shall Sun or heat fall on us because thou dost governe us and leadest us to the fountaines of waters and shalt wipe away all teares from our eyes thou shalt make us drunk with the plenteousnesse of thy house and refresh us with the streames of thy pleasure O Lord as the hart desireth the fountaines of water so longeth my soule after thee O Lord my soule hath thirsted after God the living fountaine when shall I come and appeare before the face of God O Lord when shall I worthily call to mind thy mercyes thy praises which are farre above all things which thou hast given me and exceeding the multitude of the goods of my house which thou hast bestowed upon mee according to the multitude of thy mercyes CONTEMP 21. c. Of Christs sixt word uttered upon the Crosse THou hast performed all and every of those things which thou knewest necessary to recover our salvation most willingly and with all thy heart And therefore thy sixt word was not it shall be finished as thou diddest say in thy journey to Jerusalem behold we goe up to Jerusalem and all things shall be fulfilled which are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man for hee shall be delivered up to the Gentiles shall bee mocked shall be scourged and spitt upon and after they have scourged him they shall put him to death But hee saies it is finished whatsoever the wicked nation could invent to exasperate thy torments is finished thou truly diddest foretell the houre and power of darkenesse and the time of thy crucifying I have finished sayest thou the work which thou gavest me to doe but that was another work namely the work of Preaching the Gospell as thou thy selfe doest intimate unto mee when thou addest I have manifested thy name unto men this work which thou sayest is finished is the work of suffering for mankind the work of drinking off the cup of the passion which thy father hath given thee thou hast now drunk it all off so that there remaines nothing but that thou give up the ghost the power which was given the apostate Angels and the filthy rabble of wicked men is finished thy pilgrimage wherein thou wentest out from thy father and diddest come into the world is finished wherein thou wast upon the earth like a husbandman and a travailer the mortality of thy humanity is at an end every prophecy which the prophets had foretold concerning thy life or death is finished the greatest sacrifice of all sacrifices is finished that upon which all the sacrifices of the old covenant as types and shaddows did reflect for by one oblation thou hast for ever made perfect those that are sanctified and art become the end of the Law to every one that beleeveth Now the variety of carnall sacrifices ceasing thou fulfillest all those distinctions of beasts by once offering up of thy body and blood thou hast O Lord drawne all things unto thy selfe for by rending the vaile of the temple the Sanctum Sanctorum departed from the unworthy high Preists that the figure might bee turned into a truth the prophecy into a manifestation and the Law into a Gospell O cleane O unspotted sacrifice whose Altar was the Crosse which the viler it was before Christ overcame it so much the more famous and noble did it afterwards become the fire thereof that consumes the burnt offering and perfecteth the sacrifice is this immeasurable charity which like a furnace exceedingly heated did burne in thy heart O Jesus which the many waters of thy sufferings could not extinguish O Jesus my redeemer my mercy my Saviour I praise thee I give thanks unto thee though farre unproportionable to thy benefits though very voyd of devotion though leane in comparison of that fatnesse which thy most sweet affection towards us doth require in them yet my soule doth pay unto thee what thanks shee is able not such as shee knowes are due unto thee from mee Thou hope of my heart thou vertue of my soule let thy most powerfull worth perfect that which my most chill weaknesse doth endeavour my life thou end of my intention though I have not loved thee so much as I ought to love thee yet doe I at least desire to love thee as much as I ought O Jesus let this word alwayes stick in my memory It is finished When sinne and damnation shall band themselves against mee wrastling with the pangs of death and shall present unto mee my ugly life made deformed by my sinnes let me be able then to say the sacrifice for my sinnes is finished For thou art the Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world Thou hast not redeemed me with corruptible silver and gold but with thy most precious blood as it were of an unspotted undefiled lamb When the law shall accuse me and shall exact punishment let me say each tittle of it is accomplished For when the fulnes of time was come God sent his Son made under the Law that he might redeem those which were under the Law and that we also might receive the adoption of children When death shall infest and terrifie me let