THE Lama-sabachthani OR CRY OF THE Son of GOD Useful at all Times especially For PASSION Week AND At all other Times for a Devout and Pious Soul in its nearest Approaches and Addresses to its Saviour before and after it comes to be an Actual Partaker of the Body and Blood of its Redeemer The Second Edition LONDON Printed by Edw. Jones for Samuel Lowndes against Exeter-Change in the Strand 1691. To Her most Pious and Sacred MAJESTY Queen MARY The Author most Humbly Offers and Dedicates the ensuing Enchiridion of a Crucify'd Saviour Madam WHen I consider the unexpressible Honour I lately had of being frequently a partaker with You at the Throne of Grace in Your Chappel-Devotion at the Hague Where observing Your great Strength and Zeal of true Piety accompanied with a perfect Stability of Humility Meekness and Lowliness of Spirit as a compleat Follower and Imitator of our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ whilst on Earth it struck such a Dint upon me As St. Austin says melted down his Soul into Divine Affections and enforc'd such a Love of Religion in me that made me inspir'd to that height and Ecstacy of Devotion and Intention of Thought that did not only as it were withdraw my Soul from all Commerce with the Senses but in a manner separate it a while from the Body And made it with the Apostle Paul to have Antipasts of Heaven and a fruition of Coelestial Enjoyments Such Raptures Elevations and Influences of Anticipated Glory as the Apostle had had the Disciples of our Saviour whilst their Great Lord and Master was Predicting and Communicating his Passion to be an abiding Commemoration of himself amongst them after his Ascension into Glory as it is largely set forth by our Saviour himself throughout the 6th Chapter of John And as it was observ'd of Peter and the rest of his Brethren in the Transfiguration of our Saviour on the Mount that when he Pray'd earnestly to his Father the Fashion of his Countenance was alter'd which did beget immediately in them such a Participation of Raptures and Ejaculations that made them very unwilling to relinquish the Place where they had enjoy'd such a Beatifical Presence The like have I perceiv'd in Your Majesties Countenance as if it spake aloud the very Language of Your Divine Soul that made mine always wish in its Publick Devotion to live in the Presence of so Great and so Glorious an Exemplar No less perfect are all these Coelestial Qualifications in Your ever Ador'd and Dearly beloved Sister to enumerate them again were but Tautology they are all so essentially compact in You both that modestly and justly You are the Glory of the Vniverse The Hypostatick Council of Heaven having decreed it from all Eternity that You Two shouâ—d be Leaders and Patterns to all Sincere and Devout Subjects and Christians in all Virtue Piety and Holiness and that they be close Imitators and Followers of You as You are of Christ This makes it transcendently the Felicity of all Humble Pious Souls to have Two such Matchless Guardian Angels walk before us and to be eminent for God in Your Generations as the aforesaid Mary and Anna the Mother of Jesus and Prophetess of our Lord. How much more Glorious must the Protestant Religion necessarily appear in You Madam now You are by the All-wise Providence of the Great God most happily arriv'd at the Zenith of Sovereignty whose Sovereign Beams have already dispers'd all those Clouds and Mists nay Storms and Hurricans of Popery that of late had like to have subverted and over-whelm'd these Nations into a Bloody Deluge by Massacre and Murder had not God reserv'd Your Majesty for such a day as This and brought You safe through the dangers of the Seas and plac'd Your Royal Person with King William on the Imperial Throne of Your Ancestors whose undaunted Magnanimity and Resolution by the Omnipotent Power of the Almighty hath procur'd this re-establishment for us again That when all our hopes were sinking in the Autumn of Despair God was pleas'd through him by a stupendious Miracle to restore us again without the tedious and cruel Sieges of War or Blood to a Protestant Settlement and Blessing This is the only cause that emboldens me to present to You the following Meditations and Contemplations of the Agony and Crucifixion of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Entituled The Lamasa-bachthani or Cry of the Son of God wherein I have endeavour'd as succinctly and as perspicuously as possibly I could to set forth every Action and Transaction of the Chief Priests Scribes Elders and Soldiers towards their accomplishing of their wicked Design in perfecting of the so much hunger'd for Crucifixion of our Dear Lord and Saviour How he was hurry'd and carry'd from one Place Court and Council to another Spit on and Buffeted in one Array'd and Rob'd in another Scourg'd and Crown'd with Thorns in another mock'd and derided in all but acquitted and discharg'd by none