Let no man blesse himselfe with Micah because hee hath gods at home Though men by manie meanes may become rich and think that they shall leaue great wealth vnto their children God can by as many meanes disapoint them as by blood by shipwracke by fire by water by warre by banqueroupts by plea and by piracie c. He who to day was swaggering in his Silkes and swimming in his wealth speaking of nothing but of thousands within a little space behold him againe and loe all is changed The poore man he goeth and no man regardeth him he is hungrie nacked and colde but not so colde as the charitie of these that may helpe him These who were wont to eate at his table desire no more to see him The thoughts of olde obligations are to them lik letters of Caption for to enforce thē to giue some what to their olde distressed friend But cold are such comforts Heere beholde Sir as in a glasse what vanitie into these transitorie things which men think to make permanent to their posteritie But let a man be rich till he die After that he hath spoiled others to make himselfe wealthie shall his children bee his Heires No not The wealth of the sinner is laide vp for the Iust See how God maketh a Worlding to be as it were a drudge or a packe horse for to gather with the sweate of his browes that wherwith the righteous man may bee sustained As hee made the Rauens to flee and fetch flesh for the nourishing of his Seruant Elijah Some tims also it wil befal otherwise that thewe alth of the sinner shall be laid vp for one worse than himselfe that all the world may see and beholde what vanitie there is in such carking care O wil some say if hee that is dead saw such a man in his house Master of all his labours What would hee now thinke Thus God in a manner making deboched bare men like leane Kine prey vpon the wicked who while they liued wold not with the Oliue leaue their fatnes for to be Kings in Heauē letteth the world see what folie it is to put their trust in such transitorie trashes What say yee now Sir Are yee now free of such earthlie temptations The sicke Man I am miserablie vexed with this world Worldlie things doe what I can runne euer into my minde and trouble mee with carking cares The Pastour So long as a mans heart is clogged with this clay hee hath no power to stirre hand or foote to heauen-ward There is both gall and guile in earthlie mindednesse Well is him whose Soule can sore farre aboue this Region of corruption for to minde aboue all things the things that are aboue The sicke Man My minde alas is like Martha busied about manie things or rather buried in manie things The Pastour But Christ said One thing is necessarie Hee that said it is that which hee said euen that One necessarie thing Wee may passe to life eternall without any other thing But there is such a necessitie in Christ that without him wee can doe nothing Without mee said hee yee can doe nothing Christ is that Best part Maries choise Well is that Soule that maketh him its part He is onely that which shall neuer bee taken from vs But what worldlie thing is that that as yet troubleth you The sicke Man Mine heart Sir is ouer-burdened with the weight of manie cares concerning this Life The Pastour Our Sauiour hath set downe a particular Precept concerning that Take heede said hee to your selues least at any time your heartes bee ouercharged with surfetting and drunkennesse and cares of this life Such cares may snow downe white haires vpon our hairie scalpe But it is onelie the godlie care the care of the Life to come that worketh Repentance neuer to bee repented of But come to the pārticulars The sicke Man I haue latelie bought some heritage my seruants are plowing it before I die I would wish once to reape the fruites thereof The Pastour To bee worldlie minded is death The command is gone foorth ' none can plead ignorance Loue not the world nor the things of the world Well is him that so liueth heere that he may be counted worthie to enjoy that world It is no time now Sir to thinke of ploughes yee must now leaue all for to follow Christ like Elisha who left his plowing for to follow his new vocation Take now a kisse of your dearest friendes and follow this great Elijah the Lord Iesus the Chariot of all his chosen and the Horse-men of his Israel The sicke Man My Lands are laboured the Haruest draweth neere there is a plentifull croppe vpon the ground Cornes and wheat and all abound The Pastour There is no solide comfort in Wheat or in Corne but onelie in Gods countenance I compare all worldlie things to the Tallow of a Candle and spirituall thinges to the flamme thereof If the Candle bee right set that the flamme bee vpmost the Candle will shin clearelie and giue light But if yee turne the Candle and holde the flamme downe it shall at once drowne in its owne