be incorruptible because they shall be made conformable unto the angels and unto the glorified bodie of Christ They are sown in corruption but they shall rise again in incorruption they are sown in dishonour but they shall rise again in glorie they are sown in weaknesse but they shall rise again in power It is sown a naturall bodie it shall rise again a spirituall bodie and it shall shine like the brightnesse of the firmament for ever Come Lord Jesus and make us partakers of that glorie Meditat. XLIX Of the grievousnesse of the torments in hell If into hell thou would'st not fall Be there by thoughts continuall THink O devout soul upon the grievousnesse of hell-torments and thou shalt easily get the mastery of all wicked pleasure in sinne There shall be the presence of all evil the absence of all good What evil can be wanting to them who are punished for the greatest evil that is sinne what good thing can be present to them who are removed from the chiefest good and that is God There shall be the heat of fire and the freezing of cold There shall be perpetuall darknesse There shall be smoak and continuall tears There shall be the terrible sight of the devils There shall be crying for ever There shall be drinesse thirst the stink of brimstone the worm of conscience fear grief shame confusion for sins made manifest to all envy hatred sorrow want of the divine vision and losse of all hope By the power of God the light of the fire shall be separated from the burning qualitie the light shall serve for the joy of the saints and the burning qualitie for the torment of the damned It shall shine to the damned but not as an object of comfort that they may see it and rejoyce But to the increasing of their miserie that they may see and grieve the more The sight shall be deprived of the light of the sunne moon and all the starres as also of the sight of Christ and all the saints And it shall be punished with weeping smoak and the sight of the devils and all the damned The eares shall heare schreetchings and frequent blasphemies of the damned and the horrible roaring of the devils The taste shall be afflicted with hunger and thirst and shall be deprived of all the pleasure of meat and drink The smell shall be tormented with the stink of brimstone The touch shall feel the fire within and without burning piercing even to the marrow The bodies of the damned shall be deformed obscured slow and heavie The memorie shall be tormented with the remembrance of sinnes past neither will she grieve so much that she hath sinned as that she hath lost her pleasures One spark of hell-fire shall more torment the sinner then if a woman should remain in labour and travail a thousand yeares There shall be weeping for grief and gnashing of teeth for madnesse In the flesh they shall be tormented by the worm of conscience There is no sinne which shall not there have its proper torment As there is nothing to be desired in the kingdome of heaven which may not be found So in hell there is nothing found that is desired It will nothing profit the damned there to have enjoyed divers pleasures in their life yea the remembrance of them shall grievously torment them It will nothing profit the damned to have lived here in this life in perpetuall fulnesse and drunkennesse for then they shall not obtain so much as a little drop of water It will nothing profit them to have been clothed with costly garments because they shall be covered with confusion and have their bodies clothed with shame It will nothing profit them to have lived in honour for in hell there is no honour but continuall sighing and dolour It will nothing profit them to have heaped up riches in this life because they shall be all there poore alike They shall be removed from the beatificall vision of God Not to see God exceeds all the punishments of hell If the damned which are shut up in the prison of hell could but see Gods face they should feel no pain no grief no sorrow They shall feel the wrath of God and yet they shall never see the beatificall face of God They shall feel punishments from his face and yet they shall never behold his face The furie of the Lord shall alwayes kindle the fire of eternall damnation like a river of brimstone Neither shall they onely be removed from beholding God but they shall be also miserably tormented by the sight of the devils They shall feel their whips whose commands they have followed in this life If the sight of a seeming ghost doth almost exanimate a man in this life what shall the horrible sight of the devils which shall last for ever Neither shall they onely be compelled to be with the devils but they shall feel themselves tormented by them for ever If in this life by Gods permission the devil doth so grievously afflict the saints How grievously shall he torment the damned which are given up to his power for ever The damned shall not onely be tormented by the devils outwardly but by the worm of conscience also inwardly All sinnes whatsoever they have committed shall be set daily before their eyes And their torture shall be so much the greater because there remains no more the benefit of repentance When the virgins that are prepared are entred