Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	body_n	lord_n	soul_n	15,609	5	5.1843	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96681	Fax fonte accensa, fire out of water: or, An endeavour to kindle devotion, from the consideration of the fountains God hath made Designed for the benefit of those who use the waters of Tunbridg-Wells, the Bath, Epsom, Scarborough, Chigwell, Astrop, Northall, &c. Two sermons preached at New Chappel by Tunbridg-Wells. With devout meditations of Cardinal Bellarmin upon fountains of waters. Also some form of meditations, prayers, and thanksgivings, suited to the occasion. By Anthony Walker, D.D.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.; Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621. Selections, English, 1684.	1685 (1685)	Wing W302A; ESTC R230546	55,606	206

forc'd and if it be stopt of one side it will find Passage in another Love fears nothing dares all things conquereth all things thinks nothing hard or impossible to it self Lastly a lesser Love will yield to none but to that Love that 's greater and more mighty so carnal Love whether it pursue the Riches or Delights of the World will only yield unto the Love of God As soon as the Water of the holy Spirit begins to drop into the Heart of any Man forthwith carnal Love begins to wax cold Blessed Augustine may be our Witness who being accustomed to indulge his Lust and held it impossible for him to live without a Female Consort yet when he began to taste the Grace of the holy Spirit cry'd out in the ninth Book of his Confessions How sweet did it presently become to me to want the Suavities of Trifles and the loss of those that were my greatest Fear now was my Joy to be rid off for thou didst cast them out who art thy self the true and highest Sweetness thou didst cast them out and didst thy self enter in their stead who art sweeter than all Pleasure but not to Flesh and Blood brighter than all Light but more inward than any Secret higher than all Honour but not to the high-minded CHAP. III. FUrther Water slakes the Thirst and nothing but this heavenly Water can put an end to the various most troublesome and almost infinite desires of the Hearts of Men. So Truth it self speaking to the Samaritan Woman hath taught us John 4.13 Whosoever drinketh of this Water shall thirst again but whosoever shall drink of the Water that I shall give him shall never thirst And the case is plainly this The Eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the Ear filled with hearing Eccles 1.8 What ever can be offered to a Man cannot satiate his desire seeing he is capable of infinite Good and all created things are finite but he that begins to drink of celestial Water in which are comprehended all things desires nothing seeks for nothing more CHAP. IV. WAter conjoyns and brings into one the things that seem impossible to be united So many Grains of Bread-Corn by mixture of Water are made one Loaf and of many Particles of Earth by adding Water to them Bricks are made but much more easily and indissolubly the Water of the holy Spirit causeth many Men to become one Heart and one Soul as is spoken in the Acts of the Apostles Chap. 4.22 of the first Christians on whom the Holy Ghost had immediately before descended And our Lord when going to his Father both commended and foretold this Unity which the Water of the holy Spirit maketh when he saith John 17.20 Neither pray I for these alone but for them also that shall believe on me through their Word that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us And a little after that they may be one even as we are one I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one To which Unity also the Apostle exhorts in his Epistle to the Ephesians Chap. 4.3 Endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace There is one Body and one Spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your Calling O happy Union which makes many Men to be one Body of Christ which is govern'd by one Head and eats of one Bread and drinks of one Cup and lives of one Spirit and cleaving to God is made one Spirit with him What can a Servant more desire than that he should not only be made partaker of all his Lord's Goods but also by the indissoluble Bond of Love be made one with him his almighty and most wise and most beautiful Lord But all this does the Grace of the holy Spirit effect as living and enlivening Water when it is devoutly received in the Heart and preserv'd with all Diligence and sollicitous Care CHAP. V. LAstly Water ascends so high as it descends from above and because the holy Spirit comes down from the highest Heaven upon Earth therefore in that Man in whose Heart he is receiv'd he becomes a Fountain of Water springing up into Eternal Life as our Lord speaks to the Woman of Samaria that is to say a Man born again of Water and the holy Spirit and hath the same Spirit dwelling in his Heart lifts up thither the Fruits of his Grace from whence that Grace descended therefore O my Soul being taught and excited by these Words of Scripture say to thy Father again and again with groanings that cannot be utter'd Give me this Water which may scour off all my Spots which may quench the heat of Concupiscence which may satisfy all Thirst and all Desires which may make thee one Spirit with thy God which may become in thee a Well of Water springing up to eternal Life that thou mayest send thy Services thither before where thou hopest thy self to abide to endless Ages Not without cause did the Son of God say You being evil know how to give good Gifts to your Children how much more shall your Father in Heaven give his good Spirit to them that ask it And he said not will give Bread or Raiment or Wisdom or Charity or the Kingdom of Heaven or eternal Life but he said will give his good Spirit because in that