Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	good_a	praise_v	speak_v	18,421	5	7.7933	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96681	Fax fonte accensa, fire out of water: or, An endeavour to kindle devotion, from the consideration of the fountains God hath made Designed for the benefit of those who use the waters of Tunbridg-Wells, the Bath, Epsom, Scarborough, Chigwell, Astrop, Northall, &c. Two sermons preached at New Chappel by Tunbridg-Wells. With devout meditations of Cardinal Bellarmin upon fountains of waters. Also some form of meditations, prayers, and thanksgivings, suited to the occasion. By Anthony Walker, D.D.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.; Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621. Selections, English, 1684.	1685 (1685)	Wing W302A; ESTC R230546	55,606	206

Indigaters are at a loss and cannot solve them and find out the Reasons of them but must cry out in admiration of their Maker his Wisdom is unsearchable and in this as much as in any Works of Nature past finding out They must confess themselves posed and say with David Such Knowledg is too wonderful for me 't is high 't is deep I cannot attain to it Psal 139.6 And with the indefatigable Alstedius not be asham'd to say the best answer to the Enquiries about them is by that word of Modesty Nescio I cannot tell and with the great Philosopher dying to Euripus Non capio te I cannot comprehend thee 3. There appeareth great Wisdom in cutting out their Chanels spreading their Veins proportioning their Depth and Breadth and Length that they be not too rapid or too slow that by a longer Tract they may be duly percolated refin'd concocted imbued and impregnated sufficiently and not excessively with the virtues of the Mineral Soils that make them useful How wise is he who proportions all these and an hundred more in Number Weight and Measure 4. In the admirable and almost infinite variety and sorts and kinds of them A Poet would call them Lusus naturae lascivientis and tell you that wanton Nature never sported it self more gaily then in the various sorts and shapes of Springs and Fountains and in their strange and stupendous Properties some ebbing and flowing as the Sea some hot to seething others as cold to freezing some both in every twenty four hours hot in the Night cold in the Day some petrifying all that 's put into them others changing white the Hairs scattered on them and of them who drink them Some diutetick some purging some molifying other consolidating some salt some sweet some acid some insipid some limpid others thick some harsh others soft smooth oily c. In a word the Sea hath not so many kinds of Fish nor the Earth so many sorts of Beasts or Fruits nor the Air such diversity of Fowls and Birds as there are variety of Springs and Fountains O Lord how manifold are these Works of thine in Wisdom hast thou made them all the Earth is full of thy Goodness Thirdly This his Goodness is the last of God's adorable Perfections which bubbles up yea flows exuberantly upon us in the Fountains which he makes And if any be so senceless as to ask me how the making of the Fountains prove him to be good It might be sufficient to answer such a Question by asking of another viz. Art thou not asham'd to ask it or canst thou move it without blushing But to clear it I mean by his Goodness his Beneficence or doing Good Thou art good and dost good saith David unto God Psal 119.68 He therefore doth good because he is good But he is thereby known to be good because he doth good and every Benefit he bestows upon his Creatures witness him to be a good God Acts 14.17 how do the Wells and Fountains proclaim him to be so as David Psal 93.3 of the Floods we may say The Springs O Lord have lifted up their Voice the Springs lift up their Voice to shout forth the Goodness of their Maker yea they clap their Hands Psal 98.8 applaudingly to celebrate his Praises When grateful David had said Psal 33.5 The Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord he proves it vers 7. because he layeth up the Depth in Store-houses thereby to feed the Fountains When Moses speaking of the promis'd Land saith to the Israelites The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good Land The Character he gives of that Goodness is that 't was a Land of Brooks of Water of Fountains and Depths that spring out of the Valleys and Hills And God is said to open his good Treasure the Treasures of his Goodness Deut. 28.12 When he gives Rain from above and so when he gives Fountains from beneath Water is a great Mercy in the common use of it the World could not continue or subsist without it and unspeakably sweet and kind is that Clemency of God that makes and gives it It is impossible to reckon up how many Benefits it yields us or to declare how great that Godness is by which we do injoy it 't is a Work fitter for our Admiration then our Reckoning for Rhetorick than Arithmetick And Spring-water is the best of Waters the Life the Spirits the Quintessence of that beneficial Element the most pure pleasant wholsome lasting and every way most excellent and valuable And because ungrateful we are more prone to make a right Judgment of the worth of our Mercies by their Wants than their Injoyments consider how deplorable and sad the want of Water is and we shall soon know how good it is to have it and thence learn to acknowledg how good he is that gives it But if common Waters be so great a Blessing then extraordinary Springs are no common Mercies And God is to be confessed very good for making such mollifying Baths God's own Bethesdahs and Siloam-pools which seem attended constantly with some good Angel and not only visited at rare and seldom Seasons Purging-Springs abstirging Wells opening Obstructions sweetning the Blood thinning tough viscous Humours preventing some and grapling with and conquering other most obstinate and chronical Distempers which were opprobria Medicorrm bafled the best experienced the eldest the first-born Sons of Apollo and Aesculapius which Leviathan-like esteem'd the choicest Recipes the keenest Shafts of Galen or Hippocrates Paracelsus or Vanhelmont but as Straw or rotten Wood. Such are these Wells God hath inrich'd this barren Country with which we come hither to make use of and to wait upon his Providence in the using of them How exuberantly doth God's Goodness flow in these O that with becoming Gratitude and Love we could with a spiritual Gust relish and taste it in every Glass we drink These are his Laboratories who stiles himself Jehova Rophi Exod. 15.26 I am the Lord that healeth thee and whom David Psal 103.3 exhorts us to bless for healing all our Diseases These are Alimbecks where Almighty Goodness draws the Tinctures and the Extracts prepares the Spirits makes the Infusion mixes the healthful Potions And how unseemly is it to open our Lips to drink them in and not to open them again to confess his Goodness and give out due Praises unto him that made them 3. His Goodness appears in discovering the Vertues of such Waters How many useful things are lost for want of being known Divine Clemency is seldom single content with one Act 't was one Mercy to make them what they are a second to let us know what he had made them and thirdly to vouchsafe us Liberty and Opportunity to use them 4. 'T is great Goodness in God to make them useful and beneficial either the common or the mineral Springs Man lives not by Bread only but by the Word which proceedeth out of God's Mouth Dead things cannot minister to our

