in sicknesse The Prayer O Lord my God I waite on thée My soule keepeth silence vnto thee for of thee commeth my saluation therefore do I submit my self vnto thy will giuing thée thankes for thy patience towards me in Jesus Christ nor thou hast shewed thy selfe towardes mee slowe to wrath and full of goodnesse and mercy Increase euer more and more thy graces towards mee that in this my Pilgrimage towardes my graue I may possesse my soule in patience waiting thy good time for my deliuerie for here where I now dwel I neither hear nor sée taste nor touch any truly comfortable thing only thy Word is my spirituall consolation and the hope of future glorie my ioy And were I not fed with the hope of a better life by death I were of all men most miserable for nature could not with patience beare the burden of this miserable life being so ful of all infirmities both of body and mind so fraught with sins of all sorts and accompanied with so many and sundry crosses and finally subiect to thy seuere Judgement But thy fauour and thy loue and thy patience towards me worheth in me patience knowing that the time is comming and at hand wherein I shal be fréed from this mortal and miserable to enioy a life immortall and glorious O confirme therefore increase the patience attendance and attention which thou hast begun in me that after I haue here done thy will I may receiue the promise wherein thou hast assured me that the patient abiding of the righteous shall be gladnesse Thou art a God of mercy and blessed are they that waite for thee Grant therefore Lord that I may be found blamelesse in the day of my distation and that I may here walke worthy of thee through Christ beeing strengthned with al might thrugh thy glorious power to all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnes Amen Lord increase my faith MEDIT. VIII Of Repentance and Merit NO man be he neuer so holy is free froÌ„ sinne and therefore neuer free from occâ—sions to mooue him to Repentance And I acknowledge that Repentance Patience Watchfulnesse Attendance and Attention are of no force vnlesse Faith be the ground of euery of them For it sufficeth mee not to bee sorrie for my sins as it séemeth Iudas and Kain were vn lesse by Faith I can feele assure my selfe that my sinnes are also pardoned as neither of them did for it is the free gift of God which God vouchsafed not to them Neither is it sufficient for mee to watch with Patience or to attend the bringing forth of outward oftentiue and vaine-glorious works but I must feele in my selfe the infallible tokens of mine effectuall calling and ingrafting into Christ through Faith before I can bring forth workes worthy amendment of life which is true Repentance Some tokens of mine effectuall calling I feâ—le in my selfe for I desire to do good yet euen then is euill present with me I delight in the Law of God as conceruing the inner man Namely as I am regenerate But I see another Law in my members rebelling against the Law of my minde and lending me captiue vnto the Law of sinne which is in my members So that I cannot doe the good I would doe but the euill which I would not do that I doe Should I then thinke that because I feele not the signes of my calling in perfection and because I am not free from all touch of infirmities and sinnes in thought word and deed that therefore I haue no Repentance God forbid for to perswade my selfe that I haue no sinne were to deifie my selfe and to make mee equall with Christ as doe those that are faithed from yet by their workes of Merit and of Supererogation presume to affirme that they can bring not only them-selues but others to saluation whose arrogate Merit stinkes before God making the death of Christ of none effect the highest Blasphemie that mortall man can spew out against the Trinitie for hereby is the most vnsearchable loue of God the Father in sending his Sonne made vain and fruitlesse the obedience of Christ to his Fathers will made needlesse and his death causlesse and the worke of the Holy Ghost who giueth Faith in the hearts of them that shall bee saued excluded and the corrupt heart of miserable man wherein by nature is nothing but sinne the dregges whereof will remaine euen in the regenerate man during this mortall life exalted aboue the merits of Christ. Which Blasphemy be farre from me Hee that can merit his owne Saluation needs no Repentance which I disclay me and cleaue only and alone to the merits of Christ my Sauiour in whom my Repentance imperfect is reputed true Repentance howsoeuer the â—ing of sinne remaines in me yet without mortall venome only to keepe me euer in minde of mine imperfections for when sinfull motions arise in mee I cannot but acknowledge in my selfe corruption which cannot but humble mee before God and occasion me to pray for the Spirit of Repentance and that God will deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne A Prayer for true Repentance and a reformed life The Prayer O Lord my God I come here into thy presence fearefull to looke vp to Heauen where thou sittest from whence thou beholdest all my wayes and obseruest all mine actions in earth cursed and euill and wherein I haue too too long wallowed my selfe and as it were bathed my selfe in the bloud of mine owne soule which I haue diuersly wounded through my sinnes seldome or neuer calling my selfe to an account what I haue done but resting secure haue followed vanitie vpon vanity heaping â—â—â—ne vpon sin as if there were neither pleasure nor profit but in a carnall course of life O touch my heart with a true sorrow for euery idle thought of my heart for euery vaine word of my mouth and for euery act that I haue commited against thy sacred Maiestie giue mee grace to call to minde my sinnes of all sorts of all seasons and of all places howsoeuer or wheresoeuer I haue done and committed them that they appearing vnto mee in their vgly likenesse I may truely lothe them hate and abhorre them and vnfainedly repent them while Ihane time and while thy Mercies may be found for in death there is no remeÌ„brance of thee and in the graue who shall prayse thee Returne O Lord deliuer my soule saue mee for thy mercies sake withdraw not thy tender mercie from mee O Lord let thy Merrie and thy Truth alwayes preserue me Open Lord my dimme eyes the â—ies of my heart that I may hence-forth sée and walke in thy wayes Soften and molliste my hard and stonie heart that with Peter I may go out of my sinnes and bitterly bewaile them Send thy light and thy truth let them lead mee let them bring me vnto thine holy Mountaine and to thy Tabernacles Giue me a truly repenting heart through a liuely Faith in the Merits
