true Repentance unto Salvation never to be repented of and for Jesus sake accept a Morning Sacrifice of Prayer and Praise which I do desire at this time in all sincerity to offer to thy Divine Majesty humbly begging the Assistance of thy Grace O Eternal Almighty and most Glorious Lord God in whom I Live Move and have my Being thou art the Mighty Majesty of Heaven and Earth thou art the great Creator and Governour of all Things who didst make all Things by the Word of thy Power and dost uphold the same by thy Providence who art the Omnipotent God Dwelling in the highest Heavens and hast Eternity for thy Habitation in that Light which is inaccessable to whom no mortal Eye can approach Infinite in all thy Attributes before whose Glorious Presence the Angels Cherubims and Seraphims those spotless Creatures do cover their Faces the Elders do cast down their Crowns Worshipping thee continually thou art Glorious in Majesty Fearfull in Praises doing Wonders God over all Blessed for evermore from Everlasting to Everlasting Infinitely Happy in the Injoyment of thine own Perfections and needest not the Services of any of thy Creatures and hast an innumerable Company of Angels Arch-Angels Cherubims Seraphims with the Spirits of Just Men and Women made Perfect all the Heavenly and Coelestial Host continually Celebrating thy Praise crying Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which Was which Is and which is to come O where shall I appear that am Vile Sinful Dust and Ashes For Jesus Sake have Mercy upon me I confess that I am very sinful by Nature and more vile by Practice who am of the Seed of Evil Doers and have been a Transgressor from the Womb that I was Conceived in Sin Brought forth in Iniquity and my Life hath been as a continued Act of Sinning against thee as if I had been born for no other Purpose but to dishonour displease and disobey the God that Made me and to destroy that Immortal Soul for whom Christ dyed and the Lord world Save thou hast been very Gracious and Merciful to me in my Creation and Preservation but above all in the Lord Jesus Christ the Fountain and Foundation of all my Mercies and through whom I have Hopes of Eternal Salvation It is a Faithful Saying and worthy all Acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the World to Save Sinners Of whom I am chief and I am never able sufficiently to Admire Adore and Magnifie thy great Name for thy Infinite Love in the Lord Jesus thy Mercy Goodness and Condescention hath appeared in this that thou who art the Mighty Majesty of Heaven and Earth a God of all Power Omnipotency it self shouldest find out a way to reconcile those great Attributes of thy Mercy and Justice through the Blood of thy Onely Begotten Son that so poor lost and undone Mortals might be Eternally Saved and this thou hast declared unto me Jesus Christ Crucified and for me who am less than the least of thy Mercies and this thou hast made known by thy Holy Gospel O the Height Length Depth and Breadth of thy Love in Jesus Christ it is above my Apprehension and Comprehension it is past my finding out lâ—t it be Matter of Eternal Praise in the Heavens and through him thou hast been pleased to afford me the meanes of Grace and Salvation in very plentiful manner thy Sabboths thy Word and Ordinances thy Holy and Blessed Spirit to assist me the Checks of my own Conscience and the Light of Nature to instruct me I have had Line upon Line Precept upon Precept here a little and there a little often hearing a Voice within and behind me saying This is the Way walk in it Thou hast lengthened out my Days and afforded me a large time to Repent in exercising thy Patience and Long-suffering towards me I have had large Experience of thy Goodness to lead me to an Amendment of Life and though in all Times Ages and Places thou hast shewed thy self highly displeased with Sin and Sinners yet thou hast been pleased to spare me and I have aggravated my Sins with hainous Circumstances the Angels when they sinned were cast down and are reserved in Everlasting Chains of Darkness made Monuments of thy Justice Wrath and Fury and there was never any Meanes found out for their Recovery Jesus Christ took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham my first Parents were banished out of Paradice for their Transgressions and the Old World for their Sin were drownded Sodom and Gomorhea once famous Places for their Sins felt the Divine Vengeance by Fire from Heaven and were consumed with an utter Overthrow yet thou hast spared me the chief of Sinners O Lord grant that thy Severity