and yet not found guilty of Death in any I have follow'd the Evangelists as close as I could and have rank'd them as well as I am able in so small a thing and have made the rough Draught as like the Original as I can possible in suitable Expressions and earnestly beg of God it may please all and displease none being all Divine Truths I most humbly present it to Your Majesty hoping it may receive a Candid and free Acceptation from You. It will lye in a little Room in Your Closet and at the Table of the Lord being more fitted for the Heart of a Devout and Pious Soul than Voluminous therefore may be as the Viand of the Soul in its nearest Addresses to its Saviour before and after it comes to be an actual partaker of the Body and Blood of a Redeemer whom I have end avour'd to Delineate as well as I am able in so small a Tract in the utmost extremity of his Crucifixion in his Agony and Bloody Sweat on his Cross and Passion in his Death and Burial and there left his most precious Body in the Grave with Holy Angels to attend his Call I may hereafter presume to write of his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension also if I can find my weak Endeavours are in any degree useful according to the Pious and Honest Intention of MADAM Your Majesties most Obedient and for ever most Devoted Humble Servant Anonymus THE Lama-sabachthani OR THE CRY OF THE Son of GOD. HEAR O Heavens and give Ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken it O what is this I hear The Voice of the Son of God in the grievous Agony of his Soul just breathing out his last and crying to his God nay his Father to sustain and comfort him either O Holy Father take from me this bitter Cup of Vinegar and Gaul of thy high Displeasure or else forsake me not in the time of my drinking this bitter Portion Where is the Cry of the Son of God the Saviour of the World O
Judge that is now ready to cast both Soul and Body into Hell-Fire do produce Compassion And this is the present and perfect state and condition of all Men by reason of Sin For this and this alone is our dear Lord and Saviour conflicted in the Garden even to the extracting great drops of Blood trickling down his most sacred Hands and Face And when he saw his most Righteous Father would not reverse this eternal Decree and Punishment to Mankind for Sin without his own ever blessed Son's undergoing and suffering Death and Hell for us Saith he If this bitter Cup shall not pass from me without drinking of it Thy Will be done A Body hast thou prepar'd that is mounting the Cross and ready and willing to suffer all the Misery and Torment that the most cruel Rage and Malice of Men and Devils and an enraged God will permit to inflict rather than poor Man shall suffer the deep Pressures of Thy Eternal Wrath and Indignation in that Luke that burneth with Fire and Brimstone for evermore O blessed Father Thou art my Father from all Eternity and am not I thy Son Prov. 8.23 I was from everlasting before ever the Earth was While as yet he bad not made the Earth or the Fields nor the highest part of the Dust of the World When be prepared the Heavens I was there When he set a Compass upon the face of the Deep When be established the Clouds above When he strengthen'd the Fountains of the Deep When he gave to the Sea his Decree That the Waters should not pass his Commandment When he appointed the Foundations of the Earth Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his Delight rejoycing always before him Rejoycing in the habitable parts of his Earth And my Delights were with the Sons of Men when thou createdst them in a state of Innocency and Perfection And O Heavenly Father shall I now forsake them in a state of Sin and Misery and Eternal Destruction No O Holy Father for this very end did I come into the World I that immaculate Lamb slain from the beginning conceiv'd by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary as to human Nature am toucht with their Infirmities and therefore came to succour poor tempted Souls I know the Devil's Wrath and Power and continual Attempts to all Mankind For this cause was I carry'd into the Wilderness endur'd Hunger and Cold Fasting and Temptations and I cannot but succour and relieve and at last deliver those that are tempted As Man I my self O Righteous Father had fell by his Temptation but as God I overcame him and can I let them suffer when I know Man is not sufficient of himself to overcome the Devil nor Sin nor the Power of Death and Hell nor thy Eternal Wrath and Displeasure This was the Eternal Decree of the great Council of Heaven from everlasting That seeing Man was not able to recover his lost state That Man born of a Virgin conceived from his God-like Power by the Holy Ghost overshadowing her in the fulness of time should be born the Son of God fully qualifi'd God-Man to make compleat Satisfaction and Atonement for laps'd Man to the unsatisfi'd Justice and