of Galilee to shew that he came into the world to spirituall marriages Rejoyce in the Lord with gladnesse and leap thou faithfull soul for joy in thy God who hath clothed thee with the garments of salvation and compassed thee about with the robes of righteousnesse like a spouse adorned with jewels and bracelets Rejoyce for the honour of the bridegroom Rejoyce for the beauty of the bridegroom Rejoyce for the love of the bridegroom His honour is the greatest that can be For he is true God blessed for ever How great then is the dignity of this creature I mean the faithfull soul seeing the Creatour himself is willing to betroth her unto himself His beautie is the greatest that can be For he is beautifull above the sonnes of men for they saw the glorie of him as the glory of the onely begotten of the Father his face shined like the sunne and his garments were white as snow His lips were full of grace and he was crowned with glory and honour How great then is his mercy that he being the chiefest beautie doth vouchsafe to choose the soul of man to be his spouse whereas it is defiled with the stains of sinne On the bridegrooms part there is the greatest majestie On the spouses part there is the greatest infirmitie On the bridegrooms part there is the greatest beautie On the spouses part there is the greatest deformitie And yet farre greater is the love of the bridegroom towards the spouse then of the spouse towards the bridegroom whose honour and whose beauty doth so farre excell Behold thou faithfull soul behold the infinite love of the bridegroom It was his love that drew him down from heaven unto the earth It was his love that bound him to a pillar It was his love that fastened him to the crosse It was his love that enclosed him up in the grave It was his love that he descended into hell What could make him to do all these things Surely it was his love towards his spouse But our hearts are stony and heavier then lead if the bond of so great love cannot draw us unto God whereas it hath drawn God unto us Naked was his spouse and being naked could not be admitted into the royall palace of the heavenly King And he hath clothed her with the garments of righteousnesse and salvation whereas she lay enwrapped and involved in the foul coat of her sinnes and the most filthy rags of iniquitie He hath granted unto her to be arayed in fine linen clean and white the fine linen is the righteousnesse of Saints That garment is the righteousnesse which was obtained by the death and passion of the bridegroom himself Jacob laboured fourteen yeares to obtain Rachel to be his wife But Christ for thirty foure yeares almost endured hunger thirst cold povertie ignominie reproches bonds whips the bitternesse of gall and death upon the crosse to purchase unto himself the faithfull soul to be his spouse Samson went down and chose out of the Philistines which were adjudged to destruction a wife unto himself The Sonne of God came down and chose unto himself a spouse out of men that were condemned and subject to eternall death The whole stock of the spouse was at enmitie with the heavenly Father and he by his most bitter passion hath reconciled it unto his Father The spouse was prostrate upon the face of the earth and polluted in her own bloud But he hath washed her with the water of baptisme and cleansed her with a most holy laver He hath cleansed the bloud of his spouse with his own bloud For the bloud of the Sonne of God doth cleanse us from all our sinnes The spouse was deformed But he hath anointed her with the oyl of grace and mercy The spouse was not honourably apparelled but he hath put bracelets and eare-rings upon her He hath adorned her with vertues and divers gifts of the holy Spirit The spouse was very poore and had no pledge to give unto him Therefore hath he left unto her the pledge of his Spirit received frō her the pledge of his flesh and hath carried it up into heaven The spouse was hungry But he hath given unto her fine flour◠and hony and oyl to eat He doth feed her with his flesh and bloud unto eternall life The spouse is disobedient and often breaketh her marriage faith she committeth fornication with the world and with the devil and yet the bridegroom out of his infinite love doth receive her again into favour as often as she returneth unto him by true repentance Acknowledge and confesse thou faithfull soul these so many and so great arguments of his infinite love Love thou faithfull soul the love of him that for love of thee descended into the wombe of the virgin We must love him that delivered up himself for us so much more then our selves by how much he is greater then us Let us make our whole life conformable unto him who for the love of us made himself wholly conformable unto us He is justly to be accounted most unthankfull who loveth not again him of whom he was first beloved How greatly therefore ought we to love him who for the love of us did as it were forget his own majestie Happy soul which by the bond of this spirituall marriage is joyned unto Christ She doth safely and confidently apply unto her self all the benefits of Christ even as in another case by wedlock the wife doth shine glorious by the reflexion of the husbands rayes upon her Now by faith alone are we made partakers of this blessed and spirituall marriage as it is written I will betroth thee unto me in faith Faith doth ingraft us into Christ as a branch into the spirituall vine that we may suck our life and nourishment from him And as they which are joyned in marriage are no more two but one flesh So they which by faith are joyned unto the Lord become one spirit with him because Christ by faith dwelleth in our hearts And this faith if it be true it worketh by love As in the old Testament the priests were compelled to marry virgins So the celestiall priest doth spiritually couple unto himself such a virgin as doth keep her self pure and undefiled from the embracements of the devil the world and her own flesh Vouchsafe O Christ at length to admit us unto the marriage of the Lambe Amen Meditat. XIIII Of the mysterie of Christs incarnation Admire my soul the mysterie Of Jesus Christs nativitie LEt us withdraw our mindes a while from these temporall things and let us contemplate the mysterie of the Lords nativitie The Sonne of God came down from heaven unto us that we might obtain the adoption of sonnes God is made man that man may be made partaker of divine grace and nature About the
of his life For how dost thou love Christ if thou lovest not his holy life If ye love me keep my commandments saith our Saviour Therefore he that keepeth not his commandments loveth him not Christs holy life is the perfect rule of our life And this one rule of Christs life is to be preferred before all the rules of Francis or Benedict If thou wilt be the adopted sonne of God consider what was the life of his onely begotten Sonne If thou wilt be a coheir with Christ thou must be a follower of Christ. He that liveth in vices hath given himself to the service of the devil And he that will be with the devil how can he be with Christ To love sinne is to love the devil because all sinne is from the devil How then can he that is a lover of the devil be a lover of Christ To love God is to love holy life because all holy life is from God How then can he that is not a lover of holy life be a lover of God The doing of the work is the triall of love It is the property of love to follow and to obey him that is beloved to will the same that he willeth and to be affected as he is If then thou lovest Christ truly thou wilt obey his commandments thou wilt with him love holy life and being renewed in the spirit of thy minde thou wilt think upon heavenly things Eternall life consists in the knowledge of Christ And he that loves not Christ knows him not He that loves not humility chastitie gentlenesse temperance and charitie loves not Christ Because the love of Christ was nothing else but humilitie chastitie gentlenesse temperance and charitie Christ saith that he knows not them that fulfill not the will of his Father Therefore they also know not Christ that fulfill not the will of their heavenly Father But what is the will of our heavenly Father It is according to the Apostle our sanctification He is not of Christ that hath not the Spirit of Christ Now where the Spirit of Christ is he is present with his gifts and fruits But what are the fruits of the Spirit Love joy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse temperance As the holy Ghost rested upon Christ So doth he also rest on all those that are in Christ by true faith Because the spouse of Christ doth run in the odour of Christs ointments He that cleaveth unto the Lord is one spirit with him As the carnall copulation of the man and the woman maketh of them one flesh So the spirituall conjunction of Christ the faithfull soul maketh of them one spirit And where there is one spirit there is one will and where there is the same will there are the same actions Therefore he that doth not conform his life to the life of Christ is convinced that he neither doth cleave unto God neither hath his Spirit Is it not meet that we should conform all our life to the life of Christ who in love conformed himself wholly unto us God manifesting himself in the flesh set before us an example of holy life that whosoever doth not live an holy life might be without excuse as concerning the flesh No life is more pleasant or quiet then the life of Christ because Christ is true God And what can enjoy more pleasure or tranquillity then God who is the chiefest good This life bringeth forth short joy but draws with it eternall sorrow To whomsoever thou conformest thy self in this life to him also shalt thou be conformed in the resurrection If thou beginnest here to conform thy self unto the life of Christ thou shalt in the resurrection be more fully conformed unto him If thou conformest thy self unto the devil by sinne thou shalt in the resurrection be conformed unto him by torment He that will follow me let him denie himself saith our Saviour and take up his crosse daily If in this life thou deniest thy self at the day of judgement Christ shall acknowledge thee for his If for Christ here in this life thou renouncest thine own honour the love of thy self and thine own will in the life to come Christ will make thee partaker of his honour of his love and of his will If in this life thou partakest of the crosse in the life to come thou shalt partake of eternall light If in this life thou partakest of tribulation in the life to come thou shalt partake of consolation If in this life thou partakest of persecution in the life to come thou shalt partake of a most large retribution He that shall confesse me before men saith our Saviour him also will I confesse before my Father which is in heaven But we must confesse Christ not onely by the profession of doctrine but also by conformity of life So shall he at length at the day of judgement acknowledge us for his Whosoever shall denie me before men him also will I denie before my Father which is in heaven Christ is not onely denied by words but also and that much more by wicked life Whosoever therefore doth in this life deny Christ by his deeds shall in deed be denied by Christ at the day of judgement He is not a Christian that hath not the true faith of Christ But true faith ingrafts us into Christ as vine-branches into the spirituall vine Every branch that is in Christ and bringeth not forth fruit the heavenly husbandman taketh away But he that remaineth in Christ and in whom Christ dwelleth by faith bringeth forth much fruit That branch is not in the vine which draweth not from the vine its sap nourishment So neither is that soul in Christ by faith which draweth not from Christ the sap of love by faith Conform us good Jesus unto thy life in this world that in the world to come we may be fully conformed unto it Meditat. XXXI Of the deniall of a mans own self Thou from thy self must first depart Before thou canst in Christ have part WHosoever will follow me let him denie himself saith our Saviour To denie ones self is to renounce the love of ones self For the love of ones self doth exclude the love of God If thou wilt be Christs disciple it is necessary that self-love should altogether die in thee No man loveth Christ unlesse he hateth himself Vnlesse the grain of wheat which is cast into the earth do die it doth not bring forth fruit So thou canst not reap the fruits of the holy Spirit unlesse self-self-love do die in thy heart The Lord said unto Abraham Go out from thine own land and from thine own kindred and from thy fathers house unto the land which I shall shew thee Thou canst not be the true disciple of Christ and a true spirituall man unlesse thou goest forth from the love of thy self Jacob in his wrestling with the
Angel was lamed in one foot the other being sound and whole By the two feet is understood a double love the love of ones self and the love of God Then shall a man be partaker of Gods blessing when he halts upon the foot of self-love the other foot that is of the love of God remaining sound and whole It is impossible for thee with one eye to behold heaven and earth So it cannot be that with one and the same will a man should love himself inordinately love God also Love is the chiefest good of our soul Therefore we must give the chief good of our soul to the chiefest good that is to God Thy love is thy God that is whatsoever thou lovest chiefly thou settest in the place of God But God is truly the chief being Whosoever therefore loveth himself judgeth himself to be God and setteth himself in the place of God which is the greatest idolatry that can be Whatsoever thou lovest chiefly thou makest it to be the end of all other things and thou judgest it to be the last complement of all thy desires But it is God onely who is the beginning and the end of the creatures he is the first and the last he onely filleth the desire of our hearts and there is no created thing that can satisfie thy desires Therefore thou must preferre the love of God before the love of thy self God is the beginning and the end In him therefore must our love begin and in him also must it end The essence of God is without all the creatures as God was in himself from all eternitie So withdraw thou thy love from all the creatures Such as thy love is such are thy works If thy works proceed from true faith and love of God they are acceptable unto God and appear great in his eyes though in the eyes of all men they seem but small If they proceed from self-love they cannot please God Self-love defileth the most excellent works When Christ was in the house of Simon a certain woman broke a vessel of precious ointment and anointed the head of Christ The work seemed to be small and yet notwithstanding it was acceptable unto Christ because it proceeded from true faith pure love and serious contrition Sacrifice in the old Testament was a work acceptable unto God and yet God was not well pleased that Saul set apart the spoils of the Amalekites to offer sacrifice unto God Why Because this did not proceed from the love of God For if he had loved God truly he would not have contemned the commandment of God about the burning of all the spoils He loved himself and his own devotion Love is a kinde of fire For so the Church prayeth Come O holy Ghost and kindle in the faithfull the fire of thy love Fire doth not cleave fast unto the earth but alwayes tends upwards So thy love must not rest in thee but it must be lifted up unto the Lord. Again to denie ones self is to renounce his own honour Unto the chief good alone is due the chiefest honour And God is the chiefest good He that seeketh his own glory cannot seek Gods glory as our Saviour said unto the Pharisees How can ye beleeve which receive honour one of another Behold the example of Christ and follow it He often witnesseth of himself that he seeks not his own glory that he receiveth not honour from men and that he is humble in heart All thy gifts thou receivest from God Therefore render them again unto God The rivers of all goods do flow from this fountain of Gods goodnesse Therefore let them all flow back again into the sea The herb which is called Tornsol or Heliotropium doth alwayes turn it self unto the sunne by vertue whereof it draws its life and nourishment So do thou with all thy gifts and honour turn thy self towards God and attribute nothing unto thy self If thou hast any thing of thine own thou mayest seek thine own honour and attribute thy gifts unto thy self But seeing that thou hast nothing of thine own but all from God therefore thou must seek not thine own honour but the honour of God The seeking his own honour doth turn a man away from God We have an example in Nabuchadnezzar who said Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdome by the strength of my power and for the honour of my majestie But what follows Whiles the word was in the kings mouth a voice came from heaven saying To thee O Nabuchadnezzar is it spoken Thy kingdome is departed from thee thou shalt be cast out from the company of men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field Even so if thou out of vain-glorie and pride dost boast of thy Babylon that is the building of thy good works and take the glory thereof unto thy self and not give it unto God thou shalt be cast away from the sight of God Last of all To deny ones own self is to renounce his own will We must alwayes obey the best will And Gods will is alwayes the best We must obey his will from whom we have all that we have And from God comes all that we have We must obey his will who leadeth us alwayes unto life and that which is good Delight in the Lord and he shall give thee thy hearts desire Our own will leads us unto death and unto damnation By what did our first father fall from the grace of God and state of salvation into eternall damnation By leaving the will of God and following his own will He neglected the commandment of God and gave eare unto the perswasion of the devil Therefore the true disciple of Christ renounceth his own will and desires to follow the will of God Behold Christ He being in the agony of his passion offered his own will as a most acceptable sacrifice unto God Offer thou also unto God thine own will and so shalt thou perfect that denial of thy self which Christ requireth Let thy holy will O Lord be done in earth as it is in heaven Meditat. XXXII Of the true rest of the soul. Thy soul can nothing satiate But God who did thy soul create IN the transitorie things of this world the soul often seeks for rest but findes it not Why Because the soul is more worthy then all the creatures and therefore she cannot finde peace quietnesse in them as being more vile All worldly things are flitting and transitorie but the soul is immortall How should she then finde true rest in them All those are terrestriall but our soul hath a celestiall originall How should she then satiate and fulfill her desire in them In Christ she findes rest he can satisfie and fulfill her desire Against the wrath of God she rests in the wounds of Christ Against the accusations of Satan she rests in the
