yee trusted Bee they riches honours friends or any other vaine thing whatsoever they shall availe you nothing at the houre of death but leaving these behind you ye shall goe naked unto the Tribunall of God to receive according to your works What blindnesse nay what madnes is it then to rejoyce here in your journey to love fraile things which profit nothing to neglect the time and occasion of living well and as if without all sense of God through drousinesse and drynesse of mind to rellish those things onely which are of the flesh to have in pursuit those things onely which are outward and not at all to consider the dangerous state of the inward man and so to come unto death Alas how innumerable are those miserably wretched ones who are here deceived with the love of the world ensnared and â—y drawing after them the yoake of the Devill how unhappily slaved And thus unexpectedly they come unto death with hearts both hardned and blinded Alas how unhappy is the end of their life with whom there was never Meditation of death nor preparation for health Such things therefore are to bee rejected as hinder the spirit delight the flesh Such things to bee relinquished as are not expedient In such sort is every one to live every houre as if that were his very last wherein he should dye and goe to judgement This is the most fruitfull profitable soveraigne counsell O Daughter that thou maist live after this manner and that death may be to thee no terrour Now then if not continually yet frequently should that houre bee presented before thee as if it were before thine eyes wherein thy soule going out of thy body shall be judged for all thy workes words and thoughts This therefore oughtst thou even at this present to injoyn thy selfe that thou maist live so even now to the end thou maist be found so prepared is thou wouldst thy selfe to bee prepared whensoever death shall undoubtedly come It is the property of a most sottish and senselesse heart to deferre amendment of life to that time when time expireth when thou canst live no longer when now thou art not to amend thy life but to appeare before God as thou art already amended Surely not sinnes only but even all things doe leave thee going out of this life Thou art not then properly said to leave thy sins when thou canst now sin no more But if whilest thou hast ability to sin thou cease from sin true repentance is never to be called late but this which is deferred to the end of thy life it is to be feared that it is seldome true For if through feare of damnation only being even now to die thou sorrowest and art ready for the avoiding of punishment to performe any taske be it never so extreme to obtaine pardon Thou sorrowest not out of charity in that thou hast offended God but out of selfe-love for that thou wishest to thy selfe good and not evill For thou sorrowest because thou hast brought to thy selfe eternall damnation by thy sinnes Wheras if thou rightly sorrowest for this only wouldst thou sorrow in that thou so disobedient unto me so unthankfull to me so reproachfull to me hast not exhibited due honour and reverence unto me whom thou oughtest with al affection to have honored whatsoever should befall thee Whereas now forasmuch as thou only sorrowest for thy selfe if danger were avoided or no revenge on sinne inflicted thou wouldst never lament though thou hadst offended me a thousand yeares together True Repentance which reconcileth the soule unto me springeth from Charitie and bewaileth this especially that shee hath so greatly and grievously contemned and offended mee her best greatest gracioust and most faithfull LORD GOD her Creator and Redeemer Hence I say is his heart wounded for as much as so unthankfully so disobediently and so proudly being buâ— dust and nothing hee hath lifted up his head against me Whosoever therefore desireth to dye happily let him as mine A postle admonisheth him live soberly justly and holily An evill death followeth not a good and just life but precious in my sight is thâ— death of my Saints yea after what sort of death soever they die that is whether they dye by water or fire or in bed But to prepare thee all the better for death the Meditation whereof is the life of every wise man take here along with thee this short exercise by which every one may instruct and addresse himselfe that he may take a course to be found in that state in which he may not feare to dye Wholesome Admonitions teaching a Christian how to dye well WHATSOEVER dying thou wouldst wish that thou hadst done doe the same even now Whatsoever thou wouldst have done doe not commit this unto others to be done after thy death but doe thou it thy selfe for if thou thy selfe bee negligent of thine owne salvation and a traytour to