unto us invisible things by things visible thou art the sun O my God but my weake eyes cannot looke stedfastly upon thy most resplendant light except a cloud be interposed if I will try the strength of my eyes farther I may easily be blind if I will soare higher I may be in danger to bee burnt to ashes Let me alwayes beare in mind that which one of thy Saints was wont seriously to ruminate upon I am a man and understand not Gods secrets I dare not search after them and therefore I am affraid even to make an essay upon them because it is a kinde of sacrilegious rashnesse to desire to know more than is permitted unto me In thy Tabernacle I see the Arke of thy Covenant besides the Arke I see the Mercy-seat I see Manna in the Arke and those rocky leafes and Volume of stone wherein the Law was written published amiddest thunders amiddest lightnings amiddest the horrid sounds of heavenly trumpets amiddest the deadly savour of the ambient ayre amiddest the poles of heaven bellowing with these sacred noises amiddest those fires mists and clouds replenished with the holy Deity O my God how many mysteries do here lie hid that I would I might understand mee thinks I see Christ in all these things for hee is the true Mercy-seat who alone hath done away the sinnes of the whole world by the onely sacrifice of his passion and hath made thee a God propitious unto us Hee was represented by that golden peece of workmanship wherein thou diddest promise that thou wouldest dwell and hearken unto those that should call upon thee for thou lovedst us also in him thy beloved one and in him art mercifull unto us Hee defends his Church as that golden tent did cover the Arke and did hide the Law which was laid up in it from the face of God that dwelt above it that hee should not according to the rigour thereof take notice of our sinnes or enter into judgement with us Thou thy selfe my God hast promised him unto mee that he might be a sacrifice for me in his owne blood Thou hast made him a propitiation both for mine and for the sinnes of the whole world O Christ my reconciler my place of refuge O my hope redeeme mee and reconcile mee that I lose thee not and bee forced to beare the wrath of my everlasting Father for ever He is the true Arke for as the Arke was made of pure gold and the neatest wood so my Redeemer God and Man is consubstantiall of the most high Godhead and the most perfect humanity The Tables were put in the Arke because my Redeemer hath in him the perfect fulfilling of the Law by whose benefits apprehended by faith our disobedience becomes unhurtfull unto us What more sweet than Manna And what more wholesome than Christ the bread of heaven which whosoever by faith shall eat shall never bee bitten with hunger but nourished for ever by an unspeakable happinesse I also find Aarons rod sometimes dry sometimes flourishing the rod of Jesse the tree of life Christ my Redeemer with suffring upon the crosse gives up the ghost forthwith returns to life and flourisheth without end O the riches of the wisdome and understanding which thy Book affords them that love and hearken unto thee O Christ be thou my Propitiatory if the infernall tempter shall accuse mee bee thou my Arke where I may bee hid when sinne doth tyranously grow cruel against me be thou my staffe whereon I may leane when I shall enter the vale of death bee thou my Manna wherewith I may bee continually refreshed after death in thine everlasting Kingdome CONTEMP c. 13. Of the Conception of Christ O What humility O what a desire to save me hadst thou O Christ my Saviour there was no truth in my mouth my throat was an open sepulchre I have dealt deceitfully with my tongue and my spirit is not pure and thou that art the very mouth of truth the throat of sweetnesse the tongue of virtue my most unspotted Saviour and free from all contagion of sinne dost kisse mee with the kisses of thy mouth O blessed kisse and to bee wondred at for its admirable value in which one mouth makes not an impression upon another but God and Man are united together With what else shall I compare thy incarnation but to a kisse a kisse a token of peace and reconciliation and by thy incarnation was peace and reconciliation restored to the world O what a blessed day is that when thwarting thy paths I receive a kisse from thy offended mouth in stead of a deserved reproofe as thy Spouse the Church cries out burning with impatient love shee cryes out Let him kisse mee with the kisses of his mouth with a desire kindled from the promises and benefits of Christ she beseeches the Messiah might be sent unto her that she might heare him speaking and behold him instructing her in his flesh shee requires him to descend and to bee united to the humanity Consider the Church O my soule who having of a long time had a promise of her Lords comming from the mouth of the Prophets and having beene a great while in suspence raiseth her selfe from the body abandoning luxury and carnall pleasures and delights and disroabing her selfe of the care of secular vanities doth wish for the infusion of the divine presence and grace of the saving Word and how is shee tortured and afflicted that hee comes so late wounded as it were with love not able longer to endure his delay turning to the Father shee beseecheth him that he will send God the Word unto her I will not have him speak by Moses nor by the Prophets no let him take my body upon him let him kisse me in the flesh Follow my soule thou which art a part of that most happy assembly follow the example of that groaning Church and think on nothing more love cherish vow unto and expect nothing more than thy Messias See I beseech you and consider the familiar and friendly communication of those soules sighing in the flesh with the heavenly powers they rejoyce in those kisses they aske for what they desire yet they name not him they love because they doubt not but that hee knowes them with whom they have been accustomed so often to converse withall therefore they say not let this or that particular kisse me but only let him kisse us as Mary Magdalen did not expresse his name whom she sought but only said to him she thought had been the Gardner Sir if thou hast taken him What him she utters it not because she thought that must needs be manifest to all which could not for one moment depart out of her heart neither doth that betrothed Virgin desire one kisse burning continually with chaste love and impatient of delayes but she askes for many kisses that her desires may bee satiate For she that loves is not content with the parcimony of one kisse but requires