towards others and thy Goodness towards me may lead me to an Amendment of Life or how shall I escape to neglect such great Salvation O Lord thou hast been very gracious unto me by keeping me Mercifully in my Infancy Child-hood Youth Riper Age Manhood and Age thou hast taken Care of me when I took none of my self I have been Fed Cloathed and Led along by thy good Hand of Providence thou hast given me a Healthy Body a Sound Mind and a Large Memory my Diseases have been Cured I have been Fed both with the Vpper and Nether Springs thou hast not only given me Things convenient for this Life hut likewise the Mercies of Grace and Salvation leading to a better Life even to Life Everlasting thou hast preserved me in Prison beyond my Desert contrary to my Expectation when the World frowned upon me and I was forsaken by my Relations then the Lord was a Sun to comfort and a Shield to defend me thou hast been my present Help in time of Trouble my exceeding great Reward my All in All my God Alsufficient thou hast compassed me about with thy Salvation Songs of Deliverance thy Special Favours yea thou hast prevented me with thy very Loving Kindness I have been both Loaded and Cloathed with thy Mercies as with a Garment and they are more in number the very kinds of them than I am able to reckon up O Lord thou hast not only given me a Being but a comfortable and well Being to make me the more fit to Serve thee thou hast kept me from many Deaths and Dangers in the time of War thou didst preserve me from the Peril of the Bloody Sword when I deserved as much as any to have been cut off the Land of the Living thou hast preserved me by Land and by Water and in Forreign Parts from many Evils that I have been subject to thou hast kept me in the Times of Centagion and Visitation from the Noysom and Devouring Pestilence and other Distempers many that lived with me are gone to the Grave before me and as they are dead I am dying not knowing what a Day may bring forth my Breath is in my Nostrils and goes out every Moment and whensoever it shall be stopt I must dye
a Request to make that is considerable to an Earthly King must not approach without a Present in his Hand but my great Request is to the King of Kings to whose Laws I have been disobedient false to his Government refractory to his Summons and ungrateful to his former Favours and what can I offer him that needs nothing and what can I give him whose both my self and all that I have are His Favour inheed is so sweet so desirable and so universal a Comprehension of all happiness that I could freely give all I have or may procure for the Purchase of it But the whole World is Vanity to him neither can such Triffles blind his Eyes or bind his Hands buy his Mercy to the Unworthy or avert his Judgments from the Sinner I would methinks expose my Body to the sharpest Torments my Soul to the heaviest Sorrows and my Life to the cruellest of Tyrants and would account it a happy purchase if I were sure of his Everlasting Mercies afterwards But it cost more to redeem a Soul I can give nothing but what is his already and I can suffer nothing but what I have deserved What then O where shall I have a Peace-Offering which may not be despised I am told that there is nothing more acceptable than a Broken Heart 'T is strange Can a Heart polluted with the Guilt and inflamed with the Power of Sin slow to begin and unable to perform any thing that is good but vigorous to desire and unwearied to pursue all evil Can a Heart shaken with Fears torn to pieces with Terrours and even a Terrour to it self miserable and poor blind and naked can this Heart be a fit Sacrifice for so Glorious and All-seeing so Holy and Pure a God Can he like that whieh I abhor my self Alas it cannot be But let me recall that rash hasty word for he hath said it who best knows what will please himself and if he vallues it then it is worthy for the true worth of any thing is to be judged by his Esteemation of it who knows but such a broken Heart may be a greater Evidence of his Power and Mercy a fitter Instrument of his Praise and Glory a plainer Table to describe his Grace and draw his Image on than any other Such a Heart I have and if this will serve I am happy I will give it freely to thee O Lord who despisest not the meanest Gifts if there be sincerity in the Giver It was broken before with Fear but now it will be dissolved with Love I am ashamed it is no better but thy Mercy is the greater in accepting it and it will become better by being thine Oh how am I filled with Admiration on the Freeness and Fullness of thy Mercies