tallow Euen so if the Soule of man bee well set that spirituall thoughts bee vpmost and worldlie cōsiderations sanctified which haue beene melted strained from their drosse be vnder that Soule will shine in holie life before men But if the flamme of the Spirit bee turned downe it will drowne vnder the droppes of such earthlie tallowe By this at last all our light dyeth out like a Candle so that our hearts that were once enlightned become lik a dampish dungeon I confesse so long as wee are here the fire of the Spirit within the best of vs is like ignis in materia fire in an earthlie matter from whence commeth euer some filthie reeke But when once wee shall bee aboue all places wherevnto no reeke can reach this spirituall flamme abstracted from all earthlie matter shall shine most clearlie into the presence of God for euer Are yee not yet Sir resolued Is not your desire now to bee dissolued The sicke Man The world is yet still in my mind I haue takē much paines into it am now but beginning for to get some ease I haue builded an house gladlie would I dwell some space into it Mine heart is sore yea it bleeds for to leaue this Lodging and neuer to come to it againe I had trimmed it for my pleasure and now behold shall I bee disappointed The Pastour There is no great matter of griefe Sir when a man changeth for the better What are all the sieled Palaces of Princes on earth but like the house of a Spider How soone are they all sweept away with the besome of vengeance when God is angrie What are all our dwellinges on earth but Dungeons in a dunghill Let not your
A man brought from age of yeeres vnto eternitie is like Dauid a shepheard brought from the Ewes for to bee made a King What regret should a man haue for to change a little Lodge for a London What is this life but a daylie dyeing The sicke Man But alas I haue cut off like a weauer my life Hee will cut mee off with pinning sicknesse from day euen to night hee will make an end of mee The Pastour Take heede Sir what yee say Your meaning is that by your sins yee haue abridged and cutte short your dayes or that yee haue prouocked God by your sinnes to take away your Life from you If it be so that like a weauer yee haue cut your dayes by your sinnes breake off now these sinnes by repentance If by your sinnes yee haue cut like a weauer the threeds of this mortall life beginne now by repentance to spinne the webbe of a new life some threeds of life eternall Let now the rotten thrummes of the vices of your life fall downe to the ground While yee haue time weaue into your life graces thorow graces as warpe and woft Weaue on still till from grace yee worke in into the eternitie of glorie The sicke Man But alas Hee will cut mee off with pynning sicknesse I feare greatlie that the paines of Death put mee out of all patience The Pastour Take courage Sir The paine shall not bee so great as yee feare God will lay no more on you than yee shall bee able to beare He shall weigh all your paines in his mercifull Ballance before that hee laye them vpon you Hee knoweth that your strength is not like the strength of a Whale hee breaketh not the bruised ◅eede God is so bent vnto mercie that while he scourgeth sinners for their faults hee is said to bring to passe his strange worke and his strange act The sicke Man But I feare his cutting Gods cuts are verie sensible I feare to bee◅ cut off with pyning sicknesse The Pastour Feare not God is cunning in his cutting Hee will not cut into the quicke like an ignorant Surgeon The mercifull God taketh no pleasure to cut you off with pyning sicknesse but hee will cut off your corruptions with such paines In such paines should bee pleasure The bluenesse of the wound purgeth away euill Pleasant should be that paine which is Gods Raser for cutting off mans ◅ptions Away with the pleas◅es of this ◅otten flesh Such in the beginning though lawfull ◅re burning and bloodie pleasures vnlawfull end into hellish torments feare not pyning sicknesse The sicke Man But alas from day euen to night he will make an end of mee The Pastour I know Sir that the night is wearisome and that sicknesse some what light in the day waxeth heauy in the night From day to night the sicknesse increaseth The remeede is this bee strong in God whose strength is made perfect in weaknesse If dolours increase in the night heere is a comfort The night time is a most fitte time for prayer The time of silence is most conuenient for speaking vnto God The night time is a speciall time whereof God hath made choise for in it to speake secretlie vnto men It was in the night that Eliphaz saw the vision and heard the voyce of instruction In thoughts said hee From the visions of the night wh◅ deepe sleepe falleth on men feare came vpon mee and trembling which made all my bones to shake