be at variance That member of the body is dead which hath not a sense of anothers grief Neither let him judge himself a member of Christs mysticall bodie whosoever doth not grieve with another that suffereth We have all one Father that is God whom Christ hath taught thee daily to call our Father And how shall he own thee to be his true sonne unlesse thou again own his sonnes to be thy brethren Love him that is commended unto thee by God if he be worthy because he is worthy and if he be not worthy yet love him because God is worthy whom thou oughtest to obey If thou lovest a man that is thine enemie thou shewest thy self to be the friend of God Do not mark what man doth against thee but what thou hast done against God Observe not the injuries offered thee by thine enemies but observe the benefits conferred upon thee by God who commandeth thee to love thine enemie We are neighbours by the condition of our earthly nativity and brothers by the hope of our celestiall inheritance Let us therefore love one another Kindle in us O God the fire of love and charity by thy Spirit Meditat. XXXVII Of the studie of chastitie The soul that 's chast is Christ his spouse His bed of rest his lodging-house HE that will be the true disciple of Christ must study to be chast and holy Our most gracious God is a pure and chast Spirit And thou must call upon him with chast prayers It was the saying of a wise man That the chastitie of the body and the sanctitie of the soul are the two keys of religion and felicitie If the body be not kept pure and immaculate from whoredome the soul cannot be ardent in prayer Our body is the temple of the holy Ghost We must beware therefore and be very carefull that we pollute not this holy habitacle of the holy Ghost Our members are the members of Christ We must beware that we take not the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot Let us cleave unto the Lord by faith and chastitie that we may be one spirit with him Let us not cleave unto an harlot that we be not made one body with her The Sodomites burning with lust were smitten by the Lord with blindnesse corporall and spirituall And such is the punishment of unchast men even unto this day The Sodomites lust was punished with fire and brimstone falling down from heaven So God shall inflame the heat of this evil concupiscence in whoredomes with everlasting fire This fire is not to be extinguished But the smoke of the torments ascendeth up for ever and ever Without that is without the heavenly Jerusalem are dogs that is impure and lustfull men Christ hath washed us with his precious bloud in baptisme And therefore we must beware and be carefull that we do not defile our selves with filthy lust Even nature her self hath taught men to blush and to be ashamed to commit such filthinesse in the sight of men And yet they are not ashamed to commit it in the sight of God and his angels No walls can hinder God from seeing for his eyes are brighter then the sunne No angles or corners can exclude the presence of the holy angels No secret turnings can keep away the testimonie of the conscience This is a wonderfull thing That the heat of lust should ascend up into heaven when the stink thereof descendeth even unto hell This short pleasure shall bring forth everlasting sorrow That which delighteth is momentany but that which tormenteth is everlasting The pleasure of fornication is short but the punishment of the fornicatour is for ever Let the memorie of him that was crucified crucifie in thee thy flesh Let the remembrance of hell quench in thee the heat of concupiscence Let the tears of repentance extinguish in thee the fire of lust Let the fear of God wound thy flesh that the love of the flesh deceive thee not Consider with thy self that the appetite of lust is full of anxietie and folly the act full of abomination and ignominie and the end full of repentance and shame Look not upon the fawning face of the devil inciting thee to lust but look back upon his tail when he flyeth which is full of pricks Think not upon the shortnes of the pleasure but rather think upon the eternitie of the punishment Love the knowledge of the Scriptures and then thou wilt not love the vices of the flesh Be alwayes doing somewhat that the tempter when he cometh may finde thee busied He deceived David when he was idle He could not deceive Joseph for he was busied in his masters service Think every houre that death is at hand and thou wilt easily despise all the pleasure of the flesh Love temperance and thou shalt easily overcome evil concupiscence The belly set on fire with wine doth presently some with lust Amidst thy dainties thy chastitie is in danger If therefore thou feedest thy flesh daintily and immoderately thou nourishest thine own enemie So feed thy flesh that it may serve thee keep it so under that it be not proud Think upon the terrour of the last judgement and thou shalt easily extinguish the fire of lust For at the day of judgement the secrets of the heart shall be revealed and then how much more those things that are done in secret Thou must give an account for unprofitable words And how much more then for filthy speeches Thou must give an account for filthy speeches How much more then for impure actions As long as thy life hath been so long shall thy accusation be As many as thy sinnes have been so many shall thy accusers be Those thoughts which men make no reckoning of shall come to judgement What then doth it profit thee to have thy fornication for a time concealed from men seeing that it must be revealed in the sight of all men at the day of judgement What doth it profit thee to escape the judgement-seat of an earthly judge seeing that thou canst not escape the judgement-seat of the supreme judge This judge thou canst not corrupt with gifts for he is a most just judge This judge thou canst not move with prayers for he is a most severe judge This judge his province and jurisdiction thou canst not flee from for he is a most powerfull judge Him thou canst not deceive with vain excuses for he is a most wise judge From his broad and proclaimed sentence thou canst not appeal for he is the supreme judge There shall be truth in the inquisition nakednesse in the publication and severitie in the execution Therefore O soul devout towards God let the fear of this judge be alwayes before thine eyes and the fire of lust shall not deceive thee Be thou the rose of charitie the violet of humilitie and the lilie of chastitie Learn
and sanctuary of libertie and the rock of my strength and horn of my salvation In me there is nothing but sinne death and condemnation In thee there is nothing but righteousnesse life health and consolation I despair therefore in my self and I hope in thee I am dashed in pieces of my self and I am raised up by thee Let tribulations be multiplied so that thy quickening consolations be present unto me and erect my hope Tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed In thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be confounded Amen PRAYER IIII. He prayes for the conservation and increase of charitie ETernall and mercifull God who art charitie and love it self Grant unto me the riches of true and spirituall love My heart is cold my heart is earthy O thou that art fire O thou that art love it self kindle me My heart is hard and stony O thou that art the rock O thou that art love it self soften me My heart is full of thorns and thistles of anger and hatred O most gracious Father O thou that art love it self weed me I will love thee O Lord my strength my rock and my tower of defence my deliverer my God my buckler and the horn of my salvation Whatsoever I see in the creatures either good or excellent all that I finde in thee who art the chief good more abundant and excellent I will love thee therefore with all my heart above all things in whom I know there is such plenty excellencie of all good It is so much the better for me by how much the more I come unto thee then whom there is nothing better But I will come unto thee not walking on the feet of my body but loving thee with the affection of my heart If I desire beauty thou art the most beautifull of all If I desire wisdome thou art the wisest of all If I desire riches thou art the richest of all If I desire power thou art the most powerfull of all If I desire strength thou art the strongest of all If I desire honour thou art the most glorious of all Thou didst love me from eternity I will therefore love thee again unto eternitie Thou didst love me in giving thy self for me I will love thee again in rendring my self up wholly unto thee Let my heart be set on fire let every creature seem vile unto me Do thou onely become sweet unto my soul. It was thy will that the humane nature should be united unto thy Sonne by an unseparable union How much more is it fit that my heart be joyned unto thee by an unseparable bond of love A divine love drew thy Sonne from heaven to earth tyed him to a pillar to be whipt and fastened him to the crosse to be crucified Should not as fervent a flame of love lift up my heart from earth to heaven and binde me to thee the chief good and that unseparably I should offer much injury unto thee and unto my self if I should love terrene vile and mean things when thou hast so much honoured me and given me such large promises to the end I might love thee From this love of thee let there arise in my heart a sincere love of my neighbour Whosoever loveth thee O thou chief good keepeth also thy commandments seeing that the doing of the work is the triall of love Wherefore seeing that thou hast commanded us to love our neighbours therefore 〈◊〉 man loves thee sincerely which payeth not unto his neighbour the debt of love Whatsoever my neighbour is he was so deare unto thee that thou didst wonderfully create him mercifully redeem him and graciously call him to the fellowship of thy kingdome In thee therefore and for thee I ought to love my neighbour whom I see to be raised by thy grace and mercy to such an height of glory Strengthen and increase in me this true and sincere love thou that art love eternall and unchangeable Amen PRAYER V. He prayes for the conservation and increase of humility ALmighty and mercifull God which art a severe hater of all pride grant that I may be the rose of charity and the violet of humilitie that I may by my deeds of charitie cast forth a good and fragrant smell and think humbly of my self in my heart What am I Lord in thy sight Dust ashes a shadow nothing Wherefore seeing that I am nothing in thy sight grant that I may seem to my self nothing in mine own sight Keep down that swelling pride that was born together with my heart that I may receive the dew of thy heavenly grace For the streams of thy grace do not flow upwards to the high mountains but are carried downwards to the low valleys of the humble heart There is nothing at all mine but infirmitie and iniquitie Whatsoever good thing there is in me it descends from the fountain of thy goodnesse unto me Therefore I can challenge no good unto my self seeing that there is nothing properly mine By how much the more I think highly of thee By so much the more I think basely of my self Farre be it from me most gracious Lord farre be it from me to be proud of thy blessings and in respect of them to despise others The treasures of thy riches thou didst depose in the chest of my heart as many and as great as it pleased thee God forbid that I should attribute them unto mine own worth and ascribe them unto my self Thou didst kindle in my heart by thy Spirit the fire of pietie and love Grant I beseech thee that I may cover it with the ashes of humilitie How little is the honour that by man is given unto man How little is the praise wherewith man is graced by man But he O most mighty Creatour is great indeed that is great with thee He that pleaseth thee pleaseth the true prizer of things But no man pleaseth thee unlesse he displease himself Thou art the life of my life Thou art the soul of my soul I therefore resigne my life and soul into thy hands and with an humble heart cleave fast unto thee Let thy highnesse look upon my lowlinesse Let thy loftinesse look upon my basenesse Alas why do I so desire to be extolled in the world seeing that there is nothing in the world to be desired Why do I so much lift up my self when as the yoke of sinne doth so keep me down Let the goad of thy godly fear prick my heart lest it die of the most dangerous disease of spirituall tumour Let my sinnes which are innumerable be alwayes in my sight As for my good works let them be buried in oblivion Let the remembrance of my sinnes make me more sorrowfull then the glory of any work that I do seemingly good but indeed unclean and imperfect merry and joyfull In thee alone do I rejoyce and glory who art my joy
be holy in spirit and holy in body Without holinesse no man shall see thee who â—rt the most pure light As much therefore as thy beautifull vision is to be loved and desired so detestable and odious let the decrease and losse of chastitie be unto me The holy Spirit is made sorrowfull with the sparks of filthy speeches How much more then with the flaming fire of lust The very appetite of lust is full of anxietie and folly The act is full of abomination and ignominie And the end is full of repentance and shame The heat thereof ascendeth up into heaven and the stink thereof descendeth even unto hell Why therefore should I open the doore of my soul to this most filthy enemie and receive him even into the inward chamber of my heart Give unto me thou God of holines and fortitude thou Lord of hosts give unto me the strength of the Spirit that I may overcome that enemie which within me fighteth against me Grant unto me that I may not onely abstain from unlawfull embracings and outward acts of filthinesse but also that I may be freed from the inward flames and desires thereof seeing that thou dost not onely require a pure body but also a pure heart and dost behold with thy most pure eyes not onely the outwards but the inwards also Crucifie in me O Christ thou which wast crucified for me my flesh and the concupiscence thereof I beseech thee PRAYER IX He prayes for contempt of earthly things HOly God heavenly Father I call upon thee through thy beloved Sonne that by thy holy Spirit thou wouldest withdraw my heart from earthly things and lift it up unto the desire of heavenly things As fire by nature doth tend upwards So let the spirituall fire of love and devotion kindled in my heart tend to heavenly things What are these earthly things They are more brittle then glasse more moveable then Euripus more changeable then the windes I were a fool therefore if I should set my heart upon them and seek rest for my soul in them We must leave all earthly things when we die though it be against our wills Grant therefore that with a free and voluntary affection of the heart I may first forsake them Mortifie in me the love of the world that the holy love of thee may increase in me Preserve me by the aid of thy holy Spirit that I settle not my love on this world lest my heart become worldly The figure of this world passeth away the momentany glorie thereof passeth away the dissolution both of heaven and earth is at hand Bend my heart therefore that I may become a lover of the life that lasteth for ever and not of this world which soon fleeth away Whatsoever is in this world is concupiscence of the flesh concupiscence of the eyes and pride of life But how vain a thing is it to love the concupiscence of the flesh How dangerous a thing is it to satisfie the concupiscence of the eyes How hurtfull a thing is it to make choice of the pride of life He cannot truly love Christ which is the heavenly bread of life that is full with the earthly husks of the swine He can not freely flie up to God whose heart is held captive with the love of this world The love of God cannot enter in there where the heart is full with the love of this world Quench in me therefore O God my love the desire of earthly things Take from me this bond of the love of the world scoure the vessel of my heart that I may love thee with sincere love and cleave unto thee with a perfect heart Alas Why should I love those things which are in the world seeing that they cannot satisfie my soul which was created for eternitie nor recompense me again love for love Him shall my soul love with whom she shall