sinners I had perished through thy iust iudgement long agone euen in my youth for as soone as I was able to speake though vnderstanding little I indeuoured to excuse my childly errors with vntruths falshood lying growing to mans estate and to the abilitie to act greater sinnes I omitted no one forbidden vanitie offered to any of my sences but greedily imbraced it and as I increased in yeeres and in strength to sinne so did I increase in cōmitting wickednesse neither reuerencing thee nor seeking to know thee or to obey thee according to my dutie but rebelled against thee and thy Lawes as if thy threats against sinne and sinners had been only to terrifie and not to punish them And thy promises of spirituall comforts and future happines had been only to withdraw mee from my carnall delights wherein I reposed all my felicitie perswading my selfe there was no danger in sin nor reward for well-doing Thus foolish was I and ignorant by nature shewing that I had no originall goodnesse in mee but corrupt in my conception sinfull in my birth and wicked in my life and consequently the childe of wrath This masse of miserie befell me by the fall of the first man ADAM in whom I was first good and pure and righteous and holy like vnto thee O God of heauen And had not Adam defaced that Image of sanctitie in himselfe I should haue remained holy as thou art holy for euer But by his disobedience I lost in him all obedience towards thee and became a Rebell like vnto him euen in his loynes for in him I was conceiued in sinne and through the corruption of that my conception I only bring forth iniquitie Beeing thus miserably cast downe from glorie to shame from light to darknesse from sanctitie to sin from Heauen to Hell to whom shall I appeale for reliefe whose aide shall I craue for the obtayning of thy fauour loue againe for being depriued of thee I am dead being aliue if I die without thee I die eternally But Lord now I know thee and whom thou hast sent IESVS CHRIST and I know that in thy seuere iustice through him thou remembrest mercie and in thy fierce wrath thou shewest compassion which in nothing appeareth so much as in the performance of thy promise in sending thy Sonne the Seede of the Woman who according to thy Couenant hath conquered Satan and trodden downe the Serpent by whome our first Parents were inuenomed and stung vnto death and I in them But now in and by that sacred Seede Iesus Christ that poysonous sting is remoued and all beleeuers restored to life Therefore Lord Iesu thou Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercie vpon me take away my sins wash me and make mee cleane through thy bloud from all my filthinesse giue me a liuely faith to take hold of thy merits and to depend vpon thy promises of saluation And that I may apply thy salutarie death vnto my sicke and diseased soule wounded by the dart of sinne and guilt of disobedience set thy righteousnesse against my sins and thine obedience to my disobedience couer me with the Robe of thine owne Innocencie that the foulenesse of my deseruings may be hidden from mine highly-offended God who by promise will impute thy most absolute integritie to be mine as he imputed and laid all the sinnes of Adams posterity vpon thee as thine Lord now at the last lighten mine vnderstanding purifie my heart sanctifie my will order all mine affections and actions and rectifie so my conuersation as I may walke as thy truly adopted sonne in holinesse and true righteousnesse and be kept euer blamelesse vntill the glorious appearing of Christ my Sauiour in whose name I now come vnto thee most louing and mercifull Father beseeching thee for his sake that I feeling and confessing the hainousnesse of my sinnes past and groning vnder the burden of them may feele the release and ease of them in that I through thy holy Spirit am assured and stedfastly doe beleeue that CHRIST my most louing Redeemer hath borne the burden of them euen for me Grant deare Father that I being assured hereof in my conscience may be renewed in the inner man through thy grace that I may hate detest and abhor sinne and indeuour to liue according to thy will all the dayes of my life And for as much gracious Lord God as I must here continue during thine appointed time in this dangerous wildernesse of many vanities subiect to many troubles tryed with many temptations and compassed with many and infinite miseries and dangers hauing of my selfe no succour no defence no safetie but in thine alone fauour power and prouidence I humbly pray and beseech thee O mercifull Lord God to looke downe from heauen vpon me in mercy and louing kindnesse Shew mee thy wayes teach mee thy pathes leade mee euer in thy Truth and instruct me in the things that I ought to learne and learne mee how to practise to leade my life according vnto the same lest I follow vanities and delight in sinne lest I fall into troubles and there bee none to deliuer mee lest Sathan preuaile against me and I fall from thee and lest I fall into dangers and perish in my miseries Turne thy face towards me O Lord and cheere me with the brightnesse of thine amiable countenance for when thou turnest thy face from me I faint and when thou hidest thy countenance I fall fearefully As long as thou art with me I am safe when thou leauest mee then troubles afflict me enemies insult me and triumph ouer me I am then subiect to all miseries Satan with his temptations preuaileth my corrupt affections misleade me the world with vanities distract me and I am not able to looke vp my heart is cast downe my mind is estranged from all goodnesse and my will is carried into all forbidden things So that I am as a dead man or rather no man but the meere image of a man in whom dwelleth neither right reason nor humane vnderstāding a beast in thy sight Hide not therefore thy face from me O Lord nor cast thy seruant away in displeasure Thou hast been euer and in all things my succour leaue me not now O Lord nor forsake me O God of my saluation But continue thy loue and fauour towards mee that I may againe recouer my spirituall strength and be enabled to serue thee with a faithfull constant and obedient heart vnto the end In my necessitie furnish me O Lord with all competent meanes for the maintenāce of my present life and estate here in plen tie make me truly thankefull in want patient in sicknesse be thou my Physician and heale me and preuent Satan that he in the time of my finall visitation ouer charge me not laying before the eyes of my weake conscience my sins past but arme me with the assurance of thy mercies and with a liuely hope of future glorie with thee in the heauens
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