Lives but by the blessing of the living God neither can Physick prepar'd by Nature or by Art heal or help us without the concurrent Influence of him who immediately makes one and must as immediately bless both 5. Lastly Let me add one further Manifestation of his Goodness in making the Fountains which may sensibly affect those who are concern'd how little soever it may signify to others David justly ascribes it to the Goodness of God to provide for the Poor Thou Lord hast of thy Goodness provided for the Poor How many poor Families doth God provide for by the Wells They are truly Silver Streams they feed the Hungry and cloath the Naked inrich the Country yield a plentiful Crop and large Harvest to them who neither plow nor sow O that Men would praise the Lord for this Goodness and for his wonderful Works to the Children of Men Thus have I shew'd you why we are most justly call'd upon to worship him that made the Fountains of Waters Because in his making of them there is a glorious discovery of many adorable Perfections and amongst the rest his Almighty Power his unsearchable Wisdom and his inexhaustible Goodness All which not only allow and give leave but oblige and give good reason why we should worship him with all the Zeal and Love and Fervor that we can Which Consideration leads me to the fourth and last thing propounded in the beginning of this Discourse that is To draw practical Inferences from the whole and make Improvement of it proper to us at this Place and Time If we must worship him that made the Fountains that is honour love fear serve him pray to him and give him Thanks because he made them and discovers so many adorable Perfections to be in him by his making of them Then let us briefly inquire 1. What Prohibitions 2. What positive Duties flow from hence God's Word is a two-edged Sword utrinque acutus it cuts on both sides When it injoyns a Duty it prohibits what is contrary and when it prohibits Sin it injoyns the Good which is contrary to the Evil it forbids If therefore we must worship him that made the Fountains Then 1. We must not neglect him 2. Not do any thing that is contrary to his Worship 1. Let us not neglect forget or leave out him that made them gave them their Virtues and must bless them if they do us good Let us not drink as the Beasts of the Earth which all the while they drink look only down upon the Waters they are drinking of but as the Birds of Heaven which sip and look upward When we drink we lift up our Heads 't is a necessary Posture make a vertue of this necessity and when you lift up your Heads in drinking lift up your Eyes your Hearts to God in some devout Ejaculations in some spiritual Hallelujahs Good Lord vouchsafe to bless these Waters both to me and to all that drink them O thou that madest the Fountains give me cause and give me an Heart to praise thee for the making of them O ye Wells bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever who forgiveth all thy Sins and healeth all thy Diseases Glory be to thee O God whose Power Wisdom Goodness these Wells proclaim thou gavest them their Virtues thou continuest their flowing thou hast made them helpful to me and many others O continue forth thy Loving kindness to us and grant us all thy Grace to spend the Health we wait upon thee for in the Service of the Giver 2. Secondly If we must worship him that made these Fountains then let us do nothing that 's contrary to it or misbecoming those that worship him 1. In general Provoke him not in any kind to Jealousy lest they become as the Waters of Jealousy to the the guilty Woman Numb 5.27 a Curse and cause the Belly to swell and Thigh to rot God hath us here at our Good-behaviour 'T was no small Aggravation of the Israelites Sin that they provoked God at the Sea even at the red Sea Psal 106.7 where he signaliz'd his Mercy by the Waters covering their Enemies that there was not any of them left vers 11. Your Distempers are your Enemies if you expect to have them drown'd or wash'd away provoke him not at the Wells even at Tunbridg-Wells where you expect his Help for your Cure render them not as the Waters of Meribah I am neither of so stoical a Temper morose Humour or affected Conversation as to censure other Mens Liberties or to refuse to take my part in innocent Divertisements and healthful Recreations Take your Pleasures in God's Name But love not your Pleasures more than God neither let your Pleasures be ungodly nor the pursuit of your Bodies Health run you into Souls Sickness Be merry but withal be wise Divert your selves but turn not out of God's way use your Liberties but abuse them not use them not unlawfully Provide for your Satisfaction always provided you make not Provision for the Flesh to fulfil its Lusts In a word so walk so bowl so dance so play that you stake not your Souls nor by any of these or other Pastimes rob your selves of time to pray to or to praise that God who made those Wells which are the Centre of this great Confluence or may render you asham'd afraid or otherwise unfit to bow your Knees or lift up your Faces Hands or Hearts unto his holy Habitation and that neither the Foams of impure Lusts nor the Froth of less criminal Vanities may pollute or damp the Altar nor render unsavoury the Incense of your Evening Sacrifice Tertullian hath left a brave and noble Character of the Primitive Christians worthy our Imitation yea our Ambition That they so ate so drank so traded so conversed in the day as became those who remembred that they were to pray ere they slept at Night O that I could always do so And I can wish you nothing better tho I love you as my self 2. Secondly and more particularly Look upon these Wells as consecrated and made sacred by an extraordinary Presence of the God of Nature in and with them and by the helpful Virtues and healing Qualities that he that makes the Fountains hath endu'd them with And so procul procul esto prophani After the Command which injoyns God's Worship follows that which so severely forbids the taking of his Name in vain What doth this signify less then that in vain we worship him if we cease not to take his Name in vain I beseech you therefore give me leave with that Zeal which becomes my Sacerdotal Character and yet with that Modesty which knows my own meaness in that Sacred Order to beseech you to be tender of the Honour of the Name of God I hope I understand the difference betwixt reproving and reproaching and tho we are allowed and commanded to reprove some Sinners sharply cuttingly as the Greek Word signifies yet to add reproachful Reflections