all things are contain'd Thou therefore cease not daily to mind the Father of his Son's Promise and to say with mighty Affection and an undoubted hope of obtaining O holy Father not in confidence of mine own Righteousness but trusting in the Promise of thine only begotten Son do I pour out my Prayers to thee 'T was he that said to us How much more shall your Father give his good Spirit to them that ask him assuredly thy Son which is Truth it self cannot deceive therefore fulfil the Promise of thy Son who glorified thee upon Earth being every where obedient unto Death even the Death of the Cross give thy holy Spirit to me who ask it give me the Spirit of thy Fear and Love that thy Servant may fear nothing but to offend thee and may love nothing besides thee and his Neighbour in thee Create in me a clean Heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy Presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the Joy of thy Salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit Psal 51.10 11 12. CHAP. VI. I Come now to the Similitude the Fountains of Water have with God for from hence the Mind may be raised up to the Contemplation of the truly wonderful and excellent Perfections of him that made them For not without just cause is God in holy Scripture called The Fountain of Life and the Fountain of Wisdom and Fountain of living Water Psal 35. Eccles 1. Jer. 2.13 And that he is the very Fountain of being

to fight against him Yet O Lord so inconquerable is thy Goodness that thy Patience seconds thy Bounty in continuing to us what our ill Deserts have forfeited as thou gav'st it freely without any good Desert of ours And not only in supplying our bare Necessities but furnishing of us for Convenience for Pleasure and Delight yea for recovery of those Distempers which we possibly have brought upon our selves by the abuse of thy own Blessings for the whole World is thy well-stor'd Shop and every Element is furnish'd with Supply The Air with Fowls the Water with Fish the Earth with small and great Cattel and with a numberless variety of Plants and Minerals and the Fire is the common Servant to them all to concoct their Crudities to dress and make them fit for Use and Nourishment Neither are they less apt for Physick than for Food for Medicine than for Meat To pass the rest in a grateful tho silent Admiration The Fountains are not only thy Cellars to quench our Thirst but thy Baths and thy Alimbecks where Almighty Goodness is the Operator and the God of Nature prevents the Trouble and Charge of Art O let this thy Goodness at length conquer the Obstinacy of our Rebellions that our Ingratitude and Provocations may never overcome thy Clemency and Patience that we may be so weary and asham'd of sinning against thee that thou mayest never be weary nor repent the doing of us good Amen MEDITAT V. Upon the Water of Jealousy Numbers the 5th THere are many righteous Laws and severe Threatnings in holy Scripture of the Execution of which we meet with no recorded Instance or Example Such is that of the rebellious Son being ston'd to death upon his Parents Complaint of him and testifying against him for his Disobedience Deut. 21.18 And that of the bitter Water to be drunk by the Wife of the jealous Husband which Water was to be mixt with the Dust of the Floor of the Tabernacle probably to make the Punishment Sins Anagram and to signify it should not fail of its dire Effects on them who trampled under foot the Authority of him who dwelt in it which caused her Belly to swell and Thigh to rot who was defiled Numb 5. There is a great Affinity and Likeness between God's Books of his Word and of his Works the Laws of both have righteous Sanctions either expressed or imply'd and tho we read not Examples of the Punishments of those who brake the first nor have observed instances of their Misery who have transgrest the latter yet assuredly wilful Offenders shall not escape the smart and burden of vindictive Justice O my Soul thy Maker is thy Husband provoke him not to Jealousy let not the Impunity of others imbolden thee they may feel that those surda verbera which thou canst take no notice of or he who sees their day is coming may reserve severer Wrath against that day What ever others do do thou thy Duty Love flows in these Waters make sutable returns of Love Provoke not him whose Help thou always needest and here most signally expectest not only lest thy Hopes abuse thee with a Disappointment but the expected Blessing be turn'd into a Curse and instead of opening Obstructions and yielding Help and Health they make thy Belly swell and occasion Sorrow Pain and Death MEDITAT VI. WHen I observe the great Quantities of Water drunk every Morning at these Wells it calls to my mind that Expression of David of some who drink Iniquity like Water Lust is a very thirsty and insatiable thing it never saith it is enough 't is an hydropick Sickness of the Soul the more it drinks the more it thirsts The Fountain of Corruption cannot be stopt it is impatient of a Damm If one Outlet be shut it will find or make another But O how poisonous how deadly are those draughts it swallows down with so greedy a delight We here drink innocent Healths But such Men drink much worse than Circean Cups their own Damnation How can any Sinner hope for impunity when every Sin carries its own Hell a bottomless desire after more And O most Righteous Lord 't is just and equal that they who have forsaken Thee the satisfying Fountain of Living Waters should weary themselves in their labouring after Disappointment in hewing out such broken Cisterns as can hold no Water O Thou who hast given me a Soul capable of thy Self and incapable of rest till it rest in thy self who art the Center of its Being and Desires draw me to thy Self fit me for thy Self fill me with thy Self give me to drink of those