endeuour to reduce so many of them as wee can possibly to the embracing of the same Christian faith which we professe and to that end may bee earnest with thee by our deuout prayers to giue a blessing to our endeuours by enlightning their vnderstandings and opening their hearts and inflaming their affections and desires that so thy name may be more and more knowne vpon earth and thy sauing health among all Nations And lastly O Lord we entreate thee that leauing Christendome wee may hold fast our Christian faith that we bee not Apostataes and back-sliders to make shipwrack of faith and of a good conscience but may hold the profession of our hope without waâ—ering from the beginning to the end of this voiage And thus commending our selues to thy holy protection we beg these things at thy hands and whatsoeuer else thou knowest to bee necessary or fit for vs in thy Son Iesus Christ his name and in that forme which he himselfe hath taught vs in his Gospell saying Our Father c. A Prayer for the conscionable warranting of Nauigators to vndertake long Voyages by Sea WE do not presume most gracious God and louing Father in thy Sonne Iesus Christ to aduenture vpon the great dangers which we make account to haue continually before our eyes in our trauels by Sea trusting either in our owne skill or in the meanes prepared and prouided for vs to saue vs from those dangers but in thy blessings which thou hast graciouslie promised vpon our lawfull labours and endeuours in our honest callings and professions For howsoeuer by our callings wee are drawne to leade a great part of our liues in another element then other men ordinarily doe yet seeing that element is nothing inferiour to the earth which was chiefely made subiect to thy curse for mans sinne so that though once thou didst by this element for the sinne of man drowne all the world except eight persons saued in the Arke yet thou then promisedst neuer to destroy it so againe and to that end didst set thy Raine-bow in the cloud to assure men thereof And seeing thou hast made this Element the matter of the Sacrament of Baptisme And thy Sonne Iesus Christ by vndertaking this Sacrament in this Element hath sanctified all waters vsed in this Sacrament to signifie the mysticall washing away of sinne seeing it hâ—th pleâ—sâ—d thee to reueale more in this latter age of the world concerning this art of Nauigation then to our forefathers and dost daily bring to light more certaine meanes to giue men further knowledge and experience therein seeing by thy blessing vpon Nauigation and Nauigators the greatest dangers and difficulties in the world are runne thorow and ouercome and our little Iland of England where thy Gospell is truly preached and thy name called vpon is made famous to the remotest partes of the world Seeing the knowledge of the Mathematicall sciences which for their certentie standing vpon demonstrations and for their excellency making obseruations of the heauens and celestiall bodies and their motions and influences haue the precedence before other humane learning is by this art daily more and more encreased Seeing thou thy selfe O Lord God wast the first author of this Art instructing thy seruant Noah to build an Arke for the sauing of himselfe his famely and the rest of the creatures from the waters of the great Flood Seeing thou dost daily in our trauels by sea affoord vs more meanes and helpes to deuout and heauenly meditations then to other ordinary men Seeing that by this Art which we professe and practise the commerce and trade betwixt Nation and Nation is preserued and maintained and the knowledge of thy sauing truth carried into those parts of the earth which formerly haue not knowne thee And seeing the sea through which we passe is an image of the world and the ship in which wee â—aile is an image of thy Church and the whole course of our life at sea may teach vs spiritually how to behaue our selues in thy â—eruice Lastly seeing thy Sonne our Sauiour while he liued vpon the earth did vouchsafe not only to approue and allow our profession but to honour it in his owne person by entring into a ship and therein working a great miracle at sea and thereby giue certaine â—estimony and assurance of his Diuinity and God-head Grant that we may no way in this our intended voyage dishonour this our profession which thou hast so many waies graced but may acknowledge thee to be the God of the sea as well as of the land and may depend and relie vpon thy protection and defence at all times and in all places that the beholding of the waters may put vs in minde of the solemne vow and promise and profession which was vndertaken for vs by our Sureties in this element at our first admission into thy visible Church when we receiued the Sacrament of baptisme that by thy blessing wee may daily increase in the knowledge of those things that belong vnto our profession and chearefully run â—hrough the difficulties and dangers of our voyage and may raise spirituall comforts to our hearts from all blessings and crosses that may befall vs and aboue al that we may be sure to take thy Sonne our Sauiour Christ along with vs in our ship and whole fleete and haue him alwaies present with vs not onely as he is generally