of Christs bodie and bloode ye are fedde and filled with the graces of Christ as graffes are nourished with the sap of that tree whereupon they are graffed I wicked wretch receiued first for fashion sake negligently afterward inclining to the Romane religion I receiued for feare of the lawes of this land against my will disdainfully reckoning it as a thing of naught which I receiued Whereby I doe thinke in my conscience I did sore displease almightie God The Lord Iesus Christ giue grace that no man or woman may hereafter receiue his bodie and bloode vnworthily I was not giuen to pray vnto God nor indeede knew howe to praie and therefore was not blessed in that which I did practise All people be carefull to praie alwaies in the beginning continuance and ending of all good emploiment Whensoeuer you are about to thinke to say or to doe any thing praie vnto God that he will for Christs sake giue you the grace to thinke saie and doe his will and for euery blessing which hee giueth vnto you be mindefull and forward to giue him thankes When you purpose to praie vnto him or to praise him quicken your faith in this maner first beleeue that you are in the sight and hearing of God beleeue it so verily as you did see him with your bodily eies Secondly consider his almightie maiestie and your owne vile basenesse being as you are a sinner dust ashes and thereupon humble your heart as if you would cast your selfe flatte vpon the ground before him Thirdly with all reuerence and diligent discretion lift vp your minde and vtter your heart vnto him You may well praie to God or praise him in your heart although your mouth speake it not but you cannot well speake vnto him with your mouth vnlesse your heart doe wholly intend and thinke vpon that which you say for it is your heart that God giueth heede vnto In your praier and thankesgiuing shunne the pride of words for God loueth plaine speech and vse no needlesse circumstance because he loueth no idle words Be very carefull and fearefull least in any thing that you say vnto him you displease him for we are apt to displease God euery way yea euen when we thinke to please him Pray very leisurely for hast maketh wast Because I wanted instruction how to praie I am desirous to helpe others the best that I can Let your first praier be for the forgiuenesse of your sinnes in some such maner as this O almightie and most dreadfull Lord God I loathsome sinner vnworthie to liue in thy sight doe humbly beseech thee that for thine onely sonne Iesus Christs sake thou wilt vouchsafe to forgiue me my sinnes and to clense me from my sinfulnesse that I may be thine humble and true seruant for vnto thee all honour and glorie is due world without ende Amen When you purpose to thinke vpon to speake or to doe any thing pray for grace good speede O almightie God Lord of heauen and earth the onely giuer of all good speede and prosperitie I beseech thee â—o forgiue me my sinnes and so to blesse me â—n this businesse which now I doe intende â—hat it may be prosperous to thy glorie thorough Iesus Christ thine onely sonne who with thee and the holy Ghost three persons and one God be honoured in heart word and deede henceforth for euer and euer Amen When you receiue any blessing or prosperitie from God praise him heartily O most blessed and bountifull Lord God what am I that thou giuest such blessing vnto me I am a vile sinner worthie of nothing but miserie and damnation and therfore it is thy meere mercie that I am thus blessed O good Lord I humbly beseech thee to continue thy gracious fauour towards me and to make me euery way vnfainedly thankfull vnto thee for the same thorough Iesus Christ thine onely sonne who with thee and the holy Ghost three persons and one God be vnfainedly praised for euer and euer Amen When sicknesse or any aduersitie falleth vpon you the first thing you doe humble your selfe vnto God O most holy and righteous Lord God I doe confesse that thou maiest iustly destroie me bodie and soule for my many and grieuous sinnes wherewith I haue daily and hourely displeased thee all my life long therefore I am bound to praise thee because thou hast suffered me all this while and now doest so fauourably chasten me to the end that I should repent and not be condemned O most mightie Lord nothing can happen vnto me without thine ordinance Therefore I beseech then that I may humbly patiently and thankefully take this thy correction to the amendment of my life and to the glorie of thy blessed name thorough Iesus Christ thine onely sonne who with thee and thy holy Ghost three persons and one God be rightly worshipped obeied and praised for euer and euer Amen When any crosse or aduersitie doth lie so heauie vpon you that you can not endure it make humble supplication to God O father of mercie and God of all comfort I vile wretch am much grieued vnder the burden of my sinnes and thou hast not laide the whole weight of them vpon me I doe heartily thank thee