ever been warring against the Law of my minde and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin O who shall now deliver me from the body of this death Thou O Lord hast redeemed me with thy most precious blood all praise therefore and thanks be unto thee who hast given me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ My sins O Lord have been such as to deserve eternal death and destruction though I have heretofore too much doted on them I do now desire to abhor and to loath the remembrance of them all and to delight and to depend wholly on thy mercy O blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O sweet Saviour of the world receive my spirit thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of truth O Lord the devil is ever busie in taking advantage against our poor souls but most of all when we are most weak and most unable to encounter with him Be pleased good Lord in this my weakness to rebuke Satan and let thy holy Spirit comfort my distressed soul with assurance of thy love in Christ Jesus asswage my pain O Lord increase my faith and my patience and in thine own good time give a happy end to these my troubles O Lord for thy mercies sake give me full assurance that whatsoever in this my weakness and sickness thou shalt please to lay upon me it shall come from a blessed Father a faithful Creator and a blessed Redeemer II. A Prayer to be used by my Friends OH most blessed Lord God we are prostrating our selves before thy heavenly Majesty in the Name of Jesus Christ on the behalf of this thy sick servant thou only knowest what is fittest for him health or sickness life or death Good Lord sanctifie this thy visitation to him that by it he may be more more humble in the sight of his sins so be longing after Christ Oh enlighten his minde that he may know the hope of his calling and what is the exceeding riches of thy mercy in Christ Jesus toward all that believe in thee and so strengthen his faith that he may lay fast hold on the merits of our blessed Saviour Lord protect him from the malice of Satan allay the edge of his assaults that they may never make him to despair of thy compassion to him in this his low estate Remove from him a dull spirit with all manner of secure and hardned thoughts and all wordly desires and creature-comforts Lord give him patience with Christian courage and constancy to bear whatsoever thou shalt please to lay upon him Oh vouchsafe unto him comfort in his conscience joy in the Spirit and peace in believing together with a setled and a well-grounded expectation of eternal life and salvation through thine infinite love in Christ Jesus Impute not unto him his own unrighteousness but the righteousness of thy dear Son so as thy poor weak servant may appear righteous in thy sight Lord raise him up unto thy self with those heavenly sighs and groans which are not to be expressed Oh keep and save his soul command thy holy Angels to be about him for his everlasting comfort and chase far away from him all evil and malignant spirits that they annoy him not in this time of his distress let him more and more abandon the world and even long to be loosed so as to be with Christ Oh cause his last hour to be his joyfullest hour his last words to be his best words and his last thoughts to be his heavenliest thoughts And good Lord we beseech thee put thy word of Grace and godly Wisdom into our hearts and tongues so as upon all occasions to deliver thy minde holily soundly and cheerfully to the comfort and to the refreshing of his precious and immortal soul And now thou good and gracious God be pleased to teach us in him and in this house of mourning to consider our own end and so to lay it to heart that we being now in health may yet be labouring and preparing for our dissolution and for a holy a joyful and a comfortable leaving of this life this valley of tears Lord hear us for this thy poor sick servant and hear us for our selves but above all hear us for the sake of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom with thy heavenly and blessed Spirit be given all honour and praise power and glory now and for ever Amen III. Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou believe That Almighty God the Trinity of persons in unity of Essence hath by his power made Heaven and Earth and all that is therein and that by his divine Providence he doth still govern the same so that nothing comes in the world nor to thy self but what his holy arm and counsel had fore-ordained to be done All this I do believe Lord help my unbelief Dost thou really confess That thou hast transgressed and broken the holy Commandments of God in thought word and deed and that for the same thou hast deserved the wrath of God even all the miseries of this life and hereafter even everlasting torments in Hell if God should deal with thee according to thy deserts All this I do acknowledge Lord Jesu pardon my transgressions Art thou not sorry in thine heart that thou hast so broken his Laws and so much neglected his service and so hotly pursued the world and so eagerly doated upon thy vain pleasures and wouldst thou not now lead a holier life if thou wert to begin thy dayes again Lord thou knowest I am heartily sorry for my misdoings and fain I would with more constancy have served thee Dost thou not from thy heart desire to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ thy only Mediator who is at the right hand of God and now appearing for thee and making intercession at the throne of grace for thy sorrowful soul Oh it is reconciliation to God in Christ that I above all things do most humbly desire Dost thou renounce all confidence in all other Mediators Saints or Angels believing that Jesus Christ alone is the Mediator of the New Testament perfectly able to save all such as come to God by him And canst thou with holy David say to Christ Whom have I in Heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee There is none but Christ my soul shall ever sing there is none but Christ that can intercede for the sins of the world IV. Portions of Scripture to be read PSal 103. or some part of them John 3. or some part of them Isa 53. or some part of them 1 Cor. 13. or some part of them V. More Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou confidenly believe and assuredly hope to be saved by the only merit of the bitter death and Passion of Jesus Christ not placing the thought of salvation in thine own doings nor in any other means or creature whatsoever being
riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing both now and for ever and ever Amen VIII Short Prayers upon any release of Pain BLessed and praised be thy great and glorious Name O holy Father in Jesus Christ for that thou dost lay no more upon me nor punishest me to my confusion O grant me still a believing heart and a patient minde that I may still love thee and wholly depend upon thee and comfortably bear all thy fatherly corrections as it becometh thy faithful servant and a true souldier of Jesus Christ All is thine and thou art all to thee only do I flie for relief and succour knowing that there is no strength nor support but only in thee Thou wilt not break a bruised reed thou wilt not quench the smoaking flax O thou that delightest not in the death of a sinner receive me release my soul out of trouble for thy great Name sake let the shadow of thy wings be my cover let the holy Ghost be my company let thy power be my portion my rock and my defence against all fear and danger whatsoever and do thou in thine infinite goodness and mercy say at this time to my poor weak soul Be of good cheer I am thy salvation O Lord it is thou alone that hast sent me this sickness be thou pleased to come thy self with it and teach me and enable me to make that sanctified use thereof as becometh thy faithful servant O Lord let thy Word be my rule thy Glory my aim thy Spirit my guide thy Angels my guard thy Promises my support thy People my society thy Ordinances my delight then shall I be happy both now and for ever Grant O Lord God of Heaven and earth that thy holy Angels may pitch their tents round about me in this my low estate to defend me against that evil one and in thine own appointed time to convey my soul to everlasting glory When thou O Lord shalt be finishing my weak and evil dayes of sin be pleased to quiet my tender conscience to pardon my many manifold offences to save my precious soul to receive both my body and my soul into thy heavenly Kingdom so that I may follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth Oh thou that art the Captain of my salvation Oh sweet Jesus that wert made perfect by sufferings look graciously upon thy poor creature and sanctifie unto me all the pains of body and all the troubles of mind which thou shalt permit to fall upon me that I may pass thorow them to everlasting happiness IX Consolations against Pain and fear in Dying THere is pain in the curing of a wound do we therefore suffer it to gangrene and let it alone to the danger of a limb perhaps of life No we are willing to launce and to heal so let us here submit the body that the soul may be safe There be few persons but have indured as great perhaps greater and for a longer time in their life then they have at their death We do make the passage much the more tedious and difficult by our bringing to the thought of death a troubled and an unprepared minde and in the mean time forget that Christ by his death hath taken away the sting of death Be not dismayed death indeed is terrible when it is inflicted by the Law but it is easie being imposed by the Gospel The curse is now taken off we are not now under the Law but under Grace God who blessed us in life will not forsake us he will not neglect us in death for precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints Against all the apprehensions and thoughts of death let this of the holy Spirit be our sure consolation Thanks be to God that as death is swallowed up in victory so he hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ blessed for ever We have the Spirit of Christ within us which will secure us search us and refresh us even all the time of the combate yea it will abide with us for the assured comfort of our souls We do see many men and women to depart out of this life without any extremity of pain or trouble at all nay it is sometimes with much tranquillity extraordinary cheerfulness and spiritual joy let not us then create fear to our selves and expect pain but with patience and