of mens ages Deut. 34. 7. Not to depend on long life Time past short in expectation long Sudden death in others a fearefull spectacle Feare Mat. 14. 26 1. Pet. 2. 17. 1. Ioh. 4. 18. Col. 3. 22. Psal. 33. 18 DiffereÌ„ce of feare The want of wisedome the want of feare Hos. 14. 9. Psal. 128. 1. God must blesse vs before we can feare him Rom. 7. 18. Phil. 2. 13. Feare the gift of God Psa. 111. 10 Psal. Iob 1. 1. Reu. 14. 13. Psal. Rom. 12. 9. 1. Thes. 3. 15 1. Pet. 5. 8. 1. 2. Rom. 14. 12. 3. Eccles. 12. 14. We must giue account after death The heart the fountaine of al euill Iere. 17. 9. Gen. 6. 5. Satan watchfull ouer our inclinations aswell as actions Satan in his temptations steales vpon vs. The watch of a Christian Phil. 4. 8. Satan encounters vs not alone Our corrupt inclinations aduantage to Satan Eph. 5. 11. Tit. 2. 12. Rom. 13. 12 Rom. 12. 9. Though wee bee tempted we shall not fall Matt. 14. Act. 7. 59. Act. 12. 2. Mar. 13. 33 Mat. 24. 42. The Parable of the Thiefe Luk. 12. 39. 2. Cor. 6. 6. 1. Pet. 3. 10 11. Ecclus. 4. 20 The generall Audit is at hand therefore to prepare our account Mat. 18. 24 2. Pet. 3. 10 Mal. 4. 1. Zeph. 1. 14. 15 16. 2 Pet. 3. 10. Christs second comming fearfull None shal be able to answere the seuere Iudge 1. Cor. 1. 7. Phil. 3. 2. Tim. 4. 8. Luk. 21. 36. Ps. 50. 3 10. Ver. 11. Psal. 42. 5. Psal. 37. 34. Patience Matt. 6. 25. 1. Pet. 5. 7. Psal. 55. 22. 2. Cor. 11. 28 Heb. 13. 7. Matt. 6. 33 Pro. 10. 28. 1. Pet. 3. 9. 1. Pet. 4. 14. Esa. 30. 18. Attendance How feare and desire stand together Example The most diligent may bee found vnprofitable Attention two-fold 1. 2. Attention to selfe imperfections The Husband mans atteÌ„dance and attention Watchfulnesse in patience merits nothing because it is all vnperfect Correction necessarie Counterfeit patience True patience The place of freedome is heauen Gods forbearance to punish Rom. 7. 21 22 23. Verse 19. The opinion of Merit and Workes of Supererogation blasphemie They that can merit need no Repentance Psal. 43. 3. Heb. 11. 6. Iam. 2. 20. Rom. 11. Rom. 8. 24. The Fathers before Christ saw Christ to come Mat. 3. 17. Mat. 17. 5. 2. â—et 1. 17. Heb 9. 24. Patience in the husbandman Gal. 6. 8. Men most miserable but for the hope of another life Iude 20. 21. Vaine and carnall obiections against Faith and Beliefe Ro. 10. 9 10 Ia. 2. 18 19. Iam. 2. 21. Gen. 22. Iam. 2. 23. Faith the gift of God yet ours by imputation Iam. 2. 20. Rom. 14. 23 Heb. 11. 6. Sacrifice of the Masse Act. 7. 49. Heb. 4. 14. 1. Tim. 2. 5. The true vse of the SacrameÌ„t of the Lords Supper Rom. 7. 18 19. and 2. 13. Eph. 2. 8 9. Gal. 5. 4. We cannot suppresse sin but by grace Iob. 1. 16. The benefit of death The glory to come farre exceedes mans vnderstanding Wordes cannot expresse the glorie to come If worldly things be glorious how
feare him then that feare being blessed and sanctified â—restraynes mee from sinne to walke in the wayes of God therefore I feare and walke because I am blessed and not blessed because I either feare or walk in his wayes for God by his blessing which is his grace giues mee the will without which the deede cannot follow so both the will and the deede the desire and the worke in me are of God He that feareth the Lord will neither speake nor do euill because both speaking doing good comes from the feare of doing euill which holy feare being the gift of God hath great commendation in the Scripture It is the beginning of wisedome saith Salomon and wisedome the end of all heauenly perfection and tendeth not only to restraine from euill for feare of Gods Iudgements as it wrought in Dauid when he said My flesh trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraid of thy Iudgements But to retayne me in the loue and fauour of God Iob was reputed a iust and vpright man because he feared God and in fearing God he eschewed euill Satan himselfe confessed that God preserued Iob blessed all that he had for that he feared God The feare of God then is that true rule of wisedom which directeth vnto a godly life a godly life an infallible forerunner of a happie death and to die in the Lord is chiefest blessednesse the passage from a miserable mortall to a blessed immortall being This feare then being the first steppe to a godly preparation to liue well and to die blessed is that true most precious Iem and Iewell which I seeke and desire to obtayne at the hands of God whose gift it is And therefore according as Salomon hath defined this feare of the Lord I will indeuour to abandon euill and to abhorre sinne Dauid also teacheth and I will desire to practice the same feare in keeping my tongue from euil and my lips that they speake no guile I will seeke to eschew euill and to doe good to seeke peace and to follow it for Who hath euer continued in the feare of the Lord and hath beene forsaken of him in life or in death A Prayer for the feare of God and wherein I may so liue as I may not be afraid to die The Prayer O Lord my God who hast made mée and fashioned mee of the dust of the earth and hast breathed into me the breath of Life here to trauaile vpon the face of the earth during a time appointed by thy Prouidence which I shall not passe for thou hast set down the number of my dayes which how many they shall bée I am vtterly ignorant giue me therefore a holy â—eare that I may thinke euery day to bee the day appointed for my death that I may so much the more warily walk in the wayes of true wisedome in a holy and sincere conuersation before the sons of men and in the sanctification of the inner man lest I be found more formall before men then faithfull in thée I beséech thée hearken to the prayer of thy Seruant who desireth vnfaynedly so to feare thée as I may not feare or be afraid of death Giue me that holy feare of thy Name which thou hast commanded that I may not erre from thy wayes nor harden my heart from thy feare for I know that great is thy goodnesse which thou hast layd vp for them that feare thee Knit my heart therefore vnto thée that I may fear thy Name and may receiue grace to serue thée so that I may so please thée with reuerence and feare that I not only may not feare to die but desire it rather passing all the time of my dwelling here in continuall meditation of thy future life sanctifying thee the Lord God of Hosts who art euermore my feare for thou only art able to kill and to make aliue to cast downe and to raise vp therefore art thou only to be feared like vnto whom there is none among al the gods so glorious in holinesse fearefull in praises and doing wonders I thanke thée gracious Father in Jesus Christ that in and by him I haue receiued the Spirit of re conciliation adoption whereby I am enabled to crie Abba Father and am freed from the spirit of seruile feare from the feare of Satan by thy Spirit Though for a little while O Lord thou maist séeme to forsake me and leaue mee to the spirit of bondage yet with great compassion according to thy wonted mercies I finde thée euer readie to receiue mee againe For a moment thou hidest thy face from mee but with euerlasting mercie thou wilt haue compassion vpon mee and after this my mortalitie receiue mee to eternitie who art my Lord my God my streÌ„gth and my Redéemer Lord increase my feare of thee my faith in thee and loue towards thee Amen MEDIT. IIII. Watchfulnesse THE second point of my preparation is to bee watchfull and that for three especiall causes The first for that I haue an Aduersarie who is maliciously watchfull therefore ought I to be religiously watchfull The second because death will steale suddenly vpon me as a Thiefe The third because of my generall account to which I know I shall be called as soone as my soule is gone from my bodie if then I bee not able to yeeld a â—ust reason how I haue spent the time of my life here I shall be cast into prison neuer to bee redeemed First then to apply my watchfulnes to the watchfulnesse of mine enemie it behoueth me euer to haue an eye vnto the thoughts motions and affections of my corrupt heart for from my heart proceed all the euils that by any part or member of my bodie are actually committed and all the thoughts of my heart are euill euermore yet thence is my tongue moued to speake how then can my words be holy proceeding from so polluted a fountayne I am often violently carried whither the thoughts of my heart doe moue me and am often incited to commit those things howsoeuer euill which my corrupt heart hath conceiued And mine enemie Sathan that thirsteth for my confusion takes aduantage by the inclination of my heart manifested by mine accustomed actions to frame his bayts according to my corrupt appetite coueting euer to draw actual euils out of the polluted puddle of sinne conceiued in my heart This do I find by the experience of his long practice and inferâ—all stratagems for vpon my committing of some sinne and hartily repenting the same with a resolution neuer to commit the like I haue as it were sensibly felt and plainly obserued how by little and little he hath endeuoured to lay snares to draw me to the same euil not as with a violent hand but as it were stealing vpon me like a flattering and deceitefull Theefe whose policies I haue no power to preuent but only by that promise which GOD made vnto