thy selfe how shall strangers tender thy happinesse Doe not repose trust in uncertaine and vaine promises neither commit thy selfe to doubtfull events So live and so doe that thou maist bee safe in thy conscience and as if thou wert this day to dye Never goe to sleepe till such time as thou hast examined the expence of the day with the conditions and actions of thy life Discusse and call to judgement thine heart and examine all thy senses and whether thou art become better or worse this day Never goe with that conscience to sleepe with which thou darest not dye If thou findest thy selfe in that state wherein thou fearest to dye search out the cause of this feare For peradventure some sins are in thee whereof thou hast not as yet repented or refusest to confesse or else thou forbearest to abstaine from sinne and occasions of sin or thou takest upon thee some profession office or vocation which I admit not of or thou continuest in hatred or in the unjust possession of others goods or too much affected to the desire or delight of temporall affaires or taken with the inordinate love of some creature or drowned with the delight of earthly and visible things as of honour and riches thou canst not turne thy selfe to mee tasting nothing of those things which are of the Spirit but onely let loose to outward things and loathing those which are divine therefore it is that thou fearest death Because thy soule guiltie of evill in her-selfe foretelleth what torments shall befall her after death If any of these shall be in thee thou oughtest to abhorre pursue and with all thine endevour to free thee of them For which purpose and the better effecting of so glorious a designe it may helpe thee much to imitate my steps embrace my crosse and with rigour of mind and with holy hatred commenced against thy selfe to denounce warre upon all thy vices to have a purpose to sinne no more frequently and infatigably to renue the same with no infirmitie or
fulfill thee throughout that Where sin hath abounded grace likewise may superabound Yet I would beloved I would be trusted I would with sighs and teares be intreated than which no sweeter melody can unto me be tendred Sinner O my crucified JESU I know I am dearer to thee than I am to my selfe for to thee I am alwayes deare who as it is written Lovest all things that are and hatest nothing of those which thou hast made But man is not alwaies equally deare to himselfe as he is unro thee because hee that loveth iniquity hateth his ownâ— soule Christ. This have I shewn in the continuall sorrowes of my whole cruâ—ified life For I received the Crosse of my Passion in the Womb of my mother and continually bore it in my heart and confirmed it with much austerity in my body So as that I might purposely shew the unmeasurablenesse of the sorrowes of my soule my finall passion then approaching it was my will to sweat blood thorow all my members and that which lay hid as a secret of my crucifying from the wombe of my Mother with sensible signes to reveale to my faithfull ones which seemed fittest to be at my passage and poinâ— of death Sinner I conceive my good JESU how in that bloudy sweat with which thou wert deep-died and engrained in all thy members thy blessed soule wholly suffered because it is whole in every part of the body yea and the very life of the body But tell me what thou requirest of me for so great anguish continually sustained for me Christ. Onely to love me againe For to this end have I suffered my passion that I might purchase thy affection Sinner Surely most worthy art thou to bee loved because thou art good in thy selfe and none good but God alone And because thou art the Lord delivering from the power and slavery of the Devill And because thou art God forgiving sinnes which none forgiveth but God alone And because thou lovest those that love thee Whence it is that thou sayest I love those that love mee And because thou hearest those that begge of thee whence one saith I have loved the Lord because hee will heare mee Thou also as the peace of charity comming into the world to warme and inflame the cold and lukewarme hast said I came that they might have life to wit the life of grace in this life and more abundantly to wit of glory in the life to come Christ. Surely there is nothing which may so inflame the fire of Gods love in thy heart as a continuall consideration and meditation of this speech of mine I came that they might have life and that more abundantly And of that much like unto this So God loved the world as he gave his onely begotten Sonne Sinner Truly wretched and miserable is hee in whose heart the fire of love is not kindled when hee considereth these things wherein the Charity of God hath chiefly appeared But ô thou only