Christian faith and fortitude wait upon the Lord for a happy issue The body may and sometimes doth seem to be in grievous pangs when as the party feels no pain almost at all unless it be the Cramp or the like while the soul in the mean time is in a sweet repose and preparing it self to come immediately to the presence and blessed enjoyment of his dear Lord and gracious Redeemer praying still with servency of spirit Come Lord Jesus come and receive my soul X. Ejaculations to Father Son and holy Ghost O Heavenly Father who scourgest every son whom thou dost receive help me thy poor creature that I may not be weary of thy corrections but be pleased to give me such a perfect submitting my self to thee who art the Father of spirits that this chastisement of thine may be so much for my present and future profit and advantage that I may be made partaker of thy holiness Oh holy Jesus Son of the everliving God I have I do most humbly confess it by my many and grievous offences crucified thee afresh but thou O blessed Lord who didst pray for thy persecutors Oh be pleased to intercede also for me and suffer not Oh blessed Redeemer suffer not my poor soul the price of thy most precious blood to perish Oh blessed Spirit of Grace I have by my manifold impieties done despight unto thee yet Oh holy Comforter though I have often grieved thee be thou pleased to relieve and succour and sanctifie me and in this my weakness say to my poor soul I am thy salvation We may pray unto the whole Trinity but more properly unto the first person God the Father in the name of God the Son and by the assistance of God the holy Ghost Amen PART IV. Meditations upon certain signes of Death I. Several short Prayers upon any intermission of Pain O Lord thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul doth thirst for thee my flesh also longeth after thee I have looked for thee in holiness that I might behold thee in power and glory for thy loving kindness is better then life it self because thou hast been my helper therefore under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoyce Or thus O Lord I finde this life to be but a troublesome Pilgrimage few in days but full of evil I am weary of it by reason of my sins It is enough O Lord that I have lived so long in this vale of misery take my soul O Lord into thy gracious hands for I am no better then my Fathers The Law in my members hath
him a joyful resurrection at the great and last day O holy Father in Jesus Christ hear us for him who cannot now speak for himself and hear thy dearly beloved Son our only Mediator both for him and for us all It is in his Name and for his sake that we seek unto thee in the behalf of the precious soul of this thy weak servant to him with thy blessed self and holy Spirit we do render all service honour and praise now and for ever Amen X. Another Prayer at yielding up the Ghost O Most gracious and most merciful Father in Jesus Christ be pleased to cast a compassionate eye upon the immortal soul of this thy languishing creature Lord hear our prayers for him and thy Christ our blessed Mediator for us all the snares of death do encompass him he is sore bruised and broken and brought very low the pangs that are upon him are unspeakable O Lord pour the oyl of gladness into his fainting soul assure him that thou hast cast all his sins behinde thy back and that there is a sweet peace wrought between him and thee by him who is the Prince of peace Oh give him that inward joy and such comfortable taste of eternal happiness that he may rejoyce in thee and forget his present anguish and patiently undergo the same for that endless joy that is set before him and though these faint and these consuming fits have now deprived him of speech yet good Lord let the Comforter that is the blessed Spirit within him make requests for him with prevailing sighs and groans that cannot be expressed ever crying out Lord Jesu receive my soul Lord Jesu receive my spirit so let death be to him none other then a joyful messenger sent from thee the father of all consolation to call and convey him from this valley of tears to everlasting bliss And let the blessed and glorious Name of JESUS be still the chief and the only anchor of his precious soul the sole foundation of his faith and the sacred staff and sure supporter even to the last gasp Hear us O Lord O thou that art the preserver of men hear us for this thy poor servant and have mercy upon him and embrace him in thine own most gracious arms and all for thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ his sake that he may now come and be with thee for ever to sing with thy holy Saints and blessed Angels Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth on the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever Hallelujah Amen PART V. Being ten blessed Examples of holy Persons relating to a happy passage out of this Life to a better I. Philippus Lodovicus Earle of Hanaw Reinek c. a German Prince He stickned July 29. 1612. and departed this life upon Sunday the 9th of August being not long after his return as Ambassador out of England JUly 29. 1612. His Excellency as his custom was went in his Coach to the Woods with some of his Council and Court-servants feeling himself somewhat ill in the heat he did take some rest in the fields The next day he went to the weekly Sermon and the publick Prayers at the Church in the old City but at his return he found himself worse and went to take some rest upon his bed Aug. 2. Sunday he was let blood and did take some Physick and was so well upon it as to rise and visit his Lady who was then in childe-bed After that he called to one of his Counsellors to confer with him about serious matters and chiefly concerning the Church of Hanaw 3. He was ill again so as he began to prepare for a Christianly departure out of this life he called for his Lady and children in their presence and hearing he gave an account of his faith and that with singular zeal and holy courage His Lady and children being retired he conferred with his Council upon what did concern the Church the School the Country and the Subjects and then took his leave of them in a most friendly and Christianly manner 4. Came divers Courtiers upon his request and after some discourse with tears he parted with them they taking their dear Lord by the hand Then divers of the Citizens came and had very comfortable words from him after which they with much sadness took their leaves of him Lastly the Preachers both of the old and of the new City being called for he told them that his desire was once more before his end with his Houshold to receive the holy Supper of the Lord Jesus Christ declaring withal that this was not grounded upon any superstition or that Ex opere operato it is meritorious but that it is chiefly for the strengthening of his weak faith and for the testifying of his profession yet once again before God and the world and this did the Ministers accordingly perform This night he could not sleep almost at all so he caused several Psalms to be sung and sometimes he sang himself Aug. 5. He called for his Will and after some alteration he did deliver it to his Chamberlain with charge to deliver it in due time to his Council 6. Came to him his Lady-sister the Lady Emilia of Orange from Heydelberg whom he cheerfully received with these words Madam many of my friends have stood weeping about my bed but none could break my heart and provoke my tears but your Ladiship Divers of his servants coming from the monthly Sermon he did call to hear from every one of them some good Doctrine that they had heard He had a very ill night and was earnest to have some of the penitential Psalms to be sung he sometimes bearing a part After that some of the Divines did mention to him those places of Scripture as Mat. 11.28 Joh. 6.37 to which he gave sweet and spiritual replies and said Oh now do I finde and feel the free remission of all my sins that I am a childe of God and an heir of eternal life yea I do feel the vertue of my Saviour Christs blood refreshing of my soul The Lady Emilia being now come again to him he said Ah my loving and vertuous Lady I am a sick man rehearse to me I pray some comfortable sentence out of the Scripture She said She was a poor weak creature but she did see that the Spirit of God blessed be his Name did greatly comfort him He still urging it she did recite that place Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world c. At which he cheerfully uttered these words Well said my noble Sister This is the greatest and the surest comfort of all Gods faithful people with this comfort will I die happily I beseech and pray from my heart to my gracious God for such a blessed departure through the vertue of the satisfaction of my Lord Jesus Christ O my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into thy hands I commit my soul both now and for ever After this his Excellency
moritur corpore non moritur morte aeterna quando moritur morte corporis Summum hominis bonum bonus ex hac vita exitus Nasci mori commune est Regi populo diviti paupero fortunato misero Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem Rides quum non sit forsitan una dies Ante senectutem curavi 〈◊〉 bene viverem in senectute ut bene moriar In mundo spes nulla boni spes nulla salutis Una salus servire Deo sunt caetera fraudes Pulvis umbra sumus pulvis nihil est nisi fumus Sed nihil est fumus nos nihil ergo sumus Dic homo quid speres qui mundo totus adhaeres Tecum nulla feres licet omnia solus haberes Heu fugiunt fraeno non remorante dies Mors tua mors Christi fraus mundi gloria coeli Et dolor inferni sint meditanda tibi II. A Prayer in health preparing for death Qui orat peccat non orat sed deludit O Most gracious Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh thou which hast the keyes of death and of Hell thou which hast prepared and rulest them both at thy good pleasure I humbly beseech thee be merciful to thy poor creature and preserve me from the terrors which are ready to seize upon me O Lord when I do seriously consider how I dwell in a house of clay the foundation being in the dust and how I must ere long make my bed in the dark my spirit doth seem to fail and my heart to faint especially being told out of thy blessed Word That the sting of death is sin and so mine own sin O raise me up from sad and unquiet thoughts teach me how to overcome all discouragements and help me to call to minde those truths As that the nature of death is to thy servants quite