that thou hast not ouerwhelmed me with thy dreadfull wrath which I haue all my life time deserued and â—lso I humblie beseech thee that if it may â—and with thy good pleasure thou wilt â—ouchsafe to ease me of this which I nowe â—uffer that I may the better be able to doe â—hee seruice but if it please thee not thy will 〈◊〉 holy thy wil be done onely vouchsafe me â—omfort and patience most blessed Lord â—hat thy holy name may be glorified of me â—n mine obedient suffering thorough Iesus Christ thine onely sonne who with thee â—nd the holy Ghost three persons and one God be honoured and praised for euer and â—â—uer Amen I was not accustomed to say grace when I was young but sometime saide it for a â—aine glorie and finding the fashion of the world to be like vnto the manner of bruit â—oastes following nature and not grace I became a beast my selfe falling to meate without any acknowledgement of Gods goodnesse Afterward finding that Iesus Christ himselfe and all good Christians vsed to say grace I was touched in conscience and meant to vse it but hauing not the power to subdue mine owne will nor the heart to contrarie the course of them with whome I liued I remained as a reprobate vncouth and vnframable to euery good worke All people for Gods sake accustome your selues to haue grace before and after you eate and drinke If it seeme vncouth vnto you as it doth to many people be afraide for it is an ill signe shewing that your heart is a stranger to God and if you be strange to him he will be strange to you Therefore by any meanes ouercome that ill qualitie and giue your selfe to grace But you may say it is so out of vse with most
verie carefull of bringing vp their children whereupon a learned Iewe was wont to saie that Christians were called tillers because they did diligently till the heartes of those that were vnder their charge sowing in them the seedes of godlinesse There are too few such tillers now adaies that heauenly husbandrie and blessed tillage is laide aside Our most mightie Lord God for his sonne Iesus Christs sake restore it and be mercifull to young children that his holy Ghost may fill their hearts with grace and goodnesse Amen Amen AS I grew in age so I increased in sinne prouoking Gods displeasure continually who notwithstanding patiently indured me yea deliuered me out of many deadly dangers whereinto I by follie and sinne did thrust my selfe from time to time Moreouer of his great goodnesse he gaue me knowledge of his righteousnesse and of mine owne sinnes moouing me oftentimes to leaue the waie of damnation and turne vnto his blessed maiestie thorough Iesus Christ assuring my heart that in so doing I should be blessed but otherwise cursed and condemned But all this did not preuaile with my reprobate heart which beeing vtterly hardened in sinne and voide of repentance causeth me to heape vp wrath vpon wrath and vengeance vpon vengeance to the increasing of mine euerlasting torments in hell fire All maner of people yong and olde take heede by me Haue no more Gods but one Consider well what he hath done for you He made you at the first like vnto himselfe in wisdome and holinesse and when you were by sinne made like the deuill and must therefore haue beene condemned to hell torments God sent his onely sonne who taking vnto him a bodie and soule was a man and suffered great wrong and a shamefull death to procure your pardon and to buie you out of the Deuills bondage that ye might be renued to the likenesse of God And now he hath sent the holy Ghost to enter and take possession of your hearts clensing you from sinne which is the Deuills likenesse and making you righteous which is the likenesse of God to the ende ye might be fit to keepe companie with all Saints in the ioyes of heauen Call to mind how long ye haue intertained the deuill and kept out the holy Ghost and with how great patience God hath hitherto suffered you and kept you aliue because he would not haue you perish but 〈◊〉 and be saued O what is the reason that people doe not loue this God aboue all things yea aboue their owne life Surely the 〈◊〉 is because they lacke faith for they doe not esteeme it their onely happinesse to be in the fauour of God but like vnto bruit beastes giue credit to deceitfull shewes and flattering enticements and so are wilfully snared of the Deuill who with his alluring baites draweth them on to destruction and the further he draweth them the surer he is of them Therefore all people for Gods sake take heede doe not delaie the time as I haue done thinking to turne vnto God to morrow and next daie for the longer you continue in sinne the harder it will be to repent because the deuill doth euery day get more and more power in you till your heart be fulfilled with wickednesse and so God doe euerlastingly forsake you Neuer be at quiet with your heart vntil you be in loue with God Studie and striue to compasse the loue of God ioye in whatsoeuer furthereth you vnto