Waters of Paradise every drop of which is bigger than the Ocean Give me to hunger and thirst after Righteousness and I have the Security of his Word who cannot lie that I shall be satisfied that having a Well of Water in my self derived from thee the living Fountain I may thirst no more with an uneasy vexing deadly Thirst MEDITAT VII Ezek. 47.9 And every thing shall live whither the River cometh THe latter part of this Prophet is so dark that all Interpreters are ready to cry out as I remember Carthusianus doth when he comes to it I now enter into the thick darkness 'T is no wonder therefore that the heads of that River which brake out in those Regions of Obscurity should be more hidden than those of Nile yet undoubtedly this is that River which David saith makes glad the City of God and which he elsewhere calls the River of his Pleasure What can this be but those Waters of the Sanctuary which flow from the Throne of God and the Lamb the Graces and Comforts of thy Spirit O let that Blessed Spirit which proceedeth from the Father and the Son and whom the Nicene Creed teacheth us to call the Lord and Giver of Life come down upon us and effect more in and for our Souls than we expect or look for to our Bodies from the Waters of these Wells that by the coming of this River to us we may live the life of Grace here and may be fitted for the Life of Everlasting Glory hereafter MEDITAT VIII Upon 2 Kings 5.12 Are not Abana and Pharphar Rivers of Damascus better than all the Waters of Israel May I not wash in them and be clean and he went away in a rage With vers 17. Thy Servant will henceforth offer neither Burnt-Offering nor Sacrifice unto other Gods but unto the LORD THere 's not a greater difference betwixt the Waters in which he wash'd and the Fire by which he offered burnt Sacrifice than between the Sentiments and Language of the Syrian Leper and the cleansed Proselyte How did the Rage of his insolent Mind flame out at his disdainful Lips But when that Jordan which wash'd his Body had baptiz'd his Soul healing both with how sedate a Calmness and humble and resolved Firmness doth he devote himself to Israel's God and to the Rights of his before despised Worship Tho right

Dominion over us and esteeming him a Being so fully and absolutely perfect that in fruition of him we may be compleatly and absolutely happy and blessed Solus ille colendus est quo solo fruens beatus est cultor ejus quo solo non fruens omnis mens misera est qualibet re alia perfruatur Aug. lib. 20. contra Faustum Manich. cap. 5. He only is to be worshipped by injoying whom alone his Worshipper is made blessed and by the want of whom alone every Soul is miserable what ever else he doth enjoy In the second respect as it is an Act of our Will and Affections it implies our choice of him and adherence to him by loving fearing trusting and delighting in him submitting to him obeying and imitating of him as a Being which is the chiefest Good Great True Just Holy and the perfect Idea of all most amiable and desirable Excellencies Optimus cultus quem colis imitari saith Lactantius that is the most acceptable Worship to imitate and endeavour to be like him whom we worship Pietas cultus Dei est nec colitur ille nisi amando Aug. Epist 120. No Worship is accepted but what proceeds from Love 2. External Worship is that which expresses the inward Frame and Disposition of our Minds and Souls by apt and sutable signs of bodily Gestures as bowing our Knees uncovering our Heads Prostration of our Bodies confessing of him praying to him giving him Thanks with our Mouths and performing all the parts of his instituted Worship according to his Will and Word for not only the second Commandment requires this but the Light of Nature for Socrates a heathen Philosopher could say Vnumquemque Deum sic coli oportet quomodo se ipse colendum praeceperit Every God ought to be worshipp'd as he commands himself to be worshipp'd So that the Worship of God reaches to and is to be performed by the whole inward and outward Man and we must thereby glorify him in our Bodies and our Spirits which are both his 1 Cor. 6.20 first with our Spirits and Minds knowing acknowledging and esteeming him as a Being absolutely perfect and all-sufficient most able and willing to help and make us happy Secondly Loving him fearing him trusting in him as most good and great and true c. Thirdly With our Bodies by all those reverential Gestures which are proper Signs and Indications of the right Frame and Disposition of our Hearts towards him and this last seems to be implied in the very Notation of the Greek Word here used προσκυνήσατε which is as some say derived from the Verb κύω osculor to kiss because it was the Custom of the Eastern Nations to worship by kissing the Hand the Knee c. Psal 2. Kiss the Son c. Hos 13.2 Let the Men that sacrifice kiss the Calves Or else from κυὼν Canis a Dog from the humble Posture of a Spaniel lying at and licking of his Masters Feet For things in their own Nature low and mean may afford Allusions to and be Illustrations of matters of the highest and greatest moment and importance It implies a willing Acknowledgment of his Heighth and our Lowness his Dominion and our Subjection his All-sufficiency and our Indigency Thus much for the first Particular propounded the Sum of which is this That the true God must be worshipp'd with our Spirit Soul and Body and whatever proves him to be such is a good and sufficient Reason to engage us to perform such Worship to him whether it proceed from him as the God of Nature or of Grace II. The second thing propounded to be inquired into was Who made the Fountains of Waters and how he made them that we may both try and prove his Title to Religious Adoration upon that account The Solution of the first Branch of this Enquiry is easy by the Principles of Divinity but the second is more difficult by the Principles of Philosophy To the first therefore I may answer briefly The true God made them which the holy Scriptures both assert and prove 1. They assert it Prov. 8. seems both to be very express and very emphatical for there Solomon brings in Wisdom that is Christ the essential Wisdom of God asserting and proving his own eternal Being and everlasting Subsistence And he proves it by a double Medium or two Arguments first because he was before God's oldest Works Secondly because he was present at the making of them The first he does in five Verses from the 22d to 26 inclusively Vers 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his Ways before his Works of old Then he enumerates and gives Instances of those Works as the Earth Vers 23. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was Next in the Depth and Fountains Vers 24. When there were no Depths was I brought forth when there were no Fountains abounding with Water Where the Earth the Depths and the Fountains of Waters are expresly call'd his Works yea the most ancient the earliest the first-born of his Works which he glories in being known by as the Father and Maker of them The second Argument by which he proves the Eternity of his Subsistence is That he was present with God when he prepared the Heavens stablished the Clouds above and strengthned the Fountains of the deep where the making the Fountains is as directly ascribed to him as the making of the Heavens This place is so full and clear it might suffice alone with the Text without adding more The Spirit of Christ speaking by the Mouth of Solomon gives us assurance that his Father made the Fountains And David saith no less for speaking of God he saith Psal 104.10 He sendeth forth his Springs into the Valleys which run among the Hills they are his Springs and he sends them forth Psal 107.33 35. He turneth the Rivers into a Wilderness and the Water-Springs into dry Ground Then again He turneth the Wilderness into a standing-water and dry Ground into Water-Springs Isa 35.6 7. In the Wilderness shall Waters break out and Streams in the Desert and the parched Land shall become a Pool and the thirsty Land Springs of Water And let it be suppos'd and granted that these Expressions are figurative and signify the pouring out of his Spirit in the Graces and Comforts of it upon desolate and weary Souls yet the thing must be first true in the literal and natural Sence that God can and doth perform such things in the course of Nature and Providence and can and will do what is like them in the Operations of his Grace Again Isa 41.18 I will open Rivers in high places and Fountains in the midst of the Valleys I will make the Wilderness a Pool of Water and the dry Land Springs of Water And in the Canticle Benedicite omnia opera commonly called the Song of the three Children which in our Liturgy is appointed to be said or sung after the first Lesson at

Streams and Virtues you would endow this House built to his Name so near them that the Waters of the Sanctuary may flow from hence with a constant Perennity like to the Waters of these Wells and with an Healthfulness to the Souls of those that dwell here which may equal or exceed the Usefulness of the Waters to the Bodies of us Strangers who come hither to drink them And now Oh thou most glorious Lord who hast made the Fountains of Waters and thereby manifested forth thy Almighty Power thy unsearchable Wisdom and inexhaustible Goodness which render thee a most sutable Object of all possible Adoration Love and Service Accept we beseech thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and Praise which we offer to thee from the Altar of an humble Heart for making of these Fountains and making known and continuing their useful Virtues and for blessing them to any of us And we further bless thy glorious Name who art the Fountain of Living Waters and in whom are all our Springs for all the Streams of Mercy that flow from thee especially for thy Son and thy Spirit thy Word and thy Sacraments and that sutable Portion of it we have now been made partakers of Beseeching thee so to write in our Hearts by the Finger of thy Spirit what we have heard with our outward Ears that it may bring forth in us the Fruit of good Living to the Glory of thy holy Name the good Example of our fellow Christians the present Comfort and the eternal Salvation of our precious Souls through Jesus Christ our dearest Lord To whom with thy Majesty and eternal Spirit be rendred as is most due all Honour Love Thanksgiving Praise and Adoration now and for evermore Amen FINIS Devout Meditations of Cardinal Bellarmine made English Of the Consideration of the Waters and chiefly of Fountains CHAP. I. THE Water holds the second place amongst the Elements of this World and if that be rightly look'd upon a step may be made of it to assist the Heart's Ascent to God And if we will premise a general Consideration of Water then draw out of the Fountains a special Ascent to God Water is moist and cold and from hence it hath these five Properties For 1. It washeth and cleanseth away Spots and Defilements 2. It quencheth Fire 3. It cools and slakes the heat of Thirst 4. It joyns into one many and different things Lastly So low as it descends so high it will ascend again All which are manifest Symbols and Foot-steps of that God who is the maker of all things 1. Water washeth off bodily Stains God washeth off those that are spiritual Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow Psal 51.7 For altho Contrition Sacraments Priests Alms-deeds do wash away Sins which are the Stains of the Heart All these are but Instruments and Dispositions He that is the Author of this washing is God alone I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake saith God by Isaiah Chap. 43.25 And therefore the Pharisees murmuring against Christ said Who can forgive Sins but God only Luke 7. 