be heal'd Wash his Soul clean O God in Christ's most Precious Blood Conform him more and more to the Holy Doctrine and Example of the Ever-blessed Jesus Sanctifie him with all the Saving Graces of thy Renewing Spirit Give him if it be thy Will some Delightful Foretastes and Anticipations of Celestial Blessedness Hope towards Thee an Enravisht Sense of thy Favour Joys in the Holy Ghost unspeakable and full of Approaching Glories However if this be too great a Vouchsafement make him at least Willing to be Dissolved Fit for Heaven Full of his Saviour Empty of himself and of all Trust in his own Defective Righteousness and whenever thou takest him out of this World take him we Beseech Thee unto thy self into Everlasting Felicity Amen Holy Jesu for thy Precious Death and Passions sake Amen A Prayer to be used on the Lord's Day in the Morning Preparatory to the Duties of the Day BLessed and Glorious Lord God Thou Lord and Instituter of the Sabbath who allowest us Six Days in Seven for our Temporal and Worldly Concerns and hast Set Apart the Seventh only for thine own more Especial Service O how wisely hast thou Provided for both our â—ouls and Bodies For how would our Outward Man want Food and Raiment were not Days of Labour afforded it wherein by honest Industry to procure those Necessaries and how would our Spirit Pine away and Languish as to all Gracious Endowments were not Seasons appropriated to thy Divine Worship O that therefore at present we may Rest from the works of Sin as well as from those of our particular Callings O that we may be in the Spirit on this thine own Day that we may worship thee thereon in Spirit and in Truth that we may keep it so Holy and Sanctified unto Thee as that it may be a Pledge and Earnest of an Eternal Sabbatisme with thee in Light and Glory This is the Day which the Lord hath made by his Justifying Resurrection O may we Rejoice and be Glad therein with an Holy Rejoycing This is the Day which was the Birth-Day of our Hopes and future Blessed Expectations O may it prove a Day of Growth and Improvement in Grace of holy Ardours and Devont Enravishments Grant Gracious Father that we may not find our own Pleasure nor Speak our own Words nor do our own Deeds on this thine Hallowed-Day but may both Call and Esteem it a Delight Holy of the Lord Honourable O that Heaven an a Heavenly Frame and Temper of Spirit may be Begun in us Here by means of our pious Intercourses with Heaven amidst the Duties of thy Day We are Going O Lord unto thy House of Prayer the Place where thine Honour dwells O pardon us that we are not Prepared according to the Preparation of thy Sanctuary that we have not yet put off our Carnal and Earthly Affections Considering that the place whereon we are to stand is Holy Ground O do Thou our God vouchsafe to Go along with us into thy Temple by the Holy Aids and Assistances of thy Spirit Cause us to Approach Thee there with Reverence and to worship before thee with a Zealous Affection when we Meditate let us do it with all Seriousness Heavenly-Mindedness and Edification when we Pray let it be with the utmost Attension Faith and holy Fervour when we Hear the Glad Tidings of thy Gospel may it be with all Diligent and hearty Attendance on thy Word and Doctrine when we Read thy Holy Scriptures may they make us wise unto Salvation may we Read them with Vnderstanding with an Affectionate Gust and Relish with a Reforming Change and inward Digestion of them into Spiritual Grace and Nourishment O may this Day be added to our Share in an Happy Eternity by our Religious Improvement of it mayst Thou our God come Down unto us herein by thy Divine Influences and may we be Taken up unto thee by Devout Praises and Adorations Accompany we beseech Thee O Lord with thine own more Especial Presence thine own more Especial Ordinances and holy Institutions Cause us by the Spiritual food of pious Duties to Increase in Grace and to be Nourished up to a perfect Manhood in Christ Jesus Being Rooted and Grounded in Divine Love and built up through Faith unto a Capacity of Eternal Salvation How Earthly O God would beour Affections How Carnal and Sensual our Souls were their Thoughts and Desires alwayes busied about the things of this World Blessed be thy Name therefore that thou hast Enjoyn'd us a Season wherein to call off our Thoughts and Affections from things Temporal wherein to unloosen our Spirits from Sense and Sensual Concernments and allowest us a Sweet Converse and Communication with Thee the Fountain of all Happyness O make us more to value this inestimable Priviledge make us at present to Improve it to the best Advantage Cause us to hold a pious Harmony of Praises and Hallelujahs with thy Blessed Saints and Angels now in Heaven 'T is the Employment will be our Continual Joy and Blissful Recreation in the Regions Above O give us therefore to Habituate our selves to it Now and thereby partake of Heavenly Satisfactions even on Earth Give a Blessing to thy word Preached and to the Prayers offer'd to thy Divine Majesty on this Day while Paul plants and Apollos â—aters do Thou O God Give the Sanctifying Increase That we may be able Experimentally to say we have Tasted and Seen â—ow Gracious the Lord is we have of a Truth found how 't is Good for us that â—e have waited upon thee in the midst of thine holy Ordinances And then by these means of Grace being Train'd up and Fitted for Everlasting Glory we shall at length be Translated thither where the Exercises of Holyness shall Cease being means of Begetting or Confirming us in Grace and shall only be our Delight and Joy and Heavenly Entertainment for an Eternal Duration Amen Blessed Lord Amen FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1693. THirty Six Sermons viz. 16 Ad Aulum 6 Ad Clerum 6 Ad Magistratum 8 Ad Populum With a large Preface by the Right Reverend Father in God Robert Sanderson late Lord Bishop of Lincoln The Eight Edition corrected and amended Whereunto is now added the Life of the Reverend and Learned Author Written by Isaac Walton Folio Conversation in Heaven Being Devotions consisting of Meditations and Prayers On several Considerable Subjects in Practical Divinity Written for the Raising the Decay'd Spirit of Piety By Lawrence Smith LL. D. Fellow of St. John's College in Oxford A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Grey Late Vicar of Dedham in Essex Preach'd in the Parish-Church of Dedham Febr. the 2d 1691 2. With a short Account of his Life By