in comparison of which the greatest humane Compassion is and seems to be Cruelty I dare proclaim it that in thee are all the Mercies in the World united and thou art Mercy it self in the highest Degree If my Disobedience and my Negligence Contempts and Ingratitudes could have seperated thee from thy Mercy I had now met thee in thy Fury taking Vengeance without Pitty for I have seemed to live as if I had designed to dare thee to turn thy self away from me and to try thy utmost Patience the least part of which business would have turned my best Friends in the World against me but behold the Mercies of my God continue still O let me have the shame of an ungrateful Sinner and let thy Name have the Glory of an inexpressable Pitty even to those who are almost ashamed to ask Pardon yea let me to whom thou hast shewed so much Compassion have the Honour to be an Instance of thy Goodness to all the World And have I such a Father Why then do I lye still with this Load of Guilt upon my Soul And with this heavy Burthen of Sorrow upon my Spirit What do I get by these Complaints but waste my Time and double my Misery by sad Reflections I can neither have Help from my self nor any Creature but my Father alone to whom Mercies are as proper as Miseries are to me and if I through Fear and Sorrow sit still here and starve I shew not so much Pitty to my self as he would have for me if he saw my distress Wherefore I will arise and go to him though I think that I shall scarce have the face to ask him more since I spent the last so ill I shall be ashamed to tell him how base I have been but as I was not ashamed when I did evil so I must have shame when I suffer the shame of its desert I will go bathed with Tears blushing for shame accusing my self and relying on the Bowels of a Father and will beg only so much Mercy as may banish despair and if I may have this will be content tho I be not entertained with assurance and certain Expectations for the least favourable Look is more than I have deserved yet behold upon the first sight of the returning Prodigal who came unsent for driven home by his own Miseries his tender Father runs to meet him takes the Words out of his Mouth and receives him with all the Demonstrations of his Love and the Carresses of his dear Affections and is my God less merciful he who hath invited me so often and promised me so largely I have done ill to stay so long but I will go now low in my Desires and high in my Expectations sorrowing for mine Offences and begging his Mercies and I hope though I carry no merits of my own to his Justice yet I carry miseâ—y enough to make his Bowels of Compassion yearn upon me then I cannot perish Is it possible I should be all this while deluded so grosly as to imagine my Eyes to be opened my Ways direct and full of Light when indeed my Eyes are shut my feet are wrong and my Mind is overspred with Aegyptian Darkness of a stupid Ignorance Thy Word O Lord is a Light to my Feet and a Lanthorn to my Pathes not only to shew me which is the right way but to let me know when I am in the wrong But I have given my self to false Guides who least I should enquire after the right way would never acquaint me that I was wandring from it had I followed them still I had stumbled ere this on the threshold of Hell whil'st I expected to have arrived at the Gates of Heaven O blessed be thy Name I now see that I have been straying from the Fountain of all true Happiness and have been in vain seeking Content where it is not to be found till the Disappointment drives me to seek it where it is to be had if I had not been a Stanger to my own Heart I had not been so far out of the right way but I have supposed my self to be clear only because I never considered wherein I was guilty and have flattered my self with the
Sins for thy own Names-sake and thou desirest not the Death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his Wickedness and live and hast promised That at what time soever a sinner repenteth him of his sin from the bottom and ground of his Heart thou wilt put away his Wickedness out of thy sight and remember his Transgressions no more And it is a faithful Saying worthy of all Acceptation That Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners Of whom I am chief O Lord I Believe help my Unbelief help me to Believe Repent and Obey for Jesus sake have Mercy upon me and work in me a godly Sorrow for my sins which may cause a true Repentance unto Salvation never to be repented of and for thy Names-sake pardon all my sins for thy Mercies-sake do away my Iniquities for thy