the patient man which on their parts that rayle on him is euill spoken of but on his part is glorified The Lord is a God of iudgement and they are blessed that waite on him with patience Attendance another branch of Watchfulnesse may bee said an expectation with patience for a thing feared or desired how feare and desire may bee of one and the same thing in one and the same subiect being of contrarie effects may bee thus answered Feare in this place is not seruile but filiall and therefore may well stand with the desire A sonne hauing a charge imposed by his louing father though hee indeuour to performe the thing coÌ„manded neuer so carefully feareth yet that hee may come short of some part of his dutie and therefore feareth how his father wil accept of what hee hath done and yet being perswaded through a cleane and cleare conscience that hee hath done his best endeuour hopeth his father will take it well and therefore desireth that his father would returne to obserue the performance of that he had in charge Although hee cannot make his account with such absolute perfection as hee should yet no doubt his father caÌ„not but hold him excusable in shewing his good will to doe it well so stands his feare with desire So I hauing charge of mine heauenly Father to doe his Commandements I confesse I cannot performe them as I ought though I haue a desire and a feare lest when I haue done all what I can I may yet bee found vnprofitable not withstanding my greatest care and most diligent attendance of the outward part to which attendance is required Attention namely the minde and will which I conceiue to be two-fold The first is to the Will and Word of God to practise it The second to mine owne imperfections to reforme them and to keepe mine affections in due coÌ„formitie with the CoÌ„mandements of God Attention to the Will and Word of God is that whereby I am directed to performe that which is honest iust and right and that in faith wayting with patience the reward set before me not as a reward for my worke done but as a free gift of God in Christ in whom and by whom my worke is accepted as perfect though imperfect Attention to mine owne imperfections is also double of the soule and of the bodie As touching the first it is to hearken vnto as it were and obserue the motions of my corrupt heart not to yeeld vnto and to fulfill them but to suppresse and preueÌ„t the fruits that grow from them euen in the buds though they seeme and shew themselues neuer so pleasant sweet and delectable for they breed Securitie a carelesse life insensible of true patience and so become subiect to a sudden surprize And the rather for want of the second attention namely to the vncertayne estare of my feeble bodie which is subiect besides infinite casualties being in health to a thousand infirmities and mortal diseases which may suddenly dissolue this mortall life though they bee not at the instant feared nor felt This Attendance Attention are the fruits and effects of Watchfulnesse through Patience for without patience who can waite for any future benefite The Husband-man is brought in by the Holy Ghost an example of wayting with patience for he committeth and commendeth the seed to the earth with great diligence hee waites for the crop with patience and attends the former and latter raine and by due attention hearkens how the course of things goe that he may make the best of his commodities Doth nature afford men this care patience attendance and attention in vvorldly and perishing things And shall I come short of these in spirituall and heauenly things and not rather in watchfulnes patience and godly obedience looke for the end of this mortalitie in hope to reape and receiue celestiall and eternall glorie God forbid But I acknowledge that all my whatsoeuer watchfulnesse in patience or suffering deserues not the least graine of glorie for I am often not only beset with temptations to sinne but also pressed with the continuall cares and troubles of this life and I through weaknesse doe yeeld vnto the one and faint vnder the burden of the other and in stead of true watchfulnesse with patience I fall either into the slumber of Socuratia oâ—â—nto a kind of seruile feare or despaire and most seldome watch I with the open eyes of true attention and patience A kinde of patience I seeme to haue but mixed often-times with a kinde of grudging discontent at my corporall and domesticke crosses and worldly troubles where with I often finde my selfe much oppressed which yet God I know for no other cause layeth vpon mee but to make me sensible of mine owne imperfections and to correct mee for and to reforme sinne in â—e while I liue in thè world that I bâ— not condemned with the world though it bee vnto me for the time very vnpleasant vntill I enter into consideration that through many tribulations I must enter into the Kingdom of heauen and that the man is blessed whome God correcteth and God giueth that blessed man patience to bear his corrections with-out grudging and giueth alwayes a comfortable issue to euery temptation There is a kinde of patience wherein a man indureth that which hee would and cannot auoid this hath the name but not the nature of that true patience which I wish to haue The patience which I indeuour to attaine vnto is a constant bearing of my crosses and a settled expectation through faith for the end of that which cannot bee auoyded nor better obtayned but by death Therefore casting aside all hope of temporall freedom the feare of death I only relie vpon and wait the performance of his promise who hath reserued all true freedome of those that are his of his owne free mercy in the heauens onely as from hunger thirst nakednesse enemies labours sicknes sinnes and all other miseries whatsoeuer which in this life short and euill I am inforced yet with patience to endure This freedome I know I cannot attayne vnto but by changing this life by death and therefore with patience I daily expect it reuerencing the intire loue of mine heauenly Father in chastising me here and doe acknowledge the riches of his bountifulnesse patience and long suffering that he hath spared mee so long to liue where hee might iustly haue coÌ„founded me long agone for my sinnes but contrarily hath fauourably kept me vnder his Fatherly discipline thereby to leade me in the way I ought to walke in as in watchfulnesse patience attendance and attention according to godlinesse through IESVS CHRIST in whose name I will addresse my prayers vnto my heauenly Father for the Spirit of patience to wait for a better life by death A Prayer for patient wayting for a future better life by death fit to be said
beautifull flowers are they quickly fade and fall away Whereby we are taught that how gawdily or gloriously soeuer we couet to beautifie our bodies wee make them neuer the more permanent but as these flowers wither and fall leafe after leafe through the defect of the sap that first caused them to flourish so man liue he neuer so long and neuer so full of glorie when the sap of nature begins to wax drie in him his most glorious leaues begin to fade and faile one after another the strong men his legs begin to weaken and falter the grinders his teeth fall out of the head the lookers the eyes wax dim one part after another decayes till the bodie totally comes to dust in the graue This is the glorie of the most glorious hee buds blossoms ripes rots as doth the flower in the garden the grasse of the field and as a shaddow a dreame and as a fancie flyes to his end and liue he neuer so long his life is but as a tale that is told Doe wee not daily see the youngest strongest among humane creatures liuely full of agilitie and corporall actiuitie in the morning who yet before night are eyther naturally or accidētally oftentimes cut downe and in their graues Why therefore should I or you that shall perchance suruiue me be so sollicitous and ouercarefull