be over-purchased we cannot do too much for such a far more exceeding and endless weight of Glory and the more we do in Holy Services the Greater in all Likelihood will be our future Recompence of Reward By instantly beginning to live well we shall render the work the easier shall be better disposed to it our selves and shall have less to Repent of and Reform but the longer we delay Redeeming our time the Greater and more Difficult undertaking shall we find it when we set about it Every man has his Religious Task appointed him at his coming into this World to discharge before his Going out of it and each day has its peculiar Godly work and business assign'd it wherefore if we imprudently omit the proper employment of this day we shall have so much the more to do to morrow both this days Religious work and to morrow 's also Since then sufficient unto its own day is the vertuous Task thereof let us not through our present Omissions double and multiply our future pious Pains and Labours encrease by delays of Redeeming Time our work of Salvation and diminish at the same instant our strength and ability to perform it with So much Time as we have lost in the neglect of Piety and Vertue so much have we lost of our increase of future Happiness and of our weight of Eternal Glory and can we be content to loose yet more of it Can we be content through our mispence of Time to hazard the whole of Everlasting Blessedness Time present is our only state of Trial and Probation the After-Life determines our Condition to either Everlasting Happiness or Misery and therefore we ought to improve to the utmost instant Opportunities and to work out our Salvation to Day while 't is call'd to Day For our Religious Work is large and difficult the putting off a whole Body of Sin the putting on the whole Armour of Righteousness the subduing old evil habits a contracting by the Grace of God in Conjunction with our Endeavours new Vertuous habits the improving them into a Second Nature into a participation of the Divine Nature and Likeness All this we have to do in the short space of our Mortality in a Life but a Span long and therefore ought to supply our Poverty of Time by its frugal Well-management and by the Intenseness of our Affections and Services God-ward Making up in Industry and Zeal what we want in Time and obeying God universally chearfully fervently and constantly unto the End But oh the quite contrary Practice of the Generality of the World who are forward to improve every thing but Time which most of all requires improvement who pursue eagerly every Advantage but the Highest one their Eternal Salvation Ah doubtless he is unworthy of Eternal Life who seeks it not diligently as for hid Treasure who lives not to God and his own Soul Certainly he is unworthy to win the Prize of Heavenly Glory who runs so carelesly as if he matter'd not whether he obtain'd it or no! All that Time is but wasted whereof no part is spent in the Concerns of Religion The Prayer O Eternal God who wast before all Time and shalt continue to be when Time shall have an End in whose hands are the Issues and Disposal thereof seeing time past cannot be Recall'd by us cannot be lived over again Grant that we may Redeem it by a double diligence and improvement of the Remaining Season We improve O Lord every thing else O give us Grace to husband well our Time also we put out our Moneys to Interest we Till and Manure our Grounds we watch and make our best of every opportunity of growing Rich O cause us likewise to put out the precious Talent of Time to Interest cause us to Till and Cultivate our Souls that they may fructifie with saving Graces make us to be intent upon and manage to the best opportunities of growing wise unto salvation of becoming Rich in Faith and Good Works Convince us that unless we Redeem Time the Redemption purchased by our Saviour will nothing avail us Convince us that Time is the only season wherein to make provision for a blessed Eternity O may the dying man's wish the dying man's Good Resolution more Time better improvement of it might it be afforded him be the study of us Living men be our most constant care and exercise Give us to consider holy Father what one of the damned would give but for one more of those Probationary days which we squander away without any due regard or vertuous improvement Give us to consider that the abuse or neglect of Time will occasion us if persisted in a sad and mournful Eternity full of bitter Regrets and stinging Self-condemnations Ah gracious God do we live upon Moments Is each minute's Preservation a kind of Creation and yet do we make light of and trifle them away Ah wretched Triflers with our own safety and Everlasting Salvation Convince us convince us good Lord that the Day-time of our Lives is far spent that the short Remainder is hazardous and uncertain that the Night of Death may be nigh at hand and let these convictions cause us to walk as Children of the Day not in the evil works of Darkness but in employing well our Time and other Talents that we may not fall into the condemnation of the slothful and wicked Servant O suffer us not to fold our hands to sleep in the midst of so many and great spiritual Dangers wherewith we are encompass'd but make us to be intent on all Religious opportunities Since our days O Lord are but few upon Earth cause us by walking circumspectly to Redeem the time that they may not be Evil likewise or unprofitable Are holy Jesu Death and the Grave Judgment and Eternity not far from us and yet are we far from being ready prepared for them Live we as if we were to live always As if this was the only life and no future one to be expected O cause us to shake off this our careless security cause us to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure May the time past of our lives suffice ah far too much was it to have been mis-spent in sin and vanity wherefore for the time to come make us industrious and always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that our Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. O Grant that every moment of time present may be precious unto us because the Interests of our precious immortal Souls depend upon it make us so well to improve Time as that it may be the securing unto us of an happy Eternity Amen Amen Meditation III. On the Folly and Danger of deferring Repentance TO delay present Repentance in hopes of future Conversion is alike imprudent as for a sick Man to neglect the present use of Medicines in hopes of future Health and Recovery whenas by his neglect of Remedies he in
Life Amen Amen The Prayer O Holy Jesu thou Lord of Life and Glory who by thy Death hast overcome Death and open'd unto us the Gate of Everlasting Life at the hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment Good Lord Deliver us Grant that the End of our life on Earth may be the Beginning to us of a blessed Eternity in Heaven that the Second Death the never-ceasing one may have no Dominion over us but that when we discontinue Living with men we may dwell with thee our God and Converse with all the blessed Society Above Grant Heavenly Father that when we come to lye on a Death-bed we may be able to look backward with Comfort and Consolation on a well spent Life and forward with a bright prospect of Glory and Immortality beyond the Grave that when we are nigh unto Death and our bodyly strength Languishing our faith and hope may Revive and become vigorous and we may then feel the joyous Approaches of that Salvation which we before had wrought out with fear and trembling We know O Lord that 't is appointed for all men once to Dye and that no one can rescue his life from the pit of Destruction and yet do we live as if we had made an Agreement with Hell and had an unforfeitable Lease of our lives O give us to Dye unto sin Now that we may sleep in Christ at our Departure and be Awaken'd be Rais'd to life again in the Restitution of all things Afford us some Refreshing beams of the Light of thy Reconciled Countenance when passing through the dark valley of the Shadow of Death grant that we may then fear no evil but may have the Testimony of a Good Conscience which may be a supporting Cordial to our weak and fainting Spirits Grant that we may not live in such an unprepar'd state of Soul as that we should be afraid to Dye and Appear before thy Judgment seat but cause us so to Demean our selves as that the Sting and Terrour of Death Sin may be taken away before Death it self lays hold on us that when