Prayers and Meditations before receiving the Lords Supper p. 36 A Prayer for the Grace of Repentance with a Confession of sins p. 47 A particular Meditation before receiving the holy Communion p. 51 A Prayer when thou art upon going to the Lords Table p. 59 An Ejaculation immediately before the receiving p. 60 Admonitions after receiving the holy Communion p. 61 A Prayer after you have received p. 63 In time of Persecution and Heresie p. 66 In Troubles occasioned by our Enemies p. 68 MAN in DARKNESSE or a Discourse of Death p. 71 A Prayer in time of sicknesse p. 127 A Prayer in the hour of Death p. 130 MAN in GLORY or a Discourse of the blessed estate of the Saints in Heaven p. 133 FINIS ADMONITIONS FOR Morning-Prayer THe night saith Chrysostome was not therefore made that either we should sleep it out or passe it away idly and Chiefly because we see many worldly persons to watch out whole nights for the Commodities of this life In the Primitive Church also the Saints of God used to rise at midnight to praise the Rock of their salvation with Hymns and Spiritual Songs In the same manner shouldst thou do now and Contemplate the Order of the Stars and how they all in their several stations praise their Creator When all the world is asleep thou shouldst watch weep and pray and propose unto thy self that Practise of the Psalmist I am weary of my groaning every night wash I my bed and water my Couch with my tears for as the Dew which falls by night is most fructifying and tempers the heat of the Sun so the tears we shed in the night make the soul fruitful quench all Concupiscence and supple the hardnesse we got in the day Christ himself in the day-time taught and preach'd but continued all night in prayer sometimes in a Mountain apart sometimes amongst the wild beasts and sometimes in solitary places They whose Age or Infirmity will not give them way to do thus should use all Convenient means to be up before the Sun-rising for we must prevent the Sunne to give God thanks and at the day-spring pray unto him Wisd. 16. It was in the morning that the Children of Israel gathered the Manna and of the Just man it is said That He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him and will pray before the most high Eccl. 39. So soon therefore as thou dost awake shut thy door against all prophane and worldly thoughts and before all things let thy God be first admitted offer unto him thy first fruits for that day and commune with him after this manner When thou dost awake O God the Father who saidst in the beginning Let there be light and it was so Inlighten my Eyes that I never sleepe in death lest at any time my Enemy should say I have prevailed against him O God the Sonne light of light the most true and perfect light from whom this light of the Sun and the day had their beginning thou that art the light shining in darknesse Inlightning every one that cometh into this world expell from me all Clouds of Ignorance and give me true understanding that in thee and by thee I may know the Father whom to know is to live and to serve is to reigne O God the Holy Ghost the fire that inlightens and warms our hearts shed into me thy most sacred light that I may know the true Joyes of Heaven and see to escape the illusions of this world Ray thy selfe into my soul that I may see what an Exceeding weight of glory my Enemy would bereave me of for the meer shadowes and painting of this world Grant that I may know those things which belong unto thee and nothing else Inflame me with thy divine love that with a true Christian Contempt I may tread upon all transitory Pleasures and seek only those things which are eternal Most blessed Trinity and one eternal God! as thou hast this day awaked me from this bodily sleep so awake my soule from the sleep of sin and as thou hast given me strength after sleep now again to watch so after death give me life for what is death to me is but sleep with thee to whom be ascribed all glory wisdome majesty dominion and praise now and for Ever Amen When thou dost arise ARise O my soul that sleepest arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light Arise O daughter of Sion O my soul redeemed with the blood of Christ sit no more in the dust of thy sins but arise and rest in that peace which is purchas'd by thy Saviours merits Christ Iesus my most merciful and dear Redeemer as it is thy meer goodness that lifts up this mortal and burthensome body so let thy grace lift up my soul to the true knowledge and love of thee grant also that my body may this day be a helper and servant to my soul in all good works that both body and soul may be partakers of those Endlesse Joyes where thou livest and reignest with the Faher and the Holy Ghost one true God world without End Amen As soone as thou art drest before thou comest forth from thy Chamber kneel down in some convenient place and in this or the like Prayer commend thy self for that day unto thy Creator's Protection ALmighty eternal God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ I blesse and praise thy holy name and with my whole heart give thee all possible thanks that out of thine infinite goodness thou wert pleased to watch over me this night to resist my adversary and to keep me from all perils of body and soul O thou that never slumbrest nor sleepest how careful hast thou been of me how hast thou protected me and with thy holy angels thy ministring spirits sent forth to minister for the heirs of salvation incompast me about yea with what unmeasurable love hast thou restored unto me the light of the day and rais'd me from sleep and the shadow of death to look up to thy holy hill Justly mighst thou O God have shut the gates of death upon me and laid me for ever under the barres of the Earth but thou hast redeemed me from Corruption and with thy Everlasting armes enlarged my time of Repentance And now O Father of mercies and God of all Consolation hear the voyce of thy Supplicant and let my cry be heard in thy highest heavens As I do sincerely love thee and beg for thy Protection so receive thou me under the shadow of thy wings watch over me with the Eyes of thy mercy direct me in the wayes of thy Law and enrich me with the gifts of thy Spirit that I may passe through this day to the glory of thy great name the good of others and the comfort of my own soul. Keep me O my God from the great offence quench in me all vain Imaginations and sensual desires sanctifie and supple my heart with the dew of thy
me a heart of flesh renew a right spirit within me cloath me with white raiment and anoint mine Eyes with Eye-salve that I may know and see how wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked I am and may be zealous therefore and repent O thou that didst cause the waters to flow out of the stonie rock and gavest to Magdalen such store of teares that she washed thy feet with them give to me true remorse and such a measure of repentance as may become a most miserable sinner I confesse dear God that I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies much lesse to appear at this great and solemne Feast this Feast of mercy and miracles where none but with holy hands pure intentions crucified affections and renewed spirits should presume to enter But as for me I am all uncleannesse a polluted vile creature and nothing belongs unto me at this great day but confusion of face and an utter separation from this glorions and saving Communion I have wasted thy stock consumed thy talents and destroyed thy goods I was restlesse and unquiet till I had found out wayes to offend thee I have broken thy Commandments laid open thine Inclosures and most grievously trespassed against thy truth and against the light of mine own Conscience I have preferred rottennesse and dust to the treasure of thy word and mine own voluptuousnesse to thy revealed will And now O thou preserver of men What shall I do unto thee Against thee onely have I sinned and my transgressions are ever in thy sight Lord God! I lay me down at thy footstoole and if thou wilt be extreme to mark what is amisse I shall from my very heart acknowledge and adore thy Justice But O my dear Creatour for Christ Jesus his sake have mercy upon me look not on my deserts but on thy glory O Lord do not refuse me but reforme and restore me O Lord hearken and do and deferre not but speak peace to my troubled soul and send thy loving spirit to strengthen and confirme me in the way of holinesse bring me home O Lord and leade me now unto these living waters incorporate me into the saving vine and purge me that I may bear more fruit O cast me not away like an abominable and withered branch but make me to flourish in the Courts of thy house where thy Children are like Olive-branches round about thy table O Lord hear and have mercy and forgive me and be reconciled unto me for Christ Iesus his sake To whom with thee and the holy Ghost be glory in the Church through all ages world without end Amen A Meditation before the receiving of the holy Communion HOly holy holy is the Lord God of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Behold to the Moone and it shineth not and the Starres are darknesse in his sight The Pillars of heaven do tremble and are astonished at his reproof O who then am I that I should appear before thee or what is man that thou shouldest regard him O light of light the all-seeing light that shineth in darknesse and the darknesse comprehendeth it not what will become of me when I shall appear before thy glorious and searching Eye What an habitation of darknesse and death wilt thou finde within me What abominable desolations and emptinesse What barrenesse and disorders wilt thou see there Many a time hast