incensed Wrath and Indignation of God And for this Cause was I Born here on Earth and left the Bosom of my Heavenly Father and all Thrones and Dominions Principalities and Powers of Glorified Saints and Angels and took upon me Human Nature and came cheerfully leaping over the Hills and skipping over the Mountains as a Roe or young Hart upon the Mountains of Spices For this Cause came I as in the Volume of the Book it is written of me to do thy Will O God That poor Man might not be Eternally lost but thy incens'd Wrath might be appeas'd full satisfaction might be made the power of Hell might be broke and Devils themselves reserved in Hell bound in Chains of Darkness until the great Day and poor fallen Man acquitted and discharg'd and his Soul Eternally Sav'd This is Love indeed unbounded unlimited Love infinite inexhaustible incomprehensible Love of the Son of God the ever blessed Redeemer of the World O the Height Length Breadth and Depth of the Goodness of God to Mankind This is transcendent Love Love without comparison Now what must all this extort from us To see our dear Lord and Saviour just now mounting the Cross giving of himself up to the utmost Cruelty that the wickedness of Men and Devils can inflict upon him from the vehemency and Poison of their most barbarous Rage and all this for our Sins and to set us free Here is the Sentence of Pilate Take him scourg'd already accord-to your Custom and bound Take him and Crucifie him with this Inscription over his Head That every one that passeth by might understand it written in Latin Greek and Hebrew This is Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iews The Death of the Cross was the ancient Punishment of the Jews for their most notorious Malefactors Dr. Cave 's Primitive Christianity before Christ's time and therefore esteemed by the accursed Jews most fit for our Saviour to dye by Omitting all the various Forms and different kinds which were all us'd towards the Primitive Christians there were two things in this way of suffering rendred it very severe viz. the Pain and Ignominy of it Painful it must needs be because the Party suffering was fastned to it with Nails drove through his Hands and Feet the most sensible parts of Man from such a vast quantity of Nerves and Sinews uniting and terminating in those places And they were pierc'd only in those extream Parts so far distant from the Heart on purpose that the exquisiteness of their Torments and Death might be the more lingring and tedious Insomuch that some out of tender Compassion have caused some to be strangled before they were Crucified as Julius Caesar did the Pirats he had sworn to execute on the Cross Sueton. in Vit. Caesar Cap. 47. p. 76. But no such Favour was shewn to Christians they were suffer'd to remain during all these cruciating Pangs till mere Hunger starv'd them or the Mercy of wild Beasts or Birds of Prey dispatcht them Thus St. Andrew endur'd two whole days upon the Cross Martyrol Rom. p 736. Timotheus and his Wife Maura after many other Torments hung upon the Cross nine days together before they compleated their Martyrdom Nor was the Shame of this way of Suffering less than the Pain of it Crucifixion being the punishment of Slaves Traitors and the vilest of Malefactors Insomuch that for a Free man to dye thus was accounted amongst them the highest Degree of Ignominy and Reproach imaginable Therefore the Roman Historians call'd it Servile Supplicium a punishment only proper for Slaves But this punishment of the Cross Constantine took away out of Reverence to our Saviour not being willing that that should be the punishment of the vilest Malefactors which
God Let them in scorn and derision be Crucifying my Saviour between two Malefactors as the chiefest of them I in the greatest bitterness of my Soul will be pouring out the most ardent of my Prayers with Sighs Groans and Tears that are unutterable to remember me both now whilst thou art on the Cross and as soon as thou art exalted in thy Kingdom of Glory O God! the Son Redeemer of the World have mercy upon me miserable Sinner By the mystery of thy Holy Incarnation By thy Nativity and Circumcision By thy Fasting Baptism and Temptation Good Lord deliver me By thy Agony and Bloody Sweat By the Cross and Passion By thy precious Death and Burial By thy Glorions Resurrection and Ascension And by the coming of the Holy Ghost Good Lord deliver me O Son of God! I beseech thee to hear me O Lamb of God! that takest away the Sins of the World Grant me thy Peace O Christ hear me O Lord hear me O Lamb of God that takest away the Sins of the World have Mercy upon me Lord have mercy upon me Christ have mercy upon me O Lord hear me and remember me now now thou art giving up thy most precious Life and pouring out thy innocent harmless and compassionate Soul Remember me when thou com'st into thy Kingdom What can a poor Soul beg more and desire more of its Redeemer at the