Promise sake do not remember my Transgressions any more And for Jesus Christ his sake seal a free and a full Pardon of all my sins unto my Soul Say That thou art become my Salvation And let the blood of Jesus cleanse me from all sin Oh this is a great Request I beg who am unworthy of the least Mercy but I beg of thee for the sake of Jesus he is thy Beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased through whom thou canst not be offended he is my Saviour and died to save me according to the multitude of thy Compassions in the Lord Jesus deal with me in the pardoning of all my sins and let not sin nor Satan whom thou hatest destroy the Work of thy hands my Immortal Soul for whom Christ died furnish me with the Graces of thy Holy Spirit and give me Believing Grace and Mercy Repenting Grace and Mercy Pardoning Grace and Mercy Restraining Grace and Mercy Comforting Grace and Mercy Renewing Grace and Mercy with Confirming Grace and Mercy Oh renew me in the Spirit of my Mind help me to redeem time because I have mispent much pretious time already and because the days are evil make me consider the shortness and uncertainty of my time I have but a Moment to work for Eternity e're long Death will come and I shall be in a future state then time will be no more and many have been taken off in their sins and for their sins that are now in an Eternal state of Wo. O teach me in this my Day to know the things that belong to my peace before they are hid from mine Eyes my day is already far spent and my Night is at hand I do not know what a Day may bring forth let me not therefore any longer defer my Amendment of Life after so long a time as it is called to day help me to up and be doing and work while it is called to day before the Night comes when none works help me to work out my Salvation with Fear and Trembling and let me be very diligent to make my Calling and Election sure the one thing needful even the Salvation of my Immortal Soul which is of everlasting Concernment that whatever I miscarry in I may not be mistaken in the great business of my Eternal Happiness to that end I most humbly pray thee again for Jesus Christ's sake to free me from the Power of all sin especially those that my Nature is most prone to such as do beset and overtake me daily and be pleased to discover unto me the Deceitfulness of my own Heart which is very naughty and above all things deceitful and desperately wicked the Thoughts and Imaginations of my Heart have been evil and only evil continually O Lord create in me a Clean and New Heart renew a right Spirit within me sanctifie my Nature and help me to sanctifie thee the Lord of Hosts and make thee my Fear and Dread that thou may'st be unto me a Sanctuary O be pleased to convince me of thine Omnisciency and Omniprescency strike me with an Awe and Fear of thy Presence make me to consider that where-ever I am whatever I am about thou knowest it who art a God of purer Eyes than to behold Sin with the least Approbation and that I have always about me an Immortal Soul and that it is against thee that I have sinned who art a Sin-hating and a Sin-revenging God and that I must very shortly appear naked before thy dreadful Tribunal to render an Account for all things done in the Flesh and 〈◊〉 râ—ceive my Eternal Doom from the Righteous Judge of â—ll the World O â—eaâ—h me with the Robes of Christs Righteousness leâ— his Meritorious Death and Passion satisfie thy Justice for my Sins let the Blood of Jâ—â—us clâ—anse me from all sin and make me circumspect in time to come lâ—t me be Sober Watchful and Vigilant because my Aiversary the Devil goeth about as a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour continually and my poor weak frâ—il Nature is ready to yield to every Temptation and Suggestion not able to think a good Thought O let thy Grace be sufficient for me let it shield me from all hurt cloath me with the Righteousness of my Jesus let me be girt with Truth and always shod with the Preparation of the Gospel but above all things give me the Shield of Faith the Breastplate of Righteousness a Helmit of Salvation with the Sword of the Spirit whereby I may be able to fight against the World the Flesh and the Devil resisting the Fiery Darts of Satan fighting against Principalities Powers and Spiritual Wickedness in High-Places let not the Gates of Hell nor Powers of Darkness prevail against me but let the Grace of God which hath so plentifully appeared toward me teaching to deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts defend me O let me be redeemed from a