me to assigne Some meanest office though to feed the swine But all in vaine her greatnesse did abhor me Had neither place nor yet imployment for me But sternly told me of my sad subjection To wofull stocking whipping and correction Whereat amaz'd I soone was strucken mute Betwixt despair and growing resolute Unto the last bad counsell did intice Bad nature too but grace restrained vice The Authors Epigram DEceitfull world deciphering thy state Who can but erre thou art unto the great A flattering Syren but unto the small A very savage cruell Caniball Thou dandl'st youthfull Dives on thy knee Till with thy pleasures he inchanted be But having got the thing which thou wouldst have Thou mak'st him then thy most contented slave But if poor Lazarus seekes to be imploy'd Or sues for aide he is by thee deny'd Thou only cry'st he doth thy honour blemish Correct the rascall let the vermine famish Alas poore Lazarus of the world excluded Alas rich Dives by the world deluded Poore Lazarus starves his penurie is such Again rich Dives surfets with too much Dives VVHen as the world had given my will content Or I had given unto the world consent Her various beauties did me so inflame My very heart was ravisht with the same I freely drunk her pleasures with delight Whereof the more I drunk the more I might Her profits were unto my hot desire But as more fuell to increase that fire Her greatnesse with respect unto her honour Did for preferment make me wait upon her Her glories were so radiantly set forth I thought upon no other heav'n but earth On earth I only did set up my stay I gave my sences and affections sway And having treasure which might long endure I in that harbour thought my selfe secure Lazarus MOst wretched creature destitute of ayd Of all men loathed and in limmes decay'd I could not worke and therefore might not eat But griping hunger and inforce for meat Beg then I must and so I did indeed I made the world acquainted with my need I made my greefe apparant but alas I I must be punish'd for I had no passe Yet still I beg'd as to that thraldome ty'd Though oft upon my tender kneen deny'd I cry'd for succour and did shew my sores Where people passed and at rich mens dores Thus whiles I beg'd I got reliefe of some But without wofull begging not a crumme High wayes and hedges were any shrouds by day By night full glad to shroud my selfe in hay The Authors Epigram RIch Dives laughs and doth in pleasures swim As if they only were ordain'd for him Poore Lazarus weeps and makes this pitious mone I drinke the sorrowes of the world alone Rich Dives doth no earthly comfort misse By birth much wealth if not the world is his But silly Lazarus as it doth appeare Is borne to beg or borne to nothing heere Rich Dives heere is master and commands Much force if not too much is in his hands Poore Lazarus heere is but the scumme of all Must stoope to meane men downe to rich men fall Dives hath friends is spoken to most faire Dives the worlds owne darling yea her heire Lazarus is only left no love no friend Lazarus is only loath'd but marke the end Lazarus COnsum'd with hunger misery and care Decrep't with cold for want of rags to weare My pined corps and panting heart for ayd Began to languish and my health decay'd With many sighes in this my sad estate I got at length unto the rich mans gate Where in my anguish in my paine and griefe I hop'd for succour and I beg'd reliefe I cal'd I cry'd and as I durst I knock'd But all in vaine the rich mans gate was look'd No gate no doores no eares could open'd be His Curres did far more kindnes shew then he Whereat my heart within my wretched breast Was strucke as dead yea with meere death possest Thus left of man all mercy me denying God everliving shew'd me mercy dying Dives VVHat am I struck with melancholy's dart Come earthly comforts come revive my heart What have you lost your vertue or your skill Which wont to cure me Oh! I yet am ill What desperate change is now in my disease That now offendeth which was wont to please My earthly pleasures and my endlesse gaines Doe now disquiet me nor asswage mu paines Come make my will then of my wealth with speed For now I finde it failes me at my need And run to some Physitian with my state Some learned Doctor for my paines are great Come Doctor come my sicke estate behold Come shew your learning give some ease for gold Some present helpe unto my heart apply A world for life helpe helpe alas I dye The Authors Epigram IF Dives surfets and grown sicke is sad No earthly aid is wanting can be had His friends abound Physitians dare be bold To strive sometimes beyond their rules for gold But wofull Lazarus of the world neglected Lies sicke forsaken harbourlesse rejected No friends to chear no physicke for his good He surfets not but rather sterves for food Rich Dives now he feels unto his pain That all his wealth yea all the world is vain When sicknesse comes