it comes we may welcome it with Smiles and Gladness may lift up our heads with Joy at our hastening Dissolution as knowing that then the time of our Redemption draweth near Be Thou present with us at the hour of Death O blessed Jesu who sufferedst Death for us upon the Cross by the vertue of that thy precious Death Sweeten we beseech thee the bitterness of ours When our Eyes shall be Darkned in the Agonies of Death kindle in our hearts the Light of saving Faith when our Speech shall fail and leave us O do thou speak Inwardly unto us by the Comforts of thy Spirit and grant that we may speak mentaily unto Thee by Devoul Sighs and Groans which cannot be utter'd when we are nigh unto the End of our Days may we be nigh the end of our Hopes even the Salvation of out Souls O give us in our last Exiremities Joy in believing Hope in our Latter End humble Resignation of our Spirits into thy hands an holy Contempt of this Earth an Enflamed Love of Heaven Longing desires to be with Thee with our Saviour christ with Angels and Glorified Saints which is much better than being here Amen Amen for thy Mercies sake Meditation XVII On the Last Judgment MEthinks I view the Judge of the whole Earth Terrible and yet Gracious coming in the Clouds of Heaven with all his Glorious Retinue of holy Angels methinks I hear the Arowzing Call of the last Trumpet see the innumerable Dead take the Alarm Awake Move and Rise at its all-powerful Summons I behold methinks the Righteous Rising first with Smiles and Exultation in their Faces as knowing that their Redemption that the Reward of all their Pious Labours draweth near I behold also the ungodly Rising Last and yet even then most unwillingly shaking and trembling for fear of their approaching Tryal and Condemnation Heaven above Threatning them Hell beneath Gaping wide for their Reception I bâ—hold too the Court-Book of an Universal Registry open'd each Mans Indictment and Accusation publickly Read his own Conscience the while bearing Witness and either Accusing or Excusing him in that fearful Judgment I hear methinks the Decisive Sentence 〈◊〉 ronourced of either Eternal Happyness or Misery of either come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepar'd for you before the foundations of the World or else of Depart from me ye Accursed into Everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Oh the different Effects these different Sentences have on the Persons they are directed unto The Righteous receive their Sentence with Joy and Acclamations with transporting Thanks and Hallelujahs with an humble Admiration that the Recompence of their finite Defective Services should be a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory The ungodly Reprobates entertain their Doom with hideous Howlings and Lamentations with heart-piorcing Sorrows and Affrightments with fruitless desires to return again into their Graves or to be perfectly destroyed and Annihilated Come ye blessed O Delightsome sound O wellcome hearing wellcome especially from the moâ—â—â— of our Judge Come There is no need sure of a pressing Invitation to accept of so much Bliss and Happyness behold they Run they draw near upon the first Intimation of it they fly with haste into the possession of their Eternal Inheritance They now please themselves in the Remembrance of their former Godly Sorrows Mortifications and Self-denyals which through the Mercy 's of God and Merits of their Saviour have procured them such an exceeding Great Rejoycing All their former Tears dry up at the sight of their Glorious Redemption and they would not for a World but they had Denyed themselves in the Life past that now in the Resurrection of the Just they may be own'd and Approved of by their Advocate and Acquitter Depart ye Cursed blessed Lord whither should they depart Can they Goe any where where thou art not present who sillest all things tho' they descend into the Deep and remain in the uttermost parts of the Sea yet Thou art there though they make the Darkness of Hell their hiding-place yet thou art there also thine Omniscient Eye shall even there find them out and thine Almighty Arm shall punish them Depart from Me A Dâ—parture from thy Beatifick presence O God must needs render the Departed Accursed for Thou art all that 's Good the Loss therefore of Thee is an Universal Loss Thou art the Center and Rest of the Soul and therefore to be separated from Thee must be the most unquiet and miserable Condition imaginable A Departure from the Joyous Light of thy Countenance O blessed Jesu who only hast the words of Eternal Life can certainly be no other than Eternal Death One would have thought indeed that to be Deprived of Thy Sight might have been punishment enough without the Damneds Entrance in Hell-flames and tortures but that besides the mental Anguish for their
unto Thee who art of purer Eyes than to behold the least iniquity with Approbation With what Joy and Thankfulness ought we to acknowledge this thine inestimable favour that thou who art so highly Exalted wilt humble thy self to take notice of such Despicable polluted Beings as we are For ever blessed be thy Goodness who hast made Prayer our Duty which is so much our Interest and Priviledge O how inexcusable should we be should we neglect so Great a means of Grace and Salvation Wilt thou O Lord Admit and Accept our poor unworthy Services and shall not we Gladly Embrace the Vouchsafement Since our Righteousness Extendeth not unto Thee since we only are the Gainers by thy Service which is its own Reward which is our perfect freedom O cause therefore all that is within us to bless thy holy Name Cause all that is within us to render thee most willing and Chearful Obedience But O God most Glorious whose Transcendent Excellency is Exalted above all Glory and Praise the more we Speak of thine Honour the more we become Sensible how infinitely we fall short of it O make us to shew forth thy praise not only with our Lips but in our Lives by giving up our selves to thy Service by conforming our selves to thy Likeness in Holyness by â—aising Spiritualizing and Enflaming by thy help our Affections towards thee in Prayer Yet Alass Alass how soon are we weary of this most Delightsome most Beneficial Duty of Devotion How much Averseness is there in us unto the Vndertaking how much Distraction of Thoughts and Deadness of Spirit in the performance What formality want of Relish want of Zeal and fervour is there mingled with the best of our Religious Services How prone have we been to Deceive our selves with Shadows of Piety and Devotion instead of the Substance With a form of Godlyness instead of the Life and power thereof How prone to Content our selves with the bare praises of thy Divine perfections which we have not had the Godly Ambition the Sincerity of heart to imitate O pardon the sins and iniquities of these our Holy things But besides the imperfections of our best performances how many ways have we presumptuously offended thee our God! By innumerable Omissions and Commissions Omissions of Duty Commissions of Evil by many frequently Repeated and long Continued acts of wickedness by sinful provocations in Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty O how often have we Stifled the Convictions the Reproofs of our own Consciences How often Resisted the holy motions the Restraints of thy blessed Spirit How long neglected the Great Salvation of thy Gospel How many times violated our most Solemn Baptismal Vow and Covenant The