it grieue in all that hindereth you from it How shall I endeauour to loue God loue that which is good and hate that which is naught for good cōmeth of God and euill is of the deuill The thought is the beginning of your good and of your euill An euill thought is sent from the deuill and if you entertaine it it bringeth in the deuill A good thought is sent from the holy Ghost as a messenger vnto your soule if you receiue it and make much of it in your heart the holy Ghost will enter and putting out the Deuill will fill you full of heauenly grace Therefore doe as the Psalme biddeth you 4.7 lift vp your heads O ye gates and be ye lifted vp ye euerlasting doores and the King of glorie will come in Withdrawe your minde from all euill thoughts and thinke vpon God and godlinesse cleaue thereunto with full purpose of heart and studie how you may alwaies doe his will with diligence and suffer his pleasure with patience assuring your selues that if you giue your minde to serue him hee will not saile you nor forsake you but preserue you to his euerlasting kingdome and glorie doe not endure to thinke say or doe any thing against your conscience but alwaies be carefull to please God My heart beeing not knit vnto God but to the world I framed my religion to mine affection and mine affection to imagination first I was hote against the Romane religion then being much befreinded by some that fauoured that religion I to gratifie thē grew in good liking of it also yea so farre forth that I became a recusant was receiued into the Church of Rome by a Seminarie Priest and did what I could to perswade manie others to leane that waie But when trouble was likely to fall vpon me I went to Church againe and so by little and little fell off yet so as wheresoeuer I found any of that religion I was still sutable vnto them After this I beeing kindely vsed of some that were commonly called Puritans tooke liking of their opinions yea and in some points was readie to runne beyond them and all this in great shew of zeale towardes God so that I made my selfe beleeue that I was in the right waie and did well I doe often wonder at my selfe how feruent I was first a Protestant then a Romane Catholike afterward a Precisian so that I tooke vpon me to rebuke many yea and some of high degree as though I had beene a verie man of God full of the holy Ghost whereas indeede the deuill was in my heart and therefore all my waies were sinnefull and displeasing vnto God O all ye Christian people take heede by me doe not rashly giue your minde to fancie this or that religion but first of all settle your heart in the feare and loue of God Make conscience betweene God and your soule of all that you thinke say or doe Serue God in your spirit vnfainedly turning from sinne and striuing to please him Till you be thus setled in true godlinesse it is vaine yea and daungerous to hammer meddle with points of religion for your heart beeing vncleansed and your affections vnrighted God is not your leader but the deuill who will strangely deceiue you and make you proude of your doings when you stinke in your sinnes before the face of God Therefore submit your selues humblie to God weane your soules from sinne that ye may be wedded to Iesus Christ and by his spirit bring forth such fruits as are pleasing to God which
and am defiled with fleshly lust which hath consumed my bodie and cancred my soule so that I am before God a most ougly monster and a detestable loathsome wretch This hellish fire was first kindled in my heart by seeing lewde behauour and harkening to filthy talke whereby I grewe to be of so beastly an imagination that I could hardly see or heare anie thing but presently I turned it to some meaning of lust To quench this fire I some time thought vpon Origens remedy sometime I purposed marriage but all in vaine for to this daie I continue inflamed with it and neuer had the grace to be freed from it O all ye children of men liue in the feare of God and beginne betimes to hate this foolish and filthie sinne for if it once take possession of your heart it will haunt you like an euill spirit Therefore doe not endure to see heare or thinke any vnclennesse If any beginne to talke read or sing matter of beastlinesse flee out of their compaine for it is the deuill that setteth them a work to fire your hearts Whatsoeuer lewd ballet booke or picture coÌ„meth to your hands teare it all to peeces or burne it to ashes for whosoeuer made it the deuill deuised it for your destruction If God doe see that you hate all causes of filthinesse he will loue you deerelie and many excellent graces he will giue vnto you Parents and gouernours of children keep them carefully from the delite of this sinne It is not good that boyes and girles should lie in bed together nor plaie in priuate places for the deuill watcheth his time to work his temptation vpon them It is strange and I should not beleeue it but that I remember it since I was a child