such days approaching and is the time uncertain this then should teach thee O my Soul to be continually preparing for them Upon this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this moment of time depends eternity After a few years perhaps months or days it may be minutes thou shalt be arrested by Death and thence pass to Judgment Are thy Accounts fair Canst thou give them up with joy and not with grief Art thou reconciled to God and hast thou peace with him and thy own Conscience then come blessed day But if not neglect not one day nay one minute more thou knowest not what a day may bring forth How many have thy Eyes seen or thy Ears heard of that have been one day frollicking and taking their fill of pleasure and the next shut up in the prison of the grave whence there is no return to rectify thy former aberrations and where there is no more repentance The Grave is a safe repository and as it receives so it will keep thee to the Judgment of the great Day He that goes thither filthy will be filthy still and he that is unjust will be unjust still He that is righteous will be righteous still and he that is holy will be holy still Revel 22.11 Give me grace Good God all the days of my appointed time to wait until my Change shall come to think every day my last and to prepare Accordingly that so though the time be uncertain I may not be at any time unprovided but when I come to die I may have nothing else to do but to die that my Soul in the Arms of the Holy Jesus may be deposited with safety and joy there to expect the Revelation of his day and then to partake the Glories of his Kingdom 3. Are there such days approaching Then this should strike Horrour and Amazement to all loose and wicked persons The consideration of a Judgment to come made stout Felix tremble The foolish Virgins did bethink them of Oil for their Lamps when they heard the noise of the Bride-groom's Coming and perhaps these when on their Death-beds will then too late think of this Day but 't is not then a few still-born abortive prayers a Lord have mercy upon us or the like will serve their turn The Sinner may frollick it now follow his intemperance and unlawful pleasures and say still these are but tricks of youth or frailties of his Nature but let him remember that for all these things God will bring him into Judgment Eccles 11.9 'T is strange that Sinners should be so stupid and put so far from them the evil Day they think they shall still rejoyce as in their youth and see no evil and so never bethink them of their condition till they find themselves in the confines of Hell Tell them now of preâ—aration for Death they will answer â—ou 't is time enough yet and the fitâ—est season for that is when they are â—perannuated and unfit for any thing â—â—se Their time must now be divided â—etween their lusts and vanities between â—nlawful pleasures and imoderate sleep 〈◊〉 idleness they cannot now find a time â—r Repentance Prayer and attending upâ—n the things of God never considerâ—â—g that they must find a time to die in â—â—d that when Death comes they must â—e at leisure for that All their false pleasures are vanished like a shadow and â—ow nothing remains but the sense of â—uilt and a fearful expectation of Judgment they now perceive the Arrows of â—â—e Almighty stick fast on them and â—â—at there is no profit but extreamless 〈◊〉 those things whereof they are now â—hamed they now feel their Torments â—â—gin and court death to be freed from â—â—e stingings of Conscience but that onâ—â— consigns them over to greater and â—ore impassible miseries who like priâ—ners condemned to die they are â—rought out of prison their Chains â—nock'd off and yet carried to a more â—eadful Execution 4. Are there such Days approaching Then this brings great comfort and satisfaction to the Godly Man he is ready to say with Jonah Chap. 4.3 And now I beseech thee take away my Life for it is better for me to die than to live or with Saint Paul I desire to be dissolved Death I know is but a stepping behind the Dark Curtain and a passage into another Room I set here in this Horizon but I shall presently rise in another 'T is not a Period but a Parenthesis which may be put in or left out To me to die is gain I have had my Portion of evil things in the World my share of miseries and troubles but now I shall be free'd from them all and gain my port which I have so long looked out after And can you blame a Man that is toss'd up and down the turbulent Waves of the Sea to desire a safe Harbour to land in Can you blame the poor Man that labours and toils all the day long in the sweat of hiâ— Brows when his Work is done to desire the night wherein he may take hiâ— ease and sweet repose Neither is the Godly man by Death only free'd froâ— those Calamities and Troubles from with out but from the depraved Corruption of his Nature from Temptations from within and without and from Sin it self the greatest joy to a pious Soul who more rejoyceth that he cannot sin than that he cannot suffer And as the approach of this Day brings great comfort and satisfaction to the Godly upon the score of those Negatives so it is much enhansed upon the consideration of those positive Rewards styled by the Apostle the recompence of Reward promised by Almighty God which they have oftentimes some praelibations or foretastes of This makes them chuse Death rather than Life and to take up St. Austin's Words breaking out in a holy rapture commenting upon Moses's desire of God Exodus 33. That he would shew him his glory and God's answer Thou can'st not see my Face for there is no Man shall see my face and live O let me die that I may behold thy glory Eia Domine moriar ut videam videam hic ut moriar nolo vivere volo mori dissolvi cupio esse cum Christo St. Aug. I know that my Redeemer liveth that where he is there his Servant shall be I shall see him as he is and my eyes shall behold him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 face to face and then Olim haec meminisse juvabit It will be very pleasant to think of those many past troubles and escaped dangers Grant me gracious God so to live that at last I may lay down my Head in the dust with joy rest in hope and at length rise to a blessed and glorious Immortality Amen even Amen Lord Jesus Of Heaven and Hell the Joys of one the Torments of the other JVxta se posita magis elucescunt The darker the Foyl the more radiant doth the Diamond appear The blackness and deformity of the Maid makes the Mistris's Beauty more remarkable
Man shall seriously consider That though he now gives himself the full swing and liberty of his unlawful pleasures and desires and denies himself nothing that his depraved Appetite can crave or suggest unto him yet these are but fleeting and momentany That when a few years are come he shall be taken from them and go the way whence he shall not return this will certainly imbitter his false joys and lay some restraint upon him in the Career of all his Sensual Delights On the other side when a good and holy Man shall consider that although in the ways of Vertue and Holiness he meets with many straits and difficulties he hath many fears and troubles within many trials and temptations without yet these will not continue long when a few years are come he shall be free'd from them all he shall go the way whence he shall not return This certainly will encourage him to persevere and to continue faithful unto Death This was that which afforded holy Job so much comfort in the midst of all his Afflictions He was in a very miserable Condition under the power of Sathan's Malice full of noisome Boils and grievous Pains laughed at and mocked by his cruel Enemies nay reproached and contemned by his nearest Friends as you may see a Catalogue of his Sufferings from verse the ninth to the 17th yet he still maintains his Integrity with the considerations of the shortness of his life and consequently of the duration of his afflictions saying When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return from the words we may collect 1. The certainty of Death When a few years are come then I shall go the way c. 2. The uncertainty of the time of it When a few years are come The Prophet leaves it in indefinite he doth not say Such a number of years or in such a year I shall die but when a few years are come c. 3. The brevity of Mans Life Thought he mentions years yet they are but few When a few years c. 1. The certainty of Death St. Paul tells us Heb. 9.27 That it is appointed unto Men once to die and this Royal Decree of Heaven is like that of the Medes and Persians irreversible had Man continued in his primitive Innocence he should not indeed have died but when once Man put off that white Robe he became immediately obnoxious unto Death and God tells him Gen. 3. Dust thou art and to Dust shalt thou return The wages of sin is Death As certainly as we live so certainly shall we die Neither the Majesty of the Prince nor the meanness of the Peasant the Wealth of the rich Man nor