altered that the sting is plucked out and it self swallowed up in victory O help me to consider how by death thy poor servant shall be freed from sickness of body and anguish of minde from sinning against thy heavenly Majesty and from the society of the wicked Teach me truly to confess and humbly to bewail my manifold offences and then effectually to apply thy gracious promises to my everlasting comfort that so all fainting fears proceeding from the sence of my sins may turn to holy rejoycing with a cheerful expecting and even to an earnest longing for the time of my dissolution And yet that I may not beguile mine own soul in laying claim to that spiritual refreshing which belongs not to me make me to labour diligently for those assured evidences and undeceiving fore-runners of a happy departure I have been taught O Lord that if I live here without conscience I shall assuredly die without comfort that holiness here is the safe and certain way to happiness hereafter that I must seek to glorifie thee if I mean to be glorified with thee that I must fight the good fight of faith both against Satan against the world and against mine own corruptions that I must faithfully finish my course and conscionably perform the service to which thou hast appointed me that I must know thy Law and keep the faith in soundness and sincerity to the end otherwise it will be in vain to expect a crown of righteousness that I must come to the first resurrection that is from sin or else I shall never escape the second death O Lord grant me therefore of thy heavenly grace that henceforth I may more carefully serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life endeavouring alwayes and in all things to have and to keep a clear conscience towards thee and towards all men Lord kill my corruptions in me that I may be even dead to sin but alive to thee in Jesus Christ affect my soul with a sence and an assurance of those heavenly joyes which may work in my heart both fear and love also to thee the God of all consolation And because if I live after the flesh taking though for it to fulfil it I shall die therefore I beseech thee to mortifie in me the deeds of the body by thy Spirit that so I may have my fruit in holiness and that my end may be everlasting life Teach me and enable me to be alwayes numbring my dayes and to consider the uncertain certainty of my latter end that I may be dying every day still looking and still preparing for my change and making account that each day by one means or other may be the day of my dissolution Strengthen also good Lord my weak and fainting faith make me strong in thee and in the power of thy might seal me with the holy spirit of promise as with the earnest of my heavenly inheritance that so no tribulation in this world may disquiet me no anguish in sickness discourage me no assault of Satan over come me but that come life so long as thou pleasest or come death when or how it shall seem good unto thee I may cheerfully and through Christ commit my soul to thee as to a faithful Creator Grant me O Lord these fatherly blessings and what else thou in thine infinite wisdom knowest better what is needful for me and that for his sake who died to free me from death even Jesus Christ the righteous to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be given all honour praise and glory now and ever Amen III. Meditations of Gods mercies AMong all the infinite treasures wherewith the largeness of the Godhead aboundeth there is nothing that refresheth relieveth us miserable sinners worms of the earth that lye low at his footstool but the consideration of Gods mercy His Majesty astonisheth us his glory beateth us down his greatness striketh us dead we adore his omnipotence admire his wisdom stand in aw of his justice flie from his vengeance In mercy in mercy alone it is that we taste how gracious and how amiable the Lord is of all Gods attributes none is more eminent then his mercy Blessed be her womb that bare us and her paps that gave us suck we live and move and have our being by her she grew up with us from our youth and forsaketh us not when we be grey-headed she giveth us our daily bread and hourly breath she continueth us in life comforteth us in death and crowneth us with salvation O mercy the Lady and Empress of all the attributes of God! what shall we say of thee Heaven and earth are full of thy glory The glorious company of the Prophets praise thee the goodly fellowship of the Apostles praise thee the noble army of the Martyrs praise thee the holy Church throughout the world doth knowledge thee Thy mercy O Lord doth shine upon us every way There is 1. Thy preventing mercy from whence I may say that unless the Lord had preserved me by his grace and power my soul had launched out into the foulest sins 2.
That the greatest task that I have to finish in this world it is to die well and to make a happy departure out of this life for they which die well die not to die but to live for ever 2. When I would do any good or receive any good I will offer up mine endeavours in a sacrifice to thee O Lord in Christ beseeching thee to give thine holy Spirit to sanctifie this thine own sacrifice 3. In all mine actions I will seek to redeem the time of my life that is past with sad and serious repentance I will regard and consider the time present with care and diligence and be watchful for the time to come with providence 4. Among other my daily business I wil be sure to exercise my self in reading of something out of the Word of God and also to be careful not only to serve God my self but to see that all under my charge shall do the same 5. I will account of every day as of the day of my death and will endeavour to live now as though I were even now to die I will do those duties every day which I would be doing if it were my last day 6. Whatsoever I shall undertake in this life I will enjoy that and all things in God and so God in all things nothing in it self so shall my joyes neither change nor perish for howsoever the things themselves may alter or fade yet he in whom they are mine is not alterable but ever like himself faithful permanent and everlasting 7. Passions are said to be either irascible as sorrow hatred anger or else concupiscible as love desire joy hope In both of them I will be careful to use a great deal of moderation I may love the creature but I will not adore it I will not love the creature more then the Creator I may desire but not all things equally not earth in comparison of Heaven I may rejoyce but that joy shall be sober and spiritual I may hope but not for impossibilities I may be angry but not to sin I may weep but chiefly for sin 8. In pleasures and recreations I will not be so much given up to jocundum as to forget utile honestum pleasures may blaze for a while like crackling thorns but they presently vanish and quickly come to nothing O Lord let these resolutions turn to prayers and let those prayers obtain a blessing through thine infinite mercy in Jesus Christ Amen VII Meditations concerning sickness 1. SIckness is sent either 1. To try our patience for the confirming of others or 2. That our faith may be found in the day of the Lord glorious and laudable to the honour of God or 3. To correct or amend whatsoever is amiss in us or any way offensive to our heavenly Father 2. Sickness shall turn to our profit and help us forward in the way that leads to everlasting life 1. If we can truly repent us of our sins 2. If we can bear our sickness patiently 3. If we can trust in Gods mercies assuredly 4. If we can render him humble thanks for his fatherly visitation 5. If we can and do submit our selves wholly to his good will and pleasure 3. There is no greater comfort to tender Christians then to be made like to Christ by patient suffering sickness trouble or death it self for even he went not up to endless joy but he endudured first extremity of pain he entred not into glory before he suffered and was crucified so our way to eternal happiness is to suffer with Christ and our door to everlasting life is chearfully to die with and for Christ that we may rise again from death and dwell with him to all eternity 4. Sickness or other afflictions are not signes either of Gods hatred or of mans reprobation but rather tokens and pledges of his fatherly love therefore Christians in the primitive Church were wont to praise and bless the Lord for afflicting them in this life so did the Apostles rejoyce that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the name and for the sake of Christ 5. In the beginning of sickness and indeed at all times we are to search deeply into our own hearts as for all so chiefly for some secret bosom-sin 2. To confess our offences to God and acknowledge our selves guilty even of hell and of eternal death 3. We are to remember that the God of Israel is a merciful God and to cry to him from a faithful and a penitent heart even as a condemned person would do for pardon vowing amendment of life in case that health be restored 6. In our strongest health and before any approach or appearance of death or sickness we should manifest our real and sincere conversion 1. In a strict examination what our hearts are and so what our wayes and courses are 2. In confessing of all our sins and offences both open and secret of older time and of later years then what duties we have omitted 3. In seeking and begging with sighs unfeigned and groans of the Spirit that God will pardon them all and be reconciled unto us in the face of Jesus Christ Then will sickness and death it self be most welcome to us If sickness have seized upon us it is high time to consider That a man cannot presently carry his lusts his corruptions his hardned heart his unbelief with him into Heaven no it cannot be hoped for let us repent ere it be too late let us turn wholly to the Lord and believe in him with all our hearts Amen VIII Remedies against Sin 1. LEt us not forget That our particular sins and corruptions are to be thought upon with grief and to be inquired into whether they be weakned in us or still remaining in their full strength and whether we do now resist them every day with more and more force faithfulness and constancy 2. Whensoever we be about the committing of sin and finde the grace of God forbidding us and calling us from it and yet do run on headlong into it take heed for this is no better then crucifying of Christ afresh and we do no other then as the Jews refuse a gracious Saviour and take Barabbas 3. With our eyes let us alwayes behold God present with our ears let us be ever hearing the sound of that memorable voice Arise and come to Judgement with our hands let us be ever working and exercising that which is good in our hearts let us ever lodge the Word of God and with our feet let us be constantly standing in the courts of the Lords house whensoever his Word is there preached 4. The vows which in Baptism I did make by others that is To forsake the devil the world and the flesh so as not to follow them nor be led by them the same for the everlasting peace of our precious souls we must be careful dayly and hourly to renew in our selves 5. We must with diligence avoid all kinde of enticements to that