me say thy power is determined thou art conquered by my Lord who hath spoiled thee of thy power hath taken out thy sting and purged out thy poyson that death may be to me a sweet repose great gaine a dismission in peace a recalling from evils a momentary hiding me till wrath is past and till heaven gates be opned for me When kindred friends and acquaintance shall at the time of my departure bewaile my going hence and compasse my bed with groanes and teares let me say my course is finished the appointed time is past the period is fixed which we cannot passe the glasse is runne the houre of freedome drawes neare here my misery makes a stand and the haven I make to is neare where all teares shall be wiped away behold I leave unto you a Fulfiller of all good and an asswager and ender of all evill hee shall comfort you if you flie unto him hee shall keepe and defend you to whom I recommend my soule and to whom I recommend you the beloved of my soule for evermore Amen CONTEMP c. 22. Of the seventh and last word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse ALthough Lord Jesus Christ great is thy humility great thy abasement and great is thy affliction that thou seemest scarce a man but a worm yet in thy seventh and last word before thou gavest up the ghost tho-shewedst thy selfe not a man only but even set above the reach of mans power for when thou wast about to breathe out thy most holy Spirit thou criedst out Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Ah what a mournfull lamentable sad and miserable silence is there when mournfull lamentable sad and miserable man is commanded to breathe forth his soule how silent faint and how dead as it were are all things before death our death-bed takes
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
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
downe from heaven thy holy Spirit the teacher of truth and worke in my tough and hard heart inward and divine repentance that I may never repent me of And now thou love of that heavenly power thou holy communication of the omnipotent Father and the blessed issue thou Spirit the Omnipotent Comforter slide within the most secret places of my heart by thy powerfull operation and enlighten every darke lurking place of this my neglected habitation by the brightnesse of thy glorious light Come come now thou most courteous Comforter of the languishing soul that defendst it in its necessities art its helper in tribulation Come thou cleanser of my filthinesse thou curer of my wounds Come thou Strength of the weake thou Sustainer of those that slide Come thou Instructer of the humble and Confounder of the haughty Come thou holy Father of the orphans thou milde Judge of the widowes Come thou Hope of the poore thou Refresher of those that faint Come thou sea-mans Starre thou Haven against shipwracke Come thou singular Beauty of all that live thou only Safety of those that die Come most holy Spirit come and take pity upon me Fit me for thy selfe and mercifully condescend to my weaknesse that according to the multitude of thy mercies my meannesse may be acceptable to thy Majestie and my weaknesse to thy power There was a time my God when I had no being which I cannot remember and then thou madest me to have a being thou formedst me of the clay of the earth and madest me according to thine owne image and representation Thou broughtest me out of my mothers wombe thou wast my hope when I hung upon my mothers breasts from the wombe was I cast upon thy providence for from the very time that I first drew my vitall breath and entred this tabernacle of the world and my soule tooke possession of her earthly house thou art my Father thou art my Redeemer thou art my Saviour thou art my Helper Thou didst create my body and all the members thereof thou gavest me my soule and all the faculties thereof and hast most mercifully preserved my life even to this present houre Thou hast added another blessing farre more pretious than the rest that thou mightest tie me the nearer unto thee Thou descendedst O God from heaven to finde me out thou soughtest for me being lost of all hands By thy incarnation didst thou rid my weake and miserable flesh out of the ignominy and basenesse which by the devils seducing suggestions it was fallen into Thou sanctifiedst my sinfull nativity by thy most holy birth by thy bonds and captivity thou hast freed me from the bonds of my enthralling sinnes Whilst thou deliveredst thy selfe into the hands of sinners thou hast snatched me out of the power of sinne in the forme of sinfull flesh thou hast abolished my sinfull life which is the worke of Satan by this thy great mercy thou hast most straightly tied me unto thy selfe thou hast enticed me unto thee with those benefits thou hast confirmed and strengthned my hope with those great merits thou wouldest stirre up in me a hatred and detestation of my sins in that thou hast wrought and endured so