begotten of God suffer not my heart to bee so frozen or benummed with this icy congelation but rather through thy mercy in the remembrance of these thy Words like Snow melting by the heat of the Sunne let me say with that princely Prophet My heart is become as melting wax Christ. Humane impiety before the time of my passion tooke occasion of being unthankfull For man being created but not as then redeemed said I am no more bound to God than other creatures be For he spake the word and I was made hee hath bestowed no more labour on me than any other brute creature But now the mouth of these that speak wickedly is stopped and no place now is left for unthankfulnesse For I have laboured more in the sole redemption of man than in the whole frame and fabrick of the World For of a Master I became a servant of Rich poore of Immortall mortall of the Word flesh of the Sonne of God the son of man I suffered reproaches of such as upbraided me I suffered underminers in my Works contradicters in my Words scorners in my Woes necessities of the flesh horrour of death ignominy of the Crosse. Sinner O how admirable was this love What shall I render to my Lord for all his sorrowes Christ. If thou recall to mind how great things the Lord of Majesty the Sonne of God suffered for thee though thou shouldâ—t dye a thousand deaths yet wert thou not equally sufficient to answer me for the estimate of so great a benefit exceedeth all meanes of requitall Sinner As thou best knowest how much I owe unto thee the Lord of glory who subjectedst thy self to death for me that I might enjoy that happinesse which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard recount unto me I beseech thee the reasons which caused that most dolorous paine in thy most holy soule For thou saidst right now that in the wombe of thy blessed Mother thou receivedst the Crosse of thy Passion and bore it continually to the houre of thy dissolution Christ. To this end that thou mightst by affection compassion become an acceptable sacrifice unto God wholly inflamed with the fire of Charity all the rust and rubbish of sin being consumed and wasted Consider diligently with a lively heart how I suffred a double Martyrdome one in my body another in my soule or Spirit As touching the Martyrdome of my Body consider that there was never the suffering of any martyr so sharp so painfull that it might be compared with my suffering which I will prove unto thee by authority by signe by reason First by authority For I my selfe crying out of the greatnesse of my sorrows said O all yee who passe by this way consider and see if ever there were sorrow like unto my sorrow as if I should have said there was never any Secondly by Signe Forasmuch as there were never so many Signes seene in the Martyrdome of any as at my Passion implying the sharpnesse and painfulnesse of it to wit When the Sunne was darkned the Earth moved c. As if by the dolorous clamours of my passion they had conceived a sense of devout compassion bemoning me the Son of God hanging on the Crosse. For it was not in the creature to indure the injury done to the Creatour Wherein wicked and obdurate hearts are justly reproved who will not be wrought to compassion nor softned with a pious devotion in the remembrance of my death Thirdly I prove unto thee the bitternesse of my passion by reason Forasmuch as my complexion was most excellent both by reason of the incorruption of my flesh as also by reason of the most proportionable union or mixture of the Elementary qualities For I tooke corruptible flesh of the Virgin for the freeing of all Originall sinne that is of inordinate concupiscence Now to such a complexion was required comelinesse of beauty and strength of body Because therefore by how much more proportionable the union is of those Elements and qualities whereof
to goe back Let it not then delight thee to stand in the course of piety but endevour alwaies to walke in the way of the Lord. In thy conversation bee cheerefull to all distastefull to none familiar to few Live to Godward devoutly to thy selfe chastly to thy Neighbour justly Use thy friend as a pledge of affection thine enemy for a triall of thy patience all men to a well-disposed benevolence and wherein thou maist more effectually worke to beneficence While thou livest dye dayly to thy selfe and to thy vices So in thy death maist thou live to God Let meekenesse appeare in thy affection mildnesse in thy countenance humility in thy habit modesty in thy habitation patience in tribulation Let facility be in thine accesse decency in thy dresse humility in thy presence affability in thy discourse benignity in thy wayes charity in thy works Let constancy be in thine eie content in thy chest temperance in thy cup. Observe