dissolved and to be with thee Loose me that I may be with thee I am greatly wearyed and I wait for the entertainment which thou hast shewn me As the Traveller in his Journey at Night time desires the Sun-rising so do I desire after the clear light even the sight of the Father Son and Holy Ghost When my voice and speech shall fail me Grant O Merciful Saviour that thy Holy Spirit may speak unto thee in my Heart and make intercession for me with groanings that cannot be uttered Let his motions spring up in my breast and move thy Heart unto Mercy towards me Lord Jesus Christ who sittest at the right hand of thy Eternal Father receive my Spirit § 13. These were the Meditations and this the exercise of this Holy man upon his dying bed He felt this Tabernacle to be falling but knew he had an house not made with hands Eternal in the Heavens and his pious Soul was filled with Heavenly triumph in the certain expectation of a Glorious Resurrection of that same body of his which was now ready to be sown in corruption which with an admirable sweetness and comfort he thus express'd I shall see thee my Saviour in my flesh which thou hast exalted to the right hand of the Eternal Father and I will give thee thanks in the presence of thy Father for all the Good things which thou hast communicated unto me Yea thou wilt place thy Holy Angels to be the Guardians of my Body that they may keep my dust which hath been and to all Eternity shall be the dwelling place of thy Holy Spirit It is impossible that this flesh of mine which is the Temple of the Holy Ghost this Mass of my body which is quickened by the effusion and communication of the Spirit of Christ and so inserted into the flesh of Christ should be reduced unto nothing or abide in death and ever remain dust and ashes But thou who art the Author of Life will remand from the Earth this thine own Image even out of the smallest Crums of dust and ashes that are there By sending forth thy breath thou wilt again build up my body alive and Glorious which shall be the habitation of the whole Divinity dwelling therein to all Eternity There shall we follow the Lamb whithersoever he shall go O Guide truly fair and Divine There shall we sing a New Song Let us rejoyce Hallelujah O Come let us go forth to meet our Saviour Our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Right as Citizens is in Heaven but in this Life we must begin Eternal Life and follow the order which Christ hath appointed We shall be cloathed upon if so be that we be not found Naked That most lovely Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world will lead us unto the Fountains of living Waters and wipe away all Tears from our Eyes Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither have entred into the Heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him This Earthly Life is Death but that Life which Christ begins in me is Life indeed Now it is no more I that live but Christ that liveth in me therefore let him be praised O happy Soul in which thou Jesus Christ sittest as the Guide and Rector of all its actions and Motions I see Heaven open unto me Now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace O Lord for mine Eyes indeed have seen thy Salvation Thou O Christ art the Resurrection and Life How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord O Christ my Redeemer carefully watch my Soul that it suffer no detriment by the horrible and infernal Dragon the Devil Let my Soul be bound up in the bundle of Life and let this my passage hence be happy let it be to me the way to those that live an immortal and Heavenly Life § 14. After this he again most affectionately prayed for his Wife and Children but in terms arguing such a nearness to God and Holy Familiarity with him as if a man had been speaking to his Friend and devolving a care upon him that he knew most assuredly he would willingly take upon himself and see to He mightily Comforted himself with the thoughts of Christs sympathy and compassion who saith he will certainly hear me in all these things And when one exhorted him to be of good hope for God would help him he answered 'T is right The Lord will certainly help me by a final deliverance according to that Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord In the Lord then do I dye who is my Life I dye in the acknowledgment Faith and Confidence of Christ the Mediator who is my Shade of defence and my Brother who cloatheth me with the garment of his Righteousness I shall therefore be happy I shall be Righteous O sweet Blessedness sweet Righteousness O sweet change and Translation from Sin to Innocency from Darkness into Light from Death to Life Many Prayers also he put up for the Church of God especially that the pure Doctrine of the Gospel might be transmitted without corruption to Posterity and with Tears bewailed the wickedness of those who by their corrupt Notions were an hindrance to its course And once more a little before his Soul departed his Friends being about him he solemnly recommends himself to Christ and repeats the Confession of his Faith expressing great thankfulness to God for the Reformation and for those that he had used as Instruments therein I am now dying said he and dismist as that Servant of God holy Simeon I also being the Servant of God and Holy I dye in the Confession of the