many and so great things that thou mightest reconcile me to thy heavenly Father and overthrow the kingdome of sinne so thou hast kindled bright coales over my head that thou mightest thereby set my heart on fire that overwhelmed as it were with the works of thy mercy which are included in this thy worke of Redemption I might love him with all my heart who hath wholly loved me and imparted himselfe wholly unto mee Thou hast redeemed me O Lord my God but what good had it beene unto me except thou hadst permitted me to be baptized amongst so great a multitude therefore of Infidels thou wast pleased I should be borne of faithfull parents and hast blessed me so farre above all unbeleeving Ethnicks Turks and Jewes that I might be regenerated by the lavacre in thy word and according to thy Word and might put on my Christ with all his benefits There thou hast adopted me for thy sonne and made me thy heire there make I that wonderfull covenant with thee that I should be thine and that thou shouldest be mine that thou shouldest be my Lord and I should be thy servant that thou shouldest be my father and I should be thy sonne there is it so so covenanted betwixt us that thou shouldest manifest thy fatherly affection to me and that I should with a filiall obedience hearken unto thee What need I rehearse the other use of this Sacrament namely that thou hast made it the curing physicke of our sins that by thine own blood thou mightest heal my unhappy and festring wounds and mightest thereby more and more adde perfection unto me But though I have received so many blessings of thee and have in a readinesse so many antidotes against sinne yet have I not continued in obedience but have often broken that covenant and yet hast thou bin so mercifull and so milde a God that thou didst endure my disobedience O God my salvation and hope how can I recount thy mercy and clemency without shedding of teares for how often O just judge mightest thou kill and bring me to nothing and yet none of these things is befallen me how many thousands of soules are already thrust into hell to be punished with eternall plagues and fire that never came neare my sinnes either in number or weight and yet am not I burned what had become of me if thou hadst cut me off together with them How ought I to feare thy terrible and fearfull judgement if thou shouldest punish me in thy immutable and severe judgement according to the foulnesse of my iniquities O my God who tied thy hands who was my Intercessor when I most securely slept the sleep of sin who held the scourge of thy wrath when as day by day I provoked urged thy vengeance what was there in me to please thee what was there in me so worthy of thy acceptation that thou shouldest spare me when thou didst root out others who wallowing in the mud of their sinnes thou didst summon to thy most righteous judgement seat in the midst of their dayes My sins did cry to heaven and thou didst stop thine eares my wickednesses were daily multiplied and thy mercy was likewise encreased to me I did sinne and thou didst expect my repentance I fled from thee and thou didst draw neare to me I provoked thee so often to wrath that I might weary thee by my provocations yet wast not thou weary of taking pity upon me as if my transgressions against thee being abominable ingratitude in me were pleasing in thy sight Thou hast suggested unto me many good thoughts and given me many profitable admonitions to turne me from my transgressions even in my full speed of sinning How many times standing before the doore of my heart hast thou knocked and called saying
mouth I view the letters graven with the finger of God the learning people and teaching God and that there is as it were but one schoole of heaven and earth mixed of men and Angels For so it is written that when Moses had reported to the Lord the peoples words the Lord said unto him Now will I come to thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear me speake to thee And behold a while after they began to heare thunders and lightnings and thicke clouds began to cover the mountains And again He did descend upon the top of Mount Sinah And afterwards he spake with Moses all of them seeing that the Pillar of the Cloud did rest at the doore of the Tabernacle and they stood and worshipped in their Tent doors Thou didst speak O Lord to Moses face to face as one friend useth to doe with another O what a care hast thou of thy creature man thou God that affordst and performest these so great things for him making vile man partaker of thy Word and as it were admitting him to the fellowship of thy holy company opening thy hands full of immortall riches nourishing him with the cup of Nectar and feeding him with heavenly food What greater care I beseech thee couldest thou performe in that thy government or what greater affection couldest thou use that whereas they were but in the action of this present life they did