Inhabitants thereof may at length be induced to beat their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks And in order to the publick Peace put an end to mens privat Animosities and pacify the particular Commotions of their Minds Compose all our tumultuous Passions whensoever they arise regulat our disorder'd Appetits subdu our pervers Wills and reduce all our unbridled Affections and Faculties to so serene a Temper as is meet for the Reception and Obedience of that Great and Only Potentat whose Name is Wonderful Counsellor The mighty God The Ever lasting Father The Prince of Peace §. 8. O thou Eternal Son who art the Wisdom of the Father and hast endued thy Church with such a Degree of Prudence and Gratitude as to institute and observ an Annual Feast for a constant Memorial of thy Nativity to confirm our Faith re-inforce our Duty redoubl our Praises and repeat our Thanks so that being filled with thy Graces by a du participation of thy H. Sacraments in a grateful Commemoration of the Word made Flesh we may all conspire to celebrat thy salutiferous Birth with Eucharistical Joy I magnify thy Name For the great and diffusiv Efficacy of thy outwardly mean and 〈◊〉 Nativity the Fame wherof hath so marvelously prevailed over all the Earth that the Gentils are com to thy Light and Kings to the brightness of thy Rising Strengthen and direct thy Church the Pillar and Ground of the Truth to maintain the Beauty of Order and the Virtu of H. Disciplin together with the Form of sound Words in her Doctrin throu-out all Ages that all her Members may with one Mind and one Mouth glorify God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by celebrating all such Festivals with holy Joy in Unity of Spirit and the Bond of Peace as are instituted for the Honor of thy Mercy the Glory of thy Wisdom and the setting forth of thy Goodness Power in this great and inscrutabl Mystery of Godliness God manifest in the Flesh. Ever-blessed God who evry year refreshest us with a re newed Birth of devout Affections by the Welcom Memorial of our Savior's Nativity Grant that we may entertain this humbl Rising of the Sun of Righteousness with such ardent Devotions as may better dispose and engage us to follow Him who enlighten'd the World with his Truth and enflamed it with his Lov til we acquire as great Abilities as we hav Obligations to join with the Celestial Choir in Singing the Angels Carol Glory to God in the Highest on Earth Peace Good Will towards Men. Cap. III. Of His Circumcision §. 1. When eight days were accomplished for the Circumcising of the Child tho the Power and Innocence of my Gracious Redeemer might well hav exemted Him from that rigorous Ceremony yet did the Holy Jesus freely submit therunto at once to obey the divine Law acquit Us from that bloody Rite and giv us many useful Instructions I prais and magnify thy Name O Christ for substituting a more easy Sacrament instead of that sharp Ceremony wherunto Thou thy self hast submitted and teaching me by this thy voluntary Condescension to yield ready Obedience to all the Ordinances of God how severe and grievous soever they seem to Flesh and Blood Let the Endearment of thy tender Lov in undergoing those hard and painful Rules from which thou hast thought fit to releas thy Church engage evry Member therof to wave all Pleas of Dispensation or Priviledg which may seem to countenance any Remisness in the discharge of our Religious Duties And when the Iniquity or Violence of unreasonabl Men who frequently impose greater Burdens than themselves are willing to bear shal make it necessary for me either to observ any unwarrantabl Injunctions or undergo any severe Penalties rather than transgress thine express Will inspirit me with Grace and Corage patiently to submit therunto but withal render me cheerfuly conformabl to all those wel advised Constitutions wherby our lawful Superiors either in Church or State hav thought fit to regulat our Deportment in things indifferent §. 2. O thou tru Messiah whose Name was called JESUS being so named of the Angel before thou wast conceived in the Womb I giv thee all possibl Thanks and Prais For making good the gracious Purport of this thy Name in saving thy peepl from their Sins O Blessed Jesus since by the Imposition of this adorabl Name the Holy Ghost hath made a publick Declaration that Thou art com into the World to save Sinners save me I beseech thee who am the chief of Sinners let me tast and see how gracious the Lord is in the Healing Influence of this Name A Name that doth charm the dullest Ears and revive the drooping Hearts of miserabl Sinners infinitly beyond the sweetest Accents of Musick and therefore is exalted abov evry Name even by God himself which hath made it highly reasonabl whatever any cavelling Hypocrits either by their irreligious Doctrin or Deportment argu to the contrary that at the Name of Jesus evry knee should bow in 〈◊〉 in Earth and under the Earth and that evry Tong should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father In Obedience to which Divine Decree I prostrat my Self before Thee O Lord I worship Thee O Christ and humbly beg Thee on my Knees to be my Jesus my Savior §. 