fit to stand alwayes vpon my Watch-towre in continuall Prayer that I bee not vnder the least power of any of mine enemies when my separation shall come I will indeuour to make vse of the Parable of Christ my Sauiour who by way of premonition saith Vnderstand this as being a matter of chiefe consequence for my safetie If the good man of the house which is the soule of euery man dwelling in the bodie knew at what houre the Thiefe namely Death would come hee would be readie to entertaine it And would not suffer his house his bodie to be digged thorow namely by violence to be surprized and to be desperatly spoyled of his goods his soule to be tormented perplexed by a guilty conscience and an vnrepentant heart for sinne committed against God but would bee still watching to preuent euery euill motion to sinne and wait for that Thiefe Death willingly to lay downe his bodie for a time in the graue and to yeeld vp his soule to God that gaue it in Christ who redeemed it As touching this watchfulnesse it is comprehended in a godly life and in a continuall serious obedience to God eschewing euill and doing good in seeking peace and following it This is true watchfulnesse and blessed is the man whom the Lord when hee commeth shall find thus waking For he that slumbreth in security carelesse of future dangers leding an vngodly life not remembring his end and what accoūt he is to make when Death comes vpon this man he shal be suddēly carryed to the place of ex treme and perpetuall torment neuer to bee relea sed I will therefore pray that I may retayne a continuall watchful heart and striue to liue soberly because I know not the time A Prayer that I may be alwayes readily prepared for Death The Prayer O Lord my God who hast created mee of nothing here to liue and breathe in the Earth for some few dayes few were the many thousand yéeres in comparison of thine Eternitie and yet the end of these my dayes altogether vnknowne vnto mee Therefore thou commandest me to watch and to awake to siue righteously and not to sinne and yet by nature I sléepe in carnall securitie Thou willest me not to sleepe as doe other but to watch and bee sober but alas I slumber in mine owne vanities the deceits of sinne True Wisedome willeth mée to watch because the time of my dissolution is at hand when I shall bee no more breathe no more but bee taken from all the pleasures and delights of this life Frame in me therefore I beséech thée good Father a watchfull heart Banish from me the darknesse of ignorance and all wicked affections by the knowledge of thy truth Giue mee grace to order my life according to that certaine and sure rule of all righteousnesse and sinceritie by the vertue of the Spirit of Iesus Christ. The darknesse of the night is past and I haue the light of thy Word giue me therefore the will and ablenesse to cast off the workes of darknesse and to put on the armour of light That I may henceforth walke honestly as in the day not in gluttonie and drunkennes nor in chambering and wantonnesse nor in strife and enuying but by putting on the Lord Iesus Christ and not to take thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof I am subiect O Lord to many temptations giue me therefore the Spirit of Wisedome and strength to resist and ouercome them And that I may kéep cōtinuall watch ouer all my thoughts words and wayes that I bée at no time idle in wel-doing that Death which standeth at my doore finde me not without the Lamp of Loue faith and Obedience burning in my heart Make mee holy and constant in all good and godly duties that with a pure and sanctified con science I may at all times and in all places serue thee walking before thee in truth and that with a perfit heart that I fall not into the power and lust of mine Aduersaries nor be ouer-swayed with the destres of my corrupt heart but bee found perfect to euery good worke for thou art my God Uigilant and watchful is Death still attending to seize vpon mée yet cannot before thine appointed time for my time is in thine hand Giue me therfore a watchful heart that I may liue to thée and die in thée that whensoeuer it shall come to passe that I must yéeld my body to the dust I may be sound waking my heart settled vpon Heauen and heauenly things So shall not this death be terrible but most acceptable vnto me being the way by which I shall enter into that holy place new and spirituall Ierusalem where the filthy garments of sinne shame and confusion shall bee taken from mee and the most glorious Robes of Righteousnesse in the merits of thy glorified Soune bée put vpon me neuer to war old which grant most louing father for his sake So be it O Lord increase my faith and giue mee euer a watchfull heart pure and holy MEDIT. VI. The third cause of watchfulnesse the vncertaine Comming of Christ to Iudgement THe third cause of watchfulnesse I find to be lest my finall iudgement come vpon me suddenly as by vnprouided Death and I be found not only idle in wel-doing but in doing that which is euill And if I should not though much vnlikely lay downe this mine earthly Tabernacle before that generall dissolution of all things being doubtlesse not farre off the sudden comming of that Day will not excuse me for as I shall bee then found I shall be iudged I shall receiue the sentence due vnto me either in mercie or seueritie at the instant of Christes appearing and yet shall not preuent them that haue slept euer since the death of innocent Abel So that whether I goe before or stay till hee come I shall finde no difference for in the graue there is no remembrance of good or euill no feare of future danger or hope of Happinesse to come and therefore the time of my bodies sleep in the Earth bee it long or short is not conceiued or felt Only my soule that shall goe before cannot but apprehend it selfe not fully perfect vntill that generall Day when my body shall bee raysed againe out of the dust and partake together with my soule the vnspeakeable glorie of Christ my Sauiour not that I haue deserued it but the prayse I yeeld vnto him that hath merited the same for mee euen by his death It much behoueth mee therefore to watch and to make mine account ready for I find that the generall Audit is at hand where I shall be strictly examined how I haue bestowed the talents which I haue receiued of my Lord. At which generall Audit all must appeare Emperours Kings Potentates Bishops yea from the greatest to the least all shall bee summoned with the fearfull sound of a terrible Trumpet sounding far lowder then the most
whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne And therefore the opinion of meritorious works and works of supererogation I beleeue cannot be grounded on a true sauing faith for to assume selfe-power to doe good and there-by to merit saluation is meerely against Christ and his merits as is also the pretēded propitiatorie sacrifice of the Masse and the reall being of Christs flesh in the Eucharist not onely not necessary to enter into my beliefe but rather that I beleeue that the death of Christ once for all apprehended by a liuely faith and his merits applyed for the pardon of my sinnes to my vnderstanding 〈◊〉 is a 〈◊〉 sufficient for the washing away of the sins of as many as doe truely beleeue and earnestly repent and doe receiue in that faith the sacramentall signes of the breaking of his body and sheading of his bloud vpon the crosse namely bread and wine faithfully I beleeue that Christ cōtinues really in heauen sitting at the right hand of God a continuall and alone Mediator euen for me and that the heauens shall so contayne him vntill his second comming vntill which time the Sacrament is left vnto all beleeuers to be a remembrance vnto them of his death which is a sufficient propitiation for the sinnes of all beleeuers I doe therefore beleeue that the holy Ghost possessing my heart at my participation of that holy Sacrament worketh faith in me which faith looketh backe vnto the death of Christ vpon the crosse beholding as it were by the eye of the same faith the breaking of his bodie and the powring out of his bloud euen then sacramētally represented vnto mee by the bread broken signifying his bodie and by the wine powred out signifying his bloud which I corporally eating and drinking I doe as verily taste of the vertue of Christs death in my heart by faith as I do taste in my mouth the bread wine And this I beleeue to be the true vse of this holie mystery whereof all faithfull receiuers do no otherwise partake of Christs bodie now crucifyed then the faithfull Iewes did partake of him in eating the Paschall Lambe prefiguring the death of Christ to come as now we solemnize the commemoration of his death past but that they had it vnder a more darke vayle which now being taken away appeareth to vs most perspicuously and cleerly MEDIT. X. Christ elected none for foreseene workes I Doe not beleeue that GOD elected me for the foreseen good works that I would doe for I disclayme all inherent goodnesse by nature and doe belieue that God giues me both will and the power to doe good and all the good that I doe I acknowledge to be of God and the euill that I doe to bee of my selfe therefore the good that I doe I doe not beleeue to be the cause but the effect of mine election I confesse that God did foreknow I would doe good not but that hee likewise forepurposed to indue me with his owne Spirit whereby I should doe it therefore is not the worke mine but the Spirits that God hath giuen me for if I should beleeue that God foresaw the good that I setting the Spirit of God aside should doe and therefore did elect mee were it not to beleeue that mine own workes were the cause of mine election and so assume vnto my selfe power to worke mine owne saluation which God forbid God giues the wil and the power to worke and rewards the worke not as a debt hee owes mee for my worke but as he first gaue me the will and the power freely so hee rewards not my work but manifesteth his mercie wherein hee likewise as hee freely elected mee so hee freely bestowes vpon me his saluation through his owne meanes and therefore I rather vtterly condemne my best works then to expect any meritorious reward for them I feele the force of mine owne corruption daily and that appeares in the whole course of my life by the fruits which of them-selues are euer euill which I cannot suppresse but by the grace of GOD in Christ. If I knewe nothing by my selfe to yeeld me cause of doubt yet were not I thereby iustified But I know no good in my selfe what shall I say then am I condemned God forbid for as God did freely elect mee so hee freely iustifies mee not for mine owne good workes the best of which are imperfect but of his owne free mercie by imputing Christs righteousnesse and merits vnto me in whom and with whom a Crowne of glorie is laid vp in heauen euen for mee from whose fulnesse I receiue euen here grace for grace whereby and not by any meanes of mine owne I doe grow and increase and the elder I waxe in Christ the more I fasten my roote and the more I flourish in the Spirit for They that are planted in the Courts of the Lord shall flourish in their age and bring forth fruit and happy are they that are in Christ Iesus whom neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come shall separate from the loue of God Shall not Death then separate me from Christ no it shall not only not separate me but it shall bring me into his Real and Royall presence into his Kingdome of glorie new Ierusalem where I shall see his Maiestie as farre to exceed the glorie of Salomon in the day of his magnificent Coronation as the Sunne exceedes in brightnesse the darkest and blackest cloud Is this then the hurt that Death can doe vnto mee and shall I feare it will a wise man refuse a rich possession for not passing to it by an ordinarie bridge by which hee hath seene millions goe before him And shall I desire to dwell in this base and beggerly cottage this ruined and rotten house of clay in labour trauaile care feare trouble enuie griefe and a thousand miseries rather then passing by the ordinaire way of death to inherit a glorious Kingdom God forbid I desire farre rather to be with CHRIST in glorie which glorie I beleeue farre surpasseth both what is or can be spoken or conceiued of it The very Angels that presently partake of it cannot expresse it nay the holy Ghost though hee doe assure vs that it is prepared for all Gods elect yet the very fulnesse of it is not reueiled words cannot so sufficiently declare it as that the most illuminate man can expresse it not Paul himselfe though hee were taken vp into the third Heauen where hee heard and no doubt sawe wonderfull things yet could hee not discouer them to the full apprehension of any mortall But by the glorie that God hath reueiled in his works by the Firmament the Sunne the Moone the Stars the Seas the Earth the order and course of all his creatures visible may leade vs to iudge by way of comparison That if the things for the vse of mortall men here bee so wonderfull and glorious what are they
hand whereby I receiue comfort from heauen here in earth euen in my greatest miseries I am not ignorant of other mens growth from a graine of wealth to an ounce from an ounce to a pound from a pound to an hundred waight And I that haue laboured more peraduenture then some of them am left so farre behind them as I am forgotten euer to haue beene of their companie What shall I say shall I fret my selfe at their prosperitie and grudge at mine owne meane estate no I wil trust in the Lord I will delight mee in him and commit my way vnto him I will not enuie him that prospereth in his way nor him that obtayneth his desires in this life It is too much and I rather pitty then enuie them for their fulnesse makes them fall and their fatnesse makes them without Gods feare the more fit for the slaughter It is enough for me that I depend on Gods Prouidence yet doe I not so depend as that I thinke that he will feede me though I put not my hand to my mouth that by his prouidence and power my wants and my necessities shuld be supplied though I laboured not No it is so farre from me so to thinke as I endeuour to vse all the lawfull meanes that my calling base as it is reputed and mine indeuours therein weake as they are knowne can administer vnto me But I acknowledge all my labours vaine without the blessing of God with-out which I know nothing can prosper vnder my hand And I am not ignorant that according to the outward man al things succeede alike to the good to the wicked health and sicknesse riches and pouertie enemies friends the Sunne shines and the rayne falls on both alike not to the best by desert nor by chance in that which is to either of them good for their corporall being but that Gods blessing in earthly things should make euen the wicked without excuse and that GOD may haue the glorie not onely for the saluation of the one but for the condemnation of the other for his glorie appeareth aswell in iudgement as in mercy I will therefore trust in the Lord I will during my time limited by God labour in my calling according to my dutie and occasions administred and therein will I waite with patience in hope I will rest content with my portion knowing that a small thing blessed by God is better then the greatest riches of the vnsatiable MEDIT. XIII Not to sorrow for a mans death but to hope of his better life NOw forasmuch as I knowe I shall chaunge this vile body for a better such as are my friends in reason will not bee against it though for a time they shall lose mine and I shall lose their corporall and comfortable societie but wee shall meete againe in more complete and comfortable ioy in the heauens then the earth can afford vs and therefore I wish them not to sorrow for my departure when it shall please GOD to appoint the time But mee thinkes I heare some whom the Law of Nature especially of Religion bindeth me much to respect lamenting their miserable estates which cannot but befall them after my finall departure from them it is hard with them now and they may iustly feare that they shall want what my poore indeuours while I liue and haue my health among them doe in some measure supply And