of worldly things especially seeintg he longest liuer cannot enioy what he desireth with any true contentment aboue fortie or fiftie yeeres for till he bee twentie hee is vnder gouernment not at his owne will after that he is wearied with labours and cares of the world when he comes to sixtie or seuentie yeeres hee be comes decrepit vnapt vnable to follow his owne occasions To bee in league with death as hoping he will forbeare the execution of his warrant vpon vs or by arte to indeuour to put off old age though many desire it none can doe it the richest by his gifts the strongest by his valour the wisest by his policie nor the most cunning by any artificiall deuice or stratagem he can contriue Who can free himselfe of a feuer who can rid himselfe of the gout of the stone or of any other inherent infirmitie of the bodie Surely none but death death is the Phisician that cures all the diseases present in the bodie yet we like not his phisick wee are contented to vse art money we willingly giue to auoyd it and yet it is commonly seene that hee that seekes and desires most to prolong his life is most suddenly taken by death and he that seekes most to flie from it him it followes euen at the heeles and hee that couets most to saue his life soonest loseth it I thinke it therefore greatest wisdome so farre to couet long life as it may stand a blessing of God during which life we are to meditate necessarily two especial points namely how to leade our liues how to entertaine death when it comes As touching the first we are inioyned therefore bound to liue godly which comprehendeth all the dueties of a Christian life which duties although they be many are all performed by holy obedience to God which consisteth in a perfect obseruing of his diuine Precepts namely in doing that which is good and auoyding that which is euill The good commanded cannot be done by nature which is corrupt but by grace freely giuen the euill which is forbidden comes and is done by nature The effects of good and ill affections consist in action by seuerall operations the good which we doe God worketh both in vs and by vs the euill which wee doe is of by our selues The like in suffering the good suffer euill with patience not the euill of doing but the bearing of euils and wrongs offerd without grudging The wicked suffer euen goodnesse as it were against their wils and commit euils against the good wittingly and with their wils The good endeuour to leade their liues vnspotted in the world not as did many Heathen Philosophers who had both the actiue and passiue parts of doing good and suffering euill that in great measure of patience wanting only diuine knowledge consequently faith which are no more ours by nature then they were theirs Therefore if I or you should onely indeuour a kinde of Philosophical outward and morall goodnes without the internal working of grace through faith wee should by our such doing and suffering gaine but that which they gayned a bare name of holinesse although wee as some of them did would voluntarily giue our bodies to death wee should thereby gain but the more future miseries In all our doings and sufferings wee must set GOD alwayes before the eye of our mindes taking hold of Christ by faith by whome hee hath reueiled himselfe vnto vs to be our louing Father not vnto them without Christ wee are euen as the former Gentiles were vnder the curse but by and through him made heires of the Kingdome of glorie whereof although these Philosophers were endued with humane wisedome farre aboue vs they had yet no vnderstāding of nor were partakers of that true glorie which is by Christ. Therefore must we that liue in the light of Truth striue to bee partakers of better things then they that liued in the darknesse of ignorance for vs to come short of their care of doing the good they suppos'd good in doing that wee know to bee good were most palpable idlenesse and seuerely punishable We must therefore while it is to day studie and practise to be holy in deede not in shew like the Pharises whose seeming sanctitic was all external and internally were prophane hypocrites As touching the second point of Meditatiō namely of the vncertayne comming and to be prepared for death cast your eye vpon the fore-part of the former treatie where you may peraduenture finde matter of Meditation touching this point In briefe Remember your ends namely death and if you haue any grace it will preuent sinne in you so walke in health as if you should presently die ye shall find it a remedy against the vanities of this life Who can thinke of present death and yet delight himselfe in the vncertayne things of this world Hee that is still dying begins his eternall life here and remembers that hee hath here no continuing Citie and therefore thinks of seekes that which is to come not liuing as the secure conetous man in the Gospell flattering his soule to remaine many yeeres in his bodie not hauing one night to liue Yee are poore I confesse I cannot enrich you and therefore to disswade you from couetousnesse may seeme superfluous yet I thinke not but a begger may be as couetous and as greedy to get hoord vp as the richest man flie it therefore in your smallest meanes it is the roote of all other sinnes it depriues men of the
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
meanes as by the ayre wherein I breathe and moue and by foode which nourisheth bloud the vitall spirits and outward members visible to men yet in the same house of clay there is a spirituall and an inuisible life which is nourished in a more diuine manner not by bread that perisheth but by the word of God which worketh faith the life of the soule which feedeth on things that are aboue and not on things of the earth And therefore doth the Spirit of God for instruction lay downe before the sonnes of men the fruits both of the one and of the other of the flesh and of the spirit which are contrary one to the other to shewe what bitter fiuits proceede of the flesh to moue man to flie them and the sweet fruits of the Spirit to allure vs to follow them The fruits of the flesh saith Saint PAVL are manifest meaning indeed too common which are Adultery Fornication Uncleannesse Wantonnesse Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Debate Emulations Wrath Contentions Seditions Heresies Enuie Murder Drunkennesse Gluttony and such like affirming also that they that do such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of heauen A fearefull conclusion against those onely that with delight cōmit them for that they are so contrarie to the Law of the Spirit which produceth Loue Ioy Peace Long suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse Faith Meekenesse Temperance against such there is no Law But here ariseth and I doe apprehend a fearefull fallacie to lye hidden in the performance of these spirituall workes for as I may flatter my selfe to bee spirituall and yet be more carnall so may I censure a man carnall that is more spirituall for the performance of these spirituall works as it were literally and in outward shew