considering that spirituall plagues are much more heauie than corporall and we should in our humiliation ioyne our cryes with those soules vnder the Altar that were slaine for the Word of God and the Testimony which they held saying How long O Lord holy and true doest thou not iudge and auenge our bloud on them that dwell in the earth Reuel 6.10 The Vse of all this first part of my Text that is the case of Sufferers is this That we know not God to halues God describeth himselfe to be Iust as well as Mercifull Exod. 34. and the sonne of Syrach tells vs Ecclus 5. that God is as mighty to punish as to saue therefore we must not look vpon onely Gods Mercy but vpon his Iustice also which is so palpable in the plagues And yet must wee not so plod vpon Gods Iustice as not to carry our eye from thence to his Mercy for as in the first case exprest in my Text we haue seene the Church suffering from Gods wrath so now in her second case we must behold her as a Suppliant hauing recourse vnto the Throne of grace And here first wee must obserue That though God for sinne be pleased to humble his Church yet doth hee afford her a meanes of reliefe whereby shee may come out of her greatest distresse And why God is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not a Destroyer but a Sauiour of his Church he doth not punish her but to recouer her as anon you shall heare more at large But though the Church be subiect to no more calamities than she hath remedy for yet of her manifold distresses the remedy is but one Penitent Deuotion is the onely remedy of all distresses And this Deuotion is here called by two names Prayer and Supplication The words in the Originall are fitted to the argument the first is Tephillah which is such a prayer as a prisoner maketh to him before whom hee is arraigned you may interpret it by those words in Iob cap. 9. I will make supplication to my Iudge And indeed a Penitent must so come to God as if he came to the Barre hee must suppose himselfe to bee an indited person And being such the second word will teach him what his plea must be euen a Psalme of Mercy for so Techinnah signifieth hee must come vnto God with Haue mercy vpon mee O God after thy great mercy Psal 51. and hee must pray with Daniel cap. 9. O Lord righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee but vnto vs confusion of faces In the Primitiue Church they had stationary dayes Tertullian saith their name is borrowed from warfare and Christians vpon that day putting on the whole armour of God did stand vpon their guardes against powers and principalities Serm. 36. and spirituall wickednesses in heauenly places St. Ambrose more plainly saith stationes vocantur Ieiunia quòd flentes ieiunantes in ijs inimicos repellamus These were the weekly fasting dayes Wednesdayes and Fridayes whereon Christians repaired to the Church and therein quasifactâmanu like an Armie with spirituall weapons of fasting and praying weeping and lamenting of their sinnes they put to flight all their ghostly enemies and remoued all the heauie pressures of the Church We keepe the dayes but haue lost the truevse of them It is much to bee wisht that they were restored againe and that thereon we did as our Fore-fathers were wont plye God in these sinnefull and wofull times especially with Tephillah and Techinnah the Prayers of guilty ones and Supplications for the mercy of God But more fully to rip vp this Deuotion so farre as wee are led by my Text obserue that it consisteth of two acts one inward and another outward The inward is a liuely sense of the Penitents euill case and an expression of his deuotion out of that sense Euery one of them must know the plagues of his owne heart Where first obserue that the plagues inflicted are corporall but the sense required is spirituall And why the originall of sinne is in the soule whereunto the body concurres but as a pliable instrument therefore God would haue the body serue by his smart to awaken the soule make it apprehensiue of Gods displeasure and tremble at his iudgements The word which we doe render plague doth signifie a wound now in the heart there may be a wound of sinne or a wound for sinne The wound of sinne 1. Pet. 2. is that which sinne giueth to the soule St. Peter tels vs that our sinfull lusts fight against the soule and in fighting giue the soule many a stabbe the sonne of Syrach expresseth this excellently All iniquity is as a two-edged sword the wounds whereof cannot bee healed Ecclus 21. And what meane we else when we say that sinne is mortall but that it giueth mortall wounds Besides this wound of sinne there is a wound for sinne you know that when a man in fight hath receiued a wound the Chirurgion must come with his instrument and search that wound scoure it and put the wounded man to a second paine euen so when wee haue wounded our soules with sinne wee must wound them a second time for finne if wee meane to be deuoutly penitent wee must be prickt at the heart we must rent our hearts we must breake our stonie hearts wee must melt our hearts we must poure forth our soules our spirit must be wounded within vs and our heart must be desolate This is that which God commanded the Iewes Leuit. 