which is evil as wanton discourse wandring thoughts and wicked company and indeed all the vanities of the world 6. We must be frequent in humble faithful and devout prayer for none is overcome by a temptation till he give over holy constant and zealous praying 7. From the bottom of our hearts let us resolve constantly to embrace and to observe whatsoever is found to be the will of God yea though all the world should repine and persecute us for it so shall our duties and our services be regulated by precept and winged by promises 8. A soveraign remedy it will prove to be meditating at all hours on the hour of death Observe carefully and do what hath been said diligently Et in aeternum non peccabis IX Meditations of death THe highest delights and the greatest confidence that is in man cannot shift off the importunate and the violent troubles of this adversary That example in Dan. 5. may serve for all That Chaldean Tyrant was carousing with his Concubines singing triumphant Carols to the praise of his carved gods yet how was his courage abated when death writ him a letter of summons Now no musick no pleasant moving jest could remove his deep-struck melancholy O death how imperious art thou to carnal mindes Some do fear not so much to be dead as to die and some do fear not so much to die as to be dead whereas the true Christian armed only with humble confidence and holy believing in his future happiness can comfortably encounter him and in triumph can sing as 1 Cor. 15.55 O death where is thy sting c. Looking chearfully towards Heaven he can unfeignedly say I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ That dissolution is happy which parting the soul from the body doth unite both body and soul to God He that sees the glory of the end cannot but contemn the hardness of the way Of all sleeps death may be said to be the sweetest children begin it to us strong men seek it and Kings themselves fall to this centre The pace of death may be soft but iâ— is sure and every man live he never so long is a dying man till he be dead We should labour to get a particular knowledge and assurance both of our happiness in death and of our salvation after death And here remember that it is of excellent use and comfort to be frequent in receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper On purpose and in mercy hath the Lord left both our last day and the last day uncertain to us that we might alwayes meditate on them and be every day preparing for them It is the negligent forgetfulness of death that makes our life sinful and our death terrible He that lives holily cannot die unhappily He is most certainly blessed that dyeth in the Lord what kind of death soever it be He only is fearless of death that can say upon good ground Whether I live or die I am the Lords He that is the true child of God will never repine or murmur at his rod though it be accompanied with death We may well fear a storm is coming when the father doth call his children so hastily home Let us then say with Jobs heart Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come So be it X. Resolutions against the vexations and vanities of the world THe danger of this world is seen in the paucity of such as do pass well thorow it and also in the multitude of them that perish in it All things therein are but extream vanity purchasing to the owner nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit therefore will I bid this vain world adieu and that I may loath it and love God the better I will be continually meditating on what he hath prepared for me in Heaven and especially on the means of attaining it which is 1. The mercy of God who giveth it 2. The merit of Christ that bought it 3. The holy Gospel that offereth it 4. On faith that receiveth it 5. On the blessed Spirit that sealeth it to my poor soul I will with Christ and by his gracious assistance resolve to endure all for him all the contempts and persecutions of the world all the troubles of the body all the tortures of death all the torments of Satan so as I may enjoy my Lord Jesus Christ and his Kingdom I will renounce and contemn all sorts of vanities here below that I may enjoy the presence of the Lamb and with him be singing Hallelujahs everlastingly in the highest Heavens I am weak but this do I resolve in the strength of him who is the Almighty Lord God I will be neither a fool nor a rebel not ignorant from whence my crosses come neither will I be impatient in them knowing that they come from my most gracious God that he hath stinted all my miseries he hath weighed out every dram of my sorrows so as all the powers of hell shall not be able to cast in one scruple more then God hath allotted for me We know that even savage creatures will endure to be smitten by their Masters and yet be ready to tear strangers in pieces shall I then struggle with him that made me and framed and moderated the whole world when he is pleased to smite me No we should learn and remember that our extremities in misery are Gods best oportunities to shew mercy I will have no plot but against hells policy I will have no designe but against sins stratagems I will learn how I am to act in this life to my God fidelity to my Prince loyalty to my friends amity to my self humility so shall I be kept from future falls and also be guarded from present fears for this we are assured of that God hath either the Castle of a providence or the Ark of a promise or the faithfulness of his power or the all-sufficiency of his own grace for a retirement to his people in times of greatest storms and tempests PART II. Meditations at the first Sickning I. A Prayer in time of Sickness In their affliction saith the Lord Hos 54 6. they will seek me early So Egypt's burden made Israel cry to God so David's troubles made him to pray so Hezekiah's sickness caused him to weep so misery drove the Prodigal home and so let me in this my trouble sincerely and believingly hasten to my God in humble supplication OH most righteous Judge and yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father I a poor wretched sinner do here return unto thee with the Prodigal that was annoyed with want and hunger and do humbly acknowledge that this pain and sickness is none other then the just stroke of thine own hand but though my sins have been many and great yet in wrath thou dost remember mercy for thy corrections have been easie and few I have deserved to be smitten with some fearful death so as to have perished in
my sins but thou O Lord besides the dictates of thy heavenly Word and boly Spirit dost now visit me in mercy giving me by this sickness not only warning to consider and time to repent me of all my manifold transgressions but also opportunity to sue to the throne of grace for pardon so as I do not apprehend this visitation as a sign of thy heavy displeasure against me but rather as an assured pledge and token of thy fatherly kindness by this temporal chastisement to draw me to the judging of my self to be humbled for all my offendings to abhor my self in dust and ashes so as not to be condemned with the world for thy holy Word hath taught us That thou scourgest every son that thou receivest and that if I do patiently and believingly endure thy chastising hand thou dost offer thy self as a tender father to relieve me O Lord how full of mercy and compassion is thy nature that hast dealt so graciously with me in affording to me a long time of health and prosperity such as few have received more I do confess O Lord that thou most justly dost afflict my body with sickness for my soul before was sick of long prosperity and even surfeited with health ease peace and plenty and fulness of bread A wretched sinner I have been void of all goodness by nature and full of evil works by custom but seeing thy mercy is above all I beseech thee heavenly father in Jesus Christ for his sake and for his meritorious suffering and according to the multitude of thy mercies cast me not out of thy gracious presence neither reward me after my iniquities As thou art the helper of the helpless and the God of all consolation to such as trust in thee as thou art pleased to lay this sickness upon me so let it work that good effect which thou in thy great mercy dost intend And good Lord send thy holy Spirit into my heart by which this and all other thy dispensations may be sanctified to me that I may use the same as a lesson in thy School whereby to be taught both the greatness of my misery and wants and also the fulness of thy riches and mercy in the Lord Christ to be so humbled at the one as not to despair of the other Grant that I may renounce all confidence in my self and in every other creature or means so as only to put the whole trust of my preservation and salvation in thy boundless mercy And for as much O Lord as thou knowest how weak a vessel I am full of frailty impotence and imperfection and how by nature I am froward and impatient under the least cross and under the lightest affliction Do thou O Lord who art the giver of all good gifts indue me with heavenly grace with holy patience and with godly fortitude so as quietly to resign up my self even body and soul to what thou shalt appoint for me And of thy tender mercy lay no more upon me then thou shalt please to enable me comfortably to bear Strengthen me by thy healy grace that during this sickness and in all other times of affliction I may behave my self in all humility and meekness and faith and quiet repose in the sight and presence of those friends or assistants that shall come or be about me and also that I may both thankfully receive and readily improve all such seasonable counsel and heavenly consolation and holy direction as shall proceed from them And likewise that I may shew such Christianly example of childe-like patience and withal