that he lives at rest in his Possessions and become his great Cross that he hath Prosperity in all things Not only the Sting and the Stroak but the very remembrance of Death will be bitter to him So saith Jesus the Son of Sirach Wisd 4.1 Verse 1. The Prayer ANd yet how hardly can we endure even the smallest trouble for thy sake O Lord So insensible are we of thy Goodness so forgetful of thy Power that we do not only in our wants condemn and accuse thy Providence but are ready even to turn Infidels in our misfortunes II. Make us therefore O Lord to see the Vanity both of the World and our own Hearts the Pleasures of it may neither drown nor the Crosses of it deject our Hope or discourage our obedience Let that Glory which thou hast promised to those that conquer the World for thy sake be ever in our Eye that so in what Condition soever we are in we may still be found Crown'd and Triumphing in Faith above all the Troubles and Vexations of this World Meditation XXVIII That many have desired Death rather than Life MAn that is born of a Woman is so full of trouble to the Brim that many times it overflows him On one side or other we all are troubled but some are troubled on every side 2 Cor. 4.8 insomuch that they themselves are the greatest trouble unto themselves and 't is a kind of Death to them they cannot die II. We find King David so Sick of Life as to fall into a wishing for the Wings of a Dove that so his Soul might fly away from the great impediments of his Body He Confessed that his days were at the longest but a Span Psal 39.5 and yet complained they were no shorter III. It seems that Span was as the Span of a withered hand which the farther he stretched out the more it grieved him He was weary of his groaning Psal 6.6 his Soul did pant after Heaven Psal 42.1 and even thirsted after God Verse 2. and he might once more have cryed tho' in another Sense Wo is me that I am constrain'd to dwell with Mesech and to have my Habitation among the Tents of Kedar IV. I Remember that Charedemus compar'd Man's Life to a Feast or Banquet And I the rather took notice of it because the Prophet Elijah did seem in some Sense to have made it good Who after a first or second Course as I may say of living as if he had surfeited of Life Cryed out in haste it is enough and with the very same breath desired God to take away for so saith the Scripture 1 King 19.14 V. He went into the Wilderness a solitary place and there he sate under a Juniper Tree in a Melancholly posture and requested of God that he might die in a very disconsolate and doleful manner even pouring forth his Soul in these melting Accents It is enough now O Lord take away my Life for I am no better than my Fathers VI. And if Elijah's days were full of Trouble how were Job's overwhelm'd and running over with his Calamities when the Terrours of God did set themselves in array against him Job 6.4 how did he long for Destruction Verse 8 9. O saith he that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for Even that it would please him to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off VII How did he Curse the day the day of his Birth and the Night wherein he was Conceiv'd Job 3.1 3 4 5. c. Let that Day be darkness let the shadow of Death stain it let a Cloud dwell upon it let Blackness terrifie it And for the Night let it not be joyned to the days of the year Let the Stars of the Twilight thereof be darkned neither let it see the dawning of the Day VIII And what was his reason for this unkindness to that particular Day and Night save that they brought upon him the Trouble of being a Man born of a Woman For we find him complaining a little after Why died I not from the Womb why did I not give up the Ghost when I came out of the Belly Job 3.11 12. IX And then for the Life of our Blessed Saviour who is called by way of Eminence the Son of Man and as his Life was short so it was full of Trouble He was called vir Dolorum a Man of Sorrows and was acquainted with grief Isa 53.3 for the whole Tenour of his Life was a Continuation of his Calamities The Prayer O Lord though perhaps I am not so bad as some yet I am so bad in my self that the Leper in the Gospel is a Beauty to my Soul Lazarus's Corps a Comeliness to my Sores yet were I more impotent than the Cripple of Bethesda more Leprous than the nine whose Ingratitude was more loathsome than their Disease were those Legions ejected by thy word received in me were I as bad as Satan could wish to make me yet I know thy Goodness and I do not doubt thy Power but thou canst cleanse me and ease me of all my Troubles Vexations and Infirmities and bring me at last to thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Meditation XXIX Of improving our Time IF Man's time be but short it concerns us to take up the Prayer of David Psal 39.4 that God would Teach us to know our End and the number of our days that we like Hezekiah 2 Kings 20.6 may be fully certified how short our time is It concerns us to take up the Resolution of Job 14.2 all the days of our appointed time incessantly to wait till our Change cometh II. It concerns us not to say with the rich Man in the Parable Luke 12.18 We will pull down our Barns and build greater and there we will bestow all our Fruits and our Goods Much less may we say with that other Worlding Verse 19. Souls take your ease eat drink and be merry for ye have much Goods laid up for many years For alas how can we know silly Creatures as we are but that this very Night yea this very minute either they may be taken from us or we from them there is such a Fadingness on their Parts and such a Fickleness on ours III. But rather it concerns us to say with Job Chap. 1.21 Naked came we into the World and naked shall we go out of it Or rather yet it concerns us to say with David Psal 39.12 That we are Strangers upon Earth and but so many Sojourners as all our Fathers were for whilst we consider we are but Strangers we shall as Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against the Soul 1 Pet. 2.12 Heb. 11.13 IV. And so long as we remember we are but Sojourners upon Earth we shall pass the time of our Sojourning here in fear And behaving our selves among the Gentiles as a chosen Generation a Royal Priesthood an Holy Nation a peculiar People we shall
Memory as the Christian use of them may prepare thee before Death summon thee and in this vale of Misery fit thee for thy Heavenly Voyage to Eternity IV. And yet whilst I entertain thee with these Precepts I find thy Condition to be dangerous For if thou seriously ponder them in thy mind and lay them home to thy Heart the very thoughts of them cannot chuse but startle thee and if thou neglect them which are so useful for thy Salvation thou wilt stand amazed when they encounter thee The Prayer O Lord remember me in thy Mercy and so prepare my Memory that these four necessary Remembrances may never depart from me Let me be prepar'd for Death before it come that it may never surprize me unprovided whensoever it shall come Let me think of that dreadful day of Judgment and judge my self before I am judged that I may not when I am weighed in the Ballance be found wanting II. Let not me forget there is a Hell for the damned and consider that it is better by timely fearing to avoid it than by never dreaming of it to fall headlong into it Lastly let me think of Heaven that it is the Habitation of the Blessed and that none but those that are of a clean Heart shall dwell in it O cleanse thou my Heart that I may be prepared for it and with piritual Joy be received into it Meditation XII On Death IT is strange that Death should be such a Stranger to thee when he so daily visits thy Neighbours Thou hast been familiarly acquainted with many whose Habitations are not now to be found which have enjoyed the Pleasures of Sin freely others who have inlarged their Barns and