Vain Conversation help me to bring forth fruits meet for Repentance worthy an Amendment of Life and let thy Holy Spirit seal me up unto the Day of Redemption make me holy here that I may be happy hereafter Oh make me such a one as thou wouldst have me and inable me to evidence unto my self the Assurance of my Justification by the fruits of my Sanctification thou hast promised That what soever shall be asked in thy Sons Name according to thy Will shall be granted Now Lord I know that this is thy Will even my Sanctification for Jesus sake sanctifie me thorowout and write upon my Heart Holiness to the Lord make me walk according to the Pattern of my Jesus who was Humble Holy and Obedient to thy Will in all things even to the death of the Cross make me to consider that I was Redeemed and bought with a Price not of corruptible Things as Silver and Gold but with the precious Blood of Jesus Christ therefore let me live to the Praise of him that hath so dearly bought me with his most pretious Blood let me walk like one that is Redeemed and Translated from Death to Life as one whose Life is hid with God in Christ that when he
be conveyed as is Directed SHall there be nothing left me but a Grave Shall I at last no other Dwelling have Oh let not Flesh and Blood take note of this For if She do 't will poison all her Bliss Could She but meditate on such a thing She would have little cause to laugh or sing It is a Death to her to think of Death How she shall rot and loose her loved Breath Yet the great Jew that wisely could discrie What things were not and what were vanity What pleased the Soul and what the Flesh did pain Did never think the thought of this was vain Then let my Soul though Flesh and Blood repine Ponder on that shall make them both Divine But why O foolish Flesh shak'st thou at this Shrink'st thou from that which thy best Physick is Thou art Earth born from it thou didst descend And here grown Sick thou canst not easily mend Till t'ward thy Native Countrey thou repair And draw thy Meditations that cold Air. Change but this Air and think upon thy End Thy Sin will lessen and thy Soul will mend For as at Sea when Clouds put out the Stars When Winds from Heaven and Waves from Earth make Wars And mad brain'd Sailers all the Decks o're whelm The Pilate sadly sitting at the Helm Better directs the Ship where it should go Than all their wild Endeavours can even so When through the Worlds dark Storms we send One quiet Pilot sitting at the End One thought of Death our Course more right doth guide Than all the vain Works of our Life beside These thoughts will make those which our Souls blood quaff Like Horseleeches strow'd ore with Dust fall off If then to think of Death be so Oh why Should any think it is not good to die That of all things that Mortals fear and shun Doth hurt or grieve us least when it is done This it the Port this is Sins perfect Cure Till our Grave cover us we ne're are sure This only last remains thither let 's hast Since Flesh and Blood still longs to know what 's last It ever hath belong'd to Mortal Wights That several Heads take several Delights Some unto good and some to bad have will But leaving that which I delight in ill I joy in three which few can discommend And most desire next to a constant Friend And these are they that draw me most along A well writ Book a Picture and a Song But as for Wealth in which most take delight I get it not nor of it do I write But of those things endeavour brought me to I somewhat know and somewhat I can do And these I love and they do love to be With such as love and seek their company But will they stay with me Oh no alas They were belov'd long time before I was And when their Lovers died they 'd shroud and spread Nor will they go with me when I am dead Some Learned Friend perhaps may on my Herse Scatter some Lines and strew the Cloth with Verse Painting perchance may gild some Flag or Banner And stick it on my Coffin for mine Honour Musick may sing my Dirge and tell all Ears I lov'd that Art which now their Sences hears And when 't is done and I no more can have Nothing will tarry with me but the Grave And 't is most just for here I did receive them I found them when I came and here I leave them But will the things I want and others have Accompany their Owners to the Grave Will Beauty go and strength in Death appear Will Honour or proud Riches tarry there They all say nay for let grim Death draw near Beauty looks pale and Strength doth faint for fear Ther 's little Lust or Pride in naked Bones And Honour sits on Cushions not cold Stones Nay ask