all those Drops with all the Sands of these sandy Desarts would not equal the Years of that Eternity to which O my Soul thou hastenest so fast These rich Wells are in a low Valley surrounded with high sandy dry and barren Hills The meek and lowly God will inrich with his Grace He resists the Proud and gives Grace to the Humble The method of our Water-drinking is instructive We begin with fewer Glasses and rise gradually till we arrive at a due Proportion this we should imitate We must grow in Grace go from Strength to Strength The way of the Just is as the Morning-Light which shineth more and more unto the perfect Day A Christian should know no Period but Perfection He that thinks he hath Grace enough may thereby be convinced he hath too little When we are going off we then decrease our Number this we must avoid 't is bad to stand at a stay for not to go forward is to go backward in the things of God But to decline sadly forebodes our final going off That Question of our Lord Where are the nine was a cutting and upbraiding one Ten were healed and but one among them was found thankful How mean and despicable soever I am Lord make me truly humble and thankful 'T is better to be a grateful Samaritan than a graceless Israelite Lord bless these Waters to us Lord give us leave to use them And Lord give us both Cause and Hearts to be thankful for them O thou maker of the Fountains make these useful to us all who drink of them Lord give us to drink plenteously of the Wells of Salvation O Lord who givest these Waters without our asking We humbly ask thy Blessing upon the use of them O thou Fountain of Living Waters evermore give us of those Streams which flow from thee Give us this day our daily Bread whatever is needful for Health or Strength whether Food or Physick Impregnate these Waters O Lord with thine own Goodness Lord let us have the use of these Waters by thy Leave and a Blessing upon them by thy Love Lord suffer us not to provoke thee to Anger where we come to seek Relief from thee O Lamb of God from under whose Throne flow Living Waters wash away our Sins by those Waters O thou Son of God who wast with thy Father when as yet there were no created Fountains abounding with Water Manifest that Love to me which flows from the eternal Fountain of free Grace and that Love wherewith thou lovedst thine before the World was Lord remove that Curse our Sins have deserved these Waters should be imbittered by and sweeten them with Blessings we neither have nor can deserve from thee Good Lord help us to improve for thee all the Mercies we here or elsewhere receive or hope for from thee Ejaculatory Praises BLessed be the Maker of these Fountains for all that Power Wisdom Goodness manifested in the making of them Blessed be God for any Blessing now or formerly received by them O thou Fountain of Goodness who art Good and dost Good we praise thee for all the Good thou ever didst for any by these Good Fountains O that we could praise thee as thankfully as thou givest these Waters freely Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thy Sins and healeth all thy Diseases O all ye Works of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever O ye Tunbridg-Wells bless ye the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever O let all who ever received Benefit by the Waters of these Wells bless the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever O my Soul bless thou the Lord praise him and magnify him for ever Blessed be God for all the natural and supernatural Fountains he hath made as the God of Nature as the God of Grace Blessed be God for making us and blessed be God for making all things for us blessed be God for Springs of Common Water and of Mineral Waters for the Fountain of free Grace and for the Covenant of Grace for his Son and for his Spirit for his Word and for his Sacraments for all the means of Grace and hopes of Glory Amen FINIS Books lately printed for Nathaniel Ranew at the King's-Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard THE Works of Josephus with great Diligence revised and amended according to the excellent French Translation of Monsieur D'ANDILLY Also the Embassy of Philo Judaeus to the Emperor Caligula with the References of Scripture a Map of the Holy Land and divers other Copper Plates The Principles of Christian Religion with a large Body of Divinity methodically and familiarly handled by way of Question and Answer for the use of Families together with Immanuel or the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God By the most Reverend James Vsher late Arch-bishop of Armagh to which is now added in this seventh Edition twenty Sermons preach'd at Oxford before the King and elsewhere with the Life of the Author and an Alphabetical Table never before extant Redemption of Time the Duty and Wisdom of Christians in evil Days Or A Practical Discourse shewing what special Opportunities ought to be redeemed what Mispences of Time are to be avoided with convincing Reasons quickening Motives and proper Directions for the right Improvement of precious Time By John Wade Minister of Hammersmith

or at least may be augmented such as are vulgarly call'd Land-springs from Rains and dissolved Snows soaking into and reserved in the prepared void Places or Caverns of the Earth which fail and dry up the times of Drought 7. 'T is of all Opinions most probable that the principal Fountains have their Origen from the Sea and great Abyss or huge store and treasury of Waters made and reserved in the deep Cellars of the Earth for that very end and purpose 8. 'T is very likely that the Fountain-Waters receive their several useful Qualities from the various Soils and Minerals through which they glide and imbibe and are impregnated by their different Properties while they are percollated and strained through them and become beneficial for Bathing or Potation outward or inward Application 9. 'T is probable that besides the second Causes God makes use of at least so far as any Philosophy hitherto hath or can give a full and satisfactory account God doth impress upon them and communicate to them immediately many of those useful Qualities by which they become so beneneficial to Mankind 10. Lastly whatever second Causes they proceed from or are rendred fit to be helpful and healthful by that is no prejudice to the main Truth that God makes them nor derogates ought from the Glory that is due to him for the making of them whether we consider them as ordinary Fountains for common use or extraordinary for Health and Cure of Distempers SERMON II. REV. 14.7 Worship him that made the Fountains of Waters LED by the Authority of our Lord's Example whose Sermons mostly were occasional preach'd upon visible Texts I singled out these Words as not unsuitable to this Assembly the Centre of which are the adjoyning Wells In the handling of them I reduced all I design'd to speak unto this easy Method To inquire 1. What is the sole Object adequate Reason and right Notion of Religious Worship 2. Who made the Fountains and in a short Digression how he made them 3. Why the Angel propounds him to be worship'd under that Notion Maker of the Fountains and how it may appear that this is a good and sufficient Reason to oblige us to it 4. To draw practical Inferences from the whole proper to us at this Time and Place The two former I have finish'd and sum'd up the philosophick part of my Discourse of the Origine of Fountains in ten Propositions To which Discouse my Subject almost necessitated me For as it had been a fault to have affected it and prest and drag'd it in reluctantly so had it been blame-worthy to have refus'd the Service it so freely and so fairly offered us