Store-houses carefully others who have in a splendid manner arrived to Honours highest Pinacle and could deliver their Commands with Grandeur and Magnificence And now behold All these have endured Death's Arrest and were forced to obey his grim Command II. And now consider having made their Beds in the dark They have left their Houses unto others they are gone unto their Graves and must not return again their Substance they have left unto others and Strangers are become their Heirs They are rooted out from the Face of the Earth and now they consider the Vanity of their Desires How they who laid Land to Land while they were here are now content with a small scantling in their return to their last home III. Poor Shell of Corruption what dost thou think of these things I am certain that great Revenues swelling Honours smiling Pleasures are dangerous and pernicious Eye-sores to a dying Man He looks back upon his Honours and enquires of them if they can relieve him but like false hearted retainers they fly from him and present their Service to another so quickly have they forgot their dying Master IV. He looks back then upon his Revenues those Goods of Fortune his inchested Treasures and asks of them if they cannot Ransome him But alas they have no such Commission they reserve themselves for his Prodigal Successor or succeeding Rioter for they were so poorly used and employed by him that they have quickly forgot their dying Master At last he looks back upon his unhappy Pleasures which now torment him more than ever they did delight him and he would be inform'd of them if they can allay or any ways mitigate his Pain But alas they soon leave him for they find nothing near him that can give them Entertainment V. An easie farewel then have these taken of their dying Master But thou poor Sinner hast no Honours to transport thee no Fortunes to detain thee no Pleasures to ensnare thee For the first the Countenance of Greatness never shone upon thee for the second Worldly Wealth could never yet so burden thee And for the last though thy Youth might affect them the infirmities of Age have now estranged them from thee VI. And yet the voice of Death is more terrible to thee than the loud Report of a roaring Cannon No Note more doleful or Summons more fearful in this thou art in some measure excusable because Death is fearful to all Flesh Plant not thy hopes so upon Earth as if thou intendedst never to go from Earth or to return to it from whence thou wast taken If thou canst find nothing on Earth worthy to entertain thee thou art in the unhappiest Condition that may befall thee VII O think then of that time even now while thou hast time when thy poor languishing Soul finding thy Eyes shut thy Mouth closed and all those Senses of thy Body perished by which she used to pass forth and be delighted in these outward things wherewith she was affected shall return unto her self and seeing her self all alone and naked as one afflicted and affrighted with exceeding Horror shall through Despair fail and fall under her self O whither wilt thou fly in hope of Succour to comfort thy poor Soul in such a time of Danger The Prayer EVen to thee will I fly O God of my Salvation for thou wilt not suffer my Soul to descend to Corruption such is thy loving kindness as thou hast promised to make all my Bed in my Sickness And because nothing is more certain than Death nothing more uncertain than the hour and that the pale Messenger may appear less fearful unto me send thy Holy Spirit to Comfort me that being inwardly armed by thee against the Assaults of Death and fury of my Ghostly Enemy I may fight a good Fight and with Fortitude cry out O Death where is thy Sting O Hell where is thy Victory Meditation XIII Upon Judgment I Tremble to think of that dreadful day and yet know not how to avoid it Judged I must be and who will answer for me An infallible Witness I have within to accuse me Sins of Omission and of Commission to impeach me Sins of Ignorance Knowledge and of Malice to convict me though any one of these were sufficient to condemn me II. But perhaps thou wilt be upon the Enquiry to know for what thou art to be brought to Account for And the occasion of thy appearing before the great Tribunal Seat of Judgment Solomon will furnish thee with a ready Answer and informs thee it is even for all thy Thoughts Words and Works For God will bring every Work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil Eccles 12.12 III. And that it may appear that thou shalt be accountable for all these First touching thy Thoughts of these thou shalt be judged For froward Thoughts separate from God Wisd 1. and He shall judge the secrets of Men. Their Conscience also bearing Witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or excusing one another Rom. 2.15 IV. Next thou shalt give an Account of all thy Words Of every idle Word that Men shall speak they shall give Account in the Day of Judgment Mat. 12.36 Thirdly thou shalt be accountable for all thy Works For
Life is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit IV. And what can my Thoughts raise from this Or where shall I be comforted it is thy Mercy O Lord is the only expedient that can relieve me thou O Blessed Jesus art unto me Life eternal and by thy Sufferings Death is to me an advantage while my Body sleeps it shall rest secure and that Rest shall be perfectly Blessed I shall rest from Labour Sorrow and Sin my sleep shall be safe and my beatifical Vision happy while my Body sleeps in the Dust my Soul shall awake to Righteousness when my Soul is dismantled of Flesh and Flesh of fading Beauty my Spirit shall be adorned with the Robes of thy Glory V. While my Dust is driven with the wind upon the Surface of the Earth my Spirit shall fly to the highest Heavens then shall my Eyes be opened to behold my Soul with Purity and Perfection no dark Veil of Nature shall obscure me defect of Senses hinder me or foggy Clouds of sin hover over me my Understanding shall be transparent my Affections pure and my Memory perfect I shall there be fully satisfied in beholding the Spirits of just Men made perfect ravished in enjoying the Presence of Angels and Blessed in retaining the Divine Goodness VI. There can be nothing wanting where there is such Perfection where humane Happiness is eternally united to the Blessed Trinity where I am Christ's and Christ is God's and the Holy Comforter abides with us for ever O most splendid Condition of my sinful Body and blessed Change of my immortal Soul the one is sown in Corruption that it may rise immortal the other layeth down Corruption to inherit Glory VII But wretched Sinner even in this Happiness I am still miserable I found out my quiet but neglect to enjoy it Death reaches to me a Crown but I refuse to accept it I am so prone to affect my own unhappiness to delight in Labour and complain of Rest why do I dwell among these Objects of Vanity the World loves me not nor I it and why do I thus doat upon my Enemy with its frowns it afflicts me with its Smiles it betrays me and there is nothing in it but Vanity and Misery VIII Go then out cheerfully O my Soul from this dark Prison of thy Body to that bright Celestial Palace there God is thy Father and Heaven thy Country thou art here Forlorn Poor Wretched and Naked dispossessed of Graces and robbed of Goodness thou hast there large Treasure and of great Price a Heavenly Mansion and a goodly Heritage Christ hath long ago purchased it and is now gone before to prepare it IX Here in this Life thou longest much to behold what thou never sawest but in the other are great and glorious things prepared for thee such as no mortal Eye hath seen Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive how earnestly then shouldst thou long to behold them and much more earnestly to enjoy them how willingly should this make thee say with Holy David My Soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the Presence of God X. Alas Thou art here my Soul but groping in the dark daily committing Errours and Mistakes every minute stumbling and falling into Sin Shame and Sorrow in great Dangers of the Miseries of humane Life but in greater Danger of eternal Torments XI All that thou canst pretend to know here is to Confess thy self ignorant Thou only knowest things here by their Events but there thou shalt know them in their primitive Causes thou art here tired out in gaining this imperfect feeble and empty Knowledge there thou shalt be delighted in knowing all that is desirable by knowing him in whom are laid up all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge these transitory drops of Joys are full of Bitterness but those Rivers of eternal Pleasures flow from the Fountain of eternal Sweetness Thou hast here the Pomps and Vanities of the wicked World to delight thee but thou hast there a far greater and more exceeding weight of Glory to surround thee thou art here inclosed by the Misery of Life but thou art there enlarged by the Blessedness of Death XII Blessed Lord all this by Grace I know and stedfastly believe and yet carnally I am still blind and ignorant unable to discuss and unwilling to desire those things which belong unto my Peace but when thou with thy precious Eye-Salve shalt once anoint my Eyes and open them to behold the Beauty of thy Heavenly Temple I shall then ardently affect it and unfeignedly long for it I shall then most readily forsake these brittle Walls of frail Mortality to dwell with thee in perfect Holiness and endless Happiness that Frailty may be swallowed up by Immortality and Immortality rewarded by Eternity The Prayer ALmighty God which wert and art to come who hast sweetned and taken away the Sting of Death by thy perfect obedience and hast perfumed the Grave by the Fragrancy of thy blessed Sufferings suffer me not in my last hour for any Pains of Death or Terrours of Hell to fall from thee let me seriously consider that this Life is miserable and that a happy Death is truly Blessed acquaint me every day with the remembrance of it and bless me every hour with an earnest Desire to it that I may with willingness cast off all Sin and Misery and joyfully put on the Robe of Immortality II. Prepare me O Lord for that Blessed hour and in my greatest Agonies and Extremities when all the Comforts of this mortal Life shall fail then Lord Jesus forsake me not neither be thou far from me Moreover give me then that inward Joy and blessed Comfort of thy Holy Spirit that may uphold and comfort me in all the Terrours and Amazements of this dark and obscure Passage in all the dreadful Temptations of the Devil and my own accusing Conscience Let thy Spirit witness to my Soul that I am thy Chosen purifie me and take away my Dross powerfully Protect me by thy saving Grace so shall I assuredly be made a Partaker of thy Heavenly Kingdom Meditation XXII In time of Sickness HEar my Prayer O Lord which I make unto thee upon my Bed of Sickness incline thine Ears unto me in this time of my trouble O hear me and that right soon Behold thou hast made my days as it were a Span long and my Age though it be great in respect of others yet it is nothing in respect of thee for verily every Man living is altogether Vanity II. My days are consumed away like Smoke and my Bones are burnt up as it were a Fire-brand There is no Health in my Flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any Rest in my Bones by reason of my Sin My wickednesses are gone over my Head and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear But I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for
benefit when we are deprived of it we have no wrong We are Tenants at Will of this Clay-farm not for term of years when we are warned out we must be ready to remove having no other Title but the owners Pleasure it is but an Inn not an Home we came to bait not to dwell and the Condition of our entrance was in short to depart If this Departure be grievous it is also common this to day to me to morrow to thee and the Case equally afflicting all leaves none any cause to complain of injurious usage XI Natures Debt is sooner exacted of some than of others yet there is no fault in the Creditor who exacteth but his own but in the Greediness of our eager hopes either repining that their Wishes fail or willingly forgetting their Mortality whom they are unwilling by experience to see Mortal yet the general Tide wafteth all Passengers to the same Shore some sooner some later but all at the last and we must fix our minds upon our time when it is come never fearing a thing so necessary yet ever expecting a thing so uncertain XII God hath conceal'd from us the time of our Death leaving us resolv'd between fear and hope of longer continuance He cuts off unripe Cares lest with the notice and Pensiveness of our Divorce from the World we should lose the Comforts of necessary Contentments and before our dying day languish away with expectation of Death XIII Some are taken in their first step into this Life receiving at once their Welcome and Farewel as though they had been born only to be buried and to take their Pasport in this hourly middle of their Course the good to prevent Change the bad to shorten their impiety XIV Who is there that hath any Vertue eternized or deserts commended to Posterity that hath not mourned in Life and been bewailed after Death no assurance of joy being sealed without some Tears Even the Blessed Virgin the Mother of God was thrown down as deep in temporal Miseries as she was advanc'd high in spiritual Honours none amongst all mortal Creatures finding in Life more Proof than she of her Mortality XV. For having the noblest Son that ever Woman was Mother of not only above the Condition of Men but above the Glory of Angels being her Son only without temporal Father and thereby the Love of both Parents doubled in her Breast being her only Son without other issue and so her Love of all Children expired in him as he was God and she the nearest Creature to God's perfections yet no Prerogative exempted her from Mourning or him from dying and though they surmounted the highest Angels in all other Preheminences yet were they equal with the meanest Men in the Sentence of Death XVI And however the Blessed Virgin being the Pattern of Christian Mourners so tempered her anguish that there was neither any thing undone that might be exacted of a Mother nor any thing done that might be mis-liked in so perfect a Matron yet by this we may guess with what kindnesses Death is like to befriend us that durst cause so Bloody Funerals in so Heavenly a Progeny not exempting him from the Laws of dying that was the Author of Life and soon after to honour his Triumphs with a glorious Resurrection XVII Seeing therefore that Death spareth none let us spare our Tears for better uses being but an Idol-Sacrifice to this deaf and implacable Executioner And for this not long to be continued where they can never profit Nature did promise us a weeping Life exacting Tears for Custom at our first entrance and to furnish our whole Course in this doleful beginning therefore they must be used with Discretion that must be used so often and where so many Debts lie yet unpaid which must be satisfied by Tears of Repentance XVIII Since we cannot put a Period to our Tears let us at least reserve them If Sorrow cannot be shun'd let it be taken in time of need since otherwise being both troublesome and fruitless it is a double Misery or an open Folly We moisten not the ground with precious Waters they were distill'd to nobler ends either by their Vertues to delight our Senses or by their Operations to preserve our Healths XIX Our Tears are water of too high a Price to be prodigally poured in the Dust of any Graves If they be