of him in whom thou hast placed all thy hope and trust I therefore that am forsaken of all doe bring to both of you that small ayd I am able thou O Mother behold another Sonne for thee thou my disciple behold another helpe for thee O most holy Jesus O most faithfull Saviour O most mercifull helper how many sad widows doest thou even now comfort how many poore orphans doest thou now relieve how many afflicted persons doest thou now take charge of I am also widowed of all comfort and deprived of all sustenance robbed of all protection and aid the anxieties of my mind are many my affliction is great my griefes are multiplied comfort me sustaine me take care of me O thou omnipotent Comforter of those that bee sad thou Strength of those that labour let my groanes come unto thee what extremity soever I am in that in my necessities I may joy in the presence of thy mercy Heare also yee that have eares to heare the fourth word Let my soule attend let my spirit attend and let all the devotion that is in me give her attention our Priest in the dayes of his flesh offered up prayers and supplications with teares and strong cries unto him that was able to save him from death My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The just God and heavenly Father who begate thee from eternity who by a voyce from heaven testified of thee This is my beloved Sonne heare him hath forgotten thee hee left thee not for thine owne cause but for mine for I by my sinnes have begotten thee these labours and griefes it was I was to be forsaken but thou stoodest in my stead thou who speakest righteousnesse who art the bulwarke of salvation hast trod the wine-presse alone and there was not a man to helpe thee thou lookedst about and there was no helper thou soughtest but foundst none that might save O how bitter was this forsaking to thee but how pleasant and how happie to mee Thou God exceeding long-suffering thou shalt not leave me for ever because thy Sonne was forsaken for me Thou ardent lover of my soule thou diligent Saviour of sinners thou most courteous searcher of men thy most obedient Sonne tooke on him the punishment which was due for my sins which are so much against thee hee hath borne the sinners burthen hee hath endured the horrours of death and terrours of hell and hath most largely satisfied for me Leave me not then O my God depart not from me O my God in the day of my death if the so copious satisfaction of thy Sonne if my so dangerous misery can move thee to compassion be present with me most miserable sinner pitifully heare my prayers and help mee in the houre of death neither remember my iniquities but O thou fountaine of mercyes deale with mee according to thy exceeding great mercy CONTEMP c. 20. Of the fifth word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse GAther O gather your selves together and heare saith the Patriarch Iacob when he stretched forth his feet to enter into the way of all flesh and stood even at the threshold of his wished-for eternity but if the last words of a man were to bee received with such attention what attention may be required what fervour what diligence to heare his last words who is both God and man who is above all the Patriarches in whom all the Patriarches did trust and whom they wished so often to behold The words were seven The number of seven is a peculiar number a holy number and is used in many mysteries it is here also peculiar it is holy and not barren of mysteries thou hast already understood this O my soule and thou shalt know it in part hereafter The first word of our Lord was I thirst ah Lord all thy spirits were dissipated all thy strength issued forth in the torrent of thy blood for thou wast a man of sorrowes and experienced in infirmities despised and a man of the least esteeme although thou haddest committed no offence nor was guile found in thy mouth therefore wast thou scorched with extream thirst and yet thou Saviour and preserver of men thou couldest not obtaine drink from men O most barbarous cruelty the Lord did travell with extreame thirst at the beginning of his passion and that thirst did increase still more and more so that it was one of the greater sort of torments which the Lord endured upon the crosse for the letting out of the great plenty of the vitall fountaine doth dry and cause thirst therefore the Lord who after much wearinesse and by his scourging lost much blood and afterwards being crucified had foure open fountaines as it were in his body from which great plenty of blood had for a long time issued forth how could it be but that hee must be tormented with extreame thirst They who have received many wounds from which much blood doth flow desire nothing so much as drink as if they suffered nothing but thirst but who was there that took pitty and offered so much as cold water who was present who had a fellow-feeling of his sorrowes there was not one nor any found to comfort him O Jesus thou heavenly Lord they gave thee gall to eate and in thy thirst they have thee vineger to drink thy beloved John saith there was a vessell