as God present in all places but as he hath specially promised his mercifull and helping presence where two or three are gathered together in his name that we may not suffer him to sleepe in vs but by our deuout prayers so awake him that we may so begin continue and end this our now intended voyage that withall our soules may continually be sayling to our true port and hauen which is heauen Grant vs these things O mercifull Father and whatsoeuer else is necessary for vs in our whole voyage not for any merits of ours but for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake in whose name we call vpon thee further as hee hath taught vs in his Gospell saying Our Faâ—her c. A Morning Prayer WEE giue thee humble and hearty thankes most mercifull Father in thy Sonne Iesus Christ for thy gracious preseruation of vs this night passed from all the perils and dangers whereunto we were subiect giuing vs quiet rest and sleepe for the refreshing of our bodies before wearied and bringing vs to the comfortable ioy of the light of this day wee beseech thee that the beholding of this corporall light which was the first of thy creatures and which before rested in thy selfe and wherein thou seemedst to take such delight that thou didst adde to the light created the first day those excellent celestiall bodyes of the Sunne and Moone and Starres the fourth day may cause vs to lift vp our hearts spiritually to discearne thee that art light and in whom is no darkenesse that not onely doest as the light disperse the beames of
The Elements were to serue and nourish the Plants and the Plants to serue the Beasts and the Beasts to serue Man and Man to serue God Before sinne there was no disorder or disquietnesse of any creature toward another but a generall quiet Calme through the whole world And therefore God may well bee called the God of peace and peace may be as well stiled the â—eace of God But man by sin breaking the peace with God as the Prophet speaketh Your iniquities haue separated betwixt God and you and your sinnes haâ—e hid his face from you consequently the creatures being thereby made subiect to vanity there arose stormes and tempests troubles and oppositions from all the creatures for the earth being cursed for mans sake brought forth thornes and thistles the Angels stood with a blade of a sword shaken to keepe him from the tree of life the water destroyed all the race of mankind by an vniuersall Floud except onely those eight that entred into the Arke The spirit of God was grieued And God the Father said It repenteth me that I haue made man I will destroy him from the earth Thus then these tempests being raised against man from God and his creatures by mans sinne and man hauing thereby a warre within himself in his owne conscience condemning him there was no calming of these tempests nor no peace to be made but onely by Christ who as he is truly termed the Prince of peace so likewise the Apostle calleth him our peace who hath not onely made peace beâ—wixt God and vs but hath also preached peace to all whether Iâ—wes or Gentiles This then is the great Calme that Christ brought into the world to reconcile all mans enemies That the water that before destroyed the world should in him by the Sacrament of Baptisme become Lauacrum regenerationis the Laâ—er of our new birth whereby we are entred into Gods Church That the earth instead of thornes and thistles should bring forth bread and wine which in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper doe not onely represent but exhibit spiritually to â—he faithfull receiuer the body and blood of Christ vnto saluation That a whole quire of Angels in stead of swords in their hands should haue a song of peâ—ce in their mouthes That the Spirit of God should descend in the likenesse of a mild Doue And God the Father acknowledge hiâ—selfe by a voice from heauen to bee in Christ well pleased with mankind This I say is that great Calme wrought by Christ whereby God and the Angels and the creatures are reconciled vnto man and man is at peace with his owne conscience that wee may say with the Apostle If any man be in Christ he is a new creature old â—hings are passed away Behold all things are become new And therfore our Sauior Christ when he sent forth his Apostles to preach yea and his seuenty disciples also charged them to begin at that Into what soeuer hâ—â—se ye eâ—ter first say Peace be to this house And if the Sonne of peace be there your peace shall rest vpon him if not it shall â—urne to you againe And when hee was to leaue them he left behind him this legacy My peace I leaue with you But specially after his resurrection his first salutation repeated againe and againe Peace be vnto you that we may say with Saint Bernard Miseros nos quos non penetrat pax toties repetita that it is a miserable thing for vs if we had rather continue out the storme then be in a calme sea which made Saint Paul begin his Epistles with Grace mercy and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ and conclude them with â—he peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding keepe your hearts and minds that we may say with Saint Bernard Domine pacem volo pacem desidero nil amplius Lord I wish and desire