Tears of Love they perfume our Prayers making them Odour of sweetness fit to be offered on the Altar of the Throne of God if Tears of Contrition they are water of Life to the dying Souls they may purchase Favour and repeal the Sentence till it be executed as the Example of Ezechias doth testifie but when the Punishment is past and Verdict perform'd in effect their pleading is in vain as David taught us when his Child was dead 2 Kings 11. saying that he was likelier to go to it than it by his weeping to return to him XX. Learn therefore to give Sorrow no long Dominion over you wherefore the Wise should rather mark than expect an end meet it not when it cometh do not invite it when 't is absent When you feel it do not force it for the brute Creatures have but a short though vehement Sense of their Losses You should bury the sharpness of your Grief in the Grave and rest contented with a kind yet mild Compassion neither less decent for you nor more than agreeable to your Nature and Judgment XXI Your much Heaviness would renew a multitude of Griefs and your Eyes would be Springs to many Streams adding to the Memory of the dead a new occasion of Complaint to your own discomfort the Motion of your Heart measureth the beating of many Pulses which in any Distemper of your quiet with the like stroke will soon bewray themselves sick of your Disease XXII The terms of our Life are like the Seasons of the year some for Sowing some for Growing some for Reaping in this only different that as the Heavens keep their prescribed Periods so the Succession of time have their appointed Changes But in the Seasons of our Life which are not the Law of necessary Causes some are reaped in the Seed some in the Blade some in the unripe Ears all in the end this Harvest depending upon the Reapers Will. XXIII Death is too ordinary a thing to seem any Novelty being a familiar Guest in every House and since his coming is expected and his Errand known neither his Presence should be feared nor his Effects lamented what wonder is it to see fuel burned Spice bruised or Snow melted and as little fearful it is to see those dead that were born upon Condition once to die XXIV Night and Sleep are perpetual Mirrours figuring in their darkness silence shutting up of Senses the final end of our mortal Bodies and for this some have entitled Sleep the eldest Brother of Death but with no less Convenience it might be called one of Death's Tenants near unto him in Affinity
I Sâ—…tse A FUNERAL GIFT Iob 34 15 All flesh shall perish together man shall turn again unto dust A Funeral Gift OR A PREPARATION FOR DEATH WITH Comforts against the Fears of approaching Death And Consolations against immoderate Grief for the loss of Friends By the Author of the Devout Companion All the Days of my appointed time will I wait till my Change come Job 14.14 LONDON Printed for Henry Rhodes next Bride Lane in Fleet-street 1690. Price bound One Shilling TO THE TRULY HONOURED The LADY J. C. Madam YOur vertuous Requests to which your Merits gave the force of a Commandment oblig'd me to send my Devout Companion into the World and Madam since it hath met with so Candid a reception by your Ladyship whose early Piety proves so exemplary a Second Obligation presents it self wherein I esteem it a kind of Sacriledge to defraud you of being a Patroness to that which you may so justly challenge Prayer and Meditation are the Golden Rules towards a good Life and we can never miscarry in this dark World if we walk by the Light of a sincere Conscience For with these Holy Guides we implore the Almighty to cleanse our Hearts from all vain and unlawful Thoughts our Mouth from all foolish and idle Words and our whole Lives from all wicked and unprofitable Deeds That which I offer now Madam to your Divine Consideration is Mortality a Theme which some never care to hear of others are negligent in preparing for it and many use their utmost endeavours to put it as an Evil day far from them but all their Strategems are in vain for Death is so potent and bears such sway that none can resist his invincible Power none is exempted from the silent Grave nor none knows how soon they may be called Well-complexion'd Nature indeed may struggle here for a time but at last must yield it self to that pale Messenger Our chief Business here is to trim our Lamps and be vigilant to sow the immortal Seed of Hope and expect hereafter to reap the increase To deprecate the Almighty not to cut us off in the midst of our Folly nor suffer us to expire with our Sins unpardoned But to make us first ready for that Celestial Kingdom and then to receive us into eternal Glory This Madam is the only intent of this ensuing Treatise and may these short but plain Directions have that influence on those Persons which stand in need of these Divine Truths is the hearty and earnest Prayer of Madam Your humble and Faithful Servant in Christ Jesus E. S. A FUNERAL GIFT OR A PREPARATION FOR DEATH Meditation I. Vpon remembring our Creator in the Days of our Youth TO remember thy Creator was one of the choicest Expressions in the Royal Preacher's Sermon For who is he that is Young knows whether he shall live to be Old and yet that voice which sounds those words so loud to the whole Universe is scarce audible in the Ears of many II. This is one of the Divine Chanter's most harmonious Lessons and yet the sordid World is not pleas'd with the Tune 'T is a wonder that the best of School-Masters should have so few Disciples being his Rhetorick is so Divine and Excellent and yet it is a Text which though they will neither hear nor read they cannot chuse but see for the whole World upon it is a Commentary every Creature we behold Preaches this Doctrine which we supinely sleep out with our Eyes open III. Nature wears this Memento in her Forehead the very brute Beasts in this can reason with us and Man could not so soon forget his Maker did he but remember himself But alas Youth loves not to be put in mind of a Heavenly Being 't would clog his Memory and make him think of his Prayers too often IV. Piety will but cool his Blood Religion makes him look Old the thoughts of Heaven and the other World will create in him a greater Gravity than becomes his years his Sanguine Complexion informs him he is not in a fit Temper to study Divine things he may serve God time enough when he is at leisure V. Thus these temporal Objects of Pleasure drive away our thoughts from Celestial Dignities and those purer Joys which attend it We can spend the Beauty of our years in Vice and think to please God well enough with the Deformities of old Age We can revel away our Piety and Time in vain Delights and Pleasures and think our selves strong enough to force Heaven and become Religious when we are withered with infirmities and have nothing left us but Repentance and a Tomb. VI. We are so well satisfied with the sweetness of Sense that we are careless of any other Felicity and so much delighted with the Happiness of Sinning freely that we could willingly be of that Religion where Vice is most tolerated VII We place our Devotion with the Epicure in Natures riots Sportful meetings are our Religious Exercises and a Sermon is as tiresome to us as a Funeral to hear of our end in the midst of our Jollity sounds like the Lecture of Death and the unwelcome Echo of the Grave Let the Preacher exhort us never so well to remember our Maker we had rather follow Satan's Doctrine to enjoy the World as long as we can and think of Heaven when we have nothing else to do The Prayer O Lord shall the Lusts of the World be greater in my Soul than the love of thee Shall the temporary Delights of Sin drown the memory of thy Glory my Life is but a Span and yet I beseech thee shorten that rather than it should be spent in a neglect of thee better this earthly Tabernacle should be dissolved than become a Theatre for Sin to revel in II. Let me pay Nature her due Debt sooner than perhaps she would call for it rather than run in Score with thy Justice 'T is better I should die and be lost in the Memory of the World than ever forget thee thou formedst me from nothing not to sin but to serve thee and hast imprinted in me a Ray of thy self that I might not seek my own but thy Will nor pursue the World but Heaven III. Make me therefore to see the solid and ravishing Consolation that is in serving thee and that joy which accompanies thy Grace that so I may no longer follow my Sense but my Saviour it is none of the least Sins of our Youth that we are careless and forgetful of thee our Creator and no wonder we are so insensible of the joys to come that live in such a constant and continued neglect of Heaven IV. Make me therefore O my God to Consider that had I the Fruition of all that I can wish or long for here I should not only be satisfied but in the end find how miserable he is that setteth his Heart on any thing but thy self teach me therefore so to enjoy the World that I lose not thee nor the