49. And they were not mistaken in ascribing unto God only the supream Power of forgiving Sins But in that that they believ'd not Christ to be 〈◊〉 God and so blasphem'd and spake Truth in the same breath Neither doth God only like Water wash away Spots but will also be called by the Name of Water John 7.38 He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified Therefore the holy Spirit which is very God is living Water And of this Water speaks Ezekiel Chap. 36.25 I will sprinkle clean Water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your Filthiness and from your Idols will I cleanse you And because this celestial and uncreated Water far excels the Virtues of this terrestrial and created Water we will take notice of three Differences betwixt the washing of created and uncreated Water First That which is created washeth the Bodies Spots but not all for many it cannot get out unless it be help'd by Soap and other Instruments but uncreated Water washeth out throughly all kind of Spots for in the fore-cited place 't is said You shall be clean from all your Filthiness Secondly Created Water rarely washeth Spots so clean away as to leave no Marks or Shadows of them But uncreated Water washeth so that what is washed with it is whiter and fairer then it was before it was defiled Thou shalt wash me saith David and I shall be whiter than Snow And the Lord himself saith by Isaiah Chap. 1.18 Tho your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wooll Lastly Created Water washeth away natural Spots which resist not him that washeth them But uncreated Water washeth away voluntary Spots which cannot be rinsed off unless the Soul be willing and spontaneously consent to him that rinseth it But so great and admirable is the Virtue of this Water that it sweetly penetrates hearts of Stone and is resisted by no hard Heart because it makes it not to resist as St. Augustin rightly observes Lib. de Praed SS cap. 8. Who can understand O Lord with how admirable Methods thou breathest Faith into the Hearts of the Unbelievers and pourest Humility in-the Heats of the proud and instillest Love into the Hearts of thy Enemies that he who a little before breathing Threatnings and Slaughter did persecute thee in thy Disciples being suddenly chang'd did willingly bear the Threats and Violences of the Persecutors for thee and for thy Church It is too much for me to search into thy Secrets and I had rather know the efficacy of thy Grace by sweet Experience than by search and because I know this Water of thine to be a voluntary Shower design'd for thine own Heritage as thy Prophet singS therefore I most humbly and submissly beg that I may be found in thine Inheritance and it may please thy Grace to descend into the Earth of my Heart that it continue not towards thee like Earth without Water dry and barren as 't is of it self being not sufficient so much as to think the least that 's good But let 's us proceed CHAP. II. VVAter quencheth Fire and that heavenly Water viz. the Grace of the holy Spirit in an admirable way and manner quencheth the Fire of carnal Lusts 'T is true Fastings and corporal Mortifications do much avail to quench this Burning but provided they be used as Instruments of the Grace of the Holy Ghost otherwise of themselves alone they signifie but very little For Love is the principal of the Affections and Passions of the Mind that governs them all and all obey it Love will not be

nor any Inconvenience to us but prove useful and beneficial to us for the continuance restauration and confirmation of Health to our frail Bodies And as we beg thy leave to use thy Grace to use aright and thy Blessing upon the use of these Waters of the nether Springs So with humble earnestness we beg that the Waters of the Sanctuary which flow from the Throne of the Lamb of God the promised Floods of thy holy Spirit may be plentifully poured forth upon us to refresh to satisfie to cleanse to heal our parched weary and polluted Souls that so both with our Bodies and our Spirits which thou hast made by thy Power and bought with the price of thy Son's Blood we may glorify Thee our great Creator and gracious Redeemer for ever Amen II. O most holy Lord God who tho Thou art most merciful in providing relieving Remedies for thy Creatures yet art most jealous of thy Glory and expectest to be owned and acknowledged in all the Works of thy Power and Goodness to the Sons of Men. We pray thee raise up our Hearts by these Waters and beyond the Virtues of them to thy Self whose Providence hath made them what they are And as we abhor that gross Idolatry of worshipping the likeness of any thing that is in the Waters under the Earth So we pray thee preserve us from a more refined but not less criminal Idolatry of placing our Confidence in their Qualities and Virtues and forgetting Thee the Maker of them lest we provoke Thee to withdraw the Blessing we expect and inflict the Curse we have cause to fear and to make them the Instruments of thy Vengeance because we made them the Objects of our Trust and Occasions of thy Jealousie Grant this O Lord for Christ his sake Amen III. O most gracious God who delightest in Mercy and pardonest Iniquity Transgression and Sin We thy poor sinful Creatures humbly cast down our selves before thee begging the Forgiveness of our Offences which may justly cause thee to with-hold good things from us yea to turn our Blessings into Curses that what is made for the good of others might become to us a Snare and occasion of falling But we beseech thee deal not with us according to our deserts but bless to us the use of these Waters that we may receive those Benefits by them for which we may have great cause to honour love and serve thee for ever And we pray thee