dwell for ever Thither will I send before the desires of my heart where eternall glory is prepared for me Where my treasure is there shall my heart be also Give unto me the wings of a dove that I may flie on high unto thee and hide my self in the holes of the rock lest the hell-hunter catch me in the snares of this worldly love and draw my soul again to earthly things Let all the world wax bitter unto me that Christ alone may become sweet unto my soul. Amen PRAYER X. He prayes for deniall of himself O Jesu Christ Sonne of the living God which proclaimest in thy word Whosoever will be my disciple let him denie himself take up his crosse and follow me I intreat thee by thy most precious death and passion to perfect in me that deniall of my self which thou requirest I know it is easier to forsake all other creatures then for a man to deny himself That which I cannot therefore in my self perfect perfect thou in me I beseech thee Let the desires of mine own will keep silence that I may hearken unto thy divine oracles Let the rootie strings of the love of my self be rooted out of my heart that the most sweet plants of divine love may grow in me Let me die wholly unto my self and mine own concupiscences that I may live wholly unto thee and thy will My will is changeable and moveable wandring and unconstant Grant therefore that I may submit my will to thy will and cleave inseparably unto thee who art alone the immutable and eternall good Then do divine vertues grow in us when naturall strength decayes in us us Then at length are our works done in God when our own will is mortified in us Then are we truly in God and live in him when we are annihilated and made nothing in our selves Therefore O thou true life mortifie in me mine own will that I may begin truly to live unto thee Whatsoever in us ought to be approved and please God must from him descend upon us Therefore to God alone must all good be ascribed and to him must we leave that which is his own Whatsoever doth shine and glitter in us doth come from the eternall and immutable light which lighteneth the naturall darknesse of our mindes Let our light therefore so shine before men not that we our selves but that God may thereby be glorified O Christ thou which art the true light kindle this light of true knowledge in my minde O Christ thou which art the true glory of thy Father work in my heart this abnegation of mine own honour It is better for me in thee then in my self Where I am not there am I most happy My infirmity desires to be strengthened by thy vertue my nothing looketh up unto thy being Let thy holy will be done in the earth of my flesh that thy heavenly kingdome may come into my soul. Mortifie in me the love of my self and of mine own honour that it may not hinder the coming of thy heavenly kingdome
infinite love of the eternall Father in that he would deliver his onely begotten Sonne to death for us He loved us when we were his enemies And can he forget us when we are reconciled unto him by the death of his Sonne Can he forget the precious bloud of his Sonne when as he telleth the tears and the steps of the godly Can Christ in his life forget those for whom he was willing to undergo death Can he in the time of his glory forget those for whom he suffered so great torments Consider thou faithfull soul the manifold fruits of the Lords passion Christ poured forth for us a bloudy sweat that in the agonie of death a cold sweat might not oppresse us It was his pleasure to wrestle with death that we might not faint in the agony of death It was his will to suffer most grievous anxietie and sorrow even unto death that he might make us partakers of everlasting joy in the heavens He would be betrayed with a kisse which is a signe of friendship and good will that he might blot out the sinne by the which Satan betrayed our first parents under the colour of friendship He would be apprehended and bound by the Jews that he might set us at liberty which were bound in the chain of our sinnes and subject to be cast into everlasting damnation He would begin his passion in the garden that he might purge away sinne which took its beginning in the garden of paradise He would be comforted by an angel that he might make us angels fellows in the heavens He was forsaken of his own disciples that he might glue unto himself us who had most shamefully revolted from God Before the Councel he was accused by false witnesses that Satan might not accuse us by the law of God He was condemned on earth that we might be absolved in heaven He that committed no sinne was speechlesse that we might not in the day of judgement be strucken dumbe by reason of our sinnes He was willing to be buffeted that we might be freed from the sting of conscience and buffetings of Satan He suffered himself to be mocked that we might insult over Satan the insulter His face was covered that he might remove from us the vail of sinne by which we were hindred that we could not behold the face of God as being involved in damnable ignorance He would be disrobed that he might restore unto us the robe of innocencie which we had lost by sinne He was pricked with thorns that he might cure the compunctions of our hearts He underwent the burden of the crosse that he might take from us the burden of everlasting punishment He crâ—â—d out that he was forsakâ—n of God that he might purchase for us an everlasting habitation with God He thirsted on the crosse that he might merit for us the dew of Gods grace and free us from everlasting thirst He would be scorched in the fire of Gods anger that he might free us from the fire of hell He stood as guiltie that he might absolve us He was condemned that we might be delivered from condemnation He was scourged by the hands of the unrighteous that he might free us from the scourges of the devil He cried out for grief that he might preserve us from everlasting exclamation He poured forth tears that he might wipe away tears from our eyes He died that we might live He felt the pains of hell that we might never feel them He was humbled that so he might cure our sinfull tumour He was crowned with thorns that he might merit for us a celestiall crown He suffered of all that he might save all His eyes were darkened in death that we might live in the light of celestiall glory He suffered ignominie and reproches that we might heare the angels sing chearfully in heaven Despair not then O faithfull soul An infinite good was offâ—nded by thy sinnes and an infinite price is payed for them Thou shouldest have been condemned for thy sinnes But the Sonne of God took upon him the sinnes of the whole world and was condemned for them Thou deservedst to be punished for thy sinnes But God hath punished them alreadie in his Sonne The wounds of thy sinnes are great But the balsam of Christs bloud is more precious and of vertue to cure them Moses pronounceth thee cursed because thou hast not kept all that was wrote in the book of the law But Christ was made the curse for thee In the court of heaven there is an hand-writing against thee But Christ hath cancelled that with his bloud Let thy passion therefore O Christ be my last refuge Meditat. VIII Of the certainty of our salvation My hope shall never be confounded Because my hope on Christ is grounded WHy art thou troubled O my soul and why dâ—st thou still doubt of the mercie of God Remember thy Creatour Who created thee without thee Who formed thy body in secret in the lower parts of the earth Who took care of thee when thou wast not will not he have care of thee now he hath made thee after his own image I am the creature of God to the Creatour do I convert my self Though my nature be infected by the devil though it be wounded by theeves that is by my sinnes yet my Creatour liveth He which made me can also renew me He which created me without any evil can take all evil from me whatsoever hath entred into me by the suggestion of the devil by Adams prevarication by my own action yea though it hath over-run my whole substance Therefore my Creatour can reform me if so be that it stands with his good pleasure and will and certainly he will for who ever hated his own workmanship Are we not before him like clay in the hands of the potter If he had hated me certainly he would never have created me when I was nothing He is the Saviour of all men but especially of them that beleeve He created me wonderfully but he redeemed me more wonderfully It never appeared more plainly that he loved us then in his wounds and passion Surely he is truly beloved for whose sake the onely begotten Sonne of God is sent from the bosome of his Father Iâ— thou didst not desire my salvation Lord Jesus why didst thou descend from heaven But thou didst descend upon earth to die on the crosse God to redeem a servant spared not his own Sonne Therefore assuredly God loveth man with a wonderfull love seeing that he hath delivered up his Sonne to be afflicted slain and crucified for the redemption of man Very deare and very great was the price of our redemption Therefore great and deare is the mercy of our Redeemer It might seem to some that God loves his adopted sonnes as dearly as his onely begotten Sonne For that on which we bestow any thing is dearer then that which we bestow That he might
make us his adopted sonnes he spared not his natural and coessentiall Sonne It is no wonder then if he hath prepared for us mansions in his heavenly house seeing that he hath given us his own Sonne in whom is the fulnesse of the divinity Certainly where there is the fulnesse of the divinitie there is also the fulnesse of life and glory everlasting But if he in Christ hath given unto us the fulnesse of life everlasting how shall he denie unto us a little particle thereof Assuredly our heavenly Father loveth us his adopted sonnes with exceeding great love seeing he hath delivered up his onely begotten Sonne for us Assuredly the Sonne embraceth us with exceeding great love seeing that he hath delivered up himself for us To make us rich he endured extreme povertie for he had not where to lay his head To make us the sonnes of God he is made man neither doth he neglect us now having finished the work of our redemption but still intercedeth for us sitting at the right hand of the divine Majestie What thing is there necessary for my salvation which he shall not obtain seeing that he hath bestowed himself to merit salvation for me What will the Father denie unto his Sonne who became obâ—dient unto him unto death even the death of the crosse What will the Father denie unto his Sonne seeing that long ago he hath accepted the price of our redemption paid by him Let my sinnes accuse me yet in this my Mediatour do I trust He which excuseth me is greater then he that accuseth me Let my weaknesse affright me yet in his strength will I glory Let Satan accuse me if my Mediatour excuse me Let heaven and earth accuse me and mine iniquities prove me guiltie it is sufficient for me that the Creatour of heaven and earth and righteousnesse it self doth intercede for me The sufficiencie of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient It shall be sufficient for me to have him propitious against whom onely I have sinned Whatsoever he hath decreed not to impute shall be as if it had not been Neither doth it trouble me that my sinnes are both grievous and divers and often repeated For if I were not burdened with sinnes what need I desire his righteousnesse If I had no disease what need I implore the help of the physician He is the Physician he is the Saviour he is righteousnesse it self he cannot deny himself I am sick I am condemned I am a sinner I cannot deny my self Have mercy on me O thou my Physician my Saviour and my righteousnesse Amen Meditat. IX That God alone is to be loved By love cleave fast to God above For nought on earth deserves thy love RAise up thy self O faithfull soul and love that chief good in whom are all goods without whom there is no other true good No creature can satisfie our desire because no creature is perfectly good but onely good by participation Some current of good doth descend upon the creature from the Creatour but the fountain is still in God Why therefore should we forsake the fountain and follow the current All good in the creatures is but the image of that perfect good which is in God yea which is God Why therefore should we lay hold on the image and let go the thing it self Noahs dove could not finde on the moveable waters where her foot might rest Even so our soul amongst all sublunarie things cannot finde out which can fully satisfie her desire by reason of their inconstancie and frailtie Doth not he wrong himself which loveth any thing unworthy of his love Now the soul of man is more noble then all the creatures because it was redeemed by the passion and death of God Why therefore should it love the creatures Is it not contrary to that majestie unto which God hath exalted the Saints Whatsoever we love we love either for power or wisdome or beauty And what is more powerfull then God what is more wise then God what is more beautifull then God All the power of earthly kingdomes is from him and under him All the wisdome of men compared with the wisdome of God is foolishnesse All the beautie of the creatures compared with the beautie of God is deformitie If some powerfull king should treat by messengers with a virgin of mean rank and condition concerning marriage should she not do foolishly in neglecting the king and settling her affection upon the messengers the kings servants So God by the beautie of all the creatures desires to call us unto him invite us to love him why therefore should our soul which Christ would have to be his spouse cleave unto the creatures the messengers of this spirituall marriage The creatures themselves crie Why do ye cleave unto us why do ye place the end of your desire in us We cannot satiate your appetite Come ye rather to the Creatour of us both From the creatures we can expect no reciprocall love The creatures did not begin first to love us But God who is love it self cannot but love those that love him Yea he prevents our desires and our love by loving us first How greatly then is God to be loved who in the first place hath loved us so greatly He loved us when as yet we were not For it was the love of God that we came into this world He loved us when we were his enemies For it was his mercy and his love that he sent his sonne to be our redeemer He loved us when we were fallen into sin For it is his love that he doth not presently deliver us to death in our sinnes but still expects our conversion It is his love that beyond our merits yea contrary to our merits he translateth us to the celestiall palaces Without the love of God thou canst never come to the saving knowledge of God without the love of God all knowledge is unprofitable yea hurtfull Wherefore love exceedeth the knowledge of all mysteries because this may be in the devils but that cannot be but in the godly Why is the divel most unhappy Because he cannot love the chiefest good Contrarywise why is God most happy and blessed Because he loveth all things because he is delighted in all his works Why is not our love of God perfect in this life Because the measure of our love is according to the measure of our knowledge Now in this life we know but in part and in a glasse In the life to come we shall be perfectly blessed because we shall perfectly love God We shall perfectly love God because we shall perfectly know him No man can hope to have the perfect love of God in the world to come which beginneth not to love God in this world The kingdome of God must begin in the heart of man in this life or else it cannot be consummated in the life to come