their sweetnesse is but small When death their hony then converts to gall Poore Lazarus all his life time in distresse Whose very face deciphers wretchednesse When sicknesse comes it makes him death require When death it gives him what he doth desire Dives O Death most cruell I thou hast struck my heart O wretched body I thou and I must part Thou to a rotting resting place a while I to the ruefull dungeon of exile Thou now a carkaise I a cursed soule Beset with fiends which will have no controule Out of thy prison now I see full cleare Most ugly Divels as they are appeare They seaze upon me with infernall spite They tell me I belong to them by right I have beene by them many yeeres imploy'd Although they by me have not beene discry'd And therefore now I must with them away They long have wayted but have now their prey They must unto proud Lucifer return With me that monster doth in fury burne Lazarus LOng wish'd for day most welcome death to me Which sets me thus from all my sufferings free My wither'd corps now rest in hope to rise My weary'd soul is now on wing and flies Most happy change I how is my chance amended On earth cast out with Angels now attended Who all my life did succour me distrest And now at death will carry me to rest In soule I meane which from my body freed Now viewes those Angels as they are indeed Which sight excels all earthly joyes as far As doth the Sun the most inferiour Star Which glorious spirits with delight inspir'd To see my soule thus out of thrall retir'd Doe in their fiery chariots now of love Thus in my spirit early me above The Authors Epigram HEere I must
into natures book Run to thy mothers long made grave and look If 't be not earth thou cam'st from whence t is plaine That earth which once did live may live again What think'st thou of thy rising from thy bed Fore-tells not that thy rising from the dead In bed thou dost in earth thou shalt but sleep In both in darknesse though in earth most deep Besides when slumber doth possession take Of senses yet the soule is then a wake The soule as it can never dye at all So never sleeps though kept by sleep in thrall God could have made us when we were in making Have stood in need of neither sleep nor waking Had he not purpos'd by them to explain Our sleep in death and life from death again The deepest darkensse of the longest night At length doth vanish by the morning light Which shewes at last the resurrection day Shall chase the night of fatall death away The entercourse of autumn and the spring The winter and the summer teach this thing When plants by a vicessitude we know Both live and dye and dye and live in shew And as the seed which in the earth is sowne Like man it to its deeper furrowes thrown As dying there produceth an increase So man doth but refine there not surcease Much like the Phaenix from whose ashes breed As men much learned give us leave to read Another Phaenix to supply that roome By sun-beams dooting on her lofty tombe But yet if yet thy heart be such a flint That all this shewne takes no impression in 't But still in heart thou say'st there is no God Though with thy tongue thou dar'st not for his rod Let me yet put one question to thee more Yet to illustrate what is said before What say'st to this then sith thou art so evill To doubt of God what think'st thou of a divell Is there think'st thou no divell and no hell Thou maist deny them out of doubt as well For this is certain this from sense doth flow No God above no divell then below But this the grossest heathen doe admit They by experience and meer natures wit Discerne a power beyond the power of men Which power hath by them still admired been But in thy conscience were not such a spark Why shouldst thou be so fearfull in the darke Were there no evill spirits to be seen What do such fears then in thy fancie mean In times of danger eminent t is known There 's no mans heart more shaken then thine own Strange apparitions gastly forms and such Strike trembling in thee nothing else so much From whence proceeds those hidious shapes and sights Those hollow voices and those walking lights Which do so oft in darknesse us affright But from the Prince of darknesse in the night If this suffice not but art still in doubt I know no further meanes to help thee out Unlesse that it were lawfull in this kind To run to Endor to suffice thy mind To such as have some spirits at command Such could most clearly let thee understand Resolve thy doubt and make it to thee cleare There are such fiends yea make the same appear If all this be too little to suffice Then sure there is some divell in thine eies Who keepes thee blinded that thou canst not see Those certain truths which thus decypherd be But oh vain Atheist rest not in this state Nay rest thou canst not t is so desperate Then strive against it exercise thy strength By use it may grow operative at length There yet is eye salve to