received by the Holy Catholick Church and holds in Consent or Harmony with the Holy Scripture the Christians Armour by which and the constant Practice of Piety every faithful Soldier of Christ may be enabled to pull down those strong Holds of his spiritual Enemy and by Possessing his Soul in Patience obtain a glorious Victory VII With all due Reverence I esteem of those two Sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper the one to cleanse and purifie us at our entring the other to strengthen and sanctifie us Living and to glorifie our Souls at their departing As with my Heart I believe unto Righteousness so with my Mouth do I confess unto Salvation VIII Neither do I profess my self such a Solifidian asto hold Faith sufficient to Salvation without Works Neither such a Champion for good Works as to hold Works effectual without Faith As Faith is the Root so are Works the Fruit. These are ever to go hand in hand together otherwise that fearful Curse which our blessed Saviour sometimes pronounced upon the barren Fig-tree must be their Censure IX And now in this day of my Change as in this Confidence I have ever liv'd so my Trust is that in the same I shall dye that in the Resurrection of my Saviour Christ Jesus is my Hope And in his Ascension is my Glory For I believe that my Redeemer liveth and that with these Eyes I shall see him X. And having thus returned a due Account of my belief my next thing is to remember that Message returned by Isaiah the Son of Amos to Hezekiah set thine House in Order for thou shalt die 2 Kings 20.1 for it is a Maxim when the outward part is orderly disposed the inward cannot chuse but be better prepared XI To remove then from me the Cares of this present Life that I may take a more willing adieu of the World before I leave it weaning my desires from it by addressing my self to a better for live he cannot in the Land of the living who prepares not himself for it before his arriving XII And now my Worldly Cares are drawn near unto their Period Seeing then I am sailing towards my Harbour let me strike Anchor that taking the Wings of the Morning I may fly to the Bosome of my dear Redeemer go forth then my Soul what fearest thou Go forth why tremblest thou thou hast had enough of these Worldly Pleasures for what foundst thou there but Anguish turn then thy Face to the Wall and think of the I and of Promise XIII Thou hast now but a little time left thee the remainder whereof is justly exacted by him that made thee Sighs Sobs Prayers and Tears are all the Treasures that are left thee and precious Treasures shall these be to thee if presented by Faith to the Throne of mercy for the Enemy can never prevail where Christian Fear and constant hope possesseth the Soul XIV Let thy desire then be planted where thy Treasure is placed and as one ravished with a spiritual Fervour cry out and spare not with that devour Father St. Hierom Saying Should my Mother tear her Hair rent her Cloaths lay forth those Breasts which nursed me and hang about me should my Father lye in the way to stop me my Wife and Children weep about me I would throw off my Mother neglect my Father contemn the Lamentation of my Wife and Children to meet my Saviour XV. And less than this O my Soul thou canst not do if thou callest to mind what thou leavest to whom thou goest and what thou hast in Exchange for that thou losest For what dost thou leave here but a World of Misery to whom goest thou but to a God of Mercy and what haft thou in Exchange for a vile frail and corruptible Body but immortal Glory Whatsoever thou hadst here was got with Pain kept with Fear and lost with Grief whereas now thou art to possess eternal Riches without Labouring and to enjoy them without fear of losing The Prayer O God my Heart then is ready my Heart is ready too long have I sojourned here and made my self a Stranger to my Heavenly Countrey It is high time for me then to discamp and to leave these Tents of Kedar that I may rest without Labouring rejoyce without sorrowing and live without dying in the Celestial Tabor saying with that Vessel of Election I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ even so Lord Jesus come quickly A Prayer when we hear a Bell ring for a Person at the Point of Death OEternal God I humbly thank thee for speaking in this voice to my Soul and I humbly beseech thee also to accept my Prayers in his behalf by whose occasion this voice this sound is come to me For though he and all of us have highly offended thee yet do thou in mercy receive us and grant that now his Soul being ready to depart from hence to thy Kingdom it may quickly return to a joyful re-union to that Body which it hath left and that we with it may soon enjoy the full Consummation of all in Body and Soul II. I humbly beg at thy hand O merciful God for thy Son Christ Jesus sake That thy Blessed Son may have the Consummation of his Dignity by entring into his last Office the Office of a Judge and may have Society of humane Bodies in Heaven as well as he hath had ever of Souls and that as thou hatest Sin it self thy hate to sin may be exprest in the abolishing of all Instruments of Sin the Allurements of this World and