art the light and guide of my mind as thou art the Author so be also the Actor of all the good that is in me for I humbly rely upon thee I beleeve in thee the true God who prâ—ceedest from the Father and the Son from all eternity and art in time sent unto me what ever I am I am it in thee and by thee I am righteous by thee by thee am I chaste by thee am I patient by thee am I strong by thee humble by thee am I courteous by thee am I long-suffering by thee am I wise by thee liberall and by thee am I thrifty O thou Comforter teach me to doe thy will because thou art my God I beleeve therefore that whomsoever thou possessest thou fittest him for a dwelling both of the Father and of the Son happie is he that shall be thought worthy to lodge thee because by thee the Father and the Son shall make his abode with him CONTEMP 28. c. Of the mystery of the Trinity O Three coequall and coeternall Persons one true God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost who dost onely inhabit eternity and light inaccessible who in thy might didst lay the foundation of the earth and dost governe the whole world by thy wisdome Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaths terrible strong just and mercifull wonderfull laudable and lovely One God three Persons one Essence one Power one Wisdome one Goodnesse and one undivided Trinitie Blessed be alwayes the holy Trinitie one Diety and coequall Majesty The Father Sonne and Holy Ghost are three names all of them one substance God the begetter God the begotten the Holy Spirit equall God contained in them both yet they are not three Gods but one true God so the Father is Lord the Son Lord and the Holy Ghost Lord there is propriety in the Persons and unity in the Essence an equall Majesty and Power equal Beauty Honour in all things comprehending the Starres the Seas the Fields nay the whole Creation at whom wicked hell doth tremble and whom the lowest depths doe reverence Let every voice and tongue now confesse him worthy this praise whom Sunne and Moone doe magnifie and the Angelicall dignity doth adore and let us all with strained voyce with musicall songs and sweet melody warble forth his praises O let us now sing together before the Throne of our God that is exalted in the highest O Trinity to be adored O Unity to be reverenced Thou true Eternity by thee are we created thou most perfect charity by thee are we redeemed doe thou protect save deliver set free and cleanse all people we worship thee Almighty we sing unto thee to thee be praise and glory for ever and ever For it is truly a worthy and a just thing a right and a saving thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord holy Father God Almighty who with thy only begotten Son and the Holy Ghost are one God attone Lord not in the singularity of one Person but in the substance of one Trinity for that which wee beleeve from thy revelation concerning thy glory this wee understand without difference of distinction both of the Son and also of the Holy Ghost that the propriety of Persons the unitie of Essence and equality of Majestie may be adored in the confession of a true and an eternall Deitie One man is not so much as three men joyned together and two men are something more than one but in God it is not so for the Father and Son together are not a greater Essence than the Father alone or the Son alone but those three Persons together are equall one to another The consideration of the word One extends farre to the making evident of this single Unity There is an unitie which may bee called collective as when many stones make up one heape of stones there is also an unitie constitutive when many members make up one body or many parts of any thing make up the whole thing it selfe There is also an unity conjugative whence it comes to passe that two by marriage are now no more two but one flesh And there is a native unity whence by the soule and body one man is borne There is a potestative unity whereby a vertuous man is not instable or unlike himselfe but doth alwayes endevour to bee found like to himselfe It is a consentaneous unitie when by charity many men have one heart and one soule There is a votive unitie when the soule adhering to God in all its desires becomes one spirit There is a dignitative unitie whereby our corrupt flesh is by God the Word assumed into one Person But what are all these things to that most high and as I may so say that onely unitie where consubstantiality maketh the unity If thou liken any of the former unities to this unity it will be after a sort alike but if you compare it with it it will bee nothing therefore amongst all things which are rightly said to be one the unity of the Trinity wherein three Persons are one substance doth hold the preheminence each particular Person is in each particular Person all the Persons conjoyned are in each particular Person and each distinct Person in all the Persons conjoyned all are in all and all is but one none of these precedes another in eternitie or exceeds another in greatnesse or excells another in power that which is there said to be great is not otherwise great than as it is truly so indeed because there greatnesse is truth it selfe and truth is Essence therefore that is not greater which is not truer but one Person is not truer than another of them or two of them than any one or all three together than all three separated each from other therefore one hath no more truth than another or two than any one or all together than each asunder So then also the Trinitie it selfe is not any thing greater than every distinct Person in it but is equally great with them These are wonderfull things and set farre above the reach of any creature therefore mans understanding doth very hardly assent to these mysteries which are set so farre from our view and the minde easily begins to wander after speculations if wee have not before us a more sublime doctrine which may recall our phansies into the right bounds and limits set for us by God himselfe That doctrine is divine No man can take another by the hand if he want his owne we cannot see the Sunne without the Sunne nor can any conceive divine things without divine assistance nor can we know God without God Be present therefore thou true Light Almighty God and Father bee present thou Light of lights thou Word and Son of God God Almighty be present holy Spirit thou concord of the Father and the Son God Almighty bee present one omnipotent God Father Son and Holy Ghost we confesse in thee by thee and