give us good Hearts to do accordingly for thy Mercy sake Amen IV. O Lord who art the Fountain of living Waters we confess with shame we have forsaken Thee and have hewen out to our selves empty and broken Cisterns which can hold no Water for which it might be just with thee to forsake and cast us off for ever But good Lord convince us of this Folly pardon and turn us from it Do us good by these Wells we daily see and taste of and open our Eyes as thou didst the Eyes of Hagar to see those Wells of Salvation which are hid from all but those to whom thou art pleased to shew them and help us with joy to draw from thence what may so suffice and satisfie us that we may thirst no more Amen V. Almighty God the Fountain of all Goodness we reade that thy Manna relisht agreeably and pleased the various Palats of all that ate it O that these Waters may profit every person that drinks of them how different so ever the Distempers are for which they drink them That thy Wisdom and Power may more signally appear by thy producing such various Effects from one and the same single Cause And help us all who drink of one Well to be knit together in the Bond of true Christian Charity and to praise thee for the Mercies thou bestowest on our selves and for the Mercies thou vouchsafest unto others as heartily as for our own for Christ his sake who is our common Head Amen VI. O most blessed Lord God who givest thy Blessings and alone canst bless thy Gifts We beseech thee remove thy Curse which our Sins have deserved from us from all our Injoyments and particularly from these Waters we are gathered hither to make use of and let thy Blessing so accompany and follow our drinking of them that we may be both obliged and inabled to praise thy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen VII O most gracious God who hast made a gracious Promise that all things shall work for the good of them that love thee ingraft in our Hearts such love to thy Name as may intitle us to this good Promise And altho we have forfeited our present Comforts and future Expectations of Good yet take not the Forfeitures we have made but crown with continual Patience thy former Bounty and add new Favours and suffer none of us where and while we seek for help and Ease and Health and Life to meet with Pain or Sorrow Sickness Death and Judgment But by by these Waters heal our Diseases and by a better Fountain purge away and pardon all our Sins through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Mediator Amen VIII O Lord our God who art the inexhaustible Fountain of all both spiritual and temporal good things for our Souls and for our Bodies we lift up our Hearts and Hands to Thee in Heaven for a merciful Supply of all our inward and outward Wants and that Thou wouldst sanctify and bless to us all those Supplies thy Goodness doth vouchsafe us both for our Souls and Bodies whether for Meat or Medicine and particularly these Waters that they may do us much good and no hurt and for all the benefits we receive from Thee we pray thee inable us to render to Thee such returns of Service Love and Thankfulness as Thou mayest expect and wilt accept through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen IX O most mighty God who makest the Fountains of Waters those in the Fields and Deserts as Thou art the God of Nature and that in thy Church the Fountain of our Baptism as Thou art the God of Grace We most humbly beseech Thee baptize us with the Holy Ghost and let it be the constant study of our lives to keep the Covenant we made with Thee in our Baptism and to exemplify it by such a Conversation as becomes the Gospel receiving by Faith the good Promises thou hast made to us and making good with faithfulness the Promises we then made to Thee to thy Glory the good example of all our fellow-Christians and the Comfort and Salvation of our Souls by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen X. O most merciful Lord God who hast opened a Fountain for Sin and for Uncleanness in the Side in the Heart of thy own dear Son whom Thou sentest into this World to save his People from their Sins from all their Sins and all that is in Sin O let nothing be in vain to our Souls of all that he hath done or suffered instituted or ordained for his Peoples good

Spring of Life for himself in holy Scripture often intimates so much I live saith the Lord and the Prophets often repeat The Lord liveth The Lord liveth and in Jeremy God complains of his People saying They have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Water and yet he is mov'd neither of himself nor of any other I the Lord change not Mal. 3. and elsewhere God is not a Man that he should lie nor the Son of Man that he should repent or be changed And there is a Hymn sung daily in the Latin Church to this effect God who strongly all maintainest In thy self unmov'd remainest Bounding the times of each days light With the succession of the Night And altho God begets his Son he begets him without change altho he sees hears speaks loves pities judges he does all without Mutation altho he creates and preserves things or on the contrary destroys and scatters them and again renews and changeth them yet he works resting and changeth other things without being mov'd how therefore does he live if he move not himself And how lives he not if he be the Fountain and Author of Life This knot is easily untied this is absolutely sufficient to Life if the thing that lives act of it self and be not moved by another But Life for the most part in created things is a Principle of inward Motion because created things are imperfect and want many things to perform the Functions of Life but God is infinite Perfection and needs nothing out of himself wherefore he indeeds acts of himself and not moved by another but has no need of Motion or Change needs