point of Death Or what can be given or done more by an ever-blessed Saviour and Holy Jesu to save us from the Jaws of Death Power of Hell and Eternal Torments Than to be pouring out his own Soul by Prayers and Tears to his Heavenly Father at the very last minute of his precious Life for us But stay O blessed Jesu What is it I perceive and see still in this black and dismal hour O Lord Is it thee still in thy Agony and bloody Sweat It is so dark I can but just perceive thee Is it not finisht yet What say'st thou Lord now to my poor fainting dying Soul Speak Lord one word of comfort to me notwithstanding all thy Adversaries and implacable Enemies about thee Speak Lord and thy Servant heareth Speak Lord and my Soul shall live If thou art so faint thou can'st not speak in this grievous Conflict let thy good Prophet speak for thee Wherefore when I came was there no man to help When I call'd was there none to answer Do you think I am past Saving of you or Delivering of you in this time of my Dereliction Tho you all forsake me in this hour of my Crucifixion I do not forsake you my Children my Flock and my poor Lambs my Redeemed and the purchas'd of my Soul Is my Hand shortned at all though nail'd to the Cross that I cannot Save or that I cannot Redeem Or have I no power to deliver Behold at my Rebuke I dry up the Sea I make the Rivers a Wilderness The Fish stinketh and dieth for Thirst because there is no Water I cloath the Heavens with blackness and I make Sack loth their covering I make the Earth to quake and tremble and it would tumble down to the Eternal Abiss but that I bear up the Pillars of it at this very moment that I am bleeding and dying upon the Cross Let the Jews have as vile and mean thoughts of me as they please and cast all their scorn and malice mixt with their cruel rage and poison at me It 's I that make the Rocks to rent the Sun to gather paleness and the Moon to be turn'd into Blood Notwithstanding that all the Scriptures might be fulfill'd and my Redeem'd Ones the Purchas'd of my Soul set at liberty I give my Back to the smiters and my Cheeks to them that pluck't off my Hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting for the Lord Gâ—d doth and will help my Soul and sustain it Whatever my Body doth or shall cry out and say therefore I shall not be confounded therefore I have set my Face like a Flint and know that I shall not be asham'd He is near that justifieth me Who will contend with me Let us stand together Who is my Adversary Let him come near Behold the Lord will help me Who is he that will condemn me Lo they shall all wax old as a Garment and the Moth shall eat them up Who is it amongst you that feareth the Lord Who obeyeth the Voice of hit Servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the Name of the Lord and stay himself upod his God Behold all ye that kindle a Five that compass your selves about with sparks walk in the light of your Fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled this shall ye have of my hand ye shall lie down in sorrow Isa 50. But my Soul draw near or else thou wilt lose the sight of thy Saviour Darkness hastens on a-pace O Holy Jesu is it not thee Let me wipe and drain my dim and almost spent and blind Eyes and look again Lord it is thee I still perceive thy Tears distilling down thy sacred Face Thy Temples boiling out of Spirituous Blood Thy Sacred Hands and Feet blubbering up and venting out from behind the Nails great Bladders of Blood and Froth from the expulsive force of thy most exquisite Torments O Lord even now my Soul fainteth and dieth within me My Spirits fail me My poor Mortal Eyes and tender fainting Heart is not able to behold thee longer Nor yet while my Life and Strength remains can I forbear when an interval of Tears will permit my sight looking after thee still and pouring forth my fervent and frequent requests to thee and falling into these most strict Examinations within my self What! From the Sixth till almost the Ninth Hour is my dear Saviour in the height of this vehement Agony and not over yet But still labouring and groaning under the burthen of my Sins What great and heinous Sin of mine is it that I am guilty of that is not aton'd yet That God is so extremely incens'd at and that he will not yet pardon That my poor Saviour is yet struggling for till the last drop of his most Precious Blood is exhausted Let me look immediately into my Soul into every corner and crany of it all must out and be discover'd of what nature or quality soever it be whether Lying Cursing Swearing and Forswearing Theft Murther Fornication Adultery Incest Pollution with the Dead or Copulation with Beasts Blasphemy Spite and Contempt against thy Holy Word and Sacraments O quickly quickly quickly help me O my God to find it out and to bring all to remembrance that thou mayest no longer be extorted and convuls'd in these grievous Torments Look upon me dear Saviour and cast quickly thy dying Eye towards me Christ cast his dying Eyes to a Supplicant Sinner as thou didst upon Peter in the High-Priest's Hall denying thee that I may immediately remember it seeing thy Righteous Father is so exact