Without the love of God there is no desire of eternall life How then can any one be partaker of the chiefest good which loveth not which seeketh not which desireth not Such as thy love is such art thou because thy love transformeth thee into it self Love is the chiefest couple because the lover and the thing loved become one What hath conjoyned the most just God and wretched sinners What hath conjoyned them being infinitely distant one from the other Infinite love And yet that the infinite justice of God might not be weakned the infinite price of Christ interceded Again what hath conjoyned together God the Creatour and the faithfull soul created things infinitely distant Love In the life which is eternall we shall be joyned to God in the chiefest degree Why Because we shall love him in the chiefest degree Love uniteth and transformeth if thou lovest carnall things thou art carnall If thou lovest the world thou shalt become worldly But flesh and bloud cannot enter into the kingdome of God If thou lovest God and celestiall things thou shalt become celestiall The love of God is the chariot of Elias ascending up into heaven The love of God is the joy of the minde the paradise of the soul it excludeth the world it overcometh the devil it shutteth hell it openeth heaven The love of God is that seal by which God sealeth the elect and beleevers God at the last judgement will acknowledge none to be his but those that are sealed with this seal For faith it self the onely instrument of our justification and salvation is not true unlesse it doth demonstrate it self by love There is no true faith unlesse there be a firm confidence and there is no confidence without the love of God That benefit is not acknowledged for which we do not give thanks and we do not give thanks to him whom we do not love If therefore thy faith be true it will acknowledge the benefit of our redemption wrought by Christ it will acknowledge and give thanks it will give thanks and love The love of God is the life and rest of the soul When the soul departs from the body by death then the life of the body departeth When God departs out of the soul by reason of sins then the life of the soul departeth Again God dwells in our hearts by faith God dwells in the soul by love because the love of God is diffused in the hearts of the elect by the holy Spirit There is no tranquillitie to the soul without the love of God The world and Satan do much disquiet it But God is the chief rest of the soul There is no peace of conscience but to those that are justified by faith there is no true love of God but in them that have a filiall confidence in God Therefore let the love of our selves the love of the world the love of the creatures die in us that the love of God may live in us Which God begin in us in this world and perfect in the world to come Meditat. X. Of our reconciliation with God Fear not my soul be not dismaid For Iesus Christ thy debts hath paid CHrist truly took our infirmities and bare our griefs and sicknesses O Lord Jesus That which in us merited eternall punishment thou tookest upon thy self That burden which would have pressed us down into hell thou hast undergone Thou wast wounded for our iniquities thou wast broken for our sinnes By the bluenesse of thy wounds are we healed The Lord hath laid upon thee the iniquities of us all Surely wonderfull indeed is this change Thou takest our sinnes upon thy self and bestowest thy righteousnesse upon us Death due unto us thou undergoest thy self and conferrest life upon us I cannot therefore by any means doubt of thy grace or despair by reason of my sinnes The worst thing that was in us thou tookest upon thy self How then canst thou despise that which is the best in us and thine own work to wit our soul and body Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption For he is truly sanctified whose sinnes are abolished and taken away Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and to whom the Lord imputeth not his sinnes How can God impute our sinnes to us when he hath already imputed them to another For the wickednesse of his people he hath smitten his best beloved Sonne By the knowledge of him therefore he shall justifie many and shall bear their iniquities How shall he justifie those that are his Heare and attend O my soul He shall save them by the knowledge of him that is by the saving acknowledgement and firm apprehension by faith of the mercie and grace of God in Christ. This is life eternall to know and acknowledge thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent And therefore if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Faith apprehendeth Christs satisfaction He bare the iniquities of those that are his he suffered for the sinnes of many he interceded for the transgressours For he should have had very few just unlesse in mercy he had received sinners Thou shouldst have had few just O Jesus unlesse thou hadst remitted the sinnes of the unjust How then shall Christ judge according to severitie the sinnes of the penitent which he hath taken upon himself How shall he condemn him that is guilty of sinne seeing that he himself was made sinne for us Will he condemn those whom he calleth his friends Will he condemn those for whom he hath intreated Will he condemn those for whom he died Lift up thy self therefore O my soul and forget thy sinnes for the Lord hath forgotten them Whom dost thou fear as the punisher of thy sinnes but the Lord who himself made satisfaction for thy sinnes If any other had payed the price of my redemption I might have doubted whether the just Judge would accept of that satisfaction If a man or an angel had satisfied for my sinnes yet still there might be a doubt whether the price of redemption were sufficient But now there is no place for doubt How can it be that he will not accept of that price which he hath payd himself How can that choose but be sufficient which is from God himself Why art thou troubled O my soul All the wayes of God are mercie and truth Iust is the Lord and just are his judgements Why art thou troubled O my soul Let the mercy of God raise thee up let the justice of God also raise thee up For if God be just for one offence he will not exact double satisfaction For our sinnes he hath smitten his Sonne How then can he smite us his servants for them How can he punish our sinnes in us which
of the deluge brought an olive-branch into the ark of Noah So Christ came into the world to preach peace and the reconciliation of man with God Therefore we have cause to rejoyce and conceive great things of the mercy of God He which loved us so being his enemies that he did vouchsafe to assume our nature to be united to his divinitie what will he deny unto us being joyned unto him by participation of our flesh Who ever hated his own flesh How then can that chief and infinite mercy repell us from him being now made partakers of his nature Who can in words expresse or in thought conceive the greatnesse of this mystery Here is the greatest sublimitie and the greatest humilitie the greatest power and the greatest infirmity the greatest majestie and the greatest frailtie What is higher then God and lower then man What is more powerfull then God and weaker then man What is more glorious then God and more frail then man But that chief power found out a means to conjoyn these seeing that the chief justice did necessarily require such a conjunction Who also can conceive the greatnesse of this mysterie An equivalent and infinite price was required for the sinne of man because man had turned himself away from the infinite good which is God But what could be equivalent to the infinite God Therefore infinite justice it self takes as it were of himself an equivalent price and God the Creatour suffers in the flesh that the flesh of the creature should not suffer for ever An infinite goodnesse was offended and none could intercede but a mediatour of infinite power And what is infinite but God Therefore God himself reconciled the world unto himself God himself became mediatour God himself redeemed mankinde by his own bloud Who can conceive the greatnes of this mystery The chief Creatour was offended and the creature sought not with care to appease him and to be reconciled unto him So he which was offended assumes the flesh of the creature and becomes Reconciliatour Man had forsaken God and turned away himself unto the devil the enemy of God and he that was forsaken makes diligent inquisition after the forsaker and invites him most bountifully to come again unto him Man had departed from that infinite good and fallen into an infinite evil And that same infinite good by giving an infinite price of redemption delivered the creature from that infinite evil Is not this infinite mercie farre exceeding all the finite understanding and thought of man Our nature is become more glorious by Christ then it was dishonoured by Adams sinne We have received more in Christ then we lost in Adam Where sinne did abound Gods grace did superabound In Adam we lost our innocency in Christ we have received perfect righteousnes Let others admire Gods power But his divine mercy is yet more to be admired although power and mercy in God are equall for both are infinite Let others admire our creation But I had rather admire our redemption although creation and redemption are both acts of infinite power It was a great thing to create man having deserved nothing for as yet he had no being But it seems yet to be greater to take upon him to satisfie for the debt of man and to redeem him when he deserved evil It was a wonderfull thing that our flâ—sh and our bones were formed by God but yet it is more wonderfull that God would become flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones Be thankfull O my soul unto God who created thee when thou wast not who redeemed thee when for sinne thou wast condemned and who hath prepared for thee if by faith thou adhere unto Christ the joyes of heaven Meditat. XVI Of the spirituall refection of the godly Christ unto thee if thou art his Both light and food and medâ—cine is OUr most bountifull God hath prepared a great feast but hearts that be hungrie must be brought unto it He that tasteth not feeleth not the sweetnes of the heavenly feast and he which hungreth not tasteth not To beleeve on Christ is to come to his heavenly feast But no man can beleeve unlesse he confesse his sinnes with contrition and repent him of the same Contrition is the spirituall hunger of the soul and faith is the spirituall feeding To the Israelites God gave Manna in the wildernesse being the bread of angels In this feast of the new Testament God giveth unto us the heavenly â—anna that is his grace and forgivenesse of sinnes yea his Sonne the Lord of the angels Christ is that spirituall bread which came down from heaven to give life unto the world He that is full with the husks of the swine that is with the delights of this world desires not that sweetnesse The outward man perceiveth not what is sweet unto the inward God gives his Manna in the wildernesse that is where all earthly meat and all earthly consolation is taken from the soul. He which had married a wife refused to come But the chaste virgins that is those souls which neither cleave unto the devil by sinnes nor to the world by delights do come unto this feast I have espoused you as a chaste virgin to one husband saith the Apostle Our soul must not commit spirituall adultery that so God may contract spirituall marriage with her He which had a desire to go see his field refused to come They which love the pleasures of this world come not unto the sweetnesse of the heavenly feast The desire is the foot of the soul Our soul comes not to this mysticall feast unlesse it desires and it cannot desire the heavenly sweetnesse if it be full with this worldly comfort When the rich young man heard that for Christ he should forsake his riches unto which his soul did cleave he went away sorrowfull Christ the celestiall Elisha poureth not the oyl of celestiall sweetnesse but into vessels which are emptie The love of God enters not into the soul unlesse self-love and the love of the world first go forth Where our treasure is there will our heart be also If thou makest the world thy treasure thy heart will be on the world Love hath force to unite If thou lovest earth thou art united to earth Love hath force to alter and change If thou lovest the world thou shalt become worldly They which buy oxen and are negotiating come not unto Christ They which set their hearts upon riches desire not the heavenly riches Earthly riches by a kinde of false shew of sufficiency satisfie the desire of the soul that she may not seek after her true sufficiencie in God which onely doth fully satiate the appetite All earthly riches consist in the creatures in silver gold building ground cattel but no creature doth fully satisfie the soul because she is more excellent then all the creatures for they
Because she despiseth earthly things that are subject to sundry changes Consider thou devout soul the exceeding great dignitie of the church and render due thanks unto God Great are the benefits which are in the church of God but all do not meet with them It is a garden enclosed and a fountain sealed up No man sees the beautie of this enclosed garden but he that is in it Neither doth any one know the benefits that are in the church but he that is himself in it This spouse of Christ is black without but beautifull within For the kings daughter is all glorious within This ship is tossed with many tempests of persecutions This vineyard being bound doth rise up and being cut down groweth up For this woman the infernall Dragon lieth in wait after diverse manners The church is a fair lilie But yet among thorns The church is a most beautifull garden But when the North-winde of tribulations doth blow upon it the spices thereof fall The church is Gods daughter But she is exceedingly hated of the world She looks for an heavenly inheritance and therefore she is compelled to be a pilgrime in this world In this pilgrimage she is oppressed in her pressure she is silent in her silence she is strong in her strength she overcometh The church is a spirituall mother But she is compelled to stand under the crosse with Mary the mother of Christ. The church is a palm-tree Because under the weight of tribulations and tentations she grows most Consider thou devout soul the dignitie of the church And beware thou commit nothing to her dishonour The church is thy mother Take heed therefore that thou contemn not her voice She is thy mother Therefore thou must alwayes hang upon her breasts The breasts of the church are the Word and the Sacraments The church is a virgin If therefore thou art her true sonne abstain from the worlds embracements Thou art a member of the virgin the church See therefore that thou prostitute not the virgins members and so commit fornication with the devil by sinne The church is the spouse of Christ and so is every devout soul Let her beware therefore that she cleave not unto Satan Thou art the spouse of Christ See thou lose not the earnest of the holy Spirit which he hath given thee Thou art the spouse of Christ Pray continually that the bridegroom would make haste and lead thee in unto the celestiall marriage But the bridegroom will come in the night of securitie Watch therefore lest when he cometh he finde thee sleeping and so shut thee out of the gate of eternall salvation Let the oyl of thy faith shine lest at the coming of the bridegroom thou beest constrained to desire it in vain Thou art carried in the ship See therefore that thou dost not throw thy self headlong into the sea of the world before thou comest to the haven Thou art carried in the ship pray that thou beest not swallowed up by the tempests of afflictions and waves of tentations Thou art called into the Lords vineyard See that thou labourest stoutly Think upon the penie and not upon the dayes labour Thou art the Lords vineyard Cast away all unprofitable branches that is the unfruitfull works of the flesh and think the whole time of thy life to be the time of pruning Thou art a vine-branch in Christ the true vine See that thou dost remain in him and bring forth much fruit Because the heavenly husbandman will take away every branch that bringeth not forth fruit and purge that which bringeth forth fruit that it may bring forth more fruit Thou hast put on Christ by faith and art clothed with this sunne of righteousnesse See then that thou treadest the moon that is all earthly things under thy feet And esteem all other things little worth in respect of eternall goods O good Jesus thou that hast brought us into the church militant bring us at length also into the church triumphant Meditat. XXIIII Of Predestination In Christ we are by God elect Without Christ God doth all reject O Devout soul as often as thou wilt meditate upon thy predestination behold Christ hanging upon the crosse dying for the sinnes of the whole world and rising again for our justification Begin from Christ lying in the manger and so thy disputation of predestination shall proceed orderly God elected us before the foundations of the world were laid but yet he elected us in Christ If therefore thou art in Christ by faith do not doubt but that election belongeth unto thee If with a firm confidence of heart thou adherest unto Christ do not doubt but that thou art in the number of the elect But if thou goest further beyond the limits of the word and wilt search into the profunditie of predestination it is greatly to be feared that thou wilt fall into the profunditie of desperation Without Christ God is a consuming fire Take heed therefore of coming too neare this fire lest thou beest consumed Without Christs satisfaction God by the voice of his law accuseth all and condemneth all Take heed therefore that thou drawest not the mysterie of predestination out of the law Search not into the reasons of Gods counsels lest thy cogitations do much seduce thee God dwelleth in light that no man can attain unto Presume not therefore to come unto it rashly But God hath revealed unto us the light of his gospel and in this thou mayest safely inquire into the doctrine of this secret and in this light thou shalt see true light Leave the profunditie of this eternall decree made from eternitie and convert thy self to the clearnesse of the manifestation which was made in time Justification made in time is the glasse of election made without time Out of the law take notice of the wrath of God for sinne and repent out of the gospel take notice of the mercie of God through Christ his merit and apply that unto thy self by faith Take notice of the nature of faith and shew it by thy godly conversation Take notice of Gods fatherly castigation in crosses and endure through patience And then at length begin to handle the doctrine of predestination This method the apostle teacheth This method let him that is the apostles disciple follow There are three things alwayes to be observed in this mysterie The mercie of God loving us the merit of Christ suffering for us and the grace of the holy Ghost by the gospel sanctifying us Gods mercie is universall because he loved the whole world The earth is full of the Lords mercy yea his mercy is greater then heaven and earth For it is as great as God is For God is love He hath witnessed by his word that he will not the death of a sinner And if this be too little he hath confirmed it with an oath If thou canst not beleeve him