3. O Holy Jesus who in this first tho small Effusion of thy Blood didst pay the Earnest of that Debt which thou hadst undertaken to satisfy as our Surety I bless thy saving Name For thus obliging thy Self to fulfil the whol Law and expiat its Violation on our 〈◊〉 How early began my 〈◊〉 to suffer He shed his Blood almost as soon as he drew his Breath O my Soul defer not to execute His Will who seem'd impatient to procure thy Welfare at the price of his Blood and instead of abusing his exact Obedience for a Cloak of Libertinism let the Exampl of his Perfection engage thee to follow his Steps in all holy Conversation And do thou O Jesu at once supply and satisfy for all the Defects of my frail Obedience §. 4. This bloody Character of Circumcision left the Impression of God's Seal upon Believing Sinners that they bearing in their Bodies the Marks of the Most Holy might be put in mind whose Servants they are and what Duty they ow. I humbly adore Thee O Jesus for submitting to the Imputation of Sin and the Penalties consequential therunto tho thou knewest no Sin Lord Let this Prospect of thine Exinanition in taking upon Thee the form of a Servant yea a Sinner who art God blessed and holy for ever not only banish all those irregular Desires of Esteem which lurk in my bosom but also render me industrious to be truly Holy not to be thought 〈◊〉 And may this beginning of Sorrows in Thy 〈◊〉 abate all the Vanity and Niceness of Mine §. 5. O my immaculat Lord Thou hadst no Lusts to 〈◊〉 no
THE Soul's Communion With her SAVIOR OR The History of our Lord Jesus Christ Written by FOUR EVANGELISTS Digested into Devotional Meditations The First Part. LONDON Printed for W. Crooke at the Green Dragon nigh Devereux-Court without Temple-Bar 1685. THE PREFACE TO THE Devout Reader SIr Edwyn Sandys in his Europae Speculum observs That as one principal Means used by the Papacy to countermine the Progress of the Reformation they took such Care to fill all Countries with Books of Prayer and Piety in their own Language that they forbore not to reproach the Protestants who had upbraided them for confining the Peepl to the dark Devotion of an unknown Tong with their Poverty Weakness and Coldness in that kind as being forced to take the Catholick Books for their Supply therein And since the time wherin he made that Observation the Reformed Churches hav been too long exposed to the same Reproach and Inconvenience for as it was the highest Mark of deplorabl Servitude that the Israelits went down to the Philistins to sharpen evry man his Share and his Coulter and his Ax and his Mattock so it must needs prov a very dangerous Snare to the most religious Protestants that they were constrained to hav Recours to the Church of Rome for their best Helps to Devotion whose Care of Souls in making that necessary Provision for Piety carried with it so fair a shew of tru Sanctity and Godliness as invited too many of the unwarily Devout first to a favorabl Opinion and then to the absolute Espousal of her Errors and Superstition craftily mingled and recommended in those Prayers and Meditations that were hammer'd out at her Forge And what was so 〈◊〉 a Temtation to win her Adversaries may wel be thought a more forcibl Argument to establish and confirm her own Friends and Abettors to her 〈◊〉 So that without a proportionabl Care to countermine her Policy there could be littl hope either of with-drawing any of her Members or withholding many of our own from her Communion But now the Church of England hath both exprest her self sufficiently sensib of that Defect and made abundant Provision for its Supply in compiling and publishing such and such store of Books of Devotion in her Mother-Tong as neither the Roman nor any of the Reformed can boast of more or better It may therefore be questioned to what purpos this littl Tract should be super-added to those many excellent pieces of Devout Meditation already in Print which makes me judg it requisit to giv the Reader som short Account both of its Occasion and Design A most Excellent Person eminent not to mention her quallity which is very considerabl as wel for her Devotion as Intelligence being by a just and rational Conviction of those gross Errors and Forgeries on and by which the Church or rather Court of Rome hath founded and upheld her Greatness reclaimed from her Communion to that of the Church of England to evidence how far she was from being induced therunto by any other Motiv besides that of disinterested Religion resolved to confine her self to the same strict Rules of Devotion and Abstinence in the Exercise of her Protestant Principls whereby she had exprest her exemplary Zeal in the Popish Superstition And that her Soul in those many hours which she daily allotted for Retirement might not grow languid and dull in the same Act either of Prayer or Reading as the Body is apt to becom stiff and unweildy if long held to the self-same Posture or Motion these brief Aspirations on the Gospel-History were composed to diversify her Entertainment and fill up those Intervals which a pious Difcretion thought requisit for the better Improvment and more orderly Disposal of the time set apart for such Religious Exercises And what hath been thus used and approved in the Devout Solitude of a Privat Closet now appears in Publik with Design to supply the vacant Hours of other pious Votaries especially at such times as either the wise Authority of our Superiors or their own particular Resolution shal dedicat a whol day to the