set full of vineger and they fastning a sponge full of vineger to an hysop stalk offered it to his mouth O cruell wickednesse as they had at the beginning a little before his crucifying offered him wine mixed with gall so at the departure of his soule they offer him vineger a most pernitious thing for his wounds that Christs passion might be a true and continued passion from the beginning to the end without any mixture of comfort in stead of refreshing and pleasing liquour they offer him hurtfull and bitter O refreshing without any refreshing O most lamentable consolation When Sampson had slaine the Philistims he thirsted exceedingly and the Lord opened a great tooth for him in the jaw-bone of an asse whence waters did flow and thou when thou haddest overcome the most potent enemies the world satan and death diddest also thirst extreamely but no waters were given thee and the Antitype was in a farre worse condition than the type which the Conquerour of the Philistims did represent wee alas had deserved eternall thirst to us was due that scorching heat which the glutton had when hee lifted up his eyes being in torments and saw Abraham afarre off and Lazarus in his bosome and crying said Father Abraham take pitty of me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and refresh my tongue for I am tormented in these flames but thou that takest pitty of us that most ardently thirstest for our salvation hast in thy thirst suffered that thirst and hast deserved so much for us that we shall one day neither hunger nor thirst any more neither
possession of us when the Sunnes last shadow flyes from us and enraged death sharpens his Dart to strike thorow our breast But thou O Lord dost witnesse thy power even in death it selfe not onely by crying out at the last gaspe but also by shaking the earth by cleaving the rocks opening the graves rending the vaile of the Temple The Centurion himselfe being a man conversing with the members of the Church but beleeving out of the Church confessed from hence and said This man was indeed the Sonne of God But the last word thou utteredst in thy mortality is diligently to be noted and seriously to be weighed Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit This was thy last word Ah would to God it might bee also mine and I trust Lord it shall be so and God I hope will heare it for thou hast obtained this for me because thou hast both prayed for me upon the Crosse and hast as my chiefe high Priest suffered all things nor didst thou commend thine own Spirit alone unto thy Father but mine also and of all the faithfull who are members of thy body thou hast bound my soule together with thine owne in the bundle of life and hast delivered it into the hands of the Almighty O how doe the words pierce my soule and spirit which thou utteredst before thou didst passe that deadly way and in which thou didst most devoutly speake unto thy Father I pray for them I pray not for the world but for those whom thou hast given me for they are thine Holy Father keepe them in thy name whom thou hast given me that they may bee one as we are one preserve them from the world sanctifie them in thy truth I pray not only for these but for those also who shall beleeve in me through their word that they may all be one as thou O Father art in mee and I in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may beleeve that thou hast sent mee and I have given them the glory which thou gavest mee that they may be one as wee are one I in them and thou in me that they may be perfect in one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be where I am that they may see my glory which thou hast given me because thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world What father can more earnestly recommend a son what mother a daughter or what brother his brother to anothers care than thou O Son of the living God hast recommended us to thy Father Thy Father doth heare us his degenerate adopted sonnes how much rather will he heare thee his Sonne obedient even to the death and his issue begotten of his owne substance from all eternity yea he hath already heard him Can saith he even he thy Father a woman forget her owne childe that she should not have compassion upon the sonne of her owne wombe Though she should be so forgetfull yet will not I forget thee behold I have graven thee upon my hands Thou also O Christ my Saviour sayest My sheepe heare my voice and I know them and they follow mee and I give unto them eternall life and they shall not perish for ever and no man shall snatch them out of my hands My Father who gave me them is greater than all and none can take them out of my Fathers hands Resting upon these thine attracting sentences I may be startled at the remembrance of death but I shall not be dismayed because I shall also bee mindfull of thy promises merits and intercessions When at length by thy permission a sharpe sicknesse shall weaken my sinewes and shall gnaw and feed upon my bloodlesse and halfe rotten skinne when my face shall bee bedewed with a cold sweat and I shall be moistned with the drops of death when my wan lips shal be widowed of their rednesse and a sad murmure shall be heard from the horrid noise of the gnashing teeth when my Sunne shall be darkened by my funerall clouds and death shall involve my head in everlasting darknesse yet thou Son of righteousnesse shalt shine cleare unto me thou shalt furnish my soule wrastling and triumphing by the vertue of thy Spirit with thine owne word Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit CONTEMP c. 23. Of the opening of Christs side COme hither come hither O my soule behold him hanging on the Crosse ascend ascend O my soule and pluck out the nailes from his hands and feet wherewith hee is fastened to the Crosse Thou needst no ladder it is devotion it is faith