moderation in thy desires discretion in thy delights Think alwaies of those 3. things past Evil committed Good omitted Time mis-speÌ„ded Think alwaies of these 3. things present â—he shortnes of this present life the difficulty of being saved the fewnesse of those that are to be saved Think alwayes of these three things to come Death than which nothing is more horrible Judgement than which nothing is more terrible the paine of Hell than which nothing more intolerable Let thine Evening Prayers redeeme the sinnes of the forepast day let the last day of the weeke reforme the offences of the dayes gone before Thinke in the Evening how many soules are that same day thrown head-long into Hell and give thankes unto God for that hee hath given thee time to repent in There be three things above thee which ought never to depart from thy memory That Eye which seeth all things that Eare which heareth all things and those bookes wherein all things are recorded Wholly hath God communicated himselfe to thee communicate thy selfe likewise wholly to thy neighbour That is the best life which is wholly employed to the behoofe and benefit of others Render to thy superiour obedience and reverence to thy equall counsell and assistance to thy inferiour succour supportance Let thy body be subjected to thy mind and thy mind to God Bewaile thy evils past disesteeme thy goods present covet with all the desire of thine heart those goods to come Remember thy sin that thou maist grieve Remember thy death that thou maist cease from sinne Remember Gods justice that thou maist feare Remember Gods mercy lest thou despaire Withdraw thy selfe as much as thou canst from the World and devote thy selfe wholly to the service of God Thinke alwayes how chastity is endangerd by delicacy humility by prosperity and piety by employments transitory Desire to please none but Christ feare to displease none but Christ. Beseech God alwayes that as he bids what he would so he would doe what hee bids that hee would protect what is done and direct in what is to bee done Endevour thy selfe to bee what thou wouldst have thy self thought to be for God judgeth not according to the outward semblance but according to the inward substance In thy discourse beware of much speech because account shall be required of every vaine word Whatsoever thy works bee they passe not away but as certaine seeds of eternity are they bestowed if thou sow according to the flesh from the flesh shalt thou reape corruption if thou sow after the Spirit from the Spirit shalt thou reap the reward of eternall retribution After death neither shall the honours of this World follow thee nor heaps of riches favour thee nor pleasures enjoy thee nor the vanities of this World possesse thee but after the fatall and full period of this life all thy works shall follow thee As then thou desirest to appeare in the day of judgement appeare such in the sight of God at this present Thinke not with thy selfe what thou hast but rather what thou wantst Pride not thy selfe for that which is given thee but rather become humbled for that which is deni'd thee Learne to live now while thou maist live In this time is eternall life either got or lost After death there remains no time for working for then begins the time of rewarding In the life to come is not expected any worke but payment for the worke Holy Meditation may beget in thee knowledge knowledge compunction compunction devotion devotion may produce prayer Great good for peace of the heart is the silence of the mouth By how much more as thou art divided from the World so much more acceptable art thou unto God Whatsoever thou desirest to have aske it of God whatsoever thou already hast attribute it to God He is not worthy to receive more who is not thankfull for what he hath received Then stops the course or current of Gods grace to man when man makes no recourse by thankfulnesse to God Whatsoever befals thee turne it to good so often as prosperity comes upon thee thinke how occasion of blessing and praising God is ministred unto thee againe so often as adversity aâ—â—ayles thee thinke how these are admonitions for the repentance and conversion of thee Shew the force of thy power in helping the force of thy wisdome in instructing the force of thy wealth in releeving Neither let Adversity bruise thee nor Prosperity raise thee Let Christ be thy scope of thy life whom thou art to follow here in the way that thou maist come to him there in thy countrey Amongst all other things let profound humility ardent Charity be thy greatest care Let charity raise thine heart unto God that thou maist cleave unto him Let humility depresse thine heart lesâ— thou becom proud so leave him Esteem God a Father for his clemency a Lord