which may aggrauate their sorrow and my griefe the more I am indebted and thereby shall leaue a more heauie burden of miserie and contempt vpon them then the poore meanes which I shal leaue for them wil be able to sustayne for they say and true it is that creditors are cruell and there is little mercy among men therefore may they iustly feare that they shall be oppressed beyond their power which may iustly giue them the greater cause of feare before and of mourning after my death As riches left vnto posterities are the cause of carnall content and reioycing so is pouertie cast vpon them by Parents the occasion of sorrow calamitie The confideration whereof breeds more grief in my heart then the remembrāce of death brings feare not in respect of my selfe who am taught that in what estate soeuer I be to bee therewith content but my contentment worketh not in thē the true knowledge how to vse things indifferent for being poore I am patient and where patience is there is hope and where hope is there is the mind at peace or being rich I may haue discontent distraction so that neither wealth nor want of themselues are good or euill but as they are made by the vse or abuse of either of them Pouertie in Parēts makes often-times children vertuous knowing it is their portion whereas the hope of riches often imboldens the indifferently well inclined to bee the worse conditioned knowing the greatnesse of their portion will maintayne their vanities Vertue is a farre greater patrimonie then possessions and with an inheritance wisedome is necessary but precious where no earthly inheritance is for that by it the life is gouerned by true discretion whereas without it the best patrimonie is suddenly consumed with shame If therfore I could leaue vnto them that riches of the minde to direct their wayes they might then spend their short and euill dayes as sweetly as contentedly in a poore cottage and therein offer vnto God as pleasing sacrifices of prayer and praises as in a Princes Palace but God is the giuer of these heauenly vertues Pouertie is not to be imputed as a fault to the honestly minded and truelyindustrious The fault is in the minde that deemes it a fault but few howsoeuer Philosophicall they seem can without diuine wisedome beare with gladnes to be left poore by Parēts and what wife is shee that with willing acceptation will imbrace a poore life after her though most vertuous and most louing and beloued husband Widdowhood of it selfe seemeth and to the vertuous woman is a sorrowfull portion especially so left by a beloued husband but Widdowhood with pouertie is meere miserie yet a vertuous womā married will take her lot with patience being a widdow for no estate time or triall can alter her constancie MEDIT. XIIII The discouerie of a meane estate reputed a fault is none I Haue beene often condemned of simplicitie by many of my friends for that I bewray mine owne poore estate so publikely to the world which peraduenture may repute me rich and of competent meanes This I acknowledge is a shew of their loue and friendly affection and I so take it but cannot obserue it nor follow their counsell for if I should conceale my necessitie make an outward shew to haue what I haue not and to be what I am not am I the richer or the better shall my posteritie receiue the greater portion of prosperity after me nay shall they not rather vndergoe
true peace with or in the World and happie is hee that hath warres with it and peace with God But here is the miserie of miseries hence is griefe hence often vpbraydings especially domesticke the want of daintie fare gay and fashionable garments and the want of meanes to preferre and aduance Posterities is the Houshold Breake-peace and to auoid this miserie some runne into a mischiefe vsing sinister and vnlawful means to satisfie the World and worldly mindes displeasing God to please vaine fantasies yet for a time it is sweet and pleasant yeelding a kind of content and carnall comfort such as CHRIST fore-told that Worldlings should haue in this life as the Rich man in the Gospell had but GODS owne Children should haue contrarie enentertainmēt in the world they should want weepe and lament as Lazarus did and as their estates of wealth and want pleasure and paine faith and infidelitie doe differ so do their ends for fulnes and want mirth and mourning ioy and sorrow idlenesse and labour stand not together in this life neither yeeld they like comfort or calamitie after death There are but two extremes in riches and pouertie but their degrees are infinite so are there of pleasure and paine after this life The true vse of riches and the patient acceptance of a meane estate are equall and receiue eequall proportion of reward So the abuse of riches and the impatient vndergoing of a poore estate shall be equally punished whether therefore I bee poore or rich I am in neither happie but so farre as I walke in either of them in the feare and loue of God that giues both for the good of the good and to the reproofe of them that abuse either O happie is that heart that harbours the hope of heauenly things it is contentedly satisfied with the smallest portion the world doth yeeld and yet resteth not idle in well-doing but carefully indeuoreth so to liue as willingly not to be chargeabe to any desiring rather to bee able to helpe the needie and to owe nothing but good will to any Naked came I into the World poore and in a meane estate I liue and naked I must goe hence as touching my spirituall part I shall be clothed with the Robe of my Redeemers merits in the Heauens vntill my bodie shall be raysed againe and then reunited vnto my soule and both become one bodie clothed with eternall glorie And therefore Come Lord Iesus come quickly and finish these dayes of sinne that I may partake of thy glorie THE HVSBANDS Christian counsell to his Wife and Children left poore after his death PART 1. Death certaine his comming vncertaine BY the former Discourse ye may perceiue that Death will certainly come vpon mee and you as vpon all men but when where or how no man knowes and that after death all shall come to Iudgement and yeeld account for whatsoeuer they haue done in this life and therefore wee all should prepare vs against the time by continuall watchsulnesse in well-doing You may also conceiue and I know you haue too well experimented my poore estate to bee such as I cannot leaue behinde me such testimonies of my worldly happinesse as many other men doe to them they leaue behinde them that may challenge some remembrance by their worldly substance And therefore in stead of such commemorations I desire before I goe hence and bee no more seene to leaue such token of my loue towards you as I can that you may likewise remember mee in Christian imitation after my death wishing you to take that in good part at my hands that I shall giue you in counsell though words I know make none wealthy In stead therefore of Possessions and Pecuniary Portions I wish you euer to esteeme the fauor loue and prouidence of God your chiefest riches who as he hath been euer mine so will hee bee assuredly yours if in faith yee serue him and seeke him Bee yee therefore patient in that which in this life necessitie inforceth to be vndergone howsoeuer hard and vnsauourie it bee to flesh and bloud and make of that necessitie a vertue which if bee taken with grudging turnes into sinne The time will not bee long which will giue end to the greatest miseries then what difference can there bee obserued betweene them that haue abundance and them that haue least they shall carrie equall portions to their graues only nakednesse which both the rich and poore the glorious and the base brought into the World with them yet their future portions may differ as did the Rich mans and Lazarus Let vs therefore as long as we liue together couple and comfort our hearts together in the Lord whose pleasure it is and that in loue to keepe vs low in this World to the end wee should not be transported from the loue of heauenly to earthly things the best whereof is our bodie which yet is compared to a Flowre that fades and comes to nothing If therefore pouertie and afflictions continually possesse vs and presse vs downe euen vnto our liues ends Let vs rest euer faithfull cleauing constantly vnto God for hee careth for vs so shall wee bee the lesse carefull for worldly things Care not for your liues saith Christ namely what yee shall eate or what yee shall drinke nor for your bodies what