by the prayer ensuing The Hymne for Ascension-day Wherein all parts of Christ his glorious returne in tryumph into heauen are prophetically expressed as 1 His lifting a vp himself from the earth 2 The cloudes receiuing b and carrying him 3 The Angels c meeting him 4 The heauens d opening to him 5 God the Father's enthronizing him into his euerlasting kingdome GOD is gone vp with a merrie noyse and the Lord in the sound of the Trumpe Psal. 47. 5. Be thou exalted Lord in thine own strength So will we sing prayse thy power Psal 21. 13. Set vp thy selfe ô God aboue the heauens and thy glory aboue al the earth Ps. 108. 5 b O sing vnto God sing praises vnto his Name magnifie him that rideth vpon the heauens or cloudes by his name IAH and reioice before him Psal. 68. 4. In thy Majestie ride prosperously because of truth meeknes and righteousnes and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things Psal. 45. 4. The Chariots of God are twentie thousand euen thousands of Angells the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place Psal. 68. 17. d Lift vp your heads ô yee gates and be yee lift vp yee euerlasting dores and the King of glorie shall come in Psalm 24. 7. Who is the King of glory It is the Lord strong and mightie euen the Lord mighty in battel ver 8. Lift vp your heads ô yee gates and be ye lift vp ye euerlasting dores and the King of glorie shall come in ver 9. Who is the King of glorie Euen the Lord of Hosts he is the King of glorie ver 10. e I haue set my King vpon my holy hill of Sion Psal. 2. 6. Aske of mee and I will giue thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the vttermost parts of the earth for thy possession ver 8. The Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion bee thou Ruler in the middest among thine enemies Thou shalt bruise them with a rodde of Iron and dash them in pieces like a Potters vessell The exhortation for Ascension DAIE Wee ought to set our affections on things aboue 1 Because there is the source of our Soule which is of a heauenly and diuine nature 2 Because there is our Head 3 Because there is the nobler better part of our bodie 4 Because there is our abiding Citie 5 Because there is our mansion house 6 Because there is our hope inheritance 7 Because there are no true ioyes nor durable riches but there GOD created man in his own Image Gen. 1. 27. God formed him of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life Gen. Then shall the dust returne to the earth as it was Eccles. 12. 7. The spirit-returneth to God that gaue it Ibid. We had fathers of our flesh which corrected vs shall we not be much more in subiection to the Father of spirits and liue Heb. 12. 9. Exceeding great and precious promises are giuen to vs that by these wee might bee partakers of the diuine nature hauing escaped the corruption that is in the world 2 Pet. 1. 4. He was caried vp into heauen and sate at the right hand of God Mat. 16. 19. Whom the heauens must containe Acts 3. 21. I saw the â—eauen opened and the Sonne of man standing at the right hand of the Father Acts 7. 56. I goe out of the world to the Father Ioh. 13. 1. Go to my Father Ioh. 15. 10. Our conuersation is in heauen from whence also we look for the Sauiour the Lord Iesus Phil. 3. 20. If ye be risen with Christ seek the things that are aboue where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Col. 3. 1. Set your affections on things that are aboue and not on things on the earth ver 3. Yee are come to the generall assembly and Church of the first-borne which are written in heauen and to the spirits of iust men-made perfect Hebrewes 12. 23. Now yee are no more strangers and forreiners but fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the houshould of God Ephesians 2. 19. For here we haue no continuing Citie but wee seeke one to come Heb. 13. 23. For this we groane earnestly desiring to bee clothed with our house 1. Cor. 5. 2. Arise and depart for this is no rest for you Mic. 2. 10. They confessed that they were strangers and sought a Citie whose builder and maker is God Heb. 11. 13. I beseech you as strangers and pilgrimes abstaine from fleshly lusts 1. Pet. 2. 11. I am a stranger and soiournet as all my fathers were Ps. 39. 14. In my Fathers house there are many mansions I goe to prepare a place for you Io. 14. 2. If our hope were in this life onely we were of all men most miserable 1. Cor. To an inheritance incorruptible and vndefiled and that sadeth not away reserued in heauen for you 1. Pet. 1. 4. Lay vp your treasure in heauen c. Mat. 6. 19. Look not on things which are seene but on things which are not seene for the things c. 2. Cor. 4. 18. Vanitie of vanities c Eccles. 1. 2. Whom haue I in heauen but thee c. Psal. 73. 