for his discipline a Father for his sweet power a Lord for his severe power Love him as a Father devoutly feare him as a Lord necessarily Love him because he will have mercy Feare him because he will not suffer sin Feare the Lord and trust in him acknowledge thy misery and declare his mercy O God thou who hast given us to will give us likewise to performe THE SORROWFULL Soules solace Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 62. Psalme Upon these words My Soule thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee BEhold here how the Soule thirsteth and see how good it is for the Soule that thirsteth to wit because shee thirsteth after thee There are who thirst but not after God Every one that would in his owne behalfe have ought performed is in heat of desire till he have it effected and this desire is the thirst of the Soule Now see what various desires are in the hearts of men One desireth gold another silver one desireth possessions another inheritances one store of money another stock of cattle one a faire house another a wife one honours another children You see
of my mind For why doth my soule appointed for me only love thy Sonne why doth she thus hate mee why relinquisheth shee all things concerning me Behold how she swallowed up with the incomparable love of thy Sonne walketh as one without sense now there is nought else shee heareth nought else shee thinketh or tasteth nought else shee smelleth being alwaies desirous to rest in his armes There is shee joyed there is she cheered there abundantly delighted there made drunke with too much love is shee lodged Neither is it to be wondred at if this my Soule cleave so constantly to thy Sonne Because unlesse she were harder than stone and more insensible than iron seeing thy Sonne hath done such great things for her she can doe no lesse than this for him Yea where is that stone so hard which would not rend with the heat of so great love yea melt like wax if all these aforesaid benefits should be done it I doe not then complaine to thee O most benigne Father of my Soule for that shee hath done no more than she ought but of thy Sonne who hath so forcibly allured her with the benefits of his mercy and by that meanes left mee in so great misery An Answer of the Father to the Flesh. Cap. XV. ATtend and hearken what answer this most gracious Father makes to the Flesh. Forasmuch as thou art my creature I will shew thee Justice with Mercie Whereas then thou wert ordained to bee the Soules Hand-maid yet hadst ever a desire to play the Mistresse and demeaning thy selfe alwaies inordinatly hast caused her to serve thee and not mee by making her prone unto all evill and which is worse hast subjected her who was made after my image to the bondage of Satan Thou I say who hast made her worse than any brute beast being by thee defiled and abâ—ominably polluted yea above all darknesse blackned and so much altered as I cannot know that noble creature stamped and formed to so glorious a feature Needfull it was then because I loved her so much that was inclosed in thy Flesh that my Sonne should take Flesh upon him that so hee might allure her to his and my love And because the Soule by cleaving to thee her Flesh was become dead it was my will that my Sonne who became Flesh should be slaine for her that she might be quickned Neither was this in my Sonne any circumvention or deceiving but mine and his ineffable vouchsafing And because thou O Flesh hast done evilly ever from thy first infusion but my Sonne hath beene inflamed towards thy Soule with exceeding affection and hath wholly given himselfe up for her redemption therefore my justice exacteth many things especially that I wholly and totally resigne her unto him and that shee abhorre thee more than dung and that she desire that thou maist bee abhorred of all But forasmuch as thou hast be sought not onely my Iustice but Mercy it is my will that thou in some measure bee refreshed with that present sweetnesse which thy Soule feeleth in my Sonne yea more than all this I will hereafter endow thee most nobly and most perfectly and if thou beest truly obedient to thy Soule from henceforth deliver thee from eternall punishment and bring thee to an inheritance gloriously permanent where I live eternally resident A pithy Meditation upon this Expostulation and Answer to inflame the Soule with a devout fervour IS it so O my Soule that shee whom thou hast so daintily cockred with whom thou hast so familiarly conversed and to whom thou hast so easily consented is thy domestick Enemy and by so much more fearfull because domesticall Chastise her whoÌ„ thou hast cherished estrange thee from her with whom thou hast so freely consorted incline not to her to whose advice thou hast so