what place the Lord my King shall be whether in Death or Life even there also will thy Servant be 2 Sam. 15.19 20 21. And as Ruth said to her Mother-in-Law Naomi Entreat me not to leave thee nor to return from following after thee for where thou goest I will go where thou lodgest I will lodge they People shall be my People and thy God my God where thou dyest I will dye and there will I be buried The Lord do so to me Ruth 1.16 17. and much more also if ought but Death part thee and me Saith Peter So is my Heart knit to thee dear Master Peter I know that thou lovest me and therefore Satan hath a desire to sift thee and try thee as he did Job but I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail thee not Job ch 1. Then Jesus goeth to Gethsemane for his hour being now come and taketh with him only three of his Disciples Peter James and John they being the three appointed by their Lord and Master to see the said Tragedy Peter because his chief Disciple to whom he should commend the Care of his Church which e're long was to suffer great Persecution James the last of the Disciples yet the first that was to suffer for the Gospel's sake and therefore most fit to see his Master betray'd that his Master's meekness and patience in suffering might be a pattern and example to him who e're long must follow And John the most beloved Disciple of Jesus whom Peter ask'd his Master But of this Disciple that lean'd on thy Breast at Supper-time and first said Whom it is Lord that shall betray thee What shall this man do Saith Jesus to him If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee Follow thou me Yet most Holy Jesus thou that knowest all things probably for such-like Reasons took these only along with thee and said unto them My Soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto Death Tarry ye here and watch with me And be went a little farther and fell on his face to the ground and prayed O my Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt For tho' Jesus as Man fear'd the approaching danger that was coming upon him and just now ready to seize him and therefore was in this great Agony sweating drops of Blood falling to the ground yet as God it was mutually agreed upon already in the great Court of Heaven between his Father and Himself that this was the only way could be found out for the Redemption of fallen Man For God so loved the World that he have bis only begotten Son to death for it that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life therefore as God God-Man was resolv'd to fulfil his Father's Will Father all things are possible to thee but if this Cup shall not pass Thy Will be done O Holy Father And he cometh to his Disciples again a second time but finding them asleep saith to Peter Simon Why sleepest thou Could not you watch with me one hour You know what I have Pray'd for already Watch and Pray now lest you enter into Temptation The Spirit indeed Peter I know is willing but the Flesh it weak O Holy Jesu what Sweetness and Love is this of thine that even at the very minute that thou wert to be betrayed thou shouldest pity the Infirmities of thy Servants that even now thou hadst commanded to Watch and Pray and yet even in this very last minute found them sleeping one would rather have thought thou shouldst have been extremely angry with them but instead of that thou excusest their fault This sweetness and this behaviour of thine and compassion of Humane Infirmities will draw all Men to thee Christ knew at this time that shortly he was to suffer for the Sins of the whole World in what nature and kind soever as to the aggravation and heinousness of them and might he not then very well pass by the Infirmities of his beloved Disciples when he knew that their Sleep proceeded partly from their Trouble and Sorrow Jesus leaveth them again and goeth a Third time and prayeth more earnestly and cryeth louder and sweateth much greater drops of Blood than before O Righteous Father if it be possible let this Cup pass from me but yet Holy Father thy Will be done O my Soul where am I The devout Soul hearing the Cry seeketh after our Saviour Where O Watchmen Where am I Where is my Beloved Where is he gone aside My Soul melteth away I hear his Cry but I know not where to find him I am sure it 's his Voice but I know not which way to go the dark Night hath conceal'd him from my Sight but not from my Heart His Cry pierceth my Soul O good Watchmen Dear Watch-men Where shall I find him whom my Soul loveth and longeth for Hark! Hark! He cryes louder and louder Help Help What 's the matter dear Saviour I cannot find thee I know not where thou art sometimes thy Voice seemeth near and sometime farther