notwithstanding then enjoy a representation of their future blisse Nor let any man here murmure that thou hadst this care of mankinde heretofore but that thou now hast it not Whence shall I beleeve this repining doth proceed by chance because we are not daily fed with Manna as they were although we reap from our fields most plentifull Wheat-harvests or is it because wee catch not Quailes flying as it were into our hands whereas we devour all kinde of birds of cattell and beasts or because we doe not with open mouthes receive the waters springing from the rockes whereas wee drench our Tavernes with the juice of the grapes Somthing I adde more that we our selves who thinke that God did then take care of them and do suppose that God doth now neglect us if wee could exchange our present blessings for theirs which are past wee would utterly refuse to wish to bee in their Condition For we would not lose the things wee now have that wee might possesse the things which they then used Not that wee have better things than that Nation then had but because even they who were fed by the daily ministery of heaven and of God himselfe did preferre the old gluttony of their bellies before the present good things they received beeing sad with the calling to minde of their carnall meates and falling sicke for the filthy love of leeks and oyons not that these things which they formerly used were better but because even as we now do so did they then they loathed the things they had and desired the things they had not We doe rather extol the things that were then than the things which now are not that we had alwayes rather have them if we might choose but because this is an usuall fault that mans soule is incident to to desire the things are absent and for other mens things to please us better than our owne and for ours to please others more than the things they doe enjoy so fastidious are we most miserable men that we are not worthy to live much lesse of life with the good things appertaining to it But what ere thou givest or deniest thou art alwayes a Father and dost never forsake a sonne that trusts and hopes in thee Give if thou wilt but onely five loaves and two fishes a handfull of meale a little oyle in a pitcher a few shreds and branches of trees and no more I will boast of the care thou hast of mee O my God in thee will I boast my heavenly Father who takest me up nor can I receive disquietnesse from thee for ever Thou wilt say to my soul I am thy salvation no good thing shall be diminished to them that seeke thee they shall not bee confounded in the evill day and in a time of famine they shall have enough Although I fall I shall not bee dashed to peeces because thou settest to thine hand I never saw the just man forsaken nor his seed begging their bread I will seeke thee O Lord and thou shalt heare mee and shalt snatch mee out of all my troubles being poore I will call unto thee and thou shalt save mee from all my cares those that feare thee cannot truly suffer want Thou wilt command that the meale in the vessell faile not that the oyle in the pitcher decrease not because I have need of all these things I will first seeke the Kingdome of God and other things shall be added unto me It is so far from thee my God and Lord that thou shouldest forsake thine that thou makest even dogs to helpe and give them ease I will expect thee O Lord I will play the Man I will suffer thine hand O Lord and my heart shall receive comfort let my father and mother forsake mee thou Lord shalt take mee up O God thou shalt be my helpe nor wilt thou despise me O God my salvation Thou shalt set me upon a rock thou shalt hide me in thy Tabernacle in the time of afflictions thou shalt hide me in the depth of thy Tabernacle in the time of affliction that I may see thy goodnesse in the land of the living CONTEMP c. 12. Of the Tabernacle of the Children of Israel Of the Cloud wherein Gods especiall presence was manifested Of the Mercy-seat Of the Arke Of the Manna and Of Aarons rod. I Creepe before thy Tabernacle my God I cōsider how thou didst appear to thy people I find many terrible things but yet comfortable also thou wrappest thy selfe in a Cloud yet is not thy Majesty the lesse resplendent it is so great that thou affrightest and art feared like a consuming fire and how shall I beleeve that an Intellect severed from all mixtion of mortality most excellent most wife and most holy a spirit piercing through all things and intent even to each particular part of the Universe which doth as it were to the strings of a most exquisite Harpe modulate the song of vanishing things in a most pleasing variety a Spirit unbegotten immortall everlasting that is onely a place yea a world able to conteyne it selfe and the greatest world of wisdome of holinesse of understanding of reason of life of formes to whom intelligible nature it selfe doth breath forth and ceases not to frame and render praises can be cloathed in a cloud yet thou cloathest thy selfe with a cloud that thou mightest then exhibit thy selfe according to the time of faith not as thou art a God but as men might endure to behold thee Thou teachest us spirituall things by corporall things and dost demonstrate