for his promise beleeve him for his oath He is called the Father of mercies because it is his property to spare and to have mercy The cause and originall of shewing mercie he hath from himself of condemning and punishing from another Insomuch that it may appear that mercie and punishment proceed from him after a farre different manner The merit of Christ also is universall because he died for the sinnes of the whole world What can then more plainly prove his mercie then that he loved us when as yet we were not For it was his love that he created us Moreover he loved us when we were turned away from him For he sent his Sonne to be our redeemer To the sinner adjudged to eternall torments and not having wherewithall to redeem himself the Father saith Take my onely begotten Sonne and give him for thee The Sonne himself saith Take away me and redeem thy self Christ was a flower of the field not a flower of the garden because the odour of his grace is not shut up to some few but laid open to all Doubt not of the universalitie of Christs merit Christ suffering prayed for them that crucified him and poured forth his bloud for them by whom it was poured forth The promises of the gospel are universall because Christ saith unto all Come unto me all ye that labour That which was performed for all is also offered to all As farre as thou travellest amongst these goods by the foot of trust and confidence so much also shalt thou obtain God denies his grace unto no man but unto him that thinks himself unworthy of it Consider therefore thou faithfull soul these three props of predestination and rest upon them with the firm confidence of thy heart Consider the benefits of Gods mercie that are past and thou wilt not doubt of finall perseverance When as yet thou wast not God created thee When by the fall of Adam thou wast condemned he redeemed thee When thou livedst in the world out of the church he called thee When thou wast ignorant he instructed thee When thou wentst astray he redeemed thee When thou sinnedst he corrected thee When thou stoodst he upheld thee When thou wast fallen he lifted thee up When thou wentst he led thee When thou camest unto him he received thee His long-suffering appeared in that he expected thee and his mercie in that he pardoned thee Gods mercie prevented thee Hope firmly that it will also follow thee Gods mercie prevented thee that thou mightest be healed and it shall also follow thee that thou mayest be glorified It prevented thee that thou mightest live godly it shall also follow thee that thou mayest live with him for ever How came it to passe that in thy fall thou wast not ground to pieces Who put his hand under thee Was it not the Lord Be confident therefore hereafter in Gods mercie and hope assuredly for the end of perfect faith that is eternall salvation In whose hands doth thy salvation consist more safe and certain then in those which made both heaven and earth those hands that are never shortned those hands that do abound with the bowels of mercie and those hands that have holes in them by which mercie may flow forth But consider O devout soul that we were elected of God that we might be holy and blamelesse Whosoever therefore studie not to live an holy life to them belongs not the benefit of election We were elected in Christ In Christ we are by faith Faith shews it self by love Therefore where there is not love neither is there faith where there is not faith neither is there Christ where there is not Christ neither is there election The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth who are his But let him depart from unrighteousnesse whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord The sheep of Christ shall no man take out of his hand but yet let the sheep of Christ heare his voice We are Gods house But let us retain our confidence and the glory of hope firm even unto the end O Lord thou that hast given us to will give us also to perfect Meditat. XXV Of the saving efficacie of prayer Our prayers do pierce the starrie skie And fetch down blessings from on high IT is an exceeding great benefit of God towards us in that he requires us to conferre with him familiarly by pious prayer He bestoweth upon us the gift of prayer and the fruit of prayer Great is the force of prayer which is poured forth on earth but hath its operation in heaven The prayer of the righteous is the key of heaven Prayer ascendeth and deliverance descendeth from God Prayer is a saving buckler by which we repell all our adversaries darts When Moses stretched forth his hands Israel prevailed against the Amalekites If thou stretchest forth thy hands towards heaven Satan shall not prevail against thee As the enemie is kept off by the wall So the anger of God is repelled by the prayers of the saints Our Saviour himself prayed not that he had any need but to commend unto us the dignitie thereof Prayer is the tribute of our subjection Because God hath commanded that we should every day offer unto him our prayers as a spirituall tribute It is the ladder of our ascension unto God For prayer is nothing else but the souls travelling unto God It is the buckler of our defence For the soul of him that continueth in prayer is secure and safe from the assaults of the devil It is our faithfull messenger unto God For it goeth up unto his throne and solicits him to aid us This messenger never returns in vain For God alwayes heares our prayers if not according to our will yet to our profit and salvation We may assuredly hope for one of these two Either he will give us that we ask or else that which he knoweth to be more profitable for us God gave his own Sonne that most excellent gift being not intreated What will he do then if he be intreated We cannot doubt of the Fathers hearing or the Sonnes interceding Upon all occasions thou mayest with Moses by prayer enter into the tabernacle and consult with God the Lord And thou shalt speedily heare his divine answer Christ was transfigured when he prayed So in the time of prayer there are many changes wrought in the soul For prayer is the light of the soul and oftentimes leaves him in joy whom she found in despair With what face canst thou behold the sunne unlesse thou dost first worship him who sends that most pleasant light for thee to look upon How canst thou at thy table fall to thy meat unlesse thou dost first worship him who in his bounty bestows it upon thee With what hope darest thou commit thy self unto the darknesse of
into everlasting fire because ye fedde me not when I was hungry The holy seed of almes-giving as it is sowed sparingly or bountifully so it shall be reaped sparingly or bountifully If thou wouldest be in the number of the sheep do good unto the sheep Let the goats cause thee to fear For they are placed at the left hand not because they took any thing away but because they gave not Incline our hearts O God unto thy testimonies and not to covetousnesse Meditat. XXXVI Of the properties of true love and charitie The signe by which the Saints we know It is by love their faith to show TRue sincere love is an inseparable property of the godly No Christian without faith and no faith without charitie Where there is not the brightnesse of charitie neither is there the heat of faith Take away light from the sunne and thou mayst take away charitie from faith Charitie is the outward act of the inward life of a Christian man The bodie is dead without the spirit and faith is dead without charitie He is not of Christ that hath not the Spirit of Christ he hath not the Spirit of Christ that hath not the gift of charitie Charitie is the fruit of the Spirit The tree is not known to be good unlesse it bring forth good fruit Charitie is the bond of Christian perfection As the members of the bodie are knit together by the spirit that is the soul So the true members of the mysticall bodie are united by the holy Spirit in the bond of charitie In Solomons temple all was covered with gold within and without So in Gods Spirituall temple let all be beautified with love and charitie within and without Let charitie move thy heart to compassion and thy hand to contribution Compassion is not sufficient unlesse there be also outward contribution Neither is outward contribution sufficient unlesse there be also inward compassion Faith receiveth all from God and charitie giveth it again unto our neighbour By faith we are made partakers of the divine nature But God is love Therefore where charitie sheweth not it self without let no man beleeve that there is faith within No man beleeveth in Christ which loveth not Christ And no man loveth Christ unlesse he love his neighbour He doth not yet apprehend the benefit of Christ with true confidence of heart whosoever doth denie unto his neighbour the office which he oweth unto him That is not truely a good work which proceedeth not from faith Neither is it truely a good work which proceedeth not from charitie Charitie is the seed of all vertues It is no good fruit which springeth not forth from the root of charitie For charity is the spirituall tast of the soul For unto it alone is every good thing sweet every hard thing sweet all adversitie sweet and all pain and trouble sweet yea more the taste of charitie maketh even death it self most sweet For love is strong as death yea stronger then death because love brought Christ to die for us And love doth so stirre up the true godly that they doubt not to die for Christ. All the works of God proceed from love yea punishments themselves So let all the works of a Christian man proceed from love In all the creatures God hath set before us the glasse of love The sunne and the starres shine not to themselves but to us The herbs purge not themselves but us Aire water beasts and all creatures serve man Do thou also give thy self wholly to serve thy neighbour Tongues profit not without charâ—tie Because without charitie knowledge of tongues puffeth up but charitie edifieth Knowledge of mysteries profits not without charitie Because the devil also hath knowledge of mysteries but charitie is onely proper to the godly Faith also which can remove mountains profits not without charitie For such faith is the faith of working miracles and not of salvation Charitie is better then the gift of doing miracles Because that is the undoubted mark of true Christians but this is sometimes granted to the wicked It profits not to give all that one hath unto the poore if there be not charitie For the outward action is done in hypocrisie if there be not inward love Rivers of bounty profit not unlesse they spring from the fountain of charitie Charitie is patient For no man is easily angry with him that he loveth truly Charitie is bountifull For he that by charitie hath bestowed his heart which is the chief good of the soul how should he denie the outward goods which are lesse Charitie envieth not Because he that is in charitie looketh upon anothers good as upon his own Charitie thinketh no evil No man easily hurts him whom he loveth truly and from his heart Charitie is not puffed up Because by charity we are all made the members of one bodie and one member prefers not it self before another Charity doth not behave it self undecently For it is the property of an angrie man to bear himself undecently but charitie is the bridle of anger Charitie seeketh not those things which are her own Because that which one loveth he preferreth before himself and seeketh the profit thereof more then his own Charitie is not provoked to anger For all anger proceedeth from pride but charity puts it self under all Charitie imagineth no mischief For it plainly appeareth that he is not yet in perfect charitie whosoever worketh mischief against any one Charity rejoyceth not in iniquitie For charitie maketh anothers miserie to be her own Charitie beareth all things beleeveth all things hopeth all things endureth all things For charitie refuseth not to do unto others as she desires that others should do unto her Tongues shall cease prophesies shall cease and sciences shall be destroyed But charitie shall not cease but the imperfection thereof shall be taken away and the perfection thereof shall be compleat in the life to come God commanded two altars to be built in the tabernacle and fire was carried from the outward to the inward God hath congregated a twofold Church a militant and a triumphant The fire of love shall at length be translated from the militant to the triumphant Think upon these things O devout soul and study after holy love Whatsoever thy neighbour be yet he is one for whom Christ vouchsafed to die Why then dost thou deny to shew thy charitie to thy neighbour when as Christ did not stick to lay down his life for him If thou lovest God truly thou must also love his image We are all one spirituall body Let us therefore have all one spirituall minde It is unfit that they should be at variance upon earth which must at length live together in heaven Whilest our mindes agree in Christ let our wills also be conjoyned We are the servants of one Lord It is not fit that we should
it with the knife of truth thou shalt see that within there is nothing but worms and rottennesse There are apples growing about Sodom which are pleasing for outward beautie But being touched they fall to dust The felicitie of this life doth outwardly delight but if thou pressest it with a more weightie consideration it will appear to be like unto smoke and dust Therefore O beloved soul do not suffer thy cogitations to set up their rest in this life But let thy minde alwayes pant and breathe after the joyes to come Compare the short moment of time granted unto us in this life with eternitie which never shall have end and it will appear what a foolish thing it is to cleave unto this life that flitteth away and to neglect that which is everlasting This life of ours posteth away And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting life This life is most miserable And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting life This life is subject to many calamities And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting joy If therefore thou hopest for life everlasting in this flitting life desire it with all thy heart Use the world but let not thy heart cleave to the world Negotiate in this world but fix not thy minde upon this present life The outward use of worldly things hurteth not unlesse thy inward affection cleave unto them Heaven is thy countrey the world is but the place of thy sojourning Be not so much delighted with the momentanie entertainment of this world as to have thy minde withdrawn from the desire after thy heavenly countrey This life is our sea but eternitie is our haven Be not therefore so much delighted with the momentanie tranquillity of this sea as that thou canst not attain to the haven of everlasting tranquillity This life is sliding and doth not keep faith with her lovers but doth often flee from them when they never think of it Why therefore wilt thou trust it It is very dangerous for thee to promise unto thy self security for one houre For oftentiâ—es in that one posting houre this lâ—â—e is ended The safest way then is to expect our departure out of this present life every houre and to prepare our selves for it by serious repentance In the gourd wherewith Jonas was delighted God prepared a worm that it might wither So in these worldly things whereunto many cleave so fast as if they were glewed to them there is no certaintie but the worms of corruption do breed in them The world is now so worn away with a long consumption that it hath even lost the face by which it was wont to seduce And therefore they that delight to perish with the world now perishing are as much to be blamed and condemned as they are to be praised and commended that flourished with the world then flourishing Withdraw O Christ our hearts from the love of this world and stirre up in us a desâ—â—â— after the kingdome of heaven Meditat. XXXIX Of the worlds vanitie Love not the world The world is vain But love those things that ay remain SEt not thy love O devout soul upon those things which are in the world The world shall passe away and all the things therein shall be consumed with fire Where shall thy love be then Love that good which is everlasting that so thou mayest live for ever Every creature is subject to vanitie Whosoever therefore cleaveth with his love unto the creatures shall also become vain himself Love that good which is true and stable that thy heart may be quieted and established Why doth worldly honour delight thee He that seeketh the honour of men cannot be honoured by God He that seeketh the honour of the world must be conformed unto the world and he that pleaseth the world cannot please God All things are unâ—â—able and must perish whatsoever are given by those that are unstable and do perish How then can the honour of the world be stable He that was yesterday extolled to the skies by the praises of men is brought down again to morrow with disgrace Desire therefore to please God that thou mayest be honoured of God For that is the true and stable honour What is a man the better for being reputed great by man If a man be great in the sight of God then is he great indeed not otherwise Christ being sought for to take a kingdome fled from it but being sought for to be reproched and to be ignominiously crucified he offered himself Delight therefore rather in the disgrace then the glorie of the world that so thou mayest be conformed unto Christ. He that doth not despise the world for Christ how would he lay down his life for him There is no way to true glory but by contemning the glory of the world for so Christ entred into his glorie by the ignominie of the crosse Be content therefore to be despised to be vilified and to be rejected in this world that thou mayest be honoured in the world to come Christ taught us by his life how we should esteem of the world All the glory of the heavens serveth him yea he alone is even glory it self And yet he rejected worldly glory Therefore the more a man is honoured and the more he aboundeth in bodily consolations the more deeply and inwardly must he become sorrowfull that he is so farre from being conformable unto Christ. Vain is the praise of man if an evil conscience accuseth within What doth it profit a man sick of a fever if he be laid in a bedsted of ivorie when as notwithstanding he is tormented with raging heat within It is the testimonie of thy conscience that is the true honour and praise indeed There is no juster judge of thy doings then God and thine own conscience Desire to approve thy deeds before this judgement Is it not enough for thee to be known of thy self and which is most of all to be known of God But why dost thou so much covet after riches He is too covetous unto whom the Lord is not sufficient This life is the way to our eternall countrey What then do much riches profit They do rather burden the traveller as great burdens do a ship Christ the king of heaven is the riches of Gods servants The true treasure must be within a man and not without him That is the true treasure which thou canst carry with thee to the generall judgement But all these outwaad goods are taken from us in death The goods gathered together do perish but first he that gathered them doth perish unlesse he be rich in the Lord. Poore thou camest into the world and poore must thou go out And why should the middle differ from the beginning and the end Riches are appointed for our use And how few will be sufficient A little gift of grace