the World it self and all the temporary Revenges of Sin the Stings of Sickness and of Death and all the Castles and Prisons and Monuments of Sin in the Grave III. Let time be swallowed up in Eternity and hope swallowed in Possession and ends swallowed in infiniteness and all Men ordained to Salvation in Body and Soul be one intire and everlasting Sacrifice to thee where thou mayst receive Delight from them and they Glory from thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXXII Of this Life compared with Eternity FOrasmuch as Man who is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of Trouble so Man as regenerate and born of God hath a long time to live and is full of Bliss A Life so long that it runs parallel with Eternity and therefore without an abuse we cannot use such an Expression as length of time II. It is not a long but an endless Life it is not Time but Eternity which now I speak of Nor is it a wretched Eternity of which a Man may have the Priviledge as he is born of a Woman but an Eternity of Bliss which is competent to him only as born of God III. And of this Bliss there is such a fulness that our Heads are too thick to understand it Or if we were able to understand it yet our Hearts are too narrow to give it Entrance Or if our Hearts could
Life is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit IV. And what can my Thoughts raise from this Or where shall I be comforted it is thy Mercy O Lord is the only expedient that can relieve me thou O Blessed Jesus art unto me Life eternal and by thy Sufferings Death is to me an advantage while my Body sleeps it shall rest secure and that Rest shall be perfectly Blessed I shall rest from Labour Sorrow and Sin my sleep shall be safe and my beatifical Vision happy while my Body sleeps in the Dust my Soul shall awake to Righteousness when my Soul is dismantled of Flesh and Flesh of fading Beauty my Spirit shall be adorned with the Robes of thy Glory V. While my Dust is driven with the wind upon the Surface of the Earth my Spirit shall fly to the highest Heavens then shall my Eyes be opened to behold my Soul with Purity and Perfection no dark Veil of Nature shall obscure me defect of Senses hinder me or foggy Clouds of sin hover over me my Understanding shall be transparent my Affections pure and my Memory perfect I shall there be fully satisfied in beholding the Spirits of just Men made perfect ravished in enjoying the Presence of Angels and Blessed in retaining the Divine Goodness VI. There can be nothing wanting where there is such Perfection where humane Happiness is eternally united to the Blessed Trinity where I am Christ's and Christ is God's and the Holy Comforter abides with us for ever O most splendid Condition of my sinful Body and blessed Change of my immortal Soul the one is sown in Corruption that it may rise immortal the other layeth down Corruption to inherit Glory VII But wretched Sinner even in this Happiness I am still miserable I found out my quiet but neglect to enjoy it Death reaches to me a Crown but I refuse to accept it I am so prone to affect my own unhappiness to delight in Labour and complain of Rest why do I dwell among these Objects of Vanity the World loves me not nor I it and why do I thus doat upon my Enemy with its frowns it afflicts me with its Smiles it betrays me and there is nothing in it but Vanity and Misery VIII Go then out cheerfully O my Soul from this dark Prison of thy Body to that bright Celestial Palace there God is thy Father and Heaven thy Country thou art here Forlorn Poor Wretched and Naked dispossessed of Graces and robbed of Goodness thou hast there large Treasure and of great Price a Heavenly Mansion and a goodly Heritage Christ hath long ago purchased it and is now gone before to prepare it IX Here in this Life thou longest much to behold what thou never sawest but in the other are great and glorious things prepared for thee such as no mortal Eye hath seen Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive how earnestly then shouldst thou long to behold them and much more earnestly to enjoy them how willingly should this make thee say with Holy David My Soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the Presence of God X. Alas Thou art here my Soul but groping in the dark daily committing Errours and Mistakes every minute stumbling and falling into Sin Shame and Sorrow in great Dangers of the Miseries of humane Life but in greater Danger of eternal Torments XI All that thou canst pretend to know here is to Confess thy self ignorant Thou only knowest things here by their Events but there thou shalt know them in their primitive Causes thou art here tired out in gaining this imperfect feeble and empty Knowledge there thou shalt be delighted in knowing all that is desirable by knowing him in whom are laid up all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge these transitory drops of Joys are full of Bitterness but those Rivers of eternal Pleasures flow from the Fountain of eternal Sweetness Thou hast here the Pomps and Vanities of the wicked World to delight thee but thou hast there a far greater and more exceeding weight of Glory to surround thee thou