to assist us in our main Hypothesis 'T was an Observation worthy that great Mans Wisdom who first made it I mean the wise Lord Verulam That a smattering in Philosophy disposes to Atheism but a deeper search into it and knowledg of it makes a good Divine and a better Christian We have a common saying Vbi desinit Philosophus ibi incipit Theologus what Philosophy begins Divinity finisheth I shall therefore now proceed to entertain you as becomes a Divine and Preacher in answering the third inquiry begging only those Allowances which are but equal to be given to one the obscurity of whose Station can hardly avoid contracting an habit of flat Expression and lower Notion I haste to the third and last Enquiry Why the Angel propounds him to be worship'd under this Notion Maker of the Fountains And how it may appear that this is a good and sufficient Reason to oblige us to it We may conceive a double Reason of it 1. To obviate the Superstition and Idolatry of the World which was used to worship the Fountains themselves All parts of the Creation were abus'd to Idolatry especially what appear'd most glorious and was found most beneficial As the Heavens and their Host the Sun Moon and Stars for their Beauty and Influences under the Names of Jupiter Apollo Juno Diana c. by the Romans and of Baal and Astaroth c. by the Eastern Nations so the Earth for its Fruitfulness by the Name of Ceres and Tellus And the Waters almost as much as any part of the World The Sea for its vastness by the Name of Neptune and the Rivers and Fountains for the many benefits they yielded for the perennity and constancy of their flowing which seem'd to resemble an eternal being and for the cool and shady places in which they mostly were which struck an aw and represented some kind of Sacredness Thus they had their Aquatick Goddess and Nymphs their Naiades which they supposed to dwell in them or preside over them Now as 't was usual to obviate the worship of the Host of Heaven by directing to worship him that made the Heavens and debasing the Gods that made them not The Gods which did not make the Heavens shall be destroy'd from under the Heavens Jer. 10.11 Which Verse was written in the Chaldee Tongue that the Babylonians might understand it tho all the rest of the Book be written in the Hebrew Language So to convince them of the evil of worshipping the Fountains and divert them from it he calls them to worship him that made them And we may see the more evident need of it if we consider of how large a spread this Superstition was and how deep root it had taken for there being so many Miranda and so great Beneficia so many stupendous and unaccountable natural Wonders and so many Advantages accruing to Men from Fountains of so various kinds we need not be surprized at it that they who worshipped every thing that was either very extraordinary or very beneficial to their Life or Health should idolize them And this continued so long and the World was so pertinacious in it that the Fathers of the Primitive Church were forc'd to preach and write most instantly and severely against it To name but one St. Aug. Serm. de Temp. 241. de Auguriis Nec ad Arbores debent Christiani vota reddere nec ad Fontem orare si se volunt per gratiam Dei de aeterno supplicio liberari Christians ought neither to pay Vows to Trees nor pray at or to the Wells if by the Grace of God they would be freed from Eternal Punishment And a little after Contestor vos coram Deo Angelis ejus ac de Nuncio ut nec ad illa diabolica Convivia quae aut ad fanum ad Fontesque aut ad aliquas Arbores fiant veniatis I adjure ye before God and his Angels that ye come not to those Diabolical Feasts which are made at Fountains and certain Trees And how many Superstitions have been us'd almost if not wholly to this very day about Fountains and the supposed tutelar Guardians of them is not unknown to many as might be instanced in the imaginary St. Richard at the salt Wells in Worcester-shire and many others elsewhere Now to obviate these evil Practices saith

Streams and Virtues you would endow this House built to his Name so near them that the Waters of the Sanctuary may flow from hence with a constant Perennity like to the Waters of these Wells and with an Healthfulness to the Souls of those that dwell here which may equal or exceed the Usefulness of the Waters to the Bodies of us Strangers who come hither to drink them And now Oh thou most glorious Lord who hast made the Fountains of Waters and thereby manifested forth thy Almighty Power thy unsearchable Wisdom and inexhaustible Goodness which render thee a most sutable Object of all possible Adoration Love and Service Accept we beseech thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and Praise which we offer to thee from the Altar of an humble Heart for making of these Fountains and making known and continuing their useful Virtues and for blessing them to any of us And we further bless thy glorious Name who art the Fountain of Living Waters and in whom are all our Springs for all the Streams of Mercy that flow from thee especially for thy Son and thy Spirit thy Word and thy Sacraments and that sutable Portion of it we have now been made partakers of Beseeching thee so to write in our Hearts by the Finger of thy Spirit what we have heard with our outward Ears that it may bring forth in us the Fruit of good Living to the Glory of thy holy Name the good Example of our fellow Christians the present Comfort and the eternal Salvation of our precious Souls through Jesus Christ our dearest Lord To whom with thy Majesty and eternal Spirit be rendred as is most due all Honour Love Thanksgiving Praise and Adoration now and for evermore Amen FINIS Devout Meditations of Cardinal Bellarmine made English Of the Consideration of the Waters and chiefly of Fountains CHAP. I. THE Water holds the second place amongst the Elements of this World and if that be rightly look'd upon a step may be made of it to assist the Heart's Ascent to God And if we will premise a general Consideration of Water then draw out of the Fountains a special Ascent to God Water is moist and cold and from hence it hath these five Properties For 1. It washeth and cleanseth away Spots and Defilements 2. It quencheth Fire 3. It cools and slakes the heat of Thirst 4. It joyns into one many and different things Lastly So low as it descends so high it will ascend again All which are manifest Symbols and Foot-steps of that God who is the maker of all things 1. Water washeth off bodily Stains God washeth off those that are spiritual Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow Psal 51.7 For altho Contrition Sacraments Priests Alms-deeds do wash away Sins which are the Stains of the Heart All these are but Instruments and Dispositions He that is the Author of this washing is God alone I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake saith God by Isaiah Chap. 43.25 And therefore the Pharisees murmuring against Christ said Who can forgive Sins but God only Luke 7. 