Then a Spirit passed before my face the haire of my flesh stood vp it stood still but I could not discerne the forme thereof An Image was before mine eyes there was silence and I heard a voyce c. See how in ◅e visions of the night while there was silence Eliphaz heard the voyce of God Let no sicke man be afraid for the night it is the time of silence the chiefe time of cōference with God Whē Creatures are most silent then is a time for man to speake to God and for God to speake to man The din of the day marreth our meditatiōs The sicke Man But alas from day to night he will make an end of mee The Pastour It is better that hee make an end of you than that any other should doe it If hee make an end of you pray earnestlie for a good end If the end be well all is well Your complaint is that from day to night hee will make an end of you Bee thankefull to God for his mercie toward you in that he hath giuen you so long a time to repent as from day to night Hee might haue made you sinke downe thorow the Earth vnto hell in a moment with Dathan and Abiram Hee might haue burnt you with fire from Heauen in a thunder clappe with Corah Hee might haue drowned you into the Sea with Pharaoh Hee might haue slaine you vnder a Tower with these eighteene at Siloe Hee might haue sent a winde for to smite the foure corners of your house while yee had beene at a banket with Iobs Children What if the goodnesse of God had deserted you and taken his free Spirit frō you What if hee should doe so to the best of vs Certainelie we◅ should either make away our selu◅ with Saule by the sword or with Iudas and Ahitophel by the cord o◅ with Zi◅rie by the fire Many others haue in an instant beene snatched away in the verie swea◅e of their sinnes First then I say That is a grea◅ mercie of God vnto man that God himselfe maketh an end of him and not suffereth him to fall into the hands of his mercielesse creatures Secondlie in that from day to night hee delayeth it is a mercyfull patience Take heede Sir what I say Count this a great mercie of your God though yee should die this night thanke God for his patience that it was from day to night before that hee would make an end of you It is a great benefite of God to get but so much time wherein wee may once cry Lord haue mercie vpon mee No man can sufficientlie esteeme the high price of a dayes laiser vnto night Heere is the patience and the long suffering of God Now Sir consider and weigh well what hath beene said Is it not now your desire that yee bee dissolued Are yee not as yet resolued It would seeme that there bee some thing that yet troubleth you As for the wordes of Hezekiahs chattering which hath beene the wordes of your mourning I hope that in some measure ye haue beene cleared with some contentment The sicke Man I confesse Sir that yee haue pertinentlie made answere to all these difficulties But alas what shall I say The Pastour What aileth you Bee plaine with mee I pray you Sir thinke no shame to tell mee what is into your minde If the Patient couer his
ruines Listen vnto his voyce crying to all sorrow beatē sinners Come vnto mee Thinke often vpon this Sir if ye desire comfortes in your distresse The great worke of mans redemption finished by the Blood death of God is a worke worthie of continuall wondering As for the work of the Creation it cost the Lord but his Will and his Word But the worke of mans redemption was a costlie worke it was chargeable to God it cost him the best thing that hee could giue euen the lif of his Loue our Lord O what a mercie O what a liuelie Loue The meditation of this worke should worke in our heart a louing compulsion and a compelling loue The thought of this made S. Paul to say The loue of Christ constraineth mee What shall a Christian man feare hauing Christ his Brother to bee both his Aduocat and his Iudge his Suretie and his Sauiour Was not his blessed Bodie displayed abroad vpon the Crosse with his armes spred a crying jesture a jesture crying with a voyce Come vnto mee all ye that are leadened and wearied Oh that we were sicke for the loue of him who died for the loue of vs Oh that we were wounded with loue vvhen vvee remember his precious wounds from which gushed out the streames of our Saluation Flee Sir to the holes of this Rocke flee to the bores of his woundes runne not with Adam vnto the shrubbes for to hide your selfe from God heere is your hiding place in the Lords deepest wounds Hee is the fortresse of your Faith our strength and our stay the onelie helpe and ground of all our hopes our warrantable justice Hee onelie is the bodie of all spirituall comfort all other things were they neuer so specious are but shew and resemblance Shroud your selfe vnder his protection and throw no more your selfe vpon temptations whereby ye may bee disabled from