and vertues is better then all earthly riches Wherefore Because vertue pleaseth God but riches do not please him without vertue The povertie of Christ must be more acceptable unto us then the riches of the whole world Povertie was sanctified through Christ. He was poore in his nativitie poore in his life and poorest of all at his death Why dost thou stick then to preferre povertie before worldly riches when as Christ preferred it before heavenly riches How will he commit his soul unto God who doth not commit unto him the care of his body How will he lay down his life for his brother who doth not bestow his riches upon him Riches bring forth labour in the getting fear in the possessing and grief in the loosing And which is most to be lamented the labour of the covetous doth not onely perish but it causeth them also to perish as Bernard teacheth Thy love is thy God Where thy treasure is there will thy heart be also He that loveth these bodily worldly and perishing riches cannot love the spirituall heavenly and eternall riches Wherefore Because those presse down the heart of man and draw it downwards but these lift it upwards The love of earthly things is as the birdlime of spirituall punishments as one of the true lovers of Christ said Lots wife which was turned into a pillar of salt doth yet preach unto us Not to look back to those things which are in the world but to go straight on to our heavenly countrey The Apostles left all and followed Christ. Wherefore Because the knowledge of the true riches taketh away the desire after false riches If we have tasted the Spirit the flesh pleaseth not our taste If Christ be sweet to a mans taste then the world is bitter unto it But why dost thou so much seek after pleasures Let the remembrance of him that was crucified crucifie in thee all desire of pleasure Let the remembrance of hell-fire quench in thee all the fire of lust Compare the short moment of pleasure with eternall punishments Pleasures are brutish and they make us like brutes The sweetnesse of the kingdome of heaven pleaseth not his taste that is daily full with the husks of the swine Let us mortifie all sensuall pleasures and let us with Abraham offer to God as a spirituall sacrifice this our beloved sonne that is the concupiscences of our soul by renouncing voluntarily all pleasure and by embracing the bitternesse of the crosse It is not a plain way strewed with roses but a sharp way and set with thorns that leadeth unto the kingdome of heaven The outward man increaseth by pleasures but the inward man by the crosse and by tribulations As much as the outward man is augmented so much is the inward man diminished Pleasures serve the bodie but the true godly have least care of their body and the greatest care of their soul. Pleasures do captivate our hearts that they cannot be free in the love of God Not pleasures but the contempt of pleasures at death shalt thou carry away with thee and bring to judgement Let the fear of God then wound thy flesh that the love of the flesh deceive thee not Keep alwayes in thy minde the memory of Gods juâ—gement that the perverse judgement of thy sensuall appetite lead thee not into bondage Look not upon the flattering face of the serpent but look back upon his stinging tail Overcome thou by the grace of Christ that at length thou mayst as conquerour be crowned by Christ. Meditat. XL. Of the profit of tentations The palm-tree grows the more prest down And crosses prove the Churches crown IT is profitable for the faithfull soul to be tried and confirmed by tentations in this world Our Saviour himself would wrestle with the devil in the wildernesse that for us and for our salvation he might overcome him and be the first champion in our quarrel He descended first into hell and afterwards ascended up into heaven So the faithfull soul doth first descend into the hell of tentations that so it may ascend into celestiall glory The people of Israel could not come to possesse the promised land of Canaan before they had overcome divers enemies Neither can the faithfull soul promise unto it self the kingdome of heaven untill it hath overcome the flesh the world and the devil Tentation proveth purgeth and enlighteneth us Tentation proveth us For faith shaken by adversitie is confirmed more strongly in the rock of salvation it enlargeth it self more into the boughs of good works and riseth up higher unto the hope of deliverance When Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his sonne shewed himself ready to obey Gods command after the tentation the angel of the Lord appeared unto him saying Now know I that thou fearest God seeing that for my sake thou hast not spared thine onely sonne Even so in tentations if thou shalt offer unto God the beloved sonne of thy soul that is thine own will thou shalt be reputed one that truly feareth God and thou shalt in thine heart heare God speaking unto thee Fire proves gold and tentation proves faith The souldiers valour is seen in the fight And the strength of our faith appeareth in tentations When the whirling windes and the stormie waves beat upon the ship of Christ then it appeareth of how little faith some of the disciples are The Israelites whom God commanded to be led forth to overcome the Midianites were first proved at the waters So they which are to be admitted into their heavenly countrey after the conquest of their enemies are first to be proved in the waters of tribulations and tentations Whatsoever adversitie therefore whatsoever tentations happen unto the faithfull soul let her think with her self that they are for triall and not for deniall Tentation also purgeth To purge out the pestilent humour of self-love and the love of the world Christ our Physician useth many grains of bitter Aloes Tribulation sends us to search our conscience and recalls to our memorie the sinnes of our life past And further as Physick preserveth the bodie from contagious diseases So also doth tribulation preserve the soul from sinnes Man is alwayes prone to sinne But more in time of prosperitie then in adversitie Riches are thorns to many men Therefore God plucks out the thorns that they may not choak their souls Varietie of worldly businesse hindereth many from the service of God Therefore God sendeth diseases upon them that they may come to themselves and begin to die to the world and to live to God Some men have tumbled down the hill of great prosperitie And have enjoyed truest rest in their adversitie The honour of the world puffeth men up with pride Therefore God brings them into contempt and withdraweth from them the fewel of pride Last of all Tentation enlighteneth We come not to know the frailtie and vanitie of all
mud of my offences hath in a wonderfull and miserable manner defiled me The first age of man is amongst all the rest the fittest for the service of God But I have spent a good part thereof in the service of the devil The memory of many sinnes which the unbridled loosenesse of my youth hath committed is set in my sight and yet there are many more which I cannot call to memory Who knows how oft he offendeth cleanse thy servant from secret faults For these offences of my youth I offer unto thee holy Father the most holy obedience and perfect innocency of thy Sonne who was obedient to thee unto death even the death of the crosse When he was but a childe of twelve yeares old he performed holy obedience unto thee and began to execute thy will with great alacritie This obedience I offer unto thee just Judge for a price and satisfaction for the manifold disobedience of my youth Amen PRAYER III. He reckons up our daily falls and slips HOly God and just Judge There is no man innocent in thy sight no man free from the spot of sinne And I am bereaved of that glory which I should bring with me to judgement I am stripped of that garment of innocencie with which I ought to appear arayed before thee Seven times yea and oftener every houre I fall seventie times seven times I sinne every day The spirit indeed is sometimes ready but the flesh is alwayes weak The inward man flourisheth and is strong but the outward man languisheth and is weak For I do not the good that I would but the evil that I would not How often do vain wicked and impious cogitations arise in my heart How often do vain unprofitable and hurtfull words break forth How often do perverse wicked and ungodly actions pollute me All my righteousnesse is as the cloth of a menstruous woman Therefore I dare not plead for my righteousnesse before thee But I humbly prostrate my self before thy most just tribunal and out of the deeps do I cry unto thee Lord if thou shalt decree to impute sinne who shâ—ll abide it If thou wilt enter into judgement who shall stand If thou wilt call me to appear according to the severitie of thy justice how shall I come before thee If thou wilt exact a strict account of my life I shall not be able to answer thee one for a thousand Therefore my mouth is stopt and I acknowledge before thee that I have deserved eternall torments and withall I confesse with tears that thou mayst justly cast me into prison for ever Therefore for these daily sinnes of my life I offer unto thee holy Father the most precious bloud of thy Sonne which was poured forth on the altar of the crosse which washeth me from all my sinnes My sinnes which lead me captive are many in number and most powerfull But the ransome of thy Sonne is much more precious and of more efficacy Let that most perfect plenarie and holy price payed by Christ obtain for me remission of sinnes Amen PRAYER IIII. He examines our life according to the rule of the first table of the commandments HOly God and just Judge Thou gavest unto us thy Law in mount Sinai and thou wouldst have it to be the rule of all our actions words and thoughts That whatsoever is not squared by it should in thy judgement be accounted sinne As often as I look upon that most clear glasse I perceive mine own filthinesse and tremble every part of me I ought to love thee O my God above all things But how often do I love the world and forget the love of thee I am bound to fear thee O my God above all things But how often do I consent to sinne and let thy fear slip out of my memorie Thou requirest that I should trust in thee O my God above all things But how often in adversitie doth my soul waver and anxiously and carefully doubt of thy fatherly goodnesse I am bound to obey thee O my God with all my heart But how often doth my refractary flesh resist the resolution of obedience and lead me captive into the prison of sinne My cogitations ought to be holy my desires pure and holy But how often is the quiet state of my minde troubled with vain and impious cogitations I ought to call upon thee O God with all my heart But how often doth my minde wander in prayer and doth anxiously doubt whether her prayers be heard or no! How often am I remisse in prayer and demisse in conceiving confidence How often doth my tongue pray and yet I do not worship thee in spirit and in truth How profound oblivion of thy benefits doth seize upon me Thou dost daily poure thy benefits upon me in a loving manner and yet I do not daily return unto thee thanksgiving How cold is my meditation of thy immense and infinite gifts bestowed upon me What slender devotion is there for the most part in my heart I use thy gifts and yet I do not praise thee who art the giver I stick in the rivers and come not to the fountain Thy word is the word of spirit and life But I through sinne and corruption have destroyed the work of thy holy Spirit within me The sparks of a good resolution often inkindled I as often extinguish and yet I do not sue to thee for increase of thy gifts For these and all other my sinnes and defaults I offer unto thee O my God the most pure and perfect obedience of thy Sonne who loved thee in the dayes of his incarnation most perfectly with his whole heart and cleaved unto thee most firmly with all his soul in whose deeds words and thoughts there was found no blot of sinne nor spot of the least offence That which I want by faith I draw from his fulnesse Therefore for this thy wel-beloved Sonnes sake have mercy Lord upon thy servant Amen PRAYER V. He considereth our life according to the rule of the second table of the commandments HOly God and just Judge It is thy eternall and immutable will that I should honour with due respect my parents and the magistrates But how often do I think too meanly of their authoritie How often do I in heart refuse to obey then How often do I traduce their infirmities O how often do I omit by serious prayers to further their safetie I often cherish anger conceived agâ—iâ—st them whereas I ought with patience to submit my self unto them Thy sacred will requires that I should do good to my neighbour in all things to my power But how often doth it irk me to do him good How doth it go against my stomack to forgive him How often am I solicited by my flesh to anger hatred envy and brawling How often doth the fire of my angry heart burn within me although contentious words be not heard without Thy holy will
requires that I should live chastly modestly and temperately But how often hath the love of drunkennesse and lust made my soul captive to sinne How often do fires of lust flame within me although my outward members be restrained He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart saith the Text How often therefore in the sight of God do we commit adultery The inordinate and immoderate use of meat drink and wedlock often steals upon us and makes us appear guilty before thee if thou wouldest enter into judgement with us Thy holy Writ requireth that in bargaining I deceive not my neighbour in any sort but that I rather further and procure his good that I traduce not his faults but rather cover them with the cloke of charitie and that I do not censure him rashly and unadvisedly But how often do I seek mine own profit by injustice How often do I spend my judgement rashly upon my neighbour Thy holy will requires that my spirit minde and soul be free from concupiscence But how often doth my flesh solicite me to sinne and contaminateth my spirit with wicked concupiscences As a fountain doth abound with continuall bubbling of water So doth my heart alwayes swell with evil concupiscence For these and all other my sinnes and defects I offer unto thee most holy Father the most perfect obedience of thy Sonne who loved all men with perfect love and in whose mouth was found no guiâ—◠〈◊〉 whose words and deeds no aberrations no corruption in nature To this propitiation I flee with true faith and by faith I â—uck out of his wounds as much as is sufficient to justifie me and save me Have mercy on me my God and my Father Amen PRAYER VI. He sheweth that we often partake in other mens sinnes HOly God and just Judge Thou â—ast committed unto me not onely the care of mine own soul but also the care of my neighbours But how often doth my neighbour through my negligence suffer great losse of godlinesse How often do I neglect freely and boldly to chide him when he sinnes How often do I being hindred either by favour or fear reprove him for his sinnes more slightly then I ought In pouring out prayers for his salvation I am too remisse in reprehending his sinnes I am too-too timorous in furthering his salvation I am too slothfull insomuch that thou mayest justly require at my hands the bloud of my neighbour that perisheth If there were in me a perfect and sincere love of my neighbour surely from thence would proceed freedome in reproving of sinne If the fire of sincere charitie did burn in my heart surely it would break forth more clearly into the spirituall incense of prayers to be made for the salvation of my neighâ—ours For a man to pray for himself it is a duty of necessity But to pray for the salvation of his neighbour it is a deed of charity As often therefore as I neglect to pray for the salvation of my neighbour so often I condemne my self for the breach of the commandment of the love of my neighbour My neighbour dies the death of the body and sorrow fills all with lamentation and mourning when as yet the death of the body brings no hurt to a godly man but rather gives him a passage into a celestiall countrey My neighbour dies the death of the soul and behold I am nothing troubled at it I see him die and grieve not at all when