writings of the Prophets and Holy Apostles and of the Ancient Creeds and also adhering to the Augustane Confession I give thanks to God That of his Infinite goodness he hath dispell'd the darkness and restored to us the Light and Purity of his Gospel At length in the midst of his Prayers and earnest breathings after God he yielded up his Soul into the hands and bosom of his Redeemer where he rests from his Labours and his works follow him § 15. Another Instance worthy of our Remembrance and imitation I shall give you in Mr. Matthew Wesenbeck an eminent Civilian who after he had run the course of an Holy Life from his first Conversion to the fifty fifth year of his Age departed this Life at Wittenburg in the year 1586. The means by which God first awakened him to seek after and embrace the knowledge of the Truth was this While he was studying the Law at Lovane it fell out that there was a poor man in the City who being blind made it his business to visit the Sick and to instruct and comfort them as he could with Texts of Scripture in which he was well versed in recompence of which pious office those that were well disposed would relieve his Necessity with a piece of Bread and Cheese After some time this poor man was accused of
the alluring Ornaments of speech The Preaching of the Word consists in Holiness Humility and the powerful demonstration of the Spirit How great my esteem of it hath ever been God is Witness Then turning his discourse into Prayer he said Come Lord Jesus break asunder the Nerves of these Eyes and give me other Eyes I desire to be dissolved and to be with thee Hasten thy coming O Lord Jesus and deferre no longer Let this faint life go forth that the better Life of God may enter in Lord Jesus put forth thy hand into this body and take out this Soul unto thy self § 7. From that time till the Sabbath day morning he kept silence when again the longings he had after his Fathers House were breathed forth in these words Come Lord and tarry not I am wearyed with the loathing of day and night Come Lord Jesus that I may come to thee O sweet and happy divorce from this Life Come Lord who art my sweetness and set this Soul at liberty that it may enjoy thee it's Husband break this Heart of mine in two that it may fly to thee it's Head To this one replyed Hitherto Christ hath possessed your whole heart and he will take it whole unto himself To which he returned answer I desire the breaking in two of this Heart that this natural Life may be let out and it may be wholly replenisht with the Life of Christ Then one of the by-standers said Let no anxiety trouble you your Lord is now hastening Those said he are welcome tidings unto me I would my Funeral was to be to morrow Another said Happy is that Soul which is so near to the Lord as yours is To which he replyed There is nothing in me which I account not as dung that I may win Christ Christ is the only matter of my Comfort my own Righteousness is a menstruous cloth Being asked if he desired to speak with any of the Ministers he said he would not give them trouble now they were just preparing themselves to preach Let me said he chatter with my Lord like a Crane Being informed that Sermon was begun Lord said he grant that I may see what others now hear About noon when one comforted him with the remembrance of his unwearied pains and diligent endeavour to promote the Glory of God all his life time he replyed I have nothing to Glory in but the Mercy of God in Christ Jesus All other things I count but loss After a little rest a person of considerable rank visiting him he again took the occasion of an earnest recommendation of what might tend to the promoting of Religion to his care in his Station And in the following Night he was observed to say I have a peaceful mind in a sick body I am not perplex't with the fear of Death Sin or Satan they have no Dominion over me yet so great is the weight of my distemper that it is much beyond expectation that I subsist to this hour He bruises me as with a Pestle in the Mortar of Affliction that he may form me for his own Kingdom § 8. On the next day being Monday he said to those about him It may seem strange seeing I am so sorely handled with my disease that my life should be protracted thus long But with patience I wait for the good pleasure of the Lord Let him do with me what pleaseth him I will not dispute it with him What is man that he should dare to contend with God! yea though he should thrust him down to Hell he must obey and not reply upon God Be gracious unto me O Lord for Christ Jesus sake I am not ashamed to profess that I never before attained to so high a pitch of the Knowledge of God as I have done in this sickness O what a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of the Lord But Mercy is laid up for me in Christ Why art thou Sorrowful O my Soul why art thou cast down within me thou shalt by and by obtain a most pleasant sight and congress Towards evening he told his Friends that he experienced in himself the truth of the sixth Psalm and repeated some Passages therein as verse 2. Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed To which he added Christ will bear my burthen and I will follow him being unheld by his Grace When those that were about him observing the bitterness and extremity of his disease brake out into Tears and Lamentation for him Lament not my case said he but weep for your own sins seeing none are free from sin none want occasion of weeping but as for me I shall quickly see the end and consummation of all The care of his Funeral he recommended to two of his intire Friends present and when he had finished his Directions about what he would have done therein he said Why should I not take care of this body seeing that also shall be glorified and made conformable to the glorious body of Christ and looking upon his hands These very hands shall shine with excellent Glory After this he was not able to speak much but to the very last what he did utter was with a wonderful savour still expressing the inward joy and peace of his Soul and a most assured Confidence of a compleat and glorious Victory in this last conflict and in a few hours he finished his course and sweetly slept in Jesus Before I pass to another Story I cannot but mention one thing more that happened a little before this holy man drew his last breath And it is this One of his kindred coming in to see him and perceiving that he was nigh to death being himself a Stranger to Religion and Piety yet convinced that it could not but be well with so holy a man as Mr. Rollock entreated of him That when he came to Heaven he would Mediate for him and the rest of his Friends here below But how grievous this ignorant and impious request was to the Soul of this blessed Saint will be easily guessed by those that as he did love the honour of Christ more than their own lives Though before he lay as one ready to give up the Ghost at the hearing of this his Zeal was so stirred in him that he raises himself upright and with a great fervency replyes I refuse that Office Christ is the only Mediator And so deep was the impression of trouble this made upon his Spirit that a while after when his elder Brother came to visit him he left this charge upon him Do you said he rebuke that Kinsman of ours and admonish him that he take another course otherwise there is no Salvation for him but most certain ruine § 9. The next instance I shall touch upon is that of Mr. John Oecolampadius Oecolampadius who while he lived was also an eminent Instrument in the Reformation of Religion and one of the first with
own eyes shall see him I shall behold his face in righteousness and shall be satisfied with his likeness when I awake He loveth me with an intire affection he kisseth me with the Kisses of his Mouth He hath removed all fear far from me and hath filled me with Peace and Joy in Believing He often repeated that sentence Amor meus Crucifixus est that is My Love is Crucified adding O Love incomprehensible what I conceive of him is beyond all expression Blessed be the Lord who hath directed my heart into the Love of God and the patient waiting for Christ § 22. This whole day was spent in like holy discourses and the Prayers of Ministers that came to him with the Visits of other Friends Towards Evening he found himself very weak and had two or three fainting fits but his speech did not wholly fail in them sometimes he would say My strength is quite spent I am going hence Lord meet me do not tarry take thy Creature Towards the middle of the Night his strength being a little recovered he reached forth his hand to Mrs. Rivet his Wife and said Embrace me once more my dear Love I love thee no more after the flesh but after the Spirit as I have alwayes loved thy Better part I have lived with thee in holy Concord these thirty years Thou hast born mine Infirmities and hast been an help to me and God hath blessed us together I have taken notice of thy good Infirmities conjoyned with great Piety and thy Faith which is not perfect but sincere and true Thou knowest my Love that God is not a severe Judge but merciful and Gracious he chiefly requires from us a recumbence on his Mercy He is kind and full of Love Behold in me an Example of Mercy and Kindness and from thence gather Confidence that he will follow thee with the same Grace We have an Allyance in Heaven Thither the Lord takes me and he will take thee thither also and so we shall be together with the Lord for ever While thou art waiting for that blessed hour he will be thy Husband Father Comforter and Defender and finally will make thee to experience the soveraign Effects of his Love Rejoyce therefore my dearest Love I have prayed for thee Thy Faith shall not fail God will succour thy infirmities which savour of nothing but goodness It is that I love in the Children of God that they acknowledge themselves to be imperfect before him God will compleatly perfect thee doubt not Then turning to his Son My Son said he keep for thy self what is thine Call upon God as thy Father for he is the Father of Eternity Let his fear wholly possess thee for that is the principal thing Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all other things shall be given in over and above unto thee Take care of my little Children see to their pious Education and Instruction in their tender years Let them not frequent evil Company My Son I put confidence in thee and assure my self thou wilt observe my commands with all thy power Let Truth be in thy Heart Equity and Sincerity in all thy Actions and cherish Peace and Friendship among Friends § 23. Then taking many Friends by the hand that stood by him he said I pray