power is great and there is no summing up of thy greatnesse and goodnesse beneficence and clemency Though but a man I will confesse thee though I am but one piece of thy Creation and but a man that carries his mortality about him and that beares within him a testimony of his sinnes though such a man such a portion of thy Creation yet will I praise thee If I were without thee I should not be whatsoever I am I should become nothing Thou wast in mee to make me have a being and to be with thee but I departed from thee although I am thus in thee and with thee But how could I depart or be absent from thee how could I fly from thy face if I ascended into Heaven thou wast there for thence didst thou cast downe headlong the spirit of pride and authour of disobedience if I should make my bed in hell thou wouldest be there also for thou hast the keyes thereof and setst open the gates thereof for them that trust not in thee if I should plunge my selfe in the depth of the Sea thou wouldest there find mee for thou didst cast disobedient peevish Jonah into the maw of the whale thou madest him there a prisoner 3 nights and 3 dayes and then didest draw him thence neither torne hurt or wounded if also I should take the wings of the morning and make my habitation beyond the farthest Seas even there would thy hand lead mee and thy right hand take hold upon mee if I should say yet shall the darknesse hide me why even night shall be turned into day unto me darknesse it selfe cannot hide from thee the night to thee shines like the day darknesse is light and light as darknesse not houses nor vailes nor walls nor enclosures no caves that are under ground or dens that are full of darknesse can shut out thy presence thou art more nearely present with us than we are to our selves Thou searchest through our life our actions and all our thoughts Can any lurking place hide any from thy presence Doest not thou fill heaven and earth and art a God at hand and also afarr off Thou art all eye for thou seest all things all eare because thou hearest all things all hand for thou framest all things all foot for thou art every where present thou art neare me thou art with me thou art in mee thou sittest within mee thou art an observer of all my good and evill and art my protector yet my God I went from thee I departed and forsook thee I blush when I speak this yet I speak it willingly because forthwith thy mercy offers it selfe vnto me Souldiers that keep not their stations are punished with death and hee that in the battell first begins to runne loses his life yea for a man but to lose his target is counted a crime and to cast away his weapons is counted a most reproachfull thing Ah! how foulely have I left my station without thy command O heavenly eternall commander there was yet no ordered or marshalled battell with Satan I was but only assailed by a light skirmish and at the very first onset I threw away the buckler of my integrity and faith I suffered my weapons to bee shaken out of my hands and I fled from my allegeance from before thy face With what a slight resistance and by how childish a valour might I have overcome Satan it was my sloath and not his force that made him strong As a man greedy of gaine seeing an orphant have riches entices him often to his house makes him a banquet bestowes something on him and beguiles him with faire words till hee hath gotten his meanes so the devill seeing that I had a pretious treasure heavenly wisdome layd up in an earthen chest presently offered mee wealth pleasures and honours that baited with these hee might spoyle mee of my heavenly riches he hath stripped mee and spoyled mee of all my treasure which I ought to have kept holily and might without difficulty have done it But what gave he me in requitall what riches what pleasures what honours What can he repay whose inheritance and riches is that infernall torment that gulfe that vomits forth pitch and flames whose torments are without end and his confusion everlasting But thou my God for my backsliding hast rendered a reacceptance of me for my falling from thee thou hast requited mee with thy favour For thy grace and mercy is precedent and greater than my whole offence and all my failings I read it spoken by thy Kingly servant that thy mercy is great great hee said it was but how great hee could not tell wee have knowne that it is great but how great we have not knowne nor can perceive We know not the quantity of it's greatnesse which cannot be expressed in words Wee see the fruit of mercy is great for were it not extended beyond measure we had not after our Fall been received of thee Ah what is sinne to the mercy of God A spiders web that a blast of wind makes invisible Consider a spark of fire if it should fall into the Sea could it continue living or visible as a spark to the Sea so is mans malice to Gods Pitty and Clemency yea not so only but farre lesse for the Ocean though it be vast yet is not unmeasurable but of Gods mercies there is no measure CONTEMP c. 4. Of the Councell of the Trinity touching the Creation of Man and of the end why Man was created WHat is man that thou wast mindfull of him what the son of man that thou didst visit him Thou thoughtest of me before I had a being I was in thy minde before I was in the world thou appointedst a consult O my God when thou wast to make me after thou hadst brought forth all things and hadst built this vast stage of the world hadst replenished and adorned it thou didst say Let us make man after our Image Thou God and Father who art the beginning and originall of the Trinity with whom consultedst thou was it with the Angels and those holy Inhabitants of heaven why surely they joyned not with thee in the Creation of man nor was man made according to their similitude Did hee consult with the Earth or with the Sun because the Sun and man are said to generate man who may be suffered to trifle thus Let us make man saidst thou we our selves will be busie about him and not an Angell not the Earth not the Sunne not the Water nor any other thing But who is with thee doest thou speak in the Potentates language Nor was this sutable thou speakest to thy Coeternall and Coessentiall Son and holy Spirit thou speakest God with God one God as the Father workes so works the Son and holy Ghost they work but one Thou createdst man the worke of the whole Trinity to live in this world better than the whole world the most exquisite Creature of all creatures the most
short breadth narrownesse heigth lownesse and depth shallownesse there light is found that shines not the Word an Infant thirsting for water hūgring after bread O Nativity honorable to the world in its unpolluted holinesse lovely to men by the greatnesse of the benefit bestowed inscrutable also to the Angels by the depth of the sacred Mystery and admirable in all these things by the speciall excellency of the newnesse thereof even so that there hath not bin seene the like before it nor can there be seen any such to follow it Ah what was the cause of Christs comming and Birth what but to save sinners Take away sicknesse take away wounds and there will bee no use for medicines Therefore the great Physitian came from heaven because men lay sicke in all places all the stocke of mankind was lost by the sinne of one in whom all were and therefore came one without sinne that might save all that were in their sinnes for not our merits but our sinnes drew him from heaven It is a thing becomming our faithfull soules Christian breasts beleeving minds that we celebrate the comming of our Lord with all devoutnesse and that we meditate of his Birth being delighted wirh so great a consolation and amased with so excellent a Dignity and enflamed with so great a love It is a worthy thing my brethren that we sing forth glory to the Trinity in unity and to God the Divine and begotten off-spring and also to the Spirit proceeding from them both O Jesu thou that wouldest be borne an Infant make mee become little in mine owne sight and that I may not too much desire high things Thou which diddest proceed from the wombe of a most chaste Virgin be thou also borne in my chaste heart which is purified by thee Thou who wert born in the town of Bethlehem that is the house of bread and wast sought and found by the Shepherds joyne mee often with thy Shepherds and furnish mee with the heavenly