very Multitude of our sins is Enough to Amaze and Affrighten us to cover us with Shame and Confusion of face but the Heinousness the Baseness the Ingratitude of our mis-demeanours towards so Gracious and heavenly a Father so Long-suffering a preserver so Mercyful a Benefactor Sanctifier and Redeemer O how Grievous is the Remembrance thereof to us the burthen of so much wickedness how Intolerable O our God Strong and patient hadst thou not been God how couldst thou have had patience with such perfidious such ungrateful such willfully Disobedient Rebells Well for us is it that thy mercy and forbearance Exceed that of Man are like the self unlimited O the Riches of thy Grace wilt thou again Receive such prodigal Children into thy favour Wilt thou Still be Reconciled unto us Ah let thy Goodness let thy Reconcileableness lead us to Repentance to a more compleat consummated one and our Repentance may it fit us for thy pardon and Acceptance And not meerly for the Pardon of our sins implore we mercy at thy hands but for a Divine power to enable us to subdue them Set we beseech thee O Lord our hearts in such a perfect Enmity against all things contrary to thy blessed Will and Nature that we may never be Reconciled to them any more dispose us to such an Entire Affection to thy Commandments that they may become our Choice our Desire our Exceeding Great Rejoycing O that we may walk more circumspectly Redeeming the time because the days are Evil O that we may give all Diligence to make our Calling and Election Sure O that the life the pure unspotted life of Christ Jesus may be formed within us the hope of Glory Fill us Gracious God with the whole Knowledge of thy Will in all Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding and Assist us with thy Grace unto the Conscientious practice of such knowledge Increase in us that faith which worketh by Divine Love which purisieth the heart and life and overcometh the wicked world Excite in us that ardent Affection to thee which may make us chearfully Do thy Will or patiently suffer it in all instances and which will cause us to Love our brethren as our selves for Christ's sake with a pure heart out of Love unfeigned not in Tongue only but also in Deed and in Truth Keep us O Lord pure and unspotted with the World Temperate Chaste and Unspotted with the flesh keep us Safe and unseduced by our own hearts lusts by Satans wicked Suggestions and Allurements Cause us to have our Conversation without Covetousness to have it more in Heaven less on Earth teach us contempt of Earthly things teach us to deny our selves to conquer all Temptations to live above the corruptions which so much abound in the Age Give us Patience give us supporting comfort and quiet submission in Adversity let a contented mind be instead of all we want and a thankful heart sweeten all our Enjoyments O that we may mind more the one thing Necessary that we may seek in the first place the Kingdom of Heaven and its Righteousness and whatever other things we leave undone we may be still working out our Salvation with fear and trembling Make us O our God more careful of pleasing thee fearful of offending thee diligent and industrious in thy Service more observant of thy Good Providence in every thing more grateful for thy benefits Received more readily disposed in all conditions to every good thought word and work * Stir us up we entreat thee to a frequent mindfulness of our Latter End and fit and prepare us for it let our approaching sleep this Night put us in mind of our last sleep our Bed remind us of our Grave and the darkness of the evening of the days of Darkness which shall be many in the Chambers of Death Lighten our Eyes O Lord that they sleep not therein but that we may Awake with the morning Light unto thy Praise and Glory Forgive those actual sins of thy servants which the day past hath been witness unto Lord give us a Godly sorrow for them a perfect hatred of them and more carefulness to avoid them for the future and whether we sleep this night in death or awake to the fresh Mercies of the following day O Grant that Christ
should ease and recreate and usually bends and weighs down the Soul with Covetousness to the Earth Riches what are they but vanishing Treasures Which if not taken out of our Hands by the Fraud Violence and Injustice of others may in time make themselves Wings and fly away from us which we certainly must leave at the day and hour of our Death Riches attended with disquieting thoughts and brain-cracking Projects in the procuring them with anxious Cares and Solicitudes in the keeping them with jealous fears and distrusts of loosing or being despoil'd of them The immoderate Love of which is the Root of all evil That which puts men upon the worst of wicked practices which pierces their Hearts through with many Sorrows and finally drowns them in the Gulph of Perdition Worldly Pleasures what be they But the joyous sensations of a few moments which Decease as soon almost as born and which tasted straightway loose their flavour and Relish Which if dishonest and sinful are likewise hurtful and prejudicial and very severely paid for by succeeding shame sorrow and repentance if innocent and harmless yet carrying vanity in their Nature they add also Vexation of Spirit through a deceit of our Expectations For how should what is Finite as all Terrene Comforts are afford any compleat and settled Satisfaction Oh no Absolute and Durable Contentment is not contain'd within the narrow limits of the Creature Nothing but what is Infinite is proportionate to an immortal Souls Capacity which are next to Infinite O our God that such a thing of Nothing or worse than Nothing of pain sorrow and disappointment as is this World should take up so much of our Affections as it does and that Heaven a Region of the sublimest sincerest ever-durable and most enravishing Delights should share so little in our Love and Approbation Thither did we mount our Thoughts our Desires our Religious Enterprizes even to the Celestial Mansions above oh with what Disdain should we look down on this vile inferiour Earth How little would it appear in our sight Nay how would it in a manner disappear our God our Heaven our spiritual and eternal Concerns having pre-ingaged the main of our Affections and consequently having left little Room for meaner Objects and Entertainments We are Pilgrims here on Earth and therefore ought to have the coldness and indifferency of Pilgrims to its most entertaining Gratifications we are strangers here on Earth and ought on that account to be shy of using too much Familiarity with the World lest it should ruin and betray us with its wicked Seductions For who would trust himself too far who would live careless and unguarded in a Forreign in an Enemies Country We are Strangers here 't is so very Little a time we shall continue in this Alien Countrey that 't is not worth our while to set our hearts upon it to learn its Language or Conform our selves to its Customs and Manners We are Citizens of the New-Jerusalem which is above Heirs of an Heavenly Canaan and shall we basely hanker after the Garlick and Onions of this viler Egypt Can we think this howling Wilderness-Condition a Paradise of Delights Or do we account Heaven the End of our Hopes not worth making it the End of our Pious Labours Not worth the looking after or earnest contending for it Does a life of Voluptuousness of too free indulgence unto or too much Affection for Worldly Pleasure Honour or