in with the bridegroom the gate shall be shut presently Understand thou the gate of indulgence the gate of mercie the gate of consolation the gate of hope the gate of grace the gate of holy conversion The damned shall cry and say to the mountains rocks Fall upon us and hide us from the wrath of the Lambe But their cry shall be in vain because heaven and earth shall flee from his wrath as it is written Every island fled away and the mountains were not found Whatsoever is given to the elect to the increasing of their glory all that shall turn to the damned to the increasing of their sorrow There shall be indeed degrees of punishments But yet he that feeleth least torment shall receive no ease thereby He that is tormented with greater punishments shall envy him that is tormented with lesse The damned shall receive no ease from this that some of their kinsmen friends are received into the heavenly palace Because the elect shall not grieve at all that some of their kindred are gone to hell to be tormented for ever So great shall the pain and torment be in the damned that their minde can think upon nothing but that whereunto the force of pain driveth them The damned shall hate all the creatures of God they shall hate one another they shall hate the holy angels and the elect and even God himself but not in himself and in his own nature
life and the words of eternall life The cup of benediction is the communion of the bloud of Christ and the bread which we break is the participation of the Lords bodie We cleave unto the Lord Therefore we are one Spirit with him We are united unto him not onely by the communion of nature but also by the participation of his bodie and bloud I do not therefore say with the Jews How can this man give us his flesh to eat But rather crie out How doth the Lord distribute unto us his flesh to eat and his bloud to drink I do not prie into his power but do admire his benevolence I do not examine his majestie but I reverence his goodnesse His presence I beleeve the manner of his presence I know not I am certainly assured that it is most neare and inward We are members of his body flesh of his flesh and bone of his bones He dwelleth in us and we in him My soul desireth to dive by cogitation into this most profound abysse but cannot finde with what words to set forth and declare that goodnesse and therefore is altogether amazed at the sight of the greatnesse of the grace of the Lord and the glory of the blessed Meditat. XIX Of the mysterie of the Lords Supper Be wise Do not to farre enquire 'To that thou rather shouldst admire IN the Lords holy Supper there is set before us a mysterie to be trembled at and to be adored of us by all means There is the treasure and treasurie of divine grace We know that there was a tree of life planted by God whose fruit might have conserved our first parents and their posteritie by the fertilitie and felicitie thereof There was also placed in paradise a tree of the knowledge of good and evil But even that which was appointed by God for their salvation and life and for an exercise of their obedience became unto them an occasion of death and condemnation whilest they poore wretches obeyed the devils allurements and their own desires Here also is prepared a tree of life that sweet wood whose leaves are for medicine and whose fruit for meat The sweetnesse thereof doth take away the bitternesse of all evils yea of death it self Unto the Israelites was given Manna that they might be fed with heavenly food Here is that true Manna which came down from heaven to give life unto the world This is the heavenly bread and the angelicall meat of which whosoever eateth shall never hunger The Israelites had the ark of the covenant and the mercy-seat where they might heare the Lord speak face to face Here is the true ark of the covenant that is the most sacred bodie of Christ wherein the treasures of all science knowledge and wisdome are laid up Here is the true mercy-seat in the bloud of Christ which makes us to be beloved in the beloved neither doth he speak unto us onely by his inward consolation but also dwelleth in us neither doth he feed us onely with heavenly Manna but with himself Here is the gate of heaven indeed here is the angels ladder For can heaven be greater then he that is in heaven Can heaven be more nearly united unto God then the flesh and humane nature which he hath assumed Heaven indeed is the throne of God But in the humane nature assumed by Christ resteth the holy Spirit God is in heaven But in Christ dwelleth the fulnesse of the divinitie Certainly this is a great and infallible pledge of our salvation He had no greater thing to give unto us For what is greater then himself What is so closely united unto him as his humane nature which is assumed into the fellowship of the most blessed Trinitie and made the treasurie of all heavenly goods What is so nearly conjoyned unto him as flesh and bloud And yet with these most heavenly nourishments doth he refresh us miserable worms and make us partakers of his nature And shall not he then make us partakers of his grace Who ever hated his own flesh How can the Lord then despise us whom he feedeth with his own