thou knockt and I have shut the doors against thee thou hast often called and I would not answer Sleeping and waking early and late day and night have I refused instruction and would not be healed And now O my God after all this rebellion and uncleannesse wilt thou come and lodge with me O Lord where shall I prepare and make ready for thee What communion can there be betwixt light and darknesse purity and pollution perfection and deformity O Rose of Sharon thou undefiled and everlasting flower the glory of the fields and the first fruits of the dead shall the wilde Asses and the beasts of the wildernesse feed now upon thee Wilt thou give the bread of life unto dogs and cast thy pearls before swine O Iesus Christ the lover and the redeemer of all humble and penitent souls Thou that feedest among the Lilies untill the day breaks and the shadows flee what is there in my heart where onely tares and thistles grow that thou canst feed upon Thy blessed body was wrapt in fine and white linen which is the righteousnesse of the Saints It was laid in a new and undefiled grave hewen out of a rock wherein never man was laid before But all my righteousnesse is a filthy rag my heart neither new nor undefiled but a nest of unclean birds where they have not onely laine but hatched and brought forth their viperous young ones I confesse dear God I confesse with all my heart mine own extrem unworthyness my most shameful and deplorable condition But with thee O Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption Thou dost not use to reject and cast off those that unfeignedly repent and return unto thee the great design and end of thine Incarnation was to save sinners Thou hadst never come into this world but for thy love to thy lost sheep and those thou didst then love thou dost love still unto the end Thou didst not come unto the whole but to the sick The first had there been any such had no need of a Physician and the last hadst not thou come to restore them had perished for ever It was thy gracious pleasure while thou wert here in the world to receive Publicans and sinners and though thou art now ascended to thy Father yet hast not thou changed thy nature Thou art the same yesterday to day and for evermore Thy life here was nothing else but a pilgrimage and laborious search after sinners that thou mightst finde them out and make them whole And how willingly O blessed Jesus didst thou lay down thy robes of glory and cloath thy self with flesh that thou mightst afterwards lay down thy life a propitiation for our sins How many scorching and wearisome journeys didst thou undergo for our sakes How many cold and tedious nights didst thou watch and spend abroad in prayer when the birds of the aire lay warme in their nests and thou hadst not a place to put thy head in In the day time I finde thee preaching in the Temple and all night praying in the Mount of Olives a little after on thine own Sabbath travelling for me in the corne-field Another time wearied with thy journey sitting on the Well of Iacob and begging a draught of that cold water from the woman of Samaria Now again I meet thee on the Asse made infinitely happy by so glorious a rider by the God of Ieshurun who rideth on the heavens and in his excellencie on the skies Sure it was his simplicity and ordinary contempt with man that made him so acceptable in thy sight But Oh! with what language
THE MOUNT of OLIVES OR SOLITARY DEVOTIONS By HENRY VAVGHAN Silurist With An excellent Discourse of the blessed state of MAN in GLORY written by the most Reverend and holy Father ANSELM Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and now done into English LUKE 21. v. 39 37. Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accompted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and to stand before the Sonne of Man And in the day time he was teaching in the Temple and at night he went out and abode in the Mount that is called the Mount of Olives LONDON Printed for WILLIAM LEAKE at the Crown in Fleet-street between the two Temple-Gates 1652. TO THE Truly Noble and Religious S r. CHARLES Egerton KNIGHT SIR THough I should have no other defence that near relation by which my dearest friend laies claime to your person might in some measure excuse this otherwise unhansome adventure of publishing these weake productions under the shelter of your name But I was not so much induced to it by that Tye though very deare unto me as by your love to Religion and Learning and the respects due from my selfe to your person and those reverend years which by a faire and virtuous disposal of your time you have happily attained to and wherein you safely are Coelo dignus canente senectâ Consilioque deûm I know Sir you will be pleased to accept of this poore Olive-leafe presented to you so that I shall not be driven to put forth my hand to take in my Dove againe And indeed considering how fast and how soone men degenerate It must be counted for a great blessing that there is yet any left which dares look upon and commiserate distressed Religion Good men in bad times are very scarce They are like the standing eares of Corne escaped out of the Reapers hands or the Vine-dressers last gleanings after the first ripe fruits have been gathered Such a precious generation are the Iust in the day of trouble and their names are like to afflicted truth like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land or a way-faring mans lodge in the waste and howling Wildernesse The Sonne of God himselfe when he was here had no place to put his head in And his Servants must not think the present measure too hard seeing their Master himself took up his nights-lodging in the cold Mount of Olives By this time Sir you may see the reason which moved me to take Sanctuary at your name and now I will acquaint you with my designe To be short Sir It is no other but that your name like the royall stamp may make current and commend this poore mite to posterity And that the unfained lover of your Person may in these few and transitory sheets waite upon your memory in the ages to come when your immortal and precious soule shall be bound up in the bundle of the living in the ever-lasting book of life which is devoutly desired by Sir Your very affectionate and faithful Servant VAVGHAN Newton by Vsk this first of October 1651. TO THE Peaceful humble and pious READER I Know the world abounds with these Manuals and triumphs over them It is not then their scarsity that call'd this forth nor yet a desire to crosse the age nor any in it I envie not their frequent Extasies and raptures to the third heaven I onely wish them real and that their actions did not tell the world they are rapt into some other place Nor should they who assume to themselves the glorious stile of Saints be uncharitably moved if we that are yet in the body and carry our treasure in earthen vessels have need of these helps It is for thy good and for his glory who in the dayes of his flesh prayed here himselfe and both taught and commanded us to pray that I have published this Thou hast here sound directions and wholsome words and if thou wilt enquire of the Lord and say If the Lord will I shall live and do this or that thou mayest Here are Morning and Evening sacrifices with holy and apposite Ejaculations for most times and occasions And lastly here are very faithful and necessary Precepts and Meditations before we come to the Lords Table To which last part I have added a short and plaine Discourse of Death with a Prayer in the houre thereof And for thy comfort after thou hast past through that Golgotha I have annexed a Dissertation of the blessed state of the righteous after this life written originally by holy Anselme sometimes Arch-Bishop of Canterbury I have purposely avoided to leade thee into this little Book with a large discourse of Devotion what it is with the severall Heads Divisions and sub-divisions of it all these being but so many fruitlesse curiosities of Schoole-Divinity Cui fumus est pro fundamento Neither did I thinke it necessary that the ordinary Instructions for a regular life of which theere are infinite Volumes already extant should be inserted into this small Manuall lest instead of Devotion I should trouble thee with a peece of Ethies Besides thou hast them already as briefly delivered as possibly I could in my Sacred Poems And thus Christian Reader do I commend it to thy practise and the benefit thou shalt finde thereby Onely I shall adde this short Exhortation That thou wouldest not be discouraged in this way because very many are gone out of it Think not that thou art alone upon this Hill there is an innumerable company both before and behinde thee Those with their Palms in their hands and these expecting them If therefore the dust of this world chance to prick thine eyes suffer it not to blinde them but runniug thy race with patience look to JESUS the Authour and finisher of thy faith who when he was reviled reviled not againe Presse thou towards the mark and let the people and their Seducers rage be faithful unto the death and he will give thee a Crowne of life Look not upon transitorie visible things but upon him that is eternâ—l and invisible Choose the better part yea that part with Saint Hierome who preferred the poore Coate of Paul the Hermite to the purple and pride of the world Thus with my simple Advise unto thee I bid thee farewel Thy Christian friend Henry Vaughan THE Table ADmonitions for Morning Prayer page 1 A Prayer when thou dost awake p. 3 When thou dost arise p. 5 As soone as thou art drest p. 6 Preparations for a Iourney p. 9 When thou goest from home p. 11 Another for the same p. 12 How to carry thy self in the Church p. 14 A Prayer before thou goest to Church p 18 When thou art come home or in the way if thou beest alone p. 20 Admonitions for Evening Prayer p. 22 A Meditation at the setting of the Sunne p. 23 A Prayer for the Evening p. 26 When thou art going into bed p. 28 Particular Ejaculations for all occasions p. 31 Admonitions with
