and abounded with all manner of Cruelty and Filthiness amongst these do I find thee Peter And had thy Soul like Righteous Lot's been troubled with the filthiness of the Sodomites as his was from day to day thou hadst not so soon so falsly and so frequently deny'd thy Master From hence we may observe what sorce and power evil Company hath quickly upon a Righteous Person Good Joseph being but a while in Pharaoh's Court came presently to that Mode of Honour to swear by the Life of Pharaoh Abraham the Father of the Faithful and friend of God twice deny'd Sarah to be his Wife The Famine being grievous in the Land Abraham takes his Wife Sarah and travels into Egypt and it came to pass when he came near to enter into Egypt that he said unto Sarah his Wife behold now I know that thou art a fair Woman to look upon therefore it shall come to pass that when the Egyptians shall see thee they shall say this is his Wife and they shall kill me and they shall save thee alive say I pray thee thou art my Sister Gen. 12.10 11 13. Again Abimelech said unto Abraham What sawest thou in me that thou hast done this thing And Abraham said because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this Place and they will slay me for my Wifes sake and yet indeed she is my Sister the Daughter of my Father though not of my Mother and she became my Wife And here Abraham though he did deny his Wife at this time out of fear and did wander from Place to Place and Country to Country yet he did not deny his God neither could Abimelech tax him with that For God had now made a Covenant with Abraham and the chiefest Article in this Covenant was That Sarah should conceive and bear him a Son in his old Age and should call his Name Isaac And said God I will continue my Covenant to him so that in thy Seed by Sarah thy Wife shall all the Nations of the World be blessed And it shall be for number as the Stars of the Heaven and as the Sands on the Sea-shoar yea Kings and Princes shall come out of thy Loyns and I will give thee the Land of Canaan for an Everlasting Possession to dwell in And I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed for ever Neither did Abraham deny his Son Isaac to God when he call'd for him as a trial of his Faith But all these Promises and Covenants concentrating together and terminating in Sarah's Womb made Abraham take such care of her for it was not in Ishmael but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called Gen. 17. and that Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews should proceed out of his Loyns But now Peter this is no excuse for thee for Abraham in saying she was his Sister did not deny her to be his Wife moreover in all Ages and all times especially in the times and places of Plague Famine or Sword it hath been allow'd to some to fly and either to equivocate or excuse the Question when propos'd by implacable Enemies Our Saviour himself before his Disciples were fully prepar'd for Persecution and found in themselves they were not able to stand the hard and severe or Fiery Trials they might be put upon and so his Name or his great Cause might suffer by it therefore to avoid such bid them If they persecuted them in one City for my Name-sake and the Gospel's sake to fly into another but this was no denying him and the Church hath always allow'd it in two Cases especially to fly and avoid Persecution The one if the Church was in its infancy and not come to full strength For this reason fled Greg. Bishop of Neocaesaria when he saw the Decian Persecution grow very hot Pr. Chr. Ch. 7. part 2. N. 17. then it might be lawful for the Ministers or Disciples of Christ to flee Persecution to the intent the Gospel might be preserv'd lest smiting the Shepherd the Sheep should be scatter'd And the other is in Case as I mention'd before they find themselves not yet strong enough or courageous enough for Persecution and so the Glory of God and the Name of our great Master and the Honour of the Church of Christ might come to be dishonour'd This as to the first St. Paul to avoid Persecution was let down the Wall in a Basket when the Governor of Damascus sought his Life and thus we find the Apostles themselves shunn'd the Storm because they were the Instruments immediately deputed by Christ to propagate and convey the Gospel to the World And thus did Primitive Saints and Martyrs who wonder'd about in Desarts and Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth and so have equally avoided Rashness and Cowardliness The second only gain'd a little respit for the present that they might suffer with the greater advantage afterwards thus