bread and so thy Nativity shall for ever satisfie me The heaven was opened when thou wast borne open heaven also unto me when the dayes of this my earthly birth and pilgrimage are ended that I may see and glorifie thee Angels accompanied the Shepherds that went to thee joyne them also to my company that I be not cast headlong into a by-way or desire any thing besides thee the brightnesse of the Lord did shine upon those that did desire to be neere thee I would that I might bee alwayes present with thee and be illuminated by thy Light that I rush not into darksome fens or be involved in filth and pernitious darknesse They granted thee no roome in the Inne O make choyce of a place in my heart let my heart be thy manger and thy swadling bands wherewith thou wert swathed that I may for ever remaine inclosed within thy wounds and within thy mercy and my soule shall magnifie thee O Lord and my spirit shall rejoyce in God my Saviour I will call out with those lowd crying and fiery inhabitants of heaven Glory bee to God on high on earth peace good will towards men now is wrought salvation and power and the Kingdome of our God and the power of his Christ Thou art worthy O Lord our God to receive Glory and Honour and Power Ah Lord when shall this come to passe when wilt thou bestow this upon mee CONTEMP c. 15. Of the name Jesus WHat sound is this that flies to mine eares it is a name that parents gave not neither did the circucising Priest bestow it but an Angell brought it from heaven and God that it should be brought and declared unto us commanded saying His name is Jesus how pleasant delightfull and forcible a name O how this name doth comfort my soule Jesus is a God of giving men salvation which is expounded a Saviour or saving for this reason of the name was given when before he was to be borne by the Virgin it was said Thou shalt call his name Jesus because hee shall save his people from their sinnes God hath now manifested his salvation all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God hee hath opened himselfe in the earth and salvation and righteousnesse have been fruitfull My God thou makest us safe in the Lord our God thou hast given us a light of the Gentiles which is our salvation even to the ends of the earth Let us therefore rejoyce in God our Saviour say to the Daughter of Sion behold salvation approacheth The other names of the Messiah are taken from the effects of his salvation and doe onely signifie either the beginning or middle or onely the end of salvation but this name Jesus the whole proceeding thereof for it doth sufficiently containe and expresse the beginning middle and end thereof and doth include all other things also within it The Angels adore and the devils doe tremble at this name and men receive it for their salvations This name is glorious in the preaching of it being thought upon doth nourish us called upon doth mollifie and anoint us not in the letters of it but by its spirit and life Whence could there have beene in all the world so great and so sodaine a light of faith but by the preaching of the name of Jesus Hath not God called us in the light of this name into his admirable light to such as are so enlightned and doe see light by his light Paul speaketh deservedly You were sometimes darknesse but now are you light in the Lord. And the name of Jesus is not onely a light but it is also food art not thou as often refreshed as thou dost think upon it What doth so much fatten the soule as the thought of that name What doth so much repaire the decayed senses It strengthens our vertues it quickens good and honest manners it cherisheth chaste affections all meat is dry that is not moistned with this oyle is unsavoury not seasoned with this salt If thou writest to mee I relish it not if thou leave out Jesus Jesus is honey in the mouth harmony in the eare gladnesse and physicke for the heart Is any of us sad let Jesus come into the heart and thence let him flow into our mouths and behold at the rising of the light of that name every cloud is expelled and the cleare light returnes Doth any slip into sinne doth he haste even to the halter of death by his despaire doth he not by invocation of this name of life forthwith respire to life Surely there have beene many others who have had the name of Jesus for the name of Ioshuah that led the Israelites through Jordan into the land of Canaan is the same name with Jesus The son of Syrach is called Iesus and Iesus is mentioned in Zachary but these men beare the name without the thing or if they wrought any safety they performed it by the power and helpe of this my Jesus There
a flint that with dry eyes canst read this story O heart of man harder than an Adamant that these things cannot penetrate O fierce and steely heart of man that considers not these things Thy Saviour being weary and overcharged under so great a burden cries and cals out and in his soule cals upon us My people what have I done unto thee or how have I beene troublesome unto thee answer me I have beene no Usurer nor hath any thorow the earth taken use for me yet all doe curse me God hath shut me up with the wicked and hath delivered me to the hands of the wicked Many calves have compassed me about fat buls have besieged me They opened their mouths upon me as it were a raging and roaring Lion I am powred out like water and all my bones are scattered abroad my heart in the middest of my bosome is like melting wax my strength is dried up like a potsheard and my tongue cleaveth to my gums and thou hast brought me into the dust of death He cryed he called out but there was none that would heare he is led without the city to the place made infamous for the punishing of the wicked therein as unto a publick separate place that he might not pollute any man by his contagion which the adjoyning inhabitants gave a name from the dead mens souls which lay scattered every where abroad within it The Captaine of the heavenly hostes led forth in the sight of men and Angels to be fastened between heaven and earth unto the accursed Crosse to be refreshed with vinegar he is wounded he is slaine he is thrust thorow with a speare what current of language can sufficiently unfold this misery but thls remembrance of such stupendious things requires rather the teares of the faithfull than the Orators eloquence O who shall give water to my head and a fountaine of teares to mine eyes that I may weepe night and day I will weepe with strong teares I will make drunke my cheeks with my teares the righteous perish and there is none that taketh it to heart the Lord of heaven gives up the ghost and there is not one that thinks it concernes him any thing Raise up thy selfe O my soule and weary thy selfe in meditating upon the passion of thy Lord no time is more happily spent than that which the devout soule imployeth upon the passion O wonderfull condition of his censure and unutterable disposition of a mystery the unjust doth offend and the righteous is punished the guilty transgresseth and God is chastised the impious sinneth and the righteous is condemned the good suffereth that which the wicked deserveth that which the servant is indebted the Master doth pay Whither O whither thou Sonne of God doth thy humility descend how farre hath thy love beene inflamed how farre did thy love reach and how farre did thy pitty eâ—tend O Lord Jesus Christ governe and guide me by thy Spirit that my soule being pricked by