yee shall put on for the bodie is more worth then meate and of more value then rayment bee it neuer so precious yet shall it naturally rot as the Garment doth but so much the more precious is the bodie though it perish by how much it shall bee futurely glorified But the bodies of the disobedient and wicked are so much the more base and vile then is a garment by how much it shall not so totally perish as the garment doth but bee reserued and raysed to endlesse torments The fowles of the ayre are brought in by Christ to teach man to cast his care vpon God Who careth for the verie fowles though they sow not nor reape nor carrie into barnes yet they are fedde and nourished by God but they are not idle for as God hath ordained food for them so are they to flye to and fro to seeke it teaching as not to rest careles of lawfull labours though Christ say Care not for to morrow but rather that we should bee so much the more industrious euery where by all meanes at all times in our lawfull callings omitting no opportunitie lawfully to encrease our store Christ likewise by way of comparison brings in the Lillyes of the field setting their glorie to the glorie of our corrupt bodies shewing that although wee labour and toyle and carke and care and busie our bodies and braynes about superfluous and vanishing things wee can neuer bee comparable to the glory of the Lilly other glorious beautifull flowers no not Salomon in his most glorious robes yet as glorious as these
death are equally as vncertayne to man as is the Houre the Day the Weeke the Moneth the Yeere of Christs comming to Iudgement which that he will come is as certaine as death but as touching the time of the cōsummation of al things Christ as hee was man confessed he knew not the time yet was no earthly thing hid from him no not the thoughts of men But that Day is concealed in the generall as the houre of mans death in particular only to make vs and to keepe vs in such a continuall obedience as if death should suddenly steale vpon vs we may be readie to imbrace him in what manner soeuer hee should execute his seuerity vpon vs. Whereby I learne that as I tender mine own safetie So I should prepare me for that and to that which come it sooner or later cannot be auoyded It is then the principall point of diuine Wisdome to learne and to practize to liue well for without a godly life I cannot willingly and comfortably imbrace death which can neuer bee euill if a good life haue gone before As I shall dye so shall I rise If I dye iustified I shall rise to be glorified To liue well as some account it wealthily is not well And to dye rich is not to dye righteous for so should the rich Glutton haue beene carryed into Abrahams bosome with or before poore Lazarus The cōdition of worldlings no doubt is glorious were it good pleasant were it truly profitable It is high in conceit but not as it is taken true happinesse It is no higher then the Eye can see It consisteth but of the Earth and earthly things The Swine thinkes his condition happie yet only noozels in the Earth for Apples and Acornes neuer looking to the Tree from whence they fall So doe Worldlings wallow in all carnall care how to become great and glorious in this life seldome or neuer looking vp with the Eye of Faith to him from whom and from none else commeth the riches that maketh a man blessedly happie Contrarie is the condition of the Childe of God who loues God in feare and feares him in loue accepting euery smal gift as a great measure of his bountie resting content with whatsoeuer God will vouchsafe to bestow on him liuing in the world but dead to the World following with diligence and truth his Vocation be it neuer so base and contemptible receiuing with thankefulnesse to GOD whatsoeuer he enioyeth in this life not setting his affection vpon that which the World loueth but affecteth whatsoeuer hee hath for his sake that giues it hauing the Eye of his sanctified Soule alwayes and in all things in prosperity in aduersity in health in sicknesse in peace and persecution in fulnesse and in want and is alwayes conuersant as it were in Heauen desiring to bee dissolued to bee with Christ. These are the pleasures of that life that precedes a happie death My desire therefore and continuall indeuour shall be to learne and my care to practize the life and conuersation of a liuely Christian in continuall filiall obedience not after the flesh in shew only but after the Spirit in Truth not for the bodie only as doth the beast that perisheth but for the Soule which being safe the bodie cannot finally perish and safe I cannot bee in soule or bodie vnlesse I liue in Christ and Christ in me for I now find that as long as I liued without Christ I did but liue in shew as the Angell of Sardis who had the name to liue but yet was dead so I though I liued and breathed and had a naturall being yet was I dead spiritually without him as the wanton Widdow that was dead while she liued But by the Spirit of Christ I am now againe made aliue desiring to liue in him hee is life in deed to walke in him hee is the true way indeed and to beleeue in him he is truth in deed My former learning to liue was in carnall libertie which I now finde to bee but foolishnesse falshood and deceit I now seeke to learne to liue according vnto Christ though late though it bee the very euening of my day being called vnto and if I doe perseuere in my labour according vnto my dutie I doubt not but to receiue my penny as well as if I had carryed the burden of the whole day of my life for he that calleth me into his Vineyard is truly bountifull and respecteth not the quantitie but the qualitie of my worke not how much I doe but how well and willingly I doe it for he rewards none for merit but in mercie And now finding my selfe to be not only in the way but neere vnto the end of my day I desire so to finish it as I may liue in him vnto the end that is life eternall that as he is eternall I beginning here to liue in him I may liue eternally with him in Heauen after this death And therefore I doe heartily abhorre the life that I haue led with-out him desiring now a right preparation so to lay downe this mortall bodie as it may bee taken vp and raysed by the vertue of Christs Resurrection at the comming of him in the Cloudes and in the meane season I desire so to walke in my spirituall part as in his time also hee may againe receiue it that gaue it for I know that if my earthly house be destroyed I haue a building of God an house not made with hands but eternall in the Heauens And through the mercy of God in Christ I shall then remayne for euer in Abrahams bosome the Paradise of God a new and spirituall Ierusalem I confesse I ground not mine assurance of my future blessednesse vpon any worthinesse or merite of mine owne whose merits I acknowledge Gods mercies Therefore being dissolued I beleeue not that the Prayers of friends or mediation of Saints or Angels or any Missall Sacrifice after my soule hath left my bodie can auayle me any thing But doe contrarily beleeue Post-Prayers to bee meerely fruitlesse if not sinfull the intercessions of Saints or Angels to be needlesse if not fabulous I only relye vpon the Al-sufficient Sacrifice of the bloud of Iesus Christ shed vpon the Crosse for me and his merit and mediation to bee mine onely atonement with God for my sinnes being liuing and through his power my soule to bee transported to glorie my bodie being dead from whence neither sinne nor Satan principalities nor powers shall be able to remoue mee nor to take mee out of my Redeemers hands Glory therefore bee vnto God in Iesus Christ who hath deliuered mee from the power of Satan Death and Hell This mine assurance giueth mee peace in Christ yet doe I withall feele another law within mee stirring mee vp or rather casting mee downe into sundry corrupt motions tending to sinne and did not God assist me with