Duties of Prayer and Humiliation But lest that different Order wherinto the several Evangelists hav cast their Relation of our Savior's Acts and Speeches which the Holy Ghost hath thought fit to transfer unto succeeding Ages upon Record might occasion a fruitless Repetition of any one Part or an unseemly Confusion in the Whole I have reduced it to such a Method which Gerard and Chemnitius hav digested their Harmony of the Four Gospels into that the Religious Peruser may more regularly pass throu the entire History or the more readily hav Recours to any particular Transaction in it which may best suit with the present Scope of his Devotion Wherunto if this small Essay prov any way serviceabl it will at once recompens my present Labor and encorage me to proceed being ardently desirous to express my Self in Communion with my Savior A sincere Lover of Souls P. Traheron A General Prayer Preparatory to the ensuing Meditations O Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation who art the Fountain of Life and Salvation my So◠and all that is within me bless thy Holy Name for sending thine Only-begotten Son into the World to redeem Me and all Mankind to thine Eternal Glory I beseech Thee withdraw mine Affections from this World that I may serv Thee in Spirit and in Truth Enlighten my Understanding and reform my Will that my Heart may be entirely united to Thee and all other Business set apart as well secretly among the Faithful as openly in the Congregation adore and prais the God of my Salvation And since the Mercies of GOD do at once oblige and encorage me to present my Soul and Body a Living Sacrifice at thine Altar let this my Reasonabl Service be so acceptabl unto Thee that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor Things present nor Things to com nor Hight nor Depth nor any other Creature be abl to separat me from the Lov of God which is in Christ JESUS our LORD Giv me a clear Sight into all the Mysteries of His Life and a du Sense of all the Miracls of His Lov unto Death til I be so ravished with the Contemplation of their gracious Design upon my Soul as to count all things but Loss for the Excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus my Lord and be ready to suffer the Loss of all things and count them but Dung that I may win Christ and be found in Him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is throu the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith that I may know Him and the Power of His Resurrection and the Fellowship of His Sufferings being made conformabl unto His Death And let the constant secret Meditation of His Life and Lov His Sufferings and Glory His Virtues and Graces His Precepts and Promises His Presence and Power be
knew her not til she had brought forth her first-born Son not only so shame all mine inordinat Affections and engage me to abstain from fleshly Lusts which war against my Soul as to keep under my Body and bring it into Subjection but withall heighten our Esteem and Emulation of the transcendent Chastity and conjugal Lov of that immaculat Pair whom the King of Heven thought fit to honor and entrust with the Birth and Breeding of his own Son who was not so styled her First-born as to imply there ever was any other succeeding Fruit of her Womb the Mother of God being worthily believed an Eternal Virgin as wel In and After as Before the Bringing forth of that Son whose Name they called JESUS according to the mystical Import of that abstruse Prophecy in the 44th Chapter of Ezekiel This Gate shal be shut it shal not be open'd and no man shal enter in by it becaus the Lord the God of Israel hath enter'd in by it therefore it shal be shut §. 14. O Dear Jesus who in the same Act of assuming our Humanity 〈◊〉 also evidence thy Divinity being as well conceived by the H. Ghost as born of a Virgin I adore thine Eternal God-head For thy great Wisdom and Care in the Discovery and Confirmation of this sublime Mystery of thy Hypostatical Union which thou didst not only transact in Secret by the Message of the Angel Gabriel the Overshadowing of the H. Ghost and the Conception of the Virgin Mary but hast openly ratified by the Report of those Shepherds that had seen a Vision of Angels by the Brightness of the Star which appeared in the Hevens and by the Deportment of the Wise men whom it conducted from the East to Jerusalem by the Testimony of Simeon and Anna in the Templ and that of thy Precursor John the Baptist in the Wilderness All publick and unquestionable Arguments as well to confirm as exhibit the Truth and Import of the Annunciation made in privat to the devout Virgin that this first Step towards the Great Act of our Redemtion being alike Glorious within and without might appear worthy to be received of All with full Assurance and contemplated by All with infinit Gratitude and Delight O my dear and gracious Redeemer whose Humanity and Divinity are inseperably united in Thee are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg being filled with the Fulness of God Grant throu the Dispensation of thy Grace that the same Godhead which dwelleth in Thee bodily may spiritualy abide in Me that as thy Body is united to thy Soul and both unto God so my Body may be incorporat with thine and my Soul enflamed with such a degree of thy Lov as shal be an Earnest of our ever-lasting Union Fill me with great and reverent Apprehensions of that inexpressibl Honor wherunto we are advanced in Our Union with the Deity in regard it is the End and Effect of Thine and let this Consideration disentangl me from all things here below that living the Life of God from which the whol World is alienated by Sin I may enter into an Hevenly Fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ for ever Amen Cap. II. Of His Nativity §. 