our Friends that when we are in Health Would die for love of us or for our Wealth Mark what they set their Hands to view it well Your Friend till Death but once being dead fare well Nought then will tarry but the Grave for note How of a man new dead men talk by Rote This was his Wife saith one this was his Land This was his Friend that was his Building and This was his Wealth that his chiefest Bliss And thus they talk a while of what was his But walk the Church-yard and thou shalt have Report till Dooms-day say this is his Grave If Kings and Queens then can no more procure Nought but my Grave will tarry with me sure Why therefore should I strive to get such Things Since what the World contains no Surety brings Like men that clasp at Spirits catch the Air So while we look after the things seem fair And gripe at all the World to serve our Lust It through our Fingers slips and leaves but dust Yet still the nearer Death we grow in Years This scraping Humour in us more appears And drowns not till we sink so must it be For dying men will grasp at all they see While they can see when Sence fails farewell all The World 's too heavy then they let it fall Though we are born clutch-fisted when we die We spread our Palms and let them slip by And then when nothing else will with us stay We must our selves remain with Earth and Clay Since all I want here God gives and I have What can I more expect now but my Grave Here must we be and where else shall we rest Is not a mans own House to sleep in best If this be all our House they are to blame That brag of the great Houses whence they came And evermore their Speech they interlace I and my Fathers House Alas Alas What is my Fathers House and what am I My Fathers House is Earth where I must lye And I a Worm no man that fit no room Till like a Worm I crawl into my Tomb This is my Dwelling this my truest home A House of Clay best fits a House of Lome Nay 't is my House for I perceive I have In all my Life ne're dwelt out of a Grave The Womb was first my Grave whence since I rose My Body Grave-like doth my Soul inclose Dying each Night lyes buryed in my Bed My Body like a Corps with Sheets o'respread O're which my spreading Teastures large extent Born up with Antiques makes my Monument And o're my head perchance such things may stand When I am quite run out in Dust and Sand My close low builded Chamber to my Eye Like to a Chappel shews wherein I lye While at my Window pritty Birds do ring My Knell and with their Notes my Obits sing Thus when the days vain toil my Soul hath wear'd I in my Body Bed and House lie buryed Then have I little cause to fear my Tomb When this wherein I live is my Grave become Nay we do not only our selves intomb But make for others Graves in our own Womb Creatures of Sea and Land we in them
Christ is the Word and they are his Ambassadors of it God requireth we should mortifie our Lusts for Prayer without that is the Service of a Hypocrite Sin bringeth shame and sorrow but Pity hath the portion of everlasting Joys Let us cloath our selves with everlasting Righteousness it is the safest Armour against the Darts of Satan The two Roads that lead to Heaven are Innocence and Repentance Sin is the Christians greatest Sore and Repentance the surest Salve Who then would want the rare Jewel of Repentance since if ye seek ye shall find Thy Soul is Spiritual thy Body is Flesh make not then Flesh of thy Spirit for an habitual Familiarity with corrupt Lusts perverts it into the basest Flesh God hath made Man a lovely Creature do not thou make thy self a Monster he dignifies thee at first to glorifie thee at last Then let not Carnality deprive thee of thy Blessings with thy Sins God will not own thee if thou lust thou hast lost the sense of Honour and Glory study to recover it by Grace thy Soul is Immortal and cannot dye thy Body is Mortal and must dye let not thy Body then be preferred before thy Soul which hath but a Lease for Life then let not a moment be preferred before Eternity study not to satisfie thy Body and neglect the Salvation of thy most precious Soul It is madness to seek the welfare of the Body and thereby Eternally to ruine both Body and Soul for so the Immortal is made most damnably Mortal and dies to Bliss and the Mortal miserably Immortal and ever living to Wo remember thy Soul is the Noble Part of humane Nature wherefore to set thy Affections on Earth is infinitely below thee Such is thy Nobility thy Arms are thy Mind and thy Will which were created to embrace Mercy Truth Justice Charity c. With all the Vertues of a Heavenly Life thy Body