did Joseph and Mary from the Command of God by an Angel flee with their Child the Ever-Blessed Jesu into Egypt for fear of Herod But Peter 't was quite contrary with you you was not call'd to suffer neither to the High-Priests Hall yet thou voluntarily deny'dst thy Master thy Saviour and thy Redeemer who oft had told you what you must expect and that the time would come that he must be betrayed into the hands of Sinners and but the very night before told you that you all would be offended because of him and that the time would come and was now at hand that you all would forsake him in the time of his Dereliction and he be left alone And didst not thou thy self say This was a hard saying and who could bear it and said'st thou wouldst not be offended because of him and if all forsook him yet wouldst not thou True thou didst not so much forsake him as deny him which was worse And indeed Peter I must follow thee as thou didst thy Master the Ever-Blessed and Eternal Jesu the Saviour of the World to the High-Priests Hall And Pardon me Peter if I exactly observe every behaviour of thine there It is not out of any ill to thee Peter for I very well know the love and value thy Master hath for thee but that I may delineate thee to the Life as fully and as well as I am able in this little Enchiridion what Sorrows what Sufferings what Stripes what Indignities what Reproaches what Revilings what Dereliction what Abnegations what Wounds what Agony and what Unexpressable Torments what Extensive Convulsive Distorsive Lingring and Cruciating Death thy Lord and Master but our Christ our Saviour our Redeemer our Messias and our blessed Jesu our Advocate not only now in Heaven where he is exalted above all Principalities and Powers Thrones and Dominions but while he was here on Earth the Immaculate Lamb the most beloved Son of God beloved of the Father from all Eternity before ever the World was and Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins
Judge that is now ready to cast both Soul and Body into Hell-Fire do produce Compassion And this is the present and perfect state and condition of all Men by reason of Sin For this and this alone is our dear Lord and Saviour conflicted in the Garden even to the extracting great drops of Blood trickling down his most sacred Hands and Face And when he saw his most Righteous Father would not reverse this eternal Decree and Punishment to Mankind for Sin without his own ever blessed Son's undergoing and suffering Death and Hell for us Saith he If this bitter Cup shall not pass from me without drinking of it Thy Will be done A Body hast thou prepar'd that is mounting the Cross and ready and willing to suffer all the Misery and Torment that the most cruel Rage and Malice of Men and Devils and an enraged God will permit to inflict rather than poor Man shall suffer the deep Pressures of Thy Eternal Wrath and Indignation in that Luke that burneth with Fire and Brimstone for evermore O blessed Father Thou art my Father from all Eternity and am not I thy Son Prov. 8.23 I was from everlasting before ever the Earth was While as yet he bad not made the Earth or the Fields nor the highest part of the Dust of the World When be prepared the Heavens I was there When he set a Compass upon the face of the Deep When be established the Clouds above When he strengthen'd the Fountains of the Deep When he gave to the Sea his Decree That the Waters should not pass his Commandment When he appointed the Foundations of the Earth Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his Delight rejoycing always before him Rejoycing in the habitable parts of his Earth And my Delights were with the Sons of Men when thou createdst them in a state of Innocency and Perfection And O Heavenly Father shall I now forsake them in a state of Sin and Misery and Eternal Destruction No O Holy Father for this very end did I come into the World I that immaculate Lamb slain from the beginning conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary as to human Nature am toucht with their Infirmities and therefore came to succour poor tempted Souls I know the Devil's Wrath and Power and continual Attempts to all Mankind For this cause was I carry'd into the Wilderness endur'd Hunger and Cold Fasting and Temptations and I cannot but succour and relieve and at last deliver those that are tempted As Man I my self O Righteous Father had fell by his Temptation but as God I overcame him and can I let them suffer when I know Man is not sufficient of himself to overcome the Devil nor Sin nor the Power of Death and Hell nor thy Eternal Wrath and Displeasure This was