16.31 when hee bid them afflict their soules in the day of their solemne Fast This is that godly sorrow which St. Paul 2. Cor. 7.10 speaketh of sorrow not to be repented of Animae amaritudo est anima poenitentiae this vexing of our soules is the very soule of repentance As a penitent man hath these two wounds so he must know them but wee come very short of this all this mortall life of ours is nothing else but a masse of plagues full of temptations Iohn 7. and trauelleth with vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit Psal 38. all the sonnes of Adam doe daily suffer from the wrath of God in some thing or other and euerie one of vs may say as Augustus the Emperour sometimes said that he sitteth inter lachrymas suspiria betweene sighings and teares Certainly as the Christian world now standeth wee are encompast with lamentable spectacles both abroad and at home But many men are so hardened that they feele not their owne disease much lesse others yea so farre they are from feeling the ordinary plagues of man that they doe not feele the extraordinary ones wherewith God doth rowze sinnefull men Wherefore we must hold it for one of the gifts of grace wherewith God doth endue his children that they recouer againe the sense of godly sorrow And wee may well conclude that hee that is senslesse is gracelesse and they which haue no sense beare the heauiest plague The word doth carry with it not
breaking vp the fallow ground of our hearts Ier. 4.3 Hosea 10.12 that they may bee sowen Now you know that they that breake vp their grounds vse the Plough and the Harrow the Plough turneth vp the ground in great clods that is the first breaking of it then commeth the Harrow and turneth those clods into dust that is the second breaking of it and so these two breakings represent corporally what you must spiritually obserue in a broken and contrite heart The very same may fitly bee represented by the second resemblance that is taken from Masonry the Scripture doth often tell vs that sinners haue stony hearts and therefore they must be broken that they may be made fleshy hearts as tender and soft as flesh Now you know that when a Mason or Plaisterer will worke a rough stone into all kinde of shapes at his pleasure he first breaketh him being calcined or otherwise prepared all to pieces and then those pieces he poundeth into dust then that dust with liquor he can worke into a soft substance which will receiue any shape according to the fancy of the Plaisterer Euen so must the Heart and Spirit of a man be hammered by Gods Word Ierem. 23.9 broken and broken againe that so it may be made plyable vnto the wil of God These be faire resemblances and I might insist vpon them and by them illustrate the humiliation of a sinner but I choose rather the resemblance that offereth it selfe in my Text and that is contained in the word Sacrifices In the Temple or Tabernacle there were two Altars one of burnt sacrifice another of Incense the sacrifice of either will fit our purpose That of incense Exod. 30. where God telleth expresly of what spices the perfume should be made he addeth these wordes thou shalt beate some of it very small and put it before the testimony in the Tabernacle of the congregation where I will meete with thee The resemblance is very fit But it is fitter if we take it from the other Altar and indeed it is fit we take it thence for though my text be true of all morall seruice God requireth it God delighteth in it as might bee shewed at large if the time would permit and it were to my purpose yet now haue I to doe with no more then concerneth King Dauids case the reconciliation of a Penitent so much morall worship as answereth to burnt offering and sacrifice whereof you heard in the verse going before now they did belong to the Altar of burnt offerings wherefore there will wee seâ—ke and wee shall find our resemblance For the sacrifices were first cut in pieces that was their breaking secondly being so broken they were burnt into ashes that was a contrition of them a contrition and a breaking which doth most liuely represent the breaking and contrition required in Repentance Looke backe vpon them The Priest that did cut the sacrifice in pieces did as the Iewish Rituals obserue not mangle but ioynt the parts and what should wee doe in our Repentance but orderly take asunder and in our meditations view apart the seuerall powers that are in our soule and not mingle the vnderstanding and the will but seeing each hath his owne defects we must feelingly consider the seuerall defects that are in each power And this is the breaking of the Heart and the Spirit But the parts of the Sacrifice were not onely broken but they were brought to the fire and there they were burnt to ashes and it is not enough for vs in grosse to obserue the defects of the seuerall powers that are in our soule we shall find them intricate and a very Labyrinth wee must hunt out euery lurking sinne and euery particle must beare a part in this humiliation the fire of spirituall affliction must pierce euen vnto the least iot of that which doth partake of corruption otherwise our Heart and Spirit are not as they ought broken and contrite Saint Ambrose conceiueth that these words are meant of Christ And indeed he that doth but read the 53. of Esay which is often alleadged by the Apostles especially Saint Peter shall finde that Christ had a broken and contrite Heart and Spirit indeed the Euangelists doe expresse it in significant words Luke 22 44. Math. 26.38 Mark 14.33 hee was in an agony his soule was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on euery side encompassed with heauinesse euen vnto death he began 