Ephraim to go taking them by the Arms but they knew not that I heal'd them I drew them with cords of a man with bands of love Jonah 4. Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil Mic. 7.18 19. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy He will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depth of the Sea Malac. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed Eph. 2.4 5. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins and trespasses hath quickned us together with Christ by grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Secondly His incomprehensible love declared in giving his Son to dye for the sin of the World Isa 52.9 10. Break forth into joy sing together ye wast places of Jerusalem for the Lord hath comforted his People he hath redeemed Jerusalem The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all Nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God Chap. 53.4 5 6. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Chap. 55.1 3. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Incline your ear and come unto me hear and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David Chap. 61.1 2 3. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord that he might be glorified Ezek. 34.22 23 24 25. I will save my flock and they shall be no more a prey And I will set up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them even my servant David he shall feed them and he shall be their shepherd And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a Prince amongst them I the Lord have spoken it And I will make with them a covenant of peace Malac. 4.2 Unto you that fear my Name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and ye shall go forth and grow up as Calves of the stall Luke 1.76 77 78 79. Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways To give knowledg of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace Chap. 4.17 18 19 21 And when he Jesus had opened the Book he found the place where i◠was written The Spirit of the Lord 〈◊〉 upon me And he began to sa◠unto them this day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears Joh 1.29 John seeth Jesus comin◠unto him and saith Behold th◠Lamb of God which taketh awa◠the sin of the World Chap. 3.16 17. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Chap. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his Friends Act 10.43 To him give all the Prophets witness that through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins Rom. 3.23 24 25. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 5.8 9. God commendeth his love towards us in that whilest we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us Much more then being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him 1 Joh. 2.1 2. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous And he is the propitiation for our sins Rev. 5.9 And the Elders sung a new song saying Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and people and tongue and Nation Thirdly His faithfulness in keeping his promise Isa 49.15 16. Can a woman forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee on the palms of my hands thy walls are before me continually Jer. 33.20 21. Thus saith the Lord if you can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night and that there should not be day and night in their season Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne Joh. 10.28 29. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand My Father which gave them me is greater than all And no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord. 2 Cor. 1.21 22. He which stablisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed is God Who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts 2 Tim. 2.19 The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his Heb. 6.17 18. God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an Oath That by
thee Vers 19. And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy commandements thy testimonies and thy statutes 2 Pet. 1.12 c. I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance Seventhly If the sick Person seem willing to dye the Minister may prudently endeavour to discover whether his willingness to dye doth proceed from some good and laudable motive or no for it may arise out of either As 1. From a desire to be freed from the troubles and persecutions Men undergo in this life Numb 11.13 14 15. Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this People for they weep unto me saying give us flesh that we may eat I am not able to bear all this People alone because it is too heavy for me And if thou deal thus with me kill me I pray thee out of hand if I have found favor in thy sight and let me not see my wretchedness 1 King 19.4 But he Elijah himself went a days journey into the wilderness and came and sate down under a Juniper-tree and he requested for himself that he might dye and said it is enough now O Lord take away my life for I am not better than my Fathers Or 2. To be freed from pain Job 3.11 c. Why dyed I not from the womb why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly Vers 13. For now should I have lien still and been at quiet I should have slept then should I have been at rest Vers 17 18. There the wicked cease from troubling there the weary be at rest There the Prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor Vers 20 21. Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery and life unto the bitter in soul which long for death but it cometh not and dig for it more than for hid treasures Chap. 6.8 9. O that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for Even that it would please God to destroy me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off Jon. 4.8 It came to pass when the sun did rise that God prepared a vehement eastwind and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted and wished in himself to dye and said it is better for me to dye than to live Or. 3. Out of ignorance of man's estate after death in respect of rewards and punishments Eccl. 12.7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it Heb. 9.27 It is appointed unto men once to dye but after this the judgment 2 Cor. 5.10 11. We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Knowing therefore the terrours of the Lord we perswade men Mat. 25.31 32 33 46. When the son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he be set upon the Throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all Nations and he shall separate them one from the other as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats Then shall he say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed Children of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Then shall he say to them on his left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the righteous into life eternal Luke 16.22 c. And it came to pass that the beggar dyed and was carried by the Angels into Abrahams bosom the rich man dyed also and was buried And in Hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom And he cryed and said Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame Or 4. Patient submission to Gods will 1 Sam. 3.18 And Eli said it is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good Luke 22.42 Father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done Acts 21.14 And when he Paul would not be perswaded we ceased saying the will of the Lord be done Phil. 4.11 I have learned in what estate soever I am therewith to be content Or 5. Well-grounded hopes of Salvation Job 8.20 God will not cast away a perfect man Psal 37.38 Keep innocency and take heed to the thing that is right for that shall bring a man peace at the last Rom. 5.1 2. Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God 2 Cor. 4.13 14. We having the same spirit of faith according as it is written I believed and therefore have I spoken we also believe and therefore speak knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you 2 Tim. 7.8 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous Judg shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto them also which love his appearing Heb. 3.14 We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end To each of these fit applications of these or such-like passages of Scripture are to be made For neither willingness nor unwillingness to dye simply considered are tokens of good or bad estate but in relation tâ— the ground or cause from whencâ— they proceed Eighthly When the sick Person complains of the want of sensible joy and inward comfort of the Spirit such passages of Scripture are to be set before him as describe 1. The state of our spiritual warfare Mat. 10.35 38. I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter in law against her mother in law And a mans foes shall be they of his own houshold And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me Joh. 16.33 In the world ye shall have tribulation Gal. 5.17 The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Eph. 5.11 12 13. Put on the whole armour of God
Go in Peace Containing some Brief DIRECTIONS For Young MINISTERS In their Visitation of the Sick USEFUL For the People in their state both of Health and Sickness Deut. 32.29 O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end LONDON Printed by A. M. for Richard Royston Bookseller to his most Sacred Majesty at the Angel in Amen-Corner 1674. To the Right Worshipful Sr. George How Baronet The Author prayeth the increase of Grace here and Glory hereafter Honoured Sir IT is receiv'd for a truth of the greater magnitude 〈…〉 12.19 by One whose Profession renders his conceptions unsuspected of any bias by interest That the Gospel it self and the Ministers thereof are ever weighed in the same ballance of human judgment and the estimate of both whether of honour or contempt always alike The sincere esteem you have for the Duties of the Gospel doth not only manifest the certainty of that Maxim but also lay open the Root out of which your pious regard for the Ministers thereof doth grow and prosper Both which daily thriving by the Celestial showers of Divine Grace falling on your heart are become so conspicuous in the World like a City set on an hill that cannot be hid that it hath engag'd my weak endeavours to contribute something to the present imitation and future memory of your Vertues Sir I am confident whatever others may do yet you will not esteem your self unconcern'd in the purpose and benefit of this Collection For who can do so that believes That it is appointed to men once to dye and after that the Judgment Much less then a Person who dyes daily whose contemplation minutely suggest unto him the memento's of mortality and whose life is an entire design to prepare for death Did other foresee what kind of thoughts would suprize them at that woful day unless their spirits are congeal'd by some narcotick stupidity they would deem it as much beneath the sagacity of men as the wisdom of Christians to leave the most important business of their life to be huddled up in a few tempestuous hours encumbred with sorrow pain anguish horrour and amazement in themselves and others And who is there that can make a death-bed so well that an Vlcerous Soul may lye easie on it under the throws and pangs of a wounded Conscience It is to this almost insuperable task that I have adventured to set an helping hand rather indeed endeavour'd to prevent the huge difficulty of that work to bring out of the Sepulchre of a crucified Jesus a precious Relique as I may say some part of the Napkin that was bound about his head as an Handkerchief or Apron from the body of an Apostle wherewith to stanch the blood respite and avert the death of a sinner yea bring to him pardon life and immortality instead of it And who is he that dares reject a medicine how desperate soever be the state of the Patient the ingredients whereof are gathered out of the Garden of God the Book of Scriptures Who shall limit that mercy that is above all his works the supreme effect of Divine Omnipotency And now Sir though I do not altogether despair of the prosperous success of this charitable enterprize on others yet thus much I can safely promise my self which will abundantly recompence the little trouble I shall give them that it will free my Brethren from all umbrage of ingratitude to so sincere a Lover of the Clergy and put the World in mind how great a price is to be set on Vertue and Goodness when set-out and imbellish't with Greatness This being the Compass whereby the inferior world of men do steer their course and is the Anchor of Church and State under all the 〈◊〉 and Vicissitudes of Fortune THE Preface THere are some I presume amongst the Reverend Clergy of that Diocess of which I profess my self an unworthy member who need not be put in mind of a passage touching the Concerns of their Function that fell from the Blessed lips of a late godly Prelate of our Church in his Speech at his Primary and last Visitation in which he prest them to a zealous discreet and sedulous performance of their duty of Preaching For which amongst other he gave these two important Reasons The one from an observation himself had made whilst he liv'd in Exile for he was one of those Abiathar's 1 King 2.26 that was afflicted in all wherein his Majesty was afflicted of the gross and barbarous ignorance of the common People in those parts beyond the Seas where himself converst which he imputed chiefly to the want of frequent Sermons amongst them And his other was taken from the state of things in this Church which though by its Canons and Rubricks it exacts from Ministers sincere and diligent Preaching to the People yet hath it not laid any coercive obligation on the People themselves to have private recourse to their Ministers It is the latter of these Reasons that I principally reflect on as a very importunate motive to all zealous and pious Ministers of our Church to lay hold on every precious opportunity they can for private Discourse with them whose souls are committed to their charge thereby to facilitate a way to their own comfort and the salvation of their Brethren Both which are so nearly concern'd in their Visitation of the sick that One later than the Eleventh hour for that sort of address that I have taken the boldness to put them in mind of their duty 2 Pet. 1.12 though they know it already by delivering into their hand sundry pertinent and useful passages of Scripture proper to supply the unskilfulness of such as are but newly entered on that sacred Function The moment of which duty let me recommend to them in the words of Salvian an Ancient and Holy Bishop of the Church It is says he Revocare ab inquisitione ultimi Remedii durum ac impium est Spondere autem aliquid in tam sera curatione temerarium Sed melius est nihil inexpertum relinquere quam morientem non curare Maxime quia nescio an in extremis aliquid tentare medicina sit certe nihil tentare perditio Salv. ad Eccl. Cathol l. 1. an harsh and impious thing to discourage any one from slying to the last Remedy And no less rash is it to promise any thing in so late an undertaking the spiritual cure Yet better is it to leave nothing untried then not to have regard to a departing Soul Especially seeing I know not whether to attempt something may not prove successful but it would certainly prove destructive to make trial of no remedy at all But a greater than Salvian is here When I say unto the wicked thou shalt surely dye and thou givest him not warning nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life the same wicked man shall dye in his iniquity but his blood will I require at thy