is Servant to thy Soul let it tread upon the Earth for that is likewise its Subject let not then the Soul which is the Sovereign of the Body set its Heart upon that Earth on which its Subject sets its Foot In thy Soul is the Image of God let it not be stained then with the similitude of a Beast let Reason not Sence divert thee a rational Will not the Appetite of a Bruit he that lives a negligent and careless Life does what he can to out do the Devil in his own undoing for God hath given him Reason and his depraved Nature acts against it If thou wouldst be in Eternal Bliss act like Man but appear like God for Heaven hath no room for Beasts of the Earth a wicked Spirit hath deformed thee let a Holy Spirit transform thee every Child of God should maintain his Fathers Likeness that he may enjoy his Inheritance Thy Soul is the Spouse of God the great Creator is its Husband no Creature is worthy to be thy Match or Mate then consult thy Honour if thou lovest the World and imbracest the Earth canst thou hate Adultery with men and be an Adultress to God let not a Strumpet stand in thy sight but especially suffer not thy Heart to run after Vanity a whoring if thou fallest into evil Company that shall court thee let not the Devil woo thee O my Soul thou Beloved above all Creatures that hast God for thy Husband Heaven for thy Dowry and Earth for thy Service suffer not Hell to be thy Pander to dote upon the World let thy Heart be a Habitation for God and Heaven thy Soul is the Lord of thy Body take then thy Bodies Homage not thy own ruine let thy Soul act the Will of God command the will of thy Body to act thine let not thy Body be thy God lest thou be a Devil to thy self thy Soul is an Angels Peer let it not be a Companion for Satan let not thy Lordship be sold for Slavery and Misery if thou maintainst not thy Right Hell must be thy Harbour Torments thy Terrour and wicked Spirits thy Company Thy Soul under God is the supream Sovereign of thy Body be not then a Subject to thy Subject let not the Law of the Members be the Law of the Mind for the Senses are Handmaids to the Soul and she is the Princess of Heaven thy Soul is a free-born Child of Eternity Heir of Immencity the Daughter of Almighty God who is beyond all the Bounds of Time and Being to whom then oughtst thou to pay thy Duty but to him alone thy Body is but a Prison to the Soul thou art inclosed in the Wall of Mud and Gates of Sense Can there be more pleasure in a Prison than in a Pallace Shall a bodily restraint be preferred before the Spirits Liberty Canst thou count thy Bondage to be thy Bliss Are Chains of Iron to be esteemed before the Treasures of Gold Are Fetters better than Freedom Earth is but a Jayl to Heaven then be not so rash as to prize thy Jayl before thy Liberty and Delivery least thou art cast into the Jayl from whence there is no Redemption It is most just that the Soul which prizeth the Devils Chain before Gods Liberty should have the Devils Prison instead of Gods Pallace and be for ever his Slave in Hell that would not be Gods Servant for a Time on Earth Then O thou Beloved Dove of God fly to thy Coelestial Home belime not thy Spiritual Wings with slime and mudd in Heaven is thy Treasure and where canst thou sind more Treâ—sures to invite thee Be not like the Crow to feed upon Carâ—â—on or like the Blind Beetle to place thy Blessedness in Boggs Make not sale of thy self to buy a Jayl when thou partest with a Pallace for the purchase and becomest a Familiar to Bolts and Shacles thy Soul is Gods Jewel and thy Body is the Casket then keep thy Body clean that thy Soul may be the better preserved it is a bright Diamond of Heaven a spark of the very Divinity and a Ray of the Divine Glory set for a time in the Foil of the Flesh til it pleaseth God to take it to himself and keep it for ever in his Cabinet O let not thy Soul that transparent Diamond be an Ornament for the Devils Finger when it may sit at the Right Hand of God where there are Pleasures for evermore Thy Soul is the Purchase of Christ and bought with no less than the Blood of the Only Begotten Son of God then sell not that for a Trisle which cost thy Saviour so great a Price It is better to enjoy the Riches of Eternity than to purchase that which is but Vanity for a moment If thy Body be distempered then thou requirest Phisick if it be wounded thou sendest for a Chirurgeon if naked it must have Cloaths and if hungred it must have Food for these thou shouldst depend upon God for he knoweth all these Things are necessary and will give so much as is convenient of them to thee But