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be euen astonished 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to droope to become euen heartlesse the Sacrament what is it but a representation of the humiliation of our Sauiour Christ not in conscience of his owne sinne but for expiation of our pride was Christ pleased to be humbled not onely in body but in soule also And to him must we be conformed for he is the best patterne of a broken and contrite Spirit But marke in these words broken and contrite that euery kind of concussion is not a poenitentiall humiliation Iam 2.19 for the Diuels they feare and tremble when they remember in what case they stand Act. 24.25 and so did Felix tremble when Saint Paul preached of the iudgement to come and how was Pharaoh shaken when he was vnder the plagues of Egypt Daniel 5. Baltazar quiuered and his knees smote together when he saw the hand-writing but their hearts and spirits were made of tough mettall not one of them brake or was contrite but after Gods hand was off they continued whole and wholly the same persons And so if wee doe and it is too common for vs to doe so crie we out neuer so much I haue sinned and God be mercifull vnto me in our danger be it what it may be wee are not humbled as the morall seruice of God requireth As we wound our soules so must we be contented to search those wounds and least they fester Ier. 23.9 Habak 3 16. search them to the bottome we must be contented as throughly to grieue for sinne as to take delight therein But a little farther to wade into this point There are two kinds of Griefe that the Schooles speake of Appretiativus and Intensivus they apply it somwhat vntowardly but here wee may make a good vse of it for our spirituall humiliation must testistifie first at what rate wee doe set the fauour of God and hauing no better thing to wreck our displeasure vpon for the losse therof then our Heart and Spirit we vse them so roughly and choose them for the subiect of humiliation Secondly the breaking and contrition of heart and spirit doe shew that our sorrow is as intensiue as it is appretiatiue as the thing is most deare vnto vs which we afflict so there can be no deeper wounds giuen then those wherwith we afflict it But sorrow is not enough vnto humiliation there are two other things that must goe therewith and are very clearly insinuated in this manner of breaking and contriting our Heart The first is
part of the commaundement there is perfectio viatoris and comprehensoris Perfectio comprehensoris the perfection of a man when hee commeth to heauen will bee this saith Saint Austin Non concupiscet hee will not there couet at all couet any thing against the prescript of Gods Law But wee may not exspect to haue that perfection in this life because God is pleased euen in his best Children to continue here Luctam inter spiritum carnem a conflict betweene the flesh and the spirit Onely in Baptisme hee taketh away reatum Concupiscentis and regnum Concupiscentiae those that are regenerated are not guiltie because sinfull Concupiscence is or stirreth in them neither doth Concupiscence continue her soueraigntie ouer them So that God vnto their perfection in the Church militant requires onely of his Children vt post Concupiscentias ne eant that they take no care for the flesh to sulfill the lusts thereof Rom 13 14. Rom 8. v. 1. And there is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus that walke not after the flesh but after the spirit which is Saint Pauls conclusion vpon the conflict described Rom. 7. and he shewes plainely that hee would haue it vnderstood of the New and Old mans Conflict not of reason and sensualitie as the Arminians And can men performe so much as in the Apostles words is required The Romanists say they can but they say it vntruely For this contention of the spirit and the flesh is not duellum but Bellum it is not a single combat but a plaine warre And you know there is great ods betweene these for in a single combat a man is to ward but one and bee hath but one to wound But in the warre in a pitch't battaile Singuli pugnant contra omnes omnes contra singulos euerie man must take care of all his enemies that are in the field For there is not one of them but may giue him a wound eminus or cominus either buckling with him or striking him from aloofe So that when he gardeth his head from one another may smite him at the heart when he maketh all sure before he may be smitten behind or he may be pierced in the sides As hee is thus encumbred in the defensiue so is he in the offensiue also he may not thinke himselfe safe so long as any one of his enemies doth liue Behold here a liuely Image of the militant Souldiers of Christ they haue not to doe with one but with many enemies the flesh the world the diuell And these haue vnder them many desperate Souldiers The flesh as many as wee haue senses and affections parts of our bodies and powers of our Soules The world as many as there are creatures And the diuell is a Prince of many legions Wee must withstand them all and that at all times and not onely withstand them but also stand against them at all times wee must looke to be set vpon by them and we must set vpon them A very hard taske Pluribus intentus minor est ad singula sensus saith the prouerb and the more our strength is distracted by many the lesse must it needs be against any one Were I onely to defend my eye happily I might make my part