1. O Thou King of Kings and Lord of Lords who dost dispose and turn the hearts of Earthly Monarchs as it seemeth best to thy Godly Wisdom making that 〈◊〉 which went out from Cesar Augustus that verse 1 all the World should be tared subservient to thy Celestial Decree long before Cyrenius was Governor of Syria revealed by thy H. Prophets touching the place where Christ should be born for in Obedience to the Imperial Edict All went to be tared 〈◊〉 one into his own City and Joseph went up from Galilee out of the City Nazareth into Judea unto the City of David which is called Betl 〈◊〉 to be tared with Mary his espoused wife then great with Child in such a juncture of time that 〈◊〉 they were there the days were accomplished that she should be delivered I prais and magnify thy H. Name For thy over-ruling Wisdom and Providence in making those Occurrences which seem contingent and arbitrary to human Reason instrumental to carry on the good purpos of thy Divine Will so that what the Prophet Micah had fore-told as the Chief Priests and Scribes themselves did readily explain and apply it may at this day serv for the Direction and Establishment of our Faith in the tru 〈◊〉 Lord let that admirabl Concent and Harmony between thy Old and New Testament which is evident in this and many other singular Instances of thy Truth and Power be effectual to convince the obstinat Jews convert the unbelieving Gentils and bring All Mankind to the Obedience of Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. §. 2. O thou most High Possessor of Heven and Earth who didst humbl thy self to be wrapped in Swadling 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 in a Manger becaus there was no 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 having made choice of a poor Virgin for thy Mother and a mean Carpenter to pass for thy reputed Father both being destitute not only of a numerous Train of Attendants and such like Marks of Worldly Pomp and Grandeur but even of ordinary Conveniences I prais thy Glorious Name For thus taking upon Thee the form of a Servant that thou mightest heal the Error of our Ignorance and Ambition Let the continual memory of this thy blessed Exampl giv an effectual Check to the Vanity of my Mind for the utter extirpation of all the Pride or Avarice incident to my Nature And having dispossessed all sensual Thoughts and beastly Appetits of that Room which entirely belongs to Thee be thou pleased to accept of my poor Heart as thou didst of that homely Stabl to reside in supplying their place with such unfeigned Humility as may render me cheerfully contented in all Estates Lord impart needful Consolation to the Poor a sanctified Poverty of Spirit to the Rich and the abundant Riches of thy Grace to All. §. 3. There being in 〈◊〉 saine Country Shepherds abiding in the field keeping Watch over their Flock by night the Angel of the Lord came upon them and said unto them Fear not for behold I bring you glad Tidings of great Joy which shal be to all Peepl 〈◊〉 unto You is born this day in the City of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord I magnify thy Sacred Name For this admirabl mixture of Humility and Glory wherwith thou O Christ hast beautified and signalized thy Coming into the World for the Ministry of an Angel to proclaim thy Birth is no less Glorious and Sublime than to be an Inmate with the Beasts of the Stabl seems base and mean in our Eys Lord since thou hast vouchsafed to direct thy winged Herald to those vigilant Cottagers that the Poor and Simpl might hav as much Occasion to shew forth thy Prais as the great and Learned I cannot but admire and heartily desire to imitat
of partition between us having abolished the Enmity not only by thy Death but in thy Life thine Exampl as wel as Precept engaging us to lay aside those distinctions wherby Schism and Faction curtail our Kindness and hinder our mutual Edification And tho unnecessary Conversation with leight or scandaIous persons is to be industriously avoided and very warily admitted yet when a just Occasion or accidental Providence brings a vicious person into my Company let me rather improv the Opportunity to reclaim an Offendor than be deterr'd from using my best endevor to save a Soul from death throu the Shame or Fear of being censured a Friend of Publicans and Sinners as thou my Lord and Master hast often been who like a merciful Physitian wouldst rather inspect our very Corruptions than neglect the Cure even of a lascivious Harlot such as this Samaritan seems to be for when thou didst bid her Go call thy husband and she replyed I hav no husband thou couldst tell her In that thou saidst truly for thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband implying that in case he were husband to some other she lived in Adultery if not yet she lived in Fornication with one not espoused to her self §. 