the Poverty of the Poor The strength of the Mighty nor the holiness of the Pious can exempt from Death so that I may take up that Interrogation of the Prophet What Man is he that liveth and shall not see Death 2. The uncertainty of the time of it Astrologers by Calculating Nativities have pretended to foretell the Deaths of others as well as themselves but have seldom ever hit right in either and have been miserably deceived Our times are in God's hand This is one of the Arcana Imperis those incommunicative prerogatives God keeps to himself and dare any Mortal be so bold as to pretend to it God hath said that he comes as a thief in the Night and hath bid us Watch That of the hour and the season knoweth no Man and yet shall we say that we have any certainty of his coming Do we not see how many are daily snatch'd away by a sudden and untimely Death And yet shall we boast our selves of too morrow Infancy Childhood Youth Manhood and Ripeness of years can no more plead Exemption from Death than old Age so that you see how uncertain the time of it is 3. The brevity of Mans Life David observed that the days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and at most but fourscore and if we wade through many thousand Accidents and at last arrive to that Age it is still but short with respect to Eternity and we spend our years as a Tale that is told scarcely remembring when or where we began But it is not one of many thousands whose Lamp burn thus long to its lowest Basis but either the Oyl is consumed or a puff of wind hath blown it out long before What is our life saith St. James It is even a vapour that continueth but a little while and then vanisheth away David compares it to sleep which lasteth but for a Night to Grass which in the Morning is green and groweth up but in the Evening is cut down dried up and withered Lucian calls it a Bubble which by the next breath of wind vanisheth into Air. Homer a Leaf which if it be not gathered by the hand or eaten by a Worm or forced by the wind will wither and fall of its own accord at Autumn Pindar the Dream of a shadow what more vain unconstant short liv'd things than these Yet such is the Life of Man Well then might Job say When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return From the words we may gather these four Corollaries or Observations 1. From the Example of this holy Man I learn that we ought to think of Death before it comes When a few years are come then I shall go the way c. 2. That we ought not only to think of Death in general but of our own Death in particular I shall go the way whence I shall not return 3. That it is the highest piece of Prudence to prepare for it before it comes because that after Death we shall not be able to return to amend or rectifie the deficiency of our former preparations I shall go the way whence I shall not return 4ly and Lastly That to a pious and innocent Soul the consideration of Death and never returning again to a troublesome and sinful Life is matter of great joy and comfort When a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return 1. As to the first That we ought from the Example of holy Job to think of Death before it comes There is nothing so much discomposes a Man or unfits him for the due Exercise of his Reason and Prudence in the conduct of any weighty Affair as to be surprized suddenly and without his expectation Even a sudden and profuse joy as well as an immoderate and unlook'd for grief hath cut off the thred of the lives of many What disorder and discomposure then will a sudden Arrest from Death make in the heart of that Man that never as much as thought on or looked for it before hand How will it amaze or distract him And turn all his Senses into Confusion If a Man had only one thing of great moment to do in his whole Life upon the success of which depended
either his happiness or misery we should count him certainly the most stupid and careless Fool that should not as much as think and consider of it and contrive all ways possible before hand how he might succeed in it You have seen already that Death is certain and upon our dying depends our Eternal Salvation or Eternal Damnation how insensible must we then be if we are not often in the time of our life and health taken up with some serious thoughts and contemplations of it 2. That we ought not only to think of Death in general but of our own death in particular I shall go the way whence I shall not return Death is a general term and if it touch not us or our Family our Friends or Relations we are as unconcern'd as to hear of a Sickness or Mortality beyond the Seas in which we are like to be no fellow sufferers or sharers We can read every Week the Bills of Mortality and hear of this and the other great Person dead nay we can take many turns in the Church and Yard and walk over the Graves of our deceased Friends and yet be as unmoved and unsensible of our own change as the Stones we walk upon But Alass Do we think that our selves alone are Immortal That we only shall have an Exemption from Death Shall not the Passing Bell at length Toll for us and shall it not at length be said in the Streets That such a one is dead Yes certainly when a few years perhaps weeks or days are come then thou in particular shalt go the way whence thou shalt not return O then think of Death before it comes and of thy own death in particular say thus within thy self I am now in a state of health and strength I have now time and opportunity for Repentance my Lamp is yet burning I am invited to the Marriage of the Bride and the Door is yet open now my Tears will be accepted now my Prayers will be heard now is the acceptable tme now is the day of Salvation Now or never must I prepare for Eternity now or never must I make my peace with God What madness what folly will it be in me to hazzard my Eternal Salvation upon the hopes of a long life Or upon the possibility of having time to repent on my Death-bed Our time you see is uncertain and many there are who are taken away by a sudden death even in the midst of their sins Why may not I be one of those Many that thought as little of it as I do and had as good Resolutions as I have have yet perished to all Eternity Others there have been who though they have had timely Warnings of their Death by a lingring and tedious Disease yet either their pains and uneasiness have discomposed them for Repentance and fitting themselves for their change or else God hath then in Justice denied them the grace of Repentance who have been so long time neglective of it Repentance is the gift of God and he that hath promised pardon to the Penitent whensoever he repents hath not always promised to give the Sinner Repentance And if God should thus deal with me as he may justly do even then deny me Repentance without which I cannot be saved when I call upon him for it Qui promisit paenitenti veniam non promisitpeccanti paenitentiam because I refuse to do it now when he calls upon me how miserable and deplorable will my condition be Can I endure the Wrath of a Sin-revenging God Can I dwell with everlasting Burnings Can any thing screen me from those direful Torments prepared for the Devil and his Angels but now I to have my share in them O remember what God says Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out minn hand and no Man regarded but ye have set at nought my counsels and would none of my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear comâ—th 3. That it is the highest pice of Prudence to prepare for Death before it comes because that after Death we shall not be able to return to amend or rectifie the deficiency of our former preparations I shall go the way whence I shall not return Vestigia nulla retrorsum The grave receives all that come into it but will never suffer any to return thence before it hears the Voice of him that hath the Keys of it saying Arise ye dead and come to Judgment As the Tree falls so it lies there is no Repentance in the Grave whither we all go As Death leaves us so the Resurrection will find us If we died Sinners no Purgatory can make us to rise Saints He that was filthy at his Death will be found to be filthy still and he that was unjust then will be unjust still and he that was righteous will be righteous still and he that was holy will be holy still Rev. 22.11 O then let it be now thy care as it is thy prudence and interest so to prepare in life that thou may'st receive comfort in death that thy accounts may be fair no error or deficicncy in them and thou may'st be able to give them up with joy and not with grief and receive that blessed Character and Reward of Well done thou good and faithful Servant enter thou into thy Masters joy 4. That to a pious and innocent Soul the consideration of Death and never returning again to a troublesome and sinful life is matter of great joy and comfort VVhen a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return This life is a life of trouble we no sooner enter into it but we commence miserable the best part of it is Checkered with Sorrows and when we leave it it is not without pains and groans So that the whole Series of it from the Cradle to the Grave is nothing else but one Chain and Link of Misery This lot happens both to the good and to the bad to the just and to the unjust and the latter as well as the former might seem to solace himself with the consideration of the brevity of the duration but yet the righteous and holy Man as his troubles are far greater having the addition of grief for his own and others Sins the fears of Relapses into them the difficulty of conquering Temptations and being faithful unto death This enhanses his sorrow and multiplies his troubles and so consequently the consideration of his approaching Death and never returning more to so troublesome and sinful State of Life must needs revive his Spirits and magnifie his joy Methinks I hear him expostulating with himself in such language as this Ah Wretched Man that I am I came into the World with pains and tears my Infancy was spent in sleep and ignorance but yet not without its allay of sickness and inquietude My riper years have been wholly taken up with Folly and Vanity dishonoured with the