shall I attempt thy passion thy bloody sweat thy deep and bitter agony thy lingring peece-mealed death with all the lively anguishments and afflictions of thy martyr'd Spirit O my most loving and merciful Saviour It is onely thy own Spirit that can fully character thy own sufferings These miracles of love and most comfortable circumstances encourage me O my God to draw neer unto thee for it is not probable that thou wouldst have subjected thy self to such bitter reproaches blasphemies and torments had not thy love to man for whose redemption thou didst suffer them been as infinite as thy self And greater love then this hath no man that a man lay down his life for his friends And lay it down thou didst for no man could take it from thee Thou couldst have commanded twelve legions of Angels from thy Father and when thou wentest forth to meet thy murtherers they went backwards and fell to the ground and without thy permission in whose hand their breath was they could have done nothing These merciful passages together with thy own voice and frequent invitation much encourage me to draw neer unto thee Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Matth. 11.28 If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink John 7.37 These with many more are thy loving Invitations This is the voyce of the great Shepherd and thy sheep hear thy voyce Thus thou didst cry and these were the words thou didst speak while thou wert here upon earth and shall I then turn away from thee that speakest now from heaven Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech and thy preaching and Intercession shall last untill the heavens be no more and woe unto them that refuse to hear thee Wherefore most holy Iesus seeing thou dost invite sinners to thee and didst die to redeem them and art able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by thee and dost live for ever to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 26. I the most wretched and the worst of sinners in full assurance of thy mercies and that thou art touched with the feeling of mine infirmities Heb. 4.15 and wilt have compassion upon my penitent soul draw neer to thy throne of grace that I may obtaine mercy and finde grace to help in time of need O Lord be merciful unto me forgive all my sins and heal all mine infirmities Cleanse my heart sanctifie my affections renew my spirit and strengthen my faith that I may at this great Feast discerne thy blessed body and eate and drink salvation to my self to the glory of thy great name and the comfort of my poor and sorrowful soul Amen Now unto him that hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen A Prayer when thou art upon going to the Lords Table IN the name of the Father and of the Son and the holy Ghost Amen! Iesus Christ the Lamb the Branch the bright and morning-Starre the bread of life that came down from heaven have mercy upon me It is thy promise that whosoever eateth thy flesh and drinketh thy blood he shall have eternal life in him and thou wilt raise him up at the last day Behold O God I am now coming to thee O thou fountain of purgation thou Well of living waters wash me cleane be unto me the bread of life to strengthen me in my pilgrimage towards heaven grant that I may suck salvation from thy heart that spring of the blood of God which flowes into all believers Thy flesh is meat indeed and thy blood is drink Indeed O give me grace to receive both worthily that I may never incurre thy anger and eternal condemnation Lord Iesus Christ I beleeve all that thou hast said and all that thou hast promised helpe thou mine unbelief thou art the Author be thou the finisher of my faith And for thy glories sake for thine own names sake leade me in the right way to this great mercy and mystery Amen! Immediately before the receiving say O Lord I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast shewed unto thy servant all my life long unto this very day much lesse am I worthy thou shouldst come now under my roof but seeing it is thy institution and free mercy that will have it so be jealous O God of the place of thine honour cause me to remember whose Temple I am and suffer not my last state to be worse then the first Even so Lord Iesus come quickly Amen! ¶ Admonitions after receiving the holy Communion WHen you have received the Sacred Elements you should not presently after spit nor eate and drink but refraine untill they are perfectly digested and resolved You must lay aside all worldly communication and humane discourses though never so serious for judge of your self what an uncivil part it will be in you when you have received so great a guest as Iesus Christ with all his merits to turne your back upon him presently and neither to meditate of him nor to discourse with him and keep him company Wherefore you should all that day be instant in prayer meditations thanksgiving and good works you should consider and think upon the love of God who so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son to redeeme it You should meditate upon his birth life doctrine and passion his death and buriall resurrection and ascension and his second coming to judgement You should pray that you may be found blamelesse and without spot of him and so much the more because you see the day approaching Tread not under foot the Son of God and his precious blood wherewith you are sanctified and saved by returning again to your former sins like the dog to his vomit but be sure that you walk warily and fall not willfully into the myre Be not regular and holy for a day or two but all the dayes of thy life and number thy dayes that thou mayst apply thy heart unto wisdome Cast thy bread upon the waters be merciful to the poor and remember thy Creator for the dayes of darknesse are many but the outward darknesse is eternal and from it there is no redemption Instead of printed Meditations which are usually prescribed after communicating I would advise the pious receiver to read over all these following parcels of Scripture Iohn 6.22 to the end Iohn 17. Rom. 8.2 Cor. 5. Ephes. 1. 4. Heb. 10.1 Pet. 1. Rev. 5. A Prayer after you have received LOrd Jesus Christ very God and very man made in all things like unto us sin onely excepted I blesse and praise thy holy name and with all my heart with all my strength and with all my soul give thee all possible thanks for thy infinite love and pity towards
lost man Blessed be the hour in which thou wert born and the hour in which thou didst die Blessed and for ever hallowed be thy most comfortable and glorious name the name JESUS CHRIST at which every knee shall bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth for thy name is above every name and there is no other name by which we can be saved O most holy most humble and harmlesse Lamb how didst thou make thy self of no reputation and becamest obedient to the death of the Crosse for my sake And when thou wert to drink the cup of thy Fathers anger due to my sins didst instead of it ordain and bequeath to me the cup of life and everlasting salvation O Lord give me a heart to understand and eyes to see what thou hast done for me O never suffer me to crucifie thee again by returning to my former iniquities and pollutions but write thy sufferings and the price of my redemption in the tables of my heart set them for a signet upon mine hand and for a bracelet upon mine arme that by a continual and careful remembrance of them I may in the strength of this bread received to day at thy table travel to thy holy mountain and that this drink which I drank out of the spiritual rock may become a Well of living waters springing up in me to eternal life Grant this G God for thy glories sake and for that love and mercies sake which brought thee hither out of thy Fathers bosome to suffer so many things for his Elects sake Amen! Worthy is the Lamb that was slaine to receive power and riches and wisdome and strength and honour and glory and blessing for he hath redeemed us to God by his blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hath made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reigne on the earth Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead my Lord Iesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting Covenant Make me perfect in every good work to do his will working in me that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen! A Prayer in time of persecution and Heresie MOst glorious and Immortall God the Prince of peace unity and order which makest men to be of one mind in a house heale I beseech thee these present sad breaches and distractions Consider O Lord the teares of thy Spouse which are daily upon her cheeks whose adversaries are grown mighty and her enemies prosper The wayes of Zion do mourne our beautiful gates are shut up and the Comforter that should relieve our souls is gone far from us Thy Service and thy Sabbaths thy own sacred Institutions and the pledges of thy love are denied unto us Thy Ministers are trodden down and the basest of the people are set up in thy holy place O Lord holy and just behold and consider and have mercy upon us for thy own names sake for thy promise sake suffer not the gates of hell to prevaile against us but return and restore us that joy and gladnesse may be heard in our dwellings and the voyce of the Turtle in all our land Arise O God and let thine enemies