4. This particular Discovery of the privat Transactions of her own life made by one that was wholy a Stranger both to her Country and Person induced the Woman to confess unto him Sir I perceiv that thou art a Prophet and on that consideration she enters upon the Debate of a publick Controversy which had been so violently maintained between their two Nations that the Iews would hav no Dealings with the Samaritans supposing a person so extraordinarily qualified very fit to decide the matter in Dispute which she states thus Our 〈◊〉 worshipped in this Mountain and ye say that in Ierusalem is the place where men ought to worship I prais thy Holy Name O thou Reconciler of the World not only For asserting the Truth of the Jewish Church and the Error of the Samaritan in this thy positiv Reply Ye worship ye know not what we know what we worship for Salvation is of the Iews but likewise for opening a way unto their Reconciliation and removing the Occasion of the Difference by saying unto the Woman Believ me the hour cometh and now is when ye shal neither in this Mountain nor yet at Ierusalem worship the Father but the tru Worshippers shal worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth Lord since thou hast no longer confined thine Adorers to attend thy Service in one determinat place but dost will that men pray evry where lifting up holy hands I humbly beseech thee let this our Christian 〈◊〉 engage us to the more hearty and sincere Attendance as wel on thy publick Ordinances as our privat Offices of Religion remembring that God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth for the Father seéketh such to worship him §. 5. The Woman being hereby convinced of her Error the better to express her readiness to embrace the further Revelation of the Gospel saith unto him I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ when He is com he will tell us all things I celebrat thy Gracious Name O Iesus For saying unto her I that speak unto thee am He. With what plainness dost thou own the truth and power of that thine Office to this Alien nay Enemy to the Commonwealth of Israel which thou didst with so much care reserv from the Notice of thine own Peepl the Mystery which thou didst couch under obscure Parabls and 〈◊〉 Sayings in thy many publick Sermons to them thou hast clearly unvailed in one short and plain Expression to this Samaritan O the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchabl are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out My Gracious God since thou hast thus reduced into Practice what thou hadst long before professed to thy Servant Moses I will have Mercy on whom I will hav Mercy I humbly beseech thee hav Compassion on my Soul and vouchsafe to make thy self effectually known unto me who am wors than a Samaritan by Nature a Sinner of the Gentils in Conversation §. 6. As soon as thou O Christ hadst given her this open Evidence and Acknowledgment of thine Office and Authority the Woman as having forgot her corporal Necessities and tasted the Grant of the Request she had made unto thee Sir giv me this Water that I thirst not neither com 〈◊〉 to draw left 〈◊〉 Water-pot and went her way into the City and 〈◊〉 to the Men that-lived in her Neighborhood Com and see a man which told me all things that ever I did Is not this the Christ I magnify thy Name For the communicativ Virtu of the Christian-Faith and the gradual Propagation of thy Gospel therby Many of the Samaritans of that City having believed on Thee for the Saying of the Woman which testified He told me all that ever I did Let those apparent Notices of thy Will O my God which hav enlightned mine Understanding and engaged mine Affections in the Profession of the tru Faith render me zealous and succesful in publishing those sacred Truths wherof I my self am convinced that I may becom an happy and industrious Instrument to promote thy Glory and the Good of others whether they be my Brethren and Neighbors in the flesh or not since throu him who came and preached peace to us which were afar off as wel as to them that were nigh we are no more Strangers and Foreiners but are made capabl of becoming fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the hous-hold of God by being built upon the foundation of the Apostls and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone §. 7. In the mean while his Discipls who were newly returned with the Provisions which they went unto the City to buy and marvelled that He talked with the Woman prayed him saying Master eat But he said unto them I hav meat to eat that ye know not of I prais and magnify thy Name O Jesus Becaus wheras thy Discipls were apt to mistake thy words in a carnal sence as appears by their questioning one with another Hath any man brought him ought to eat thou hast fully explained the spiritual Meaning therof by this thy gracious Declaration My Meat is to do the Will of him that sent me and to finish his Work O hevenly Father create in me I beseech thee the same Mind which was in thy Son Christ Jesus that I also may prefer doing good in my Generation before my necessary Food and esteem the Performance of those things which are agreeabl to the Will of thy Holiness my chief Repast and Satisfaction such Acts of Obedience and Charity being capabl to 〈◊〉 my Soul unto Everlasting Life while the daily Bread which my Body stands in need of doth perish in