49. And they were not mistaken in ascribing unto God only the supream Power of forgiving Sins But in that that they believ'd not Christ to be 〈◊〉 God and so blasphem'd and spake Truth in the same breath Neither doth God only like Water wash away Spots but will also be called by the Name of Water John 7.38 He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Therefore the holy Spirit which is very God is living Water And of this Water speaks Ezekiel Chap. 36.25 I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your Filthiness and from your Idols will I cleanse you And because this celestial and uncreated Water far excels the Virtues of this terrestrial and created Water we will take notice of three Differences betwixt the washing of created and uncreated Water First That which is created washeth the Bodies Spots but not all for many it cannot get out unless it be help'd by Soap and other Instruments but uncreated Water washeth out throughly all kind of Spots for in the fore-cited place 't is said You shall be clean from all your Filthiness Secondly Created Water rarely washeth Spots so clean away as to leave no Marks or Shadows of them But uncreated Water washeth so that what is washed with it is whiter and fairer then it was before it was defiled Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow And the Lord himself saith by Isaiah Chap. 1.18 Tho your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Lastly Created Water washeth away natural Spots which resist not him that washeth them But uncreated Water washeth away voluntary Spots which cannot be rinsed off unless the Soul be willing and spontaneously consent to him that rinseth it But so great and admirable is the Virtue of this Water that it sweetly penetrates hearts of Stone and is resisted by no hard Heart because it makes it not to resist as St. Augustin rightly observes Lib. de Praed SS cap. 8. Who can understand O Lord with how admirable Methods thou breathest Faith into the Hearts of the Unbelievers and pourest Humility in-the Heats of the proud and instillest Love into the Hearts of thy Enemies that he who a little before breathing Threatnings and Slaughter did persecute thee in thy Disciples being suddenly chang'd did willingly bear the Threats and Violences of the Persecutors for thee and for thy Church It is too much for me to search into thy Secrets and I had rather know the efficacy of thy Grace by sweet Experience than by search and because I know this Water of thine to be a voluntary Shower design'd for thine own Heritage as thy Prophet singS therefore I most humbly and submissly beg that I may be found in thine Inheritance and it may please thy Grace to descend into the Earth of my Heart that it continue not towards thee like Earth without Water dry and barren as 't is of it self being not sufficient so much as to think the least that 's good But let 's us proceed CHAP. II. VVAter quencheth Fire and that heavenly Water viz. the Grace of the holy Spirit in an admirable way and manner quencheth the Fire of carnal Lusts 'T is true Fastings and corporal Mortifications do much avail to quench this Burning but provided they be used as Instruments of the Grace of the Holy Ghost otherwise of themselves alone they signifie but very little For Love is the principal of the Affections and Passions of the Mind that governs them all and all obey it Love will not be

forc'd and if it be stopt of one side it will find Passage in another Love fears nothing dares all things conquereth all things thinks nothing hard or impossible to it self Lastly a lesser Love will yield to none but to that Love that 's greater and more mighty so carnal Love whether it pursue the Riches or Delights of the World will only yield unto the Love of God As soon as the Water of the holy Spirit begins to drop into the Heart of any Man forthwith carnal Love begins to wax cold Blessed Augustine may be our Witness who being accustomed to indulge his Lust and held it impossible for him to live without a Female Consort yet when he began to taste the Grace of the holy Spirit cry'd out in the ninth Book of his Confessions How sweet did it presently become to me to want the Suavities of Trifles and the loss of those that were my greatest Fear now was my Joy to be rid off for thou didst cast them out who art thy self the true and highest Sweetness thou didst cast them out and didst thy self enter in their stead who art sweeter than all Pleasure but not to Flesh and Blood brighter than all Light but more inward than any Secret higher than all Honour but not to the high-minded CHAP. III. FUrther Water slakes the Thirst and nothing but this heavenly Water can put an end to the various most troublesome and almost infinite desires of the Hearts of Men. So Truth it self speaking to the Samaritan Woman hath taught us John 4.13 Whosoever drinketh of this Water shall thirst again but whosoever shall drink of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst And the case is plainly this The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear filled with hearing Eccles 1.8 What ever can be offered to a Man cannot satiate his desire seeing he is capable of infinite Good and all created things are finite but he that begins to drink of celestial Water in which are comprehended all things desires nothing seeks for nothing more CHAP. IV. WAter conjoyns and brings into one the things that seem impossible to be united So many Grains of Bread-Corn by mixture of Water are made one Loaf and of many Particles of Earth by adding Water to them Bricks are made but much more easily and indissolubly the Water of the holy Spirit causeth many Men to become one Heart and one Soul as is spoken in the Acts of the Apostles Chap. 4.22 of the first Christians on whom the Holy Ghost had immediately before descended And our Lord when going to his Father both commended and foretold this Unity which the Water of the holy Spirit maketh when he saith John 17.20 Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe on me through their Word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us And a little after that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one To which Unity also the Apostle exhorts in his Epistle to the Ephesians Chap. 4.3 Endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace There is one Body and one Spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your Calling O happy Union which makes many Men to be one Body of Christ which is govern'd by one Head and eats of one Bread and drinks of one Cup and lives of one Spirit and cleaving to God is made one Spirit with him What can a Servant more desire than that he should not only be made partaker of all his Lord's Goods but also by the indissoluble Bond of Love be made one with him his almighty and most wise and most beautiful Lord But all this does the Grace of the holy Spirit effect as living and enlivening Water when it is devoutly received in the Heart and preserv'd with all Diligence and sollicitous Care CHAP. V. LAstly Water ascends so high as it descends from above and because the holy Spirit comes down from the highest Heaven upon Earth therefore in that Man in whose Heart he is receiv'd he becomes a Fountain of Water springing up into Eternal Life as our Lord speaks to the Woman of Samaria that is to say a Man born again of Water and the holy Spirit and hath the same Spirit dwelling in his Heart lifts up thither the Fruits of his Grace from whence that Grace descended therefore O my Soul being