is meere carnalitie ostentation tending to Pharisaicall glorie better fruits proceede not from mee by nature then to seem what indeed I am not sincere and pure religious holy counterfaiting the workes of the Spirit by a kinde of outward imitation of men indeede truely sanctified And aboue all other sins this which is hypocrisie is most to be condemned for that it deceiues not onely other men but the counterfeit himselfe But being indeede endued with the quickning Spirit which causeth me to die vnto the world and the vaine-glorie thereof then shall I inwardly and spiritually liue vnto God and the works that I shall doe shall witnesse vnto men that I dissemble not with God yet when I finde my selfe most and best inclined to spirituall actions I finde and feele againe and againe the buffets of my corrupt nature wresting mee to the contrarie what shall I then say doe I good because I will doe good and doe I not euill because I will not do euill nothing lesse for my will is no further free to do that which is good then it is made free by the grace of God And againe my will is so farre prone to euil by how much I am not preuented by grace To euery good worke God giues the will and the deed and euill is alwaies present with mee Therefore I in part desire and in part feare to die yet I must die Forasmuch therefore as I know I shal die and that the way to die well is first to liue well which is not in my owne power I must seeke the meanes of God and therefore it behoueth me to be much conuersant in his Word wherein the way is described and the meanes prescribed and yet not vnderstood by naturall wisedome but by the Spirit of God which reueileth the same therefore ought I to aske wisedome of him that is wisedome it selfe who willeth me to aske and I shall receiue wisedome to seeke and I shall find grace to knocke and hee will open the dore of diuine knowledge how to walke in the way of a godly life the true and perfect preparation to a happy death and this death is the gate of eternall life To aske seeke knock importeth prayer and prayer an inward heartie desire to obtayne that at the hands of God which I by no other means can obtayne and this by a feruent firme and constant assurance that GOD to whom I pray will grant my request in the merits mediation of his Sonne so that I neede not doubt but that if I aske spirituall things spiritually and wauer not in my Faith I shall obtayne grace so to walke in this life as I shall not fear to die but with cheerfull alacritie imbrace it when it offers it selfe vnto me therefore will I open my mouth vnto him that hath promised to fill it I will addresse my heart to him that can and will direct it and so present my prayers before his mercies Seate prostrate vpon the knees of mine vnfayned heart and he will heare me and saue me A Prayer for a godly life and a happy death The Prayer O Gracions and most louing Lord God in Jesus Christ the fountaine of Life and the Disposer of the same by death how where or when it shall best please thee euer for the best to them that loue thy name I cannot but confesse and acknowledge that death cannot but be fearefull if a godly life go not before O what a terrour therefore befals me O Lord through the consideration and calling to mind the former course of my most corrupt and sinfull life How can I but feare to be dissolued when I thinke of and call thy iudgements into my minde and that hell and destruction attends the death of the wicked but the righteous shall be glad in thee and trust in thee and all the vpright in heart shall reioyce to whome death shall bée great aduantage Let it therefore please thée O my most gracious God and louing Father to remember thy mercies and in the multitude of them put away cleanse me of all my sinnes and so reforme me that hence-forth I may walke before thee and be vpright I am a man void of counsell neither is there any vnderstanding in me I am not sufficient of my selfe so much as to think a good thought but my sufficiencie is of thee Therefore teach mee thy way O Lord that I may hence-forth walke in thy truth Knit my heart vnto thee that I may feare thy name make my heart vpright in thy Statutes for thou Lord hast pleasure in righteousnesse and hée is blessed in whose heart are thy wayes Graunt therefore gracious Lord that according to the riches of thy grace I may be strengthened by the Spirit of the inward Man that CHRIST may dwel in my heart by faith and so my whole spirit soule and bodie may bee kept blamelesse to the cōming of the Lord Iesus And if I haue found fauour in thy sight shew me thy way that I may know thée and may walk from henceforth all the dayes of my life in a sincere sanctified conuersation and take away the vaile wherewith my mind is couered that I
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
sense of future good or euill auoid it left death steale vpon you and finde you so doing depend on Gods prouision blessing of your owne lawfull and laudable industries He is your heauenly Father and knoweth whereof ye haue neede seeke him hee will be found he will supply all your occasions if yee bee faithfull though yee were neuer so poore DAVID depending on God found by experiēce that the righteous were neuer left destitute nor their faithfull children to begge Cast then your care vpon God for hee careth for you And let not the care of the things of this life preuent your carefull preparation to a better life which you cannot attayne vnto but by death and therefore indeuour so to liue as God may bee glorified in your death not giuing your members as weapons of vnrighteousnesse vnto sinne here but giue your selues vnto God as they that are aliue from the dead and giue your members as weapons of righteousnesse vnto GOD. Striue against your owne corruption and let not sinne raigne in your mortall bodies that yee should obey it in the lusts thereof for When lust hath conceiued it bringeth forth sinne and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death not the death of the body only which is but a dissolution of the soule from it for a season but the death both of soule and body which is eternall Walke therefore in the Spirit saith Saint Paul and yee shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh Ye haue the light walke not in darknes for he that walketh in darknesse walkes hee knowes not whither while yee haue the light therefore walke in it So walke as your hearts may mooue from euill to good from sinne to sanctitie cease to do euil learne to doe good and practise it Learne of Dauid to run the way of the Lords Cōmandements Walke not in the counsell of the wicked stand not in the way of sinners nor sit in the seate of the scornefull but delight your selues in the Law of the Lord and thereupon meditate day and night so shall yee bee blessed in life and death Yet thinke not to bee free from troubles enemies and crosses how sincerely soeuer yee liue nay the more carefull yee shall be to lead a holy and a godly life so much the more will Satan seeke to peruert you bee not dismaid cease not to walke honestly as in the open