as yet sinne is the true death of the soul and brings with it the losse of the inestimable grace of God and eternall life My neighbour delinquisheth against the king who can onely kill the body and behold I seek by all means his reconciliation but he sinneth against the King of all kings that can cast both body and soul into hell-fire and yet I behold it in security and consider not that this offence is an infinite evil My neighbour stumbles at a stone and I runne presently to save him from a fall or otherwise to raise him up if he be fallen He stumbles at the corner-stone of our salvation and behold I securely passe by it and labour noâ— with care and diligence to lift him up again Mine own sinnes are grievous enough And yet I have not been afraid to participate in other mens sinnes Be propitious O God unto me great sinner and overburdened To thy mercy I flee in Christ and through Christ promised unto me I come unto this Life being dead in sinne I come unto this Way having gone astray in the path of sinne I come unto this Salvation being by reason of my sinne guilty of damnation Quicken me guide me and save me thou which art my Life my Way and my Salvation for ever and ever Amen PRAYER VII He sheweth that we are many wayes convinced of sinne HOly God and just Judge If I look up to heaven I think with my self that I have many wayes offended thee my God and Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee I am not worthy to be called thy sonne If I look down upon the earth I think with my self how I have abused thy creatures by my sinnes I have infinitely abused not onely the darknesse of the night but also the light of the day to work works of darknesse If I look upon the examples of sinners upon whom thou in thy just judgement hast inflicted punishment I finde that the weight of my sins will counterpoise theirs If I look upon the examples of the saints I finde that I come farre short of them in my holy service of thee If I think upon the angel my keeper I finde that often I put him to flight by my sinnes If I think of the devils I finde that I have often given place to their suggestions If I weigh with my self the rigour of thy law I finde that my life is many wayes irregular If I look upon my self I finde that the very cogitations of my heart do accuse me before thy judgement If I think upon the houre of death to come I finde that it is the just reward of my sinnes and unlesse thou of thy meere mercie for Christ his sake shalt receive me the gate and entrance into everlasting death If I think upon the judgement to come I finde my deserts such that thou mayst justly call me to the most exact account and punish my sinnes according to the strict severitie of thy law If I think upon hell I finde that I have deserved by my sinnes the most just punishment there If I think upon eternall life I finde that I have by my sinnes justly fallen away from all hope of attainment All things therefore convince me of my sinnes Onely thou O my God be not thou extreme against me To Christ thy beloved Sonne my onely Mediatour I betake my self By him I most firmly beleeve I shall obtain thy
grace and remission of my sinnes Thy creatures accuse me the book of my conscience accuseth me both the tables of thy divine law accuse me Satan accuseth me day and night But take thou upon thee my patronage O sweet Jesus To thee the poore man is left bereft of all solace of the creatures All my refuge is placed in thy satisfaction for my sinnes and in thy intercession at the right hand of the Father for me My soul take thou the wings of the morning and like a dove hide thy self in the clefts of the rock that is in the wounds of Christ thy Saviour Hide thy self in this rock till the anger of the Lord be passed by and thou shalt finde rest and thou shalt finde protection and thou shalt finde deliverance therein Amen PRAYER VIII He by the effects of contrition argues us to be convicted of the hainousnesse of sinne HOly God and just Judge My heart is contrite and humbled my spirit is heavy and in a great strait by reason of the burden of my sinnes wherewith I am oppressed The courage of my heart hath failed and the sharpnesse of my eyes is decayed My heart is pressed and from thence gush out tears My spirit is oppressed and I forget to take my bread My heart is wounded and from thence gusheth out bloud and a fountain of tears Who knows how oft he offendeth Who knows the sorrow of the heart that is in a great strait by reason of offences My soul is dry and broken in pieces and thirsteth after the fountain of life O Christ feed me with the dew of thy Spirit of grace My heart that is in a great strait sigheth unto thee O thou true joy give unto me peace and quietnesse of heart that being justified by faith I may have peace with God My heart condemneth me But do thou absolve me who art greater then my heart My conscience accuseth me But do thou absolve me who hast fastned to the crosse the hand-writing of my conscience I offer unto thee O my God my contrite and humbled heart for a most acceptable sacrifice I offer unto thee my sighs as the messengers of true and serious contrition I offer unto thee my tears as abundant witnesses of my unfeigned grief In my self I despair In thee is my trust In my self I faint In thee I am refreshed In my self I feel straitnesse In thee again I finde enlargement I am troubled and burdened overmuch Thou shalt refresh me and give rest unto my soul. One deep calleth upon another The deep of my misery calleth upon the deep of thy mercy Out of the deeps do I cry unto thee Cast thou my sinnes into the deep of the sea There is no soundâ—esse in my flesh by reason of thy anger neither is there any rest to my bones by reason of my sinne For mine iniquities are gone over my head and become too heavy for me Cure my soul thou heavenly Physician that I be not swallowed up of eternall death Take the burden of my sinnes from me thou that hast taken it upon thy self on the crosse that I despair not under the intolerable burden thereof Have mercy on me thou fountain of grace and mercy Amen PRAYER IX He declareth the number and greatnesse of Gods benefits unto us and the grievousnesse of our sinnes HOly God and just Judge By how much the more benefits thou hast bestowed upon me by so much the more I grieve that I have so often displeased thee so loving a Father As many gifts as thou hast heaped upon me so many bonds of love hast thou sent over unto me Thou wouldest have bound me unto thy self but I have forgotten thee and thy beneficencie and linked sinne unto sinne Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee I am not worthy to be called thy sonne make me as one of thy hired servants I am altogether displeased with my self Make thou me altogether to please thee Thy large bounty and wonderfull patience have often invited me to repentance But hitherto I have been backward to come Thou hast often called me O most bountifull God by the preaching of thy word by the teaching of thy creatures by the punishment of the crosse and by inward inspiration But I have stopped the eares of my heart altogether at thy call All the faculties of my soul all the members of my bodie are thy gifts I ought therefore with all the powers of my soul and parts of my bodie be ready to do thee all holy service which is due unto theâ— But I have made them the more is my grief the weapons of iniquitie and unrighteousnesse The breath which I fetch is thine the aire which I suck in is thine the sun whose light I see daily is thine All these ought to have been unto me as furtherances and instruments to sanctitie of life But I have abused them the more is my grief to the slavery of sin Thy creatures I should have used to the glory of thee the Creatour But I have wickedly abused them to thy dishonour In the light of the sunne I should have put on the armour of light But therein have I committed the works of darknesse How much soever is added unto my life comes all from thy bountie Therefore my whole life ought to be employed in thy service on whom it doth wholly depend And yet I have scarce bestowed the least part thereof in thy service As many good inspirations as I have felt within me so many hand-maids of thy grace hast thou sent as ambassadours to invite me mosâ— lovingly to return unto thee by true repentance But alas how often have I stubbornly refused to give them audience But yet receive him who now at length returns unto thee with sighing and a contrite heart Sprinkle me with the bloud of thy Sonne that so being purged fâ—om all the pollutions of the flesh and the spirit I may become whiter then snow and with all thy elect praise thee in the heavenly Jerusalem world without end Amen PRAYER X. He considereth the severitie of Gods angeâ— against our sinnes in the death and passioâ— of Christ. HOly God and just Judge I behold thy Sonne hanging upon the crosse and pouring forth plentifull rivers of bloud I behold him and behold for very terrour I faint altogether My sinnes are those iron nails with which I have bored his hands and his feet My sinnes are â—hose pricking thorns with which his most sacred head which is to be reverenced of the angelicall powers was crowned My sinnes are those stinging thongs with which his most â—ure bodie the proper temple of Diâ—inity was scourged A cruel wilde â—east hath torn in pieces the heavenly Joseph and embrewed his coat with his bloud I miserable sinnner am that wicked beast for my sinnes did make an assault and rush upon thy most beloved Sonne If thy most obedient Sonne is so vexed
hath pleased thee to conjoyn unto thee the humane nature in a most neare bond of personall union Although therefore my sinnes do hinder me yet the communion of nature doth not repell me I will adhere wholly unto thee because thou hast wholly assumed me wholly Amen PRAYER V. He renders thanks for Christs passion HOw great thanks do I ow unto thee O most holy Jesu for that thou hast taken upon thee the punishment of my sinnes and hast endured hunger thirst cold wearinesse reproches persecutions sorrows povertie bonds whips pricking of thorns yea and that most bitter death of the crosse for me sinner How great is the flame of thy love which forced thee of thine own accord to throw thy self into that sea of passions and that for me most vile and unthankfull servant Thy innocency and righteousnesse made thee free from all sufferings But thy infinite and unspeakable love made thee debter and guilty in my room It is I that trespassed and thou makest satisfaction It is I that committed rapine and thou makest restitution It is I that sinned and thou undergoest the passion O Jesu most benigne I acknowledge the bowels of thy mercy and the fiery heat of love Thou seemest to love me more then thy self seeing thou deliverest up thy self for me O most innocent Jesu what hast thou to do with the sentence of death O thou most beautifull amongst the sonnes of men what hast thou to do with spittings upon thee O thou most righteous what hast thou to do with whips and bonds These things belong not unto thee They are all due unto me But thou of thine unspeakable love didst descend into the prison of this world and take upon thee the shape of a servant and most willingly undergo the punishment that was due unto me I was for my sinnes to be adjudged to the lake that burneth with everlasting fire But thou by the fire of love being burnt upon the altar of the crosse dost free me from it I was to be cast away for my sinnes from the face of my heavenly Father And thou for my sake complainest that thou art forsaken of thy heavenly Father I was to be tormented of the devil and his angels for ever And thou of thine infinite love dost deliver thy self unto the ministers of Satan to be afflicted and crucified for me As many instruments as I see of thy passion so many tokens do I see of thy love towards me For my sinnes are those bonds those whips and those thorns which afflicted thee all which of thine unspeakable love thou enduredst for me Thy love was not yet satisfied with taking my flesh upon thee but thou wouldest make it as yet more manifest by that most bitter passion of thy soul and bodie Who am I most mighty Lord that for me disobedient servant thou thy self wouldst become a servant so many yeares Who am I most beautifull Bridegroom that for me the most filthy vassal of sinne and whore of the devil thou hast not refused to die Who am I most bountifull Creatour that for me most vile creature thou hast not been afraid of the passion of the crosse I am to thee most loving Bridegroom the true spouse of bloud for whom thou dost poure forth such plenty of bloud I am to thee most beautifull Lily a thorn indeed that is full of prickles It is I that laid upon thee a heavy and sharp burthen with the weight whereof thou wast so squeezed that drops of bloud did distill abundantly from thy sacred bodie To thee Lord Jesu my alone Redeemer and Mediatour for this thine unspeakable love will I sing praises for ever Amen PRAYER VI. He renders thanks for our calling by the word VNto thee O Lord my God is most due all praise honour and thanksgiving for that thou wouldest by the preaching of thy word make manifest unto us that thy Fatherly will and determinate counsel concerning our salvation By nature we are darknesse we sit in darknesse and in the region of the shadow of death But thou by the most clear light of the Gospel dost dispell this darknes In thy light do we see light that is in the light of thy word we see that true light that lighteneth every one that cometh into this world What use were there of a treasure that is hid and a light that is put under a bushel I do therefore declare with thankfulnesse that great benefit in that thou hast by the word of thy Gospel revealed unto us that treasure of benefits in thy Sonne How beautifull are the feet of those that bring good tidings and tell of salvation This peace of conscience and salvation of the soul by the preaching of the Gospel thou dost yet declare unto us and call us unto the kingdome of thy Sonne I was led into the by-paths of errours as it were a weak and miserable sheep But thou hast called me into the way again by the preaching of thy word I was condemned and utterly lost But thou in the word of thy Gospel dost offer unto me the benefits of Christ and in the benefits of Christ thy grace and in thy grace remission of sinnes and in remission of sinnes righteousnesse and in righteousnesse salvation and life everlasting Who can sufficiently in words expresse those bowels of thy mercy yea who can in minde conceive the greatnesse the riches of thy goodnesse The mysterie of our salvation kept secret from eternitie by the manifestation of thy Gospel thou dost lay open unto us The counsels which thou hadst concerning our peace before the foundations of the world were laid thou dost reveal unto us by the preaching of thy word which is a lantern unto our feet whiles we go through this darksome valley intâ— light everlasting What had it profited us to have been born unlesse by Christ thou hadst delivered us when we were captivated through sinne What had it profited us to have been redeemed unlesse thou hadst by thy word declared unto us the great benefit of our redemption Thou dost spread forth thy hands unto us all the day Thou knockest at the gate of our heart every day and callest us all unto thee by thy word O Lord most benigne how many thousand thousands of men do live in the blindenesse of Gentilisme and in errours and have not seen that light of thy heavenly word which thy bounty hath granted us of all men most unthankfull Alas how often through our contempt and unthankfulnesse do we deserve that thou shouldest take from us the candlestick of thy word But thou of thy long patience dost make as if thou sawest not our sinnes and of thy unspeakable mercy dost yet continue unto us that most holy pledge and most precious treasure of thy word For which thy great benefit we render unto thee eternall thanks and we humbly beseech thee to continue it still unto us Amen PRAYER VII He renders thanks unto