art here inclosed by the Misery of Life but thou art there enlarged by the Blessedness of Death XII Blessed Lord all this by Grace I know and stedfastly believe and yet carnally I am still blind and ignorant unable to discuss and unwilling to desire those things which belong unto my Peace but when thou with thy precious Eye-Salve shalt once anoint my Eyes and open them to behold the Beauty of thy Heavenly Temple I shall then ardently affect it and unfeignedly long for it I shall then most readily forsake these brittle Walls of frail Mortality to dwell with thee in perfect Holiness and endless Happiness that Frailty may be swallowed up by Immortality and Immortality rewarded by Eternity The Prayer ALmighty God which wert and art to come who hast sweetned and taken away the Sting of Death by thy perfect obedience and hast perfumed the Grave by the Fragrancy of thy blessed Sufferings suffer me not in my last hour for any Pains of Death or Terrours of Hell to fall from thee let me seriously consider that this Life is miserable and that a happy Death is truly Blessed acquaint me every day with the remembrance of it and bless me every hour with an earnest Desire to it that I may with willingness cast off all Sin and Misery and joyfully put on the Robe of Immortality II. Prepare me O Lord for that Blessed hour and in my greatest Agonies and Extremities when all the Comforts of this mortal Life shall fail then Lord Jesus forsake me not neither be thou far from me Moreover give me then that inward Joy and blessed Comfort of thy Holy Spirit that may uphold and comfort me in all the Terrours and Amazements of this dark and obscure Passage in all the dreadful Temptations of the Devil and my own accusing Conscience Let thy Spirit witness to my Soul that I am thy Chosen purifie me and take away my Dross powerfully Protect me by thy saving Grace so shall I assuredly be made a Partaker of thy Heavenly Kingdom Meditation XXII In time of Sickness HEar my Prayer O Lord which I make unto thee upon my Bed of Sickness incline thine Ears unto me in this time of my trouble O hear me and that right soon Behold thou hast made my days as it were a Span long and my Age though it be great in respect of others yet it is nothing in respect of thee for verily every Man living is altogether Vanity II. My days are consumed away like Smoke and my Bones are burnt up as it were a Fire-brand There is no Health in my Flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any Rest in my Bones by reason of my Sin My wickednesses are gone over my Head and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear But I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for
in Oblivion The Prayer O Lord what is our Life It is but a Vapour which is soon vanished and gone thou hast given us a short Portion of time on this side the Grave our Condition is vain unsatisfied and full of disquiet and we have no hope but in thee O Lord O teach us to number our days that we may apply our Hearts unto Wisdom to remember and to know our latter end that so we may never Sin against thee II. Grant that we may live as though we were always dying being of mortified Souls and Bodies of bridled Tongues and Affections and that instead of heaping up Riches we may strive for a Treasure of good Works laying up in Store for the time to come that having recovered our Strength lost by the Commission of our Sins when we go hence and are no more seen we may have a residence in those heavenly Mansions which are prepared by thee our Lord and Saviour Amen Meditation IV. That we ought continually to watch and pray WAtch said our Blessed Lord Because ye know not at what hour the Son of Man will come The Romans watch'd in their Arms yet sometimes without their Shield that they might have nothing to rest upon to attract them to sleep it is therefore thy Duty O drowzy Mortal to watch with vigour and well armed Ardent Prayers to the Almighty are the true Arms of Christians and the Shield which encourages sleep is the vain hope of a longer Life II. The frequent Cries of the Roman Soldiers were Wake Wake Thus they encouraged one another to Constancy in watching The Heavens themselves the seat of God's Glory waking and incessantly toyling admonish thee to watch If thou art not grown deaf like the Adder or fallen asleep in Carnal security hear the Voice of Christ Watch and Pray and St. Mark in his holy Gospel tells thee that Christ in the Conclusion of his Sermon thrice repeats these Words Mark 13. Take ye heed watch and pray for you know not when the time is Verse 33. Secondly Watch ye therefore for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh at Even or at Midnight or at the Cockcrowing or in the Morning lest Coming suddenly he find you sleeping Verse 35 36. Lastly And what I say unto you I say unto you all Watch Verse 37. III. And with the same Admonitions by the mouth of St. Matthew he crys to us Watch ye therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come Matt. 24.42 and again Watch therefore for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh Matt. 25.13 the same he repeats upon the Mount of Olives Watch and pray that ye enter not into Temptation