bewray this mist If that thou dost not wilfully resist There is a sacred fountaine set apart One drop whereof would molifie thy heart Despise not then those soveraign streames below Which down do from that sacred fountain flow Those healing drops which on the crosse were shed Distil'd in Scriptures from the fountaines head Then bring thy heart that cistern into frame And let those conduits run into the same That still thou mayst by turning of the cock Such fearefull doubts those brasing doores unlock Thy heart no dout in doubts the harder growes Because the milk which form the Scripture flowes Which is most pretious to dissolve such flint Is not apply'd unto that Adamant At Scriptures breasts disdaine not sucking then There 's milke for babes and meat for strongest men There 's meat for Saempson sweet meat too not gall And hony for the fainting Son of Saul There doth that tree of heav'nly knowledge grow Which God hath pleas'd to plant with men below Another tree of knowledge shall be given More glorious too but that shall be in heaven But further knowledge then is here reveal'd The more thou seekst the more t is here conceal'd And that no doubt hath been a reason why Thou dost those truths which are reveal'd deny There 's nothing hid that shall not be made known But here 's the height of thy ambition shown Thou here wouldst to that height of knowledge clime Which is reserv'd untill another time Thou here in all things much imperfect art And therefore here thou canst but know in part But when thy cloud of flesh be done away Things secret shall be manifest as day But wouldst thou wisely harbour a desire To view those secrets Angels do admire Then first beleeve for God hath made it plain We must beleeve before we do obtain Heaven is a dowery God hath to bestow Faith 's our assurance of the same below Strive then for faith thou hast a curious eye Nothing but faith can give thee full supply Faith in this vain and emptie vale I mean By faith possessing things are yet unseen That so in fine when fruitful faith shall cease Thou mayst in glory reap thy faiths increase In heaven injoy that height of joy which here Doth only to the eye of faith appear Yea foolish man couldst thou become so wise As to beleeve a heaven above the skies And such a God a gentle God therein As for his Sons sake will remit thy sin Thou thither likewise should'st be rais'd in fine For there the faithfull shall in glory shine And those same hidden secrets which have bin Thy tortures here should most delight thee then The world to come which here thou canst not view Thou there should'st finde unto by comfort true The God above which here thou dost deny Thou there should'st see and His eternity How God should be without beginning here Confounds thee quite but there it doth appeare How spirits do subsist and what they are Thou know'st not here but 't is discover'd there And how Gods word should make a world alas Such hidden things do humane sense surpasse But when that heav'n shall humane sense refine Or rather humane sense shall prove divine God with such secrets then will thee acquaint If here by faith thou wilt be first his Saint But yet if yet thou beest a sleep so fast That all this will not rouse thee up at last But still thou
thy store That thou mights furnish what was void before Yea to make fruitfull and adorne that frame Both to inrich and beautifie the same Thou sayd'st unto the waters multiply Be fruitfull and bring forth abundantly Who hearing in their language what was said Without delay most cheerfully obey'd Thou sayd'st unto the earth then barren beare The earth did as it were thy language hear And brought forth thousands multitudes and more Of creatures which were never seen before And to the ayre thy word did but proceed Let there be foules and it was so indeed Lord what a large and wondrous preparation Was this which was the spacious worlds creation To entertaine whose greatnesse was it than Alas but for that little creature Man Nay as if this had been too little still To manifest to mankinde thy good will Thou didst prepare a garden ready deck'd With all the objects in it of delight That might seem pleasing fruit delicious growing On trees most fruitfull streams most pleasant flowing Whose flowry banck with flowers and roses set Appear'd more glorious then the pearles in jet All this prepared in this heavenly sort Thou caldst this councell in thy heavnly court Come let us make man in our Image drest For whom we have created all the rest Thou took'st a peece then of thy late form'd clay And form'd a man in a most perfect way And by a way can not be understood That form converted into flesh and blood Thou only breathedst on his breathlesse face Which gave him life and with that life thy grace Which was infus'd into that power divine His soule in which thy sacred selfe did shine His body was in such perfection made That till the Serpent did