thy visitation may crucifie its flesh with the sins and lusts thereof O Lord Jesus I onely put my trust in thy passion and death O Lord Iesus Christ who hast witnessed that thy delight is to be with the sonnes of men thou who becamest man for man in the later age be mindfull of all thy premeditations and inward griefe which from the beginning of thy conception thou diddest endure in thy humane nature but chiefly in the instant time of thy most saving passion fore-ordained from all eternity in thy divine heart Remember the sadnesse and bitternesse which thy soule was possessed with as thou diddest testifie when thou saidst My soule is heavie even to death and when in thy last Supper thou diddest deliver thy Body and Blood to thy Disciples when thou washedst their feet and when sweetly comforting them thou didst foretell thy neare approaching passion Remember the feare anguish and griefe which thou didst endure thorow all thy tender body before thy suffering upon the Crosse When after thy troubled prayer thou diddest sweat that bloody sweat when thou wast delivered by thine owne Disciple taken by thy chosen people accused by false wi nesses unjustly sentenced by three severall Iudges in the holy City when at the time of the Passeover in the florishing time of thy youth being innocent thou wast condemned wast delivered wast spitted on thine owne cloaths pulled off and others put upon thee thou wast buffetted thy face and eyes were covered when thou wast bound to the Crosse and crowned with thornes O most sweet Jesus give me I beseech thee for the memory of thy paines and passion true contrition and confession and also remission of all my sins before my death and in my death grant me comfort and consolation of spirit and after death grant me salvation and glory Amen CONTEMP c. 18. Of the first and second word of our Lord spoken upon the Crosse O My soule one of thy faithfull servants sadly and mournfully cryes out concerning Job what a pageant of triumph hath God made of the Devill in that man what an ensigne of his glory hath he erected from his enemie when he did with great patience cleanse away the uncleane flowing matter of his sores when sportingly hee did call back the wormes that crawled forth from his sores to the same holes and feeding places of his worme-eaten flesh But how much hath thy Saviour out-gone him in constancie of mind and an unshaken patience he in the last necessitie in the pangs of death in the paines of hell sorsaken and made exceeding sad by his angry God failes not in the courage of his mind he shewed no signe that his heart departed from the path of righteousnesse but as he began so continues be to love mankind Heare the words that he utters from the chaire of his crosse they were few but great profitable and worthy never to depart out of a Christians heart as long as he hath his vitall breath Thus he speaks Father forgive them they know not what they doe Oh thy supereminent love O Lord thou prayest not O Lord that they might be punished who afflicted and crucified thee but that they might enjoy the merit of thy passion and be saved Thou so aboundest in thy love that forgetfull of thy most exquisite sufferings thou thinkest on nothing but the reconciling of sinners O incomparable humanitie of unspeakable mercy with what gentle and friendly eyes dost thou locke upon me from the Altar of the Crosse how can any man despaire seeing we have so diligent so faithfull so loving and so zealous an intercessour Where are you trembling sinners where are you affrighted conseiences doe you delight to see the heart of your Lord to overflow with grace Come and behold his Crosse Come come see his heart mounting into his tongue and begging pardon for your sins Iesus my God I am also present amongst sinners amongst those that crucifie thee looke on me and receive me my sins my sins were those
the man Christ Iesus Therefore where my portion reignes I beleeve I reigne where my blood doth rule I perceive my selfe to rule where my flesh is glorified I know I am glorious Thou wentest to prepare a place for mee that I might be with thee in a most plesant City thou laydst open the way that I might come into thy most loving society Thou didst first break through that I might also enter into most ample felicity in everlasting health of body in perfect purity of our soules in all fullnesse of glory and divine pleasure into the perpetuall familiarity of the Saints to have kindred hope resting place grace and dignity in the heavens CONTEMP 27. c. Of the sending downe of the Holy Ghost HOw great and what an unutterable piety of my redeemer is this hee carried man into heaven and sent God downe upon the earth behold therefore a new Redeemer is sent from heaven behold againe divinity and humanity are mixed together Thou didst foretell O my God by thy spirit which thou hast given us I will powre out my waters to the thirsty and my streames upon those that are scorched I will powr out my spirit upon thy seede my blessing upon thy posterity I will powre out my spirit upon all flesh and your sonns shall prophecy I will sprinckle pure water upon you and you shall be clensed from all your pollutions I will send my spirit into the midst of you Now O my God is thy prophecy fulfilled and the showers of thy graces and streames of thy blessings are powred forth That common expected time of gladnesse of all the righteous is now come the sweet guest of the soule is come the comfortable refreshing the rest in our labour the temper in heate comfort in mourning the washing of that which was foule watering that which was partched with heate healing that which is wounded straightning what was crooked cherishing that which was cold ordering what was gone astray The inspiter of our faith the teacher of knowledge the fountaine of love the ensigne of chastity and the cause of all our vertue is come Hee came when the twelve ministers and dispensors of thy mysteries were unanimously gathered together at Ierusalem in the house of prayer chosen by thine owne selfe in the holy City the City of perfect beauty and a sudden noyse comming from heaven as it were the rushing of a mighty wind cloven tongues appeared to them like fire and sate upon each of them so that they were all filled with the Holy ghost and they began to speak in divers languages They were gathered together with one accord and indeed that spirit loves agreement and doth bind faster together mens peacefull minds it drives away all brawles and contentions and is it selfe driven away by brawles and contentions They were gathered together in Jerusalem it loves a holy place and where thy word is preached there it gratiously abideth This word is not without the spirit nor thy word without the spirit there was a sound like a wind the holy spirit is not still but its voyce is heard hee is not dumbe but speaketh and preacheth redemption to sinners revelations to those in misery comfort to those that bee sad exaltation to those that are opressed deliverance to the captives liberty to the bondmen and rersurrection to the dead There was a sudden and vehement sound from heaven the holy spirit is not the gift of men but of the Almighty God it brings not momentary but things eternall not earthly but heavenly things Gods helpe is also for the most part sudden and unlooked for when wee despaire of all mens ayd the power of the most High is sent us and cures us in a most fit time The holy spirit is