24. The Prayer for Ascension Day GLorious and gratious Redeemer Lord Iesus Christ who humbledst thy selfe didst become obedient to death euen the death of the Crosse and therefore thy Father highly exalted thee aboue the graue in the resurrection aboue the earth in thy Ascention aboue the heauens in thy session at his right hand and then he gaue thee a name aboue al names that at the name of Iaesus euery knee shall bow both of things in heauen and in earth and of things vnder the earth I humbly bow the knees not onely of my body but of my heart and soule vnto thee I neuer heare of thee or remember neuer thinke or speake of thee but with greatest reuerence and loue that heart can conceiue or tongue expresse I admire the mystery of thine incarnation I tremble at the horror of thy passion I adore the power of thy resurrection and I triumph in the glory of thine Ascension My God and my Lord make me wholly thine as thou art mine Thy birth was my life thy life my merit thy death my ransome thy resurrection my deliuery out of the prison of death when thy father layed thee vp for my debt thy Ascension my assurance and takingp ossessioÌ„ of an incorruptible and vndefiled inheritance reserued in the heauens O Sauiour if thou haddest not been born I had neuer been borne anew if thou hadst not dyed for my sins I had dyed in my sins If thou hadst not risen from the dead my soule might haue bin with thee in Paradice but my body should not haue rested in hope neither should I haue euer seene God in my flesh if thou hadst not ascended I might haue bin freed from hell but I should neuer haue
against enuenomed wounds Then would we as soone as we feele the sting of sinne in our consciences bruise the Serpent by true contrition destroy the sinne and apply the oyle of teares issuing from it to cure the wound before it festered But among other iust causes of teares this is not the least that wee misspend our teares and spill that heauenly dew and profane the Font-water of our second baptisme as Saint Cyprian calleth it Wee haue teares at our owne will in worldly losses but none at God's command for the losse of his grace Wee take on for the death of our friends departing frō vs but cannot wring out a teare for the spirituall death of our soules departing from God Yet all our fretting and vexing all our weeping and howling cannot fetch our friend backe againe or repaire our worldly losses whereas on the contrary as Saint Chrysostome piously noteth the afflicting of our soules and serious bewailing of our sinnes by God's grace shall reuiue our soules and recouer all our spirituall losses and that with aduantage What pittie nay what folly is it to powre costly eye-water out of a Venice-glasse into a vile pot or basen to wash our feete withall Do we not the like when we turne godly sorrow into worldly and abuse pretious teares to the bewailing of vile base losses haue we suchstore of them or such want of better employmēt for them See we not wrath is gone out against vs and the fire long agoe kindled and not yet quenched by our teares Lord thou hast shewed thy people terrible things thou hast giuen vs a drinke of deadly wine and hast caused vs to suck out the dreggs of it because we Moab like are setled vpon our Lees. As Pharaoh saw the hugh of his bloodie minde in the waters of Aegypt turned all redd as blood so we may see the crimson colour of our sins in the vialls of thy wrath powred of late vpon vs. We trade not spiritually for the pearle of the Gospell and therefore our Merchant's returnes faile Wee would not weepe for our sins and therefore the heauens did weepe for vs a long season in continuall showers We haue bin hard hearted and barren in good works and therefore thou madest heretofore the heauen aboue vs as brasse and the earth vnder vs as Yron By drunkennesse and gluttony by euill perswasions and worse examples one soule hath infected another and therefore thou hast sent a Plague whereby one body infecteth another Such a Plag◠as our ancients neuer heard of and our posterity will scarce belieue The chiefe of our Cities haue beene ploughed vp and sowed so thick with dead corps's that one could scarce lye by another Against this and all other iudgements which thy law threatneth and our sins prouoke wee haue no weapons to contend with thy iustice but prayers and teares We haue no meanes to clense the infected aire but our sighs and groanes O Lord remoue our sins as a clowde and iniquities as a mist and then this dreadfull bloodie clowde which lately powred downe but now onely droppeth will vanish of it selfe Consummate the worke of mercy thou hast begun and quite remoue this iudgement through thy tender compassion in the bowells of Christ Iesus wee beseech thee But remoue this iudgement in mercie not in iudgement Take not thy hand off of vs to fetch a greater stroake at vs. Deliuer vs not from one Plague as thou diddest Pharoh to send a worse in steede thereof Put vs not out of thine hands into which we are fallen to giue vs ouer into the hands of our enemies Saue vs not from the Sword to kill vs with Famine neither preserue vs from a