Matt. 26.41 IV. Upon the same Text he Preaches in St. Luke's Gospel Watch ye therefore and pray always Luke 21.36 the same watchfulness how often doth St. Paul reiterate these Claps of Thunder upon us to awaken us from sleep We are deaf yea dead indeed if these loud Exhortations will not rouse us Whoever thou art that sleepest in Viciousness awake Thou canst not plead ignorance in the Egyptians fate when the destroying Angel entred Egypt and made a vast Slaughter both upon Man and Beast so that Pharaoh's heart was hardened to his own Destruction V. Remember the Lot of the ten Virgins when there was at Midnight a great Cry made and they that were prepar'd were admitted to the Nuptials but the drowsie Sleepers were excluded Dost thou remember the Folly of the gluttonous Servant when his Lord came unlook'd for and at an hour when he least thought of him Or hast thou consider'd the vigilant Master of his Family who wakes at all hours that the Thief can have no opportunity to break the house open And Lastly dost thou remember thy Saviour was born at Midnight and peradventure he may come at that hour to judge the Universe Therefore watch as if every day were thy last The Prayer GRacious God let thy Grace reform our Lives and Manners that we may watch diligently and pray without Ceasing keep our mouth from slander guile and deceit let us never incline to Actions of injustice or uncleanness in partaking with Thieves or Adulterers either in their Sin or Punishment that when thou who art the righteous God of the World shalt appear in perfect Beauty with a consuming Fire before thee and a Tempest round about thee with Terrours and glorious Majesty calling the Heavens and the Earth together to judge thy People thou mayst gather us among thy Saints in Glory II. O let the day-spring of thy Favour visit us from on high that we may seek thee with an early Devotion pursue after thee with a Constant and Active Industry and at last possess thee with the firm Comprehensions of Love and Charity That in this World we looking for thee in Holiness of Living longing and thirsting after thee with fervent Desires may for ever hereafter behold thy Power and Glory Give us the Mercies and the Portion of thine inheritance that so we may Honour thee by an eternal Oblation of Praise and Thanksgiving in the highest Heavens Amen Meditation V. Death often to be thought of MAny in this World live as if they thought they should never die nor in the least consider their Latter end It was a Custome with some of old whensoever they intended a sumptuous Feast to put a Deaths-head into a Dish and serve it up unto the Table II. Which being meant for a significant though silent Orator to plead for Temperance and Sobriety by minding Men of their Mortality and that the end of their eating should be to live and that the end of their living should be to dye and the end of their dying to live for ever for even the Heathens who denied the Resurrection of the Body did yet believe the immortality of the Soul was look'd upon by all sober and considering Guests as the wholsomest part of their Entertainment III. And since 't is true what is said by Solomon that Sorrow is better than Laughter for by the sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better Whereupon the Royal Preacher concludes it better of the two for a Man to go into the House of Mourning I cannot but reason within my self that when the Heart of Fools is in the House of Mirth there can be nothing more friendly or more agreeable to their wants than to invite such Men to the House of Mourning and there to treat them with a Character of the most troublesome Life of Man which being impartially provided will serve as well as a Death's-head during the time of their floating in this Valley of Tears IV. For this is useful to all by way of Instruction not to be amorous of a Life which is not only so short as that it cannot be kept long but withal so full of trouble as that 't is hardly worth keeping Nor by consequence to doat on a flattering World which is so little
my Sin III. O Lord be merciful unto me heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee Call to remembrance O Lord thy tender mercy and thy loving kindness which hath been ever of Old O remember not the Sins of my Youth nor the Offences of riper years but according to thy mercy think thou upon me IV. Cast me not away in the time of Age forsake me not now that my strength faileth me Go not far from me O God my God haste thee to help me Thou O God hast taught me from my youth up until now Forsake me not therefore in my old Age when I am Gray-headed V. The days of our Age are Threescore years and ten and though some be so strong that they come to Fourscore which is a mercy wherewith thou hast Crowned me thy unworthy Servant yet is their strength then but Labour and Sorrow so soon passeth it away and we are gone But Lord suffer me not to go hence in thy Displeasure O suffer not my Sun to go down in thy wrath nor my days to be shut up in the darkness of thine Anger VI. But as thou art pleased to bring me to my Grave in a full Age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his Season so let me be