the Eternal Decree of the great Council of Heaven from everlasting That seeing Man was not able to recover his lost state That Man born of a Virgin conceived from his God-like Power by the Holy Ghost overshadowing her in the fulness of time should be born the Son of God fully qualifi'd God-Man to make compleat Satisfaction and Atonement for laps'd Man to the unsatisfi'd Justice and incensed Wrath and Indignation of God And for this Cause was I Born here on Earth and left the Bosom of my Heavenly Father and all Thrones and Dominions Principalities and Powers of Glorified Saints and Angels and took upon me Human Nature and came cheerfully leaping over the Hills and skipping over the Mountains as a Roe or young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices For this Cause came I as in the Volume of the Book it is written of me to do thy Will O God That poor Man might not be Eternally lost but thy incens'd Wrath might be appeas'd full satisfaction might be made the power of Hell might be broke and Devils themselves reserved in Hell bound in Chains of Darkness until the great Day and poor fallen Man acquitted and discharg'd and his Soul Eternally Sav'd This is Love indeed unbounded unlimited Love infinite inexhaustible incomprehensible Love of the Son of God the ever blessed Redeemer of the World O the Height Length Breadth and Depth of the Goodness of God to Mankind This is transcendent Love Love without comparison Now what must all this extort from us To see our dear Lord and Saviour just now mounting the Cross giving of himself up to the utmost Cruelty that the wickedness of Men and Devils can inflict upon him from the vehemency and Poison of their most barbarous Rage and all this for our Sins and to set us free Here is the Sentence of Pilate Take him scourg'd already accord-to your Custom and bound Take him and Crucifie him with this Inscription over his Head That every one that passeth by might understand it written in Latin Greek and Hebrew This is Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iews The Death of the Cross was the ancient Punishment of the Jews for their most notorious Malefactors Dr. Cave 's Primitive Christianity before Christ's time and therefore esteemed by the accursed Jews most fit for our Saviour to dye by Omitting all the various Forms and different kinds which were all us'd towards the Primitive Christians there were two things in this way of suffering rendred it very severe viz. the Pain and Ignominy of it Painful it must needs be because the Party suffering was fastned to it with Nails drove through his Hands and Feet the most sensible parts of Man from such a vast quantity of Nerves and Sinews uniting and terminating in those places And they were pierc'd only in those extream Parts so far distant from the Heart on purpose that the exquisiteness of their Torments and Death might be the more lingring and tedious Insomuch that some out of tender Compassion have caused some to be strangled before they were Crucified as Julius Caesar did the Pirats he had sworn to execute on the Cross Sueton. in Vit. Caesar Cap. 47. p. 76. But no such Favour was shewn to Christians they were suffer'd to remain during all these cruciating Pangs till mere Hunger starv'd them or the Mercy of wild Beasts or Birds of Prey dispatcht them Thus St. Andrew endur'd two whole days upon the Cross Martyrol Rom. p 736. Timotheus and his Wife Maura after many other Torments hung upon the Cross nine days together before they compleated their Martyrdom Nor was the Shame of this way of Suffering less than the Pain of it Crucifixion being the punishment of Slaves Traitors and the vilest of Malefactors Insomuch that for a Free man to dye thus was accounted amongst them the highest Degree of Ignominy and Reproach imaginable Therefore the Roman Historians call'd it Servile Supplicium a punishment only proper for Slaves But this punishment of the Cross Constantine took away out of Reverence to our Saviour not being willing that that should be the punishment of the vilest Malefactors which