my Sin III. O Lord be merciful unto me heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercy and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of Old O remember not the Sins of my Youth nor the Offences of riper years but according to thy mercy think thou upon me IV. Cast me not away in the time of Age forsake me not now that my strength faileth me Go not far from me O God my God haste thee to help me Thou O God hast taught me from my youth up until now Forsake me not therefore in my old Age when I am Gray-headed V. The days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and though some be so strong that they come to Fourscore which is a mercy wherewith thou hast Crowned me thy unworthy Servant yet is their strength then but Labour and Sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone But Lord suffer me not to go hence in thy Displeasure O suffer not my Sun to go down in thy wrath nor my days to be shut up in the darkness of thine Anger VI. But as thou art pleased to bring me to my Grave in a full Age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his Season so let me be gathered at last like Wheat into thy Heavenly Granary And let mine Age be renewed as the Eagles in thy Kingdom of Glory Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen VII Thou in whose hands are the Keys of the Grave and the issues of Life and Death Thou in whose Power alone it is to kill and to make alive and to bring down to the Grave and to raise up again Thou who hadst Compassion upon Peter's Wives Mother by recovering her out of a Fever Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole VIII Thou who didst shew thy mercy to those Daughters of Abraham the Woman that for twelve years together was diseased with an Issue of Blood and another who by the space of eighteen years was so bowed together that she could in no wise lift up her self thou didst loose both these and many more from their long infirmities Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole IX Thou who didst restore to Life the young Maiden that was dead Lord if thou wilt thou canst restore me to my Health who am an aged Sinner and a sick feeble Creature Thou canst mitigate my Pains and renew my Strength and lengthen my days For thou makest our Beds in our Sickness and art the Lord of Life and Health and Strength even thou art the Almighty God and the Horn of my Salvation O thou ancient of days X. But Lord as for these outward Blessings I wholly submit my self and them unto thy good Pleasure If it be thy Blessed Will to have the days of my Pilgrimage prolonged upon Earth make me to live always to thy Glory and to my own Souls Comfort as thou dost add days to my years so do thou likewise add Repentance to my days XI But if thou thinkest it more expedient for me that I should die than live then welcome my Death and Dissolution without which there is no entring into Life eternal nor hopes of being with Christ Welcome Jesus who by thy Death hast taken away the Sting of Death Welcome that Cup whereof thou my dear Saviour hast drank before me and which even to the very Dregs thou hast drank off for me XII And therefore I will readily take this Cup of Death which thou hast begun unto me and Praise the Name of the Lord. I will Praise thy Name O sweet Saviour who givest me this Cup of Death the Cup of Salvation I will Praise thy Name who hast born all our Sicknesses for us and all our infirmities XIII I will Praise thy Name who art the Physician of Souls and callest all such unto thee as are weary and heavy Laden that thou mayst refresh them Amongst which great number behold me O Lord thy poor and aged thy weak and sick Servant weary in my Bones and laden with my Sins But Lord I come unto thee in obedience to thy Call and of those that come near unto thee thou castest none out Lord I come unto thee for ease and refreshment XIV O my beloved Saviour Jesus in the midst of the weariness of my Body in the midst of the load and burthen of my Sins in the midst of the Sorrows which are in my Heart O let thy Comforts and Consolations refresh my Soul XV. And when the snares of Death compass me round about let not the Pains of Hell take hold upon me But by all the Merits of thy Nativity Death Resurrection and Ascension I beseech thee to seal unto me in thine own precious Blood and by thy most Holy Spirit the full-Pardon of all my Sins and to admit me who am thy own Purchace to a Participation of thy Glory A Prayer for a Happy End in time of Sickness O Most glorious Jesus Lamb of God Fountain of eternal mercy Life of the Soul and Conqueror over Sin and Death I humbly beseech thee of thy Goodness and Compassion to give me Grace so to employ this transitory Life in vertuous and pious Exercises that when the Day of my Death shall come in the midst of all my Pains of Body I may feel the sweet refreshings of thy Holy Spirit Comforting my Soul and relieving all my spiritual necessities II. Lay no more upon me than thou shalt enable me to bear and let thy gentle Correction in this Life prevent the insupportable Stripes in the World to come give me Patience and Humility and the Grace of Repentance and an absolute renouncing of my self and a Resignation to thy Pleasure and Providence with a Power to perform thy Will in all things and then do what thou pleasest to me only in Health or Sickness in Life or Death let me feel thy Comforts refreshing my Soul and let thy Grace pardon all my Sins Amen Meditation XXIII Thanksgiving for Ease in Sickness or Recovery out of it BLessed by thy Name O Lord for blessing the means which are applyed unto me It is thy hand and the help of thy mercy that thou hast relieved me The Waters of affliction had long since drowned me and the Stream of Death had gone over my Soul if the Spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these Waters and led me forth besides the waters of Comfort II. O spread most gracious God according to thy mercy thy hand upon me for a Covering and also enlarge my Heart with Thanksgivings and fill my Mouth with thy Praise Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Praise his Holy Name who hath saved thy Life from Destruction and Crowned thee with mercy and loving kindness III. Grant Lord that what thou hast sown in Mercy may spring up in Duty Let my Duty and