light that men may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heauen PART II. Gods prouidence towards his IF pouertie want oppresse you Let your Petitions bee vnto God who as he giueth seede vnto the Sower so shall he administer vnto you meat drinke and all things necessarie Remember the rich mercies of God which he hath euer shewed to his faithfull distressed children He sent his Prophet Abacuck to Daniel when hee was not only a prisoner and out of the reach of all his friends to releeue him but had for his companions the fearfull deuouring Lyons whose mouthes that most mightie God who will bee yours closed vp they could not hurt his seruant God might haue sustayned him with-out foode as he did Moses and Eliah but to shewe his secret mercies by visible meanes Remember also the miserable estate of that poore distressed woman Hagar ' who was so farre from any hope of worldly helpe in the barren wildernesse hauing a most heauie heart for her poore infant that with the mother was like to perish for want of a cup of cold water despairing as it were in her selfe laid away the childe from her forsooke it as loth to see the sorrowfull spectacle of its death and looked vp vnto GOD that saw her whose mercy and compassion was such towards her as hee opened a Well of water opened her eyes to see it whereby shee refreshed her selfe and relieued her child shewing thereby how carefull the Lord is of the distressed estates euen of such as are out of the couenant of grace how much more of such as take hold of him by faith in Christ namely of them that truly feare him faithfully beleeue in him and vnfainedly serue him When Samson had wearied himselfe combating with the Philistims became so weake and faint as hee was readie to perish for want of water to refresh him did not the same God yea our God the God of the faithfull giue him drinke out of the drie iaw-bone of an Asse Could he bring water sufficient to quench his great thirst out of so small and so drie a vessell yes for as long as hee desired to drinke so long it yeelded water like as did the oyle which by the power of the same God Eliah infused into the emptie vessels of the widdow of Sarepthah it ranne so long as shee had vessells to contayne it When Christ turned water into wine it ceased not till all the vessells were filled vp to the brim So doth the same God euen to this day deale with his children whom he neuer ceaseth to fill and feede as long as they haue faith to receiue his blessings and necessitie to haue them Hee fed foure thousand with seuen loaues and a few fishes and fiue thousand with fiue loaues and two fishes besides women and children hee could with the same meanes haue fed a more infinite number his power is so absolute what hee will hee works and what hee commands is done The hard Rocke must yeeld Riuers of water shewing that he can mollifie the heart of the most cruell Tyrant and in stead of afflicting to comfort his children The deuouring Rauen when God will vse him contrary to his nature shall carry foode to his distressed Eliah so doth hee at this day doubtlesse worke the hearts of most obdurate men to doe good as it were contrary to their condition to them that feare him and faithfully call vpon him in their distresses The examples of Gods presence with his loue vnto his and his power and prouidence ouer his faithfull children are in the Scriptures numberlesse The like are of his iudgements towards the wicked not only particular enemies of his as was Pharaoh Nebuchadnezzar Scnacherib Herod and others but against whole Kingdomes Cities Multitudes the Kingdomes of Israel and Iudah where are they Is not the Scepter departed from them for the wickednesse of the people that dwelt in them Sodom Gomorrah Zeboim Admah and Zegor where are they Came not fire brimstone from heauen vpon them How did the same God cōfound Ierusalem the slaughter-house as it were not only of his Prophets but of his owne innocent Sonne and doe wee not see daily GODS iust iudgements vpon diuers Countries People by fire inundations of water by pestilence warres and famine And is not the sudden hand of God vpon such as at this day blaspheme his Name Needes there examples of such as haue beene striken some
God on your side and his Minister the Magistrate in his stead to defend you Troubles and aduersities of themselues as they are sent of God are to be borne with more then patience euen with ioy they shall cause your mindes to bee set on things profitable and will make you wise in learning good things Therefore saith Dauid It is good for mee that I haue beene in trouble that I might learne thy Statutes PART IIII. The benefit of aduersities ADuersities bring those that are much exercised with them to the contempt of earthly and desire of heauenly things Paul that sanctified Vessell of God had many afflictions imprisonments whippings scourgings stonings reproches which hee yet imbraced for the loue of Christ and they wrought in him a hatred of worldly things and desired only to be disselued to be with Christ his Master in Glorie acknowledging that Christ was his as he is our life and death was to him as it shall bee to vs if wee liue here in him aduantage The light affliction which yee shall here indure but for a moment shall cause vnto you a farre most excellent and eternall weight of Glorie Therefore looke not on with a longing desire for the things of this life which are seene but for the things that are not seene for The things that are seene are temporall but the things that are not seene are eternall Who then would not rather long to bee clothed with that House which is from Heauen then to remaine here in a base Cottage full of troubles and most vncertaine whatsoeuer yee indure here yee cannot merit by it for it is only either in way of a punishment for sinne or sent of God to preuent sinne I account not saith Saint Paul that the afflictions of this present time are worthy of the glorie which shall bee futurely shewed me If Pauls afflictions could not merit the glorie to come how much lesse shall yours or mine Wee must make our account before-hand not to goe to Heauen by eating and drinking by getting and hoording by pleasure and profit but through hunger nakednesse Pouertie Enemies and many troubles and afflictions Therefore saith the Wiseman Refuse not the chastening of the Lord neither be grieued with his correction for whom the Lord loueth him hee correcteth euen as the father doth the childe in whom he delighteth So that afflictions approue you the Children of God if with patience yee endure chastening for by correction God offereth himselfe vnto vs as vnto sonnes and if yee bee without correction whereof all the Children of God are partakers then are yee bastards and no sonnes PART V. Great difference betweene the Children of GOD and Worldlings THere is in deede great difference betweene the children of God and the men of this World in this life for Uerily verily saith CHRIST I say vnto you vnto his owne yee shall weepe and lament but the World Worldlings shall reioyce and yee shall sorrow but your sorrow shall