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
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
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
Paul that his grace is sufficient for mee yet doth it much behooue me to take continuall heede vnto my waies yea to the very motions of my corrupt heart for mine inward desires are not long hid from him who will neuer let slip the least shew of whatsoeuer euill and prophane inclination But as the fire is a little inkindled in and by mine owne nature So is he readie with a thousand ministers and impious meanes to blow it and to bring it to an vnquenchable flame of sinfull actions Therefore my heartie desire is for the withstanding of his temptations to practise whatsoeuer things are true whatsoeuer things are honest whatsoeuer things are iust whatsoeuer things are pure whatsoeuer things are worthy loue whatsoeuer things are of good report the practice of which things is true watchfulnes most irksome and most offensiue to al mine enemies Things true Satan the father of lyes hates deadly things honest are contrarie to mine owne naturall and carnall inclination which of it selfe delighteth in pleasure in vanities and all kinde of prophanenesse Things of good report the World indureth not but rather backe-biting and slandering This capitall Aduersarie the Deuill doth not assaile me singly nor alone but commonly combines together with the World and my corrupt nature then as so many Captains each of them with a band of infernall Souldiers the Deuill with his angels powers and principalities the Flesh with a thousand contagious cogitations vngodly affections and forbidden vanities and the World with a million of vexations set vpon me A man hauing but one mortal enemie wil watchfully beware of him either to flie him or be prepared with weapons sufficient to incounter him though hee seeke but to depriue the life of the bodie How much more then behooueth it mee to bee watchful hauing so many and so mightie so mortall Aduersaries that seeke not only my bodily death but the confusion also of my soule and if I be not armed with grace the least of these will easily preuaile against me There is nothing more aduātagious to these mine enemies then mine owne corrupt inclination the fruits whereof are as meat and drinke vnto mine Aduersaries which are the works of darknesse therefore will I striue with an holy endeuour to abandon and cast off the works of darknesse deare vnto mine enemies and to put on the armour of light which is vnto them as death I wil set mine affections on things that are aboue and not on things that are on the earth I will auoid euill and cleau◠vnto that which is good Many venimous and viperous Serpents lurke in the way of this life to escape their poyson in practice I looke not but to resist their power I doubt not for the Lord is my strength to whom I will flie for succour A Prayer against Satan and his ministers the World and mine owne corruption The Prayer MOst gracious Lord God and most mercifull in Jesus Christ who art most pitifull in beholding the daily strong tentations where with I am tryed by the policies of Satan looke vpon me for he taketh as it were vnto himselfe in aide the vanities of the world laying them before the eyes of my corrupt minde to seduce me from the sweete consolation that I haue in the contemplation of heauenly things vnto the delights and pleasures of earthly deceits And further thou knowest O Lord how subtilly hee windeth himselfe as it were into the secret inclinations of my heart by obseruing the least shew of my outward actions maliciously watching to trap me and by his baits painted out as it were with the glittering shew of ease of pleasure of profit such like deceiuing succeeding contentments indeuoureth to traine mée into his snares What am I good Father that I should vndergoe and beare the burden of so many subtill wiles secret snares and strong temptations as this most mortal aduersary of mine frameth against mée how can I escape so vigilant and so powerfull an enemie that can command principalities powers and all spirituall wickednesse to attend his most deadly designes vnlesse thou by thy grace preuent him I disclaime any power in my selfe to resist his deuices and doe rather acknowledge that in steade of resisting I doe assist him against my self by the vanities of mine own corrupt nature and therefore doe wholly and altogether relie vpon thy méere merciè wherein thou hast compassion on thy weake children thus beset with such and so many deadly Aduersaries and compassed about with so great a trsupe of wickednesse Make mee therefore strong good Father in the power of thine owne strength Put vpon mée thy defensiue armour that I may yet manfully in the Spirit of truth encounter all my spirituall and secret enemies Gird me with the girdle of Truth put on mee the brest-plate of Righteousnesse and the inuincible and impenetrable shield of Faith so shall I be able to quench the sterie darts of the Deuill and with the sword of the Spirit wound the strongest of them that rise vp against me for thou with thy Helmet of saluation shalt kéepe me euer safe so as neither Satan Death nor Hell shall bée able to preuaile against me O Lord my God work I beséech thée in mée that which is pleassng in thy sight and grant according to the riches of thy grace that I may bee strengthened by thy Spirit in the inward man that Christ may dwell in my heart by Faith and so my whole spirit soule and body may be kept frée from the power of sin Satan blamelesse to the comming of the Lord Jesus to whom bee glorie and praise for euer O Lord increase my faith MEDIT. V. The second cause of watchfulnesse the vncertaintie of the time of death THe second cause of watchfulnesse is the vncertayne comming of death To the end therefore that I may prouide for his comming and not bee afraid as no doubt by nature flesh and bloud cannot but bee at the consideration of the supposed horror it bringeth with it I must entertayne a godly care to liue well and that in the continuall expectation of the time when it will come for a godly sincere and a religious life can neuer be too suddenly surprised by death come it where when and how it will so shall I be sure to die in the Lord. Though I should lose my head with Iohn Baptist bee stoned with Stephen though I should be burned with fire slaine by the sword with Iames or by whatsoeuer other ignominious cruell or tormenting death yet I am the Lords and with him I shall liue for euer Yet am I not secure as if I needed not to feare for I cannot but confesse that howsoeuer I indeuor to leade a godly life I find in my selfe many and sundrie relapses and desertions though not finall yet fearefull through the manifold temptations of Satā working by through mine owne corruptions therefore I finde it