be scattered and let those that hate thee flee before thee Behold the robbers are come into thy Sanctuary and the persecuters are within thy walls We drink our own waters for money and our wood is sold unto us Our necks are under persecution we labour and have no rest Yea thine own Inheritance is given to strangers and thine own portion unto aliens Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever and forsake us for so long a time Turne thou us unto thee O Lord and we shall be turned renew our dayes as of old O Lord hear and have mercy and be jealous for the beloved of thine own bosome for thy truth and for the words of thine own mouth Help us O God of our salvation and for thine own honours sake deal Comfortably with us Amen Amen A Prayer in adversity and troubles occasioned by our Enemies O Holy and almighty God full of goodness and compassion look I beseech thee with thine Eye of mercy upon my present sad sufferings and most bitter afflctions Behold O God I put my mouth in the dust and confess I have deserv'd them I despise not thy Chastenings but begge grace of thee that I may not faint and that they may yeild the fruits of righteousnesse unto me who am now exercised by them Thou seest O God how furious and Implacable mine Enemies are they have not only rob'd me of that portion and provision which thou hadst graciously given me but they have also washed their hands in the blood of my friends my dearest and nearest relatives I know O my God and I am daily taught by that disciple whom thou did'st love that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him Keep me therefore O my God from the guilt of blood and suffer me not to stain my soul with the thoughts of recompense and vengeance which is a branch of thy great prerogative and belongs wholly unto thee Though they persecute me unto death and pant after the very dust upon the heads of thy poore though they have taken the bread out of the childrens mouth and have made me a desolation yet Lord give me thy grace and such a measure of charity as may fully forgive them Suffer me not to open my mouth in Curses but give me the spirit of my Saviour who reviled not again but was dumb like a Lamb before his shearers O Lord sanctifie all these afflictions unto thy servant and let no man take away my crown Remember those that are in troubles for thy truth and put their tears into thy bottle Grant this O merciful Father for my dear Saviours sake and bring me quickly into thy Kingdom where I shall have all these tears wiped away from mine eyes Amen Amen! MAN IN Darkness OR A DISCOURSE OF DEATH Eccles. 11.7 8 9 10. TRuly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is to behold the Sun But if a man live many dayes and rejoyce in them all yet let him remember the dayes of darknesse for they are many Rejoyce O young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth and walk in the wayes of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh for childhood and youth are vanity Draw neer fond man and dresse thee by this glasse Mark how thy bravery and big looks must passe Into corruption rottennesse and dust The fraile Supporters which betray'd thy trust O weigh in time thy last and loathsome state To purchase heav'n for tears is no hard
unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himselfe even unto Iesus Christ the Prince of the Kings of the earth and the first begotten of the dead be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen A Prayer when thou findest thy self sickly or when thou art visited with any Disease MOst merciful and wise God who bringest light out of darknesse and true comforts out of the greatest afflictions I do in all humility and with all my soule resigne my selfe unto thy divine pleasure and give thee most hearty and unfeined thanks for this thy present visitation an infallible argument of thy fatherly love and that tender care which thou hast of my salvation Thou gavest me health and I took no notice of thy gift and but very little of the Giver Thou gavest me dayes of gladnesse and I numberd them not Wherefore with most true sorrow for my unthankfulnesse and with all the sad Resentments of a most penitent heare I do acknowledge thy justice adore thy providence and beg thy mercy O righteous Father Though I have gone astray do not thou cast me off though I am no more worthy to be called thy son yet have thou a minde to the work of thine own hands Confirme my faith sanctifie my affections give me a lively and enduring hope with an unwearied patience And strengthen me in all my Agonies with the celestial assistance and inexpressible refreshments of thy overcoming spirit Thou that didst give to thy blessed and faithful Martyrs such a glorious measure of thy Almighty spirit as encouraged them for thy sake to be sawed asunder to be burnt stoned and beheaded give unto me now such a gracious portion of the same Comforter as may leade me through death unto life Or if thou wilt in mercy restore me again and enlarge my time give me I beseech thee a thankful heart holy resolutions and a stedfast spirit to performe them And for Iesus Christ his sake never suffer me to forget thy tender and fatherly compassion or to fall again into my old sins and heap up for my self thy eternal anger and most just indignation For what end soever thou hast sent this present sicknesse whether for my dissolution or for a temporal correction of my sinful life grant I beseech thee that both may be for thy glory and the salvation of my poore soule purchased with the precious blood of thine only Sonne and my dear Redeemer to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be ascribed by Angels and men all wisdome dominion and majesty for ever and ever Amen! A Prayer in the hour of Death O My most blessed and glorious Creatour that hast fed me all my life long and redeemed me from all evil seeing it is thy merciful pleasure to take me out of this fraile body and to wipe away all teares from mine eyes and all sorrowes from my heart I do with all humility and willingnesse consent and submit my self wholly unto thy sacred will I desire to be dissolved and to be with my Saviour I blesse and praise thy holy name for all thy great mercies conferred upon me from the first day of my life unto this present hour I give thee all possible thanks for this gracious kind visitation in which thou art mercifully pleased to order this last act of thy poor creature to thy glory and the fruition of those heavenly comforts which have already swallowed up my whole spirit O let all that come after me speak of thy wondrous mercies and the generations which are yet unborn give praise unto thy name Lord Iesus Christ my most loving Redeemer into thy saving and everlasting Armes I commend my spirit I am ready my dear Lord and earnestly expect and long for thy good pleasure Come quickly and receive the soul of thy servant which trusteth in thee Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb and to the holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen Glory be to God on high and on earth peace good will towards men Blessed be God alone Thrice blessed three in one MAN IN Glory OR A Discourse of the blessed state of the Saints in the New JERUSALEM Written in Latin by the most Reverend and holy Father ANSELMUS Archbishop of Canterbury and now done into English Printed Anno Dom. 1652. To the Reader Reader ANSELMUS Archbishop of Canterbury lived here in Britaine in the reigne of Rufus and striving to keep entire the Immunities of the Church which the spirit of Covetousnesse and Sacriledge did then begin to encroach upon he was twice banished first by William the second called Rufus or red-hair'd and after by Henry the first his youngest brother and successor Men of fierce and unmanagable spirits they were and by so much the fitter for the throne The first was such an infamous lover of money that the Neophyte-Iews were at a constant fee with him for renouncing Christianity and the later like a true son of Ottoman caused his eldest brothers eyes to be pull'd out who was then his prisoner in the Castle of Cardiffe To avoid the fury of Rufus who had thus banished him our Author here retired into France and shelter'd himself in the Abbey of Clunie where by way of discourse with that reverend family he shed forth this Dissertation which at the same time it proceeded from him was exactly taken and put into writing by Eadinerus a Canon regular of the Church of Canterbury and his Amanuensis in his banishment Some brokages and disorderly parcels of it are to be found in his book De similitud but the entire and genuine discourse was first made publick at Paris 1639. where it took so well that it was presently translated into French This much I thought fit to acquaint thee with and so I shall leave thee to thy owne affaires which I wish to be such as may bring thee to the fruition of those joyes which are showne thee here through a glasse darkly and but in part untill that which is perfect shall come and this which is in part shall be done away Thy Friend HEN. VAUGHAN Here holy Anselme lives in ev'ry page And sits Arch-bishop still to vex the age Had he foreseen and who knows but he did This fatal wrack which deep in time lay hid Had never like Elias driv'n him hence A sad retirer for a slight offence 'T is but just to believe that little hand Which clouded him but now benights our land For were he now like the returning year Restor'd to view these desolations here He would do penance for his old complaint And weeping say That Rufus was a Saint Revel Chap. 7. 1. ANd after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands 2. And cried