which elevates and lifts thee up thither O miserable spectacle O lamentable carcasse how ill-favourdly in what an ugly manner art thou butchered They could not glut their malice upon him while he lived they insult also upon him being dead and goare him with a speare whence blood and water did flow most holy Symbols of thy two Sacraments Who is he O Lord that hath overcome the world but he that beleeveth that Jesus is the Sonne of God This is that Jesus Christ that came by water and blood not by water alone but by water and blood Thou camest unto us in water in Baptisme thou camest to us in blood in the holy Supper this is that double testimony that we are reconciled to the Father by thee and that wee are washed and purged from our sinnes thou wast very much besotted and soiled yet wast thou lovely to thy Father because thou becamest obedient to death even to the death of the Crosse thou art also most lovely to mee whilst I dive into thy side and into thy wounds not with the eyes of my body with Thomas but with the eyes of faith which are the instruments of life the perspective glasse of the world to come when I see I am freed from death by the death of my Lord and my God When I locke on the immense and love without bounds love without end the love that wee want understanding to conceive and our reason waxeth darke to apprehend For I have sinned and thou hast suffered yea I who have sinned have suffered in thee our flesh was so joyned to the Deitie so as that which was to die everlastingly for sinne became dead in another for us and we neither felt grief nor death yet were we in like manner restored to life for as Christ put upon him our flesh in the wombe so he dyed our death upon the Crosse For whatsoever the God made man did suffer he suffered for man from whom hee can now no more be severed than from his other Nature with which he united this to the end he might save it O great clemencie O unspeakable clemencie O bounty that cannot be expressed with words of mans eloquence God who is for ever blessed is first made man and at length is made a curse
art the light and guide of my mind as thou art the Author so be also the Actor of all the good that is in me for I humbly rely upon thee I beleeve in thee the true God who prâ—ceedest from the Father and the Son from all eternity and art in time sent unto me what ever I am I am it in thee and by thee I am righteous by thee by thee am I chaste by thee am I patient by thee am I strong by thee humble by thee am I courteous by thee am I long-suffering by thee am I wise by thee liberall and by thee am I thrifty O thou Comforter teach me to doe thy will because thou art my God I beleeve therefore that whomsoever thou possessest thou fittest him for a dwelling both of the Father and of the Son happie is he that shall be thought worthy to lodge thee because by thee the Father and the Son shall make his abode with him CONTEMP 28. c. Of the mystery of the Trinity O Three coequall and coeternall Persons one true God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost who dost onely inhabit eternity and light inaccessible who in thy might didst lay the foundation of the earth and dost governe the whole world by thy wisdome Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbaths terrible strong just and mercifull wonderfull laudable and lovely One God three Persons one Essence one Power one Wisdome one Goodnesse and one undivided Trinitie Blessed be alwayes the holy Trinitie one Diety and coequall Majesty The Father Sonne and Holy Ghost are three names all of them one substance God the begetter God the begotten the Holy Spirit equall God contained in them both yet they are not three Gods but one true God so the Father is Lord the Son Lord and the Holy Ghost Lord there is propriety in the Persons and unity in the Essence an equall Majesty and Power equal Beauty Honour in all things comprehending the Starres the Seas the Fields nay the whole Creation at whom wicked hell doth tremble and whom the lowest depths doe reverence Let every voice and tongue now confesse him worthy this praise whom Sunne and Moone doe magnifie and the Angelicall dignity doth adore and let us all with strained voyce with musicall songs and sweet melody warble forth his praises O let us now sing together before the Throne of our God that is exalted in the highest O Trinity to be adored O Unity to be reverenced Thou true Eternity by thee are we created thou most perfect charity by thee are we redeemed doe thou protect save deliver set free and cleanse all people we worship thee Almighty we sing unto thee to thee be praise and glory for ever and ever For it is truly a worthy and a just thing a right and a saving thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord holy Father God Almighty who with thy only begotten Son and the Holy Ghost are one God attone Lord not in the singularity of one Person but in the substance of one Trinity for that which wee beleeve from thy revelation concerning thy glory this wee understand without difference of distinction both of the Son and also of the Holy Ghost that the propriety of Persons the unitie of Essence and equality of Majestie may be adored in the confession of a true and an eternall Deitie One man is not so much as three men joyned together and two men are something more than one but in God it is not so for the Father and Son together are not a greater Essence than the Father alone or the Son alone but those three Persons together are equall one to another The consideration of the word One extends farre to the making evident of this single Unity There is an unitie which may bee called collective as when many stones make up one heape of stones there is also an unitie constitutive when many members make up one body or many parts of any thing make up the whole thing it selfe There