his soule invade It could not suffer any kind of wrath But had a power against the power of death But for his soule that was divine indeed In it thou couldst thy sacred Image read In Characters which none could understand So well as thee because it was thy hand Within that center thou couldst cleerly see In one the picture of thy persons three Three faculties within it representing Three Persons in thy Deitie consenting As Father Son and holy Ghost agree To make but one eternall God in thee So understanding memory and will Make but one soule and undevided still The understanding of it selfe as prime The memory by knowledge got in time The will and the affections lastly breeding From knowledge and from memory proceeding All these at first in Adams soule were pure And sparks which had a nature to indure Adam was in his understanding part So holy and so innocent in heart That nakednesse unto his conscience cleere Did neither shame nor nakednesse appeare His memory was unpolluted still Because his knowledge had begot no ill His thoughts his fancies meditations sweet And did not with the least disturbance meet His will and his affections all were free'd From all corruption as they might indeed Those cisterns must with water pure be fill'd Whose fountaines have no other streames to yeeld Lord what a heav'nly harmony was here When all these strings were thus in tune and cleere Heav'nly indeed for thou hadst set the keyes Rare musick for an earthly paradise Again besides this concord in his brest Which cannot be sufficiently exprest All things without him were at peace and stay'd The Lion and the Lamb together play'd Each creature did with other feed and sleep And all to Adam innocent as sheep All these thou gav'st him freely to command Yea all the world as it did blooming stand And bad'st him take and eate restraining none Of all the dainties in the world but one And that was no restraint to him no doubt His mind was so well satisfi'd without He had not then that motion in him hidden To covet that most which is most forbidden And in this state that Adam might have stood He had a power to have restrain'd that good Only thou mad'st his libertie so free That he might stand or he might fall from thee But Adam loe he stood not long thus great Grac'd with a help too meet for his estate But that the divell all his force imployd To worke upon the freedome man injoy'd The Serpent Sathan Lucifer that star Which heavens had cast out in a holy war Thrown forth for ever to extend his pride At most no higher then the clouds do ride Who being downe into that chaos hurld Where out at length thou did'st create the world And having fram'd that building by thy power Plac'd man as chiefe upon its highest tower This author both of envy and deceit Admiring Adam in his matchlesse height His rancor did with boyling envy swell He rais'd his powers and stratagems of hell And joyn'd them all for a most deadly fight Against poore Adam innocent and quiet But recollecting as it were his course Of seising upon Adam so by force Perceiving Adams happinesse did lye Most in his soule which death could not destroy This deep imposter and most subtill fiend Dissembled malice and would seem a friend And sought by fair means so to take away Those pearls in Adam force could not betray He sought to Eve first but to Adam by her And tempted Adam whiles he seem'd to try her His baite he unto Eves acceptance laid But Eve consenting Adam was betray'd For Sathans fore-cast aym'd at this event That Adam would give smiling Eve content And by that means to bring them both in thrall Made one a means to make the other fall Oh! fatall means and fearfull too alas For by that means he brought his will to passe The bait he proffer'd to obtaine his suit It was no lesse then the forbidden fruit Faire to the eye and pleasing to the tast But strong and deadly poyson to digest The arguments he used to perswade Were that they thereby should like Gods be made Knowing both good and evill which was true In part for they till then no evill knew But Adam tasting by the divels art That only fruit which thou hadst set apart And told him if he tasted he should dye Though Sathan did that certaine truth deny Adam did thereby instantly become A slave to Sathan subject to thy doome And conscious of his sin and therefore said He saw his nakednesse and was afraid Afraid indeed afraid he well might be Made thus a bondslave who before was free And not alone to Sathan but to sin To his affections now defil'd within His senses yea his soule became defil'd And all the streames that issu'd thence were soyld His understanding which before was pure Became corrupted earthly and obscure His memory a nursery of store In which he treasur'd up contents before Became a tedious Register wherin His conscience did torment him for his sin His will and his affections which were just Became rebellious and disorder'd lust His heart where innocencie sat as Queen Became a cage of spirits most uncleane Yea every sence of his which were before Unto the