the Swallow a nest for her selfe where she may lay her young even thine Altars O Lord of Hosts my God and my King Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be still praising thee For one day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a doore-keeper in the House of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickednesse Let it be thy Care then when thou art there present to carry thy self like a true worshipper Give none offence neither outwardly to thy Brethren nor the Angels 1 Cor. 11.10 Nor inwardly to thy God whose Eyes shine within thee and discern thy reins and thy heart Look seriously about thee and Consider with thy self how many beauteous wittie and hopeful personages in their time lie now under thy feet thou canst not tell but thy turn may be next Humble thy self in this dust and all vain Imaginations will flie from thee Consider that thou art now in the Cave of Macpelah in a sacred Repositorie where the Bodies of Saints are asleep expecting that hour when those that are in the grave shall hear his voyce Do not then stop thy eares against the Charmer but give diligent attention and hear him while it is yet to day that in the day of thy death thou mayst rest there in the same hope When thy vessel is fill'd with this Manna and thy soul satisfied go not off without Thanksgiving Be not like those nine Leapers who never returned to give glory to God but come back with the thankfull Samaritane and receive another blessing Go in peace Saint Luke in the Acts of the Apostles making mention of the Ethiopian Eunuch who came up to Ierusalem for to worship tells us that in his returne he was reading in Isaiah the Prophet This blessed Convert I would have thee to imitate When thou hast fill'd thy Hin with this living water leave it not behinde thee at the Fountain spill not thy Milk and thy Wine because thou hast it without money and without price but carry it home and use it Thou mayest have need of it in six dayes and perhaps shalt not come to draw again untill thou drinkest it anew with thy Saviour in his Fathers Kingdom A Prayer before thou goest to Church LOrd Iesus Christ who out of thy Fathers bosome wert sent into this world to reveal his will unto sinners and to instruct them in the way of salvation behold I am now going to hear thy blessed word and these many yeers have so done expecting still thy good pleasure and the Consummation of thy sacred will in me I have come unto the bread of life and yet am hungry into the light and yet am blind unto the great Physician and yet my Issue runs The former and the later rain of thy heavenly Doctrine falls still without intermission upon my heart but this bad ground yeelds nothing but Thornes and Briers Many dayes many moneths and many yeers hast thou expected fruit and found nothing but leaves It is thy Infinite mercy O Lord that thou hast left unto us the seed of thy word and sendest into thy harvest such upright and faithful labourers but in vain O Lord shall they cry in our Ears unlesse thou openest and renewest our hearts Open then I beseech thee O blessed Jesu the eares of my heart that not onely the outward hearing but the inward also may be stirr'd up in me and what I hear with the eare I may understand with the spirit O thou most mild and merciful Lamb of God! the onely and the Almighty sower grant I beseech thee that the seed which falls this day upon my heart may never be choak'd with the Cares of this world nor be devoured by the fowles of the aire nor wither away in these times of persecution and triall but so Cherish it with the Dew of thy divine spirit that as in a good and faithful ground it may bring forth fruit unto eternal life to the glory of thy great name and the Comfort of my poor soul which thou hast bought with thy most precious and saving blood Amen Another when thou art come home or in the way if thou beest alone LOrd Iesus Christ my ever mercifull and most loving Redeemer I give unto thee most hearty thanks for this thy heavenly spiritual provision wherewith thou hast fed and refreshed my soul. Grant I beseech thee that this Celestial seed may take root in me and be effectual to my salvation Watch over my heart O Lord and hedge it in with thy grace that the fowles which descend in the shadows of the Evening may not pick it out But so prepare and fit me for thy love that I may never forget thy gracious words thy blessed and saving advice but may know in this my day what belongs unto my peace It is thy promise by thy holy Prophet That as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater So thy word that goeth forth out of thy mouth shall not return unto thee void but shall accomplish that which thou pleasest and prosper in the thing whereto thou sendest it Isai. 55. 10 11. Even so Lord Iesus let it be as thou hast promised Let the words I have heard this day out of the mouth of thy servant the Dispenser and Steward of thy Mysteries prosper in me and make my life answerable to his Doctrine that I may not onely know what thy blessed will is but performe also and fulfill it so that at last by thy mediation and mercies I may attain to thy eternal and most glorious Kingdom Amen Admonitions for Evening-Prayer REmember that in the Levitical Law there is a frequent Commemoration and Charge given of the two daily Sacrifices the one to be offer'd up in the morning and the other in the Evening Exod. 30.7 8. These offerings by Incense our holie harmlesse and undefiled High-Priest hath taken away and instead of them every devout Christian is at the appointed times to offer up a Spiritual Sacrifice namely that of Prayer for God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth John 4.24 At these prescribed times if thou wilt have thy Prayers to ascend up before God thou must with-draw from all outward occupations to prepare for the inward and divine To which end thou hast here this following Meditation that thou maiest therewith season and invite thy soul from thy worldlie imployments to her proper vocation and so come not altogether undrest into the presence of the King of glory A Meditation at the setting of the Sun or the Souls Elevation to the true light THe path of the Just O my God is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto a perfect day of eternity Prov. 4. But the wicked neither know nor understand they walk in darknesse
and from the inward darknesse of their minds passe at last into the outward eternal darknesse O most miserable and undone soul to whom thy Sunne is set that everlasting glorious Sun which in thy holy Elects never setteth but is alwaies at the height full of brightnesse and Consolation A heavie night sits in the noone-day upon those souls that have forsaken thee They look for light and behold darknesse for brightnesse and they walk in obscurity They grope for the wall like the blind as if they had no Eyes They stumble at noone-day as in the night they are in desolate places as dead men But on those that walk with thee an everlasting day shines This Sun of the firmament hath his Course it riseth setteth comes up again and again goes down But thou Lord knowest no vicissitudes thou art the Ancient of dayes thou art the Rock of ages from Everlasting to Everlasting O thou the same to day and yesterday and for evermore Thou bright and morning Starre springing from on high illuminate me who am now sitting in darknesse and in the shadow of death O light of light the brightnesse of thy Fathers glory inlighten all inward obscurities in me that after this life I may never be cast into the outward darknesse O most blessed most merciful and Almighty Iesu abide I beseech thee with me for it is towards Evening and the day is far spent Luke 24. As long as thou art present with me I am in the light but when thou art gone I am in the shadows of death and amongst the stones of emptinesse When thou art present all is brightnesse all is sweetnesse I am in my Gods bosome I discourse with him watch with him walk with him live with him and lie down with him All these most dear and unmeasurable blessings I have with thee and want them without thee Abide then with me O thou whom my soul loveth Thou Sun of righteousnesse with healing under thy wings arise in my heart refine quicken and cherish it make thy light there to shine in darknesse and a perfect day in the dead of night A Prayer for the Evening MOst gracious Almighty God! full of loving kindnesse and long-suffering whose mercy is above all thy works and thy glory above the heavens whose truth reacheth unto the Clouds and whose words shall never passe away forgive me I beseech thee my transgressions this day my vain thoughts idle words and loose conversation my exceeding neglect and forgetfulnesse of thee my headlong inclinations and lusting after the world preferring this land of Cabul before the snow of Lebanon and a broken Cistern before the Well of life Justly O Lord might'st thou have shewed me thy back this day and cut me off from amongst thy people Ier. 18.17 but thou hast had mercy and not sacrifice thou hast shed upon me the light of thy Countenance and removed my sins farre out of thy sight I know O my God it is not in man to establish his own ways it is thy Almighty arme must do it It is thou alone that hast led me through this day and kept me both from doing and from suffering evill And now O thou preserver of men What shall I do unto thee What shall I render unto my Lord for all the mercies and loving kindnesses shewed unto thy servant this day and all the dayes of my life hitherto I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord. I will ever love thee fear thee praise thee and trust in thee My song shall be of thee in the night season and in the day time I will be speaking of thy wondrous works