manfullie fighting out the good fight followed with a Crowne filled with massines of glorie The sicke Man Now well is me that euer I heard tell of Christ Blessed bee the day the Sonne of God was borne But alas where are the holes of that Rocke where my wearied Soule may enter in The Pastour Lift vp your lumpish thoughtes seek first to the naile holes in his feet beginne humblie creepe in into these lowest wounds and there for a space settle your abode kisse his sacred Feete wash them with the true teares of repentance wype them with the haires of your head from thence looke vp and come to the naile holes of his Hands Bee busie there like a Bee sucke out of them the Honey of Heauen from thence goe to the Speare hole in his side Let your Soule sit downe there and croud like a Doue euer till Christ let it in into the hole of the Rock the place of its euerlasting rest If once the faithfull Soule Christs Turtle win in into the fortresse of his woundes from thence it will boast all the enemies of its Saluation Frō thence wil it cry to the flesh crouch There it careth not for the Serpents hissing nor for the Cockatrices denne nor for the Graues gaping nor for Deathes dungeon nor for the Popes Purgatorie his pardons his dirges and his Trentals which bring fatte morsels to Baals Priestes Christ is mine will hee say Hee is to mee aduantage both in death and life As the Doue found no footing till shee came to the Arke so the Soule can find no rest till it come to Christ I◅ euer totters til it leane vpō his Loue. Happie is the Soule that is secured with the seale secret impression of Gods fauour The sicke Man If I had faith to belieue all wold be wel I acknowledg that there is sufficient helpe in Iesus but such a helpe is only for these that are strōg in faith my faith is both faint fecklesse The Pastour Christ hath said plainelie that he wil not quēch the smoking flax S. Peter was not a man of strong faith whē he began to sink down into the Sea Said not Christ vnto him Thou man of little Faith why hast thou doubted Hee reproued him for the weaknes therof but cast him not off for the littlenes thereof The sicke Man That was another matter Christ was with him Christ took him by the hād * Ther was vertue in the grip of Christs hand as was in the hem of his garment while it was touched Such a weake Faith as mine cannot mount vp so high as that it may reach vnto Christ into the heauens The Pastour Though your faith bee weake and Christ also bee absent in bodie yet bee not for that disquieted he is present in his God-head As for the weaknesse of your faith pray God to strengthen and increase your faith Faith though little is of great force a graine of it is able to remoue Mountaines and cast them into the Sea I pray your Sir to intreat God for a fixed heart for as I perceiue endlesse are the mazes of Sathans circular temptations which vnavoidablie if they bee not barred out by grace wind themselues into mans heart with a slie and craftie insinuation The sicke Man O man of little faith that I am if I had Faith I would belieue that I had it if I had Faith I am perswaded that I should haue Peace Being justified by Faith wee haue Peace towardes God That Peace I seeke and cannot finde These troubles wherewith I am tossed plainly argue that my Faith is failed The Pastour I answere that who euer are justified by Faith they also haue peace toward God though such a Peace bee not euer felt That which a man feeleth not is not euer absent A man in a trance knoweth not that he liueth and yet hee is not altogether depriued of life The tree seemeth to be dead in time of Snow and frost and yet it hath life and sappe at the roote These then that are justified by Faith haue Peace but their peace is not euer sensible but often is disturbed with fearefull temptations The sicke Man I desire to know of you what is that yee properlie call the peace of Conscience The Pastour I take the qualmes of Conscience chieflie to proceede from a sense of Gods wrath kindled for some sins of commission or omission Sathan also with his billowes bloweth at this fire yea often while God is pacified he assaulteth the sillie Soule with false feares and counterfeit alarums Nowe when by the vertue of Christs intercession the fire of Gods wrath is quenched the Conscience of man beginneth to settle and growe calme and in stead of accusing vs any further it beginneth to excuse and acquite vs before the Tribunall of our God Vpon this doeth ensue a pleasant calmenes quietnesse and rest in the Soule of a sinner Though this Peace bee sore enuied and often troubled by Sathans railing and