cheerefull and makes them nimble and ready in whom it operates for the grace of the holy spirit is not acquainted with sluggish endevours The tongues appeared devided like fire the tongue is the instrument of the holy ghost whereby it prepares and enlargeth the spirituall Kingdome and as the tongue doth distinguish tastes so doth the holy spirit shew us good from ill and to discerne between spirits it also bestowes on us the gift of variety of languages and gathers together in one the multitudes of men dispersed by reason of the difference of their tongues The love of God is lastly fiery it enlightens the understandings drowned in darknesse it warmes the soules by charity makes them shine in good works consumes wicked affections and actions O most wholsome fire descende from heaven into us We burne with the filthy brands of our lusts that the earth seemes rather an Aetna of uncleane flames than an habitation of men For as the hill Aetna doth continually boyle with certaine inward fiery vapors so doth that with the abhominable flames of fornications by this meanes we kindle the fire of wrath the fire of destruction the fire of the Lord the fire of indignation which went out from the Lord and consumed Nadab and Abihu How grievously doth the prophet cry out behold all of you doe kindle his fire and adde fuell to the flames enter yee into the light of your fire and the flames which yee have kindled For after this manner as the scripture mentioneth doth all mankind rush into eternall damnation For first they kindle the fire then they put fuell to the flames and finally they enter into the flames which they have kindled And first doe wee begin to kindle the eternall fire for our selves when first we begin to sinne and we adde fuell to the flames when we heap sins upon sins We enter into the eternall fire when we fulfill the remedilesse summe of all our mischiefes by the iniquity of our multiplyed offences As our Saviour spake to the Rulers of the Jewes Yee serpents yee generation of vipers fulfill yee the measure of your fathers O heavenly Spirit let plentifull showres fall from heaven and quench the accursed flames of this fire that I be not delivered into the unsufferable flames which no water no brooke no river no sea can quench Filth sticks to me on all sides who will wash it off I am polluted with the dirt of my sins who shall make mee cleane My soule is wounded and altogether defiled who shall heale and purifie it My bones are dried up who shall moisten them Shalt not thou wash mee shalt not thou purge mee shalt not thou heale mee shalt not thou cleanse me shalt not thou moysten me Thou didst never yet suffer me to receive a repulse shall this be the first time that thou wilt reject my prayer Surely thou wilt not deny that which I pray for because thou hast bid me pray unto thee because it tendeth to my salvation which thou so much desirest and belongs unto thine owne honour whereof thou art so jealous Give me drink therefore out of the streames of thy pleasure that I may take no pleasure to taste of the poysoned sweets of the world Thou
of thee we confesse thou art one in Substance three in Person Father Son and Holy Ghost O blessed Trinity God Lord Comforter Charity Grace Fellowship Begetter Begotten Regenerating true Light true Light of light illumination invisible visibly visible invisibly Fountaine and watering streames from whom by whom and in whom are all things he that lives from himselfe and is Life it selfe he that receives life from him that lives and he that gives life to those that live a true Father the Son of truth the Spirit of truth one Essence one Vertue one Goodnesse God above whom is nothing and out of whom is nothing and without whom is nothing God under whom is all in whom is all and with whom is all we call upon thee wee adore thee wee praise thee encrease our faith stirre up our hope and infuse us with charitie Amen CONTEMP c. 29. Of shunning Curiositie in things not revealed unto us WHy art thou afflicted O my soule if reason be tormoiled and doth groane and cry out being plunged in a bottomlesse gulfe A thing is not therefore false because I cannot conceive or understand it reason is not the measure of things but it is bound to fit it selfe to things reason is streight and why then dost thou marvell if it cannot comprehend the vastnesse of heavenly things by how much more simple our faith is so much is our life more agreeable to it although we neither dispute of neither doe understand all things By so much more noble and more renowned shall the citizens of the Church be hereafter esteemed of God because forsaking all they shewed themselves willing to become only most deare unto him it is a short way for religious and simple minds both to cast away errour and to search out the truth For if we returne to the fountaine and head of divine tradition the errour of man vanisheth away and the reason of the heavenly Sacraments being understood what ever before lay hid under the mist and cloud of obscure darknesse is made apparant by the light of truth if the waters of the channell which used to flow plentifully be suddenly dried up doe we not presently goe to the spring-head that there we may discover the reason that it failes whether the pipes grow dry from the head or running full and currantly from thence they bee not stopped in their middle course but if we finde it is by reason that the pipes it flowes in be either stopped or broken that the water cannot runne constantly and flow as it used to doe when we have stopped and sodered the pipes the waters being collected are brought in the same plenty and constancie for the use and drinking of the Citizens as they doe flow from the fountaine Wee must even doe thus according to Gods command that is if truth shall stagger or reele in any thing let us returne to the originall of it namely our Saviour his Gospell and the Apostolicall traditions and thence let us ground the reason of our actions whence the order and originall of it first arose Whilst others make lyes of probabilities they frustrate the truth by subtilties and this is done because they have no recourse to the originall of truth nor doe they seeke to the head nor observe the doctrine of their heavenly Master which whosoever considers and examineth he hath no need of arguments and long discourses The triall of our faith is easie by the compendiousnesse of truth I would have no man dispute how God the Father begate the Son nor doe thou too curiously involve thy selfe within the secret of this depth lest perhaps whilst thou too obstinately searchest after the brightnesse of this in accessible light thou be deprived of that little sight which by Gods gift is afforded unto mortall creatures Or if thou thinkest thou oughtest to wade so farre in this kind as thou art able First begin thou with things which concerne our selves which if thou wilt consequently wade thorow then prepare thy selfe to passe from earthly things to heavenly things from visible things to invisible things First unfold and declare if thou canst how the minde that is in thee begets a word and what is the spirit of memory that is in it how these things that are different in things and actions are notwithstanding but one nature and substance and though they proceed from the minde yet are never separated from it But these things although wee have them in us in the very substance of our soule yet they seeme to be so much the