may give forth such godly lessons of heavenly comfort as may be both apparent arguments and sure testimonies of my holy profession and also of use and instruction to them how they are to behave themselves in the day of their visitation I do confess O Lord that in regard of my great provocations I have deserved both sickness and death it self and I do now desire no longer to live then to reform my evil life and in some better measure to set forth thy glory but if thou hast according to thy eternal decree appointed by this sickness to call for me out of this transitory life Lord help me willingly to resign my self into thy hands saying Thy blessed will be done only I do most humbly beseech thee even for Jesus Christ his sake who is the Son of thy love to pardon all my sins and in him to be reconciled to me and so to prepare my poor soul that by a lively faith and unfeigned repentance she may be ready to yield up her self when thou shalt be pleased to call for her O holy Father thou art the hearer of prayers hear thou in heaven these my weak supplications and in this my sickness which is like to increase upon me be pleased to shew thy Almighty power and goodness Teach my heart in holy believing to say Whether I live or whether I die I am Christs and Christ is mine and he shall be advantage to me both here and hereafter and for ever To him with the Father and the holy Ghost be ascribed all honour and glory and power and dominion for ever and ever Amen The Lord will be a refuge Psa 9.9 in time of trouble Hear me O Lord my God Psal 13.3 5. that I sleep not in death for my trust is in thy mercy and my heart is joyful in thy salvation II. Concerning Prayer CHrist and God and all is laid out for the good of the godly they may go to God with holy boldness and tell him wherein they are troubled pained afflicted oppressed If we ask great things from God he is well pleased with it but if we ask riches and honour and worldly preferment these are the low things of the footstool and they are often in mercy denyed let us therefore of God ask peace of conscience pardon of sin let us crave power to overcome our lusts strength to withstand temptations joy in the holy Ghost and grace to glorifie our dear Redeemer both in doing and in suffering God hath most assuredly all good things lying ready by him only he looks that Prayer should fetch them from him Now observe When our great Master Christ would give us a perfect pattern of Prayer both for matter and for manner he there windes up and wraps up all with a conclusion which consists of certain reasons to perswade our heavenly Father to hear our prayers or at least to assure our souls that he doth and that he will hear them and these reasons have a certain influence into all and every one of the petitions Thine is the Kingdom for this reason we do expect that as a good King thou wilt receive us and answer our petitions It is thy concernment as a King to have thine honour advanced for this reason Hallow thine own Name glorifie it in the Church advance thy Will in it sustain us thy Subjects pardon our Offences keep and defend us from
favour to minde our own duty and to live by faith V. A Prayer before taking of Physick O Lord give me perfect love to thy heavenly Majesty that I may not delight in any thing at all but thee nor look for any other safety at all but in thee nor seek for any other help but from thee O most holy and most merciful Father in Jesus Christ who art the Lord both of health and of sickness who killest and makest alive who bringest down to the grave and raisest up again I do humbly come unto thee unto thee as to the only Physician of Physicians who canst as easily cure my soul from sin as my body from sickness I do not at this time desire either life or death but do wholly yield up my self to thy blessed will death indeed is the reward of sin for sin when it is finished bringeth forth death yet seeing thy gracious providence while life remaineth hath appointed means for thy distressed children to use and by the lawful and thankful use of it and humble seeking to thee for it to expect thy fatherly blessing for healing of their distempers and restoring them to their health In this my necessity I do apply my self to the Physitian and am entring upon the course which he shall prescribe O Lord help me that I may cast my self wholly upon thee Teach me to call faithfully upon thy great and glorious Name for a blessing upon it It is thou O Lord that didst recover Hezekiah that didst cleanse the Lepers that didst restore the woman with the bloody Issue and it is from thy great mercy Almighty power and gracious providence alone that I expect deliverance out of this malady Oh be pleased of thine infinite goodness to sanctifie to me this Physick that I shall now take and so to prosper the same that if it be thy blessed will and pleasure it may remove this sickness and take away this pain and restore me to my former health and strength but if thou hast appointed this sickness to draw me nearer to thy self in constant obedience and holy dependance upon thy heavenly Majesty or if thou hast sent this sickness as thy messenger to call me out of this mortal life then help me to say with integrity sincerity Thy will be done enable me with cheerfulness to submit to thy divine pleasure And this I do humbly most earnestly beg of thee to assist me with thy holy Spirit for the increase of faith and patience in this my day of trouble O Lord let thy tender and fatherly compassion be never wanting to me but in the midst of all extremities be pleased to support me with thy continual help that I may both willingly and christianly resigne up my soul as the price of thine own blood into thy gracious hands and blessed protection Grant this O Lord to thy poor servant and whatever else in thine infinite wisdom and goodness thou knowest to be necessary for my present weak condition such as may tend to my everlasting comfort and thine eternal glory All this I beg for Jesus Christ his sake to whom with thee and thy holy Spirit be ascribed all Majesty power and glory now and for ever Amen VI. A Prayer before Physick is on working O Holy Father in Jesus Christ when in my weakness the time shall come that Satan shall maliciously accuse me when my unquiet conscience shall bear witness against me when worldly advantages shall forsake me and when every creature and every thing shall seem to set themselves against me and that for my manifold and my reiterated sins against thy heavenly Majesty then do thou who art the God of all consolation do thou strengthen me in my most holy faith so that If all not at all from thee though every thing doth seem to flee from me But Lord I beseech thee let thy fulness supply my wants let thy mercy do away my offendings let thy holy Spirit prepare my soul for thy heavenly appointment let thy merits O most blessed Saviour enrich my poverty Oh let thy dear and precious blood wash away all the spots and stains of my poor polluted soul And Lord be pleased at this time to vouchsafe a blessing upon the Physick which I have now taken for removing of my pain and recovery of my health and if thou shalt afford this mercy to thy poor creature then Lord I beseech thee grant grace that the same health and ease may be imployed and improved for the glory of thy great Name and for the present comfort and final salvation of my poor soul And all this I beg in and by and through the merits of thee my blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ to whom with the heavenly Father and the holy Spirit be given as is most due blessing and honour and glory and power both now and for ever Amen VII Six Medicines to cure the fear of Death 1. THe first Medicine is contempt of the world For 1. It will be an easie thing to die when our hearts are once freed from the love of earthly things therefore should we shun the overmuch care and business of the world and study to be quiet to meddle only with our own matters and to draw them into as narrow a scantling as our calling will permit 2. We should avoid as much as may be the society of the worlds favourites that admire nothing but what this world affords that know no other happiness but that of this life whereby our hearts are too much intangled 3. We should sort our selves with such Christians as do practise as well as praise the contempt of the world and by whose example discourse we may be brought to be in love with Heaven 4. We should daily observe to what things in the world our hearts are most carried out and by fervent supplications to strive with the Lord to suppress them 5. We should be alwayes pondering in our thoughts those things which may shew us the vanity of the world and the vileness and transitoriness of the best things which the world affords 2. The second Medicine or cure of the fear of death is Mortification 1. We must throughly mortifie all our bosom and beloved sins our sins must die before we die otherwise our dying will be dangerous to us it is the love and the delight that men take in sin which makes them so much afraid to die or else it may be the remembrance of some filthy sin committed which doth terrifie the conscience therefore we must make sure of our repentance Now he may be said truly to repent himself of all sin that allows not in himself any sin 2. We must here add the care of an upright and of an unreproveable conversation A marvellous help and encouragement it is to die in peace when a man doth live without offence and upon just ground can plead the integrity of a holy conversation 3. The third Medicine or cure against the fear of death is