you love my Son And then turning to his Niece Farewell said he my dearest Niece God will bless thee yea he hath blessed thee already thou hast ministred to thy afflicted and sick Parent and in so doing thou hast served the Publick Let my blessing remain upon thee I know and am sure that thou shalt be with me in the Heavenly Paradise where God hath prepared places for us before the Foundation of the World was layd Thou hast helped me and God will help thee Fear not Persevere with me in the close of my last hours Then seeing Mr. Fayan le Coq Are you there saith he my dear Cousin The Lord bless you abundantly and grant that in the whole course of your life you may walk in his fear you belong to an honourable Family which have layd many Obligations upon me I pray you write to your honoured Mother an Account of my happy Departure and also to your Brethren whom I pray God abundantly to bless and give them Peace and that they may not trust in the perishing good things of this World As for my self it is long since I have turned from corruptible things and adhered to those that are prepared and laid up in Heaven Every good and perfect Gift comes down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning My God my desire is to thee My Soul thirsteth for thee as the parched ground When shall I enter in and present my self before the face of God! Come Lord Jesus Come I am in thy Bosom I am ready when it pleaseth thee My Heart is prepared my Soul is ready All delay seems long to me till Christ come for whom notwithstanding I wait without impatience You see thro' the Grace of God I am not tired I wait I believe I persevere Patience is much better than Knowledge tho' it delay my Joy yet it sets me in the way to it The sense of divine Favour increaseth in me every moment My pains are tolerable but my Joy is inestimable I am no more vexed with earthly cares I have now no desires but after heavenly things I remember when any new Book came out how earnestly I have longed after it till it came to my hands being alwayes desirous of learning something New But now all that is but as dust Thou art my All O Lord My good is to approach unto thee O what a Library have I in God! in whom is hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge I shall no more behold things afar off and darkly I shall no more know in part but I shall be filled with the Knowledge of God as the Sea is covered with waters Thou art the Teacher of Spirits I have learned more Divinity in these ten dayes that thou art come to visit me than I did in fifty years before Thou hast brought me to my self before I went astray and was in the world but now I am conversant in the School of my God and he teacheth me after another manner than all those Doctors in Reading whom I spent so much time What Obscurity is there and what Conjectures yea what Vanity in all those things that proceed from an humane Spirit What vast spaces must a man pass over before he find any fruit in them But thy Doctrine O my God is perfect and full of good fruits My Soul is filled as with marrow and fatness With my whole heart I renounce all other Knowledge and cleave to this alone Jesus Christ and him crucified I give thee thanks O Lord that thou hast hid these things from the haughty-wise and hast revealed them to the humble This Body is feeble but the
and remember the Grace of God in me Consider how he brings me down by his mighty hand that he may exalt and Glorifie me in due time The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us This is my joy to glorifie God in my death sweet Death that is a passage unto life eternal O God strengthen the Soul of thy Servant that he may abide constant and invincible unto death I hope the Combat will not continue long Bring to pass O Lord that the End may Crown the Work § 27. Amongst the many Physitians that had attended on him there was one Dr. Crucius a Roman Catholick who came this Morning to visit him and asked him if he still continued to be of good courage Yea verily said he for I am in God and God is in me The Cross which God hath sent is small Every one must bear his Cross that he may follow Christ who hath suffered so great things for me though he deserved no such suffering This Cross increaseth my hope The Lord is Gracious who entreth not into Judgment with his poor Servant Christ hath dyed for my Sins and is risen again for my Justification A while after Mr. Wickelmans a Dutch Minister came and spake to him in the Latine tongue to whom he answered in the same Language God Strengthens me and he will preserve me from all evil I give thanks unto my God for that unspeakable goodness which he hath poured upon me he succours me in this work he hath been alwaies present with me even to this Extremity Then the Minister repeated to him the words of the Apostle 2 Tim. 4. 