Profit suit with the Gospel-Duties of Mortification and Self-denial With a being Crucified to the World and the World to us in the immoderate Love thereof With the End of our being sent into it viz. to prepare for our happy going out of it and for a Blessed Eternity Does it suit to our profession of a Suffering Religion suit to the Disciples of a Crucified Saviour To his Mortified Poor and Lowly Example Who was made perfect through Sufferings and Worldly Renunciations Does it suit lastly to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant wherein we solemnly engaged to Renounce the Devil and all his Works the vain Pomp and Glory of the World with all covetous desires of the same and no longer to follow or be led by them O what Perfidiousness what Perjury is it after all this to be false to our Christian Profession false to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant by becoming Idolaters of Earthly Vanity following and being led by it and preferring the things Sublunary before those of Heaven and Eternal Glory The Prayer O Most Amiable Divine Majesty Give us a lively Transporting Prospect of the Glories of Heaven give us a prospect of the Enravishing Beauties and Perfections of thine own Nature and then how will all Sublunary Pomps and Vanities appear dim and faded in our sight How shall we look down with Scorn and Contempt upon them Wilt Thou O Lord allow us to Raise our Thoughts to Thee to Exalt them above this World and shall we still lye Groveling upon it Wilt Thou Admit and Accept our weak imperfect Affections and shall we not do all we can to Elevate our Thoughts to Spiritualize our Affections for thy Service O give us that Victory of Faith whereby we may overcome the World that Assurance of Hope whereby we may live above its Corruptions purifying our selves even as Thou art pure Mortifie in us O Sovereign Excellency the Love of the World with the Quickning Enflamed Love of thy self shew thy Self a Loving Father to us and it sufficeth a Glance of the Light of thy Countenance is enough to Eclipse all Earthly Splendour O make us to see the Vanity of all things here below and then we shall soon discern the Vanity of our Affections in inordinately doteing on them Cause us O Spirit of Divine Grace to consider how our Blessed Saviour the Lord of all things the Lord of Life and Glory despised and contemned the World and certainly after this we cannot continue overvaluing it Cause us to have our Thoughts our Desires our Conversations more in Heaven and then shall we be much less fond of this Earth for finding our infinitely more valuable Treasures Above our Hearts our Affections will be there also Make us O our God to evidence daily our contempt of this World by the coldness and indifferency of our Love towards it by wanting its Enjoyments without Impatience by possessing them with Temperance and Moderation and by Loosing them without murmuring and discontent Perswade us O Lord effectually perswade us that we can never be happy till we have disintangled our Affections from every empty unsatisfying disappointing and transient Good here below and till we love Thee above all things who alone canst fill our desires gratifie all our wishes till we despise this World think lowly of our selves highly of our God and are wholely dead and crucified to all Polluting sensual Lusts and Appetites O come Thou then unto us O our God come and satisfie our Souls with thy Fulness replenish them with thy Likeness in Holiness and
thereby drive out of us all inordinate love for meaner Objects and Gratifications Amen Blessed Lord Amen Meditation II. On the Redemption of Time THere is no Talent committed to our Trust more precious than Time it being a season for the making provision for an Happy Eternity and yet no Trust is there more abused more profusely squander'd away We take Time by the Fore-lock in all our Temporal Concerns laying hold on the first opportunity of well-managing them but in Spirituals we defer and delay and move so heavily about the good husbanding of Time as if the wheels of our Chariots of our Executive Powers our Wills and Affections were taken off and Time was rather to be shunn'd and avoided than diligently pursued But is This running the Race of Christian Obedience set before us Is This giving all diligence to make our Calling and Election Sure Is This Redeeming the Time because the days are Evil Time lies so dead a Commodity on many Peoples hands that they are glad to get rid of it at any rate whatsoever The next vain pleasure and divertisement the next as vain and impertinent Idle-Companion the next fruitless silly or corrupting Spectacle shall ease them of their spare hours as they call 'em of their leisure and wearisome seasons But ah that any time should be accounted spare and vacant when so much as our Eternal Salvation depends upon it and we know not whether we shall Live till the next Moment Ah that what is the dying Man's Want should be the well Person 's Burthen While Living Time is thought by us too Long and Tedious we are hard put to it to spend many of its Hours while Dying 't is accounted too short and Transient which now is likely to be the truest Judgment that of the living or dying man For certain that of the Latter For at the near approaches of Death all false disguises which the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye or the Pride of Life had put on things are pull'd off and then all things appear in their proper Colours and Genuine Native Dress When Death Stares us in the face when Time is nigh at an End with us then we shall know the true value of Time then to our cost and trouble have far different Sentiments concerning it than what we have Now then oh that Time could be Recall'd that Time mis-spent could be lived over-again and be better improved how diligent and industrious would we be in its improvement But alass these Good Wishes come then too late to be converted into Good Practices Death will not be put off Time will not be Recall'd and the Man dies despairingly Disconsolate if not everlastingly Miserable not for that he had no means of Grace no opportunities of Salvation but because he made not that Good Use of them as he both might and ought to have done Time passes away swiftly though we idle and loiter the Minutes the precious Minutes fly while we are speaking we are Now a Moment nearer Eternity than we were the former one but are we in a nearer preparation for it Is there a nearer Tendency in us to an Heavenly Temper the nigher we come to the Heavenly State Or rather grow we not more Earthly Affection'd the nigher we draw to our bed of Earth the Grave Alass the Loss of Time is one of the Greatest Losses in the World and yet how Light a matter do we make of it This Life so short so uncertain every Moment of it so valuable and yet that we should live as if it were never to have an End or as if we had nothing of Concern to do in it How Astonishing is this what an Instance of Folly and Inconsiderateness Blessed God! That a Pearl of so Great price as an indulged space of Repentance as an happy opportunity of Salvation should be cast before Swine before brutish sensual Worldlings should be put into the Custody of those who value it not who know not how to use and improve it The Days the Months the years of our Lives are violently born away by the impetuous Torrent of Time many many Days of our Years are past and Gone as to our ever living them over again but though past yet are they not wholly lost