a merciful high-Priest in things pertaining to God to work reconciliation for the sins of the people for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted Seeing that we have a great high Priest Jesus the Son of God who is passed into the Heavens let us hold fast our profession for we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are sin only excepted let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and finde grace in time of need Seeing we are taught by faith That whatsoever we have need of and is wanting in us the same is laid up with God for us in Christ it remaineth then that we do seek it of him and be it in sickness or in health by daily prayer beg it of him V. Reading of Scripture or part of Chapters PSalms 62 77 96. Isa 55. 1 Cor. 15. from v. 1. to v. 29. 2 Cor. 5. Rev. 1 5. and the last or part of them VI. A Prayer where friends are to joyn O Most gracious most glorious Lord God we thy poor unworthy servants are here prostrate before thy heavenly Majesty begging pardon at thy compassionate hands for all the evils that we stand guilty of Oh look upon us not as we are miserable sinners but as we are by the precious blood of thy dear Son reconciled unto thee for his sake we beseech thee to hear us and to accept of our prayers not only for our selves but on the behalf of this thy distressed servant our Christian brother whom thou hast here brought low upon the bed of sickness we are taught O Lord that sickness is brought upon the world for sin and that it is inflicted upon thine own people for a tryal and for a blessing that being by thee so fatherly chastised they may return unto thee like obedient children by unfeigned repentance holy believing and humble supplication and not as with the wicked for hardning of their hearts O Lord we beseech thee in the Name of the Lord Jesus give to this thy sick servant grace and spiritual strength to search into his own heart so as to finde out to bewail and to detest all his former sinful actions freely to forgive every injury done unto him duly to make restitution wheresoever there is cause so as to be in charity with all men and to have a clear conscience void of all offence Give him of thy grace O Lord that he may not take this sickness or any other thy visitation either insensibly or impatiently let him be truly humbled under thy mighty hand and yet confidently trust and constantly depend upon thy rich mercy in Christ Jesus so that nothing may be able to separate him from thee who art his only stay and portion yea the only comfort of his precious soul And then good Lord send thy holy Spirit into his heart to support and sanctifie him against all his natural weaknesses passions and infirmities let thy Almighty power and goodness preserve him against all outward cares and troubles let thy heavenly Grace O most blessed Saviour by thy all-sufficient merits purchase for him his needful pardon and let thy most precious blood be to him a happy Medicine to all his maladies and a soveraign help against all his spiritual enemies O grant unto him this blessing that he may quietly repose himself at this time under the shadow of thy wings void of all fear and free from all spiritual darkness dangers and despair Lord give him a watchful heart willingly disposed and thorowly enabled to abandon all transitory things here below and to depart hence with joy and in the peace of a good conscience Good Lord teach him enable him upon this his sick bed openly earnestly faithfully unfeignedly and incessantly to be confessing his sins and craving pardon of all his iniquities O be graciously pleased to keep under Satan that he may have no power to draw him from submitting to thy divine will and pleasure restore in him the image of thy dear Son Jesus Christ that so long as thou shalt afford him any breath he may live in thy fear trust in thy mercy rely on thy promises believe in thy Word die in thy favour rest in thy peace rise in thy power and remain in thy glory These blessings and what other mercies this thy sick creature or we thy poor servants do stand in need of we do humbly and faithfully implore at thy gracious hands and in the Name and for the sake of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and do conclude all our petitions as he hath taught us to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be all glory power and dominion world without end Amen VII Meditations on the dayes of Death and of Doom DEath was to us by reason of sin a dungeon for reserving the guilty body against the day of Judgement but now by and through the merits of Christ our blessed Saviour death is become as it were a persumed bed for the Elect against the day of the Resurrection Then O my Lord and Saviour why should it molest or trouble me at all to tread in thy steps towards glory The worst piece of the horror of death is the grave that part which is corrupted feels it not the other which is free from corruption feels an abundant recompence foresees a joyful reparation The day of Death and the day of Doom are the two Pole-Stars in which we that are Pilgrims and strangers on earth must at all times be fixing of our eyes Joseph of Arimathea did make his sepulchre in his garden Egyptians had the picture of death alwayes in their Banquetting-houses even so should we in the midst of our worldly pleasures be continually preparing our selves and casting up our accounts and daily numbring our dayes Death to the righteous is ever welcome and for the day of Doom the very name of it to the godly is as honey the mentioning of it is as the sweetest melody and the thoughts of it to every good Christian is as a year of Jubile Be pleased then Oh heavenly Father to lift up my head and my heart in that great and glorious day Lord turn from me those judgements that attend the wicked and crown me with those myriades of blessings which do alwayes accompany thine Elect and so in mercy come Lord Jesus come quickly In that great day we shall see and meet the ancient Patriarks Moses and Aaron Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the old Prophets Elias Jeremiah Daniel Hosea we shall also behold the four and twenty Elders the holy Apostles Matthew Mark James and John and all the holy Martyrs John the Baptist Stephen c. likewise all those harmless Infants that were slain by Herod who with their Olive-branches in their hands do continually sing Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and
certainly perswaded that there is no salvation in any other nor any other name under Heaven by which thou canst be saved Jesus is the only Saviour of the world therefore let all creatures bow down before him and bless his holy Name Dost thou from thy heart forgive all injuries and offences done unto thee by any person whatsoever And dost thou as freely from thy heart ask forgiveness of all whom thou hast any way wronged in thought word or deed Dost thou cast out of thy heart all rancour and malice against any person so as to appear before the face of Jesus Christ the Prince of peace in perfect love and charity I do humbly pray for such true charity as to forgive all and I do from my heart ask forgiveness of all Doth thy conscience accuse thee of any thing that thou hast unjustly taken still with-holding the same for which without restitution there can be no true repentance and without such repentance there can be no salvation nor shalt thou be able to look Christ in the face when thou shalt appear before his judgement-seat I have been willing to satisfie all whom I have wronged but alas who is able to number all his errors Dost thou firmly believe That thy body shall be raised out of the grave at the sound of the last trumpet and that both thy body and thy soul shall be united together again in the Resurrection-day to appear before the Lord Jesus Christ and thence to go with him into the Kingdom of Heaven there to live in everlasting bliss and glory My faith alas is weak but thy grace O Lord is sufficient for me O Lord let thy holy Spirit assist me and lead me into the way of everlasting glory Amen VI. Short Prayers upon any lessening of Pain O Most blessed Saviour be pleased to place thy precious Passion thy Cross and thy Death between my soul thy displeasure and let the merits of thy obedience stand between thy heavenly Fathers justice and my disobedience and from these bodily pains receive my soul into thine everlasting peace and good Lord give ear unto this my cry O Jesu receive my spirit Or thus O Lord Jesus Christ forsake not him that in great distress doth flie to thee for succour and relief O sound that sweet and comfortable voice into my fainting soul which thou wert pleased to utter to the penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Or thus O Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I know and do believe that whosoever liveth and trusteth in thee who art the resurrection and the life shall never die Oh then vouchsafe favour to thy poor creature that I may hear that blessed voice of thine Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Or thus O most gracious God whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive receive my humble supplications and though I be so much bound with the chains of my sins yet Lord let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose me and set me at liberty for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or thus O holy Lord fit and prepare me for my last conflict and by the support of thy blessed Spirit and the assistance of thy heavenly Angels vouchsafe to assist and strengthen me against the assaults of Satan that notwithstanding his mortal malice I may still hold me fast and keep my self close to thee in all holy believing so as humbly and stedfastly to resolve that though thou shouldst slay me yet to put my trust in thee and to place my whole confidence in thine everlasting mercies in Christ Jesus VII When weakness and faintness increase let friends help with these short ejaculations O Lord bear me thy poor sick servant in thy gracious arms to the land of the living Or thus Lord bring me I beseech thee by thy power and goodness to thy holy habitation Or thus Plant me O Lord in the mountain of thine inheritance the place which thou hast prepared to dwell in Or thus Lord make me to be one of the joyful Citizens of thy holy Jerusalem which is above Or thus Oh Lord as my weakness shall encrease so let my patience the hope of thy favour and assurance of thy mercy in Christ Jesus still increase more and more Or thus Oh Lord let thy grace and blessing be upon me that I may safely pass thorow this vale of misery and finish my course with joy Or thus O Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon me and grant me peace in the Lord Jesus Or thus Oh holy Father if it be thy blessed will give an end to my labours and release me of my pains VIII More of Ejaculations when faintness increaseth SWeet Jesu receive my soul sweet Jesu receive my spirit Or thus Come Lord Jesu come for thy servant cometh I am willing Lord help my weakness Or thus O Lord let thy holy Angels stand round about my bed and guard me from that evil one Or thus O Lord lay not my sins to my charge but look upon him that maketh the atonement Thy Christ my Jesus Or thus O Lord to thee belongeth mercy and forgiveness have pity on my soul and pardon my sins Or thus O Lord say to my souls everlasting joy and comfort I am thy salvation Or thus O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me Or thus O Lord make clean my heart within me and take not thy holy Spirit from me Or thus O Lord Jesus Christ I do commend my spirit into thy hands thou hast redeemed me O God thou God of mercy of truth IX A Prayer by friends at leaving this Life OH most gracious Lord God and loving Father in Jesus Christ who art our portion our strong refuge a sure defence and a very present help in time of trouble Oh lift up thy merciful countenance at this instant upon thy weak servant who now is coming to appear in thy presence Oh thou which art the great preserver of men take pity and compassion upon him wash away all his natural and sinful pollutions by the all-sufficient merits of Christ Jesus his most precious blood that they may never be laid to his charge nor hinder his happy passage to everlasting blessedness O Lord increase his faith preserve his soul from the malice and danger of the devil and all his evil angels comfort him with thy holy Spirit cause him now to feel and finde that thou art his gracious Father and thou art reconciled unto him in thy dearly beloved save him O Lord O Lord Jesus Christ save the price of thine own blood and suffer not him to be lost whom thou hast so dearly purchased Oh receive his poor soul as thou didst the penitent thief into thy heavenly Paradise let thy blessed Angels conduct him thither as they carried the soul of thy beloved Lazarus and vouchsafe unto