off sometimes on this side os me and sometimes on that sometimes before me and sometimes behinds whether from the Walls and Vaults of Jerusalem or whether from the Brook Cedron or from the Trees in the Garden or from all these places together these uncertain Sounds and Eccho's come I know not they perplex me and confound me I cannot find thee I know not where thou art Direct me Lord the way I know thou art the Way the Truth and the Light but I know not where to find thee thus at a distance this dark Night Direct me Lord the way Speak Dear Lord and thy Servant heareth My Soul is attentive to thy Call but I am not able to bear longer thy Cry O quickly Dear Saviour quickly Tell me but where I shall find thee What No Directions yet Dear Jesu O! dear Watchmen for the Lord's sake for my dear Saviour's sake for my poor Soul's sake tell me tell me for why should I be as one that turneth aside from the Flocks of thy Companions Saith the Watchmen we cannot longer endure to hear thee cry and make such moan We suppose you may find him in or about the Garden of Gethsemane We believe the Cry comes that way We can hear it easily but it is beyond our Bounds we must not nor dare not go beyond our own Precincts especially without the Gates of the City and more especially when there is so great a Noise and Tumult abroad we know not how soon there may be an uproar here and therefore we must keep our Posts upon Life and Death let what will come of it otherwise some of us would go along with you to direct you and light you along but that is the way I but are you sure the Cry and Noise comes from thence That we are not sure but this we are sure of That a great Company and
and abounded with all manner of Cruelty and Filthiness amongst these do I find thee Peter And had thy Soul like Righteous Lot's been troubled with the filthiness of the Sodomites as his was from day to day thou hadst not so soon so falsly and so frequently deny'd thy Master From hence we may observe what sorce and power evil Company hath quickly upon a Righteous Person Good Joseph being but a while in Pharaoh's Court came presently to that Mode of Honour to swear by the Life of Pharaoh Abraham the Father of the Faithful and friend of God twice deny'd Sarah to be his Wife The Famine being grievous in the Land Abraham takes his Wife Sarah and travels into Egypt and it came to pass when he came near to enter into Egypt that he said unto Sarah his Wife behold now I know that thou art a fair Woman to look upon therefore it shall come to pass that when the Egyptians shall see thee they shall say this is his Wife and they shall kill me and they shall save thee alive say I pray thee thou art my Sister Gen. 12.10 11 13. Again Abimelech said unto Abraham What sawest thou in me that thou hast done this thing And Abraham said because I thought surely the fear of God is not in this Place and they will slay me for my Wifes sake and yet indeed she is my Sister the Daughter of my Father though not of my Mother and she became my Wife And here Abraham though he did deny his Wife at this time out of fear and did wander from Place to Place and Country to Country yet he did not deny his God neither could Abimelech tax him with that For God had now made a Covenant with Abraham and the chiefest Article in this Covenant was That Sarah should conceive and bear him a Son in his old Age and should call his Name Isaac And said God I will continue my Covenant to him so that in thy Seed by Sarah thy Wife shall all the Nations of the World be blessed And it shall be for number as the Stars of the Heaven and as the Sands on the Sea-shoar yea Kings and Princes shall come out of thy Loyns and I will give thee the Land of Canaan for an Everlasting Possession to dwell in And I will be thy God and the God of thy Seed for ever Neither did Abraham deny his Son Isaac to God when he call'd for him as a trial of his Faith But all these Promises and Covenants concentrating together and terminating in Sarah's Womb made Abraham take such care of her for it was not in Ishmael but in Isaac shall thy Seed be called Gen. 17. and that Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews should proceed out of his Loyns But now Peter this is no excuse for thee for Abraham in saying she was his Sister did not deny her to be his Wife moreover in all Ages and all times especially in the times and places of Plague Famine or Sword it hath been allow'd to some to fly and either to equivocate or excuse the Question when propos'd by implacable Enemies Our Saviour himself before his Disciples were fully prepar'd for Persecution and found in themselves they were not able to stand the hard and severe or Fiery Trials they might be put upon and so his Name or his great Cause might suffer by it therefore to avoid such bid them If they persecuted them in one City for my Name-sake and the Gospel's sake to fly into another but this was no denying him