gathered at last like Wheat into thy Heavenly Granary And let mine Age be renewed as the Eagles in thy Kingdom of Glory Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen VII Thou in whose hands are the Keys of the Grave and the issues of Life and Death Thou in whose Power alone it is to kill and to make alive and to bring down to the Grave and to raise up again Thou who hadst Compassion upon Peter's Wives Mother by recovering her out of a Fever Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole VIII Thou who didst shew thy mercy to those Daughters of Abraham the Woman that for twelve years together was diseased with an Issue of Blood and another who by the space of eighteen years was so bowed together that she could in no wise lift up her self thou didst loose both these and many more from their long infirmities Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole IX Thou who didst restore to Life the young Maiden that was dead Lord if thou wilt thou canst restore me to my Health who am an aged Sinner and a sick feeble Creature Thou canst mitigate my Pains and renew my Strength and lengthen my days For thou makest our Beds in our Sickness and art the Lord of Life and Health and Strength even thou art the Almighty God and the Horn of my Salvation O thou ancient of days X. But Lord as for these outward Blessings I wholly submit my self and them unto thy good Pleasure If it be thy Blessed Will to have the days of my Pilgrimage prolonged upon Earth make me to live always to thy Glory and to my own Souls Comfort as thou dost add days to my years so do thou likewise add Repentance to my days XI But if thou thinkest it more expedient for me that I should die than live then welcome my Death and Dissolution without which there is no entring into Life eternal nor hopes of being with Christ Welcome Jesus who by thy Death hast taken away the Sting of Death Welcome that Cup whereof thou my dear Saviour hast drank before me and which even to the very Dregs thou hast drank off for me XII And therefore I will readily take this Cup of Death which thou hast begun unto me and Praise the Name of the Lord. I will Praise thy Name O sweet Saviour who givest me this Cup of Death the Cup of Salvation I will Praise thy Name who hast born all our Sicknesses for us and all our infirmities XIII I will Praise thy Name who art the Physician of Souls and callest all such unto thee as are weary and heavy Laden that thou mayst refresh them Amongst which great number behold me O Lord thy poor and aged thy weak and sick Servant weary in my Bones and laden with my Sins But Lord I come unto thee in obedience to thy Call and of those that come near unto thee thou castest none out Lord I come unto thee for ease and refreshment XIV O my beloved Saviour Jesus in the midst of the weariness of my Body in the midst of the load and burthen of my Sins in the midst of the Sorrows which are in my Heart O let thy Comforts and Consolations refresh my Soul XV. And when the snares of Death compass me round about let not the Pains of Hell take hold upon me But by all the Merits of thy Nativity Death Resurrection and Ascension I beseech thee to seal unto me in thine own precious Blood and by thy most Holy Spirit the full-Pardon of all my Sins and to admit me who am thy own Purchace to a Participation of thy Glory A Prayer for a Happy End in time of Sickness O Most glorious Jesus Lamb of God Fountain of eternal mercy Life of the Soul and Conqueror over Sin and Death I humbly beseech thee of thy Goodness and Compassion to give me Grace so to employ this transitory Life in vertuous and pious Exercises that when the Day of my Death shall come in the midst of all my Pains of Body I may feel the sweet refreshings of thy Holy Spirit Comforting my Soul and relieving all my spiritual necessities II. Lay no more upon me than thou shalt enable me to bear and let thy gentle Correction in this Life prevent the insupportable Stripes in the World to come give me Patience and Humility and the Grace of Repentance and an absolute renouncing of my self and a Resignation to thy Pleasure and Providence with a Power to perform thy Will in all things and then do what thou pleasest to me only in Health or Sickness in Life or Death let me feel thy Comforts refreshing my Soul and let thy Grace pardon all my Sins Amen Meditation XXIII Thanksgiving for Ease in Sickness or Recovery out of it BLessed by thy Name O Lord for blessing the means which are applyed unto me It is thy hand and the help of thy mercy that thou hast relieved me The Waters of affliction had long since drowned me and the Stream of Death had gone over my Soul if the Spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these Waters and led me forth besides the waters of Comfort II. O spread most gracious God according to thy mercy thy hand upon me for a Covering and also enlarge my Heart with Thanksgivings and fill my Mouth with thy Praise Praise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Praise his Holy Name who hath saved thy Life from Destruction and Crowned thee with mercy and loving kindness III. Grant Lord that what thou hast sown in Mercy may spring up in Duty Let my Duty and