how younglings will draw one an other to this filthie sinne All people if you desire by the grace of God to be preserued from this fierie filthines in the name of Iesus Christ settle your hearts to praie and to practise for chastitie O most holy Lord God who in the beginning of this world didst make man and woman and marrie them together ordaining that they should with so vndefiled hearts increase their kind as in eating and drinking they nourish their bodies But euer since Sathan by temptation had drawne them awaie from thee thine holy ordinance is broken for people doe rather giue themselues to the delight of beastly lust then to the desire of blessed increase Whereupon they pamper and paint out themselues that they may followe their filthinesse allure one an other thereunto Moreouer by the procurement of our old enemie the deuill this world is so full of temptation that I am continualy in danger by seeing hearing or some one waie or an other to be infected by loathsome lust yea although there were not such abundance of outward alurements yet mine owne heart is readie to betraie me to the deuill Therefore I doe humbly beseech thy blessed maiestie that it may please thee to preserue me from all temptations of lust all the daies of my life And if it be thy will that I shall marrie good Lord giue vnto me a vertuous wife that we may christianly liue together not in the vnsatiable lust of vncleanes as they that know thee not but in such godly temperaÌ„ce that our minds may be holy our bodies healthie our children if thy pleasure be to send vs any holy and able to doe thee seruice Most mercifull God grant me this my prayer for thy sonne Iesus Christs sake to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory henceforth for euermore Amen Now with daily prayer ioyne diligent practise Giue your selues to some good exercise and labour flie from idlenesse Pamper not your bodies with gluttonie and drunkennesse but vse verie sober diet abhor all brauerie of apparel be cloathed only as becommeth a christian in your degree Whatsoeuer it be that mooueth you any way to the thought or desire of lust leaue it and turne from it I doe heartly wish holinesse to al people but being a wreched man I doe specially intend my confession vnto men All men young or old I beseech you giue your heart and mind to holy thoughts and heauenly desires detest all motions of filthinesse which tend to displease God destroie you bodie and soule Doe not muse of woman nor let your eies be delighted in behoulding their beautie and finenesse giue no regard to their coie behauiour tripping and dauncing Take no pleasure in hearing their delicate talking sweet singing and amorous playing for the deuill is readie when you are any way touched with delight of women presently to kindle his fire in your heart Be not much familiar with any woman specially alone for it will cause danger to you and suspition to others If you see a woman to be verie fellowly iudge her not for she may be good but be you a stranger vnto her least Satan make you naught Doe not dally iest or plaie with woemen least it happen vnto you as to the flie that playeth about the caÌ„dle till she haue spoyled her flying As you must carefully keepe your selues from being enflamed with lust so also you ought to take great heede that you giue none occasion to enflame any of Gods people O what an hellish part it is to ioyne with the deuill in tempting others A man and his wife should not dally one with an other in the sight of any no not of their owne children least it mooue them to euill thoughts An heathen man among heathen people was put to great disgrace because he kissed his wife in the sight of his daughter This is a notable example for christians that make no conscience to infect others by word and deede apparell gesture and euerie waie that can be deuised â—th 18.6 you knowe that Christ saith it were better for a man to be cast into the sea with a milstone about his necke then to giue any occasioÌ„ to make an other to sinne O ye women I pray you that for Christs sake ye will consider why God was so displeased with the daughters of Sion Esa 3.16 for their fine attire and wanton behauiour and also why the holy Ghost doth will christian women to decke themselues with vertues and not with costly raiment Surely it semeth to me that one cause is the great danger of men who are inticed to lust by the trimnesse of women And is not an other cause the wasting of Gods goods vpon vaine ornaments Take heede least God doe one daie call you to a reckoning for euerie pennie idly bestowed and for euerie man by your meanes tempted O the modestie of women what an heauenly preseruatiue and remedie it is against lust Yong men pray humbly and feruently to God that you be not stained with lust and if you finde your bodies dangerouslie subiect thereunto striue to keep your minds cleane Rather then yeild to any vnlawfull act of fleshlinesse intend your selfe