flesh and bloud How can he forget those unto whom he hath given the pledge of his own bodie How can Satan be able to overcome us seeing that we are fed with heavenly food that we faint not in battel We are deare unto Christ because he bought us at so deare a price We are deare unto Christ because he feeds us with such deare and precious things We are deare unto Christ because we are his flesh and members This is the onely Panacea of all spirituall diseases this is the medicine of immortalitie For what sinne is there so great that the sacred flesh of God cannot expiate What sinne is so great that the quickning flesh of Christ cannot heal What sinne so mortall that is not taken away by the death of the Sonne of God What fierie darts of the devil can be so deadly that they cannot be quenched in this fountain of divine grace What so great stain of the conscience that this bloud cannot purge The Lord was present to the Israelites in a cloud and in fire But here is no cloud but the sunne of righteousnesse the present light of our souls Here is not felt the fire of Gods fury but the heat of his love neither doth he depart from us but makes his mansion with us Our first parents were brought into paradise that most sweet and fragrant garden the type of eternall beatitude that being put in minde of Gods bountie they might perform due obedience unto their Creatour Behold Here is more then paradise in this place For the creature is filled with the flesh of the Creatour The penitent conscience is cleansed by the bloud of the Sonne of God By the body of Christ are nourished the members of Christ the head The faithfull soul is fed with divine and heavenly dainties The sacred flesh of God which the angels adore in the unitie of person which the archangels reverence at which the Powers do tremble and which the Vertues admire is our spirituall food Let the heavens rejoyce and let the earth be glad but much more the faithfull soul upon whom such and so great benefits are bestowed Meditat. XX. Of serious preparation before we come to the Lords Supper A wedding garment put thou on Or keep from this communion HEre is no common cheere nor the feast of some ordinarie king but here is the holy mysterie of the body and bloud of Christ to be handled of us Therefore a due preparation is required lest we finde death in stead of life and receive condemnation in stead of mercy How did that most holy Patriarch so famous for the strength of his faith how did he fear and tremble when the Sonne of God appeared unto him in the
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
that thou hast received me into the covenant of grace and made me an heir of everlasting life I acknowledge it is thy gift that I was born of Christian parents and by them brought unto this heavenly fount How many thousands of infants are born in Gentilisme and without this sacrament do die in their sinnes There is no difference in nature between me them Onely thy superabundant grace hath made a difference I was joyned with them in communion of sinne But I was separated from them by participation of thy grace How great is this thy goodnesse that thou diddest finde me when I sought thee not that thou didst heare me before I asked that thou didst open unto me before I knockt This thy mercie exceeds all praise yea and all admiration I was baptized in thy holy name thy name for me was called upon Therefore I am received into the heavenly family being made the sonne of my heavenly Father the brother of Christ and the temple of the holy Ghost This is an holy and heavenly laver In it therefore I am washed and purged from all my uncleannesse It is the laver of regeneration and renovation By it therefore I am regenerated renewed by the grace of the holy Ghost Whatsoever Christ my Saviour merited by his most holy obedience by the effusion of his most precious bloud of all that he hath left the saving fount of baptisme as a pledge Therefore the conferring of baptisme is the besprinkling of the bloud of Christ. That precious bloud of Christ doth make me clean from all my sinnes and makes me whiter then snow in the sight of God O eternall God thou hast made an eternall covenant with me in baptisme unto which I have alwayes recourse by true and serious repentance Thou hast betrothed me unto thee for ever in judgement and righteousnesse in grace and mercy Thou hast given me an earnest and pledge of thy Spirit in baptisme Therefore thou wilt not cast me away from thy face but being mindefull of thy promise thou wilt lead me into the joyes of the celestiall marriage As at the baptisme of Christ my Mediatour and head the heavens were opened So by the communion of the same baptisme thou hast opened unto me the gate of paradise As at the baptisme of Christ the holy Ghost descended upon him and a voice from heaven did testifie that he was the beloved Sonne of God So by the same communion of the same baptisme I am made a partaker of the holy Ghost and adopted to be a sonne of God For which inestimable benefit I will give thanks unto thee my God for ever Amen PRAYER XIII He renders thanks for the sacrament of the Lords supper HOw great thanks do I ow unto thee most high God for that in