is also an unity conjugative whence it comes to passe that two by marriage are now no more two but one flesh And there is a native unity whence by the soule and body one man is borne There is a potestative unity whereby a vertuous man is not instable or unlike himselfe but doth alwayes endevour to bee found like to himselfe It is a consentaneous unitie when by charity many men have one heart and one soule There is a votive unitie when the soule adhering to God in all its desires becomes one spirit There is a dignitative unitie whereby our corrupt flesh is by God the Word assumed into one Person But what are all these things to that most high and as I may so say that onely unitie where consubstantiality maketh the unity If thou liken any of the former unities to this unity it will be after a sort alike but if you compare it with it it will bee nothing therefore amongst all things which are rightly said to be one the unity of the Trinity wherein three Persons are one substance doth hold the preheminence each particular Person is in each particular Person all the Persons conjoyned are in each particular Person and each distinct Person in all the Persons conjoyned all are in all and all is but one none of these precedes another in eternitie or exceeds another in greatnesse or excells another in power that which is there said to be great is not otherwise great than as it is truly so indeed because there greatnesse is truth it selfe and truth is Essence therefore that is not greater which is not truer but one Person is not truer than another of them or two of them than any one or all three together than all three separated each from other therefore one hath no more truth than another or two than any one or all together than each asunder So then also the Trinitie it selfe is not any thing greater than every distinct Person in it but is equally great with them These are wonderfull things and set farre above the reach of any creature therefore mans understanding doth very hardly assent to these mysteries which are set so farre from our view and the minde easily begins to wander after speculations if wee have not before us a more sublime doctrine which may recall our phansies into the right bounds and limits set for us by God himselfe That doctrine is divine No man can take another by the hand if he want his owne we cannot see the Sunne without the Sunne nor can any conceive divine things without divine assistance nor can we know God without God Be present therefore thou true Light Almighty God and Father bee present thou Light of lights thou Word and Son of God God Almighty be present holy Spirit thou concord of the Father and the Son God Almighty bee present one omnipotent God Father Son and Holy Ghost we confesse in thee by thee and
I should be begotten and borne of such parents that sate not in darknesse nor had their habitation in the region of the shadow of death but were called out of darknesse into thy admirable light to an elect stocke a kingly priesthood a holy nation to an honoured people O God my God thou soughtest me when I knew not of thee thou gavest unto me when I asked not of thee thou openedst unto me when I did not knocke for when I was yet a bawling infant in my bepissed clouts when I yet savoured ill of my mothers coutch when I was putrified as well with mine owne as with the naturall and spirituall uncleannesse of my parents yet thou not disheartned with all this didst take me up cherish and purge me that was thus conceived and chafed in my sins Thou leddest me to the pure waters living waters to the divine oracle to the lavacre in the word of regeneration and renovation thou broughtest me O God my God to baptisme the first gate to be entred to the kingdome of heaven into the armes and to the kisses of my Saviour by which he â—ranslates us out of the lap of our parents into his heavenly habitation and enroles us into the number of Gods elect and citizens of heaven and makes us members of his body which being one with the head become partakers of the heavenly treasures O God my God thou hast promised this by thy Prophet Ye shall draw waters with joy out of the wholsome fountaines And I will powre out my waters upon the thirsty and my streames upon the dry ground I will powre out my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy posterity and they shall grow amongst the grasse like willowes by the rivers of waters And againe they shall bring their sonnes in their armes and carry their daughters upon their shoulders And I O most mercifull Lord was brought carried sprinkled and washed amongst them and did mount up unto thee as it were upon the wings of an Eagle I laid aside the decrepit age of my sinnes and put on the vigorous youth of grace this did this heavenly Sacrament worke in me I began to be a true Eagle who by thy grace doe soare to heaven and doe loath all earthly things As often as I behold earthly water I should remember this divine water which hath wrough so many and so great things in us The naturall water doth wash and take away spots doth quench fire cooles and allayes the heat of thirst incorporates many and sundry things into one body it ascends as high in heighth as it doth descend below in depth The heavenly water of Baptisme washes away the leprosie of sinne and wipes away our iniquities and makes us whiter than snow Our sins in themselves are like scarlet yet are they whitened as white as snow they are red like crimson yet they grow white as wooll The water of Baptisme by a divine and admirable way and means doth quench the fire of our fleshly desires How pleasing is it to us so soone as the heavenly Spirit slides into us in this washing for us to want these trifling sweets The true and chiefest sweetnesse doth cast out those other which else wee would feare to lose it casteth them out and there enters