Returns to thee be so great as my necessities of thy Mercies are O Let thy Grace so strengthen my purposes of amendment that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in Anger and thy sore Displeasure break me in pieces IV. What am I O Lord what is the Life and what are the Capacities of thy Servant that thou shouldst do thus unto me Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and poureth his Benefits upon us He is our God even the God from whom cometh Salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape Death V. In the midst of the Sorrows which were in my Heart thy Comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul It is thou O Lord who hast made my Flesh and my Bones to rejoyce Behold happy is the Man whom God Correcteth therefore despise not the chastising of the Almighty VI. For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole In the midst of Judgment he remembreth Mercy Lord thou hast lifted up the light of thy Countenance upon me Yea Lord thou hast put gladness into my Heart O be thou pleased graciously to add Thankfulness to it VII I will lay me down in Peace and take my Rest for it is thou Lord only which makest me dwell in safety O Lord I give thee humble and hearty thanks for thy great and almost miraculous bringing me back from the bottom of my Grave what thou hast further for me to do or suffer thou alone knowest VIII Lord give me Patience and Courage and all Christian resolution to do thee Service replenish me evermore with thy Grace to submit to thy Holy Will and let me not live longer than to Honour thee through Jesus Christ Lord I have been sick and feeble and thou hast recovered my strength I am very aged and greatly stricken in years yet thou art still pleased to add unto my days sanctifie therefore good Lord the remainder of my Life and sweeten unto me the approaches of my Death A Prayer of Thanksgiving MOst Gracious God whose mercy is as high as the Heavens and whose truth reaches unto the Clouds thy Mercies are as great and many as the moments of Eternity thou hast opened wide thy hand of Providence to fill me with Blessings and the sweet Effects of thy loving kindness fill my Soul with great apprehensions and impresses of thy unspeakable Mercies that my Thankfulness may be as great as my necessity of Mercies are II. O Lord thou hast heard my Prayers and hast broken in sunder the Bonds of Sickness and hast delivered my Soul from trouble and heaviness thou hast snatched me from the snares of Death and saved me from the Pains of Hell O let my Soul rest in thee and be satisfied in the Pleasures of thy mercy that when thou shalt call all the whole Universe to judgment from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof I may in thy Heavenly Kingdom sing Praises to thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXIV Comfortable refreshments at the hour of Death to be used by those who are present GOd so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.1 2. II. Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life John 5.24 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6.37 III. Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his Countenance Psal 42.6 In my Fathers House are many Mansions John 14.2 What things were Gain to me those I counted loss for Christ Phil. 3.7 IV. For our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall Change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.20 21. I press towards the Mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.14 V. Set your Affections on things above not on things of the Earth For ye are dead and your Life is hid with Christ When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Colos 3.2.3 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of our Sins Col. 1.14 VI. If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.1 2. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1 Cor. 4.17 18. VII I am in a great Strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain Phil. 1.21 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 None of us liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord's Rom. 14.7 8. VIII I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write from henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die John 11. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my Eyes shall behold and not another Job 19.25 26 27. IX We brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord 1 Tim. 6.7 Job 1.21 O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin
received by the Holy Catholick Church and holds in Consent or Harmony with the Holy Scripture the Christians Armour by which and the constant Practice of Piety every faithful Soldier of Christ may be enabled to pull down those strong Holds of his spiritual Enemy and by Possessing his Soul in Patience obtain a glorious Victory VII With all due Reverence I esteem of those two Sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper the one to cleanse and purifie us at our entring the other to strengthen and sanctifie us Living and to glorifie our Souls at their departing As with my Heart I believe unto Righteousness so with my Mouth do I confess unto Salvation VIII Neither do I profess my self such a Solifidian asto hold Faith sufficient to Salvation without Works Neither such a Champion for good Works as to hold Works effectual without Faith As Faith is the Root so are Works the Fruit. These are ever to go hand in hand together otherwise that fearful Curse which our blessed Saviour sometimes pronounced upon the barren Fig-tree must be their Censure IX And now in this day of my Change as in this Confidence I have ever liv'd so my Trust is that in the same I shall dye that in the Resurrection of my Saviour Christ Jesus is my Hope And in his Ascension is my Glory For I believe that my Redeemer liveth and that with these Eyes I shall see him X. And having thus returned a due Account of my belief my next thing is to remember that Message returned by Isaiah the Son of Amos to Hezekiah set thine House in Order for thou shalt die 2 Kings 20.1 for it is a Maxim when the outward part is orderly disposed the inward cannot chuse but be better prepared XI To remove then from me the Cares of this present Life that I may take a more willing adieu of the World before I leave it weaning my desires from it by addressing my self to a better for live he cannot in the Land of the living who prepares not himself for it before his arriving XII And now my Worldly Cares are drawn near unto their Period Seeing then I am sailing towards my Harbour let me strike Anchor that taking the Wings of the Morning I may fly to the Bosome of my dear Redeemer go forth then my Soul what fearest thou Go forth why tremblest thou thou hast had enough of these Worldly Pleasures for what foundst thou there but Anguish turn then thy Face to the Wall and think of the I and of Promise XIII Thou hast now but a little time left thee the remainder whereof is justly exacted by him that made thee Sighs Sobs Prayers and Tears are all the Treasures that are left thee and precious Treasures shall these be to thee if presented by Faith to the Throne of mercy for the Enemy can never prevail where Christian Fear and constant hope possesseth the Soul XIV Let thy desire then be planted where thy Treasure is placed and as one ravished with a spiritual Fervour cry out and spare not with that devour Father St. Hierom Saying Should my Mother tear her Hair rent her Cloaths lay forth those Breasts which nursed me and hang about me should my Father lye in the way to stop me my Wife and Children weep about me I would throw off my Mother neglect my Father contemn the Lamentation of my Wife and Children to meet my Saviour XV. And less than this O my Soul thou canst not do if thou callest to mind what thou leavest to whom thou goest and what thou hast in Exchange for that thou losest For what dost thou leave here but a World of Misery to whom goest thou but to a God of Mercy and what haft thou in Exchange for a vile frail and corruptible Body but immortal Glory Whatsoever thou hadst here was got with Pain kept with Fear and lost with Grief whereas now thou art to possess eternal Riches without Labouring and to enjoy them without fear of losing The Prayer O God my Heart then is ready my Heart is ready too long have I