good therefore that yee summon your hearte and your glorie to giue praise vnto your God Let not a thought of your heart absent it selfe from this point of seruice God must not bee serued by halfes As for mee I am but the Lordes weak Instrument for your well Giue God the glorie The sicke Man Blesse the Lord O my Soule all that is within mee blesse his holie Name I desire now to come with Dauid to my last words A speach of the sicke Man to his Pastour First of all I addresse my speach to you my worthie Pastour Gods mercie in you toward mee hath beene great for yee haue soundlie vnfolded all the intricate difficulties wherwith my Soule hath beene fearefullie entangled Yee are one of these that may well say Wee haue the mind of Christ God by his Grace haue made you that one of a thousand you haue I found to bee like Ionah the sonne of Amittai that is the sonne of trueth Happie is that Preacher who is ledde in all trueth O the Majestie of that message O the wisedome of these that gaine Soules vnto Christ Wisedome hath said That hee that winneth soules is wise O but my Soule loueth you My loue toward you assureth mee of Gods loue toward mee for by this wee know that wee are translated from death to life because wee loue the Brethren I loue you Sir in the dearest blood I haue for yee haue beene the good instrument of God for my conuersion ye in all my troubles while mine heart was toucht to the quicke and my Conscience ransackt to the bottome haue beene to mee a Barnab as a sonne of consolations where with as with splents ye haue bound mine heart God in great mercie hath giuen vnto you the tongue of the Learned with lippes touched with a coale from his Altar for the relieuing of my wounded Conscience with words of comfort O but that is true a whole some tong is a tree of life By the sword of the Word ye haue cut the twisted bonds of my greatest temptations wherein my Soule lay fast fettered Mine heart hath beene greatlie rejoyced to heare you resoluing al my doubts and difficulties O howe beautiful are the feete of these that bring goâ—… tydings Now I finde that of Solomon to bee true The word of the wiâ—… are as goads and as nailes fastened by the Masters of assemblies which are giuen from one Shepheard Christ that great Shepheard of the flocke 〈◊〉 with your words as with goades â—… nailes so fastened me to himselfe that Death it selfe shall not bee able to seuer vs Yee haue wonderfullâ—… restored my sicke Soule with flagonâ—… of the most sweete juice of the cluster of wine Ye haue bound vp my broâ—… ken joynts with the spirituall splenâ—… of diuine comforts O in what woefull plight O in what seas of gall was I plunged when yee came first vnto mee there was nothing sound into my Souleâ—… All was full of botches boiles and puâ—…trifying sores But yee like a cunning Surgeon in curing tumours haue broght the matter to an â—…ead and at last with great skill ye haue launced the boiles of my corruptions whereof nowe God in mercie hath made mee free I tremble to remember these fearefull temptations wherewith yee found mee at the first beset and besieged These were indeede such temptations as Bernard called Terribilia de fide horribilia de divinitate Sathan hath assaulted mee both in a blacke shape and into an Angel of light By your sweete comforts my Soule hath beene reuiued like that dead man that liued by touching the bones of Elisha Yee haue fed my Soule with the doctrine of your breastes bigge as Towers Yee haue strengthened and sinewed my weake Soule with comfortable words wouen and wrought out of a feeling heart by the strength of holy meditations And now happie are yee who haue beene the instrument of my conuersion I hope to bee one day one of these that shall stand at your backe when yee shall say to your Master Christ Behold heere I am and the children that God hath giuen mee Account me Sir one of these Talents that yee haue gained with the Talent of your gift Your wordes haue stricken home vnto mine heart with powerfull and particular applications of comforts whereby my disaffected Soule hath beene wooed and wone vnto the loue of my Sauiour Iesus account me therefore a seale of your Ministerie Ye know better than I what God hath promised to these that with a readie minde shal conuert a sinner from his euill ways such as God himselfe hath promised shall bee like the starres in the Firmament for euer From your lips is come the sweetest balme that euer dropt from the penne of God vpon the leaues of the Booke of life Blessed bee my God who by his good Spirit into your mouth hath breathed most sweete comfortes into my Soule Woe to all Doctours of dispaire Blessed bee your lips wherein God hath placed the preseruation of knowledge Your tongue to mee hath beene like a siluer watch bell to rouse and waken vp the gifts of God within my Soule God by his words in your mouth declaring vnto man his righteousnesse hath blowne vp his Graces which were weake into mine heart like a smoking flaxe or a sparkle