his Grace I could not but fall backe and runne the way wherein I walked before I was called and to that end Satan ceaseth not to apply all his malice and meanes to allure mee to doe those things I should not doe taking aduantage of my corrupt inclination and to hinder me from doing those things I should doe besetting mee with many feares as first of Death that is euery houre ready to seise vpon me Secondly by laying my sins before the eyes of my giltie conscience and lastly the darke and ougly graue that gapes to swallow vp my fleshly part But what of these should I be afraid of them no Satan himselfe I know is chained and the execution of his malice limited and beyond the compasse and extent of diuine permission hee can not doe And hee that keepeth the house of my soule is that absolute strong man that hath already conquered him in me and for mee and hath redeemed mee out of his power my ransome is paid and I am become a freeman in Christ who although he leaue me for a time here in a warfare against many enemies and many kinds of aduersaries of whom I may receiue some stripes sometimes wounds and many foyles yet shall I neuer be ouercome nor fall finally for he that fighteth for me hath chosen mee whose election is sure for whom he once receiueth hee loueth to the end And therefore I know that vnder his power and protection I shall maintaine that good fight of faith vntill I haue subiected all mine enemies and at length be renewed and enioy his full presence by whome I haue gotten the victorie Then who shall lay any thing to my charge Or who shall condemne me It is Christ which is dead yea rather which is risen againe who is also at the right hand of God and maketh request euen for me And where the iudge of Iudges iustifies no inferiour iudgement may condemne But I am so farre both from cause or conceit to iustifie my selfe as I acknowledge my sins so great and my wel-doing so weake as I vtterly condemne my self worthy not onely of infinite stripes but of eternall death yet I haue hope for hee that is Truth it selfe hath promised mercie to penitent sinners among whom I acknowledge my selfe the greatest Yet I know his mercie goodnesse to be greater whose manifold mercies shewed vnto others confirmeth my assurance that my sinnes great as they are are not onely pardonable but already pardoned in Christ his beloued my soules best beloued On him I fixe the eie of my soule in faith from his vertue I receiue the most salutarie oyle of grace whereby I am cured of all my death bringing diseases And from whom and by whom I haue tasted such an heauenly antidote that hereafter none of Satans poysonous confections shall re-inuenime my spirituall part Hee may take and tread on my heele But I shall trample on his head through the power of that great conqueror And therefore though his principall and chiefe Champion Death take me and bind me hand and foote I shall breake his cords as easily as Samson did his If he cast me bound into the graue couer me with dust and fill my mouth with clay shut mine eyes bereaue me of my sences and send mee into vtter obliuion out of the sight of all my naturall friends I shall rise come forth againe I shall see againe euen with these eyes and in despite of all his despite receiue a farre greater strength thē death can bereaue mee of here am assured that neither death nor the graue shall retaine me vnder their power for euer But as there is a sowing time of bodies in the earth so shall there come a reaping of them when they shall be carried into the Garner of euerlasting glorie Therefore I doe not only not feare this death this bodies dissolution but desire it rather when it shall please him that gaue mee my life to take it againe For I am not ignorant that it was but lent me at the first as a pledge of a better life after this death And therefore shall I most willingly restore it when it shall bee required Christ my Sauiour was once among the dead But his death is my life as to all also that beleeue By his death hee conquered death And by his rising againe made way for mee and them also to ascend where hee is ascended namely into the highest heauens into the bosome of his Father and my Father and their Father and there remaineth in our flesh glorified holding the possession of that heauenly Kingdome in the name of and for all his members Should I then or neede I to be afraid to lay downe this my mortall body also among the dead for a time My Sauior lay three dayes in the Graue and rose the third If I lie three thousand yeers it is but as three dayes for with him a thousand yeeres are but as one day And therefore as sure as hee rose in three dayes So in time though it bee according to the Suns reuolutiō after many yeeres yet I shall find no tedious tarying for the accomplishment of his promise touching my resurrection for the vttermost of this temporall death is but the separation of the soule from the body which lasteth but for a season finite and after they shall meete againe for a time infinite and without time And what is the Graue but a bed to rest me in A place of protection as it were to free my mortall body from danger from sicknesse from labour and carke and care and feare and griefe and enuies and crosses and sinne Blessed are they that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours and all inconueniences It is not so with all such as die not so with them that die but not in Christ whose labours doe then but beginne What then is death but a sleepe out of which I know I shall awake againe in the most glorious morning of the most ioyfull appearing of my Redeemer in the clouds This death then carryes a name farre more fearfull and more terrible then indeede it is rather to bee desired and willingly to be imbraced then to bee feared or fled from especially of them that truely vnderstand the benefit it bringeth and the discommodities that accompanie men in this life especially liuing after the flesh and not after the Spirit As there is a naturall and a Spirituall death so is there a Spirituall life and a carnall life and that in this Pilgrimage or Passage frō birth to buryall the first cannot bee properly called a naturall but a spirituall life though it partake of both The Bond-woman and her seed must awhile remayne with the Free-woman and her sonne the earthly body and the corruption thereof with the heauenly soule Though the fleshly part bee here maintayned by naturall
may behold thy glorie and bee changed into the same Image by thy Spirit It is thou only that giuest wisedome and out of thy mouth proceeds knowledge and vnderstanding therefore Make me more and more to abound in knowledge and all iudgement that I may discerne betweene good and euill and bée kept pure with-out offence vntill the finall dissolution of this my mortall body filled with the fruits of Righteousnes which are by Jesus Christ vnto the praise and glorie of God Let mée not good Father be giuen ouer to the lust of my Aduersarie nor to mine owne corrupt hearts desire that iniquitie should haue dominion ouer mé◠but make mee perfect to euery good worke who workest in thy Children both the wil and the deede O Lord teach me to do thy will for thou art my God make my heart constant and euer kéep it vnblameable before thée in holinesse that I may serue thée in al holy duties with a good conscience and may walk before thée in truth and with a perfect heart doing that which is good in thy sight Let thy peace which passeth all vnderstanding preserue my heart mind in Iesus Christ euen to the end and in the end yea euen when the Messengers and pangs of death shal take hold on me euen then support me that Satan with his malicious suggestions and infernall temptations preuaile not against mée in laying before the eyes of my guiltie conscience the vglinesse of my sinnes past or by drawing my minde into any forbidden thought or desire Draw me out of the net that hee priuily layeth to catch my soule in breake it for mee for thou art my strength make haste to deliuer me and saue me for My soule is filled with euils and my life draweth neere vnto the graue And what man liueth and shall not see death Séeing then deare Father I am appointed to die and that death cānot bée comfortable vnto mée when it commeth vnlesse a godly life goe before prepare my hart O Lord prepare it to a holy conuersation and a ioyfull and gladsome resolution that I may lay down this mortall body of miue in the dust whence it was taken and made and to surrender my soule with all heauenly alacritie into thine hands that gauest it And when the snares of death the terrors of the graue take hold of mee then Lord let me find fauour with thée in Christ my Redéemer in whom I beséech thée to deliuer my soule Amen Lord euer increase and confirme my faith MEDITAT II. NOw then I hauing by the grace of God in some measure learned to liue and to know I shall dye what remayneth but that I looke for the day and attend the houre not knowing when it will come And therefore to bee alwayes ready hauing also through Christ receiued the spirit of boldnesse to remooue out of