sojourned here and made my self a Stranger to my Heavenly Countrey It is high time for me then to discamp and to leave these Tents of Kedar that I may rest without Labouring rejoyce without sorrowing and live without dying in the Celestial Tabor saying with that Vessel of Election I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ even so Lord Jesus come quickly A Prayer when we hear a Bell ring for a Person at the Point of Death OEternal God I humbly thank thee for speaking in this voice to my Soul and I humbly beseech thee also to accept my Prayers in his behalf by whose occasion this voice this sound is come to me For though he and all of us have highly offended thee yet do thou in mercy receive us and grant that now his Soul being ready to depart from hence to thy Kingdom it may quickly return to a joyful re-union to that Body which it hath left and that we with it may soon enjoy the full Consummation of all in Body and Soul II. I humbly beg at thy hand O merciful God for thy Son Christ Jesus sake That thy Blessed Son may have the Consummation of his Dignity by entring into his last Office the Office of a Judge and may have Society of humane Bodies in Heaven as well as he hath had ever of Souls and that as thou hatest Sin it self thy hate to sin may be exprest in the abolishing of all Instruments of Sin the Allurements of this World and the World it self and all the temporary Revenges of Sin the Stings of Sickness and of Death and all the Castles and Prisons and Monuments of Sin in the Grave III. Let time be swallowed up in Eternity and hope swallowed in Possession and ends swallowed in infiniteness and all Men ordained to Salvation in Body and Soul be one intire and everlasting Sacrifice to thee where thou mayst receive Delight from them and they Glory from thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXXII Of this Life compared with Eternity FOrasmuch as Man who is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of Trouble so Man as regenerate and born of God hath a long time to live and is full of Bliss A Life so long that it runs parallel with Eternity and therefore without an abuse we cannot use such an Expression as length of time II. It is not a long but an endless Life it is not Time but Eternity which now I speak of Nor is it a wretched Eternity of which a Man may have the Priviledge as he is born of a Woman but an Eternity of Bliss which is competent to him only as born of God III. And of this Bliss there is such a fulness that our Heads are too thick to understand it Or if we were able to understand it yet our Hearts are too narrow to give it Entrance Or if our Hearts could
hold it yet our Tongues are too stammering to express and utter it Or if we were able to do that yet our Lives are too short to Communicate and reveal it to other Creatures In a word it is such as not only Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard but it never hath entred into the Heart of Man to conceive Incomprehensible as it is 't is such as God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 IV. If we compare this Life with that of Job's which is full of Trouble it will several ways be useful to us for it will moderate our Joys whilst we possess our dear Friends and it will mitigate our Sorrows when we have lost them for it will mind us that they are freed from a Life of Misery and that they are happily translated to one of Bliss Nay if we are true Lovers indeed and look not only at our own Interest but at the Interest of the parties to whom we vow affection we even lose them to our advantage because to theirs V. Lastly it sweetens the solemn Farewel which our immortal Souls must take of our mortal Bodies we shall desire to be dissolved when we can groundedly hope we shall be with Christ we shall groan and groan earnestly to be uncloathed of our Bodies with which we are burden'd if we live by this Faith that we shall shortly be cloath'd upon with our House from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.7 23 24. We shall cheerfully lay down our Bodies in the Dust when 't is to rest in Peace who will certainly raise us by his Power that we may rest and Reign with him in Glory Amen The Prayer HOw hardly can we be perswaded O Lord to forsake the vanishing Pleasures of this Life for thy Glory and our own Happiness How unwillingly should we lay down our Lives for thy sake or the Gospels that can so hardly part with one Sin in obedience to thy Law II. Thy Yoke is easie and thy Service a perfect Freedom and yet we count thy Sanctuary a Prison thy Law a trouble and can scarce Sacrifice so much time to our Devotions as to pay unto thee the Honour due unto thy Name III. Pardon and Pity this Corruption of our Frames and teach us whether we live or die to delight in that for which thou madest us even to glorifie thee That so whensoever this earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved we may receive our Change with Joy and be carried by Angels to an everlasting Inheritance there to remain to all Eternity Amen Meditation XXXIII COMFORTS against the Fears of DEATH and Consolations against immoderate Grief for the loss of Friends IF it be a Blessing of the vertuous to Mourn the reward which attends it is to be Comforted and he that pronounc'd the one promis'd the other I doubt not but that Spirit whose Nature is Love and whose Name Comforter as he knows the occasion of our Grief so hath he salved and season'd it with supplies of Grace pouring into our Wounds no less Oyl of mercy than wine of Justice II. Yet since affection oweth Compassion as a Duty to the afflicted and Nature hath ingrafted a desire to find it that which dieth to our Love is always alive to our Sorrow and we might have been kind to a less loving Friend but finding in him so many worths to be loved our Love wrought more earnestly upon so sweet a Subject which now being deprived of our Grief to our Love is not inferiour the one being ever the Balance of the other III. The Scripture moveth us to shed Tears for the dead a thing not offending Grace and a right to reason For to be without remorse at the Death of Friends is neither incident nor convenient to the Nature of Man having too much Affinity to a savage Temper and overthrowing the ground of all Piety which is mutual Sympathy in each others Miseries But as not to feel Sorrow in sorrowful Chances is to want Sense so not to bear it with Moderation is to want understanding The one brutish the other effeminate and he hath cast his Account best that hath brought his Sum to a proper Medium IV. It is no less Criminal to exceed in Sorrow than to pass the limits of Competent Mirth for excess in either is a disorder in Passion though that sorrow of Friendship be less blamed of Men because if it be a Crime it is also a Punishment at once causing and creating Torments It is no good Sign in the Sick to be Senseless in his Pains and as bad it is to be unusually sensitive being both either Harbingers or Attendants of Death V. Let our condoling since it is due to the Dead testifie a feelingof Pity not any pang of Passion and bewray rather a tender than a dejected mind Mourn so as your Friends may find you a living Example all Men a discreet Mourner making Sorrow a Signal not a Superior to Reason VI. Some are so obstinate in their own Will that even time the natural Remedy of the most violent Agonies cannot by any delays asswage their Grief they entertain their Sorrow with solitary Muses and feed their Sighs and Tears with doleful Accents they Pine their Bodies and draw all pensive Consideration to their minds nursing their Heaviness with a Melancholy humour as though they had dedicated themselves to sadness unwilling it should end till it had ended them wherein their Folly sometimes findeth a ready effect that being true which Solomon observed that as a Moth the Garment and a Worm the Wood