as is due Our seales to witnesse that thy word is true But all the praise or profit else redound From our beleeving on our heads rebound We do beleeve because it is thy will But by beleeving our desires fulfill What thou commandest ought to be fulfild But we obeying conquer whiles we yeeld Most gratious God what Lord is like to thee Whose Laws give life and whose commands make free Well my we to thy statutes have regard In keeping which there is such great reward And yet in all thy just commands injoynd This one of all we do most easie find Which is our faith yet this of all the rest Most richly crownes us and doth please thee best Dear faith how deep are thy foundations laid Most glorious things may well of thee be said Could we but in thy nature perfect prove The highest mountaines at our beck Would move Through thee we see our sines are wash'd away To thee the very powers of sin obey By thee we are made heires of things above Yea have an intrest in the God of love And mounted on the sublime wings we fly With boldnesse to the Throne of grace on high The fire and faith agree in these respects The fire hath heat and faith hath its effects Only the heat doth from the fire proceed Even so from faith do other graces breed Faith then is mother of each other grace Those not borne of her are but brats of base For till that faith doth sanctifie our hearts Our highest vertues are but morall parts Faith Lord is then thy stampe upon the coyn To make it currant and acknowledg'd thine Upon our graces wherein thou dost read The very Image of thy selfe indeed Lord melt our hearts then which are else but flint That this thy stamp may therein leave thy print And make the working luster of it bright For we can know it by no other light For as some pretious roots within the ground Can not or can be very hardly found But only when the springtime doth declare Their secret lodgings by the fruit thy beare So faith that plant implanted in our soules Growes so concealed from our sight like moules That we want knowledge to discern that root But by the branches and the fruits that sproot Faith then we must have or we must lose all A living faith too or else die we shall Faiths life appeareth by the fruit it beares It fruit appeareth being grain not tares O pretious fruit may that in us be found We have no cause then to suspect the ground Only it doth belong to us to weed And cast out all that may offend the seed Conscience wounded with sin Psalme 38. MIne iniquities are gone over mine head as an heavy Burthen too heavy for me verse 4. My wounds stinck and are corrupt because of my foolishnesse verse 5. I am troubled I am bowed downe greatly I goe mourning all the day long verse 6. For my loynes are full with a loathsome disease and there is no sound part in my flesh verse 7. I am feeble and sore broken I have roared because of the disquietnesse of my heart verse 7. Oyle and wine powred in Psalme 42. VVHy art thou so cast down oh my soule and why art thou so disquieted within me hope thou in God Psalme 103. THe Lord is mercifull and gratious slow to anger and plentious in goodnesse verse 8. He will not alwaies chide neither will he keepe his anger for ever verse 9. Like as a Father pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him verse 13. For hee knoweth our frame he remembreth we are but dust verse 14. Desires of Aid THou good Samaritan thou God of art Good by thy readynesse God by thy skill In powring Oyle and wine into the heart That sin hath wounded oh direct my quill That in that best experience sence of feeling I may discover both to wound and healing We are the wounded Travellers indeed But thou art wounded with compassion more Our wounds do make thy wounded heart to bleed Thy blood applyd doth he ale our bleeding sore Oh pretious balme oh let it be applyd And let my hand be by thy help a guide The Conscience wounded with sin OH my mine iniquities my sin my sin Too heavy for me oh I sinck therein It doth go over as it were my head Intolerable burden no such lead My wounds are putrifi'd corrupt and stinck My foolishnesse is such my teares I drink Troubl'd and pressed with the weight I beare All the day mourning never free from care My loynes are fil'd with loathsomnesse besides There is no soundnesse in my flesh abides My conscience roares within me and the smart Torments me with the anguish of my heart Oyle and wine powred in BUt why art thou thus cast down oh my soule Why dost thou not those fearfull doubts controull Why art thou thus disquieted in my brest Oh trust in God returne unto thy rest The Lord the Lord is mercifull and kind Most slow to wrath and to forgive inclin'd Although offended doth not alwaies chide His anger doth but for a space abide Like a most tender Father to his childe So is