Body of a Crucify'd Jesus Yet true Faith carry'd thee beyond fear come Life come Death nothing can or shall separate a true Joseph a truly devout Soul from the Love of Christ Jesus Yet withal we may from hence observe the Prudence and Care a Christian ought to have He went privately in respect of the Jews whose precipitate rage had so lately embru'd their hands in the Blood of an Innocent harmless Jesus and was still reeking hot with that Cruelty but yet boldly in respect of Pilate he went in and begg'd the Body of Jesus His Love and Faith to Jesus made him bold but his Wisdom and Discretion made him cautions If he must sacrifice his Life for his Love to his Saviour it should be by the hands of a Legislative Power and not by the merciless barbarity of the Mobile but if it must be so ready and resolv'd he was immediately to follow and be second to so good a Saviour for whose Salvation he had so long time waited O Blessed Joseph Had'st not thou took care of the Son of God of Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews of the ever-blessed Jesu Redeemer and Saviour of the World to have given him decent Burial his Sacred Body might have laid all mangled torn distorted and extended upon the cold Earth to the merciless Cruelty and savage Nature of Wild Beasts and Birds of Prey But this was design'd from all Eternity that thou should'st be the Man appointed by the Hypostatick Counsel of Heaven I say to be the Man to embalm and entomb the Body of the ever-blessed Jesus and for this art thou sure to have thy Soul embrac'd and enthron'd in Heaven in the Bosom of thy Saviour He that is not asham'd to confess and own me before Men in the most dangerous of times him will I not be asham'd to confess and own before my Father which is in Heaven And now Even is come and the time of Solemnity and Entombing of our Saviour is at hand away now my Soul with all the heavy weight and burthen of thy Sins to the Grave of thy Saviour The Body born by Angels vailing their Faces The Solemnity of our Saviours Funeral who in the time of his Humanity were always appointed by God to attend upon him and minister unto him and also while in the Grave to perform the same Heavenly Office And there appear'd two Angels sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet And can we think they should be spar'd or wanted at this time Luke 24.4 John 20.12 First follow'd by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus John 16.39.40 Then Mary the Mother of the ever-blessed Jesus Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James and Joses and the Mother of Zebedee's Children And the Women that follow'd after as Mourners bâ—held the Body where if was laid Luke 23.55 And all the rest of the Mourners came following after ordered by the great Herauld of Heaven And I will in that day pour upon the house of David and Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have perceiv'd and they shall mourn for him as one that mourneth for his only begotten Son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-horn In that day there shall be a very great mourning in Jerusalem Typically spoke of good Josiah aâ—â—ding to our Saviour at this time Rev. 1.7 as the mourning of Haddadrimon in the Valley of Megiddon And the Land shall mourn every Family apart The Family of the House of David apart and their Wives apart The Family of the House of Nathan apart and their Wives apart The Family of the House of Live apart and their Wives apart The Family of Shimei and their Wives apart And all the Families that remain every Family apart and their Wives apart Zech. 12.10 11 12. Come now O my Soul do thee follow after gather up I say all thy Sins from the soot of the Cross and bring them with thee to the Grave of thy Saviour Bury them there in a Flood of Tears with the rest of those Afflicted Mourners that they may never rise up in this World more to affright thee nor in the World to come to condemn thee Leave them all there that they may all be laid upon the head of the scape-Goat and carry'd into the Wilderness the Land of forgetfulness And now strengthen your Heads you weak Hearts and gather strength ye feeble Knees for now is your Redemption near at hand And they roll'd a great stone to the door of the Sepulchre and departed Thus having as succinctly as possibly I could run over the Passion of our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in that method and order the Holy Scriptures have most perspicuously testify'd of him both by the Prophets and also the Apostles I shall conclude all with that of the most Holy Apostle and for the present leave his precious Body in the Grave with Angles to attend his Call to his Glorious Resurrection which the blessed Apostle in these few words proclaims Ye Men of Israel Hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a Man approv'd of God among you by Miracles Wonders and Signs which God did by him in the midst of ye as ye your selves also know Him being deliver'd by the determinate Counsel and foreknowledge of God ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucify'd and slain Whom God hath rais'd up having loos'd the Pains of Death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it