sonat sed Deum certè which bespeaks God and not Man the Author of it and therefore he alone deserves the Glory And if we shall be so impudent to appropriate that to our selves which belongs only to him we may justly expect to fare as the Man in the Gospel Acts 12.23 who was eaten up of Worms for not giving the Glory to the right Proprietor It is of his pleasure and goodness that we our selves enjoy our health and beings and of his great mercy that we can be any way Instrumental to convey the one or preserve the other to any person let us not be therefore so unreasonable and ungrateful to defaulk from God what is his due and of right pertains to him but as his is the Work so let him have the glory Moreover neither doth this only correspond with Divinity but common Prudence for since it is in the power of God to bless or frustrate our proceedings to prosper or blast the operation of our Medicines For it is he that maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole Job 5.18 we cannot rationally imagine but that he will do better when he sees them turn to so bad an account And I do not doubt but this one sin is that which renders them so often unprosperous and ineffectual Now that they may better succeed for the future and that the Physician may discharge his duty in his place I should with submission to more pious and learned persons offer these following Rules and Directions 1. Having premised that a Physician ought to live a Holy and Vertuous Life let him in the first place when any sick person desires his assistance cast himself on his knees or if the suddainness or multitude of business or want of privacy interrupts he may supply it by silent Ejaculation and most humbly implore the great Phpsician to instruct his Judgment and bless his Undertakings for whatever the Second Cause be God is the First and therefore the Divine presence and assistance is absolutely necessary and first to be invoked in all weighty affairs and what greater than those which concern the Lives of Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plin. in Paneg. Bene sapienter majores instituerunt ut rerum agendarum initium à praecationibus caperetur and it was a high pitch of a Heathens mind namely Epictetus Enchirid. Cap. 78. In quovis incaepto haec optanda sunt duc me ô Jupiter et tu factum Guid me O God and thou divine providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plaâ—o in Tymaeo If Hippocrates thought it necessary for those who had taken any Cure in hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to ask Advice of all even of Ideots and those who knew but little in that Art much rather then ought we 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ask Counsel of God by Prayer and then perhaps our Prayer may do as much as our Medicine or if both prove successless tho we are assur'd to the contrary James 5.15 That the Prayer of Faith shall save the Sick yet we have this satisfaction in our Consciences that we have done our duties 2. Neither must we rest here but must joyn our Studies and Endeavours to our Prayers and after we have fully inform'd our selves of our Patients condition and throughly examin'd all Circumstances carefully and advisedly prescribe them abstaining from trying any new Experiments or extreme Remedies except in extreme and desperate Diseases or where they are very consentaneous to the Rules of Physick and highly probable to answer those designs which a known and tried Medicine would not effect that to they make not themselves accessory to the destruction of their Patients and ruin of their own Reputation 3. That we do not peremptorily promise a Cure in uncertain and dangerous Diseases It is too well known how many Physicians there are who are so Dogmatical in their Opinions confident of their own Abilities and Success of their Medicines that they will not stick even in the most difficult Cases at first sight to warrant a perfect Cure by which at last when they find themselves defeated in their hopes and their prognosticks deceive them they expose their Judgments and many times forfeit their Repute And it were well if this were all but alass the consequence is far more dangerous for by this means the Patient is careless of putting his House in order and which is worse of trimming and preparing his Soul for Death The best Christians altho they live in an habitual holiness and constant preparation for their end and like the Wise Virgins have Oyl in their Lamps in expectation when the Bride-groom will come yet they would willingly then yet once more dress their Wedding Garments and trim their Lamps by Repetition of Acts of Repentance Faith Hope Devotion Patience Charity and Resignation of themselves to God And who is there who when he is ready to breath his last thinks so well of his Condition that he would not pray Davids Prayer O spare me a little that I may recover my Strength before I go hence and be no more seen Or cry out with Crisorius in Gregory Iuducias vel usque ad mane iuducias vel usque ad mone Truce respite Lord until the Morning But I fear the far greater number of those we are concern'd for are such as need not only trimming but Oyl in their Lamps too not only the Ornaments but the Garment it self and then certainly when there is time for it and God may in mercy accept of a Death-bed Repentance how much have we to answer for either for flattering them with the hopes of Recovery or not acquainting them with their approaching danger I know the common Objection to this is that by incouraging the Patient his langushing Spirits are upheld he more readily submits to the use of means and bears his Sickness with a greater cheerfulness and on the contrary by telling him the truth his Spirits are dejected he becomes impatient and rejects the Prescription To these it is easily answered that either the Patient is a Religious good Man or a Vicious and Wicked Man If the former he loves not to be flattered but will certainly have the better esteem of his Physician for dealing so plainly with him and because he thinks the time of his deliverance from his present Pains and Sickness and inauguration into a State of everlasting Joy and Blessedness so near approaches his Spirits instead of being dejected are exalted and because he knows that his time is in Gods hand that neither he nor the Physician can infallibly know the time of his departure and that God hath commanded the use of means he is content to submit to the Rules prescrib'd him and leave the success to God On the contrary If he be a Vicious and Wicked Man it is but fit that if more gentle and mild perswasions will not prevail that he should be fright'ned into a sense of his desperate condition and not suffer'd to go like