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
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
the greater penurie can I make a shew of greatnesse and will not that require a superfluous and needlesse charge and will not that charge impayre and diminish euen that little that I haue therefore feare I not to bewray mine owne wants but desire rather to shew my selfe as I am and to be as I shew my selfe for GOD abborreth a double heart Againe it hath beene obiected against mee by way of a kinde of reprouing admiration that I hauing liued long and laboured much in a seeming aduaÌ„tagious imployment should grow no greater or waxe no richer What should I answere to this obiection To be silent is best If they could as well taxe mee with riotous expendings a prodigall life whereby I haue consumed that which by Gods blessing I haue gotten I would answere by a plaine confession that I were not worthy to bee worth a morfell of bread or if they could charge me with idlenesse or neglect of the execution of my calling according to occasion I should shew my selfe destitute of vnderstanding and through mine ldleuesse bring vpon me much â—â—d But prosperitie and aduersitie life and death pouertie and riches come of the Lord. A man may labour and yet lacke he may bee idle and yet abound A righteous man may want the wicked grow wealthy and neyther the religious industry of the one makes rich nor the carnall securitie of the other seconded by worldly policy preuent it therefore will I labour referring the successe to him that blesseth euery worke to the poore and the rich according to his owne will but to diuers ends good and euill as are the subiects of the blessings though none are truly blessed but such as God hath made righteous yet in respect of God the good successe of the workes of wicked men are reputed a blessing the abuse whereof turneth in the end to a curse MEDIT. XV. A third taxation AGAINE a second mayne negligence is obiected and laid to my charge by way of taxing mee for my pouertie That if I prouide not for my family I am worse then an Infidell These remembrancers are like Iobs comfortars that in stead of consolatorie counsell doe afflict mee with wordes of sorrow and bitternesse I know acknowledge that I am bound to prouide for my family things honest the scope of which charge I conceiue not necessarily to be stretched so farre as some seeme to tenter it making it the colour of detested couetousnesse I vnderstand the true meaning of this piece of Scripture to tend to the moouing of Christian parents of children and Masters of families to a necessarie care of the sustentation education of those of their families to this I acknowledge my selfe bound lest that they through my negligence idlenesse and vnthristie course of life should want those things that necessarily appertayne either to their reliefe maintenance or education whereby indeed I should be guiltie of their miseries If therefore my heart can as it doth sincerely testifie vnto me truely the coÌ„trary though the world condemne me therein he I know to whom I stand or fall will excuse me The brute beasts and birds haue by the instinct of nature in a sort the same care that is inioyned vnto man they prouide for their young as long as they are tender and weak but when they become stronger and able to prey for themselues the old forsake them The true meaning of this former Scripture as I coÌ„ceiue requires no more of me necessarily though Reason and Religion binde me neuer to forget to doe them what good I can and to adde vnto their coÌ„fort according to their necessitie and my lawfully gotten meanes Some yet thinke them-selues Infidels if they vse not all possible meanes by right or wrong to enrich their posterities to aduance their greatnesse to equalize them in lands liuings possessions with their Superiors pretending thereby that it behooues them euen by the Law of Loue and Religion thus to prouide for the superfluous future maintenance of their children and their heires intayling their possessions from generation to generation and what do they but thereby argue their distrust that the God of Abraham the God of Isaac of Iacob Ioseph Iob and other godly men who onely cast their care vpon God is not now as prouident powerfull and carefull of the necessitie of his children as hee was of them Doth not this prooue worldly minded men more to resemble Infidels then doe they that cast the care of prouiding for their children vpon God them-selues not able by all their lawfull endeuours to leaue them competencie after their death but do worke as much as in them lyeth to bring their children to the feare of God that they againe by their godly liues and holy conuersations might teach their Posterities This in deed is the greatest portion and most perpetuall without which it is daily obserued that the greatest earthly portions and possessions are commonly spent and consumed before their too carefull fathers carcasses bee halfe rotten in the Graue There be some by their Vertues haue worthily merited Honour which cannot bee maintayned but by possessions and reuenewes whose Vertues imprinted in their children doe more magnifie the dignity of fathers then the possessions they leaue them after their deaths Honour in deed should be the reward of Uertue but contrary commonly Uertue followes Honour and Honour Possessions for as a mans greatnesse is so are his reputed Vertues So that Possessions are as the Load-stone to draw on Titles of Honour and Honorable Offices and farre the more gloriously doth Vertue shine by how much it is found in men honoured In men base in shew let their Vertues bee neuer so great they will not shine to the eyes of the world nor be discerned but by their contraries nor made perfect but by aduersitie in whomsoeuer true vertue is found be he neuer so base in outward shew hee deserueth more respect then he that hath much wealth and is vicious though he be dignified with the title of honour MEDIT. XVI A iustification of good indeuours NOw then although I striue not to iustifie mine endeuours which I know are not to all men hid Yet may I iustly iustifie my lawfull defence against the former imputations And I thinke I erred not if I did in some measure challenge vnto me the merite of some gratuitie amoÌ„g other laborers whose estates testifie that either their wit policy or friends haue farre exceeded mine or else it hath so fallen vpon them by Chance which last I beleeue not for the word excludes Diuine prouidence which to denie is proper to Atheists and Epicures as Eliphas reporteth or rather whereby he vpbraided faithfull and holy IOB saying How should GOD know How should hee iudge through the darke cloudes The cloudes hide him that he cannot see This was his blindnesse his eyes were open to carnall but shut to