God To which he addeth the short Prayers which Dr. Luther used to call Stossgebete He did many times repeat these short sentences Psa 50.15 91.15 27.14 23.1 3.8 l and yet it did appear that soul and body flesh spirit were in conflict After several groanings he did keep himself quiet a while saying One combate is now passed Aug. 8. very early he sent for his Lady and the Lady Emilia from whom they heard many comfortable expressions and then with abundance of tears and sad complaints they took their leaves of him Though he complained much of pain he never was without comfort but was often times heard to say Mors mihi gloriosa erit In the night he was in a very great conflict and turning from the Minister said He could not receive his consolations he could not hold them fast whereupon the Minister went presently to the bed and fell about his neck and spake to him out of that place Psal 23.2 which had been his delight so he turned to the Minister again and put his hands into the Ministers hands then offering to sleep the Minister said these words In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I do lay my hand upon your head beseeching him to strengthen and refresh you So he slept and when he did awake he called for him again to do the like which he did and also prayed so he did sleep again Aug. 9. Sunday the Sermon-bell in the old City ringing he said Never did that Bell sound so sweet in my ears as now it doth Then he said Let us sing and laying down his head he began to sing the Song of the Angels out of Luke 2.14 the company joyning with him after that a part of the 118 Psal and then the first part of the 116 Psal After a while the Minister and he prepared for receiving of the blessed Sacrament but first he made his confession as he was able and being long it was not all at the same instant The Sacrament being over and the Minister and company preparing for Prayer he observed it and bad them kneel down and pray and he did zealously repeat every word especially the Lords Prayer and the Articles of the Christian Faith and as some good Christians did use any choice and holy sentence to comfort him he repeated the same after them so long as his tongue could do it The Minister concluded with the words before-mentioned of John 3.16 while his Excellency yielded up his spirit quietly and blessedly In the mean time the Minister cryed often aloud by him O Lord Jesus Christ I do commit my spirit into thy hands Thou hast delivered me O thou most true and faithful God The words of our Saviour John 3.16 wherewith the Minister as hath been said did comfort his Excellency at the last hour those words were by himself written as were many other particular remarkable sentences in his Germane Bible It is observable that his Excellency did depart this Life after the ending of the Sermon in the old Church and of the Prayer which was there conceived and used for the benefit of his soul Thus did this pious Protestant Prince end his dayes in much honour and peace Aug. 9. 1612. II. John Meautis Esq Secretary to the Lord-Keeper Finch departed this Life Dec. 22. 1635. whos 's sayings on his Death-bed were such as follow I Am going to Heaven and I will come no more to you as well as I love you which was very much for there were present his dear wife some of his children his beloved sister and others Again Come my glory Come come come Oh he is come he is come Again In your patience possess your souls Again Make your Election sure Being asked by his sister What comfort he found in his soul he said I have abundance of comfort and of assurance too in the sweet and tender mercies of my God After this the Minister demanding of him How he stood in charity towards his neighbour he cheerfully did answer I am at peace with all men I have done wrong to no man so neer as I could I â—â—ar no man any grudge nor any ill will at all And so he departed indeed in peace blessed be the Lord. III. Mrs. Elizabeth the Wife of Mr. John Juxon a Citizen of London BEfore her Conversion which was about the 22 year of her age and five years before her death she sometimes said She did wonder what people meant to run dagling to hear Sermons but afterwards if she were in London she was at nine or ten Sermons in a week besides catechising and so that the Word and the Spirit did work mightily upon her even voluntarily to confess to her Minister how vain her former life had been Then she never missed reading the Bible morning and evening so as she read it thorow oftentimes In her health she used to set down in writing much of her spiritual life which at her death was found lodged with those things that she esteemed of most value She made conscience of words as well as of deeds of the lust of the eye as well as of the act of uncleanness of thoughts as well as of deeds She was exact in keeping her times of Prayer in private wherein she complained of hardness of heart bewailed her failings and bemoaned the distractions that she oftentimes found in her self and hereupon she did many times perswade with her Husband not to encumber himself with too much worldly imployment She feared both the company and also the doctrine of such Ministers as seemed to afford her over-much liberty in her course of life In the time of her long sickness she was very sensible of the want of hearing Gods Word preached and resolved if God should give her so much strength to go to Church though carried in a chair In her health she did often wish to be dissolved and that she might not live to have her confidence weakned and rejoyced often that the Lord had freed her from hellish fears and that she found much peace in him and yet not so fully but that sometimes she pitifully groaned under the sence of unbelief though some Ministers did tell her that they did never believe aright that did never doubt She oftentimes gave good rewards in gold for preaching upon subjects that were chosen by her one was Of the cursed estate of man by nature and of the uttermost terrors of the Law against sin to break her stony heart She loved poor godly Christians yea and many times preferred them before her rich kindred It was thought by those that knew her well that she did affect holiness far above salvation and hath sometimes been so ravished with it as heartily to desire if it were the will of God never to go into the world again but to spend her dayes in fellowship with God Though she were subject to passion yet she was contented to sit down under any wrong that was done her as being perswaded that
holy Spirit which from a spirit of bondage was now become to her a spirit of adoption The holy frame of her heart and the bent of her soul with a sence of spiritual things may be judged by some letters to her Son which are in print and by the translation of the Psalms and other essays of divine Poetry After some sharp conflicts with death she did patiently and devoutly yield up her spirit into the hands of her gracious Lord Christ Jesus She sickned the 28 of July and dyed the 4 of August and they were both of them buried in the same grave VII Dr. Harris his Life and Death HE was born at broad Campden in Gloucester shire about the year 1578. and lived till 1658. even fourscore years After he had been his time at the Free-schools in the Country being by his Parents designed either for Divinity or the Law he was sent to Oxford where following his studies he took the degree of Batchelor of Arts. Preparing himself for the Pulpit not the Bar he offered his first pains at Chipping Campden where though a great Town a Bible could scarce be found no not at the Vicars house without much search being not seen some months before Upon a fearful plague at Oxford the University was dissolved and few Scholars left behinde he durst not go home lest he should not by his Father be suffered to return thither again and whither else to go he knew not till by a providence he was invited to Mr. Doily's house five miles from Oxford a Family of great piety Mr. Prior the Incumbent there was assisting to Mr. Harris in his studies which he requited in assisting Mr. Prior a godly man but sickly in his preaching for him By the removal of Mr. Dod he was setled at Hanwel not far off where the people were very conformable scarce a family wherein Gods Name was not in some measure called upon nor any that refused to be prepared by him for the Lords Supper Edge-hill-fight was about four miles from him upon the Lords day he took it for a great mercy that he heard not the least noise of it till the publick work of the day was over nor could he believe the report till a souldier besmeared with blood and powder did witness it There happened to be quartered a company of souldiers that were so given over to blaspheming and swearing that he could not forbear using that Text Isa 5.12 which in the handling did so nettle some of them that they damned themselves to Hell if they did not shoot him in case he preached any more upon that Text but he went on the next day when in his eye a souldier took his Carbine and fumbled about the lock as intending some mischief but