in their stead the hidden and heavenly pleasure which is sweeter than all other pleasure yet not to flesh and blood is brighter than any other light yet more hidden than any secret higher than any other honour but not to men that are high in their owne conceits It quencheth also the flames of hell fire those devillish brands of hell which no helpe of man can put out The divine water of Baptisme sets an end to the various and troublesome desires of mans heart and makes us onely rest upon God The divine water of Baptisme makes one nation of all the nations of the Israelites and of the Heathen that did differ so exceedingly in most things that they might become one body and one soule one hope of calling till at length they may be made perfect in one The divine water of Baptisme is given us from heaven above from the Father of lights and it flowing from the fountaine that springs to eternall life doth not onely draw our hearts to their owne originals but doth wholly lead us to that most blessed fountain Farewell World avoid Satan be gone each worldly thing for I call to minde these words that my Godfather holding me in his armes pronounced for me I renounce thee Satan and thy pompe and worship with these words am I received into Gods covenant and enrolled in the number of Christs souldiers What ever thou shalt say O Serpent I will presently reply what ever thou shalt speake I will not hearken unto thee Then that thou catch me not by other meanes I have renounced also thy pompe and thy worship and thy messengers I was prest for the warre of the living God when I answered to the words in the Sacrament Whatsoever earthly things are received in this world and shall here remaine in this world are to be despised as much as the world it selfe is to be contemned the pomps and delights whereof I did then renounce when in my better passage I went unto my Lord. In Baptisme I was cloathed in white that I might be taught most devoutly to rely upon Christs innocency and to be willing to lead my life sincerely and purely I confesse indeed my God that I have beene sometime forgetfull of my covenant made with thee that I have forsaken the hoaste of righteousnesse and have runne away to thy enemy and have most grievously offended thee my Captaine by my transgressions and treasons that I have beene worthy thy most severe punishment but I returne to thee I fall before thee and beseech thee for thine unspeakable goodnesse that thou wilt receive me and acknowledge me for thy souldier and servant and at length of thy grace grant me the prize of victory that being freed and saved I may at length erect a trophee to thy name and praises Amen CONTEMP c. 32. Of a Christians practise IT is an easie thing for one to call himselfe a Christian but a hard thing to performe the part of a Christian He that desires to fulfill the measure of that name let him marke diligently these things that follow Acknowledge O man thine owne basenesse consider how wretched and of how little account thou art thou hast nothing from thy selfe but all things from God he gave thee all things for thy use to whom thou must repay them yea and even thy life it selfe at what moment soever he shall require them and thou must depart as naked from hence as thou camest naked into this world and although all the world with it inhabitants doe keepe thee companys yet they can profit thee nothing for all things are fleeting brittle transitory and nothing can free thee from death give not thy selfe therefore over to security
which the Prophet said A new name shall be given thee which the mouth of the Lord shall bestow on thee We have changed our accursed name because God hath given us a new name Take heed to your selves take heed who ever you be that you despise none of the faithfull that you disesteeme or reproach them not though he seeme most miserable most abject and most afflicted for let his misery or affliction be as great as may be yet is he the Almighty Gods Anointed the Prophet of the most holy the Priest of the most High yea he is himselfe a king of most great Majesty Yee are Prophets O Christians therefore let the Word of God dwell plentifully in you with all wisdome teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymnes and spirituall songs singing unto the Lord with grace in your hearts Ye are Priests ye Christians therefore I beseech you my brethren by the mercies of God that you give up your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice and acceptable to God by your reasonable service of him and be not fashioned like this world but be yee changed through the renewing of your mindes that ye may discerne what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God Ye are Kings O Christians be not therefore servants of sin or be subject to the boyling affections of the flesh but mortifie your sinnes tame your lusts nor prostitute your dignity to a most base and impure servitude Extoll your Christ because all your eminencie all your worth all your grace and all your glory proceedeth from him As the rivers do flow from the sea and flow back againe into the same so let your eminency dignity grace and glory be directed disposed of and referred to the authour and giver thereof Call upon Christ O ye Christians because though you be anointed yet may that ointment be overwhelmed defiled and wiped off by the filth of your sinnes and the durt of your corruptions ye carry heavenly gifts in brittle vessels pray that they be not broken and your graces spilt pray that no wind may extinguish your flame that your oyle faile you not and yee be left in darknesse with the foolish virgins Love your Christ yee Christians because he is anointed that you might be anointed because he is a King that hath all the inhabitants of the earth for his subjects because he is a Priest that hath expiated all the