more hidden unto us by how much they are more invisible to the eyes of the body Let us enquire of things more open how doth a fountaine of it selfe beget a river and by what spirit are the swift streames thereof moved and though the fountaine and streames be but the same one inseparable thing yet cannot the fountaine be either understood to bee or be called the river nor the river the fountaine yet he that sees the streames sees the fountaine First exercise thy selfe thou superstitious and impertinently laborious and thou soule that toylest after nullities in the unfolding of these things and discusse if thou canst what we hold in our hands and then we will proceed to things higher than these nor thinke I perswade thee in an instant to ascend from earth above the heavens but first if it please you I will bring you to that firmament which is apparant to our view and there if thou canst unfold the nature of this visible light how that heavenly fire begets from it selfe the shining light how it begets vapors and which being three in distinctnesse of things are yet but one in substance although thou couldest finde out all this know yet that the mystery of the heavenly generation is by so much more different and higher than these things by how much the Creator is more powerfull than the creatures and the workman more excellent than the worke he makes by how much he who is from all eternity is more noble than that that tooke its originall from nothing God is therefore to be beleeved to be the Father of his onely Son our Lord and it is not to be enquired how For a servant ought not to dispute of his masters nativity He wants nothing O man who is confirmed by the doctrine of both Testaments Both of them are these two swords of which the eternall Doctor said It is enough I wish againe and againe my long-suffering God that I might learne and know him but if I know not the originall nor can measure the quantity nor am able sufficiently to consider what manner of thing my soule is which rules over my body if I know not the reason why it should take pleasure in the body which persecuteth it if I be ignorant who hath graven this law of my members that the flesh should oppresse the spirit in so violent a command and that the better and more worthy part of nature should yeeld to
the more ignoble I ought to beare patiently if I understand not the Creator of the Universe who must even in the smallest parcels of his works professe mine owne blindnesse Let me not then proceed farther in other things than my small capacity wil beare not curiously pry into those things which are so high above me I will say with reason and constancie I know not his secrets and I am ignorant of his divine councell the oracle of the heavenly word is enough for me to try all causes God sayes he sees all things governes all things judges all things If thou wilt know what thou art to hold thou hast the holy Scripture it is perfect reason to hold what thou hast read But I will not suffer my selfe to aske for what cause God doth these things in such a manner I am a man I understand not the secrets of God I dare not search after them and therefore I even feare to meddle with them because even this is a kinde of sacrilegious rashnesse to desire to know more than is permitted unto thee Let it suffice thee that God doth testifie that himselfe doth act and dispose of all things leaving therefore these things let us rather seeke like good merchants to gaine the inheritance of heaven and those things that may profit our soules let us learne to get goods which will continue with us let us first seeke to have Gods seale stamped upon us because in the day of judgement when God shal make that separation when all the nations of the whole earth the sonnes of Adam shall be gathered together when the shepherd shall call his flocke whosoever have beene sealed shall know their shepherd and the shepherd shall know those he hath sealed and shall gather them together out of all nations Every man naturally desireth knowledge but what doth knowledge profit without the feare of God certainly an humble rudenesse is better that is employed in Gods service than a proud Prelate or Philosopher who neglects himselfe and is alwayes contemplating upon God or the motion of the heavens How many are there who in this life by many curious enquiries have endevoured to know God who shall never see his face how many in this life doe labour to measure the heavens and to finde out all things belonging to them that shall never enter into them He that doth well know himselfe thinks meanly of himselfe and is not delighted in the praises of men If I did know all things in the world and were not in charity what would this knowledge profit me in the presence of God who then will judge acccording to my works I will therefore at length rest from the too much desire of knowledge because the more I know the more grievously will the most high God judge me except I live the more holily Give mee most blessed and most wise God the highest and most profitable knowledge that I may know thee God the Father Son and Holy Ghost with moderation and may inwardly know my selfe to be miserable and of no account that I may attribute nothing to my selfe and alwayes have a good opinion of others This is great wisdome and some sort of perfection Though I see another sinne openly and even to commit some grievous sinnes let me not think my selfe better because I know not how long I may continue in goodnesse we are all undoubtedly fraile but let me judge none frailer than my selfe that I may obtaine true strength in goodnesse CONTEMP c. 30. Of the Custodie of Angels BLesse the Lord O my soule all my bowels give praise unto his holy Name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not any of his benefits praise the Lord yee Angels of his yee that excell in strength fulfilling his Word giving eare to the voyce of his Word Praise the Lord all his Hoasts yee servants of his that doe his pleasure Praise the Lord all yee works of the Lord praise the Lord O my soule in all places of his dominion My heart is ready O God my heart is ready He hath commanded his Angels saith thy faithfull servant David speaking of man to preserve thee in all thy wayes they shall hold thee up with their hands that thou strike not thy foot against a stone God hath commanded it God the true and most excellent Life in whom and from whom are all things the Creator Governor of the world the Sweetnesse Beauty of the Angels the Creator and Preserver of men that God who is God of gods so great a God that no tongue can rightly expresse him hee hath commanded and hath commanded his Angels his holy Angels that are instructed of God by the eternall contemplating of which truth they become blessed hee hath commanded them concerning thee O man What is man that thou tookest notice of him or the sonne of man that thou didst esteeme him Thou sentest unto him thy only begotten Son thou sendest into him thy holy Spirit and that there should be no want of thy carefull working for him in the heavens thou dost also for our sakes send forth those blessed Spirits to minister unto us the most mercifull God sendeth forth those Spirits as it were so many bright sparks of his Deity sparkling from the Torches of his everlasting light who are conceived to bee divided into so great hoastes and into so many orders to prompt us not only with matter of prayer to God but of admiration