the most sacred mystery of the supper thou dost feed me with the bodie and bloud of thy Sonne What is there in heaven or in earth of more price and excellency then that body which is united to thy Sonne personally What more certain testimonie and pledge of thy grace can there be then the precious bloud of thy Sonne poured out for my sinnes on the altar of the crosse The very price of my redemption thou bestowest upon me that I may have a most certain testimony of thy grace towards me As often as I fall through my sinnes from the covenant of baptisme So often by true repentance and the saving use of this supper I am restored unto it again It is a sacrament of the new Testament and it alwayes enriches me with new gifts of the Spirit In this body life it self dwells and therefore it refresheth me and quickneth me unto everlasting life By the effusion of this bloud satisfaction is made for our sinnes And therefore by the drinking thereof the remission of my sinnes is confirmed unto me Christ saith it Truth it self saith it Whosoever shall eat my flesh and drink my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day that is to the life of glory For this is the bread of life which descended from heaven that whosoever shall eat thereof may not die but have everlasting life It is the eating by faith that Christ so commends which must needs be added unto the sacramentall eating that so that which was appointed to life may be received by us unto life I come therefore with true faith unto this heavenly banquet being firmly perswaded that the body which I eat was delivered unto death for me and the bloud which I drink was poured forth for my sinnes I cannot in any wise doubt of the remission of my sinnes when as it is confirmed by the participation of the price which was offered for my sinnes I cannot in any wise doubt of Christ his dwelling in me when he seals unto me the same by the communion of his body and bloud I cannot in any wise doubt of the assistance of the holy Spirit when my infirmity is strengthened with such safegard I am not afraid of Satans assaults when as this angelicall food doth make me strong to fight I am not afraid of the allurements of the flesh when as this quickning and spirituall food doth corroborate me by the vertue of the Spirit These taken and drunk do make Christ to dwell in me and me in Christ. The good shepherd will not suffer the sheep that is fed with his own body and bloud to be devoured by the infernall wolf Neither will the power of the Spirit suffer me to be overcome by the weaknesse of the flesh To thee O Saviour most benigne be praise honour and thanksgiving for ever and ever Amen PRAYER XIIII He renders thanks to God for preserving us from sundry evils TO thee O eternall and mercifull God I render eternall thanks for that thou hast hitherto preserved me from infinite evils and dangers and hast kept me safe by the guard of thy holy angels Thy privative blessings by which thou dost keep me from evil are more in number then thy positive by which thou dost conferre good upon me As many evils of soul and bodie as I see in others so many tokens do I see of thy mercie toward me For my deliverance from those evils is to be attributed as due onely to thy goodnesse How great is the power of the devil How great is his subtiltie As often therefore as that malignant and most subtile spirit and our most potent adversarie doth labour to do us any mischief so often by the buckler of thy benignity and by the guard of thy holy angels being protected I have been able to escape his nets But who can reckon up the treacherous assaults and invasions of the devil Who can therefore reckon up the riches of thy bounty When I sleep by night the eye of thy providence doth watch over me that the infernall enemy which goeth about like a roaring lion may not be able by his
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
by thy guard and upholden by thy aid I may become at length the conquerour Within are fears without are fights For within the devil doth wound my soul with venemous and fiery darts of tentations Without he wearies me with sundrie adversities and a thousand kindes of treacheries He is a serpent for his subtiltie and fallacie a lion for his violence and invasion a dragon for his crueltie and oppression He attempted to assault the very captain of the heavenly host And will he spare me a common souldier He did not doubt to set himself in opposition against the very head And what wonder then if he go about to overthrow a weak member of the mysticall bodie There is no power in me to withstand him being strong and armed There is no wisdome in me to escape the snares and gins of this enginer that hath a thousand stratagemes To thee therefore with humble sighs do I betake my self whose power cannot be termed and whose wisdome cannot be numbred Be present with me O Christ thou which art the most strong Lion of the tribe of Judah that in thee and through thee I may be able to get the conquest over that lion of hell Thou hast fought and overcome for me Fight likewise and overcome in me that thy strength may be perfected in my weaknesse Enlighten the eyes of my minde that I may discern