freely condescended It is Ismael that playeth with thee who whilest she playes with thee playes upon thee Looke upon that gracious Shepherd who hath sought thee fix thine eye upon that precious price with which he bought thee The worth of the whole world comes farre short of the worth of that price be it then thine highest honour to advance his praise Let no sinne soile that image which is so richly beautified Let no cloud obscure that light which was so freely bestowed Hee that tooke on him Flesh for thee hee that in his Flesh suffered so much for thee hee that gave himselfe to gaine thee and shew'd himselfe so truly thine to retaine thee Let him solely and wholly have thee Suffer not thy Flesh to converse with thee till she become a true Convert in the practice of piety Better is it for thee by contempt of thy Flesh to augment thine owne honour than by obedience to thy Flesh to procure thy dishonour Short is the Fight but great is the Conquest Recoile not for thou hast him for thy Chiefetaine who hath vanquish'd that foe who to this houre hath given all Chiefetaines the foile Fight valiantly then under his banner embrace all contempts for his honour Erect the eye of thy Faith to Heaven while thou directest thy feet on Earth that after thy well-past pilgrimage on Earth thou maist bee rewarded with a lasting inheritance in Heaven Amen GENERALL Rules of living well The highest pitch of Wisdome's pieâ—y By which man 's taughâ— both how to live die EVery day drawest thou nearer than other to Death Judgement and Eternity Bethinke then with thy selfe every day how thou maist stand in the severe discussion of death and judgment and how thou maist eternally live Thou art to take an exact account of all thy thoughts words and deeds because an exact account is to be given of all thy thoughts words and deeds Thinke every evening that death is that night approaching Thinke every morning that death is that day accoasting Deferre not thy conversion nor the performance of any good action till to morrow because to morrow is uncertaine but death is ever certainly waiting There is nothing that hinders piety more than delay If thou contemne the inward calling of the holy Spirit thou shalt never come to true conversion Doe not defer thy conversion nor the practice of any religious action to thy old age but offer unto God the flower of thy youth Uncertaine is old age to the young but certaine destruction attendeth him that dieth impenitently young There is no Age more fit for the service of God than youth flourishing in abilities both of body and mind For no mans sake oughtst thou to take in hand an evill action for not that man which thou so respectedst but God in whose brest all the treasures of wisdome are stored shall in the end judge thy life Doe not then preferre any mans favour before the honour of thy Maker In the way of the Lord wee either increase or decrease Take examination then of thy life every day whether in the practice of piety thou increasest or decreasest To stand in the way of the Lord is
as they do other most holy things if thou canst have them cause them to be applyed unto thee For even this verie holy persons of both sexes and famous for their miracles have formerly done An Exercise wherein the sick person with sighs and groanes because otherwise it can scarcely be done may resigne himselfe unto God and fervently desire that he may deserve to be joyned unto him O Most faithfull Lover most mercifull Lord Jesu Christ grant unto mee that with heart and mind I may feele what I say As the Hart brayeth for the rivers of water so panteth my Soule after thee ô my God I have chosen to be an Abject in the house of the Lord rather than to dwell in the Tabernacle of sinners Blessed are they that dwell in thy house ô Lord for ever and ever shall they praise thee My Soule hath thirsted after thee ô God when shall I come and appeare before thy face Why art thou sorrowfull ô my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee Trust in the Lord therefore will I now confesse my selfe unto him the Salvation of my countenance and my God Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant ô Lord save me for thy mercies sake Let me not be confounded for ever for I have called upon thee Be not far from mee ô my God Looke downe upon mee and help mee ô my God The poore is left unto thee Thou wilt be the Orphans helper Thou art my refuge in my tribulation which hath compassed mee O my joy deliver me from these that encompasse mee Make hast to helpe mee ô Lord God of my Salvation For thou art my strength and my refuge my helper and my protector Doe not then leave me nor despise me ô God of my salvation Behold I come unto thee ô my God whom I have despised and offended for the