were likewise many that were called Saviours as Othniel Ehud and others but these were onely deliverers of the body and did onely for a time deliver the people from their outward enemies and did for a while keep them free from the spoylers of this world but this my Jesus is the true Saviour for he not onely frees and preserveth his people from outward enemies but from spirituall subtilties in high places Sometimes indeed he delivers us to outward enemies nor is he presently Jesus or a Saviour he sends amongst us warre plague haile cold poverty disgrace diseases captivity bondage but it is for our eternall salvation He is also a faithfull Jesus nor suffers he any one to be tempted above his strength but giveth our temptations such a measure that we may endure them and although our Jesus doth seeme too cruelly and too long to leave us in these externall evils and to lay too heavie a burden upon us that we are in feare to be overcharged to yeeld and to faile under it yet let us expect the comming of our Jesus wwhich will be in a fit season My Jesus best knoweth our strength and how much we can beare and as the pilot doth diligently take care that the ship be not over-fraighted or fall into any fearfull danger so my Iesus doth weigh and ballance our abilities before he layes any crosse upon us that it may not exceed them Thinke alwayes O my soule upon Iesus because thou hast alwayes need of thy Iesus If thy sinnes do vex thee and Satan doth paint them forth and set them before thee that he may perswade thee they are more in number than can be forgiven that they be larger than heaven and earth for magnitude call upon thy Iesus and make Satan thy laughing-stocke Iesus is my Saviour who hath delivered me from my sins and hath taken them upon himselfe he is become for me and all the world a ransome a sacrifice a reconciliation And because it appeares that he is not conquered but is truly a Saviour they must needs be sinners indeed and not feighned sinners that he doth save for this sentence can never be recalled Christ is the Lambe of God that taketh away the sins of the world If the feare of death doth presse thee and if Satan endeavour to dishearten thee with the expectation thereof and doth portrait the figure of death before thee in a most bloody horrible manner and repeats unto thee the threats which God denounces against sinners and the vengeance which he reserves for them protect thy selfe with the Name of Iesus and oppose it to the terrors of death Why should I feare death that I should feare the paines thereof when as my Iesus as himselfe doth teach us hath slaine my death O death I will be thy death Doth Satan strive to make thee sad himselfe being punished and overwhelmed with everlasting woe desiring to draw others into his company pronounce thou therefore but the Name of Iesus with beliefe and he vanisheth away for hee is therefore a Iesus because he hath ransomed thee from the curse of thy sinnes and hath reconciled thee to the everlasting Father that thou mightest for ever rejoyce with him Why then art thou sad What ever befals thee let the Name of Iesus still come into thy heart and betweene thy lips that the force thereof may asswage all afflictions Nothing is more sweetly sung nothing is heard more pleasingly than Iesus the Sonne of God No kinde of sin is so great but the Name of Iesus is above it O thou therefore pleasant Name of Iesus a delightfull Name a comfortable Name O Lord Iesus if I have done that for which thou mayest damne me yet hast not thou lost that whereby thou mightest save me O most mercifull Iesus O most sweet Iesus O most gracious Iesus O Iesu Iesu O Iesus the salvation of those that trust in thee O Iesus the salvation of those that beleeve in thee O Iesus the salvation of those that flie unto thee O sweet Iesu the remission of all our sinnes O Iesu for thy holy Name sake save me that I perish not O Iesus have mercy upon me while there is a time for mercy and condemne me not in the time of thy judgement Iesus Christ have mercy upon me for this thy Names sake doe unto mee according to this thy Name looke on me miserable wretch invoking thy Name it is true my soule hath deserved damnation and my repentance is no satisfaction but it is certaine that thy mercy is farre exceeding all my offences give me therefore for thy Names sake that mercy O my Iesus for thou savest thy people freely by faith alone without all merit of works onely for thy Names sake onely by the power of thy Name onely by the blood of thy body whereby thou diddest appease thy Father and obtainedst redemption and therefore dost thou save thy people freely and not for their works that