peace onely and nothing â—lse And yet all this peace and calme which we can receiue in this world is but a pledge and earnest of the perfect and compleate Calme and quiet which the Christian by faith beleeueth and by hope expecteth in the world to come when he shall rest from his lâ—bours and receiue the Crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord the righteous Iudge shâ—ll giue at that day to all that loue his appearing Now rest and quiet is the onely end of all labour God himsâ—lfe when hee hâ—d fâ—nished his worke of Creatioâ— in six daies he rested the seuenth day and sanctified it And Christ when he had finished the worke of our redemption by a painefull and troublesome life and death in this world was then receiued vp inâ—o heaâ—en to sit at â—he right haâ—d of God thâ— Fâ—thâ—r It hath pleased God not only to ordaine and appoint the night for man to take his rest in as well as the day to labor trauell in but also to appoint a seuenth day for a day of rest from bodily labours And Canaan the land of Promise where Gods people were to rest after their bondage in Egypt troublesome passage through the wildernesse was a type and figure of that rest and quiet which God hath prouided in heauen for his children after their deliuerance from the bondage of Satan and troublesome passage thorow the wildernesse of this world as the Apostle proueth at large For we saith he which haue beleeued doe enter inâ—o rest c. And in the next verse For he spake in a certaine place of the seuenth day in this wise And God did rest the seuenth day from all his workes And in this place againe If they shall enter into my rest And a little after he saith If Iesus â—hat â—s Ioshua had giuen them rest then would he not after this hâ—ue spoken of another day There remaineth thâ—refore a reâ—â— to â—he people of God For he that hath entred into his rest haâ—h also ceased from his ownâ— workes as God did from his let vs studie therefore to enâ—er into that rest c. By all which the Apostle doth proue that al the peace and rest which we can attaine vnto in this life should put vs in mind and prepare vs for the eternall peace and rest in the life to come that when the time of our dissolution comes wee may bee ready to say with old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart part in peace The yere of Iubilie or reioycing which God ordained to be euery fiftieth yeere whâ—râ—in the whole land was to rest and liberty to be proclaimed to all the inhabitants and they were neither to sowe nor to reape nor gather grapes c. was a type also of this great calme and eternall rest purchased to all Gods people by the death and resurrection of Christ. And to conclude this eternall rest is that which al good Christians should long
seruants the prophets rising vp early and sending them saying Returne now euery man from his euill way and amend your workes c. but you would not obey mâ— Now if the obedience of the Rechabites to their father should be so great an argument to moue the Iewes to obedience vnto God how much more may the example of these rough seas and stormy tempests being calmed at the word of our Sauiour Christ only be a greater means if we truly meditate vpon it both to coÌ„sider how many words of his in the mouthes and writings of his Ministers haue bin in vaine vnto vs in former times and to put vs in mind of our duty of obedience that we be not worse then other creatures which are ready to obey and doe his will as it appeareth in this place And surely the word of God which is so powerfull in other creatures should be of as great command in man for the Apostle tels vs that the word of God is liuely and mighty in operation and sharper then any two edged sword and entreth through euen to the diuiding asunder of the soule and the spirit and of the ioynts and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and of the intents of the heart And this word will produce a worke for so saith the Prophet in the person of God Surely as the raine commeth downe and the snow from heauen and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth and bud and that it may giue seede to the sower aâ—d bread vnto him that eateth So shall my word be that goeth out of my mouth it shall not returne vnto me void but it shall accomplish that which I will and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it It is true that if we examine the working of this word in men it hath not many times that successe to be the power of God vnto saluation and the sauour of life vnto life but if it faile of that it is the sauour of death vnto death vnto them that perish for the earth saith the Apostle which drinketh in the raine that commeth oft vpon it and bringeth forth herbes meete for them by whom it is dressed receiueth blessing of God but that which beareth thornes and briers is reproued and is neere vnto cursing whose end is to be burned And to apply this vnto the text the Prophet telles vs That the wicked are like the raging sea that cannot rest whose waters casâ— vp myre and dirt There is no peace saith my God vnto the wicked That is they are continually troubled with stormes and tempests for their exorbitant passions and affections bee as violent and contrary winds distracting