thy most merciful and liberal arme I will make thee my Delight in the house of my pilgrimâ—ge and I shall alwayes with all my strength with all my heart and with all my soul ascribe unto thee all glory wisdome majesty dominion and honour this day and for evermore Amen A Prayer when thou art going into bed MOst glorious and onely wise God! to whom the light and the darknes are the same whose dwellings are eternal and in whose Kingdome there is no need of Candles nor of the light of the Sunne look I beseech thee upon thy servant who tarries in this place all night Gen. 28.11 And forasmuch as thou out of thy tender love and Compassion on thy Creatures hast ordained this time for their repose and refreshing that having past through the Cares and dangers of the day they might under the shadow of thy wings finde rest and security keep me I most humbly beseech thee from the hours and the powers of darknesse watch over me this night in thy Almighty providence and scatter all the rebellions and devices of my Adversaries Inlighten my soul sanctifie my body govern my affections and guide my thoughts that in the fastest closures of my eye-lids my spirit may see thee and in the depth of sleep be Conversant with thee Suffer me not O my God to forget thee in the dark or to say The Lord seeth me not The Lord hath forsaken the earth Ezek. 8.12 but so keep me in thy fear and sanctifie me with thy grace that all the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart may be alwayes of thee Make my soul to thirst for thee and my flesh also to long after thee And at what time soever thou shalt awake me from this bodily sleep awake also my soul in me make thy morning-star to arise in my heart and let thy spirit blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out Quicken me O Lord according to thy wonted kindnesse so shall I seek thee early and make my prayer unto thee with joyful lips And now O my most loving and faithful Creatour take me I beseech thee into thy Almighty protection stretch over me the Arme of thy mercy let thine Eye be towards the work of thine own hands and the purchased possession of thy onely begotten and my most merciful Redeemer Iesus Christ Amen ¶ As often as thou dost awake in the night be sure to lift up thy heart unto God in this or the like short Ejaculation Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory By resorting thus unto God thou shalt finde a great furtherance and cheerfulnesse in thy spiritual exercises and besides it will keep always about thee the savour of life And because thou shalt not be unfurnished upon any incident occasions I have strowed here this handful of savoury herbs which thou mayest take up as thou findest them in thy way EIACULATIONS When the Clock strikes BLessed be the houre in which my Lord Iesus was borne and the houre in which he died O Lord Remember me in the houre of death When thou intendest any businesse or Journey O do well unto thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word When thou art persecuted Haste thee O God to deliver me
make haste to help me O Lord Upon some suddaine fear O set me upon the Rock that is higher then I for thou art my hope and a strong tower for me against my enemy Upon any disorderly thoughts Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me Upon any occasions of sadnesse Thy rebuke hath broken my heart I am full of heavinesse but thou O Lord shalt lift me up again Upon any Diffidence Thou art my hope O Lord even from my youth through thee have I been holden up ever since I was borne though thou shouldst kill me yet will I trust in thee When thou dost any good work Not unto me O Lord not unto me but unto thy name give the praise When thou art provoked to anger Give thy peace unto thy servant O God let no man take away my Crown In patience O Lord let me possesse my soul. For thine Enemies Lord lay not this sinne to their Charge they know not what they do Upon any gracious deliverance or other mercies conferr'd upon thee The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want He maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me besides the still waters He hath prevented me with the blessings of goodnesse he hath granted me my hearts desire and not with-holden the request of my lips Surely goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life And I will dwell in the house of my God for ever Upon any losses or other adversities Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evill Naked came I out of my mothers womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. When thou hearest that any is dead Teach me O Lord to number my dayes that I may apply my heart unto wisdome Upon thought of thy sins Turn away thy face from my sins O Lord and blot out all mine offences Praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thy sins and healeth all thine Infirmities When thou art weary of the cares and vanities of this world Like as the Hart brayeth for the water-brooks so thirsteth my soul after thee O God O who will give me the wings of a Dove that I may slie and be at rest ¶ Admonitions with Meditations and Prayers to be used before we come to the Lords Supper ALl the Sacraments of the New Testament in those that come to participate them require a most Exquisite and sincere preparation But this Sacrament of the Lords Table because in Institution and Effect it is the highest of all requires the most perfect and purest Accomplishments Our preparation to this Sacrament is not perfected by Contrition onely and Confession of sins both which are unavoidably requisite but if we will be worthy receivers and partake of those graces which are exhibited unto us in this heavenly banquet there are many other duties we must necessarily performe for this Sacrament is of an infinite vertue having in it the Wel-spring of all graces even Iesus Christ with all the merits of his most bitter passion which admit neither number nor measure Wherefore such as our pre-disposition is such also shall our proportion be of this spiritual Manna for as he that cometh to a Well to draw water takes no more thence then what his vessel contains which yet he cannot impute unto the Well but unto his Pitcher which could hold no more so they that come unto this glorious Sacrament receive onely so much grace as their preparation and holines makes them capable of Now there are required of us before we presume to lay hands upon this bread of life three things 1. Purity of Conscience 2. Purity of Intention 3. Fervent and effectual Devotion We must as far as it lies in us refrain from all actual sins in thought word and deed Secondly We must do it to a good end not for any private benefit not by compulsion or for fear of Censure or any other Ecclesiastical correction not out of Custome nor for any sensual devotion or joy because of the confluence and company at these love-feasts Thirdly and lastly we must watch over our owne souls and take heed that no wind blows upon our garden but the spiritual and eternal we must labour for an heavenly setlednesse sanctified affections holy hopes new garments a clean heart and a right spirit Cant. 2. The soul must be sick of love she must long for the banqueting house nothing now must appear but flowers nothing must be heard but the singing of birds and the voice of the Turtle Lord God saith S. Ambrose with what contrition of heart with what fountains of tears with what reverence fear with what chastity of body and purity of mind should this divin mystery be celebrated where thy flesh is the meat where thy blood is the drink where the creature feeds upon the Creatour and the Creatour is united unto the creature where Angels are spectators and God himself both the Priest and the Sacrifice what holinesse and humility should we bring thither O what pure things most pure must those hands be which bring my God to me As therefore some rich odoriferous water is distill'd out of many and several sorts of fragrant herbs and flowers so our devotion at this soveraigne Sacrament should be composed of many spiritual acceptable affections with God as amongst others are profound humility unmeasurable reverence ardent love firme faith actuall charity impatient hunger and an intollerable longing after this heavenly banquet And because we may not touch these white robes with dirty hands nor come neer the Rose of Sharon with ill sents and offensive fumes it hath been ever the Custom of Gods Church to injoyn and set apart a certain limited time of purification before this mysterious solemnity wherein all religious and worthy Communicants addressed and prepared themselves in some measure for this unmeasurable mercy Such was in our Church that more strict and holy season called Lent and such still are the preparation-dayes before this glorious Sabbath in all true Churches Two dayes were given the Israelites to sanctifie themselves and to wash their clothes that they might be ready against the third day upon which the Lord was to come downe in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai And this onely at the reception of the Law which was given by Angels much more then ought we to wash and cleanse our vessels from all vaine affections idle words and actions and to separate our selves from the world for three dayes at least that we may be ready against that great and blessed day wherein we are to come not to a mountain that might not be touched nor to the sound of a Trumpet nor to the voice of words spoken to us out of the midst of fire but to the general assembly and Church of the first-borne which are written in