taught and excited by these Words of Scripture say to thy Father again and again with groanings that cannot be utter'd Give me this Water which may scour off all my Spots which may quench the heat of Concupiscence which may satisfy all Thirst and all Desires which may make thee one Spirit with thy God which may become in thee a Well of Water springing up to eternal Life that thou mayest send thy Services thither before where thou hopest thy self to abide to endless Ages Not without cause did the Son of God say You being evil know how to give good Gifts to your Children how much more shall your Father in Heaven give his good Spirit to them that ask it And he said not will give Bread or Raiment or Wisdom or Charity or the Kingdom of Heaven or eternal Life but he said will give his good Spirit because in that all things are contain'd Thou therefore cease not daily to mind the Father of his Son's Promise and to say with mighty Affection and an undoubted hope of obtaining O holy Father not in confidence of mine own Righteousness but trusting in the Promise of thine only begotten Son do I pour out my Prayers to thee 'T was he that said to us How much more shall your Father give his good Spirit to them that ask him assuredly thy Son which is Truth it self cannot deceive therefore fulfil the Promise of thy Son who glorified thee upon Earth being every where obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross give thy holy Spirit to me who ask it give me the Spirit of thy Fear and Love that thy Servant may fear nothing but to offend thee and may love nothing besides thee and his Neighbour in thee Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit Psal 51.10 11 12. CHAP. VI. I Come now to the Similitude the Fountains of Water have with God for from hence the Mind may be raised up to the Contemplation of the truly wonderful and excellent Perfections of him that made them For not without just cause is God in holy Scripture called The Fountain of Life and the Fountain of Wisdom and Fountain of living Water Psal 35. Eccles 1. Jer. 2.13 And that he is the very Fountain of being

then will the Fire of this Desire blaze forth above all Desires How great will then thy Happiness O my Soul be when thy Beloved and thy Lover CHRIST will shew thee all the Treasures of the Knowledg and Wisdom of God But that such hopes may not be frustrate strive to keep Christ's Precepts for he hath said If any Man loves me he will keep my Words and he that loves me not keepeth not my Words Mean while let thy Wisdom be such as holy Job describes The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom and to depart from evil is Vnderstanding And what good soever thou beholdest in the Creatures know that it flows from God the Fountain of all Goodness and so with blessed Francis learn to to taste the Goodness of the Fountain in every Creature as in Rivolets that are derived from it Devotions for Water-drinkers OR Meditations Prayers and Thanksgiving fitted to that occasion MEDITATION I. Upon the many kinds of Diseases cured by these Waters HOW great is that Evil which Fools make a Mock of The Cause may be seen in the Effects Had there been no Sin there had been no Sorrow nor Sickness no Diseases Pain or Death The great number of Distempers is no small evidence of the great Evil of Sin 'T is a prolifick Root which bears such variety such multitude of Fruit. The great Physician Fernelius cries out Totus Homo totus Morbus which we may english by the Prophet Isaiah's Words From the sole of the Foot even to the Head there is no Soundness and not only from top to bottom but from outside to within the whole Head is sick and the whole Heart is faint And the Prince of Physicians Galen sums up the Diseases to which the Eye alone is subject to amount to no less than three hundred how many then of the whole Head how many are there of the whole Body And yet the most of what we know is the least of what we know not How many hidden Distempers and which yet know no Name are we subject to And Art is posed to keep pace with Nature and fit new Names to new Diseases And almost every Year some comes upon the Stage known by no other dress call'd by no other title but the New Fever or New Disease And yet O Lord the number of our Sins which exceed the number of our Diseases is more exceeded by the multitude of thy Mercies than the Stars outshine the Gloworms or thy Throne in Heaven is higher than thy Foot-stool on Earth He 's blind which doth not see he deserves to be struck dumb who will not confess this Truth which every day which every place proclaims but few more loudly or significantly than this Place or Season How many Miracles of Mercy doth thy Power and Goodness daily work here How many Patients wait upon thee the Great Physician How many chronical and stubborn Distempers which had baffled all the Sons of Art yield to the God of Nature Should the vast number which daily drink of this Fountain of thy Pleasure strictly confer Notes their Distempers would be found as different as their Faces not two exactly alike yet all expect and most obtain Relief O Lord by the multitude of thy unknown Mercies heal all the known and unknown Diseases of our Bodies and Sins of our Souls MEDITAT II. With Allusion to John 5.3 In them lay a multitude of Impotent Folk waiting for the moving of the Water THE mighty Confluence of which these Wells are the Centre is a very humbling a very mortifying Consideration For tho the Gallantry and Rich Attire of the Company may emulate the Courts of greatest Princes and make this Desert forget its Solitude and we may in this Wilderness find such Softness and Delicacy as uses to be in King's Houses Yet in very truth this place is but a great Hospital and the splendid Buildings which rise so fast at South-borough Rust-Hall and about Mount-Ephraim are but so many Apartments in this great Infirmatory And the Guests who fill them are but so many Impotent Lazars under the Vests of Dives Every Glass we drink for cure is a tacite Confession of our hidden Infirmities and inward Distempers and that tho array'd as the Lillies of the Field as very Grass as they Gay Beggars which wait at these Wells which are the Celler of the great House-keeper for a dole of Mercy Nothing is more insufferable than an insolent Beggar Nothing more despicable than to be poor and proud to need Relief and provoke him from whom we expect it The first Prescription every wise Physician gives his Patient is that he must be regular take what he orders and as he orders Thou Lord art our Physician we are thy Patients these Wells are thy Shop their Waters are thy Medicines thy Word the Prescription how we must use them and all thy other Gifts with Prayer and Thanks-giving O that we all may humbly and sincerely do so Amen MEDITAT III. Upon an Herse passing by towards the Wells July 22. BEing return'd to my Lodgings from the Wells and sitting in the pleasant Tent of my honoured Friend I saw an Herse pass towards the Wells And tho I had not heard of the Death of any Person of Quality hereabouts yet it put me in mind of a Passage of the wise Moralist Seneca which I think for I dare not affirm it at this distance from my Books is in 101 Epist wrote on the sudden Death of Senecio Because thou knowest not when Death