be turned into ioy and your ioy shall no man take from you Seeing the God of Truth affirmeth this good from the seeming euill of affliction I hold correction which comprehendeth all aduersities to be good for that it maketh prosperitie the sweeter wheÌ„ it comes and to learn vs how to behaue our selues in both as to be patieÌ„t in the one and not to waxe proud in the other but in what estate soeuer ye bee to bee therewith content as was Saint Paul Who had learned not of the World though in the World to know how to bee abased and how to abound Euery where and in all things hee was instructed both to be full and to be hungrie hee was able to doe all things through Christ that strengthened him It is not then in our power to beare afflictions and to endure all things with patience namely troubles and to be thankfull in prosperitie it is the gift of GOD in Christ wherefore seeing yee suffer according to the will of God commit your soules to him in well-doing as vnto a most faithfull Creator Yee see then that it is necessarie for you sometimes to suffer afflictions that ye may call to minde your sinnes the cause of your afflictions and then the remedie of your sinnes The whole need not the Phisician but they that are sicke The rich need not to seeke God they haue enough but the poore that want Therefore doe the poore and needie and men afflicted yeeld him more honour then the â—ich and prosperous and are euer more occupied in spirituall exercises then they to whom all things doe so prosperously succeed as they scarcely haue leisure to thinke on the calling vpon God Trouble no doubt is irke some to a carnal mind but to them that feare God acceptable keeping them from securitie For as long and as often as the Israelites enioyed peace and prosperitie they became secure carelesse of seruing of God and to forget his blessings But when troubles came vpon them and Enemies beset them then they sought the Lord and he deliuered them out of their distresse Seeke the Lord alwayes and ye shal find rest for your soules Among all other afflictions Pouertie is one of the greatest and by diuers meanes seizeth vpon a man Some actiue some passiue the actiue are inordinate expendings gaming and a riotous and lasciuious life The passiue are either Gods visitations as were Iobs or Selfeidlenesse the Mother of Pouertie the Step-mother of Wisdome and Godlinesse flye therefore these Ryoting and Idlenesse as two dangerous Vipers that deuoure a man ere hee bee aware vse therefore lawfull meanes commanded honest and vertuous endeuours in some necessarie and praise-worthy Profession or calling The Bee and the Ant little Creatures teach you to bee industrious who cannot abide an idle drone or sluggard in their societies Therefore haue they euer sufficient PART VI. The idle presume to haue that they deserue not IDlenesse presupposeth Presumption for how idle soeuer the slothfull person is yet hee presumeth to craue and haue what hee deserueth not neuer comes good successe to him that so presumeth though it succeed sometimes to satisfie his euill desire yet it brings with it an vnsauourie reward such as commonly befalleth him that feareth not God To liue without labour cannot be held libertie for while the bodie is idle the minde is sowing the seeds of sinne and within few dayes he reapes the fruites of sorrow Without good care and diligence no estate can prosper and by industrie the meanest estate is made competent and what is labour It is not as some idle drones account it a burden to the bodie no it is light and easie if the mind be willing to which nothing is more irkesome then idlenesse and corporall ease yet some thinke nothing so consonant and agreeable to their greatnesse as idlenesse or which is as ill euill and forbidden imployments and therefore is not labour simply
daily offend if yee bee truely sorrie for it hee will not cast you off but will receiue you as his sonnes and daughters Mary Magdalen was a woman of a defiled conuersation Peter weake for fear denied his Master Dauid committed two great sinnes Whoredome and Murder Paul persecuted Gods people yet vpon Repentance they all receiued pardon Yee may not therefore imitate them as they were sinners but imitate their Repentance and lye not in your sinnes God indeed is gracious but ye may not sinne that grace may the more abound God for bid for although God be mercifull hee is not totally mercie but is also iust and in his iustice hee might condemne all humane creatures for no man is righteous in his fight And therefore none without Christ in whom all that shal be saued are saued Take theresore holde of him and his mercies and mediation through Faith so were your sins as red as bloud they shal be made as white as snow and were they as Purple bee made as white as wooll by the sheading of his bloud vpon the Crosse. Cast off all feare and despaire therefore only beware of relapses fall not backe againe bee not like the Dogge and the Sow and take heede of presumptuous sinning as to sinne perswading your selues ye will and can repent when yee list and so much the more boldly because ye haue learned that God is mercifull This is to quench his Mercie and to incense his Iustice and to harden your hearts in the custome of sinning so should ye haue Iudgement without Mercie Such as thus sinne against God are enemies to the Crosse of Christ and contemners of the Mercie of God who shall melt away as Waxe at the fire and perish at the presence of God But the Righteous shall bee glad and reioyce yea they shall leape for ioy not the Righteous in their owne opinion or the Righteous in shew but the truly Righteous to whom the Righteousnesse of Christ is freely imputed Take heede therefore that yee assume not vnto your selues to bee righteous for before God there is none no not one righteous in the Earth ye may obiect and say How then shall any man reioyce seeing there is none righteous none in or by their owne inherent Righteousnesse for the best mans actions are in and of them-selues euill euermore without Christ. He therefore that is truely righteous is righteous by imputation not by actuall perfection Abraham nor Isaak nor Iacob nor Iob nor Dauid nor Daniel no not Enoch or Elias nor Peter nor Paul nor that Diuine Apostle Iohn were of them-selues by nature so perfect holy or righteous as that any of them durst to stand vpon their owne merits by them to bee saued no the Blessed Virgin acknowledged Christ to bee her Sauiour Beware therefore of that generation of Vipers Iusticiaries who assume vnto themselues that puritie and power as they do and are able to fulfill all the Commandements and whole Law of God which the most righteous man Christ excepted could neuer doe Christ came to saue Sinners confessing their owne vnworthinesse not such as neede no other workes of Redemption but their owne workes of perfection by which workes they shall bee iudged without the imputation of the worthinesse of Christs Merits vnlesse they repent their iudgement is pronounced alreadie O flye from the hearing of any bewitching tongue whatsoeuer that shall indeuour