this bodie to bee with the Lord. This boldnesse I confesse I haue not of my selfe it is the gift of God who in the beginning made mee to his Image without spot but spotted before I was borne by him that was once without spot whose fault is now by imputation nay by action mine whereby I bringing sinne and corruption into the World with me haue deeply defiled my selfe by like actuall disobedience and therefore may iustly feare the face of that seuere and iust Iudge especially hauing so many and so strong Aduersaries Satan with his principalities and powers and spirituall wickednesse a million of sinnes and a guiltie conscience besides the horrours of Death and the Graue enough to cast my sinfull soule into vtter destruction were there not a power aboue his power and principalities to subdue his I thanke God in Christ I haue beene taught and I know that the seed of the woman hath subdued Satan led him all his powers principalities and spirituall wickednesse captiue triumphing ouer him and them vpon the Crosse making a shew of them openly And this I am not only taught to know but I beleeue the same stedfastly Lord strengthen my beliefe As for my siunes past I feare them not for Christ suffered for them once the iust for the vniust to bring me to God As touching death I knew that my Redeemer liueth and he hath taken away the sting therof and made a way for mee through the graue to come vnto glorie through the valley of death to passe vntill I come to the Lord my God in Sion I cannot yet but confesse that notwithstanding my boldnesse I feele many wauerings I am not at all times alike bold but often tremble at the consideration of death because I haue had no experience of the terrour thereof and therefore though the Spirit be willing my flesh is weake But I am so much the more strengthened by how much I doe consider that euen the dearest of Gods Children haue sometimes staggered at the consideration of death Saint Paul himselfe confesseth that he had fightings without and terrours within Peter for feare of death denyed his Master And our Sauiour Christ being lest vnto his manhood wished though contrarily resolued that the Cup of the Crosse might passe and that hee might not drinke of it Death comes with an vgly and fearefull countenance to all but especially to them that haue their consolation here Death nay the remembrance of death as the Wiseman affirmeth is better to him that hath the wealth the pleasures and happinesse of this life And vnlesse the Lord by his grace support and sustaine the best man he will feare and faint at the approching of death Therefore will I make my prayer vnto God in Christ to giue me strength and an holy resolution to imbrace death when it shall come A Prayer against the feare of death fit to be said at all times especially in sicknesse The Prayer O Lord my God and gracious Father in Iesus Christ who hast formed mee of the dust of the Earth and by thy Spirit made me a liuing soule in a mortall bodie Giue mée grace continually to remember my mortality how I am borne to dye and that after death I shall come to Judgement yet hast thou hidden the time when the place where and the maner how I shall dye from mee all knowne to thée Teach mee therefore Gracious Father teach mée so to number my daies as to consider that the more they increase in number so much the neerer I draw to the time of my dissolution therefore giue mee wisedome and a heart whereby I may apply me thereunto that I may be at all times and in all places watchfull and readie to imbrace the comming of that which I cannot auoyde Let mée not rest secure in health nor be dismayde in sicknesse but let my heart bee euer set on the things that are where I desire and hope to come and not on the things which I sée and partake herein this life Teach mee thy wayes instruct me in thy Lawes giue me a repēting
should I fulfill the desires and vaine delights of my corrupt heart Why should I sweeten and perfume my out-part to make it odoriferous to others mine inward part resting yet odious to God This superfluous care of my bodies vanities would not only make mee the more sweet and pleasing but farre the more hatefull to God and godly men therefore shall my desire and practice bee by the grace of God during the short remaining part of this my miserable life to couer my nakednesse with apparell meerely needfull and seeke to maintaine it with food such as it shall please my God to blesse vnto mee and through the same grace my hearts delight shall bee in the continuall true seruice of my heauenly Father hauing euer an eye vnto and desiring that time when and that place wherein I shall need neither rayment nor food and where I shall be onely delighted with the glorie wherewith I shall bee filled after this bodies death which although it perish for a time my soule resteth euer immortall God being the God not onely of mine immortall soule but of my mortall bodie also And I beleeue that hee will not lose one haire of mine head nor the smallest dust that shall come of my putrified carcasse nor one bone of my rotten and consumed bodie and that hee will rayse my mortall part in all fulnesse of all the parts and make them all ioynt-partakers of eternall glorie in Heauen in the Day of Christs second appearing in what manner soeuer it bee dissolued burnt in the fire drowned in the Sea deuoured by wilde Beasts or by any other meane whatsoeuer I heare naturall reason say It is an easie matter to beleeue that I shall dye experience makes it so common But to beleeue that this my bodie when it shall bee rotten and consumed to dust eaten with fishes deuoured and digested by wilde beasts or burnt to ashes or bee vtterly otherwise consumed that it shall rise againe to glorie is not so easily apprehended no experience teaching it but the resurrection of Christ which I haue not seene I disclaime in this point all naturall reason and doe faithfully beleeue that as my Redeemer Iesus Christ dyed and rose againe So after my death I shall by the vertue of his Resurrection rise againe to eternal life Iob prophesied of the Resurrection of humane dead bodies and affirmeth that hee knew that his Redeemer liued and that though after his death the wormes should deuoure his flesh yet in the same flesh he should see God looke vpon him and behold him and that with his owne namely with the eyes that then hee had And the Prophet Esay affirmeth that the dead bodies in the graue shall rise againe some to glorie some to torment The dead men saith hee shall liue euen with their bodies shall they rise Christ saith maruell not at this The houre shall come when all that are in the Graues shall heare his voyce and shall come forth they that haue done good vnto the Resurrection of life but they that haue done euill vnto the Resurrection of condemnation Christ also affirmeth that it is his Fathers will that sent him that hee shall lose nothing of that he hath giuen him but that hee shall raise it vp at the last Day They that sleepe in the dust shall awake Infinite are the proofes of the Resurrection of humane bodies in the Scriptures both of the iust and of the vniust of the godly and the wicked but to two contrarie final effects The godly shall rise to euerlasting life euer to remayne with the Lord the vngodly shall rise to euerlasting punishment to bee tormented for euer with the Deuill and his Angels in continuall horrour weeping and gnashing of teeth Here is matter of Meditation hence ariseth hope and horrour comfort and calamitie There are but two ends of the Resurrection life and death and both perpetuall And these succeed the death of the bodie Shuld I then be so iniurious vnto my silly soule that dwelleth in my mortall bodie as to forget that it shall come into iudgement in a time comming and at hand and that this bodie this fleshly and corrupted part shall againe bee raised to glorie or shame to partake of eyther with the soule were it not as if I should say in my heart there were no God no Heauen to glorifie or Hell to torment perswading my selfe that either after death there remaineth neither euill nor good but that I should goe into vtter obliuion to an eternall sleepe neuer to returne into any second existence or that GOD were a God onely of the immortall soule and not of the mortall bodie or a God of Mercie and not of Iustice Should I thus foolishly for lesse then a messe of Pottage sell my Birth-right in Heauen for a graine of temporarie vanitie sell a Crowne of perpetuall glorie Farre bee it