corporall to starue vs with a spirituall Take not away one plaister to apply a smarter in the place but perfectly heale our wounds Bee absolutely reconciled vnto vs in him vpon whom thou hast already layed the chastisement of our peace O remember not our our old sinnes but haue mercy vpon vs and that soone for wee are come to great misery Helpe vs ô God of our saluation for the glory of thy name ô deliuer vs and bee mercifull to our sins for thy names sake O thinke vpon thy congregation and Mount Sion wherein thou hast dwelt Looke vpon the hands of many thousands that haue beene lifted vp to thee in Publike and many more in Priuate to iustifie thee in thy Iudgements and blesse thee for thy mercies and intreate thee for this Land and thy disconsolate Spouse yet weeping in teares of bloud in diuerse places To strengthen and support the weaker of these hands and fill their mouthes with continuall Deuotions I haue furnished and replenished this Manuel which I name THE HAND-MAID To PRIVATE DEVOTION to waite on her in her Chamber or Oratorie The purtraying of her Mistresse I leaue to the pensill of some Diuine Apelles whose taske will be the harder because she neuer commeth abroade All that my intention aimeth at and my endeauours promise is but to lay open a priuate way and set vp certaine Stages for thy holy race and pricke thee on forward in it Farre better helpes in this kinde the pious charitie and zeale of religious and learned persons hath afforded thee of whom yet I may truely say as Tully spake of the Emperours that dealt with Mithridates before Pompey Laudandum quod secerunt ignoscendum quod reliquerunt They are to be commended for that they haue done and pardoned for that they left What they haue left I labour to supply and if I cannot supply it yet I thought fit to implie and intimate that the Authors themselues or the Publishers of their workes might adde what they finde wanting First my thinkes I see in their bookes of Deuotion and prayers Salomon's temple without the gate called Bewtifull I meane exquisite meditations and orizons without an entrance thereunto by preparation With that part therefore I begin and it taketh vp the more roome in my booke because it hath beene so scanted for place or rather quite excluded in theirs In it if thou finde some tertnesse I intreate thee Courteous Reader to remember with me the precept of the Lord Iesu Haue salt and haue peace If I haue salt haue thou peace the rather because Hymnes Prayers and other religious exercises are spirituall sacrifices and euery sacrifice by the Law was to be seasoned with salt Et quoniam mel in Dei sacrificijs non offertur nimia dulcedo arte mutata est quâdam piperis austeritate condita apud Deum nil tantum suaue placet nisi quod habet in se aliquid mordacis veritatis It is S. Ierom's obseruation vpon the legall sacrifices that God neuer appointed hony to be offered vnto him And the morall truth vailed vnder that shadow was that in our spirituall oblations nothing pleaseth God that is onely sweete and hath not some smacke 〈◊〉 it of biting truth Next I haue much maruelled what the reason might be that they vndertaking
houlding thy deere purchase O let not thy hate of sinne extinguish thy loue to thy creature Let not any thing that I haue done preiudice thee in the merit of that which thou hast suffered for me My sins deserued eternall wrath of thy Father but thou hast borne it My wonton delights and impure pleasures deserued stripes and wounds but thou hast receiued them My hainous crimes deserued death but thou hast suffered it for me This day my first parent Adam was made a liuing soule and this day thou the second Adam wert made a quickning Spirit This day he sinned in a garden and this day thou sorrowedst in the garden This day he tooke the fruite of the forbidden tree and this day thou wert hung vpon the accursed tree This day he was cast into a dead sleepe and his side opened and his wite Eue formed of his ribbe was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone this day also thou wert cast into a deadly sleepe and thy side opened and thy Spouse the Catholicke Church brought foorth not by water onely but by water and bloud the water of regeneration and bloud of explation and sanctification This day Adam brought the curse vpon himselfe and all his posterity this day thou prouidedst an euerlasting blessing for thy selfe and all thy members That which he lost thou hast regayned with aduantage that which he did thou hast suffered for that which I owed thou hast discharged on the very day by taking all his and our debts vpon thee and laying downe an al-sufficient price to satisfie for them O giue me an hand of faith to receiue so much of this infinite sum as may discharge my debt and strengthen this my hand that I may hold it fast and tender it to thy Father and receiue from him an absolute and generall acquittance signed with thy blood and sealed with