and perish'd They are Registred in God's Faithful Book of Remembrance they are there preserved they are there charged upon us for a demand of their Good Use and Husbandry an Account an Account of them will one day be required at our Hands And it will be but a lamentable Account indeed when all we have to offer for the expence of our Life past will be so much Time spent Idly and in doing of nothing to any Good purpose so much spent to a very Bad one in Riot and Excess in Chambering and Wantonness so much in unnecessary Habitual Sports and Divertisements so much spent in the Devil's Service and so little in God Almighty's Ah will such an Account think ye pass our Great Auditor's Examination Will such an Account procure our Discharge and Acquitment What a strange perverse folly is it in us to complain our Life is short and yet to render it far shorter by letting much of it lye Fallow and unimproved To complain our day time here is quickly spent and our Night of Death is near at hand and yet to invent Arts to lavish this short Remainder of Life and then to lament its being so soon past away and we are Gone But if we would lengthen time let us leave off complaints and fall to the work of improving it let us beside the ordinary Returns of Publick Religious Worship at set appointed Seasons be frequent and fervent in our private Domestick Devotions let us allow to Religion and the exercises of Vertue some of those Great shares of Time which we call spare Hours which we trifle away in vanities and impertinencies in pleasures and recreations in fruitless Visits and Complements which we spend viciously in Luxury Riot and Intemperance or which we suffer to lye waste without any Employment at all 'T is a vast work a man may do if he never permits himself to be Idle 't is a huge progress he may make in Vertue if he never stops in the way through Carelesness or never goes out of his way by wilful and presumptuous sinning Strive to improve all your Time strive to suffer none of it to pass unaccountable and this will be to Redeem it this will be to compensate for its shortness for its uncertainty and Irrevocableness We cannot begin too soon to live well and yet do we demur about it Had we set upon the work of Religion much earlier we should have had none to spare all would have been little enough whereby to have evidenced the sincerity of our Faith and Hope and Trust of our Love to God and his Commandments whereby to have secured an Interest in his Favour and Acceptance and in his free Gift Eternal Life For Heaven cannot
thy allowance of Grace and the opportunity of making use of it may be over with thee Which God grant that it may not be Amen Amen The Prayer MOST Merciful Father Patitient and Long-suffering who waitest to be Gracious and yet whose Spirit will not always strive with obstinate impenitent sinners dost Thou O Lord call unto us Behold Now is the Accepted Time behold Now is the Day of Salvation and do we cry to morrow is soon enough some Days or Years hence will be as Acceptable a time as this present one Ah Mad-men that we are Ah foolish Self-deceiving Creatures who should know best the Day of our Salvation Thou our God the Author of it or We Who should know best how Long thy Spirit will strive with us How Long Thou wilt wait to be Gracious O cause us to Day while 't is call'd to Day to hear thy voice and not harden our hearts against thy Invitations to Repentance Convince us blessed Lord in order to a present amendment that 't is some degree of hardening our hearts not to hearken to thy Voice this Day That every continuance in sin is one Advance more towards final Impenitence a rendering our future Conversion the more Grievous and Difficult and our Confirmation in wickedness the Greater and nearer to irretrievable And in a sense of all this make us we beseech thee to Retire out of the ways of Iniquity immediately For would we be willing to be surprized by Death Judgment and Eternal Torments in an Impenitent State Would we be willing to be summon'd before thy Judgment-seat to give an Account of our Stewardship before our Accompts are duely Stated and made up If we would not O cause us then to give all Diligence at present to make our Calling and Election Sure to work the Religious work for which we were sent into this World while 't is Day before the Night of Death cometh wherein 't is impossible to work out our Salvation Is there Lord any one of us but would willingly Repent and turn unto Thee sometime before he Dyes because otherwise he knows he cannot be saved but who of us can be sure he shall Repent before Death that delays the work till to morrow For who can tell what a Day may bring forth Cause us therefore Gracious God to live every day as if it were to be our last for that we know not but it may be such Cause us to live so at present as we shall wish we had done when we come to Dye O grant we may not Dye with any Guilt upon our Consciences or any known sin unrepented of Grant that we may not put far from us the Evil Day and thereby flatter our selves into a state of impenitence and endless Destruction but give us Grace to use well the means of Grace and improve the opportunities of Salvation while they are mercifully afforded us lest we provoke thee our God to swear in thy wrath that such obstinate sinners shall never enter into thy Rest Let holy Father the uncertainty of the time of our Saviour's coming to Judgment either to the universal one or that of each particular person soon after his Death make every one of us live in a continual Readiness and Preparation for it that we may not have our Oyl of Grace to seek our Lamp of an holy Conversation to Trim and Replenish when we should enter in with the Bridegroom of our Souls Christ Jesus into his Marriage-Feast But grant that at what Season soever our Lord comes to call us to an Account of the Talents committed to our trust he may behold all our Debts to his Divine Justice ready Cancell'd by our Repentance through the Merits of his Blood and finding us perseveringly employ'd in Good Works he may say unto us Well done Good and Faithful Servants Enter ye into your Master's Joy Amen blessed Jesu Amen Meditation IV. On the Malignity and Evil Nature of Sin O Sin how common art thou and yet how little understood How Common and therefore how little Dreaded and Abhorr'd Did men consider and understand thee more they would sure Love and Practice thee Less Alass they consider not thy direct opposition to God's Soveraign Authority Rectitude of Will and purity of Divine Essence thy contrariety to the Laws of Nature of Reason and of Grace How thou art a Violation of God's Revealed Will and Pleasure in the Sacred Scriptures Writings which contain nothing but precepts Holy Just and Good and which consequently 't is our greatest Interest and Advantage as well as Bounden-Duty to observe and our greatest Disadvantage as well as Disobedience to break and violate They consider not Sin how opposite thou art to their own Personal Welfare and Happiness Temporal Spiritual and Eternal how Degrading and Defiling to their Souls and Consciences what an Ignominy and Reproach to our Understandings what a Violence and Affront to our Reasons what a perversion and wrong-byass of our Wills and Affections what a cause of Regret and Disquietude of Mind to those who voluntarily Commit thee how offensive to God how injurious to Man how prejudicial to the Common Order Peace and Prosperity of the Universe What an ungrateful Return thou art