whole earth is full of thy mercie Therefore doe I flie unto thee my most mercifull Father Receive mee according to thy word when thou sayest I WILL NOT THE DEATH OF A SINNER and let mee live and confound mee not in my hope O my God I doe not pray unto thee for a life temporall but I call upon thee for the Salvation of my Soule who art life eternall O my sweet Lover O my Lord God for as much as I have offended thee for that I have neglected thine inspirations and admonitions for that I have at any time loved ought beâ—ide thee or without thee for this O my Lord God for this doe I grieve And I beseech thee that thou wouldest give unto mee so much grace as I may with all mine heart grieve aâ—d lament during everie moment of my life Would to God that I might poure out and offer unto thee everie drop of my bloud with teares for griefe and love into thy most sweet heart O sweet Jesu I neither desire nor expect of thee life nor death but thy good will and pleasure may it be done unto mee according to thy will If it be thy will O my sweet Jesu that I shall dye receive my spirit And although I come in the Evening as the verie last of all grant unto mee that I may receive eternall rest with thee and in thee But if it be thy will that I shall live longer O sweet Jesu I purpose this and I crave the assistance of thy grace for this to amend the rest of my life and to offer my selfe wholly as a burnt Sacrifice unto thee to thy glorie and according to thy good will and pleasure O most desired Jesu for as much as I have consumed my life in sin to the reproch of thy glorious name nor to this day have begun to serve thee grant unto mee that I may now at last perfectly begin and employ all the powers of my Soule anâ— Body and all the remainder of my time given mee by thee to thy glorie and according to thy best and most perfect will O most mercifull Jesu be thou neare mee in these my paines and miseries with which I am straitened and iâ— any more grievous than these shall come upon mee for that I have deserved not onely more grievous but most grievous by reason of my sins grant that I may patiently beare them O sweet Jesu if I had never at any time sinned nor at thine hand evilly deserved notwithstanding to thy glorie and for thy love good will and pleasure I offer and resigne my selfe unto thee either in these or any other punishments to deale with mee according to thy will not my worth but in the multitude of thy mercies on which I relye and on which I call that by thy power thou wouldest raise and rouze up the frailtie of my flesh and strengthen with longanimitie and confirme with patience the pusillanimitie and instabilitie of my Spirit that I may not â—all downe as one either vanquished with tentation or faint through pusillanimitie but swallowed up with the most burning heat of thy love I may onely sigh after thee onely desire thee and leave loath and contemne the world with all that is in it giving thee thanks with all mine heart for all things whether ministring unto me occasion of joy or sorrow O most loving Jesu I chuse thee I wish thee I desire thee I meet thee and I renounce whatsoever thou art not in mee what thou willest I will what thou nillest I nill whatsoever thou abhorrest I abjure And though sometimes that 〈◊〉 is contrarie to this will in mee may be incident unto mee I beseech thee O my God that thou wouldst not impute it unto mee nor judge mee according to that depravednesse of Will in mee but according to this Election of my mind by thy grace wrought in mee Because I contradict all those things which I ought not to will yea though which for thy mercie sake avert I hereafter vanquished should consent unto yet now doe I accurse and abjure them O most loving Jesu if it please thee and redound to thy glorie grant unto mee that I may be preâ—erved in this life from all sins and punishments into which after death I ought otherwiâ—â— to come to which I am subject or may possibly come and that thou wouldst receive my Soule by the hand of thy mercie immediately from this life to eternall joyes O Lord Iesu Christ receive my Spirit c. A CHRISTIANS LAST-WILL OR TESTAMENT Containing A PROTESTATION or Testament not unprofitable to be repeated or meditated of everie Christian at the point of death Composed as may be probably gathered by JOANNES LANSPER GENSIS and faithfully rendred according to the Originall A CHRISTIANS LAST-WILL OR TESTAMENT Containing A Protestation or Testament not unprofitable to be repeated or meditated of everie Christian at the point of death Composed as may be probably gathered by JOANNES LANSPER GENSIS and faithfully rendred according to the Originall IN the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Ghost I. M. an unhappie Sinner redeemed with