of fire vnder greene wood Blessed bee my God who by your diuine instructions hath made mee to bee acquainted with himselfe Your comforts hath beene cordials and lenitifes to the ranking and festered sores of my Soule To God bee glorie who hath made you moste cunning of that great Arte of sauing sinners O my deare Pastor by the refreshing Balme of your consolations ye haue infinitly indeered my soule you to gâ—…s one of a thousand I am assured that God hath made you faithfull with Ieremie for to take foorth the preciouâ—… from the vile Nowe my God with whom I thinke to bee shortlie bee with you in your Ministerie make you his faithfull seruant vnto death that ye may bee a worthie wooer for Christ for to bring home manie straggling sinners vnto him the blessed Bridegroome of our Soules Farewell now my faithfull Pastour My Soule now is glad to flitte from this house of clay As for my bodie it must goe to the graue where for a space it shall bee confined but not confounded for I looke assuredlie for the day of the Resurrection O Lord seale vp in my Conscience the discharge of all my sinnes that I may gladlie lay downe this Tabernacle The Pastour Mine heart rejoyceth with an exceeding great joy to reape such fruits of my labours But this know that what good yee haue by mee it is not from mee but from him that sent me * It is God that giueth life Soule vnto the Word that is powerfull to Saluation Paul may plant and Apollos may
custome of God as we see to put his dearest Ones to the hardest proofe as wise Builders put the greatest timber and the heart of the Oake to the greatest stresse Manie thinke that Heauen standeth hard by their Bed-side and that a light Lord haue mercie will make the doore of Heauen to goe wide open to the wall no not Through man◅e tribulations we must enter into that Kingdome As Aprill showers goe before the May flowers so must our teares trickle before our Triumphs Wee must smert before we smile and grone before wee glorie All Christian Soules like Christ himselfe must enter by the port of paines vnto the palace of pleasures for euermore No co-reigning without a co-suffering O let vs consider what paines this godlie man hath suffered in this fierie tryall since this Battell beganne O with what difficulties hath hee swimmed thorow so many temptations If the righteous scarcelie bee saued where shall the vngodlie and the sinner appeare O sowre Apple of Adams pride many teeth hast thou set on edge The Sparrow by wandering the Swal low by flying may escape but where sin hath beene once there must also be sorrow before that the sinner can come to joye It is not so easie as manie men thinke to winne in at the doores of heauen as though one Gods-mercy were enough for to doe the turne Before that a man be able to winne in at the straite gate for to enter into his euerlasting rest hee must be buffeted with diuerse temptations and broken with sorrowes till his heart become contrit that is grund bruished small as if it were corne in a Querne There is none entrie into rest for man before that in great griefe hee hath pluckt out his right eye euen his dearest darling best bosome pleasure Hee that would lodge with God in eternitie muste heere lay holde on his Kingdome with an holie violence What wonder that he auen be hard to win seeing with all the infernall powers of darknesse legions of our owne corruptions combined oppose might maine the grouth of Gods graces in our Soules Manie foolishlie in the idle rowings of their braines content with a blush of zeale thinke that Heauen may bee winne with wishes and therefore in their life skippe wantonlie ouer the threatnings of the Law in hope that easilie at death they may catch at the promise of the Gospel But who had seene this holie man of GOD vpon the painefull racke of repentance would count all the perishing pleasures of sinne too deare bought pleasures Sinne at the beginning is like poyson in perfume pleasant at the first but not long after it worketh deadlie except that it be repelled with some stronger Antidote The way to heauen as wee see is not like the way to great ma◅ket Townes easilie discerned by the multitude of footesteppes Our good Friende is nowe in the verie panges of death A patient and Lambe like death is this His life is on his lippe This wearied Traueler is nowe neare the ende of his journey Seeing that the ende of a worke crowneth it let vs conceiue a Prayer whereby wee may lay his Soule into the bosome of his God who shall refresh him with euerlasting comforts O Lord by the vigour of thy Spirit giue wings to our groueling prayers A Prayer for the sicke Man approaching vnto Death O GOD of mercle and of mans Saluation who thinketh nothing too deare for a repēting soule were it to giue it a draught of the heart Blood of thy Sonne