will expect thee do thou expect it in every time and because thou knowest not where it will meet thee do thou look for it in every place 'T is in hope of Health and Life that Men come hither yet some who come down in a Coach have changed it for an Herse to be carried up in and when they were knocking at the Doors of Health had the the Gates of the Grave unlock'd to receive them and found what was ordained for Life to be unto Death O how good how wise is it to be always prepared to die and every day to strike Tallies with Life O Lord Jesus who wilt certainly be my Judg when I die give me Wisdom give me thy Grace to take thy Counsel while I live while I am in Health to be always ready as a wise Virgin for the coming of the Bridegroom Blessed is that Servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find watching Good Lord vouchsafe to make me of that happy number Amen MEDITAT IV. Upon the plentiful Supply with which God hath furnished the World both for Food and Physick 'T Is a great Aggravation of our Sins that we commit them all against our Benefactor and abuse all the Creatures of God to his Dishonour To take as the Prophet Hoseah speaks his Silver his Gold his Wooll and his Flax his Bread and his Flesh his Wine and his Water his Time and his Talents and to turn them against himself and as with Weapons of Unrighteousness

nor any Inconvenience to us but prove useful and beneficial to us for the continuance restauration and confirmation of Health to our frail Bodies And as we beg thy leave to use thy Grace to use aright and thy Blessing upon the use of these Waters of the nether Springs So with humble earnestness we beg that the Waters of the Sanctuary which flow from the Throne of the Lamb of God the promised Floods of thy holy Spirit may be plentifully poured forth upon us to refresh to satisfie to cleanse to heal our parched weary and polluted Souls that so both with our Bodies and our Spirits which thou hast made by thy Power and bought with the price of thy Son's Blood we may glorify Thee our great Creator and gracious Redeemer for ever Amen II. O most holy Lord God who tho Thou art most merciful in providing relieving Remedies for thy Creatures yet art most jealous of thy Glory and expectest to be owned and acknowledged in all the Works of thy Power and Goodness to the Sons of Men. We pray thee raise up our Hearts by these Waters and beyond the Virtues of them to thy Self whose Providence hath made them what they are And as we abhor that gross Idolatry of worshipping the likeness of any thing that is in the Waters under the Earth So we pray thee preserve us from a more refined but not less criminal Idolatry of placing our Confidence in their Qualities and Virtues and forgetting Thee the Maker of them lest we provoke Thee to withdraw the Blessing we expect and inflict the Curse we have cause to fear and to make them the Instruments of thy Vengeance because we made them the Objects of our Trust and Occasions of thy Jealousie Grant this O Lord for Christ his sake Amen III. O most gracious God who delightest in Mercy and pardonest Iniquity Transgression and Sin We thy poor sinful Creatures humbly cast down our selves before thee begging the Forgiveness of our Offences which may justly cause thee to with-hold good things from us yea to turn our Blessings into Curses that what is made for the good of others might become to us a Snare and occasion of falling But we beseech thee deal not with us according to our deserts but bless to us the use of these Waters that we may receive those Benefits by them for which we may have great cause to honour love and serve thee for ever And we pray thee give us good Hearts to do accordingly for thy Mercy sake Amen IV. O Lord who art the Fountain of living Waters we confess with shame we have forsaken Thee and have hewen out to our selves empty and broken Cisterns which can hold no Water for which it might be just with thee to forsake and cast us off for ever But good Lord convince us of this Folly pardon and turn us from it Do us good by these Wells we daily see and taste of and open our Eyes as thou didst the Eyes of Hagar to see those Wells of Salvation which are hid from all but those to whom thou art pleased to shew them and help us with joy to draw from thence what may so suffice and satisfie us that we may thirst no more Amen V. Almighty God the Fountain of all Goodness we reade that thy Manna relisht agreeably and pleased the various Palats of all that ate it O that these Waters may profit every person that drinks of them how different so ever the Distempers are for which they drink them That thy Wisdom and Power may more signally appear by thy producing such various Effects from one and the same single Cause And help us all who drink of one Well to be knit together in the Bond of true Christian Charity and to praise thee for the Mercies thou bestowest on our selves and for the Mercies thou vouchsafest unto others as heartily as for our own for Christ his sake who is our common Head Amen VI. O most blessed Lord God who givest thy Blessings and alone canst bless thy Gifts We beseech thee remove thy Curse which our Sins have deserved from us from all our Injoyments and particularly from these Waters we are gathered hither to make use of and let thy Blessing so accompany and follow our drinking of them that we may be both obliged and inabled to praise thy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen VII O most gracious God who hast made a gracious Promise that all things shall work for the good of them that love thee ingraft in our Hearts such love to thy Name as may intitle us to this good Promise And altho we have forfeited our present Comforts and future Expectations of Good yet take not the Forfeitures we have made but crown with continual Patience thy former Bounty and add new Favours and suffer none of us where and while we seek for help and Ease and Health and Life to meet with Pain or Sorrow Sickness Death and Judgment But by by these Waters heal our Diseases and by a better Fountain purge away and pardon all our Sins through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Mediator Amen VIII O Lord our God who art the inexhaustible Fountain of all both spiritual and temporal good things for our Souls and for our Bodies we lift up our Hearts and Hands to Thee in Heaven for a merciful Supply of all our inward and outward Wants and that Thou wouldst sanctify and bless to us all those Supplies thy Goodness doth vouchsafe us both for our Souls and Bodies whether for Meat or Medicine and particularly these Waters that they may do us much good and no hurt and for all the benefits we receive from Thee we pray thee inable us to render to Thee such returns of Service Love and Thankfulness as Thou mayest expect and wilt accept through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen IX O most mighty God who makest the Fountains of Waters those in the Fields and Deserts as Thou art the God of Nature and that in thy Church the Fountain of our Baptism as Thou art the God of Grace We most humbly beseech Thee baptize us with the Holy Ghost and let it be the constant study of our lives to keep the Covenant we made with Thee in our Baptism and to exemplify it by such a Conversation as becomes the Gospel receiving by Faith the good Promises thou hast made to us and making good with faithfulness the Promises we then made to Thee to thy Glory the good example of all our fellow-Christians and the Comfort and Salvation of our Souls by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen X. O most merciful Lord God who hast opened a Fountain for Sin and for Uncleanness in the Side in the Heart of thy own dear Son whom Thou sentest into this World to save his People from their Sins from all their Sins and all that is in Sin O let nothing be in vain to our Souls of all that he hath done or suffered instituted or ordained for his Peoples good