and the Church hath always allow'd it in two Cases especially to fly and avoid Persecution The one if the Church was in its infancy and not come to full strength For this reason fled Greg. Bishop of Neocaesaria when he saw the Decian Persecution grow very hot Pr. Chr. Ch. 7. part 2. N. 17. then it might be lawful for the Ministers or Disciples of Christ to flee Persecution to the intent the Gospel might be preserv'd lest smiting the Shepherd the Sheep should be scatter'd And the other is in Case as I mention'd before they find themselves not yet strong enough or courageous enough for Persecution and so the Glory of God and the Name of our great Master and the Honour of the Church of Christ might come to be dishonour'd This as to the first St. Paul to avoid Persecution was let down the Wall in a Basket when the Governor of Damascus sought his Life and thus we find the Apostles themselves shunn'd the Storm because they were the Instruments immediately deputed by Christ to propagate and convey the Gospel to the World And thus did Primitive Saints and Martyrs who wonder'd about in Desarts and Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth and so have equally avoided Rashness and Cowardliness The second only gain'd a little respit for the present that they might suffer with the greater advantage afterwards thus did Joseph and Mary from the Command of God by an Angel flee with their Child the Ever-Blessed Jesu into Egypt for fear of Herod But Peter 't was quite contrary with you you was not call'd to suffer neither to the High-Priests Hall yet thou voluntarily deny'dst thy Master thy Saviour and thy Redeemer who oft had told you what you must expect and that the time would come that he must be betrayed into the hands of Sinners and but the very night before told you that you all would be offended because of him and that the time would come and was now at hand that you all would forsake him in the time of his Dereliction and he be left alone And didst not thou thy self say This was a hard saying and who could bear it and said'st thou wouldst not be offended because of him and if all forsook him yet wouldst not thou True thou didst not so much forsake him as deny him which was worse And indeed Peter I must follow thee as thou didst thy Master the Ever-Blessed and Eternal Jesu the Saviour of the World to the High-Priests Hall And Pardon me Peter if I exactly observe every behaviour of thine there It is not out of any ill to thee Peter for I very well know the love and value thy Master hath for thee but that I may delineate thee to the Life as fully and as well as I am able in this little Enchiridion what Sorrows what Sufferings what Stripes what Indignities what Reproaches what Revilings what Dereliction what Abnegations what Wounds what Agony and what Unexpressable Torments what Extensive Convulsive Distorsive Lingring and Cruciating Death thy Lord and Master but our Christ our Saviour our Redeemer our Messias and our blessed Jesu our Advocate not only now in Heaven where he is exalted above all Principalities and Powers Thrones and Dominions but while he was here on Earth the Immaculate Lamb the most beloved Son of God beloved of the Father from all Eternity before ever the World was and Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins
is Joy unexpressible thus to be thorowly perfectly and fully employ'd in the Service of my God for my poor Souls sake This is the only Viand for my Soul to feed upon This is the Bread my Soul O Heavenly Father eats that the World knows not of This is the only Wine that cheers and makes glad the Heart of Man This is the only Cordial for my fainting and drooping Soul This is the true Water and Laver of Life to my Soul This fetches out all Spots and Stains all Pollutions and Crimes of never so deep a Die of never so long a Time of never so large an Extension never so remote in the World never so secret and closely committed These thy Closet-Tears and Sacramental-Tears mixt with the Blood of thy dying Crucify'd Saviour The composition of this Heavenly Laver. will wash and fetch all out This is the only Elixir of Life This masters the strongest Lusts the greatest Temptations This is of such Power and Force O Lord that all the Devils in Hell compact and conjoyn'd together must give way to This unties all Charms and Witchcrafts Powers and Compacts of Infernal Spirits This dissolves and breaks in pieces all that a wicked Heart murtherous Hand an incensed Enemy and an enraged Devil can do This Cordial this Laver alone transports the Soul and makes it live even in Death it self Whether of the most exquisit Pain of the Cross or the Rack or Fleaing alive or Boiling in Oil or Roasting alive Breaking on the Wheel or tearing in sunder with Wild Beasts let it be of what Nature Degree or Quality soever This Cordial bears the Soul up above the Cruelty Rage and Malice that the worst of Men or Devils can invent Nay