them on the one side to wanton lust and on the other to hatred and malice sometime feeding them with vaine hopes and sometimes renting and tearing them with desperate feares So that these and all other passions of the mind are fitly termed perturbations that corrupt the iudgement and seduce the will causing wicked men neuer to be at rest and quiet And the chiefe end of the word of God preached or read is to quiet and calme these tempests of the soule to moderate the violence of these furious passions and perturbations of the mind The vse whereof to all men but specially to Sea-men when they see stormes and tempests and their ship in danger is to consider their soules and the spirituall danger they are in by these outragious winds that sometime their ship or heart is driuen a shoare and sticks fast in the mire and dirt of lust and vncleannes which I heare hath been the wracke of many a poore soule in his trauels and sometime they are driuen into the gulfe of intemperance whereby they are swallowed vp quicke for want of calming that passion of their greedy appetite and desire sometime they are driuen vpon the rocke of desperate profanenesse swearing and cursing and blaspheming God vntil the ship of their soule be quasht in pieces and sometime on the sands of selfe-loue and selfe-conceit which passions and all other so long as they be inordinate doth driue their ship dangerously they know not whether Saint Augustine writing vpon that in the Psalme He would make haste for my deliuerance from the stormy wind and tempest sheweth both the cause and the remedie of all such tempests arising in thy heart and mind Forte nauis tua ideo turbatur quia Christus in te dormit c. Happily saith he thy ship is troubled because Christ is asleepe in thee The ship in which Christ sailed with his Disciples was sore troubled and in danger but the reason waâ— Christ was asleepe when his Disciples awaked him â—e rebuked the winds and the sea and there followed a Calme Thy heart and mind are therefore perhaps worthily troubled because Christ in whom thou hast â—eleeued â—s not awake in thee thou sufferest many perturbations because thou hast forgotten Christ his Passion and suffering for thee Recouer thy faith in him call vpon him awake him and â—e will arise and rebuke the storme and giue thee a Calme The cause then of all thy tempests in thy soule is that thou sufferest Christ to sleepe in thee the remedy against them is to awake him and call vpon him for helpe and deliuerance Doth the tentation to lust and vncleannesse seaze vpon thee as a tempest say vnto thy soule I am a Christian and haue giuen my name to Christ and am a member of his Mysticall body Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot God forbid Thus doe thou rouze vp Christ by thy spirituall meditation the storme will blow ouer and a Calme follow And as in this so in all other tentations if thou repaire to Christ his word will be as powerfull to giue thee peace and quiet as it was here to appease the fury of the windes and waues Thus much shall suffice of the third generall part of the historie to wit the miracle The fourth and last followeth concerning the successe of it in the beholders consisting in two things First They maruelled Secondly They acknowledged What man is this that both the Windes and Sea obey him For the first we neede not stand long with interpreters vpon this place to enquire who they are that are that are here said to maruell and wonder Our Euangelist calleth them the men and Saint Marke and Saint Luke they among themselues and seeing Saint Marke saith There were also with him other little ships It is plaine that both the Disciples and all the rest that were the beholders marueled for the Disciples as was shewed before were yet but young beginners raw fresh water souldiers and are reproued before for their little faith and therefore they as well as the rest could not chuse but wonder The Prophet Esay speaking of the birth of Christ saith that they shall call his name
death and resurrection in this life as also of that eternall rest in the life to come whereof the other is but a pledge and earnest when the godly shall be partakers of such ioyes as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor câ—n possibly enter into the heart of man to conceiue For the first the whole current of the fathers tell vs that the sea is an image of the world many waies 1. First the sea hath his name of bitternesse Proptâ—rea mare appellaâ—um quòd eius aquae sunâ— amarae The sea hath his name Mare in the Latine of the Latine word amarum which signifieth bitter because the waters thereof are bitter The sea is very bitter notwithstanding to the fishes that liue and are nourished in it it sauoureth sweetly So the world is very bitter yeâ— to worldly men delighting in the fleshly lusts thereof it seemes sweete and though at first it seeme but as a sport or play yet as Abneâ— saith to Ioab Knowest thou not that iâ— will be bitternesse in the lâ—ttâ—r eâ—d For like a subtill serpent it hath a sting in the taile and insinuates and windes it selfe into vs for to hurt vs. And though worldly men flatter themselues and say as Agag to Samuel Truly the bitternesse of death is pâ—ssed yet they