to the Divine Goodness Patience and Forbearance how thou art an offering despite to the Spirit of Holiness a Grieving a Quenching a total Driving it away from us a Crucifying afresh the blessed Son of God a Treading him under foot and accounting the Blood of the New-Covenant an unholy thing a Rejection of all the Merciful Terms and offers of Gospel-Reconciliation a rendering the means and instruments of begetting Grace in us ineffectual a choosing Death Eternal Death rather than Life Eternal Life a wilful Treasuring up of Wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of a provok'd offended Deity All this and much more the Commission of known voluntary Sin implies and can we be so irrational so Vile and Dis-ingenuous so even like Beasts before God as to continue practicing vicious Impurity with Greediness after having thus weigh'd and consider'd how Evil how bitter and Lothsom a thing it is Oh is there no knowledge no understanding in the Workers of Impiety is there no Shame no Fear no Regard in them to their Everlasting Salvation that they drink down Iniquity like Water and Rush into the occasions of their own Ruin into the performance of all Wickedness as the War-Horse rusheth into the Battle fearlessly and inconsiderately Ah Vice how stupifying a thing art thou What a polluter first of our Souls and Consciences and after long Custom of sinning what a layer of them Asleep what an hardener of our hearts through thy continued and dayly advancing deceitfulness Thou Wickedness art pleasurable indeed in the Act but alass how transient the Act how vain and inconsiderable the pleasure whereas the after-Memory of thee is tormenting and much more exquisite much more Durable a Pain than thy vicious Enjoyment was a Delight
the End of all things with us did it Determine and Annihilate our Beings it would be so far from becoming affrightful to the Wicked and Impenitent that they would rather gladly Welcome it as the Rescuer of them from what they most seared a Penal Retribution for all their heinous Provocations in this Life but the Consideration that the first Death is only an Inlet unto a Beginning of the Second which is never to have an End Oh how must this prove doubly affrighting to the Person unprepared for the Temporal and therefore obnoxious to the Eternal Death both reluctant Nature and Guilt causing him to Dread it The acute Dolours of an expiring Sinner's Body make him Wish to Dye but then the more torturing Terrors of his awaken'd Conscience urge him to retract those Wishes and to fear nothing more than a Dissolution which will bring him to Judgment and Eternal Condemnation and thus the Dyeing Impenitent is rackt and tortured between contrary Desires and Choices the Guilty Agonies of his Mind pain him more than all the Convulsive Severities of his Disease so that they Anticipate his Hell on Earth and give him to feel some of its Torments before he goes hence to Experience them in in the Gross But with the Righteous Godly Person it is not so Death indeed to him may look at first somewhat affrightful it being an abhorrence to Nature a forcible Separation of Soul and Body those Dear Companions but then being prepared for Death he living in a continual pious Expectation of it Faith Animating and Confirming Faith strips in his sight that King of Terrors of all his Dâ—smaying Gastliness shews him with his Sting the Guilt of Sin totally pull'd out by the satisfactory Sufferings of our Saviour bids the Good Man walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and fear no Evil Gives him a Delightsome Prospect beyond the Grave Admonishes him to look forward to that Immortal Life and Joy and Glory set before him and in fine Represents to him a blessed Reunion of Soul and Body at the General Resurrection never to part never to be separated again Death to such a one is as a Welcome Night of Repose after the hard Labour and Toil of the Day They Rest from their Labours says the Scripture 'T is as the Enjoyment of the Promised Land after a forty Years wearysome Wandring in the Wilderness nay 't is infinitely more 't is the Introduction into an Heavenly Canaan and Oh how Transporting must it be to have Shot the periâ—lous Gulph of Death and to be safely Landed on the Eternal Shoar To look back with Pleasure on the Wrecks and Dangers we have happily escaped and to find our selves all on a suddain surrounded with New unexperienc'd unheard of and before unconceivable Enravishments Oh who would not Gladly Dye to become Possessor of such an Inheritance who would not gladly Live in perpetual Mortification here to be made Partaker of such Infinite Delights in a Future State Oh Our Life which we falsly so call deserves not so Good a Name Our Life on Earth is but a Death compared with the Eternal Life and Blessedness Above They only Live who being freed from the Fetters of the Body from the corruptible Principles of Mortality are out of a Capacity of Dying any more and enjoy the utmost Delights with a full Assurance of ever enjoying them But here in the midst of Life we are in Death not only â—â—â—ble thereunto but in an Actual Tendency towards it We draw in Vital Aire only to breath it out again and sleep the liveliest Image of Death is the best Repairer of our Life by reason of which frequent Repairs our Life seems no other than a successive Living and Dying Nay our very Health the height thereof what is it but the next step to a Declination into Sickness many times an immediate Cause and Occasion thereof for when the Blood runs highest thence often proceeds a Feavour and too Great a Quantity of Spirits may prove fatal as well as the want of them Just as an House may fall opprest with too much bulk and weight as well as through Weakness and Slightness of Building Ah then that Men who live in continual Hazard of Dying should yet demean themselves with such careless Security as if they were ever to Live Ah that upon this moment for ought we know may Depend our happy Eternity and yet we squander away whole Days and Years in Vanity O when shall we become wise and consider profitably our Latter End When shall we so number our perishing days as to apply our hearts unto Godly Wisdom Time passes on though we mind it not improve not its passing Time passes on and brings us every instant the nearer to Eternity O how ought we to take care that it bring us to an Eternity of Blessedness That the end of our Days prove to us the end of our Hopes even the Salvation of our Souls Alass what Vanity of Vanities what meer Nothings at the hour of Death will all things here below appear unto us which Now look so charming and take off our minds and endeavours from providing for our happy Departures How then will all our pursuits all our possessions of Honour of Riches and Pleasure appear as a Dream as a vanishing Shadow so that we shall at that time account the wisdom of this world folly and madness shall wish wish Earnestly that with all our other Gettings we had Gotten more Religious Understanding had layd up larger Comfortable Treasures of a good Conscience had been as industrious for the Concerns of another Immortal Life as for those of this vain Transitory one Let us therefore take Advice of Death in time of health Death is a faithful Counsellor and will not Deceive will not flatter us and seeing 't is necessary for us to Dye one time or other and as necessary unto Dying well that we often meditate upon Death let us make it the frequent Subject of our thoughts and in such manner view things Now as they will certainly appear to us at our near approach towards Death O may we not live in such a state wherein we would be unwilling to be Surpriz'd by Death unwilling to be call'd to Dye before we have lived to any good purpose but may we through the Spirit mortifie the Deeds of the Body that we may be made Alive unto God What we would wish were done when Dying let us do that Good and vertuous work at present and what wish were undone then let us shun that wicked performance now or if performed undoe it by Repentance before our latter End overtakes us So shall we be Ready for Dying so shall the Day of our Deaths appear better to us than the day of our births we coming into the world crying as born to Labour and Sorrow but going out of it Rejoycing as assured to find Rest and Ease and Enravishment of Soul Amen blessed Saviour Thou Resurrection and the