the Preacher conceiving it was only to disturb him went on with his work without any farther news of the souldier After this by a Scotish Commander with the treachery of some neighbours he was inforced to shift for himself and went to London From London he with four other Divines was by the Parliament commanded to Oxford then under suspension and the Chancellor of Oxford the Earle of Pembrook coming to visit the University he was made Dr. of Divinity which he had refused had it not been the favour of his betters as being not made thereby the better Scholar or the better Preacher In continuance of time when he had setled his affairs and placed his children he left himself almost nothing more to do but to prepare himself and his wife 50 years married for their graves but now the Lord was pleased to exercise him a new His wise that was religiously bred frequent in holy duties that seldom rose from her knees with dry eyes was yet delivered up to Satans buffetting to such horrors of minde to such hellish temptations as grieved every spectator Upon this occasion he often said The receiving of grace the keeping of grace the use of grace is all from the Almighty God She complaining much and often that she could finde no comfort Oh said he what an Idol do some people make of comfort as if their comfort were their Christ But this cheering he had that she was kept 1. From blaspheming the highest so she stiled God 2. From hurting any in word or deed 3. That this affliction did waken him she being most conscientious and innocent 4. It wrought in him a holy despair of all creature-comforts for now he injoyed neither wife nor childe nor friend nor sleep as formerly only instant prayers are continued for her upon all occasions which gives hopes that the Lord may please to make the end comfortable and the conquest glorious So he sometimes said The difference is not great whether comfort do come in death or a while after death seeing comfort will assuredly come to all that wait with faith and patience After a long and laborious life he comes now to a long and a painful sickness In the Summer he began to droop and when two friendly and learned Physicians Dr. Bathurst and Dr. Willis were sent for he professed That he used means meerly in obedience that he could be content to live and durst die He said His Physicians would lose of their known worth having to deal with complicated diseases which were seldom removed and with old age which was never cured His first encounter was with a vehement Pleuretical pain in his left side to that was joyned a Feaver and also a great defluxion of Rheum and oppression of his Lungs with flegme and sometimes not without some fits of his old disease the Stone and Strangury which for some weeks wrought so upon him as he was not able to speak much to those that visited him At his first sickening being desired to admit of some good company he said I am alone in company it is all one to me to be left alone or to have friends about me my work is now to arm my self for death and I do apply my self as I am able for that great encounter And so he spent his whole time in Meditation Prayer and reading especially the Psalms and St. John's Gospel where he took exceeding delight in the 10 14 15 16 17 Chapters And growing weaker got others to read to him Still would he be exhorting his visitants and attendants to get faith above all It is your victory would he say your life your peace your crown and the chiefest piece of your spiritual armour however get on all go forth in the Lords might and stand to the fight and then shall the issue be glorius only be sure not to forget to call in the help of your General do all by him and for his glory On the Lord's day he would not hinder any from publick duty to do any thing about him and when the Sermons were ended he would say Come what have ye now for me meaning of repetition to which he attended so diligently as to sum up all the heads and then say O
caused some of his little Prayer-books to be brought to his bed and appointed to every one of his children one writing therein their several names and adding thereunto his Christianly and Fatherly admonition For his eldest Son Philippus Mauritius upon his German Bible he did write thus MY Son Philippus Mauritius Count of Hanaw Fear God and keep his holy Commandments I have been this night sore troubled and in great anguish I have thought on many things which I wish my Childe that you could know yet thus much I tell you Keep thy self even all thy life-time close unto thy God his gracious help and his blessed assistance will be evermore most necessary for thee I would to God that I could write the great riches of his infinite mercy goodness and faithfulness that have been experimented by me this long time I bless the Lord I have already the foretaste of everlasting glory Therefore will I sing unto the Lord as long as I live Psa 104.33 I will sing praise to my God while I have my being my Meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord. The Lord help thee unto me in due time Amen In these pangs of death I do desire to be delivered and to be with my Lord Jesus Christ O Lord Jesus Christ thou faithful Saviour how do I love thee Thy promises are true thy love is great thy heart is faithful towards me I do commend my spirit into thy hands thou dear and faithful God Thou hast most graciously delivered and sanctified me Lord I do wait on thy salvation Thy faithful Father Philippus Lodovicus The second Son Willielmus Reynhart received his Book with these words viz. MY dear Son serve thy God with thy whole heart in Sprit and in Truth I have destinated thee thereunto esteem it not to be any shame unto thee to serve God and his Church for God is the greatest God he is thy Creator keep in honour the true service of God Obey and serve thy dear Mother under whose heart thou hast lain honour and serve thy eldest Brother as thy Lord for such is the Ordinance and my will also bear with him if thou be in the right for thou art then more happy then he but if thou dost not walk uprightly in thy words then art not thou happy Love thy Brothers and Sisters from the heart love thy House do good to the Poor according to thy ability then shall the Lord bless thee Beware of drunkenness of dissoluteness and all unclean speeches as thou wouldst do of fire Honour thy State be industrious in all things read and practise and that continually the 119 Psalm let thine Astrologians be the 28 of Deuteronomy So I commit thee to God Thy faithful Father unto death Philippus Lodovicus The eldest Daughter Lady Charlette Loisa received her Book with these words viz. FEar honour and love thy God from thy heart have his Commandments continually before thine eyes take thy whole delight therein Honour with all filial obedience thy loving Mother keep thy mouth close with a lock esteem honesty and modesty above all the goods and treasures of this present world God bless thee my loving Childe Thy loving Father unto death Philippus Lodovicus The second Daughter Lady Emilia Elizabetha received her Book from him with these words viz. HAve God always before thine eyes Honour thy Mother with obedience and with love keep honesty and modesty for these will be thy best riches and thy chiefest jewel Thy faithful Father unto death Philippus Lodovicus The youngest Daughter Lady Catherina Juliana received her Book with these words viz. DEar Childe be vertuous Have thy Creator alwayes before thine eyes fear thy God even all the days of thy life love and honour thy blessed Saviour who did shed his most precious blood for thee break off from thine evil will betimes be humble and obedient Humility honesty and silence do more adorn a Lady then either pearls or other costly jewels Thy faithful Father unto death Philippus Lodovicus These Prayer-books being thus delivered his Excellency caused also the late-born Lord to be brought before the bed sighed sadly over him touched him with his hand and prayed that the Lord would also bless that tender Infant with his grace Lying down again his bed being new made he stretching out both his arms said to one of his Counsellors Ecce divinum miraculum hominem jam mortuum viribus tamen adhuc integrum That is Loe a divine miracle a man already dead and yet having his full strength After this his understanding remaining very good he caused divers things to be read out of a little Song-book and then took it to him and writ in it This Song have I used many years and then commanded it to be laid upon his heart as soon as he should be departed A while after he called before him all the Ministers both of the old and of the new City and also some of the Country-Ministers with whom he did discourse of the true saving faith and of a Christianly departure out of this life telling them That he would not willingly in this his weakness be without a Preacher by him He did often sigh and pray from his heart for a mitigation of his pains and for shortning the pangs of death and also so for an understanding end and did use many comfortable speeches to the joy and admiration of such as were his assistants 7. Aug. Friday his Excellency feeling the time of death approaching his heart was full of godly comfort and of heavenly consolation speaking with singular zeal of the misery of this life of the death of a Christian of eternal salvation Then saying Ah Sirs loving Sirs I have seen the glory of God what do I care for this world I have kissed the hem of the garment of my Lord Jesus Christ I am now climbing on the ladder of Jacob up to heaven toward my God and Saviour And while he was full of these expressions and cast his arms from him he said All things here below do now stink before me Tell this to my children chiefly to my Steward that he nor they seek too much after worldly things but to put their whole trust in God Ah my dear people said he how much trouble have you with me miserable creature Then he called Open all the doors let all my people come in that they may see how joyfully I do die and so be comforted by my example His Physicians warning him not to speak too much Ah said he Should not I speak of my loving and most gracious God He hath given me and he continueth to me a tongue to that end Again when the Physicians spake against opening the windows What said he should not I behold the fair Heavens whither I shall come anon He did oftentimes lift up his hands and his eyes to heaven using these words Oh thou great and strong God thou Almighty God thou holy God thou good and true