not Motion or Mutation Created things need Change that they may generate and be generated because they beget out of themselves and the thing that is begotten must be chang'd from not being into being but God begets his Son within himself and within himself proceeds his holy Spirit and neither the Son or Holy Ghost ought to be chang'd from not being unto being because they receive that Being that always was and that they receive not in time but in Eternity Created things want motion of Encrease because they were born imperfect but God the Son is born most perfect and God the Holy Ghost is breath'd forth also and produc'd most perfect Created things need the motion of Alteration that they may obtain the various Qualities they want but God wants nothing seeing his Essence is of infinite Perfection Created things want local motion because they are not every-where but God is every-where wholly Further Created things that they may see that they may hear that they may speak that they may work want many things because tho indeed they have Life yet it is imperfect and very poor but God wants nothing out of himself that he may see all things hear all speak to all and work all in all because he not only hath Life but the Life he hath is most opulent and happy and he himself is Life and the Fountain of Life And that we may give an Example in the act of seeing a Man that he may see must have a visive Power which is distinct from the Soul which properly lives he must have an Object some colour'd Body plac'd without himself he must have the Light of the Sun or some other luminous Body he must have a Medium some diaphanous Body he must have a sensible Species which may be carried from the Object to the Eye he must have a corporal Organ that is an Eye sitly made of various Humours and fleshy Tunicles he must have sensitive Spirits and optick Nerves through which those Spirits may pass he must have a duly proportion'd distance and after all must apply his Power to the act of Seeing Behold how many helps both Men and other Creatures want that they may perform one vital Action but God who truly hath Life wholly in himself wants nothing at all His infinite Essence is to him Power Object Species Light and all things else of himself and by himself and in himself God sees and clearly discovers all things which are which have been which shall be and which can be and before the World was made God saw all things neither did any thing new accrue unto his Sight or Knowledg by the Creation of all things What therefore shalt thou be O my Soul when thou shalt be partaker of his Life what great matter does God command thee when he requires thee to lay down this corporal this animal Life which is so imperfect and full of wants for thy Brethren and for God himself that thou mayest be made partaker of Eternal Life which is most rich and blessed And if it be a small matter he requires when he requires thee to despise Life how very light and little should it seem when he bids thee to distribute thy dead Riches liberally to the Poor to abstain from carnal Lusts truly to renounce the Devil and his Pomps and with thy whole Heart to breath after that Life which alone is Life indeed and Truth CHAP. VIII BUT now 't is time that as well as we can we ascend unto the Fountain of Wisdom The Fountain of Wisdom is the Word of God in the highest saith Ecclesiasticus and well he said in the Highest because the Fountain of Wisdom abundantly and copiously flows forth upon the holy Angels and the Souls of the Blessed whose Habitations are the highest Heavens To us who are conversant in this Pilgrimage and Desart not so much Wisdom it self as a slight scent and shadow of it is attainable Wherefore O my Soul affect not things too much above thee search not the Majesty lest thou be oppressed of the Glory Admire his Wisdom of whom the Apostle speaks To God only wise Rom. 16. and gratulate those blessed Souls that drink out of the Fountain of Wisdom and tho they cannot comprehend God which is proper to the Fountain of Wisdom it self yet they see the Face of God that is of the first cause without any interposed Vail and being irradiated by the Beams of his Brightness can judg rightly of all things and in that noon-day Light of Wisdom fear neither the Darkness of Errors nor Obscurity of Ignorance nor the Dimness of Opinions Aspire O my Soul unto that Happiness And that thou mayest safely attain it love with all thy Heart the Lord Jesus Christ in whom are hidden all the Treasures of the Knowledg and Wisdom of God Col. 2.3 for he hath said in his Gospel He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self to him John 14.21 And what else doth this signifie I will manifest my self to him but I will manifest all the Treasures of the Knowledg and Wisdom of God which lie hid in me Assuredly every Man naturally desires to know and tho carnal Lusts do in many lull these desires asleep yet when we have put off this Body that corrupts and presses down our Soul