Subtilties and Assaults of the Devil and discover to thee the sin for which he now sees it fit to afflict thee anâ— make an absolute surrender of thy seâ—â— unto Gods all-wise disposal 2. As soon as thou art in thy Bed anâ— hast leisure and privacy begin whilâ— thou hast strength and the free use 〈◊〉 thy Reason which possibly in some acuâ— Distempers thou may'st not long enjoy to renew thy Repentance taking a freâ— survey of all thy Capital Sins which the former Catalogue will help thee in and of any others lately committed by thee remembring that God never corrects but for Sin When thou with rebukes saith David dost chasten Man for sin Psalm 39.11 These again humbly confess to Almighty God acknowledg thy de-merits and the justice of his proceeding and most earnestly implore his pardon 3. Next exercise thy Faith by a stedfast recumbency on God through Jesus Christ for the full pardon of all thy sins and resting upon those gracious promises of his that he hath made Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as Snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Isa 1.18 That God will never leave thee nor forsake thee Heb. 13.5 That Jesus Christ is the propitiation for thy sins and that in him God hath said He is well pleased Math. 3.17 That God will deliver thy Soul from going down to the pit because he hath found a Ransom Job 33.24 and will certainly give thee Eternal Salvation if thou continue faithful unto Death Believe also that God is wise and just in sending thee Afflictions that he wil not suffer thee to be tempted above what thou art able That all things shall work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 That if thou live thou shalt live to him and if thou die Death shall be unto thee advantage In a word firmly believe all those Truths that thou did'st believe and wert perswaded of in the time of thy greatest health 4. The next Grace now to be exercised is Hope which is nothing else but a comfortable expectation of the performances of all those good promises made unto thee by God Job assures us that the hope of the Hypocrite shall perish because it was not founded upon a good bottom he continued in his sins and yet hoped for Mercy But thou hast repented of thy sins and purified thy self from them quite forsaken them and therefore thy hope is such as maketh thee not ashamed but thou may'st be assured that thou art of the number of those Righteous ones Who have hope in their death Prov. 14.32 Fifthly Exercise throughout the whole course of thy Sickness Prayer and Devotion This is a time of trouble and God bids us then to call upon him and to encourage us hath promised to hear us Psalm 5.15 besides as we have now greater needs than ever so for the most part the Devotion of every pious Soul is at this time raised to a greater height and accompanied with more fervency and humility than in the time of his greatest health Therefore frequently Pray and Ejaculate unto God as thou findest the temper of thy Soul requires whether it be for support under thy weaknesses against despondencies impatience distractions or confusions of Mind whether for Revelations of his Goodness and Irradiations of his Love and Favour and if thou art a constant Reader and Meditator of Gods Word thou canst not want suitable Expressions out of that rich Treasury the Holy Bible You may find some cull'd out for that purpose in the subsequent pages and in The Whole Duty of Man many more But if thy Devotion be not so much exalted as thou would'st have it remember this is a time for Passion not Action and God will accept thee 6. Exercise likewise throughout the whole time of thy Sickness Christian patience You have need of Patience saith the Apostle Heb. 10.36 That when you have done all you may inherit the promises Now is the chief use of this grace therefore you cannot want it It is that which crowns all the rest This discovers it self by a cheerful submission to Gods Fatherly Correction justifying God and condemning thy self saying with the Psalmist Thou hast punished me less than my sins have deserved or with the Prophet I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him Micah 7.9 or with good old Ely It is the Lord let him do as it seemeth him good Or with the Apostle Chasten me here as thou pleasest that I be not condemned with the World And then resting in a cheerful Expectation that God will convert all to thy good and that he will be to thee both in life and death advantage taking up holy Job's resolve That tho he kill thee thou wilt trust in him Job 13.5 and that tho thou walk through the valley of the shadow of death thou wilt fear no Evil Psalm 23.4 Submit to the Rules of thy Physician and be kind and courteous not peevish as too many are towards thy Attendants and all that come to see thee and give them and thy Family good Instructions â—eeing those that are spoken from a Friend on a dying Bed stick closest â—f any Be sure no word drop from thee of repining or murmuring against Gods dispensations towards thee but let thy words be sueh as tend to the use of Edifying and in all things behave thy â—elf as if thou wert giving up the Ghost â—he next moment Be willing and content to die say as St. Paul did I desire to be dissolved and â—o be with Christ which is best of all or as David Like as the Hart desireth the Water-brooks so longeth my Soul aftee thee O God My soul is athirst for God even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the presence of God O that I had Wings like a Dove for then would I fly away and be at rest Thou art my Helper and my Redeemer O Lord make no long tarrying Last of all exercise thy Charity not as if thou wert not to use it all along but now more particularly give and forgive Beg pardon for any injury done thy Neighbour and if it be in thy power make restitution for any Offence that is capable of it if not beg God to accept of thy Intentions and to pay thy debt in Blessings Forgive from thy heart all others who have injured thee as thou expectest to be forgiven by God When thou shalt find thy strength fail and Death approaching say or ejaculate thus Lord Jesus receive my Soul Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed it O Lord thoâ— God of Truth Come Lord Jesus come quickly Remedies against some particular Temptations of the Devil in the time of Sickness THe Devil is so delusory and subtil a Spirit that like the cunning Angler he loves to fish in Troubled Waters and takes all Advantages of our weaknesses and disturbances of mind to insnare
us and then most strongly assails us when we have the least power to resist him There was a time when Satan did suspend his Tyranny sit close in the heart feeding on those lusts he found there without any outward shew of violence Certa quiscendi tempora fata dabant But now he awakes as a Lion out of sleep and as a young Lion greedy of his prey ready to tear the poor Languishing Soul in pieces calls in all his powers and artifices because he knows that he hath but a short time and if he miss this opportunity he must then let it alone for ever Therefore it will be very necessary that you pre-arme your self against his Objections or Assailings and they may be such as these 1. First He may assail thee by setting before thee the multitude and hainousness of thy Sins that they are so many and so great that thou canst not expect that God should pardon them and so endeavour to draw thee to a despondency of God's mercy But then presently oppose this Temptation of his by calling to Mind the multitude and infinitness of God's mercies which cannot be out-numbred by our Sins nor out-weighed by our most presumptuous transgressions Remember that place of Micah 7 and 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgressions of thine heritage Who retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy and that other in Isa 1.18 Though your Sins were as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow though they be Red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Consider also that the greatest Sinners repenting have found Mercy as Manasses Mary Magdelen Peter Paul yea the Thief on the Cross who at the last breath found mercy 2. The Devil may in the time of thy Sickness assail thee by setting before thee the Strictness and Severity of God's Justice and tell thee It is true God is merciful indeed but he is just too Zephan 3.5 Psal 92 15. And he will not let the Wicked go unpunished his justice runs parallel with his mercy and as the one is infinite so is the other too To this oppose Christ's full and compleat Satisfaction Indeed by the Law no Man could be justified but Christ was made a Curse for us that he might redeem us from the Curse of the Law That he might receive the Adoption of Sons Gala. 3.13 Christ by one Oblation of himself once offered made a full perfect and sufficient Sacrifice Oblation and Satisfaction for the Sins of the whole World Christ himself will answer for thee These are mine and shall be made up with my Jewels for their transgressions was I stricken and cut off from the Earth for them was I bruised and put to grief my Soul was made an offering for their Sins and I bare their transgressions they are my seed and the travel of my Soul I have healed them by my Stripes I have justified them by my Knowledge they are my sheep who shall take them out of my hands 3. Satan may object that thou hast no part in these promises because thou art not elected To this oppose God's free Covenant all are invited to receive mercy God excludes none but such as exclude themselves Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the Waters and drink is the Language of God by the Prophet Isa 55.1 Nay our blessed Saviour confirms it also John 7.37 If any excluding none Man thirst let him come unto me and drink and again in the 55. of Isa 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous Man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon And so in the 33. of Ezekiel 11. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn ye from your evil way for why will ye die O house of Israel And therefore if thou be one that hath turned from thy evil ways never dispute thy election but as sure as God lives and that his Oath and Word are Truth so sure shalt thou live with him in everlasting bliss and happiness and therefore here thou may'st call to mind some of the fruits of thy Faith that thou hast at any time found in the Course of thy Life and thence comfort thy drooping Soul concluding that thou art certainly of the number of those that are ordained to Salvation 4. Fourthly The Devil may perhaps endeavour to perswade thy Soul that because thou art as it were in some kind of desertion and wantest that clear evidence which formerly thou hadst by reason of Gods present dealings with thee that God is not thy God that thy unpardoned Sins causeth him now to hide his Face from thee in thy greatest Extremity and that he will no more be intreated by thee Indeed if thou hast not repented of thy Sins the Devil's argument is good but if thou hast the Testimony of thy Conscience that thou hast truly repented of all thy sins and that in simplicity and godly sincerity thou hast had thy conversation in this life never be discouraged but assure thy self that though God seems to hide himself from thee yet he has no other design in it but to try thee and the strength of thy Faith thy Christian courage and resolution This will be but for a short time and then the sweetness of his return will abundantly compensate for his short with-drawing For a small moment saith God Isa 54.7 have I forsaken thee but with great Mercies will I gather thee Job had sufficient confidence of the return of God's favour and mercy though for the present there was no manifest appearance of it but lay under the greatest pressure of affliction that a poor mortal could bear and was advised because God had forsaken him to curse God and die and therefore with a generous and noble Spirit resolves that though he kill him yet will he trust in him Job 13.15 Holy David's faith and courrage was no less when he could confidently say though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet will I fear none evil Psalm 23.4 I have read of a Martyr that during the time of his Imprisonment being under some trouble of Mind had often besought God for some irradiations of his Love and Favour and that he would send him the Comforter but could receive nothing of it but rather more disquiet and anxiety of mind but yet he was resolved to wait God's leisure which he did and when he was fastened to the Stake he cries out with a heart too full of joy to express it in larger terms He is come He is come I shall conclude this with the words of the Prophet Isaiah ch 50.10 Though a Man walk in darkness and see no light yet may he trust in the Lord and lean upon his God Of Meditation IT is
Give us grace to apply it to our selves and to reduce it into practice that thy word may be unto us the savour of life unto life and not unto any Soul of us the savour of death unto death These Mercies O most merciful Father for our selves or any of thine and whatever else thou knowest fitting for us together with the acceptance of our praises we humbly beg at thy hands though not for any worthiness that is in our selves for we utterly disclaim all but for the Merits of him who alone is worthy Jesus Christ the Righteous in whose endearing Name and holy Words we continue to pray unto thee saying Our Father c. Thy Grace O Lord Jesus Christ c. A Prayer for Sunday Evening in the Family Open thou our Lips O Lord and our Mouths shall shew forth thy praise O Most blessed and glorious Lord God Father of Mercies and of our Lord Jesus Christ Thou fillest Heaven with thy Glory and the Earth with thy Goodness All thy works praise thee O Lord and thy Saints give thanks unto thee Thy Name only is excellent and thy praise above Heaven and Earth but because thou art good and delightest in doing good thou art pleased to permit us thy poor unworthy Creatures here on Earth to offer up our Prayers and our Praises unto thee who dwellest in the highest Heavens that thou may'st reward them with thy favour and loving kindness And that we might never be wanting to our selves thou art daily pleased to give us new and fresh occasions of Praising and Magnifying thy Holy Name Even this very day we have had large Experiences of thy Goodness which call for our highest Thanksgivings The temporal Mercies we have received in thy protection of us from those many dangers to which we were exposed by reason of our sins and the plentiful refreshment we have had in the use of thy good Creatures deserve our due acknowledgments but that thou hast given us Dust and Ashes an opportunity and leave to come into thy more immediate presence to wait upon thee in thy House to speak unto thee the glorious Majesty of Heaven before whom Angels cover their Faces and to hear thee speaking unto us instructing us in our Duties and offering unto us terms of Reconciliation most justly challenge our devoutest Affections and most exalted Praises Thou hast given thine only Son to be a Sacrifice for us by whom we have Redemption through his Blood thou hast given him Victory over Hell and the Grave by his Resurrection from the dead and he is now sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high making continual Intercession for us Thou hast given us the constant Solicitations of thy blessed Spirit of Truth the Seal of our Adoption and the earnest of the Inheritance of the Saints together wih a succession of Pastors and Teachers to be the Dispensers of thy Word and Will and the Guides of our Souls And thou hast prepared such things for those that fear thee as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor ever entred into the heart of Man to conceive Lord what is Man that thou art mindful of him Or the Son of Man that thou hast done such great things for him Praise the Lord O our Souls and all that is within us praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O our Souls and forget not all his benefits O that all this Goodness of thine might ingage us by way of just return to thy free and undeserved Mercies more heartily to love thee more devoutly to worship thee and more diligently to live after thy Commandments Give us a due savour and relish of those Divine Truths we have learned this day Grant that we may not be only hearers but doers of thy Word lest we deceive our own Souls Cherish those holy Thoughts Affections and Resolutions which thy good Spirit hath raised in us O Let not them pass out of our minds with the day but leave Impressions upon our hearts the whole Week following and all our days that as we have received how we ought to walk and to please thee our God so we may abound more and more Bless all the faithful Dispensers of thy Word and Sacraments however dignified or distinguished More especially bless him O Lord who hath this day blessed us in thy Name Pour down a double portion of thy holy Spirit into his heart make him an eminent Instrument for thy Glory Let him turn many from their wicked ways unto thee the living God and hereafter let his Soul shine as a Star in the Firmament of thy Kingdom Continue unto us O Lord such holy opportunities and seasons of Grace as thou now affordest us and send them where they are not Let not O let not the loud cry of our national Sins provoke thee to remove thy Candlestick from us or to quench the Light of our Israel but blessed God whatever temporal Judgments thou art pleased to bring upon us whatever Mercies thou art pleased to deny us yet for thy Names sake and for thy Truth and Righteousness sake be pleased still to continue unto us the free liberty of thy House of thy Word Sacraments and Ordinances in their primitive purity and regularity until time shall be no more Pardon we pray thee good God whatever thou hast seen amiss in us the day past even the many frailties and imperfections of our holiest Duties and Performances Look not upon the weakness of our Flesh but upon the sincerity of our Hearts and Desires Pity all our Infirmities and let those Sacrifices which we have this day offered unto thy Divine Majesty be accepted in and for that Sacrifice which thy Son Christ Jesus hath offered up upon the Cross for us Finally O Lord we commend into thine hands this Night our Selves Souls and Bodies and all our Friends every where to be protected by thy providence refreshed with moderate rest and raised again the next Morning by thy power to serve thee with more cheerfulness and to praise thee for thy renewed Mercies And all we beg for the alone sake and love of thy Son who is the Son of thy love Jesus Christ our Lord In whose holy Name we are bold to beg the acceptance of our Petitions and Thanksgivings and to continue to supplicate thy Divine Majesty Saying as he hath taught us Our Father which art in Heaven c. Thy Grace O Lord Jesus Christ c. A Prayer preparatory for Death to be often used in the time of Health O Immortal and Everliving Lord God thy years endure throughout all Generations from everlasting to everlasting thou art God I thy frail Creature created at first by thy power to a state of Immortality with thy self which by Adams Transgression the representative of all mankind I have long since forfeited my right to and am become liable to Death I acknowledg thy mercy towards me in my Creation and thy justice and faithfulness in the execution of thy Threatnings upon breach