wee heere vpon the knees of our hearts humbled againe before the foote-stoole of the the Throne of thy Grace put vp to thee our most humble sute for this thy seruant who is nowe comming to thee His words now faile him but thou Lord wilt neuer faile him In stead of wordes let the crouding sobbes the Turtle finde roome into thine eares Heaue vp his heart to thy mercie seate with the requests of thy Spirit in sighs which cannot bee expressed O charitable Almes giuer open the hand of this Begger and thrust the money of thy mercie into it Seale fast vp in his heart the remission of all his sinnes in the blood of Iesus Burie all his transgressions in Christes Burial Establish thy free Spirit within him Take from him all dulnesse and deadnesse of spirit all secure and hardened thoughts all that may hinder him from comming vnto thee Continue his comfortes begunne Bee thou the ende and the ender of his worke Lorde disapoint Sathan who by his charmes and cunning traines hath gone about both by force fraud to catch this Soule of thy seruant Now Death is approaching To thee belongeth the issues of death Thou killest thou makest aliue thou bringest downe to the graue and againe thou raisest vp Now as euidentlie appeareth thou art for to remoue this thy seruant from the Land of the l◅uing and thy will must bee done Wee could haue wished the continuance of his Christian fellowship with the lengthening and enlarging of his dayes But most humblie wee submitte all our affections vnto thy good pleasure and will O Father of mercies in whose boundlesse bowels are moste pittifull compassions without anie passion shew thy selfe mercifull louing and kinde towardes this Soule which in the dayes of its fleshe hath beene with thee but a stranger and ◅ sojourner His Soule now is saying to thee with Iohn his two Disciples Rabbi Master where remaineth thou Answere it as thou answered them louinglie Come and see and after that tak it home to thine own house as Iohn tooke home thy Mother O deare Father of our Sauiour by Nature O our dearest Father by adoption bee fauourable to this thy seruant euen for that blood wherewith thou art passing lie pleased Forget and forgiue all his sinnes whatsoeuer Lay now thy louing Armes about him Claspe him hard to thy bosome and keepe him fast till hee be surelie and softlie placed into the heauens Now Lord thou hast begunne to loofe this Soule out of its prison Let earth goe to earth and his Spirit returne to thee that gaue it Place it into one of these heauenlie Mansions which thy Sonne is gone to prepare for these that are thine Strengthen him now at the last and highest point of his tryall O Great IEHOVAH who neuer hucketh to giue mercie to heart broken sinners let him finde more and more that thy bowels ouerflowing with mercie are readie to receiue him In the bottomelesse sea of thy mercie make his sinnes all to bee choaked and his Soule deliciouslie to be bathed with euerlasting comforts And because Sathan in his last assaults is most furious bee thou most powerfull in him by the vertue of thy Spirite Blunt so the edge of all his temptations that they bee not able any more to wound his Spirit Let thy secret loue bee vnto his Soule lik a Secret or jack in this bloodie battell
Iudge his Consistorie The day of this life wherein onelie wee can worke declineth a pace The fearfull night cloud hath taken post So soone as it shall come man shall bee discharged to worke any more It is good often to consider le◅ wee should dote and dreame of Immortalitie heere that the short threed of this life will bee soone drawne out to an end that by such thoughts we may learne in time not to bee taken vp with abortiue earthlie pleasures which perish in the budde What is this earth but a muddie myre What is poore mans life on this earth but a map of miserie The best of it is white and blacke checker work mixed with paines pleasures lashes and laughters Euen in laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heauinesse This godlie mans death should bee warning for vs Death knocking at our neighbours doore should remember vs of our mortalitie There is no case of humane calamitie but it is insident to all In this our old friend wee may see and reade that we haue none abiding heere Hee is nowe gone to his long home by the way of all flesh Aboue the rolling circumference of heauen hee hath found the center of his rest Natures necessitie subjecteth all flesh to mortalitie Hee is gone before vs from the land of the shadowe of death thorow the valey of the shadow of death vnto euerlasting felicitie and we all soone o◅ since must all treade the same way Let vs prouok our watchfulnes with this that wee shall goe to him but hee shall no more come to vs Let vs worke while the day lasteth Before wee bee benighted by death let