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 At which words he cryed out O welcome Crown there is nothing else that I wait for God dwells in me by his holy Spirit which shall never be taken away from me Grant O Lord that I may keep thy Commands Again when beholding hiâ— pains he exhorted him to patience he answered We cannot we ought noâ— to resist the will of God O Eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ I give theâ— thanks for thy exceeding greaâ— benefits That it hath pleaseâ— thee that I should declare thy Praise even unto very Old Age and that thou makest me able to persist therein unto the last breath of my life § 28. At another hour when the same Minister visited him again and said You are still fighting the Good fight he answered In hope and patience I am wholly Gods and Jesus Christ's my Saviour I believe that he will keep what I have committed to him against that day Even so come Lord Jesus And when this Minister had prayed with him he returned him thanks in these words I give you thanks for your holy Prayers I doubt not but God will hear them God bless you I beseech him to make you a very powerful Instrument of his Glory He also added God hath fulfilled all his Promises in me I have seen them afar off I have believed them I have embraced them I wait for nothing more but to breathe forth my last breath God possesseth me already I feel that there is nothing wanting but that he will give me the wings of an Eagle that I may fly to the Carkass Immediately he subjoyned a verse or two out of one of Beza's French Poems to this sence O Holy Word With all my Heart To thee I flye § 29. Towards Evening the Pangs of death increased upon him The extreme Pains of his bowels his suddain fainting aâ—â— and other grievous Symptoms were the indications of approaching death But in this state and utter decay of thâ— strength of nature his exercisâ— of Faith was strengthened sâ— much the more and his patience confirmed Mourn noâ— for me said he These last hours have nothing terrible in them The body indeed suffers but the Soul is Comforted and filled abundantly The Lord is my Shepherd I shall want nothing His Rod and his Staff shall lead me safely through this short valley of the Shadow of death This little cloud hinders me not from beholding that Heavenly Light which already enlightens my Soul O Lord thou givest me light thou warmest me thou liftest me on high and I gladly follow thee being carried aloft upon the wings of Faith The sharper my pains are the nearer I am to deliverance My wound is grievous but I was silent because thou didst it Have mercy on me O Lord O my God deliver me I am impatient of delay I know that God is faithful and with the temptation he will give a way of escape that I may be able to bear it When he looked towards his Wife she thus addressed her self to him My dear I bless God and rejoyce for thee that I have seen so much of the Grace of God in thee To which he replyed Thou doest well my dear Love The Lord confirm and strengthen thy joy Mine is solid I rejoyce that thou seest the end of my Conversation Thou hast known me and thou knowest that I hate Ostentation and that more hath been attributed to me by others than I have believed of my self for I have been conscious of mine own infirmities and that whatsoever good might be in me was not of my self The Glory is to be ascribed to God alone he hath done the work Perfect O Lord and Crown thine own work I complain not of my pains I have not flattered my self in my disease for when I was first seized by it I was aware that God called for me Is it not time my dearest love Afflict not thy self I go before thou shalt follow e're long Thou hast afforded me help and hast kindly succour'd me God will bless thee and save thee doubt it not It hath been grateful to me and I most kindly accept it that thou hast had so great a Love for this little Boy pointing to his Grand-son make proof of thy love to me by loving him it is a Child void of malice and I have good hope of him if he be well guided Then calling the Child he said Give me thy hand my Son See thy Grandfather upon his death-bed Thou hast already lost thy Grandfather by Mothers side who was a pious and upright man Now thou losest thy Grandfather by Fathers side but thou hast a Grandfather in Heaven on both sides that will never be wanting to thee I hope my blessing will redound upon thee Then taking him between his hands My little Child said he Pray to God! If thou do this diligently thou shalt be like a tall and beautiful Tree planted by the Rivers of waters Have thou fair branches and be fruitful that is Fear God Then shalt thou bring forth Wisdom Prudence and Understanding Be thou Good and Beneficent shunning evil company and God will bless thee thou shalt not be
little pause and breathing he renewed his prayer in these words Christ Jesus save me which were the last he uttered and then sweetly breathed forth his pious Soul into the bosom of his Redeemer He changed this Life for an Heavenly on the first day of December in the year 1531. And as Mr. Rollock professed upon his death-bed that he had laid up nothing of this World in his Life so it is observed of this good man That he made no Will because he had nothing to dispose of So far were these first Reformers from seeking great things for themselves Riches profit not in the day of wrath but Righteousness delivereth from death Pro. 11. 4. To be rich towards God to have Luk. 12. 21 an Heart filled with Grace and Spiritual Comfort and the testimony 2 Cor. 1. 12 of a good Conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the World will prove the best portion when we come to dye and afford such ease to us upon a sick bed as all the Treasure under Heaven cannot procure the like § 11. The Jewish Writers from that Passage of the Psalmist Psa 41. 