he pitifull and much more milde For he considers where our frailty lyes And therefore bears with our infirmities The Authors Epigram COnscience oh conscience how comes this to passe Canst thou be wounded and yet arm'd in brasse Yea in a habit far more hard then steel A conscience seared hath no sense to feel But can sin wound thus hath it such a dart Yea wound thus deeply pricking at the heart Oh cruell weapon can it thus indent Through brasse through steel yea through this adamant And yet sin works not thus upon the soule That it would conscience in the act controll But rather rocks the conscience most asleep When like an aspe it makes the wound most deep Then there is nothing can do conscience good Till it be sprinkled with dissolving blood But then each motion that doth sin apply Doth wound the conscience and doth terrifie The conscience wounded with sin ALas alas the soule that sinsmust die So Scriptures tell me can the Scriptures lie No no the Scriptures never can be broken No word shall fail that is in Scripture spoken Oh then what comfort can remaine for me How scapes my soule my sinfull soule then free For I have sin'd and sin to death betraies Death is the wages that hard master payes Inviolable word of God herein Most miserable wretch that I did sin Most wretched slave that such a Master hath Most cruell wages oh eternall death Oyle and wine powred in VVHy will you dye thus doth our Father call When I delight not in your death at all Why will you dye then Oh returne and live I pardon sin and freely doe forgive My mercies please me I delight remorse But justice comes forth by constraint and force Beleeve and live this God the Son hath brought us And by his death from death eternall
Palace of his soule a doore To keep in vertue and to shut out sin Were then set ope to let that traytor in Which traytor enter'd struck with sin as dead The whole man from the feet unto the head Who to thy foe thus being brought in thrall Lost both thy image and himselfe withall Nay yet lost more for by this cursed deed Losing himselfe he lost his wretched seed He lost thy image lost thy love thy grace He lost himselfe his happinesse and race Oh fearfull losse and eke oh fearfull gain Thou wert depos'd thy enemy did raigne Thy image lost the divell put on his Heaven was exchang'd for hels most deep abysse Lord what a heavy hidious change was here Lord how did man then in thy sight appear Lord with what patience couldst thou then abide To see the divell so in triumph ride Or Lord what pity in thy bowels boyl'd To see poore Adam so for ever foyl'd To see poore Adam thus undone by theft Thus of his jewells of thy grace bereft Cast out by thee of Paradise below And left unto the malice of his foe Nay foes indeed and a most potent troup The creatures all who were ordain'd to stoup At Adams beck now in rebellion rose The elements they all became his foes Which were his friends and all at peace before The winds to rage the sea began to roare The fire to burn and which of all is worst The earth for his offence became accurst Oh! Adam Adam though we may refuse As we are sons our father to accuse Yet being wounded by thy deadly blow We cannot but lament thy overthrow Hadst thou in tryall nor been over come Though we thy seed who should succeed thy room Had fallen our fall it had been small to thine Thy fall as head hath tainted all thy line Thou art our Head and we thy members be Thou art condemned how can we be free Had but a member only fault bin A member only should have dy'd therein But through the one death raigned over all Death by thy death brought all to death in thrall Death temporall that no mortall shall divert Death too eternall is our due desert Lord most immense in mercy yet so pure Thy sight can no polluted thing indure How could thy mercy and thy justice meet In viewing Adam thus from off his feet But how can we thy mysteries discusse Whose wayes are so past finding out by us Thou in thy wisdome it is so divine Couldst make thy mercy through thy justice shine When thou whose wayes cannot be understood Saw'st Adam thus polluted in his blood As Lord thy justice did his sentence give Of death thy mercy said unto him live Sure 't was the time of love when thou pass'd by For Adam only had deserv'd to dye That justice did injoyne but live again Thy mercy only did that musicke strain Oh! heavenly musick harmony most blest Thus peace and justice truth and mercy kist Justice by death thus satisfi'd in striving Mercy againe thus answer'd by reviving But Adams soule did first to sin consent His body guilty as an instrument Could then the death of Adams body serve When Adams soule did greatest death deserve No no alas that cannot serve the turne Although the body should for ever burne In flames of hell it could not satisfie Thou hast pronounc'd the soule that sins shall dye Most gracious God and great beyond conceit How could poore Adam