our soules might be sure of redemption it could not be sure if thou shouldest not save us but for the merit of our works for either we have no merits by manifestly sinning against the Law of God or we have not merits enough because our works are imperfect which can by no meanes satisfie Gods Law therefore that our consciences may be sure of the forgivenesse of sinnes it is needfull that thou be a Iesus gratis unto me who seeing thou art true and constant in thy promises it cannot be that I can be deceived if I trust in thy Name O most bountifull Iesus O Iesu my most sweet Lord keep me in this faith and confidence even to the end let thy last word upon the crosse be my last word in this life and when I can speak no more heare my last desire Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit thou God of truth and God of my salvation thou even thou hast redeemed me O little Jesus I onely require thee comfort my soule thou best of Babes draw mee O draw me after thee by thy sweet favour thou Prince of Glory Lead me O thou our true salvation to thine owne Countrey after thine own victory wherein praise be unto thee for evermore Amen CONTEMP c. 16. Of Christ's and of our Circumcision BEhold my eyes your Jesus my soule consider thy Christ the knife is taken in hand and the Sonne of the most High is drawn away to be wounded stay knife from touching the Innocent let the Synagogue spare the innocent send him away thou Circumcisor without touching him but my Jesus why wouldst thou be so circūcised be so wounded spill thy most tender blood Why doest thou so hasten O Lord to the shedding of thy milky blood it is my salvation which makes thee thus to hasten but why didst thou submit thy self to be circumcised which art the Lord of the Law nay the Law-giver himselfe was it to confirme the Circumcision that thou haddest long before ordained to be rightly observed even till
possession of us when the Sunnes last shadow flyes from us and enraged death sharpens his Dart to strike thorow our breast But thou O Lord dost witnesse thy power even in death it selfe not onely by crying out at the last gaspe but also by shaking the earth by cleaving the rocks opening the graves rending the vaile of the Temple The Centurion himselfe being a man conversing with the members of the Church but beleeving out of the Church confessed from hence and said This man was indeed the Sonne of God But the last word thou utteredst in thy mortality is diligently to be noted and seriously to be weighed Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit This was thy last word Ah would to God it might bee also mine and I trust Lord it shall be so and God I hope will heare it for thou hast obtained this for me because thou hast both prayed for me upon the Crosse and hast as my chiefe high Priest suffered all things nor didst thou commend thine own Spirit alone unto thy Father but mine also and of all the faithfull who are members of thy body thou hast bound my soule together with thine owne in the bundle of life and hast delivered it into the hands of the Almighty O how doe the words pierce my soule and spirit which thou utteredst before thou didst passe that deadly way and in which thou didst most devoutly speake unto thy Father I pray for them I pray not for the world but for those whom thou hast given me for they are thine Holy Father keepe them in thy name whom thou hast given me that they may bee one as we are one preserve them from the world sanctifie them in thy truth I pray not only for these but for those also who shall beleeve in me through their word that they may all be one as thou O Father art in mee and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may beleeve that thou hast sent mee and I have given them the glory which thou gavest mee that they may be one as wee are one I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be where I am that they may see my glory which thou hast given me because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world What father can more earnestly recommend a son what mother a daughter or what brother his brother to anothers care than thou O Son of the living God hast recommended us to thy Father Thy Father doth heare us his degenerate adopted sonnes how much rather will he heare thee his Sonne obedient even to the death and his issue begotten of his owne substance from all eternity yea he hath already heard him Can saith he even he thy Father a woman forget her owne childe that she should not have compassion upon the sonne of her owne wombe Though she should be so forgetfull yet will not I forget thee behold I have graven thee upon my hands Thou also O Christ my Saviour sayest My sheepe heare my voice and I know them and they follow mee and I give unto them eternall life and they shall not perish for ever and no man shall snatch them out of my hands My Father who gave me them is greater than all and none can take them out of my