good against the lust thereof but at the same instant that I turne them away least they behold vanitie I am assaulted with an itching in my eare that is exposed to flatterie Put the case I bestirre my selfe so well that I keepe the enemie out of both those inlets he will giue mee a fall by my tongue he will cast some firie Dart into that it shall be set on fire of Hell as Saint Iames speaketh to slander to blaspheme Iames 3.6 to speake some idle or euill words Neither are my hands secure at the very same time from being sollicited with briberie or vnto bloudshed It were infinite to goe ouer all the powers of my Soule all the parts of my body they are all at once and euer in the same danger and must all at once and euer be put vnto the same labour both defensiue and offensiue Adde hereunto three great disaduantages of the spirituall warfare aboue the corporall for in the corporall warfare as there are many enemies so those against whom they come being many distract them that they cannot all fall vpon one but in the spirituall warre it is not so all our spirituall foes at one time may set vpon euerie one of vs yea they neuer goe a sunder for our flesh euer ioyneth with the world and the diuell with them both The second disaduantage is that whereas open hostilitie in earthly warfare is not alwayes accompanied with treacherie in the spirituall it is For our selues hold secret intelligence with and yeeld assistance to our ghostly enemies we betray vnto them a propension that we haue to be conquered And when the battle ioynes our members become weapons of vnrighteousnesse and with our owne lusts wee fight against our owne soules The third disaduantage is that in earthly warfare when the souldiers come to execution they spare none and they goe vpon a good principle shall I spare his bloud that will be euer ready to spill mine 1. Sam. 15. Reg. 20. Saul in sparing Agag and Ahab who spared Benhadad were taxed and punished for their foolish pittie But of this foolish pittie there appeares too much in our spirituall warfare for if God bring the world vnder vs yea and our flesh too we are afraid to be hard hearted to either of them wee hold it too much spiritualtie to crucifie the world and wee hold it too much inhumanitie to crucifie our owne flesh And by reason of this indulgence euen when they are foyled they are still in heart still in hope to recouer the masterie and bring vs vnder againe This being the condition of sinfull man the Schoolemen hold that no man in the state of grace is of sufficient strength to ouer come all sin though they adde that there is no one sinne which hee may not ouercome they speake of actuall sinnes and they speake truely if they bee vnderstood of that which a man may doe For if a man be tempted vnto any sinne if hee pray vnto God for grace and make vse of that grace which God doth giue him hee may with-hold his consent and choose whether he will act it and if he doe consent and act it hee is without all excuse Tertullian hath a prettie simile when two striue oftentimes the one ouercommeth the other not because the conquerour was the stronger but because he that is conquered was the more cowardly and such cowards the best of men doe proue very often in their spirituall war are But it is in vaine to dispute what may be done by grace against all sin or any one sin otherwise then to shew al mens frailty For the least of the two was neuer so done as that any man can truely boast of perfectio
sinners euen such sinners of whom I am chiefe Now then J beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken The Lord is slow to anger and of great mercie and forgiueth iniquitie and sinne Be mercifull J beseech thee to the impietie of thy seruant according to thy great mercie let the vngodlinesse of my heart of my mouth be blotted out of thy remembrance let it not bring vpon me the vengeance J deserue but create in me a new heart and touch my tongue with a cole from thine Altar that J which am vnworthy by reason of my scandalous crying sinne to meditate on or make mention of thy glorious Maiestie thy diuine Wisedome may haue a heart alwayes enditing good things and my blasphemous tongue may be turned into an instrument of thy glorie So shall my soule be filled as it were with marrow and fatnesse when J shall prayse thee with ioyfull lips and J shall sing forth thy wonderous mercie all the dayes of my life Heare me ô Father of mercie for giue me amend me and establish in me this holy purpose of my repentant heart to thy glorie and the comfort of enormous sinners for Jesus Christs sake by the powerfull operation of thy Holy Spirit Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREWS IN WELLES A SCHISMATIQVE DOING PENANCE WHO HAD FOR MANY YEERES ESTRANGED HIMSELFE FROM THE COMMVNION OF OVR CHVRCH 1 CORINT 3.18 18 Let no man deceiue himselfe if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a foole that he may be wise A Particular visible Church is built vpon two foundations Vnion and Communion a louing vnion of the faithfull and an holy communion in sacred things Both these must be preserued or else that Church will come to naught Now there were amongst the Corinthians that did vndermine these foundations some rent the vnion and the communion was corrupted by other-some St Paul wrot this Epistle to amend them both And marke what a distinct course he taketh He first setleth the vnion before he offereth to purge the communion