are as much deceiued as Agag was as may appeare in Samuels answere in that place It is the distemperate taste of worldly men that makes the pleasures of the world seeme so sweete vnto them but if euer God effectually call them and they come to the true rellish of them they will say with Naomi the mother of Ruth Call mâ— no more Naomi or beautifull but call mee Mara that is bitter for the Almighty hath giuen me much bitternesse For the greatest pleasures of this world are like the waters of Marah wherof the Israelites Gods people could not drinke for the bitternesse thereof The waters of the sea of the world are like those waters which Saint Iohn saw by vision into which fell a great starre named wormewood and the waters became wormewood and many men died of the waters because they were bitter Let men therefore feare the curse denounced by the Prophet Woe be to them which make sowre sweet and sweet sowre which call euiâ—l good and good euill which make darknesse light and light darknesse For it were easie to shew of all the things in the world as Saint Iohn reckoneth them vp the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life that is the vnlawfull desire of worldly pleasure treasure honor that they be all the bitter waters of the sea of the world And it may bee said of them al as the Wise man saith of the first The lips of a strange woman drop as the hony combe and her mouth is more soft then oyle But the end of her is bitter as wormwood and sharpe as a two edged sword And that wee may see the bitternesse of these waters in this sweet sinne of vncleannesse as the world is not ashamed to call it and thereby to iudge of the rest First Salomon tels vs that it is a punishment in it selfe for such as God is angry withall The mouth saith he of strange women is as a deâ—pe pit He with whom the Lord is angry shall fall therein It is therefore a signe of Gods anger towards vs when he suffereth vs to fall into it Secondly it bringeth men to infamie reproch dishonour He shall finde a wound and dishonour and his reproch shall neuer be done away Thirdly it bringeth beggery with it for because of the whorish woman a man is brought to a morsell of bread Fourthly it bringeth filthy and loathsome diseases on a man euen rottennesâ—â— to his bones Fifthly it destroyeth not onely his vnderstanding but his soule also Sixthly it is as a fire that will pursue and follow not onely him but his encrease to â—heir vtter dâ—struction Seuenthly the Apostle maketh it as a punishment of Idolatry to be giuen ouer to these vncleane lusts Let men therefore take heede of these bitter waters and if either they bee afraid of the anger of God or their owne infamie or the wasting of their estates or of the rotting of their bodies or the destroying of their soules oâ— the vndoing of their posterity let them take heed of that which if they looke they may finde hath cost other men so deare and giuen them sharp and bitter sawce to their sweet meate knowing what a poysonfull hooke lyeth vnder that pleasing bait to betray them The same may bee said of the rest of the vices that ouerflow the world as pride couetousnesse intemperance in diet murmuring enuie hatred disobedience to authority they are all the bitter waters of the world The woâ—ld is a sea The sea is bitter Thâ— world is bitter Secondly the sea is inconstant it ebbeth and floweth sometime it is quiet sometimes troubled It followeth the Moone As the Moone changeth so the sea changeth The world is as inconstant altering and changing euery day both in priuate men and in whole states Some borne some die some in health some sicke some rising some falling some in fauour some in disgrace and as Saint Gregory obserued all the actions of our life are but remedia taedij when we are wearie of one thing we seeke for reliefe of the contrary when we are wearie of fasting we eate and being wearie of eating wee fast when wâ—e are wearie of waking we sleepe and being wearie of sleeping we wake In nothing we continue at one stay and as the day succeedes the night and the night the day so variety and contrariety must giue content in all our actions The vse whereof is to teach vs to obserue in the world and our selues liuing in the world the mutability and change of all things vnder the Sunne God only being vnchangeable The Angels in heauen and man in Paradise were subiect to change as they found by miserable experience In God onely is no change nor shadâ—w of change but the world passeth and the concupiscâ—nce thereâ—f As the sea therefore is inconstant so is the world inconstant Thirdly the sea is full of dangers sometime by contrary wiâ—ds sometime by Pyrats sometime by entising mermaids and syrens sometime by rockes somtime by quick-sands and many other waies The world is a sea of dangers yea hath more dangers theÌ„ the sea 1. It hath such coÌ„trary windes that Christs ship his Church is faine with Saint Pauls ship to cast ancor lest it bee driuen backe in her course to heauen 2. It is ful of pyâ—ats that watch their opportunitie to take and make prize of the rich commodities wherewith she is laden to rob and spoile her of that most precious faith which is much more precious then gold that perisheth yea to depriue her of those