beare this heavy weight Poore feeble fearfull faint and bending reed Support a burden infinite indeed Here was indeed the depth of miseries Adam must dye but death would not suffice His fact so foule and infinite had bin Death temp'rall could not expiate his sin Justice must yet be satisfi'd by dying Death temp'rall it could not be satisfying Adam must therefore suffer death eternall Or rather live a death which is infernall Lord thus we finde and make confession must Thy wayes are right our condemnation just We thus behold thy streams of justice flowing Most justly to our utter overthrowing But though thy justice seem'd to goe before Yet thou hadst mercy treasur'd up in store To free those slaves that Adam brought in thrall That so thou might'st have mercy upon all Well may we say love in thy bosome burn'd And bowells in thee of compassion yern'd How like a deare and most indulgent father Or like a melting hearted mother rather Who when her infant hath receiv'd some harmes Then most bemoanes it in her tender armes Even so thy goodnes did thy love bewray In that thy mercy could not brook delay But in the instant whiles the wound did bleed Prescrib'd a plaister for the wounded seed And mov'd with fury against Adams foe Who like a serpent had betray'd him so Not only for the present curs'd him for 't But thence for ever made his chaine more short And told that Serpent that the womans seed Which he had so much shaken in that reed That it should unto such a Cedar grow As should infine his Kingdome overthrow Oh! pretious promise drop'd from thine own pen Peace upon earth and good will unto men Both oyle and wine to heale the wounded man Drawn from that wounded good Samaritan Oh pretious promise by which Adams wife Late of his death becomes his means of life Oh pretious promise and for ever sweet By which divided heaven and earth did meet But Lord what seed what heavenly seed was this Whose promise only could afford such blisse Seed heavenly yea seed wonderfull indeed On which our fathers many years did feed To life yea unto life eternall while This seed it seem'd was buried in the soyle But when this promise should become fulfil'd Lord what a harvest must this seed then yeeld But when this seed converteth into bread It must give life sure to the very dead This did exceed the Manna which was given This was the bread that did come down from heaven The bread of God yea very God indeed Thy selfe oh Lord was promis'd in this seed A bread ordain'd before the world began To save the world to give new life to man And when the fulnesse of the time expir'd Thou did'st fulfill what man had long desir'd Mad'st that appear in substance to be true Which was before but shadow'd to the view But oh thou wonder-working God above Whose justice thus but amplifies thy love Who but thy selfe could have by searching pry'd How mercy could have justice satisfi'd But who but thee could ever have been brought To work a wonder as this worke was wrought That thou whose justice did mans sentence give Shouldst in thy mercy die that man might live And yet we do unto our comfort find Thou in thy mercy wert to man thus kind Rather then mankind should for ever lie In chaines of death the God of life would die But gratious God how can this granted be Thou art a spirit form corruption free The fountain too of life it selfe how then Canst thou be said to dye
for sinfull men Besides great God if thou as God couldst dye Which thing we must for evermore deny Yet man from death could thereby not be free For man hath sin'd and man must punish'd be Oh I soule polluting deadly sinck of sin That mankind should be so defil'd therein That God himselfe and only God remain Might not forgive nor wash away the stain No way but suffering would make full supplies Offended justice claim'd a sacrifice Man had no offering that would serve the turn Thou mightst not but thy melting heart did yern Yern Lord indeed to see hells raging fire But sawst no Sacrifice to thy desire And yet that man for ever might not burn Thou didst prepare a body for the turn Because that man no sacrifice could find Nor could thy Godhead suffer in that kind Thou didst unite by everlasting ties Thy selfe to man to be a sacrifice Thy second person and thy only Son Begotten long before the world begun Who scorning shame through all the danger ran Tooke flesh upon him and was found a man A perfect man and perfect God likewise And so became a perfect sacrifice As man for man he dy'd and lay as slain As God he conquerd death and rose again A perfect man without defect by sin A perfect God he had for ever bin Hid God-head and his manhood both intire Yet joynd in one one person we admire By thy decree he put out nature on Our nature thus exceping sin alone And living guiltlesse for himselfe therein He dying free'd the guilt of other men But being guiltlesse death was not his due Indeed respecting of himselfe t