And there is good reason why for though the louing vnion of the faithfull be vnprofitable if it be without a holy communion in sacred things yet is a holy communion in sacred things impossible if you take away the louing vnion of the faithfull Therefore lest St Paul should lose his labour in redressing of the communion he first taketh care of repayring the vnion The first thing then that in the Church of Corinth he reformes is Schisme and he spends well-nigh foure Chapters in reforming thereof in throughly searching into the disease and applying thereto a soueraigne remedy The words that now I haue read vnto you belong to the remedy and you shall find them to be a principall branch thereof Let vs come more closely to them Of medicinall remedies some are preseruatiue some are restoratiue The preseruatiue are for the sound the restoratiue are for the sicke You shall find them both in my Text and you shall find that they are Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue remedy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prouidence or the preuention of Schisme you haue it in these words Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repentance or the recouering of a Schismatique it followeth in these words If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him be a foole that he may be wise But more distinctly In the preseruatiue we are to behold our naturall weakenesse and therefore to learne spirituall carefulnesse St Paul supposeth that we are prone to deceiue our selues and therefore aduiseth that no man should doe himselfe that wrong Let no man deceiue himselfe In the restoratiue we must behold first the distemper of a Schismatique and then the cure fitting to such a distemper The distemper is a carnall selfe-conceit a selfe-conceit for the man thinkes himselfe wise but the selfe-conceipt is but carnall as appeares by the limitation or extenuation rather that is added to his wisedome he is onely wise in this world Such is his distemper Whereof the first cure is an exalting humilitie The first branch is humilitie He must become a foole but he need not be disheartened there followeth an exaltation thereupon He becomes a foole that he may be wise These are the remedies And they are as I told you Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any That which hath befalne this man may be the case of the best of vs all These are the particulars which GOD-willing I shall now enlarge and apply vnto this present occasion I pray GOD we may so doe it as that we all not this Penitent onely may be the better for it The first remedy is the preseruatiue and therein the first thing that I pointed out is our naturall weaknesse This St Paul supposeth we may gather it out of that which he aduiseth for in vaine were his aduise if there were not a truth in that which he supposeth but farre be it from vs to thinke that the Holy Ghost doth require any thing in vaine let it stand then for an vndoubted truth that we are prone by nature to deceiue our selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the Verbe is deriued which is vsed by the Apostle signifieth a leauing of the right way which putteth vs in mind that in this world we are but way-faring men When we are admitted into the Church we are set in the path which will lead vs to our euerlasting home but when we are in it we may goe out of it It appeares too plainly in Adam and Eue and it is not to be expected that the children should be better then the parents especially seeing our restitution commeth short of that measure of grace which they had in their Creation It being true that we may the question is How it comes to passe that we doe goe out of the way and leaue the straight path wherein we are set the Scripture obserues two meanes the one without vs the other within vs that is the world this is concupiscence the world allures concupiscence inclines Adde hereunto a third that is the diuel he blancheth the world that it may allure more strongly and worketh concupiscence by perswasion that it may yeeld more readily and these betweene them consummate the deceipt whereby we are led out of the way But betweene these we must obserue a great difference that which worketh the deceipt from without is but an occasion that which worketh it from within is the true cause thereof the world the diuel Suadere possunt cogere non possunt they may sollicit powerfully but they cannot inforce vs vnwillingly to goe out of the way Physicall actions may be constrayned morall cannot I may haue
hath liued a thousand yeares for he is readie for God and the longest time of our Pilgrimage if it be Methusalems age it can but make vs readie I will then enquire not how many dayes I haue spent but how much I haue profited profited in the waies of God And I haue profited so farre as to acknowledge that of my selfe I am but an vnprofitable seruant what I should I cannot doe but I doe that which I should not so that if I guesse at my readinesse by mine owne worth I am most vnreadie But I haue another valuation by my being in Christ my faith is stedfast in him my Hope hath cast an anchor in Heauen I feare not Gods iudgement against which my faith doth hearten mee I expect a Kingdome which my Hope doth promise mee And as for my loue though the world doth wooe me and my flesh doth often yeild to dally there with yet hath it none to whom it is deuoted with whom it is contented in comparison of God And what