Reason be the Handmaid of Devotion and the best Stock on which to graft Religion for nothing is more reasonable than that God should communicate his Grace in his own Methods and receive our Homage according to his own Appointments yet carnal Reason truly so call'd corrupt and blinded with the malignant Influence and selfish Interest of Flesh and Blood dares rival God's Wisdom and more than mate his Authority deride it It would perhaps sound harsh if some of us should ask Are not other Waters better than these of Tunbridg-Wells How uncomely is it then to depress the Wells of Sion below the Cisterns of Sins and Creatures yet how many Abana's and Pharphar's do most prefer before God's Jordan not only desecrating the Waters consecrated to the mystical washing away of Sin and all his other holy Institutions by disbeliving God's good Promises and neglecting to make good their own but the very Fountain from which they were derived that opened for Sin and for Uncleanness in the side of Christ Not only the stagnant Pool of our Unrighteousness and the broken Cisterns of Creature Comforts but the cleanest Streams of our best Righteousnesses are Waters of Damascus compar'd to the Blood and Spirit of Christ O my Soul take heed thou equal none of them with Him in thy Esteem and Love And O my God give me such a sense of my worthless Emptiness as may make me profoundly humble And that Humility will make me thankful and that Thankfulness will inflame my Love and that Love will constrain my Obedience to a willing observance of all thy Institutions because they bear the Image and Inscription of thy Authority of thy Wisdom and thy Goodness who art thy self the Fountain of every Stream that is desirable and good Amen MEDITAT IX Upon Psal 87.7 All my Springs are in thee GOD is often called a Rock by Moses and the Prophets but especially by David and there 's good reason for that Appellation for there 's no Creature that hath not Life that hath more and more lively Resemblances of his Nature and Properties He is a strong Refuge a firm Foundation a refreshing Shade a secure Hiding-place But most eminently all Springs of Goodness are in Him and issue from him as Waters from a Rock All our Springs are in him of Life and Being of Food and Raiment of Meat and Medicine of preservation in Health and recovery out of Sickness These nether-Springs O Lord gush out upon us by the unlocking of thy Treasuries But more especially those upper Springs of Grace and Comfort Pardon and Peace And above all the Blessing of these Blessings to us and rendring of them what we pray they may be Blessings indeed O Lord my God thy Goodness is the rich Mineral through which our Springs do glide 't is this which gives them both their Tincture and their Taste renders them wholsom makes them healthful O that this may impregnate all the Streams which flow so freely to us may rectify may sanctify may bless them to us that we may bless and glorify thy holy Name in that behalf for ever Amen MEDITAT X. Upon Rev. 22.17 The Spirit and the Bride say Come and whosoever will let him take the Waters of Life freely VVHatever is beneficial insinuates it self to prove Instructive and thereby acquires a Right to be so and by doing of us good obligeth us to be good These Waters have a Voice and joyn the Chorus which ecchoing the call of the Spirit and the Bride the Church on Earth and God from Heaven invite us to come and take of the Waters of Life freely The Perennity of their Streams the free access that from the Prince to the Peasant all have to them their equal Helpfulness to rich and poor to bad and good and many more like Properties are all instructive They heal no bodily Infirmity which hath not some Distemper of our Souls to be relieved by those living Waters They teach us Perseverance and Constancy in doing well that our Goodness be not as the Morning-Dew but like their lasting Streams to yield a free approach to those who need our Help to be ready to distribute willing to communicate to be forward to do good to all O my Soul exemplify their Virtues and improve the advantages thy Body hath obtained by their use to the like helping of the inward Man Have they wash'd out the Slime the Sand the Gravel and heal'd or eas'd thee of the Stone Let it melt thy stony Heart into an Heart of flesh and be encouraged hence to believe and sue out into Performances the Promises of the Covenant of Grace which are the Springs of Salvation from the Experience of God's fulfilling what his Providence doth tacitely promise by these natural Fountains Experience breeds Hope Have they begot an Appetite Hunger and thirst thou after Righteousness Have they sweetned the Blood thin'd it and made it circulate opened and remov'd Obstructions put thou away all Superfluity of Naughtiness all Rancor Malice and Revenge fill up the circle of universal Obedience and let nothing hinder the Grace of God from having a free course through all thy Faculties Have these cut the tough the viscous Humours let those better Waters cut the Iron Sinew till thy Neck willingly bow to the sweet to the easy Yoke of Christ Have they rendred any fruitful let the barren Soul endeavour to have Christ formed in it that it may bring forth Fruit to God Have they cooled those Heats you call Heart-burnings Apply these Waters of Life to the cauteriz'd Conscience sear'd as with an hot Iron that these may quench the Burning mollify the Tumour cicatrize the Wound till your Hearts be cured of an evil Conscience to serve the living God with Purity and Peace O my Soul hear thou these kind these gracious Invitations And O my God circumcise my Heart that I may close with them and what thou offerest so freely give effectually and help me to receive thankfully and improve savingly that they may be indeed the Waters of Life in Grace and Glory that I may thirst no more Amen The end of the Meditations Some Forms of PRAYER and THANKSGIVING to assist the Devotion of those who drink the Waters of Tunbridg-Wells or wait upon God's Providence in the use of other Mineral Fountains PRAYER I. O Almighty God and our most merciful Father in Jesus Christ who by the Mouth of him thy dearest Son hast taught us that Man lives not by Bread only but by the Word which proceedeth out of thy Mouth We know that dead things cannot give us Life without the Influence and Blessing of Thee who art the living God nor any preparations of Art or Nature heal us without thy Healing Concurrence who stilest thy Self The Lord that healeth We therefore most humbly beseech thee to accompany with thy Blessing and to crown with a desided and merciful Success the use we make of these Medicinal Waters that they may occasion neither Sin nor Sickness