Justify us freely in his Blood sanctify us throughly by his Spirit and let him be made of God to us Wisdom to preserve us from the deceitfulness of Sin Sanctification to deliver us from the filthiness of Sin Redemption to free us from the bondage and dominion of Sin and Righteousness to save us from the guilt and damnation of Sin that we may never perish but have Everlasting Life All which we beg for his sake who is thy Christ and our Jesus to whom with thy Self and thy eternal Spirit be ascribed everlasting Praise and Glory for evermore Amen The end of the Prayers Forms of Thanksgiving I. O LORD most Mighty the great Creator of all things in Heaven and Earth whose Works are the Witnesses of Thy Being and of the adorable Perfections of thy Nature We bless and magnify thy glorious Name for all thy wondrous Works for making the Heavens and their Host the Earth and its Store the Sea and all the Waters in it and that spring from it and in particular for making these Healing Fountains for making known their Virtues for giving us liberty to use them and for any Blessing formerly or at this season vouchsafed to us by the use of them And we pray Thee to crown these Mercies with one better than the rest even so thankful an Heart as may improve all to thy Glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen II. O Lord who art good and dost good We bless thy glorious Name for what thou art and what thou do'st for the Healing Fountain of thy free Grace and for the free Fountain of these Healing Waters for the Blessings of thy Throne and of thy Footstool for our Life and for our Livelihood for our Food and for our Physick for the Waters of the upper and the nether Springs for all thy Fountains and for all their Streams Good Lord create one Fountain more even a Fountain of Love and Thankfulness in all our Hearts and cause it to flow with constant streams of Obedience and Praise which may be acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen III. O Lord who art pleased to declare That who-so offereth Thee Thanks and Praise honoureth Thee Accept our unfeigned desires to honour Thee by giving thee Thanks and Praise with our whole Hearts and our whole Souls for thy manifold and inestimable Mercies vouchsafed unto us Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy holy Name be given Glory We are less than the least of thy Mercies We deserved none before we had them we have forfeited all since we had them yet art thou pleased of thy Astonishing Goodness to give us new Instances of Mercy every day Lord give us a renewed sense of them all and an holy Zeal with humble Hearts to honour Thee for them all through Him by whom they are conveyed to us that is thy Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen IV. O Almighty and infinitely gracious Lord God we desire to fear Thee to give Thee Glory and to worship Thee that madest the Heaven and the Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Water and for making these in particular of which we drink daily with so much satisfaction and expectation of relief We beseech Thee let not our Provocations disappoint our Hopes but pardon those and nourish these and crown them with a blessed success that we may ever give Thee Thanks and live thy Praises through Christ our Lord. Amen V. What shall we render to the Lord for all his Benefits Let us take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord most high But who can shew forth all his Praises who can reckon up the Mercies of one Water-season Our safe Arrival under his Protection from our Habitations needful Conveniences in this place for Soul and for Body for daily Worship and for daily Bread O Lord we bless thee that we have so many Mercies to bless thee for that we have an House a Chappel built to bless thee in O let us not want Hearts to bless thee with for Christ his sake Amen VI. O Lord our God whose Power Wisdom and Goodness are signally manifested in making the Fountains of Waters We praise thee for these and all other Manifestations of thy Almighty Power unsearchable Wisdom and inexhaustible Goodness And we beseech thee help us to walk before thee as become those who do indeed believe Thee to be such by fearing thee for thy Power following the conduct of thy Wisdom and loving thee for thy Goodness and all the Manifestations of it both by thy Providence and Grace Grant this O most merciful Father for the sake of thy dearest Son and our dearest Lord and Saviour to whom with thy self and thy most blessed Spirit be ascribed everlasting Honour Praise and Glory Amen VII Almighty Lord God who by thy Power and Wisdom hast made the Fountains of the great Deep and out of the depth of thy Mercy that Fountain of Baptism the Waters of which thou hast consecrated to the mystical washing away of Sin We most heartily bless thee for creating us after thy Image for our being born in the bosom of thy Church of Christian Parents in whose right and by whose care we were dedicated to thee in holy Baptism and after brought up in the true Religion We beseech thee baptize us by the Holy Ghost Wash us from the guilt and filth of all our Sins Justify us freely Sanctify us throughly Create in us O Lord a clean Heart and renew in us a right Spirit In our Baptismal Waters inable us to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil and to wash off all the Defilements of our sinful Flesh and to dissolve all the Snares of the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World all which we have solemnly renounced And let the same Waters so moisten our Hearts that they may be fruitful in Faith Repentance and new Obedience that we may walk before thee in Righteousness and true Holiness all our days To the Glory of God the Father who created us and God the Son who redeem'd us and God the Holy Ghost who we hope hath sanctified us to whose Name we were consecrated and to promote whose Glory is not less our Interest than it is our Duty to which undivided Trinity and eternal Unity be everlasting Praise and Adoration Amen Short Meditations and Ejaculations to be used whilst the Waters are drinking HOW early do we rise to drink these Waters In the Morning shall my Prayer prevent thee O thou whose Compassions are new every morning No Man can tell the Date of these Fountains nor can any Man foretell their Period Yet are they but as yesterday to Him who is yesterday to day and the same for ever Who was who is and is to come How many Glasses have been drunk from these Wells how much more Water hath run waste how many yet remain in their pregnant Womb and how many Millions of Drops would these amount to yet