sinnes of the whole world because he is a Prophet that doth instruct all the ignorant doth enforme them and teacheth them the right way to life Love Christ you Christians because the most apparant manifestation of a thankfull mind consisteth not in words but works not in promises but in obedience But to the end you may more fully consider your dignity the birth of a Christian is to be weighed God is his Father in heaven the Church is his mother upon the earth The Word of God to be heard and seene is the seed that is the Word preached this is the administration of the Sacraments Yee are borne againe not of corruptible seed but incorruptible by the Word of God that lives and abideth for evermore The Father of lights hath begotten you by the Word of his truth The Churches are the wombe where the seed of the heavenly Word is scattered and in which the eternall Father and our mother the Church doe meet together The heart of man is the matter of this generation the privation is the mortification of the old Adam the forme is the vivification it selfe whence doth arise the assent of the understanding and confidence of the will that the sonne of wrath may become the sonne of grace the blinde may see the deafe may heare the dumbe may speake the lame walke the leaper be cleansed and life may be restored to the dead The time of this formation is when a Christian doth more and more profit in knowledge of the understanding and holinesse in the heart the carrying in the wombe is when in our whole life by meanes of the vessels of the wombe and navell that is by the ministers of the Word he attracteth to himselfe the milke of saving knowledge from the two breasts of the Church the Law and the Gospell and as an Embrion lives in the wombe so he lives in the Word Hee is a brute creature and more silly than a beast that doth not admire that a childe in the wombe should be preserved alive in so darke a prison in so uncleane streights among so many filths corruptions excrements wrapped in filmes and crowded by the bowels but it is farre more to be wondred at that any Christian should be supported amidst so many griefes paines torments snares and calamities For about the wombe wherein we are carried the World cries I will slay him the Flesh cries I will infect him the Devill cries I will deceive him Wee must there lie hid where there is much malice where is little wisdome where all things are viscous and slimie all things hid in darknesse and beset with snares where the soules are in danger the bodies are afflicted where all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit and yet for all this we live and are preserved we live and are not killed we are nourished and not in want we are carried in the wombe and are not abortive we are sustained and are in want of nothing The Embrion in the mothers wombe lives a hidden life he lives indeed in the world but is not seene with the eyes of any he sends forth his breath but scarce draws any in we also Embrions of regeneration lead a hidden life For though we live in the kingdome of heaven yet our glory and desireable life doth not as yet make any great shew we yet behold not the light of eternall blessednesse we yet draw not the aire of the region of Paradise we yet eat not the Angelicall Manna we yet drinke not of the heavenly liquour but have as it were but a light taste of al these things and we have scarce any sensible breathing of these things But the houre is at hand and the time will come that it shall be made manifest what we shall be wherein we shall beginne and never end this glorious light this life not of hope but of the things hoped for even the life of vision We shal begin this life when we die for then begin we to be borne to the true light when we first put off our mortality For the true birth day of Christians is their day of death In death they do begin to live through death they enter into life as the infant lies sighing at the port of the wombe expecting his passage and though he be even at deaths threshold yet is he conveyed into the haven of life O living death of Christians O Christian sonne of God brother of Christ companion of the Angels Lord of the world partaker of the divine nature O Christian exalted above sin and the law
inheritance yet O my Father thou hast not lost the heart of a Father though I have fallen from thee my Father yet wilt not thou fall from me or cease to be my Father that word never failed As I live I will not the death of a sinner but that hee may bee converted and live And although my sins be innumerable and my wounds may seeme incurable yet art not thou ignorant of a way to cure me confirme therefore and fulfill thy promises wash me effectually with the blood of thy Son that as to me his death prove not in vaine I am as well a part of his flesh and he a part of mine as Peter David or Paul he is as well to me an Emmanuel as to any other Hee bare the sins of the whole world and therefore hee bore mine also Looke back therefore look back therefore O Lord upon this lost sheepe regard thy creature nor contend with him in thy fury whom thou hast made with thy hands take care O Lord of the soule which thou hast redeemed I come creeping to thee wounded with many wounds but thou most experienced Physitian of soules and Maâ—â—er of the diseased canst heale them all I come being blinded but thou canst enlighten me I come dead unto thee but thou canst give me life I come full of leprosie but thou canst cleanse me Sprinkle me with Hysop and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter than snow O my God the God of my life thy mercy is greater than my sins thy clemencie exceeds all my iniquities Thou canst forgiue more O Lord than I can offend thy mercies are bottomlesse and numberlesse but as many as my sins are and as great as they are they are neither bottomlesse nor