further if this be rightly taken and made use of it appeases the Wrath of an incensed enraged and otherwise irreconcileable God O Heavenly Father this thou canst not withstand so great Force and Power have Closet-Prayers and Sacramental-Prayers One hour spent thus closely in Communion with God is worth Ten thousand elsewhere These Prayers and Tears force open the very Doors of Heaven it self And an enraged God cannot nay will not longer hold out A Saviour a Redeemer an Advocate so dear and so near a Friend in Heaven will prevall for us And from this time our Names shall be Recorded in Heaven and written in the Book of Life in Red Characters of our Saviour's Blood over every one of our Mansions he hath already prepar'd for us This is certainly the Security of our Souls against all Accidents of the Body against Battels and Murthers and against suddain Death against Fits of the Stone Distortions Convulsions Twisting of the Guts and the most exquisite Torment of the Bowels against Palsies Lethargies Apoplexies and all Deprivings of the natural Senses The countinued course of these Duties A Soul thus prepar'd and guarded is defended against all these Accidents and Distempers of the Body that may suddainly deprive us of our Sense and Reason before or when Death comes is the only Antidote against scorching and burning Feavers This preserves thee against and in decrepit Old Age and decay and loss of Senses and natural Reason This preserves thee from and in Bonds and Imprisonment Storms Tempests and Shipwracks against all Casualties and Afflictions Anguish and Tortures of the Body and being effectually apply'd against all Wounds of Conscience This Temper of Soul and Interest in a Crucify'd Saviour makes one to grow O Lord quickly weary of the World and to slight and contemn all Earthly Delights This makes thee earnestly long to be dissolved and to be with Christ This will make thee insult upon and trample under all Principatities and Powers all Thrones and Dominions and desire no longer to live than thou canst be thus dispos'd qualify'd and employ'd This will make thee O my Soul to do no Evil nor think any Evil with Allowance of Consent The Soul O Lord may and will be impos'd upon by the Body daily in one degree or other but what I do I allow not My Eyes my Ears my Nose my Tongue my Smell my Tast my Hands and my Feet they all assault daily my yoor Soul in one way or manner or other and let in a Caterva of Sins and Temptations and are Cause O Lord of this Psycomachia War between Soul and Body which the Apostle Paul too well knew and made his complain of saying I have a Will in my Members that Wars against the Will of my Mind and leads me Captivate unto Sin and Death O wretched Man that I am One look from they Heavenly Eye dear Saviour or one Glimpse of thee one hour of Closet-Devotion or Sacramental-Devotion will make me more than Conqueror over all and say again with the Apostle Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is all that a poor Soul can do or that God doth require of thee strong Prayers and Tears mixt with the Body and Blood of thy Saviour is all thou art able to give for Heaven it self He that calleth cryeth weepeth mourneth and cometh thus to me I will in no wise cast out This is all that God doth require of thee To do Justice love Mercy and walk humbly before thy God This shall seal the Bonds of the everlasting Covenant between God and my Soul written in my precious Saviour's Blood and he himself shall be a standing and an abiding Witness to each Covenant and I will make with thee an everlasting Covenant the sure Mercies of David and himself shall be my Advocate to plead my Title to an Inheritance incorruptible that fadeth not away reserv'd in Heaven for me O my Soul If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous daily making intercession for us When thou art Meditating Praying or Reading thus my Soul take not thy Eye nor thy Heart off but go on with it thy God is at the end of it Heaven is at the end of it and thy Redeemer is at the end of it This is thy Viaticum This is Jacob's Ladder thou art ascending It 's the sure and certain way to Heaven and Eternal Life This is my Saviour's Advice and I dare and will put thee my Soul upon the Dependence and Assurance of it Ten thousand to one for thy Security Enter into thy Closet shut the Door about thee and Pray in this manner already propos'd strongly and earnestly to thy Father in private and he will reward thee openly That is give thee my Soul all things necessary for thee in this World and in the World to come everlasting Life O my Soul when once thou art come to tast this Heavenly Food and relish it aright this Cordial of Life what Sweetness what pleasures and what Delights doth it bing O Heavenly Father and ever blessed Redeemer this Laver alone to wash and rince my polluted Soul in will make it fit to be presented to the Lamb upon the Throne without Spot or