from me for a Kingdome I know is prepared for me and a Kingdome I seeke waiting for it vntill it fall vnto mee as mine Inheritance through Christ who hath purchased the same by his bloud In the meane time I must taste and vndergoe many troubles afflictions pouertie want enemies and the scorne of the World Doth GOD suffer his owne Children to be afflicted in this life how can hee then bee said a louing Father vnto them Doth not that worthy Prophet King Dauid affirme that they that loue his Law shall haue great prosperitie and no hurt befall them How then comes the cōtrary to passe The Answere The Spirit of God that spake thus by the mouth and pen of Dauid lyeth not for the afflictions that I feele and the crosses that I haue proceede from the loue of God and hinder not but rather doe much further my spirituall prosperitie For whom the Lord loueth hee chasteneth and scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth If therefore I patiently endure chastening God offereth himselfe vnto mee as to a sonne If I were without correction whereof all Gods Children are partakers I were a bastard and no sonne Blessed is the man saith Iob whom God correcteth therefore will not I refuse the chastening of the Almightie let him therefore deale with mee according to his owne will in giuing me what he will health or sicknesse wealth or want prosperitie or aduersitie for I know that all things worke together for the best to them that loue God he may make a wound but he will bind it vp againe he may smite but his hands make whole againe hee giueth alwaies the issue with the temptation GOD forbid therefore that I should entertaine the least thought in my heart that whatsoeuer crosse or affliction befals me were in GODS indignatiō but onely in loue I doe acknowledge that sinne is the cause of all the crosses calamities afflictions miseries that I endure if God should deale with me answerable to what I haue done I could not beare his
wants redeemeth your liues from the Graue and hath prouided for you a Crowne of Glorie And Wife although I your poore Husband shall leaue you a penurious and desolate Widdow hee will bee vnto you a prouiding Husband cleaue vnto him And though I shall leaue you poore fatherlesse children cast your care vpon him he will care for you hee will bee your Father and as a most louing and helping Father obey him as most dutifull and faithfull Children And when the time of my dissolution shall come which cannot be long I must obey and I am readie I shall goe a little before you and yee shall shortly follow if ye goe not before mee which is in God euen to the place of mine assured happines if with faith ye imbrace obey the wil of him that calleth you while ye yet liue as becommeth the Children of so Gracious a Father In the meane time the same God blesse you all with his true Feare continuall Peace and competent Plentie A briefe collection of Diuine comfort for mine owne and the incouragement of euery Christian to dye willingly FOr asmuch as death is the end of this life and this life duly considered an vnpleasant passage to a better and whether it shall bee long or short it behoueth vs to vndergoe with patience in hope whatsoeuer entertainment this World shall afford vs. Iob had as an inheritance the moneths of vanitie and painfull nights were appointed vnto him The dayes of Iacobs pilgrimage were few and euill yet some thinke their pleasantest dayes are here in the earth therefore desire no better not so with me knowing that after this life there is layd vp for me a crowne of righteousnes and not for me only but for all them that loue the appearing of the Lord Iesus There is little reason therefore that I or any other that haue tasted and do daily taste of the bitter cup of this liues vanities and miseries should desire longer to be pressed or oppressed there with but rather to comfort my selfe in a godly and patient expectation of the time when my dissolution may come desiring to bee dissolued and to be with Christ to whom no man commeth but he must remooue out of this house of clay and that cannot bee by any other meanes but by death that is by the destruction or change of this earthly Tabernacle either leauing it in the earth for a season or to be taken vp suddenly at Christs second comming but howsoeuer I know and am assured that both soule and bodie shall bee together and for euer be glorified in the end be clothed with a house not made with hands eternall in the heauens Who then can but sigh in desire to be an inhabitant in that house which is perpetuall and glorious I looke for it in hope confidently assuring my selfe that Christ shall bee then magnified in my bodie whether it bee by life or death for whether I liue I liue vnto him or whether I die I die vnto him whether therefore I liue or die I am the LORDS for I know that he whom I haue beleeued is able to keepe that which I haue committed vnto him against that day wherein my mortall bodie shall bee quickned made like vnto his glorious bodie therefore will I willingly lay downe my life and commit my soule vnto God as vnto my most faithfull Creator A comfortable Meditation and Prayer to bee considered and said by euery Christian being neere the time of his dissolution NOw O Lord now draw néere vnto my soule and redéeme it for the time is at hand wherein I shall taste of the cup of death Now therefore is the acceptable time for thee to receiue my soule in the multitude of thy mercies which are wonderfull therefore doe I trust vnder the shaddow of thy wings my soule cleaueth vnto thée for thy right hand vpholdeth mée My soule thirsteth for thée my flesh longeth greatly after thée whose louing kindnesse is better to mee then life for from thée commeth my saluation Haue mercy vpon mée O God haue mercy vpon me for my soule trusteth in thée and vnder the shaddow of thy wings wil I trust till this my finall affliction be ouer-past My heart is prepared O God my heart is prepared to come vnto thée make it constant in thée because I know that although this body for a time shall wither yet it shall be in the house of my God as a gréene Oliue trée euer to flourish and be blessed Thou Lord thou hast chosen me and hast caused me to come vnto thée my saluation is of thine owne frée mercy and of thy frée and Fatherly election I shall dwell in thy Courts for euer and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thine house euen of thy Kingdome of glorie I shall drinke of the Riuers of thy pleasures for with thée is the Well of life and in thy Light I shall sée light Let thy good Spirit leade mee in the Land of Righteousnesse and bring me by thy strength to thy holy and heauenly habitation plant mee in the Mountayne of thine inheritance euen in the place which thou hast prepared and in thy sacred Sanctuarie which thou hast established that I may sée thy goodnesse in the Land of the liuing Let mee behold thy face in righteousnesse and let me be satisfied with the fulnesse of the glorie of thy Countenance for in thy face is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand are pleasures for euermore Into thy hands oh Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redéemed me O Lord God of truth shew a token of thy goodnesse and fauour towards me that they which wish euill vnto my soule may sée it and be ashamed and they that loue thy Name obserue it and be confirmed in thée who hast euermore holpen me and comforted mée Increase my faith and prepare my soule to come vnto thee AMEN To thee O Lord God only wise and only mercifull be ascribed all praise thanks dominion and glorie for to thee it only belongeth Priuate Prayers for Morning and Euening A Morning Prayer for priuate Families ALmightie LORD GOD most mercifull and louing FATHER Maker and Preseruer of all thy creatures but especially the Sauiour and Sanctifier of all them that beléeue in thée by the merit and vertue of the bloud of Iesus Christ Receiue at the hands of vs thine vnworthy seruants in the Name of Iesus Christ this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing for all thy mercies from time to time bestowed vpon vs for electing vs of thine owne free fauour before the world was made for creating vs of nothing in humane and not in the shape of brute creatures for redéeming vs with the most precious death of thine owne Sonne when wee were captiues and slaues vnto Satan for calling vs by the preaching of thy blessed Word and frée Spirit when we were strangers vnto thee for iustifying vs by the