rate Our glory greatnesse wisdome all we have If misimploy'd but adde hell to the grave Onely a faire redemption of evill Times Finds life in death and buryes all our Crimes IT is an observation of some spirits that the night is the mother of thoughts And I shall adde that those thoughts are Stars the Scintillations and lightnings of the soul strugling with darknesse This Antipathy in her is radical for being descended from the house of light she hates a contrary principle and being at that time a prisoner in some measure to an enemy she becomes pensive and full of thoughts Two great extremes there are which she equally abhors Darkness and Death And 't is observable that in the second death when she shall be wholly mancipated to her enemies those two are united For those furious and unquenchable burnings of hell which the Scripture calls the lake of fire c. though they be of such an insuperable intense heat as to work upon spirits and the most subtile Essences yet do they give no light at all but burn blacker then pitch Cremationem habet lumen verò non habet Greg. Mor. c. 46. The Contemplatiō of death is an obscure melancholy walk an Expatiation in shadows solitude but it leads unto life he that sets forth at midnight will sooner meet the Sunne then he that sleeps it out betwixt his curtains Truly when I consider how I came first into this world and in what condition I must once again go out of it and compare my appointed time here with the portion preceding it and the eternity to follow I can conclude my present being or state in respect of the time to be nothing else but an apparition The first man that appeared thus came from the East and the breath of life was received there Though then we travel Westward though we embrace thornes and swet for thistles yet the businesse of a Pilgrim is to seek his Countrey But the land of darknesse lies in our way and how few are they that study this region that like holy Macarius walk into the wildernesse and discourse with the skull of a dead man We run all after the present world and the Primitive Angelical life is quite lost It is a sad perversnesse of man to preferre warre to peace cares to rest grief to joy and the vanities of this narrow Stage to the true and solid comforts in heaven The friends of this world saith a holy father are so fearful to be separated from it that nothing can be so grievous to them as to think of death They put farre away the evill day and cause the seate of violence to come neer They lie upon beds of Ivory and stretch themselves upon their Couches they eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall They chant to the sound of the viol they drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments they account the life of the righteous to be madnesse and his end to be without honour Amos 6. In this desperate and senselesse state they cast away their precious souls and make their brightest dayes but dayes of darknesse and gloominesse dayes of clouds and of thick mists They consider not the day that shall burne like an Oven when the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with a fervent heat when the wicked shall be stubble and all the workers of iniquity shall be burnt up Miserable men that knowing their masters pleasure will not do it that refuse Oyle and balsame to make way for poyson and corrasives And why will they call him Master Master whose precepts they trample on and whose members they crucifie It is a sad observation for true Christians to see these men who would seem to be Pillars to prove but reeds and specious dissemblers For what manner of livers should such professors be seeing they expect and beleeve the dissolution of all things With what constant holinesse humility and devotion should they watch for it How should they passe the time of their sojourning here in fear and be diligent that they may be found of him in peace without spot and blamelesse What preparation should they make against the evill day What comforts and treasures should they lay up for that long voyage For what a day of terrors and indignation is the day of death to the unprepared How will they lie on their last beds like wilde Buls in a net full of the fury of the Lord When their desolation shall come like a flood and their destruction like a whirle-wind How will they say in the morning would God it were Even and at night would God it were Morning for the fear of their heart wherwith they shal fear and for the sight of their Eyes wherewith they shall see This is a truth they will not believe untill death tells it them and then it will be too late It is therefore much to be wished that they would yet while it is life-time with them remember their last ends and seriously question with themselves what is there under the Sun that can so justly challenge their thoughts as the contemplation of their own mortality We could not have lived in an age of more instruction had we been left to our own choice We have seen such vicissitudes and examples of humane frailty as the former world had they happened in those ages would have judged prodigies We have seen Princes brought to their graves by a new way and the highest order of humane honours trampled upon by the lowest We have seene Judgement beginning at Gods Church and what hath beene never heard of since it was redeem'd and established by his blessed Son we have seen his Ministers cast out of the Sanctuary barbarous persons without light or perfection usurping holy offices A day an hour a minute saith Causabone is sufficient to over-turn and extirpate the most settled Governments which seemed to have been founded and rooted in Adamant Suddenly do the high things of this world come to an end and their delectable things passe away for when they seem to be in their flowers and full strength they perish to astonishment And sure the ruine of the most goodly peeces seems to tell that the dissolution of the whole is not far off It is the observation of a known Statesman Sir Water Rawleigh That to all dominions God hath set their periods who though he hath given to man the knowlededge of those wayes by which Kingdoms rise and fall yet he hath left him subject unto the affections which draw on these fatal mutations in their appointed time Vain therefore and deceitful is all the pomp of this world which though it flatters us with a seeming permanency will be sure to leave us even then when we are most in chase of it And what comfort then or what security can poor man promise to himself whose breath
I sent the hornet before you which drove them out from before you even the two kings of the Amorites but not with thy sword nor with thy bowe And Isaiah Chap. 6 ver 18 19. And it shall come to passe in that day that the Lord shall hisse for the flye that is in the uttermost parts of the river of Egypt and for the Bee that is in the land of Assyria And they shall come and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys and in the holes of the rocks and upon all thornes and upon all bushes I say then do not we see that these birds and inferiour creatures which in the spring and summer continue here very merry and musical do on a sudden leave us and all winter-long suffer a kind of death and with the Suns warmth in the youth of the year awake again and refresh the world with their reviv'd notes For the singing of birds is naturalis musica mundi to which all arted strains are but discord and hardnesse How much more then shall Iesus Christ the Sun of righteousnesse rising with healing under his wings awake those that sleep in him and bring them again with a joyful resurrection Having then these prolusions and strong proofs of our restoration laid out in nature besides the promise of the God of nature who cannot faile let us so dispose of this short time of our sojourning here that we may with joy and sure comforts expect that day of refreshing Let us number our dayes and apply our hearts unto wisdome What ever happens here under our feet let it not draw down our eyes from the hill whence cometh our help Let not these sudden and prodigious mutations like violent earth-quakes shake our foundation let us hold fast the faith and presse towards the mark that whether absent or present we may be accepted of him for many are already gone astray and have slipt into the same damnable estate with those wretches whom a very Heathen could reprove Sunt qui in fortunae jam casibus omnia ponunt Et nullo credunt mundum rectore moveri Naturâ volvente vices lucis anni There are that do believe all things succeed By chance or fortune that nought's decreed By a divine wise will but blindly call Old time and nature rulers over all Let us consider him that is invisible and those that are righteous let them be righteous still let them have respect unto the recompence of the reward for he comes quickly and his reward is with him Let us endure unto ehe end and overcome that we may have right unto the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the City for Ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas Upon our little inch of time in this life depends the length and breadth the height and depth of Immortality in the world to come even two eternities the one infinitely accursed the other infinitely blessâ—d I remember saith a reverend Author that I have read and not without admiration of some Primitive Christian that considered with himself the eternity of the torments to be endured in hell after this manner What man living said he that were in his right minde and reason if he were offered the most spacious and flourishing Kingdoms of France Spain and Polonia onely for lying continually upon any one part of his body in a bed of roses for the space of forty yeers would accept of them upon that condition And though perhaps such a mad man could