greater readinesse can I desire my Audit is made my arrerage paid I haue a Quietus est why doe I feare to come to my triall Nay the bargaine is made Heauen is purchased for mee I haue the Conueyance why doe I stay from taking possession Am I so senslesse as to affect the worse that am offered the better shall I dote vpon this house of clay my youth maketh it seeme better then clay though indeed it is no better a glased pitcher notwithstanding the lustre is but a pitcher and the verdure of youth is but a glosse set vpon a lumpe of earth cunningly wrought by the hand of the Potter age that weareth that glosse will discouer this clay And why should I murmure at God that is pleased to let me see quickly what in time I must needs see That I am brickle Neither am I onely brickle but the world is fraile also and all the things of this life whatsoeuer they promise they performe no perpetuitie to me Seing then sooner or later the world must leaue me and I must leaue the world let me leaue it rather sooner then later the lesse acquaintance the lesse griefe at the parting and indeed the longer I liue the more vnwilling shall I be to dye Now peraduenture I leaue behind me a father and a mother and leaue griefe vnto them for the losse of a child but I cannot so feelingly grieue as they when I depart from my parents because loue descendeth more then it ascendeth If I liue I may marrie and marriage doubleth the bitternesse of death when they that of two became one by death of one are made two againe And if God blesse me with posteritie how much more vnwilling shall I bee to die How hardly shall I indure to be rent from mine owne bowels I say nothing to the common infirmitie of Age which seemeth to haue appropriated vnto it selfe couetousnesse and who knoweth not how hardly the loue of money and death consort together But these are the weakest holdfasts that the world hath on me there are much stronger the hookes of sinne which where they catch so fasten euen vpon the Will which is in it selfe most free that it maketh men desire rather to bee slaues vnto Pharoah so they may feed on the flesh pots of Aegypt then to endure the difficult passage into Canaan though when they come there they shall be Princes of a land which floweth with milke and honie God then that knoweth what may alter me and of readie make me vnreadie dealeth more mercifully with me hee preuenteh that euill that might stay me from him and hauing prepared me calleth me vnto him Lord all seasons are in thy hand and thou hast appointed vnto me this season I blesse thee for it I submit my selfe to it if I bee ripe in thy Iudgement gather me though in mine owne Iudgement I am greene And thou which feest that although I now stand yet I may fall least I fall take me whilst I stand It doth not grieue me I am most willing to change earth for heauen to haue those windowes of my senses all broken downe that my Soule may be at libertie hauing no agent for the world to sollicite me from God I shall more freely more fully giue my selfe vnto him my vnderstanding to know him my heart to loue him and more shall I learne in one daies sight of God then in many thousand yeares I could haue gathered out of the Glasse of the world or Riddle of the Scripture And how base spectators are men on earth in comparison of the Saints in heauen who shall witnesse my seruice and behold my glorie Doe I loue my Parents I goe to better my best Father is in heauen and my best Mother is Hierusalem aboue the ioy that I foretaste for seeing them maketh me insensible of the heauie farewell I take of these I am not moued with their wealth which they haue stored vp for me and the land which they haue purchased is as nothing in mine eyes I shall haue a more induring substance a lot is fallen vnto me in a more pleasant place I haue a more goodly Heritage And why The Lord is the portion of mine Inheritance and of my cup the Lord maintaines my lot Lord then teach me so to number my daies that I may measure them by righteousnesse and let me so interpret this thy summons by death as a warning to take shelter before a storme Hasten me on by grace that I be not long on my way to heauen and in my way lest I decline shorten more and more my passage so shall I be as willing in this morning of my age as I should be in the euening thereof to change my state and come to thee to passe from earth to heauen * ⎠* The old Mans Meditation PSALME 91. VER 16. With long life will J satisfie him and shew him my saluation EVerie man if a child of God is a double man and so leadeth a double life and longeth for a double good a corporall a spirituall that hee may hold out long in regard of the life of nature and withall be ponest of the life of grace Thus doubly happie would euerie one be but it is not the portion of euerie one Many haue shortned either the one life or the other if they haue liued vnto God their dayes in the world haue beene but few and of those which haue liued many dayes in the world how few of them haue they liued to God O my Soule then how blest art thou whom God hath blessed both wayes Blest thee in thy naturall life thou art growne till thou art ripe blest thee in thy spirituall life thy eyes haue seene the saluation of God The greatest blessing that God bestoweth vpon earth he hath bestowed on thee thou hast experienced the truth of the Apostles speech Pietie hath the promise of this life and of that which is to come For this life God