of his greatnesse and goodnesse when I speake thus O my soule phansie not to thy selfe little faire Boyes whose countenances are over-spread with an admirable splendour whose soft dissheveld haire of colour like the finest gold hangs dangling to their shoulders fanned with the gentle breath of the peacefull westerne wind doth kisse the smooth pillars of their milkie necks if thou phansie such Angels thou art utterly ignorant of their power They have a pure nature subtill and aiery not to be represented in the shape of any body no spot of matter doth cloud it no mole of corruption doth sprinkle it and that I may speak briefly our best part is our soule an Angell is nothing but a soule But what soule not relishing of that fire whereby the Starres doe twinkle and the Axeltree of Heaven is moved but a vigour of a most quick moved understanding made so much the nearer to resemble the patterne the eternal Beauty by how much it approacheth nearer to and is the more plentifully sprinkled with that holy Fountaine Hence truely comes that notable comlinesse of all their ornaments and the immortall concurrence of goodnesse which they with a most acceptable ingenuity of will doe yeeld to their Creator they out-strip in speed the swiftest shippe sailing on the maine and driven by force of windane oares they out-fly a bullet in the aire sent from the sulphury mouth of a thundring Cannon these most excellent mentall Intelligences most wisely foresee all things with no trouble or interposition of time
I should be begotten and borne of such parents that sate not in darknesse nor had their habitation in the region of the shadow of death but were called out of darknesse into thy admirable light to an elect stocke a kingly priesthood a holy nation to an honoured people O God my God thou soughtest me when I knew not of thee thou gavest unto me when I asked not of thee thou openedst unto me when I did not knocke for when I was yet a bawling infant in my bepissed clouts when I yet savoured ill of my mothers coutch when I was putrified as well with mine owne as with the naturall and spirituall uncleannesse of my parents yet thou not disheartned with all this didst take me up cherish and purge me that was thus conceived and chafed in my sins Thou leddest me to the pure waters living waters to the divine oracle to the lavacre in the word of regeneration and renovation thou broughtest me O God my God to baptisme the first gate to be entred to the kingdome of heaven into the armes and to the kisses of my Saviour by which he â—ranslates us out of the lap of our parents into his heavenly habitation and enroles us into the number of Gods elect and citizens of heaven and makes us members of his body which being one with the head become partakers of the heavenly treasures O God my God thou hast promised this by thy Prophet Ye shall draw waters with joy out of the wholsome fountaines And I will powre out my waters upon the thirsty and my streames upon the dry ground I will powre out my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy posterity and they shall grow amongst the grasse like willowes by the rivers of waters And againe they shall bring their sonnes in their armes and carry their daughters upon their shoulders And I O most mercifull Lord was brought carried sprinkled and washed amongst them and did mount up unto thee as it were upon the wings of an Eagle I laid aside the decrepit age of my sinnes and put on the vigorous youth of grace this did this heavenly Sacrament worke in me I began to be a true Eagle who by thy grace doe soare to heaven and doe loath all earthly things As often as I behold earthly water I should remember this divine water which hath wrough so many and so great things in us The naturall water doth wash and take away spots doth quench fire cooles and allayes the heat of thirst incorporates many and sundry things into one body it ascends as high in heighth as it doth descend below in depth The heavenly water of Baptisme washes away the leprosie of sinne and wipes away our iniquities and makes us whiter than snow Our sins in themselves are like scarlet yet are they whitened as white as snow they are red like crimson yet they grow white as wooll The water of Baptisme by a divine and admirable way and means doth quench the fire of our fleshly desires How pleasing is it to us so soone as the heavenly Spirit slides into us in this washing for us to want these trifling sweets The true and chiefest sweetnesse doth cast out those other which else wee would feare to lose it casteth them out and there enters in their stead the hidden and heavenly pleasure which is sweeter than all other pleasure yet not to flesh and blood is brighter than any other light yet more hidden than any secret higher than any other honour but not to men that are high in their owne conceits It quencheth also the flames of hell fire those devillish brands of hell which no helpe of man can put out The divine water of Baptisme sets an end to the various and troublesome desires of mans heart and makes us onely rest upon God The divine water of Baptisme makes one nation of all the nations of the Israelites and of the Heathen that did differ so exceedingly in most things that they might become one body and one soule one hope of calling till at length they may be made perfect in one The divine water of Baptisme is given us from heaven above from the Father of lights and it flowing from the fountaine that springs to eternall life doth not onely draw our hearts to their owne originals but doth wholly lead us to that most blessed fountain Farewell World avoid Satan be gone each worldly thing for I call to minde these words that my Godfather holding me in his armes pronounced for me I renounce thee Satan and thy pompe and worship with these words am I received into Gods covenant and enrolled in the number of Christs souldiers What ever thou shalt say O Serpent I will presently reply what ever thou shalt speake I will not hearken unto thee Then that thou catch me not by other meanes I have renounced also thy pompe and thy worship and thy messengers I was prest for the warre of the living God when I answered to the words in the Sacrament Whatsoever earthly things are received in this world and shall here remaine in this world are to be despised as much as the world it selfe is to be contemned the pomps and delights whereof I did then renounce when in my better passage I went unto my Lord. In Baptisme I was cloathed in white that I might be taught most devoutly to rely upon Christs innocency and to be willing to lead my life sincerely and purely I confesse indeed my God that I have beene sometime forgetfull of my covenant made with thee that I have forsaken the hoaste of righteousnesse and have runne away to thy enemy and have most grievously offended thee my Captaine by my transgressions and treasons that I have beene worthy thy most severe punishment but I returne to thee I fall before thee and beseech thee for thine unspeakable goodnesse that thou wilt receive me and acknowledge me for thy souldier and servant and at length of thy grace grant me the prize of victory that being freed and saved I may at length erect a trophee to thy name and praises Amen CONTEMP c. 32. Of a Christians practise IT is an easie thing for one to call himselfe a Christian but a hard thing to performe the part of a Christian He that desires to fulfill the measure of that name let him marke diligently these things that follow Acknowledge O man thine owne basenesse consider how wretched and of how little account thou art thou hast nothing from thy selfe but all things from God he gave thee all things for thy use to whom thou must repay them yea and even thy life it selfe at what moment soever he shall require them and thou must depart as naked from hence as thou camest naked into this world and although all the world with it inhabitants doe keepe thee companys yet they can profit thee nothing for all things are fleeting brittle transitory and nothing can free thee from death give not thy selfe therefore over to security