thy Crosse bearing date the very day of thy consummation of all things at thy death If thou bad'st required a greater thing we should haue done it for what will not a man doe for his life How much more when thou â—arest belieue and liue cast your selues vpon me and I will saue you from drowning in euerlasting perdition receiue the price of your ransome and bee freed When thou holdest out the golden Scapter of thy grace if wee will not take hold on it wee deserue double dâ—mnation for refusing so easy a meanes of saluation Adam belieued Eue and Eue the Serpent to her and our ruine why should not I much rather belieue thy Church thy Spouse and thy Spouse thy Word to saluation What should with-hold my faith from apprehending my hope from exâ—ecting the promises of thy Gospell confirmed by so many miracles testâ—fied by the Church in all Ages signed with the blood of so many Martyrs and 〈◊〉 to my soule and conscience by the holy Spirit Doth it shake and stagger my faith that thy workes recorded in holy Scriptures so farre transcend nature and the mysteries of sauing truth soare aboue humane reason But this demonstrateth rather faith to be faith and thee ô God to be true God Faith is not faith if reason comprehend it God cannot be God if nature limit him Am I the more auerse from embracing thy Gospell because it crosseth and checketh my naturall dispositions and in clinations But the cause is most euident thy Law is iust holy and pure but I am wicked prophane and impure The physick is for the most part the better which the patient liketh worst because it exasperateth the paine for the time Haue I the lesse loue and liking to the most holy faith because it restraineth my carnall liberty and abridgeth mee or altogether depriueth mee of worldly comforts and contentments But am I not spirit as welâ— as flesh Haue I not a Law in my minde controlling the Law of my members Is it not much better to sowe vnto the Spirit that I may reape peace ioy and life euerlasting then sowe to the flesh and of the flesh reape nothing but corruption Thy Gospell ô gracious God restraineth my carnall but enlargeth my spirituall liberty it denieth mee sinfull but it promiseth me holy delights and pleasures it moderateth the desire and vse of temporarie comforts and ioyes but assureth mee that my heart shall be filled with eternall Am I ready to be beaten off from my holy profession and beliefe by blowes and strokes persecutions losses imprisonment banishment scorne of the world and disgrace This should make mee hold it the faster for the Gospell foretelleth that these things should befall true bâ—lieuers and it is an honour to mee to beare the â—adge of mâ—â—profession and to drinke with thee my Sauiour in thine owne Cup. It is my profession to be thy Souldier and he is no Souldier that endureth not hardnesse I can expect no crowne without a Conquest no Conquest without a battaile no battaile without blowes and wounds and what are these light and momentary afflictions to an eternall weight of glory Thus doth thâ— Word conquer my reason and yet it will not yeeld I resolue to belieue Lord strengthen my resolution I doe belieue Lord helpe mine vnbelief All things past haue so come to passe as the Oracles of thy truth fore-shewed they should and how then can I doubt of things future reuealed in them The deluge was foretold 120 yeeres before and at the prefixed time it ouerranne the whole world Thy peoples bondage in Aegypt for 400 yeeres and their after deliuery is no otherwise described by Moses then it was in a dreame many Ages before deliuered to Abraham Thou calledst thy Shepheard Cyrus and thine annointed Iosias by name to their functions long before either of them or their forefathers were conceiued The 4 famous Monarchs pictured out in Nebuchadnezzars Image succeeded in their order The Assyrian represented by the golden head the Persian by the siluer armes and shoulders the Grecian by the thighs of brasse and the Romane by the leggs of yron And do we not see at this day the stumpe of that Image and the feete partly yron in the Turkish and partly of clay in the Germane Empire Thy Birth and Death ô Sauiour was fore shadowed in Types and fore-spoken of by Prophets euer since the world began and since thy comming into the flesh and finishing all things at thy death in Ierusalem Not a syllable or one iot of any of thy words haue passed without their accomplishment Ierusalem is destroyed the Temple made euen with the ground and neuer could be built againe The Iewes are dispersed into all nations The Gospell is preached through the whole world the man of sinne is euery day more and more discouered and why should I not then belieue as certainly that the heauens shall passe away shortly with heate and the elements melt with fire and thy signe bee seene in the clowdes and those that are in their graues be awaked with the sound of the last Trumpe and meete thee in the aire