of the first Covenant The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works Behold thou hast now made my days as it were a span length and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee and I am altogether vanity The sentence of Death hath passed upon all for that all have sinned And I who have had so great a share in sinning cannot but expect to receive the due Wages of it Death Only I beseech thee blessed God to make me wise now in the time of my Health and Srength to understand this and to consider my latter end Grant O Lord that by departing from every known sin by keeping Innocency and always taking heed to the thing that is right I may be in an habitual preparation for Death and find peace at the last Wean my heart daily more and more from the love of the World and worldly things and place my affections upon their right and more deserving Objects Heaven and Heavenly things that my heart may be where my Treasure is and that whenever I shall be called to part with them I may leave all without any murmuring or reluctancy and be willing and content to die Let every pain and sickness mind me of my last And that Death may not be a surprize unto me furnish my Soul with all those Graces before-hand which I shall have greatest occasions to make use of in my last Conflict Give me Repentance unto life not to be repented of A Stedfast Faith that worketh by Love towards thee my God and Charity to all the World A Firm Hope such as maketh not ashamed but may become an Anchor of my Soul entring even within the Vail True Christian Courage and Patience and a resolvedness of a cheerful submission to thy Fatherly Correction And Grant that in all things I may so put my Soul and House in order that when I come to die I may have nothing else to do but to die Let not my Death be unexpected untimely or violent if it be thy holy will And when it shall please thee to cast me on my last Bed give me Grace to search my Heart to renew my Repentance and Interest in Jesus and to compose my Soul for God Give me the opportunity and refreshment of thy holy Sacrament the Seal of the Divine Love the benefit of Absolution Some irradiations of thy Love and Favour in the assurances of pardon and peace together with a patient and comfortable expectation of the performance of all thy promises Let not the Devil take advantage of my weakness nor any of his Suggestions prevail upon me Let not his Accusations or my Sins distract me in my last hour but do thou interpose thy seasonable Relief O forsake me not when my strength faileth me but in the mid'st of the sorrows and temptations that I have upon my Bed let thy Comforts refresh my Soul O suffer me not for any pains of death to fall from thee And in my last Agonies when my Soul shall quit the ruinous habitation of my Body let thy holy Angels convey it into the Regions of a glorious Eternity where there shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying nor pain Grant this O merciful Father for the sake of him who by death hath overcome death even Jesus Christ my High Priest and blessed Redeemer Amen A Prayer for Sincerity out of the Whole Duty of Man O Holy Lord who requirest Truth in the inward parts I humbly beseech thee to purge me from all Hypocrisie and unsincerity The heart O Lord is deceitful above all things and my heart I fear is deceitful above all hearts O thou who searchest the Heart and Reins try me and seek the ground of my heart and suffer not any accursed thing to lurk within me but purifie me even with Fire so thou consume my dross O Lord I cannot deceive thee but I may most easily deceive my self I beseech thee let me not rest in any such deceit but bring me to a sight and hatred of my most hidden Corruptions that I may not cherish any darling Lust but make an utter destruction of every Amalekite O suffer me not to speak peace to my self when there is no peace but grant I may judge of my self as thou judgest of me that I may never be at peace with my self till I am at perfect peace with thee and by purity of haert be qualified to see thee in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ Amen For Contrition out of the same Author O Holy Lord Who art a merciful Embracer of true Penitents but yet a consuming Fire towards obstinate sinners how shall I approach thee who have so many provoking sins to inflame thy Wrath and so little sincere Repentance to incline thy Mercy O be thou pleased to soften and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine that I may heartily bewail the Iniquities of my life Strike this Rock O Lord that the Waters may flow out even Floods of Tears to wash my polluted Conscience my drowzy Soul hath too long slept securely in sin Lord awake it though it be with Thunder and let me rather feel thy Terrors then not feel my sin Thou sentest thy blessed Son to heal the broken hearted but Lord what will that avail me if my heart be whole O break it that it may be capable of his healing Virtue and grant I beseech thee that having once tasted the bitterness of sin I may fly from it as from the Face of a Serpent and bring forth Fruits of Repentance in amendment of Life to the praise and glory of thy Grace in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer Amen Those whose Devotions are apt to be assisted by variety or are desirous of Forms for other Graces or more particular occasions may find a plentiful supply in the Books of the aforementioned-Pious Author in Dr. Tailor's holy Living and Dying but more especially in the Book of Devotions composed by the Reverend and Learned Dr. Patrick A Prayer to be used by any Pious Christian in these difficult times O Most just and holy Lord God thou art Righteous in all thy ways and holy in all thy Works I must needs confess that when I seriously consider the multitude and hainousness of my own Sins and those of the whole Nation which cry loudly to Heaven for Vengeance that it is even a miracle of Mercies that we have not long since felt the severities of thy Wrath in some direful Judgments but thou O Lord hast been exceedingly gracious and with much patience and long suffering hast waited for our Repentance and Amendment of Life but yet we have abused this Mercy of thine beyond all the former and have not returned unto thee And now O Lord seeing we would not be allured by thy Mercies thou art pleas'd to threaten us with the approach of thy Judgments which if thou wilt not avert O fit and prepare me for the cheerful Entertainment of whatsoever thy Wisdom shall think fit to
The Christian PHYSICIAN By Henry Atherton M. D. Solus homo Sapientia instructus est ut Religionem solus intelligat haec est hominis atque mutorum vel praecipua vel sola distantia Lact. de Ira Dei. LONDON Printed by T. James for William Leach at the Crown in Corn-hill 1683. TO THE Right Honourable Lord JOHN Earl of Radnor Viscount Bodmin Baron of Truro and Lord President of his Majesties most honourable Privy Counsel My LORD WHen I at first drew out a Scheme of the ensuing Discourse I had the Honour of your Lordships Approbation and Encouragement to proceed upon those Topicks which caused me to sequester the vacant hours I could steal from my other occasions that I might employ them on these Meditations which having brought to some perfection and received the concurrent consent of a great Prelate of this Realm who gave himself the trouble to peruse them and me the honour to recommend them as worthy of publick view I could not in the least dispute to whom I should dedicate them for not only your Lordship's condescension at first in advising but indeed those many other Obligations which your Honour hath been pleased to lay upon me most justly challenge them and even the greatest of my Services Neither am I so fond to imagine that the offering of these to your Lordship's Feet doth cancel any former debt but rather I cannot but be sensible that if your Lordship design to patronize and shelter them from the storms of the World it will be infinitely increased I shall have the deeper score to pay and the greater pardon to beg for this presumption But I doubt not but that your Lordships good nature runs parallel with your other Vertues of which the World is a copious Index and therefore shall hope to obtain it together with your Honour's Acceptance of this small Acknowledgment That your Lordship may enjoy a long uninterrupted state of Health whereby you may be able to assist His Majesty in his great and momentous Counsels and as your Honour hath began may continue to be a prop and support to this our tottering Church and at length go late into Heaven are the hearty Wishes and constant Prayers of From Newcastle upon Tine Nov. 2. 