Jesus may be unto us both in Life and Death great Advantage Grant this for the Merits and Mercy's-sake of him who dyed for our sins and rose again for our Justification and who hath left us this most Absolute form of Prayer wherewith to conclude our imperfect ones Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. A Prayer for a Sick Person O OUR God full of Compassion and Truth whose Ears are ever open to the Cryes of the Distressed who afflictest not neither Grievest willingly the Children of Men but in very Faithfulness Causest us to be Troubled Chastising us for our Profit that we may be Partakers of thy Holyness We thy Poor Unworthy Creatures Address our selves to the Throne of thy Grace in behalf of this thy Servant Grieved with Sickness O let his Grief of body move thy Succouring Pity behold him with the Eyes of thy Mercy Rescue him with the Al-Almightiness of thy Power however Grant that the Infirmity of his outer-Man may tend to the Health and Improvement of his Soul in all Gracious Qualifications O make him by means of thy Divine Chastisements Resemblant in a larger Measure of thy Divine Nature make him Perfect through Sufferings Train him up a Good Souldier of Jesus Christ by such Disciplining Hardships Teach him a more Compleat Obedience and Conformity to thy Will by the things which he Endures Relieve him under all his Distresses Give him Patience Repentance and Submission under all his Uneasiness Support him under all Tryals and Temptations O suffer not his Faith to fail in this Day of Adversity Strengthen him in the Inner-Man especially now he lyes on a Bed of Languishing O make Thou his Bed in all his Sickness In the midst of the pains of his Body let thine Inward Comforts Refresh his Soul make all things Tribulation as well as Prosperity work together for his Good may he Continue to be thy Servant under all Conditions Permit him not Gracious God for any troubles of Life or fears of Death to fall from Thee but Give him Joy and Consolation in Believing when encompassed with the Sorest Distresses Encrease therefore his Faith Confirm his Hopes Enlarge his Contentedness and Resignation Wean his Affections more and more from the things Below and Raise and Settle them on the Good things Above Free Blessed Lord this thy Servant from all Murmuring and Repining at thy Afflictive Providence and Cause him rather to Rejoyce and Glory in Tribulation as knowing that the Tryal of his Faith worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not Ashamed O let Patience have its Perfect work in him that he may be Compleat and Entire wanting no Vertuous Endowment let thy Grace be Sufficient for him that he may not faint in the time of Calamity O may his Affliction prove an Exercise and Enlargement of all his Graces Let it beget in him greater Trust and Affiance in thy Divine Mercy less Relyance on and Confidence in the Creature a being Crucified to the World and the World to him as to the immoderate Love of it Cause Holy Father this thy Afflicted Son to Humble himself under thy Correcting hand that Thou mayst Exalt him in thy due Season make him to Cast all his Care upon Thee because Thou carest for him Give him to feel now in this his Distress what is the Hope of his Spiritual Calling and what the Exceeding Greatness of thy Mercy and Power towards them who Believe in Thee O Give him that Saving Faith which worketh by Love and Purifieth the Heart and Overcometh the World Give him Repentance unto Newness of Life never to be Repented of Cause him by means of this Affliction to Search and Try his wayes and turn him unto Thee his God who in Mercy Chastisest him Afford him Gracious Lord afford this Sick Person the Comfort of an holy Hope that thou Acceptest his Penitential Tears and Contrition of heart Support him by this Hope under all his Sickness and Distemper Say unto him by the inward Testimonies of thy Spirit I am thy Salvation Son be of Good Chear thy Sins are forgiven thee I have heard thee in an Acceptable time I have laid Help for Thee on one who is mighty to Save Jesus Christ the Righteous He is the Propitiation for thy sins O Apply the Merits and Satisfaction of his Dying Redeemer unto the Soul of this thy Servant for Pardon and Acceptance wash it clean in the Blood of that Immaculate Lamb which was Slain to take away the sins of the world and through his Saviour's Stripes let him be Heal'd Bless and Succeed we beseech Thee those Remedies which have or shall be used for the Recovering this weak Afflicted Person to his former Health Command Deliverance for him Thou who art the God of Nature Speak Nature within him into a due Temper and Composure Known unto Thee are the most hidden things O do Thou therefore adapt suitable Medicines to any unknown Cause or hidden Spring of this present Distemper Suffer us Heavenly Father to have Power with thee in Prayer and mightily to Prevail on this thy Servants behalf Thou hast Promised that the Prayer of Faith shall Save the Sick and that the Effectual fervent Prayer of the Righteous shall Avail much O make us Pray in Faith and Believing so as to be Heard make us fervent and Zealous in Prayer so as to have our Prayers Answered Restore we entreat Thee this Diseas'd Person that he may be continued a Blessing and Comfort to his Relations that he may live to Performe his pious Vows and Resolutions made in time of Sickness that he may spend the Residue of his Life more to thy Honour and Glory But if in thy Fatherly wisdom thou seest it fitting to Prolong his Corrections thy Blessed Will be done and may thy Afflicted Servant say Amen with an Entire Submission May he bear further Chastisement in his Body so that his Soul be but Saved in the Day of our Lord. Yet O God most Gracious O most Holy and Mercyful Saviour Thou most worthy Judge Eternal be not Thou Extream to mark whatever he has done Amiss Correct him O Lord but with Judgment not in thine Anger lest Thou bring him to nothing and though thou take not off the Rod of Affliction yet take away thy Displeasure we beseech thee far from him Remember O Lord thy tender Mercies and thy Loving-kindnesses which have been ever of old and Cause this our Sick Friend in Thankful Recollection of former Divine Rescues to put his Trust in thee for a Present Deliverance O suffer him not for any Anguish of Body to let Go his Faith and Confidence in Thee but give him to say with the Stedfastness of holy Job though he Kills me yet will I hope in him Fit O God this Languishing Person for whatever Condition thou shalt call him unto that thy Son Christ Jesus may be unto him whether in Life or Death great Advantage O permit him