But David speaketh concerning him I foresaw the Lord always before my Face for he is on my Right hand that I should not be mov'd Therefore did my Heart rejoyce and my Tongue was glad moreover also my Flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see Corruption Thou hast made known to me the way of Life and thou shalt make me full of Joy with thy Countenance Now Glory to God on High Peace on Earth Good Will towards Men. Meditations and Ejaculations to be used in thy Closet before or immediately at the Table of the Lord or after thou art return'd into thy Closet again Made and compos'd by the Author from the Considerations of Christ's Merits by his Body Blood and Intercession O Lord help the Sluces of my Soul to pour out Tears abundantly for my many Sins heinous Sins great and grievous Sins O Lord help me O Christ help me O Saviour of the World help me O Lamb of God help me O Redeemer of the World help me O dear and ever blessed Jesu Christ and Saviour help me I fear I shall be drein'd dry too soon I fear I shall slacken too fast Help me Lord to a River of Tears that I may pour out more more O pensive Heart and Soul more abundantly my Heart and Soul to my God This is Pleasure indeed This
Wrinkle or any such thing And this I beg with all Humility and Devotion that I am able to do upon the Account and for the Sake of my ever Blessed Redeemer and Advocate concluding in that Heavenly Prayer He Himself hath taught me saying Our Father c. A Prayer for the Author or Reader O Lord assist me so with Thy Blessed Spirit that all that I have now Written or Read in this foregoing Work may always be fresh upon my Heart and Soul and grant me O God that at this time I may pour out my Soul unto Thee upon my bended Knees in such like Prayers and Supplications that may be prevalent with Thee my Heavenly Father to guard and defend me this Day from all manner of Sins and power of Temptations whatsoever More especially against all those Sins that do so easie beset me and meet me at every turn those Sins thou knowest O Heavenly Father are my familiar and prevailing Sins that now by the special Concurrence of thy Blessed Spirit I may be able to strike at the very root of them all and like David kill the Goliah Give me O Lord a true rectify'd Spirit Sanctify'd throughout to overcome all Infirmities and Corruptions of Human Nature And that I may betake my self sincerely to the great Business of the Salvation of my Soul And that with the Blessed Apostle I may run the Race that is set before me looking unto Christ Jesus the Author and Finisher of my Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endur'd the Cross despis'd the shame and now is set at the Right Hand of God daily to make Intercession for me For him O Heavenly Father hast thou highly exalted and given him a Name above all other Names that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should how both of things in Heaven and of things on Earth O sweet Jesu O blessed Jesu who can but bow to Thee and supplicate to Thee and pour out their Prayers and Tears to Thee that left the bosom of Thy Father and all the Adorations and Chorus's of Saints and Angels and came down from Heaven to suffer the cursed and ignominious Death of the Cross for my Sins to have thy tender Hands that were always doing of Good and healing Diseases and thy blessed Feet that always kept the steady Paths of Eternal Life now to be turn'd twisted extended distorted disjointed and Nail'd to the Cross to drink the Vinegar and Gaul of Thy Father's high Displeasure for my great and grievous Sins to have Thy most sacred Sides pierc'd and to gush out with Water and Blood To see Thee all over sweating and pouring down Streams of Blood from the Crown of Thy Head to the Foot of the Cross and to suffer all this for my great grievous hainous Sins and abominable Iniquities Nay further O Dear Jesu to see Thee endure and to lie under Thy Father's Wrath and the pressure of all these Agonies and Torments which made Thee bitterly to cry out My God my God Why hast thou forsaken â—e O Lord What shall I do Who is able to behold Thee longer Who can but love Thee and in loving Thee adore Thee with infinite unbounded and unmeasurable Love and desire earnestly to be Dissolved and to be with Thee But if it is Thy good Pleasure to spare me longer let the true Love and perfect sense of all this Love and Suffering of Thine my Dear Lord and Saviour help me to live up to that exact Pattern thou hast left me here of Meekness Lowliness Humility Charity Forgiveness Bowels of Pity and Compassion and that a perfect sense of Thy Crucifixion may