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness have a Proverbial saying in Tract Nedar to this sence Majestas divina sedet ad caput lecti aegrotantis i. e. The divine Majesty sitteth or abideth at the sick mans beds-head His sick bed is turned into a Sanctuary by the Gracious presence of God with him This we have seen verified in the former Examples and shall yet meet with a further Confirmation of in the experience of Joachimus Curaeus Curaeus a Learned and Pious Doctor of Physick in Germany and a Zealous Protestant who finished his course in the year 1573. being the Forty first currant of his age He was a person that esteemed Religion to be his greatest concern while he lived and continually exercised himself in a diligent and serious practice thereof And as he would by no means be diverted from working out his own Salvation with fear and trembling by fervent Prayer and all manner of Holy Conversation in the World so it pleased God when he called him out of the World to afford him such an abundant Enjoyment and sence of his love in Christ as carryed him through the Agonies of death with a more than ordinary Triumph and rejoycing In his last hours it was most convincingly manifest that Christ had given unto him a large draught of that water of Life which was in him a well of water springing up unto Eternal Life from which blessed Fountain he poured forth abundant Consolations to all that were with him in that Conflict if so happy a departure and so sweet a sleep as death was made to him may yet be called a Conflict When he found his sickness had prevailed over Nature so far as that his dissolution must needs be hastning on he wholly applyed himself to ardent Prayers and Supplications unto God making use of that exercise for the ease and support of his Soul in sickness which had been his delight and Comfort in his health And several times in one day causing his his Wife and Children to come to him he did with an inexpressible Zeal and Affection exhort them to Piety and Virtue and then in a solemn manner recommended both them and his last charge to them to the blessing of God who in this also heard the Prayers of his Servant and raised up two of his Sons after him to be eminent examples both of Piety Virtue and Learning in their Generation thereby making good his word That the Generation of the upright shall be blessed § 12. Being taken away in the midst of his years at that age which was the ripest for Service he would often repeat the mournful complaint of Hezekiah I have cut off like a Weaver my life c But then his perfect acquiescence in the will of God and rejoycing in his Salvation was as frequently exprest in the following words which are some of those holy sayings which plentifully issued from his pure Heart in this last sickness viz. I am broken O Lord but it satisfies me that thy hand hath done this not the Devil The Body indeed suffers because of Sin but thou Comfortest my Soul with a most sure Hope and expectation of eternal Life I believe O Lord I believe but do thou help mine unbelief I have received a Message of death but I will wrestle with thee O Lord Jesus after the Example of thy holy Pilgrim Jacob untill the Morning beams of thy light break up arise and shine upon me neither will I let thee go unless thou bless me and my Soul be saved Therefore O Jesus Christ thou wilt bless me and save my Soul giving unto me a Believer Remission of Sins Righteousness and Life Come Lord Jesus and let all that love thee say Come And he that loves thee not let him be Anathema Maranatha Thou knowest O Lord who art the searcher of Hearts That I love thee And thou lovest me yea thou lovest me in Truth and art my Redeemer by thy Merit and Efficacy Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit for thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of Truth And then reflecting upon the time of his sickness for he dyed January 21. he proceeded in further expressions of his assured Confidence in God and inward Joy through the lively hope and foretast of the blessings of that Kingdom he was going to after this manner I shall be with thee in the beginning of this new Year I shall be satiated with the sight of thee O Lord I shall drink with thee at thy Table the New Juice of Eternal Joy even in thy Fathers house where there are many Mansions there is a place for me also and there shall I sit at thy Table Refresh me O Son of God with thy Spirit and with thy quickening presence I come unto thee Jesus Christ Receive thou me according to thy Promise which is the only repast and Recreation of my Soul Iam meum pectus ardet conspectu vitae eternae cujus verè sentio in me initia i. e. Now doth my Heart burn through the sight of Eternal Life the Beginnings of which I truly feel in my self And this is Life Eternal to know thee the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Through thy goodness I have learned and I have taught others rightly to acknowledge thee Do thou again acknowledge me O Son of God and embrace me with thy Saving Grace even with thy Holy Spirit do thou present this Soul to thy Eternal Father who will readily receive it from thy hand My desire and rejoycing is to come unto him and because I am not yet come all delay seems long unto me O thou Sun of Righteousness light me into Eternal light and Righteousness I desire with thine Apostle to be