that I may learne to search after and to find thee rather than any thing to be wise unto thee and to love thee and to understand other things as they truly are according to the order of thy wisdome Grant I may wisely shun him that flatters me and patiently suffer him that opposeth me because this is great wisdome not to be moved with every wind of words nor to listen unto mischievous flattering pleasure so shall we with securitie proceed in the way we have begun to walke in CONTEMP c. 33. Of the true Dignitie of a Christian. LEt others call a man a creature to be adored and borne for Societie full of reason and councell let them call him the great Miracle most like unto God the Miracle of miracles let them cal him the Horizon of corporeal and incorporeall things the measure of all things the little World the Epitome of the world and the delight of Nature let them write that man only exceeds all wonder and that nothing is great upon the earth but man yet so great dignitie so great excellencie and so great advancement of man can never be so great as it wil be if with this a man may be called a Christian which denomination tooke its originall from Christ the very Son of God and is imparted unto them that are sprinkled with the saving water of the Sacrament of Baptisme that give their names unto Christ fighting under his purple Banner they defend the honour of their Captaine and Author of their Profession by their undaunted Profession of the evangelicall and heavenly doctrine and they doe confirme defend and propagate that doctrine by their indefatigable study practice of good works O miserable they who are called Pagans either in regard that they reverence their Idols in the publick streets and wayes being aliens from the City of God or because that after the enlargement of Christs Kingdome and the spreading of the Christian Religion they did not possesse any longer the chiefe Cities but were reduced and shut into the strait Villages O miserable they who are called Jewes for although the ancient people of the Jewes had the preheminence above other people in priviledges and prerogatives and was not excluded from the heavenly Kingdome and the Citie of God yet at this day their uncleane multitudes dispersed every where thorow the world are farre exceeded in sundry and manifold eminencies by the Christian people for though the body be already exhibited they dispute upon shadowes and obstinately defend their Mosaicall Ceremonies and despise Christ that is the onely doore to eternall life bewitched with the leven of the Pharisies they reject the truth detract from it and slander it and thence by Gods just judgement Jerusalem being destroyed and lost they have no Temple have no forme of a Common-wealth but are most vilely despised in all parts of the earth O happie Christians and freed from all miserie Christ is God blessed for evermore therefore are Christians truly divine Christ being true God in his Essence is a Spirit therefore are Christians spirituall Christ by nature is the onely Son of God therefore are Christians by grace the heires of heaven Christ is the vertue and power of God therefore are Christians powerfull Christ is Wisdome therefore are Christians wise Christ is Righteousnesse therefore are Christians just Christ is made Sanctification unto us therefore are Christians holy Christ is the Way therefore Christians doe not erre Christ is Life therefore Christians though dead yet doe live Christ is the Truth therefore are Christians led into all truth Christ is the Light that enlightens the world therefore doe Christians shine forth in the midst of darknesse Christ is a Shepherd therefore are Christians fed in wholsome pastures Christ is the healing Physitian therefore doe Christians receive cure in all their infirmities Christ is the Conquerour of Satan and the Lord of the world therefore doe Christians beare rule overcome and triumph in Christ Christ doth reigne in glory nay is glory it selfe and all in all therefore Christians though they be abominable to the world and are had in reproach yet are most glorious in Christ and though they have nothing yet possesse they all things Christ was anointed when his Humanity was taken into the Person of the Word the Divinity did anoint and the Humanity was anointed and this anointing is a diffusing of the whole oyntment upon every one that is anointed therewith he was anointed with the oyle of gladnesse above his fellowes he is anointed with gifts finite and infinite conferred by taking upon him the humane Nature from the holy Virgin which agree wel with the name of an oyntment for the most fragrant scent they breath forth and the comforting force they retaine in them they are compared to the Oyle of gladnesse because they expell sadnesse out of Christian hearts and doe enflame them with true joy and comfort Think now as often as Christs Name comes into thy mind that God did from all eternity ordain consecrate and define him to consummate the worke of the Redemption and did most plentifully bestow upon him those unspeakable gifts which he fore-saw he should stand in need of That he should be a Prophet our Master our Priest to offer up himselfe an expiatory Sacrifice that hee should be Lord of lords King of kings that might have the possession of an incomparable and everlasting Kingdom the first moment of his conception but the full and most glorious enjoyment of it in his ascention even as David was anointed by Samuel king whilst Saul lived but did not exercise any regall jurisdiction but when he was dead he obtained the Dominion did govern the Kingdom And we also are anointed Christians when we are separate from the ungodlinesse of worldly men and are made holy by the mystery of the Spirit We were anointed when as Christ did receive the gifts of the Spirit without measure we received them with measure We are anointed when we are exalted to propheticall priestly and kingly dignity and this is that which the Prophet speaks Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that I am Iehovah your God and that none else is nor shall my people be ashamed for ever And it shall come to passe afterward that I will powre out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall prophesie your old men shall dreame dreames and your young mensh ll see visions which hee declareth by his most deare disciple Jesus Christ is that faithfull witnesse that first borne from the dead and that Prince of the kings of the earth who hath loved us and hath washed us from our sinnes by his blood who hath made us kings and priests to God his Father You are a chosen stocke a royall priesthood a sanctified people a nation whom God challengeth for his owne O name not above every name yet a divine a heavenly and anhonourable name here is fulfilled that