is true But he be came man onely to that end As free to free men that by sin offend But could the death of one suffice for all Yes such a one as we may truly call Both God and man yea God whose sacrifice All men nay Angells cannot equallize If Adam but a creature could so fall To bring all creatures of the world in thrall Sure the creating God made man might free All mankind fallen in a more full degree A second Adam thus is truly found To save the world the first in sin had drownd That as by one man all men guilty stood Even so by one man all might be made good First Adam falling dy'd be cause he fell The second standing dy'd of his good will A free will offering thus he freely gave Which by his free will had a power to save A free will offering Lord we truly say For of thy selfe thou hadst no debt to pay Untill it pleas'd thee to assigne thy Son To pay mans debt whom sin had quite undon Dear God that thou shouldst bring thy selfe in debt The greatnesse of it too should be no let Should'st binde thy selfe by promising a seed When thou before wert absolutely freed Could not the greatnesse of the debt to pay Those flames of love within thy breast alay When thou consider'st in thy deep fore-cast That it would cost thy dearest blould at last Lord what is man we still may aske of thee That for his sake thou could'st thous moved be That he which in thy bosome did remaine Should be a Lambe from the beginning slaine These secrets sure were hid from Adams eyes Had he knowne these he would have been more wise But we poore wretched we that with him fell Dp know and yet we doe again rebell We know and doe acknowledge as we read All this fulfill'd which was before decree'd That this eternall Seed thy Son is come By thee begotten in the Virgins wombe And by a way beyond our reach became Both God and Man a Lion and a Lambe We know againe thy Scriptures testifie How like a Lambe he did both live and dye How sinlesse blamelesse harmlesse and demure He did the malice of the world indure Number'd with sinners and yet free from spot Smitten of sinners yet he threatned not Led as a sheep did to the slaughter come Yet opened not his mouth but was as dumbe Where like a Lambe most innocent and free To cleare the guilty must condemned be And to regaine our freedome by his losse He by our sins was nayl'd unto the crosse Where wounded with those soul deep wounding spears Instead of a distilling floods of tears Heaven was set open and its fountaines ran With streams of bloud to wash polluted man Where like a lamb once offer'd up for all He drank not only vinegar and gall But dranke that bitter cup which doth therein The vialls of thy vengeance due for sin By drinking which he did asslwage thine ire He quench'd the flames of everlasting fire And purchas'd heaven to â—â—â—â—â—ate gaping hell And all for mankind out of meere good will Oh! worke of wonder can our hearts not shake At this whereat the very earth did quake The stones did rend graves let out men that slept The heavens above put out thelt lights and wept We read again when he thus like a lamb Had finish'd that for which he hither came How like a Lion he began to wake Or how like Sampson he the cords did breake And did assume his sacred corps again As one returnd with conquest from the slain Who like a Lion joy full of his prey He having took the sting of death away And made the grave a bed of sweet repose He rould away the mightie stone and rose And came and preach'd by his new preaching birth Deliverance unto captive men on earth Yea in the earth his rising from the grave Of all mens rising testimony gave This Lion now of Iudas Tribe as man Having fulfild his Priest here began To take his Royall Scepter in his hand As King to rule as God to Kings command But Lord his body now was glorifi'd He might no longer now on earth abide His Kingdome was not of this wotld not here His seat so raigne was in a higher spheare He must to heav'n into the throne of grace The earth is but his foot-stoole and too base And having fully all thy Law fulfil'd Made death the divell hell and sin to yeeld He did ride up triumphant in renown After his conquest to receive his Crowne Where thou hast crownd him with a crown more worth Then all the richest Diadems on earth With heaven it selfe and earth besides with all Those higher circles and this nether ball And with this scepter in his hand as fit Hast at thy right hand him in glory set Where he remains exalted and as God Doth rule the wicked with an iron rod But as he yet is God and man we read As man he yet for man doth intercede To thee his Father shewing of the scars Which he received in his hloody warres And thus he hath a Priest-hood yet on high Though not to suffer yet to sanctifie All our oblations and his saving Name The Alter where thou wilt accept the same Together with his Person where is kept The forme of man into thy bosome crept Whose sacred body