to make you beleeue that yee may liue without sinne They are Lyers the children of the father of Lyes and would make you Lyers like vnto themselues who though they bee men in shape yet are they Monsters indeed they would seeme Dcified and alas they are Deuils incarnate haue no conuersation with such men yet striue and studie to be perfect namely to attaine vnto such perfection as the dearest children of God can haue in this life Stand not at a stay but endeuour to proceed from faith to faith from one diuine vertue to another vntill yee become perfect in Christ in whom and not in your selues your absolute perfection consisteth and when yee haue done all that yee can acknowledge your selues farre imperfect and vnprofitable seruants for the way to glorie is by humilitie and hee that exalteth himselfe shall be brought low The humble man thinks euery man better then himselfe and thinkes his best actions worthy rather to bee reprooued then rewarded And vpon due consideration of his deserts is so farre from iustifying himselfe as hee is ashamed of his owne vnworthinesse he casts himselfe downe and the Lord lifts him vp But hee that iustifies himselfe lifts himselfe vp and makes himselfe equall with God and God doth cast him downe to haue his portion with Lucifer Remember the reiection of the proud Pharises iustification and the acceptation of the Publicans humiliation your humilitie consisteth in your voluntarie subiection vnto the Ordinances of God who reuealeth vnto the poore in spirit the knowledge of his will and hides it from them that assume vnto themselues knowledge sufficient without the Doctrine of his Word Yee can in nothing bee more like vnto Christ then in meeknesse and humility two adiuncts of Christ not much vnlike in operation The first namely Meekenesse is most properly shewed in your conuersation among men The second which is humilitie sheweth it selfe in patient submitting your selues without any inward discontent to what it pleaseth God to doe with you or against you against you neuer though your carnall vnderstanding may so conceiue it Iob was contented with all his afflictions resoluing himselfe that though GOD would kill him yet would he trust in him And should you professing humilitie grudge when any thing befalls you for your good farre be it from you rather prayse God exalt his Name fall downe before his footstoole imbrace his Discipline for he is holy and to be loued and feared loued in that hee is your God who hath created you and preserued you to bee feared in that hee is iust and may iustly condemne you in the strictnesse of his Iustice. Enter therefore into his gates with prayse and into his Courts with reioycing prayse him and blesse his Name for hee is good his Mercie is euerlasting and his Truth namely the performance of his promises endureth from generation to generation Serue him with gladnesse and come before him euer with ioyfulnesse for though hee be in the Heauens yet looketh hee downe from his holy Sanctuarie to heare the mournings of the Prisoners and to deliuer them that are appointed to death Let your soules therefore euermore prayse the Lord not your tongues and lippes only which are outward and oftentimes Organs of Hypocricie Remember and keepe in minde all his benefits for they are more towardes you then yee are able to number hee for giueth all your sinnes he healeth all your infirmities he giueth you all good things he preserueth you in troubles supplyeth your
his Psal. 73. in 〈◊〉 We ought not to fret our selues at the prosperitie of the wicked Ver. 27. Ver. 18. Ver. 24. Rom. 13. 4. Troubles of the righteous to be born with gladnesse Greatest afflictions cannot deserue the glorie to come Rather to long for then to lothe death Rom. 8. 18. Pleasure nor profit can bring vs to Heauen Heb. 12. 6. Reuel 3. 19. Correction comprehendeth all afflictions Phil 4. 11. It is not in our power to bee patient or thankeful Afflictions more necessarie then prosperitie Trouble is irkesome yet profitable Pouertie not the least affliction Little creatures teach vs industrie Idlenesse is not libertie Labour is light to a willing minde The poore are rich hauing Gods blessing Labour with the feare of God is blessed Psal. 128. Psal. 127. To take seruants fearing God Gen. 30. 27. Gen. 39. 3. 5 Deut. 28. 38. to 58. Psal. 1. 3. Psal. 9. 18. God a refuge for the poore Psal. 10. 17. God needeth not our seruice Psal. 12. 5. Psal 16. 8. Pouertie nor riches of them-selues good or euill Ier. 17. 7. Psal. 119. 2. Pouertie and riches do neither helpe nor hinder but according to the vse or abuse Respect of persons I am 2. 1. 1. Pet. 1. 17 Rom. 10. 12 Trust in God makes pouertie and reproches easie to â—e borne Psal. 9. 18. Psal. 14. 6. Psal. 17. 14. Psal. 18. 16. God chooseth godly men and blesseth them God makes disobedient Princes contemptible They that lay snares for others fall into the same Ester 7. 10. Dan. 6. 24. ExperieÌ„ce of Gods deliueries an incouragement to the godly Exo. 14. 28. Gen. 31. 24 and 32. 4. Gen. 22. 9. and 39. God is God of the godly for euer God knoweth whereof wee haue neede 1. King 21. 2. 14. Flatterie daÌ„gerous 2. Sam. 15. 1. to 6. Act 24. 2 3. Pro. 29. 5. Matth. 22. 16 17. Counterfait kindnesse deceiuesmany Pro. 27. 6. Eccles. 7. 7. Good neither to flatter nor bee flattered Iudg. 14. Psal. 78. 36 Iob 34. 9. Psal. 36. 2. A dissembling frieÌ„d worse then an open enemie Pro. 27. 5. Act. 12. 22. Euill companie dangerous Wisdome a defence against euill and flatterie 2. Sam. 17. 23. Matt. 5. 5. Many things which worldlings seek after are but shaddowes The godly rich account their wealth not their owne Miserable riches that make the possessors ignorant of better things The defence of the poore and of the rich Psal. Aesops Wolfe To giue place vnto the wrath of the wicked 1. Ioh. 3. 19. Men apparantly hurtfull to them-selues and others To beare all euils with patience that men offer vs. 2. Sam. 16. 〈◊〉 6. Mat. 26. 47 Gen. 4. 8. Dan. 13. 1 2 1. King 21. 14. We ought to be circumspect in our wayes All men know not why God sends them enemies Psal. 103. 8. Rom. 8. 31. Prayer obtayneth knowledge how to liue godly All Gods Children haue suffered afflictions Iob. 1. 21. Banishment Comfort in whatsoeuer cala mitie Gods goodnesse and mercy Psal. 85. 2. To turne vnto God Mark 16. 9. Ioh. 18. 17 2. Sam. 11. 4. 7. Act. 26. 9 10. We may not imitate sinners but their Repentance Rom. 6. 1. As God is mercifull he is iust We may not sinne after pardon obtayned Wilfull sinners Phil. 3. 18. Not to assume selferighteousnesse Not one of our godliest Fore-fathers were with-out sinne much leâ—e wee Iusticiaries to be auoided Though we cannot be yet we ought to striue to be perfect We must goe on in goodnesse The ppoperties of the humble man The Pharise and Publican Meeknesse makes men likest vnto Christ. We must be humble whatsoeuer befall vs. We ought to prayse God Harty not verball praises are acceptable to God Wife and children are to bee recommended to God Iob 7. 3. Gen. 49. 7. 2. Tim. 4. 8. Iob 14. 14. Phil. 1. 2. Cor. 5. Rom. 14. 8. Phil. 3. 21.