1682. Your Lordships most humbly Devoted Servant Henry Atherton THE PREFACE THis our latter Age hath so much degenerated from the Piety and Simplicity of the Primitive Christians which were the only marks by which they were heretofore distinguished from the Heathen Nations as not only not to own and live up to those Principles of their Profession as Christians but instead thereof openly and avowedly to defend Irreligion and Hobbianism in their Arguments Atheism and Profaneness in their Lives even worse than Heathens To be Sober and Religious is now adays to be morose and ingentile if not hypocritical To be loose and debauched is the only modish thing To be able by Sophisms to baffle the Arguments of a well mâ—aning Christian is taken for the characteristick Note of Ingenuity and a pregnant Wit And on the contrary to use any perswasives to Religion and Piety savours of nothing but stupidity and folly Which things considered I cannot but fore-see what bad Entertainment this small Tract is like to meet withal abroad in the World especially among those who pretend to the most ripe Reason and keenest Wit whose custom indeed it is to make this ill use of it as to turn all sober things into Ridicule or Railery or else to dispute themselves out of their Duty which they will easily do when they suffer their understandings to be so frequently bribed by their vicious Inclinations There are I must confess many native defects in this Essay and to these I fear will be added the severe Censure of its being altogether impertinent at least I cannot nationally expect that it should be accepted by all or like the Manna fit every Palate however let it try it's fate it will fall into the hands of some serious and pious persons who may probably approve the deâ—â—ign if not like the work and I hope with such whom I chiefly desire to gratifie it may meet with a candid and favourable reception The Reader may find here I must acknowledge many Excerpta and if I have not done right to every Author I desire him to charge it wholly upon the defect of Memory or want of inserting the Name in my common Place Book In my Second Section I have followed Cartesius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as judging his method very Argumentative How it comes to pass that the scandal of Atheism if it be now such even to a Proverb Ubi tres Medici duo Athei hath been cast upon those of our Faculty or whether there have been any just grounds for it I know not but this I am sure of that the knowledge of Second Causes and our frequent Converse with them ought rather to give us the clearer apprehensions of the First and by how much the Subject on which we continually employ our Minds and Studies is more noble and sublime so much the more divine ought to be our Speculations this good effect it had upon the Royal Prophet Psal 139.14 Who when his Meditations drew him to consider that he was fearfully and wonderfully made he presently breaks forth into Praises unto Almighty God and Acknowledgments of his marvellous Works Neither want we instances to take off that general Infamy of many Men truly pious in this Profession Even Hippocrates who flourished Four hundred ninety two years before Christ obtained the Title of Divine and that Character in his life that he was Vir Sanctis Moribus And to speak nothing of Galen Averroes Avicen and other Forreigners in this Art in whom Piety and Morality hath eminently shined we have lately had a more modern Hippocrates both of this Age and Nation who amongst other sweet Odours to perfume his Memory hath this that he was In toto Vitae statu Christianus But what need I mention any more when St. Luke himself was both Physician and Evangelist at the same time If I may by this small Treatise either silence the obloquies of some convince others or so far prevail with or encourage any as to lay aside their unreasonable Opinions and betake themselves to more religious and circumspect Lives I have my aim and shall think my self sufficiently recompenced for my weak labours If they fail of this I shall at least have that satisfaction in my own Breast that I designed them well ON THE Christian Physician Written by his Honoured AND Very much Esteemed Friend Dr. HENRY ATHERTON OF NEW CASTLE LEt now no more in Natures widest Round Be such a Prodigy as Atheist found Much less let on our Learn'd Physicians be Hereafter cast that blackest Obloquy Our good Physician having conquered Diseases which to death our Bodies led Aspireth higher yet and doth oppose Diseases more incurable than those If Precepts crown'd with good Example be
Most cogent Arguments then well may he Such useful Counsels here for others frame Who hath himself so strictly lived the same Here learn the Art of Alchymy Divine Whereby we may our Earthly Minds Sublime On Muses Helicon let us not stay Whilst to Mount Olivet he shews the way There to the sweets of Contemplation pure Let us always our high-born Souls enure Thence let us freely draw some small fore-tast Of th' unmixt Joys that shall for ever last Which diff'ring quite from all things here below Nor end nor yet satiety shall know John Drake Bachelor of Physick THE CONTENTS THe Introduction Page 1. SECT I. Concerning God and what he is Page 6. SECT II. That the Existence of a God and a Providence in the World is as clearly demonstrable as any truth whatsoever Page 9. God's Existence proved from the impression made on our very Natures Page 10. From the consent of all Ages Page 11. A Digression concerning the degeneracy of ours Page 12. From the sense of Guilt and secret Conviction of Mens Consciences Page 13. From the uncertainty of Reasoning without the Concession Page 16. From the impossibility of any thing to Exist from it self Page 17. From the Perfection of the Creation and from the necessity of an intelligent Spirit for such accurate Productions as we find in the World Page 18. From the exact Order and Disposition of all Things to their designed and adequate ends Page 20. SECT III. That the Existence of a Providence in the World being granted all things must be conserv'd and governed by it and there is not the least inconsiderable thing that may be said to be obnoxious to the senseless guidance of chance and fortune Page 32. God's Providence and Gubernation not to be severed Page 33. The Opinion of the Stoicks and Epicureans condemn'd Page 35. The Stars and Planetary Bodies have no coactive influence upon Terrestrial Bodies Page 36. Neither were things made by the fortuitous concourse of Atoms Page 40. God that made the World still continues to take care of it and even the smallest things are adverted to by him Page 44. SECT IV. That all Minerals Vegetables and Animals with what ever else having in it a Medâ—cinal Virtue had it first impress'd on them by that Supream Being which was the first Author and Maker of them Page 47. Gods wonderful Providence in providing suitablâ— Remedies for the Diseases of frail Mankind Page 48. The ways of discovering their Vertues to us Page 50. We ought to praise God for them and to make use of them Page 54. SECT V. That although God did at first give such a particular Virtue to each particular Plant Mineral and Animal yet for certain providential Causes they may not always exert their natural Operations and prove successful to their desired end Page 55. God hath an absolute Soveraignty over all things and is not tied up to any particular method but may dispose of every thing as he pleases Ibid. Gods usual way of working is by Natural Means yet for several Reasons he may sometimes anticipate them Page 57. SECT VI. That Gods usual way of working is by fit and appropriate means and therefore the Empirick or he that understands nothing of the true cause of the Disease and nature of the Medicine is not to be trusted Page 60. All Medicines naturally produce their genuine Effects especially given by a skilful hand Page 61. Natural means used by our Saviour and the Prophets Page 62. Two sorts of persons condemned the Empirick who ignorantly ventures upon what he understands not and the Stoick who thinks an indispensable necessity of Events Page 63 68. The danger of confiding in the former and the unreasonableness of the latter Page 70. â—n case of necessity we ought to apply our selves to second means Page 72. SECT VII That a holy and vertuous Life is a necessary qualification for a Physician in order to the imbettering of his Judgment and his good success in Practice Page 73. Knowledge and Wisdom is acquired by Piety and destroyed by Vice Page 74. God secretly guides and directs the good Man whose Prayers co-operate with his Endeavours Page 77. The Conclusion by way of Advice to the rest of my own Faculty Page 79. The knowledg of our selves the way to acquire other Ibid. We must own Gods Mercies and not arrogate that praise to our selves which is due only to God Page 82. This is the best course in point of Prudence Ibid. Rules for Physicians Page 83. 