vs wot where we shall get a lodging So long as wee haue breath and being let vs like Moses bee instant with God in prayer that hee would so teach vs to number our few and euill dayes that vvee may apply our heartes to vvisedome and to vvell doing Wee haue all great neede to goe to this Schoole for the learning of that lesson because death in this narrow passage of mortalitie stealeth vpon vs all with insinsible degrees The course of our dayes is like the course of the Sunne the ruler of the Day whom our owlish eyes cannot perceiue to moue though hee rejoyce as a strong man to runne a race we know him to be more swift than winde yet while wee behold him in his course wee cannot perceiue his motion It is euen so of our life Our dayes runne fast away but wee perceiue not how It is not long that wee stand but when wee beginne to fall wee are like the Yce which thaweth sooner than it froze Our life like smoke or chaffe is carried away as with a gale winde and yet we cannot consider Oh that this meditation like the Rowell of a Spurre could pricke vs forward in our voyage from grace to glorie Nature hath taught the ◅sillie Birdes the Cranne Storke and Swallows our winter strangers to know their seasons As if they had numbered the dayes of their absence they come precisely at their appointed Spring The Salmons also in their season returne to the place where they were spawned They like skilled Airthmeticiens number well the dayes of their absence and for no rubs in the way will they be moued to cracke their tryst All this haue they learned in the Schoole of Nature But men who should haue grace with Nature forget to desire to returne to their God who at the first spawned or as Scripture speaketh breathed within them their liuing Soules Men are often worse than the beasts who wold faine know their duety but cannot Many mē can but will not lik these whom S. Peter calleth Willinglie ignorant The God of grace giue vs wisedome that before our day bee spent and our Sunne set wee may weigh well and consider how wee may so liue to die that wee may die to liue Happie is the man whom God his white man hath in this life marked with the mourning marke The way to Heauen is not so easie as manie dreame Oh how many lets bee within vs and without vs Oh howe manie weightes hang ◅o fast on whereby the vnstable Soule of man is tossed and swayed hither and thither Seeing this holie man of God such a strong Oake hath beene so sore shaken what may we poore little shrubs expect O but we haue great neede to coffer vp some comfortes against the euill day All worldlie helpes depart from vs when we depart out of this life but Gods fauour faileth neuer When all thinges haue forsaken vs then onelie hee will stand by vs and at last will draw vs out of this myrie lake of miserie Happie and thrise happie is the man that is holie heere whome the Spirite of God may point out with an Ecce Behold a true Israelite Such a man after death shall obtaine a name which shall giue him after death a second life O thrise blessed is hee whom God in mercie remoueth in time that his eyes should not see the euill to come The world now is come to its dregs From little to little our zeale is come to its last gaspe Now if euer the Church is a Lillie among the thornes Our sinnes are become like Oakes but our vertues are pinched smal lik graines of mustard seede Wee look in drumblie waters and therefore we cannot see our sinfull blots and blamishes Lord teach vs to grow better that so long as we sojourne in these mansions of dying wightes wee may striue without guile to glid thorow this world that at last following this our olde deare friend wee may come to him and to all the Sainctes into to that celestiall Palace a place of plentie peace and pleasures for euermore Another discourse of the same sort O How hard a thing is it for the liuing to remember that wee are but weedes of a day fading and flying vanities Wee are all heere like poore Trauellers who haue farre to goe and little to spend In our most constant estate below we are like Ionahs gourd that sprang vp into a night withered into another euen a ◅oish vanitie This life said a Father is miserarable Our death is vncertaine If it surprise vs vnawares whither shall wee goe where shal we learne that which wee haue neglected heere Men for the most part wallowing in their sins while they looke most for life are by their expectation surprised of Death But Oh then whether shall they goe Alas that we cannot consider while we haue time and breath Man naturallie is so dull and dumpish that hee cannot imagine that he is possest with a melting mortalitie The best of vs in spirituall matters are pure blind Wee cannot see farre off no that which is neere euen this mortalitie among vs yea within vs That which hath breath can