Fathers hands Resting upon these thine attracting sentences I may be startled at the remembrance of death but I shall not be dismayed because I shall also bee mindfull of thy promises merits and intercessions When at length by thy permission a sharpe sicknesse shall weaken my sinewes and shall gnaw and feed upon my bloodlesse and halfe rotten skinne when my face shall bee bedewed with a cold sweat and I shall be moistned with the drops of death when my wan lips shal be widowed of their rednesse and a sad murmure shall be heard from the horrid noise of the gnashing teeth when my Sunne shall be darkened by my funerall clouds and death shall involve my head in everlasting darknesse yet thou Son of righteousnesse shalt shine cleare unto me thou shalt furnish my soule wrastling and triumphing by the vertue of thy Spirit with thine owne word Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit CONTEMP c. 23. Of the opening of Christs side COme hither come hither O my soule behold him hanging on the Crosse ascend ascend O my soule and pluck out the nailes from his hands and feet wherewith hee is fastened to the Crosse Thou needst no ladder it is devotion it is faith which elevates and lifts thee up thither O miserable spectacle O lamentable carcasse how ill-favourdly in what an ugly manner art thou butchered They could not glut their malice upon him while he lived they insult also upon him being dead and goare him with a speare whence blood and water did flow most holy Symbols of thy two Sacraments Who is he O Lord that hath overcome the world but he that beleeveth that Jesus is the Sonne of God This is that Jesus Christ that came by water and blood not by water alone but by water and blood Thou camest unto us in water in Baptisme thou camest to us in blood in the holy Supper this is that double testimony that we are reconciled to the Father by thee and that wee are washed and purged from our sinnes thou wast very much besotted and soiled yet wast thou lovely to thy Father because thou becamest obedient to death even to the death of the Crosse thou art also most lovely to mee whilst I dive into thy side and into thy wounds not with the eyes of my body with Thomas but with the eyes of faith which are the instruments of life the perspective glasse of the world to come when I see I am freed from death by the death of my Lord and my God When I locke on the immense and love without bounds love without end the love that wee want understanding to conceive and our reason waxeth darke to apprehend For I have sinned and thou hast suffered yea I who have sinned have suffered in thee our flesh was so joyned to the Deitie so as that which was to die everlastingly for sinne became dead in another for us and we neither felt grief nor death yet were we in like manner restored to life for as Christ put upon him our flesh in the wombe so he dyed our death upon the Crosse For whatsoever the God made man did suffer he suffered for man from whom hee can now no more be severed than from his other Nature with which he united this to the end he might save it O great clemencie O unspeakable clemencie O bounty that cannot be expressed with words of mans eloquence God who is for ever blessed is first made man and at length is made a curse
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
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
inheritance yet O my Father thou hast not lost the heart of a Father though I have fallen from thee my Father yet wilt not thou fall from me or cease to be my Father that word never failed As I live I will not the death of a sinner but that hee may bee converted and live And although my sins be innumerable and my wounds may seeme incurable yet art not thou ignorant of a way to cure me confirme therefore and fulfill thy promises wash me effectually with the blood of thy Son that as to me his death prove not in vaine I am as well a part of his flesh and he a part of mine as Peter David or Paul he is as well to me an Emmanuel as to any other Hee bare the sins of the whole world and therefore hee bore mine also Looke back therefore look back therefore O Lord upon this lost sheepe regard thy creature nor contend with him in thy fury whom thou hast made with thy hands take care O Lord of the soule which thou hast redeemed I come creeping to thee wounded with many wounds but thou most experienced Physitian of soules and Maâ—â—er of the diseased canst heale them all I come being blinded but thou canst enlighten me I come dead unto thee but thou canst give me life I come full of leprosie but thou canst cleanse me Sprinkle me with Hysop and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter than snow O my God the God of my life thy mercy is greater than my sins thy clemencie exceeds all my iniquities Thou canst forgiue more O Lord than I can offend thy mercies are bottomlesse and numberlesse but as many as my sins are and as great as they are