so doth sadness perswade the Heart VII But this impotent softness fitteth not sober minds we must not make a Lives profession of a seven Nights Duty nor under Colour of kindness to others be unnatural to our selves if some in their Passions drive their Thoughts into such Labyrinths that neither Wit knoweth nor Will careth how long or how far they wander in them it discovereth their weakness but deserveth our Meditation VIII The Scripture warneth us not to give our Hearts up to heaviness yea rather to reject it as a thing not beneficial to the Dead but prejudicial to our selves Eccles 38. alloweth but seven days of Mourning judging Moderation in Grief to be a sufficient Testimony in Good-will and a necessary rule of Wisdom IX Much lamenting for the Dead is either the Child of Self-love or of rash Judgment if we should shed our Tears for the Death of others as a Mediocrity to our Contentment we expose but our own Wound even perfect Lovers of our selves If we lament their decease as their hard Determination we Tax them of ill deserving with too peremptory a Censure as though their Life had been an arise and their Death a leap into final Perdition for otherwise a good departure craveth small condoling being but a Harbour from Storms an entrance unto Felicity X. Our Life is a due Debt to a more certain Owner than our selves and therefore so long as we have it we receive a
and the Strength of Sin is the Law But thanks be to God which giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15.55 56 57. Lord now let thy Servant depart in Peace according to thy word and receive his Soul into thy Fatherly Protection Amen A Prayer for a sick Person when there appear small hopes of Recovery O Father of Mercies and God of all Comfort our only help in time of need we fly unto thee for Succour in behalf of this thy Servant here lying under thy hand in great weakness of Body Look graciously upon him O Lord and the more the outward Man decayeth strengthen him we beseech thee so much the more continually with thy Grace and Holy Spirit in the inner Man II. Give him unfeigned Repentance for all the Errours of his Life past and stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus that his Sins may be done away by thy mercy and his Pardon sealed in Heaven before he go hence and be no more seen We know O Lord that there is no word impossible with thee and that if thou wilt thou canst even yet raise him up and grant him a longer continuance amongst us III. Yet forasmuch as in all appearance the time of his Dissolution draweth near so fit and prepare him we beseech thee against the hour of Death that after his Departure hence in Peace and in thy Favour his Soul may be received into thine everlasting Kingdom through the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord and Saviour Amen A Commendatery Prayer for a sick Person at the Point of Departure O Almighty God with whom do live the Spirits of just Men made perfect after they are delivered from their earthly Prisons we humbly commend the Soul of this thy Servant our dear Brother into thy hands as into the hands of a faithful Creator and most merciful Saviour most humbly beseeching thee that it may be precious in thy sight II. Wash it we pray thee in the Blood of that immaculate Lamb that was slain to take away the Sins of the World that whatsoever Defilements it may have contracted in the midst of this miserable and naughty World through the Lusts of the Flesh or the Wiles of Satan being purged and done away it may be presented pure and without spot before thee III. And teach us who survive in this and other like daily Spactacles of Mortality to see how frail and uncertain our own Condition is and so to number our days that we may seriously apply our Hearts to that Holy and Heavenly Wisdom whilst we live here which may in the end bring us to Life everlasting through the Merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our Lord and Saviour Amen Meditation XXV Of the uncertainties of our Lives and that we ought always to be prepared for Death HOw many ways are there whereby to frustrate the intents and ends of Nature How many are there buried before their Birth how many Mens Cradles become their Graves how many rising Suns are set almost as soon as they are risen and overtaken in darkness in the very dawning of their days how many are there like good King Josias like righteous Abel and Enoch who are taken away speedily from amongst the wicked as it were in the Zenith or Vertical Point of their Strength and Lustre II. It is in every Man's Power to be Master of our Lives who is but able to despise his own nay 't is in every ones Power who can but wink to turn our Beauty into darkness and in times of Pestilence how many are there can look as dead by an Arrow shot out of the Eye into the Heart For one single way of coming into the World how many are there to go out of it before our time I mean before Nature is wasted within us Many are sent out of the World by the Difficulties and Hardships of coming in III. We are easily cut off by eating and drinking the very Instruments and Means of Life Not to speak of those greater Slaughters which are commonly committed by Sword and Famine which yet must both give place to surfeit Death may possibly fly to us as once to Aeschylus in an Eagles Wing or we may easily swallow Death as Anacreon did in a Grape IV. We may be murder'd like Homer with a fit of Grief or fall like Pindarus by our Repose we may become a Sacrifice as Philemon of old to a little Jest Or else as Sophecles to a witty Sentence We may be eaten up of Worms like mighty Herod or prove a Feast for the Rats like him of Mentz V. A Man may vomit out his Soul as Sulla did in a fit of Rage or else like Coma may force it backwards He may perish by his Strength as did Polydamas and Milo Or he may die like Thalna by the very excess of his Injoyment He may be Provender for his Horses like Diomedes or Provision for his Hounds like Actaeon and Lucian Or else like Tullus Hostillius he may be burnt up quick with a flash of Lightning VI. Or if there were nothing from without which could violently break off our thread of Life and which being a slender thread is very easily cut asunder we have a thousand intestine Enenemies to dispatch us speedily from within there is hardly any thing in the Body but furnisheth matter for a Disease VII There is not an Artery or Vein but is a Room in Natures Work-house wherein our Humours as so many Cyclops's are forging those Instruments of Mortality which every moment of our Lives are able to sweep us into our Graves an ordinary Apoplexie or a little Impostune in the Brain or a sudden Rising of the Lights is enough to make a Man Die in Health and may Lodge him in Heaven or Hell before he hath the Leisure to cry for Mercy The Prayer THou didst make us for thy self O Lord and when we by our Sins and Follies had for ever lost thee thou didst restore us to thy self again that we might not be eternally deprived of thee our only good O fill us with perpetual Meditations of thy Love Let those Joys which are so much above our thoughts be ever in them let our inability to comprehend the Happiness of thy Kingdom heighten the Piety of our Ambition after it more that we may walk in some measure worthy of so Divine a Purchace II. Prepare us with all those Heavenly Graces that may entitle us to it and with all those spiritual Desires that may make us breath and long after it that so our Hearts being there before we our selves may come after and being transported in our Desires may be also in our Persons to everlasting Enjoyments and as our Lives are uncertain in this World grant that we may be ready prepared that Death comes not upon us unawares Amen Meditation XXVI On the Frailties of our Lives OUr Houses of Clay as Eliphaz the Temanite fitly calls them Job 4.19 seem as false