If it be the totall good of mankinde to love God then it must needs be the totall evil to love himself If it be the nature and propertie of the true good to communicate it self then surely mans love of himself must needs be a great evil because he challengeth his own and others good unto himself If all glory be due unto God alone then is it sacriledge to challenge honour for he that challengeth it challengeth that which is anothers Extinguish in me this love of my self and mine honour O Christ blessed for ever Amen PRAYER XI He prayeth for conquest over the world ALmightie eternall and mercifull God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ give unto me the grace of thy holy Spirit that I may get the conquest over all the tentations of the world The world sets upon me with hatred flattery and perverse examples Teach me to contemn the hatred of the world to decline her allurements and to shun the imitation of evil examples What can the world with her hatred do against me if thy grace like a buckler protect me What shall it hurt me though all men should persecute me with hatred if thou my God dost embrace me with love Again what shall it profit me though all men should love me if the fury of thine anger shall pursue me The world passeth away the hatred of the world passeth away But the grace of God alone endureth for ever Remove therefore O God out of my heart that inordinate fear that I be not afraid of the hatred and persecution of the world But ingraff in my soul a full confidence and an ardent heat of the spirit that I may learn to contemn all worldly things because they are transitorie clouds Why should I be afraid of them that kill the body but cannot kill the soul I will rather reverence and fear him that is able to cast not onely the body but the soul also into the everlasting fire of hell Our faith is the victorie that overcometh the world For by faith we have an eye unto the joyes to come that so we may with patience endure these present sorrows By faith we relie upon the divine goodnesse that so we may abide humane hatred Neither doth the world assault me on the left hand onely with her hatred but on the right hand also she laboureth to ensnare me with her fawning allurements She hath a sting in her tail but she hath a smooth face Grant unto me therefore O Christ a taste of the sweetnesse of the heavenly joy that I may lose the taste of earthly things The taste of my soul is corrupt and coveteth after earthly things and the contempt of the worlds allurements doth seem bitter unto it But thou the true prizer of things hast taught me to lothe the enticements of the world and wouldest have my soul to soar aloft after heavenly things Turn away therefore O turn away my heart from the allurements of the world that being turned unto thee it may enjoy the true and spirituall delights What have these things profited the lovers of the world after death to wit Vain glory short pleasure slender power What hath the momentanie pleasure of the flesh and store of false riches profited Where are they now that not many dayes ago were here with us There remains nothing of them but ashes and worms They did eat and drink being secure they passed their life being made drunk with carnall pleasure But now their flesh is here given to the worms for meat and their soul is there tormented in everlasting fire All their glorie is fallen like the flower and like grasse withered Suffer me not O God to follow their steps lest that I come to the same term of misery But by the victory of the world lead me unto the crown of celestiall glory Amen PRAYER XII He prayes for consolation in adversitie and for the true rest of the soul. MOst gracious Father God of 〈◊〉 hope and consolation grant unto me in all adversities thy quickning consolation and the true rest of the soul. I feel much straitnesse in my heart But thy consolation shall make glad my soul. Vain and unprofitable is all the comfort of the world in thee alone is the strength and support of my soul. The weight of divers calamities presseth me sore But thy inward speaking unto me and thy consolation maketh it light No creature can make me so sorrowfull but thou canst make me much more glad by the spirit of gladnesse No adversities can so straiten my heart but thy grace can much more enlarge it The fiery heat of sundry calamities doth torment me But the taste of thy sweetnesse doth refresh me Rivers of tears distill from mine eyes But thy most bountifull hand doth wipe them all away As thou didst shew thy loving countenance to Stephen the first Martyr even in the very heat when his enemies stoned him So vouchsafe to give unto me in all adversities the joy of thy comfort As in the most grievous agonie of death thou didst send an angel unto thy Sonne to comfort him So in this my wrestling send I beseech thee thy holy Spirit to uphold me Without thy support I fall down under the burden of the crosse Without thy help by the assault of sundry adversities I am cast down flat Extinguish in me the love of the world and of the creatures so shall not the calamities of this world nor the changeablenesse of the creatures bring any bitternesse unto me He that with all his heart doth cleave unto the world and to the creatures can never be made partaker of the true and eternall rest for all terrestriall things are subject to continuall alterations and changes But whosoever doth not cleave unto the present goods of this life with an inordinate desire he will not be grieved much for the losse of the same Poure out O God poure out of my heart the love of the world that the celestiall Elisha may poure into the widows pitcher that is into my soul devoid of earthly comfort the oyl of celestiall joy Let all earthly things be troubled and changed and turned upside down Yet notwithstanding thou art the immoveable foundation and most firm rock of my heart Can a poore and weak creature disturb the quiet of my soul which I possesse in thee my Creatour sure and immoveable Can the waves of the world that most unquiet sea cast down the rock of my heart which is fixt in thee the chief and immutable good No For thy peace passeth all un-understanding and overcometh the invasion of all adversities Which inward peace most bountifull Father I beg at thy hands with most humble sighs Amen PRAYER XIII He prayes for victory in tentations and deliverance from the devils treacheries and invasions BE present unto me thou God of Zebaoth thou God of strength and mercy that I yeeld not unto the tentations and invasions of Satan but being safe
Let them hearken attentively let them heare carefully let them practise fruitfully that the word which is preached unto them for want of faith condemn them not in the last day There is a notable promise of thy bounty that thy word shall not return unto thee spoken iâ— vain Be mindfull of this thy promise and blesse the labour of him that planteth and him that watereth Suffer not the infernall crows to pick out of the field of the hearers hearts the seed of thy holy word Suffer not the spinie thicket of the thorns of pleasures and riches to choke it Suffer not the hardnesse of the stony ground to hinder the fructification of it But poure down the dew of thy heavenly grace from above and water thy heavenly seed that the fruit of good works like standing-corn may spring up most plenteously Knit together in a neare bond of love and charitie the hearts of the pastours and of the hearers that they may labour together with mutuall prayers and raise up one another with mutuall comfort Amen PRAYER III. He prayes for Magistrates and subjects ALmighty eternall and mercifull God Lord of hosts that dost translate and establish kingdomes from whom is all power in heaven and in earth whom the Angels in heaven adore whom the Arch-angels praise whom the Thrones worship to whom Dominations are subject and Principalities serve whom Rulers honour and Powers reverence I joyn my prayers and humble requests with those holy and powerfull spirits and call upon thee to replenish our magistracy here on earth with the spirit of wisdome and to protect it with the strength of thy fortitude Be present by thy grace with all Christian Kings and Governours that the greater their dangers be in respect of the highnesse of their state the greater they may finde the abundance of thy grace towards them Kindle in their hearts the light of thy heavenly wisdome that they may know and acknowledge themselves to be subject unto thee the Lord of all and to be thy vassals and that they are bound to give unto thee hereafter an account of their government Let them study for peace seeing that they are thy servants who art the God of peace Let them study for justice seeing that they are thy servants who art the God of justice Let them study for clemencie and mercie seeing that they are thy servants who art the God of mercie Let them keep and observe both the tables of the commandments and become nursing-fathers unto thy afflicted Church upon earth Let them put on a fatherly affection toward their subjects Let them alwayes administer right judgement Draw their hearts away from the splendour and brightnes of their earthly dominion that there creep not upon them a forgetfulnesse of true godlinesse and of the heavenly kingdome Govern them by thy holy Spirit that they be not high-minded and that they abuse not the authoritie that is granted unto them and do that which is wicked Grant that in this world they may so execute their functions that they may reigne with thy elect without end in the kingdome of heaven and that they may passe from the flitting glory of this present world to everlasting glory in the world to come Rule them and keep them in that they tyrannize not over thy people and so descend for all their costly robes precious gemms naked and miserable to be tormented in the pit of hell And unto us whom thou hast made subject to them as thy Vicars and Vicegerents give an obedient heart and readie minde to serve them with all readinesse and cheerfulnesse that under their government we may lead a peaceable and quiet life in all godlinesse and honestie that we may honour them and perform loyall obedience unto them knowing that they have just power and dominion over us and that we may obey their honest and godly commands and so by submitting our selves unto the laws be made partakers of the true libertie For this is true libertie To serve God the magistracie and the laws Let us honour them with our hearts with our mouthes and with our works because thou O most gracious God hast made them thy Vicegerents here on earth Let the eyes of the Magistrates be watchfull and seeing let the eares of the subjects be open and hearing And let the gates of heaven be hereafter set wide open to them both to receive them Amen PRAYER IIII. He prayes for the private family and houshold estate ALmighty and mercifull God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who besides the Ecclesiasticall ministery and the Politick government hast appointed also in thy most wise counsel an oeconomicall and houshold estate I adore thee I worship thee I call upon thee with my whole heart to keep holy that Nurserie of the Church and Common-weal Give unto virgins widows and married persons true sanctitie of minde and pure chastity of body Let virgins cleave unto thee without any distraction Let widows persevere in prayers and supplications night and day Let those that are married love one another with mutuall love Let them all serve thee with their whole heart in holinesse Let the marriage-bed be undefiled and let the mindes of them all be unspotted Let them be violets of humilitie and lilies of chastity Let them be roses of charitie and balsam of sanctitie Tie the hearts of them that are knit together in holy wedlock with the bond of chaste love that they may mutually embrace and obey one another and persevere in thy holy service Preserve thou them from the treacheries of Asmodeus that they burn not with mutuall hatred one towards the other Let the wife be an help unto her husband and comfort him in adversitie Let the indissoluble bond of matrimony be a token and seal unto us of the love that is between Christ and the Church By how much the nearer the societie is between the man and the wife by so much the more fervent let their zeal be in prayer By how much the more obnoxious and subject they are to dangers and calamities by so much the more conjoyned let their mindes be in pietie and prayer Be present by thy grace with religious parents that they may bring up their children in holy admonitions and instructions and good discipline Let them acknowledge those fruits of wedlock to be thy gift and restore them again unto thee by godly and faithfull instruction Let them shine before them by the example of their godly life and not become guilty of that grievous sinne of scandal Bend likewise the hearts of the children that they may perform due obedience unto their parents that they may become sweet-smelling plants of the heavenly paradise and not unprofitable wood adjudged to the flames of hell-fire Let them cast forth a most pleasant smell of pietie obedience reverence and all kinde of vertue that they fall not into that most filthy sink of sinne and so
everlasting and without end Come Lord Jesus and whosoever loveth thee let him say Come Meditat. VI. Consolation for the penitent from the crosse of Christ gathered chiefly out of Anselm Christs crosse my crown I do esteem What 's ' ever heathen men do deem ALl the glorie of the godly consists in the ignominie of the Lords passion All the rest of the godly consists in the wounds of our Saviour our life in his death our glory in his exaltation How great is thy mercy O heavenly Father and Almighty God! Of my self I could offend thee but of my self I could not appease thee Thou therefore in Christ dost reconcile me unto thee Behold therefore holy God the holy pledge of his flesh and forgive the guiltinesse of my flesh Have respect unto what thy Sonne hath suffered for me and forget what thy wicked servant hath done against thee My flesh doth provoke thee to anger Let the flesh of Christ I beseech thee move thee to mercy It is much that my wickednesse hath deserved but it is much more that the holinesse of my redeemer hath merited Great is my unrighteousnesse but much more great is the righteousnes of my redeemer For as much as God is higher then man so much is my wickednesse lower then his goodnesse both in qualitie and quantitie I am wholly thine by condition grant also that by love I may be wholly thine Thou that makest me to ask make me also to receive Thou that grantest unto me to seek grant unto me also to finde Thou that teachest me to knock open unto me when I knock To desire I have from thee Let me have from thee also to obtain To will I have from thee Let me have from thee to do also Holy God just Judge If my sinnes be concealed they are uncurable if they be seen they are detestable they do burn me with grief and do much more terrifie me with fear Do not withhold I pray thee thy true mercy where thou findest so true miserie Great is the sinne which thou findest here but let thy grace be greater and more plentifull Holy Father poure not I beseech thee thy wrath upon me seeing that thou hast smitten thy Sonne for me O holy Jesus deliver me from the wrath of God thou that didst take it upon thy self for my sake upon the crosse O holy Spirit protect me by thy consolation against the wrath of God thou that in the gospel hast declared mercie to the contrite and penitent O holy God and just Judge I finde no place to flie unto from the presence of thy wrath If I ascend up into heaven thou art there If I descend into the deep behold thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hâ—nd lay hold on me Unto Christ therefore will I flie and hide my self in his wounds O mercifull God behold the body of thy Sonne wounded in every part and look not upon the wounds of my sinnes Let the bloud of thy Sonne wash me from all my spots Heare his most ardent prayers offered unto thee for the salvation of the elect O holy God and just Judge my life affrights me for if it be exactly examined it is either sinne or barrennesse And if there seem to be any fruit in it it is either counterfeit or imperfect or some wayes corrupted so that it cannot please thee yea it must needs displease thee Truly all my life is either sinfull and damnable or unfruitfull and contemptible But why should I separate unfruitfull and damnable Certainly if it be unfruitfull it is damnable for every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen down and cast into the fire Not onely the tree that bringeth forth ill fruit is cast into the fire but that also which bringeth forth no fruit The goats affright me for they were set on the left hand of the judge not because they did any evil but because they did no good To the hungry they gave no meat To the thirsty they gave no drink Therefore thou withered and unfruitfull tree which hast deserved everlasting fire what wilt thou answer in that day when thou shalt give account for all the time spent in this life even to the twinkling of an eye An hair shall not perish from thy head nor a moment from time O the straits On this side shall be thy sinnes accusing On that side justice terrifying Underneath thee the horrible pit of hell gaping Above thee the angry judge condemning Within thee thy conscience burning Without thee the world flaming The just man shall scarce be saved Whither then shall the sinner thus taken unawares betake himself To lie hid it is impossible To appear it is intolerable From whence then shall I seek for the salvation of my soul from whom shall I seek counsel Who is he that is called the Angel of great counsel It is Jesus He is the judge between whose hands I tremble Fear not then O my soul be comforted despair not Hope in him whom thou fearest betake thy self unto him from whom thou hast fled O Jesus Christ for this thy names sake do unto me according to thy name Look upon me miserable man that call upon thy name If thou receive me into the most ample bosome of thy mercy thou shalt no whit be straited It is true O Lord my conscience hath deserved damnation and my repentance is not sufficient for satisfaction But it is most certain that thy mercie is greater then my offence In thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be confounded Meditat. VII Of the fruit of the Lords Passion My hope on Christ is fixed sure Who wounded was my wounds to cure AS often as I think of the Lords passion I presume much of the love of God and the forgivenesse of my sinnes He bowes down his head to kisse me He stretcheth forth his arms to embrace me He openeth his hands to give unto me He openeth his side that I may see his heart flaming with love He is lifted up from the earth that he may draw all unto him his wounds are blue with grief and shining with love Therefore by the opening of his wounds we ought to enter into the secrets of his heart With him there is most plenteous redemption because his bloud distilled not down drop by drop but flowed down most plentifully from five parts of his body As the grape cast into the wine-presse is squeezed and poureth forth liquour on every side So the flesh of Christ being pressed with the weight of Gods anger and our sinnes doth on every side poure forth the liquour of blood When Abraham would have offered his sonne for a sacrifice the Lord said Now I know of a truth that thou lovest me Do thou likewise acknowledge the