be found as would accept of the offer yet it is a thing most certain that before three peâ—rs would come about he would get him up and beg to have the conditions cancell'd And what madnesse then is it for the enjoying of one minutes pleasure for the satisfaction of our sensual corrupt appetite to lie for ever in a bed of burning brasse in the lake of eternal and unquenchable fire Suppose saith the same Writer that this whole Globe of earth were nothing else but a huge masse or mountain of sand and that a little Wren came but once in every thousand yeers to fetch away but one grain of that huge heap what an innumerable number of yeers would be spent before that world of sand could be so fetcht away And yet alas when the damned have laine in that siery lake so many yeers as all those would amount to they are no nearer coming out then the first houre they entered in To the same purpose is this Hymne of the Ancients Ex quo poli sunt perfecti Audet numero complecti Stellas coeli still as roris Vndas aquei fluoris Guttas imbris pluvialis Floccos vellerisni valis Quot sunt vere novo flores Quot odores quot colores Quot vinacios Autumnus Poma legit vertumnus Quot jam grana iulit aestas Frondes hyemis tempestas Tâ—tus orbis animantes Aër atomos volantes Pilos ferae pecus villos Vertex hominum capillos Adde littoris arenas Adde graminis verbenas Tot myriades Annorum Quot momenta saeculorum Heus adhuc aeternitatis Portus fugit à damnatis AEternum aeternum quanta haec duratio quanta Quà m speranda bonis quámque tremenda malis From the first hour the heavn's were made Unto the last when all shall fade Count if thou canst the drops of dew The stars of heav'n and streams that flow The falling snow the dropping showres And in the moneth of May the flowres Their sents and colours and what store Of grapes and apples Autumne bore How many grains the Summer beares What leaves the wind in Winter tears Count all the creatures in the world The motes which in the air are hurl'd The haires of beasts and mankind and The shores innumerable sand The blades of grasse and to these last Adde all the yeers which now are past With those whose course is yet to come And all their minutes in one summe When all is done the damneds state Out-runs them still and knows no date O Eternity eternity saith a holy Father whose strength is able to bear out thy torments And the smoke of their torments asceÌ„deth up for ever ever they have no rest day nor night O what is this same for ever and ever Gladly would I speak something of it but I know not what to speak All that I know is this That it is that which onely the infinitenesse of the Almighty God doth compasse about and comprehend Seeing then it is so that eternal pleasures or eternal pains do inavoidably and immediately overtake us after our dissolution with what unwearied care and watchfulnesse should we continue in well-doing and work out our salvation with fear and trembling How should we as strangers and pilgrims abstain from flâ—shly lusts which warre against the soul What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse With what Christian thrift and diligence should we dispose of every minute of our time that we
that our bodies shall in the twinkling of an eye be perfectly raised notwithstanding that our limbs be separated or dispersed one from another and the distance of place never so great hath thereby sufficiently proved that our very bodies which in that day shall be raised incorruptible shall be gifted with the very lame swiftnesse for he testifies that this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality 1 Cor. 15. An instance or demonstration of this swiftnesse we have in the beams of the Sunne which as soone as ever the body of that Planet appears above the earth in the East passe in a moment to the utmost West By this consideration we may conclude that what hath been spoken touching our velocity in the life to come is not impossible especially because that animated bodies have in them a greater agility then those which are inanimate To this instance of the Sun-beams we may adde another of the like nature which we have in our selves for the beams or ray of the Eye when we open our eye-lids passeth immediately to the utmost point of the Horizon or visible part of the sky and when we shut them returnes wholly and unimpaired into it self Again it is a thing certainly known that the souls of the Elect which are in the hand of the Lord have not yet enjoyed the fulnesse of felicity untill their bodies shall be restored unto them incorruptible which when they shall enjoy there will be nothing more left for them to wait for and desire But these bodies whose redemption they long and grone for if they would retard of hinder their swiftnesse they would rather abhorre their fellowship then long for it therefore it is certain that such a swiftnesse or agility as we have spoken of shall be given us of God in the life to come The next thing we are to treat of is Fortitude or Strength which most men affect as it is opposite to imbecillity and faint-heartednesse But they who shall be worthy to walk with the Citizens of the new Ierusalem shall excell so much in strength that nothing can have power to resist them whether their desire be to remove or over-turn any thing out of its station or by any other way to divert it nothing can hinder them nor shall they in compassing their desire be put to any more trouble or pains then we are put to at present when we move an Eye or turne it towards any object we desire to look upon But let us not in this place forget to instance in the Angels to whom we labour in this life to assimilate our selves for if in this branch or in any of the rest which we are to handle we can finde no other example or demonstration we must apply to them I suppose there is none will deny but that the Angels excel so much in strength as to be able to effect whatsoever shall be enjoyned them But here some body may ask of what use shall this fortitude or strength be unto us in that life when all things shall be put in such perfect order that there cannot be a better when there shall be no need of mutations eversions or reformation wherein this fortitude or strength may be imployed Whoever shall ask this question let him attend a little to me and consider what use we make at present of the faculties given us in this life and he shall finde that we do not alwayes imploy some of those abilities with which we are now gifted in the body as the faculty of seeing our utmost strength and our knowledge of some select things with many more In the like manner shall it be then with this fortitude we are now speaking of for the onely possession of it will be an incredible pleasure and joy unto us though we shall have no use for it all things being as it is said before in the state of perfection If this objection be made concerning velocity or any of the other branches which are to follow in this discourse I hold this solution if we finde not a better satisfactory enough We are now come to the fourth branch which is Liberty and is no lesse desired then any of the former Whoever then shall leade and Angelical life here upon earth shall without doubt be admitted into an equal liberty with the Angels in heaven Therefore as nothing can resist hinder or confine the Angels but that they may passe freely through all things according to their own desires so shall there be no obstacle or restraint of the Elects there shall be no inclosure that can hold us nor any Element which shall not be pervious or passable for us when and how we please An eminent and most certain example of this we have left us in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ to which blessed body Saint Paul affirms that our vile bodies shall be fashioned and made like according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Now the Scripture beares record that he rose from the dead after the Sepulchre was made sure and sealed and that he came in to his Disciples the doors being shut upon them and at the same time caused Thomas to thrust his hand into his side all which without doubt was laid down for a strong and comfortable demonstration to us of the glorious liberty of the children of God Rom. 8. In this fifth place comes Health which of all temporal blessings is the principal and the most to be desired And of this what can be better said then that which hath been already spoken by the Psalmist The salvation of the righteous cometh from the Lord Psal. 37. What infirmity then can lay hold upon those whose health or salvation is from the Lord But what example or similitude to introduce whereby you may perceive what manner of health that shall be which we are to enjoy in the world to come I do not know for neither I in my own body nor the holiest man that ever lived in the flesh can finde in himself any state of health which may be compared or liken'd to this eternal and incorruptible health For in this life when we finde our bodies without any paine or disturbance we conclude that we are in health and yet are we therein oftentimes deceived For it happens very frequently that we are infirme or sickly in some particular member which yet we can by no means discover but by motion of the said member or by touching the place affected But to come to those that are not thus affected but seeme to themselves to be in perfect health what shall we judge of them that they are in health or that they are not Propose to thy self some one of a most healthful constitution and that thou shouldst enquire of him concerning the state of his body he will tell thee that in his own judgement he finds himself in perfect health But let his body be examined and