always be fresh in my Heart and Soul that so it may beget in me a compleat hatred and dread of all Sins that in the whole Course of my remaining Life I may be preserved and defended from the like Sins that I run not the danger of Eternal Damnation And that the inexhaustible Bowels of Thy Mercy may take pity of me so that I Crucifie Thee not again but being delivered from all Iniquities by thy most mighty Power may with finishing my Course here be receiv'd into the open Arms of Thy Eternal Salvation And this I most heartily beg upon the bended Knees of my Soul for Thy sake only and upon the alone account of Thee my Dear Lord and Saviour and ever-blessed Redeemer and Advocate Amen and Amen A Death Bed Meditation I Owe to God a Death as his Son did for me Ever since I have been born I have been sailing to this Haven and gathering Patience to comfort me in this Hour therefore should I be one of those Guests that would not come to the Banquet when they were invited What hurt is there is going to Sleep In going to Paradise I shall lose nothing but the Sense of Evils and anon I shall have greater Joys than I feel Pains for my Head is in Heaven already to assure me my Soul and Body shall follow after O Death Where is thy Sting Why should I fear that which I would not escape because my chief Happiness is gone before and I cannot have it unless I go to it I would even go through Hell it self for Heaven and therefore if I march but through Death I suffer less than I would for God My Pains do not dismay me because I Travel to bring forth Eternal Life My Sins do not fright me because I have Christ my Redeemer there The Judge doth not astonish me because I have the Judges Son my Advocate The Devil amazes me not because the Angels pitch their Tents about me The Grave grieves me not because I know it was my Lord's Bed O that God's Mercy to me might move others to love him For the less I can express of it the more it is The Prophets and the Apostles are my Fore-runners every Man will go before or follow after If it please God to receive me into Heaven before them that serv'd him better what Thankfulness do I owe him and because I have deferr'd my Repentance till this Hour whereby my Salvation had been cut off had I dy'd suddenly How doth my God in his Infinite Mercy to prevent my Destruction call me by this lingring Sickness and prepares me for my End and makes me by wholsome Pains weary of this beloved World lest I should depart unwillingly like to those whose Death is their Damnation Thus he loves me while he beats me and his Stripes are Plaisters to cure my Sores therefore who shall love him if I displease him This is my whole Business now to strengthen my Body with my Heart and to be contented as God hath appointed until I can Glorify him or He me If I live I live to Sacrifice If I dye I dye to my Saviour for Christ my Saviour is Sacrificed for me and therefore should I fear Death I have not that Faith and Hope I have profess'd but I doubted of God's Truth in his Promises Whether or no he will forgive Penitent Sinners which I sear not Come Lord Jesus for now thy Servant cometh into thy Everlasting Arms of Mercy I commit my Soul into thy Hands O Heavenly Father Come Lord Jesus come quickly A Letter written to his Friend in his Sickness Beloved I Marvelled not that you have Pain for you are Sick but I marvel that you cover it not for Offences because the Wisdom of Man is to bite in his Gpief and always to shew more Comfort in God than Pain in Suffering Now God calleth to Repetitious to see whether you have learn'd more Patience and Constancy than others If Sickness be sharp make it not more sharp by frowardness But know this is a great Favour to us when we dye by Sickness that makes us ready for God when he calls us Now you have nothing to think upon but God and you cannot think upon him without Joy Your Grief passes away but your Joy will never Tell me Friend or Patient How many Stripes is Heaven worth Is my Friend only Sick in the World or his Faith weaker than others You have always Pray'd Thy Will be done and are you now offended that God's Will is done How hath the Faithful Man forgot that all things even Death if self turn to the best to them that love God Teach the Happy O Lord to see his Happiness through Troubles Every Pain is the prevention of the Pain of Hell Every Ease in Pain is a fore-tast of the Ease and Peace and Joys in Heaven Remember therefore your own Comforts to others before and be not impatient when there is most need of Patience but as you have ever Taught us to Live so now give us an Example to Dye and deceive Satan as Job did FINIS