they are neither bottomlesse nor numberlesse Take me out therefore and deliver mee forgive mee my great injustice take away my stony and hard heart and create in me a soft and a cleane heart that even in this life I may give thee thanks let me by my faith and good example bring sinners to thee and let me glorifie thee and celebrate thee for these and other thy innumerable blessings for evermore Amen my God be it so even so be it my Lord Jesus Christ CONTEMP c. 38. Of the greatnesse and foulnesse of our sinnes and of the Confession of them I Am affraid of my rashnesse when I consider with my selfe what a Majestie I have offended with my sins when I consider how benigne and wonderfull a Father I have forsaken I detest mine owne ingratitude when I consider from how happie a libertie of spirit into how miserable servitude I have cast my selfe I condemne mine owne madnesse and am wholly displeasing to my selfe nor have any other object before my eyes but hell and desperation namely that doth terrifie my conscience by Gods inevitable Justice I am to be consumed like rottennesse sin is rottennesse indeed for it destroyes the beauty of the soule the sweet savour of a good name the worth of grace the relish of glory it is truly durt being wallowed therein we become abominable to honest men the good Angels and the just God It is truely smoak that foretels us that hell-fire is not farre from it and doth drive away the heavenly Dove It is indeed the Devils taverne in which for the price of soules hee sels the world the wine of pleasure it is the dart with which our soule is pierced thorow and is deprived of all vigour and life It is true sicknesse because it leaves us no health in our flesh nor from the presence of Gods wrath grants us any quietnesse in our bones It is truly a Sea for it swels over our head and easily swalloweth up our whole body It is truly a burden because a sinner is most burdened therewith and is even pressed downe unto hell it selfe But whither shall I goe where shall I withdraw my selfe Ah! be mercifull unto me O take pitie upon mee according to thy great mercy and according to the multitude of thy compassions wash away mine iniquities Against thee against thee onely have I sinned and done this evill in thy sight behold I am begotten in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceived me I have gone astray like a sheepe that perisheth seeke out thy lost sheep O Lord remember not the faults and transgressions of my youth O Lord who understands his owne sins Cleanse me from my secret offences Enter not into judgement with thy servant because no man living can be justified before thee Remember O Lord thy mercies and compassions which have been of old Remember me according to thy mercies even for thy goodnesse sake O Lord. O Lord be mercifull unto mine offences make thy mercies wonderfull thou who savest those that trust in thee Turne not thy face from me nor cast away thy servant in displeasure for in death no man remembreth thee nor shall any praise thee in the grave What profit is in my bloud when I descend into corruption Shall dust give praise unto thee or set forth thy truth Regard and heare me O God lighten mine eyes that I sleepe not in death Set not thy mercies farre from me for thy mercy and truth doe alwayes preserve in thee O Lord have I trusted let me never be confounded Amen CONTEMP c. 39. Of Gods readinesse to forgive sinnes and our thankesgiving for the forgivenesse of them WHo can despaire of pardon from him who doth so often in the writings of the Prophets of his owne accord invite sinners to repentance crying out That he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should bee converted and live How ready is also his pardon to them that repent he hath inculcated unto us by his only begotten Son in many of his Parables as of the groat that was lost and found againe the strayed sheepe brought back upon the shoulders but more plainly by that of the prodigall sonne whose very image I am No man O God is so ready to sinne but thou art far more ready in thy good time to pardon our sinnes O pitifull and mercifull Lord slow to anger and very pitifull He strives not with us for ever neither is he alwayes wrath with us Because as the heaven is higher than the earth so hath he made his mercies to prevaile over me As farre as the East is distant from the West so far hath he set my sins from me As a father taketh pity upon his sonne so hath the Lord taken pity upon me he hath washed me from my iniquity he hath clensed me from my sins he knows whereof we be made he remembers we are but dust Why art thou sad ô my soule and why art thou troubled returne ô my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath done thee good He hath delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from falling Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven and whose offences are covered Blessed is the man unto whom the