1. To begin with Prayer 2. To proceed with reason and judgment and not try Experiments except in extream Cases where a known and tryed Medicine proves unsucessful 3. That they do not promise Cure in uncertain and dangerous Diseases and so flatter the Patient whereby the putting his House in order and his preparation for death is deferr'd if not wholly frustrated Page 83 84 85. The Common Objections against it answered Page 86. It is best whether the Patient be a good or a wicked Man Page 87. The Physicians Prayer and Ejaculations Page 90 92. The Second Part. DIrections how to spend every day in the fear oâ— God Page 1â— Of a private Fast and Directions for it Page 19. Rules for a Religious Fast Page 27. A Prayer for Grace Page 53. A Prayer of Intercession Page 55. The Thanksgiving and Conclusion of the Work Page 64. Reasons why we ought to keep a Narrative or Catalogue of our Sins and the benefit of it Page 71. The manner of keeping your Narrative and aâ— Exemplification of it in some sins Page 77. Directions for Saturday Page 86. Directions for the Lords day Page 89. Of the Holy Sacrament Page 103. Remote preparations for Death Page 107. Of the Proximate Preparations for Sickness anâ— Death Page 113. Remedies against some particular Temptations of the Devil in the time of Sickness Page 120. Of Meditation Page 126. The Thanksgiving after Meditation Page 134. Divine Meditations Concerning Gods Omnipresence Page 136. Of the Mercy of God Page 142. Of the certainty of Death and Judgment Page 151. Of Heaven and Hell the Joys of one the Torments of the other Page 164. Reflections upon Hell and the Torments of it Page 173. Reflections upon Heaven and the joys thereof Page 183. Job 16.24 When a few years are come then shall I go the way whence I shall not return Page 186. Meditations before or at Dinner or Supper Page 203. Occasional Meditations 1. On the sight of a dying Friend Page 205. 2. Vpon the sight of two Apple Trees growing one by the other The one tall and spreading but having only leaves no fruit the other low but full loaden Page 208. 3. Vpon the sight of a Wasp without a Sting Page 210. 4. Vpon the sight of two Doves billing each other Page 211. 5. Vpon the sight of a Lady's Fingers bedecked with many rich Diamonds of great value Page 212. 6. Vpon the sight of many Millepedes killed for a Medicine for my Patient Page
So assist us continually with thy grace that we may be able to repel all the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil Teach us to deny all Vngodliness and every worldly Lust and to live more Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World that so having our Fruits unto holiness here we may have our ends Everlasting Life And grant O Lord we may not only cease to do evil but we may also learn to do well that we may have respect unto all thy Commandments and serve thee by a sincere uniform impartial Obedience all the days of our lives giving all diligence to add unto our Faith Vertue to Vertue Temperance to Temperance Chastity to Chastity Humility to Humility Meekness to Meekness Brotherly kindness Charity Preseverance and every Christian Grace That we may at length arrive to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ to be such as thou wouldest have us to be holy in all manner of conversation even as thou our God art Holy Prepare us for all Conditions that thou shalt see fit to call us unto here in this life and give us hearts truly thankful submissive and contented in all thy disposals Give us a sanctified use of all thy Creatures and such a portion of those Temporals as may best secure our eternal concerns Mind us of Death and Judgment That we dwell in Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the dust that when a few days are past we shall go the way whence we shall not return and that it will not be long before we shall stand at thy just Tribunal and be callâ—d to give an account of all our Actions in the Flesh whether they be good or evil Give us Grace therefore all the days of our appointed time to wait until our change shall come That we may be continually trimming our Lamps and waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom that at whatsoever hour he calls for us we may be ready to enter in and be admitted to sit down at the Eternal Supper of the Lamb. Neither desire we a blessing for our selves alone but for the whole race of Mankind Let the knowledg of the Lord cover the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea Let the people praise thee O God yea let all the people praise thee More especially bless we beseech thee the Congregation of Christs Church however dispersed over the face of the whole Earth Have a particular regard to that Church and Nation in which we live Bless the principal Member of it our gracious Soveraign Lord the King the Queen and all the Royal Family Bless all that wait at thine Altar by what Names or Titles dignified or distinguished Grant that they may speak as the Oracles and live as the Messengers of God Bless all to whom thou hast committed the Sword of Justice let them not bear it in vain but so use it as to be a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well Bless all the Commonalty of this Land every one of us in our several places and relations and grant that we may all live in the true Faith and Fear of thee our God in humble obedience to the King and in brotherly Love and Charity one towards another Bind up the broken hearted Give liberty to the Captives and the opening of the Prison to them that are bound Comfort all that mourn in Zion give unto them Beauty for Ashes the Oyl of Joy for Mourning and the Garment of praise for the Spirit of Heaviness And as we pray unto thee so we desire likewise to laud and praise thee for all thy Mercies Spiritual and Temporal towards us for thy protection of us this Night for all the Mercies of the Week past to our Souls and Bodies More especially we beseech thee accept our praises for the great Mercies of this day for all the wonderful works of thy Creation and for the providential care and provision made for every one of them That thou hast appointed us certain seasons and opportunities to Worship and Adore thee even for our own good But above all we acknowledg thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ We praise thee for his immaculate Conception and Incarnation his holy Life and bitter Death for his glorious Resurrection upon this day for the Mission of his blessed Spirit and continual Intercession for us at thy right hand for all the means of Grace and the hopes of Glory We praise thee for the glorious Company of the Apostles for the goodly Fellowship of the Prophets for the Noble Army of Martyrs and for all other thy Saints and Servants departed this life in thy Faith and Fear beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that we together with them may be partakers of a glorious Resurrection unto life everlasting And now O Lord seeing this is thy day a day which thou hast sanctified and set apart for thy Service be pleased to give us Grace wholly to devote it unto thy glory Make us more watchful over all â—ur thoughts words and actions than on other days and so assist us with thy holy Spirit that we may perform all those Duties thou requirest of us in such manner as they may be well pleasing and acceptable in thy sight Fit and prepare us for thy House of Prâ—yer and for the discharge of those great and weighty Duties which thou there expectest from us purifie bur hearts from all sin and inflame them with a Spiritual Zeal and Affection that we may enter into thy Gates with Thanksgiving and into thy Courts with Praise Give us Grace to come before thee with reverence and godly fear Make us servent in our Devotions answerable to our needs and necessities Give us hearing Ears understanding Hearts retentive Memories particular Application of it to our selves and holy Resolutions of practising it in our Lives and Conversations that we may return satisfied with the fulness of thy House and praise thee more and more Open thou the Mouths of thy Ministers every where this day O be present with the Assemblies of thy Saints Speaâ— unto thy Servants the Ministers that they may speak unto thy people and deliver unto every one such Doctrine as may be suitable and seasonable to the several Conditions of their Auditors That the most obdure sinner may be convinced and converted the most weak in faith may be strengthned the most dâ—jeâ—cted in spirit may be comforted And grant that all who speak and all that hear this day may add some Glory unto thy Name and receive some benefit and comfort to their own precious and immortal Souls Finally thou O Lord who knowest the several wants and necessities of all thy Servants O that thou wouldest be graciously pleased to put a word into the mouth of thy Minister which shall dispense thy holy Oracles unto us this day which may particularly respect our Condition whether it be for Comfort or Terror Reprehension or Exhortation