the treacheries of Satan Direct my feet that I may escape his hidden snares Let the victory in tentation be a testimonie unto my heart of my heavenly regeneration Let the presence of thy grace confirm unto me the promise of victorie Furnish me and arm me with the strength of thy fortitude that in this combat I may be able to stand and hereafter judge him of whom I am now oppugned The more in number and the more dangerous the treacherous assaults of this enemy are the more ardently do I flee unto the aid of thy mercy One while he inspires into me the unsatiable desire of earthly things that having bound me in the fetters of avarice he may lead me out of the way of righteousnesse Another while he inflames me with the fire of anger that my heart may burn within me till I have done my neighbour some mischief Another while he solicits me to lust and the love of pleasures Another while he suggests into my minde envie and ambition Before he precipitates and throws me headlong into sinne he perswades me it is lighter then the aire or a feather or an autumn leaf and this is to make me secure And when he hath precipitated me into sin then he tells me it is greater then the universe of heaven and earth and more weighty then the balance of Gods mercy and this is to make me despair These so many and so great and treacherous assaults and fallacies I cannot foresee How much lesse then shall I be able of my self to escape them Unto thee therefore do I flee who art my strength and the rock of my fortitude for ever Amen PRAYER XIIII He prayes for a blessed departure out of this life and for a blessed resurrection unto life everlasting O Jesu Christ Sonne of the everliving God thou that wast crucified and raised up again for us thou that didst destroy our death by thy death thou that hast merited by thy resurrection a blessed resurrection for us unto life everlasting I worship thee I pray unto thee with my whole heart the onely true God together with the Father and the holy Spirit to grant unto me a happie egresse out of the miseries of this life and a blessed ingresse in the resurrection and in the day of judgement unto life everlasting I know that there is an appointed term of my life in thy divine determination and that after death follows judgement Be present with me in the houre of death thou that sufferedst death for me on the crosse Protect me in the day of judgement thou that wast for me unjustly condemned When the tabernacle of this my earthly house shall be dissolved lead my soul into an habitation in my heavenly countrey When my eyes shall be darkened in the agony of death kindle in my heart the light of saving faith When my eares shall be stopped in the houre of death speak unto me inwardly by thy Spirit and comfort me When a cold sweat doth come forth out of my dying members make me to remember thy bloudy sweat which is a sufficient ransome for my sinnes and a defensive remedie for me against death In thy sweat there appeareth fervency in thy bloud a price and in the running down thereof sufficiency When my speech shall begin to fail me in that last agonie grant that I may sigh unto thee by the grace of thy holy Spirit When those extreme distresses seize upon my heart be thou present with me by the consolation and help of thy quickning grace and take me into thy charge and tuition when all other creatures denie me aid Grant unto me that I may patiently endure all horrours and troubles and bring my soul at length out of this prison I beseech thee by thy most sacred wounds which thou enduredst in thy pâ—ssion upon the crosse for me to grant unto me that I may be able to quench the fiery darts of Satan wherewith he doth strike at me in the houre of death I beseech thee by those most bitter torments which thou sufferedst that I may be able to endure and overcome all the violent invasions of the infernall powers Let my last word in this life be the same with which thou didst consummate all upon the crosse and receive my soul which thou hast redeemed with so deare a price when I shall commend it into thy hands Let a blessed resurrection follow a blessed death In that great day of thy severe judgement deliver me from that cruel sentence thou which in my life didst with thy ready help protect me Let my sinnes be covered with the shadow of thy grace and overwhelmed in the bottom of the sea Let my soul be bound up in the bundle of the living that with all the elect I may come into the fellowship of everlasting joy Amen The fourth Part. Of Supplications for others The Argument The meditation of our neiâ—hbours wants and indigencies concern the common good and welfare of the Church and Common-wealth anâ— makes us look upon others miseries as our own This is the fruit of tâ—ue and sinceâ—e charitie which bindes us altogether into one mystiâ—all body under one head which is Christ and commends unto us a serious care of the whole Church and of all the particular members thereof That is not a true member of the bodie which labours not as much as in it lies to preserve in safetie the whole structure of the body That is not a true member of the 〈…〉 that suffereth And the same reason is of force in the mysticall body of Christ.