numberlesse Take me out therefore and deliver mee forgive mee my great injustice take away my stony and hard heart and create in me a soft and a cleane heart that even in this life I may give thee thanks let me by my faith and good example bring sinners to thee and let me glorifie thee and celebrate thee for these and other thy innumerable blessings for evermore Amen my God be it so even so be it my Lord Jesus Christ CONTEMP c. 38. Of the greatnesse and foulnesse of our sinnes and of the Confession of them I Am affraid of my rashnesse when I consider with my selfe what a Majestie I have offended with my sins when I consider how benigne and wonderfull a Father I have forsaken I detest mine owne ingratitude when I consider from how happie a libertie of spirit into how miserable servitude I have cast my selfe I condemne mine owne madnesse and am wholly displeasing to my selfe nor have any other object before my eyes but hell and desperation namely that doth terrifie my conscience by Gods inevitable Justice I am to be consumed like rottennesse sin is rottennesse indeed for it destroyes the beauty of the soule the sweet savour of a good name the worth of grace the relish of glory it is truly durt being wallowed therein we become abominable to honest men the good Angels and the just God It is truely smoak that foretels us that hell-fire is not farre from it and doth drive away the heavenly Dove It is indeed the Devils taverne in which for the price of soules hee sels the world the wine of pleasure it is the dart with which our soule is pierced thorow and is deprived of all vigour and life It is true sicknesse because it leaves us no health in our flesh nor from the presence of Gods wrath grants us any quietnesse in our bones It is truly a Sea for it swels over our head and easily swalloweth up our whole body It is truly a burden because a sinner is most burdened therewith and is even pressed downe unto hell it selfe But whither shall I goe where shall I withdraw my selfe Ah! be mercifull unto me O take pitie upon mee according to thy great mercy and according to the multitude of thy compassions wash away mine iniquities Against thee against thee onely have I sinned and done this evill in thy sight behold I am begotten in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceived me I have gone astray like a sheepe that perisheth seeke out thy lost sheep O Lord remember not the faults and transgressions of my youth O Lord who understands his owne sins Cleanse me from my secret offences Enter not into judgement with thy servant because no man living can be justified before thee Remember O Lord thy mercies and compassions which have been of old Remember me according to thy mercies even for thy goodnesse sake O Lord. O Lord be mercifull unto mine offences make thy mercies wonderfull thou who savest those that trust in thee Turne not thy face from me nor cast away thy servant in displeasure for in death no man remembreth thee nor shall any praise thee in the grave What profit is in my bloud when I descend into corruption Shall dust give praise unto thee or set forth thy truth Regard and heare me O God lighten mine eyes that I sleepe not in death Set not thy mercies farre from me for thy mercy and truth doe alwayes preserve in thee O Lord have I trusted let me never be confounded Amen CONTEMP c. 39. Of Gods readinesse to forgive sinnes and our thankesgiving for the forgivenesse of them WHo can despaire of pardon from him who doth so often in the writings of the Prophets of his owne accord invite sinners to repentance crying out That he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should bee converted and live How ready is also his pardon to them that repent he hath inculcated unto us by his only begotten Son in many of his Parables as of the groat that was lost and found againe the strayed sheepe brought back upon the shoulders but more plainly by that of the prodigall sonne whose very image I am No man O God is so ready to sinne but thou art far more ready in thy good time to pardon our sinnes O pitifull and mercifull Lord slow to anger and very pitifull He strives not with us for ever neither is he alwayes wrath with us Because as the heaven is higher than the earth so hath he made his mercies to prevaile over me As farre as the East is distant from the West so far hath he set my sins from me As a father taketh pity upon his sonne so hath the Lord taken pity upon me he hath washed me from my iniquity he hath clensed me from my sins he knows whereof we be made he remembers we are but dust Why art thou sad ô my soule and why art thou troubled returne ô my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath done thee good He hath delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from falling Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven and whose offences are covered Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not sin Rejoyce in the Lord ô ye righteous for praise becommeth the Just taste and see for the Lord is sweet Blessed is the man that hopeth in him Blesse the Lord ô my soule and all that is within me praise his holy Name who is mercifull to all thy iniquities and healeth all thy infirmities who hath redeemed thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with mercy and pity His goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for evermore I desire and beseech thee ô God by the death of thine owne son give me thy Spirit to purifie my heart and with his grace to strengthen me that by mine own unadvisednesse I fall not thither whence by thy mercy I have been called Create in me ô God a new heart and renew a firme spirit within me restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation and uphold me by thy free spirit Wash mee daily by pardoning my daily offences translate me from the fennes of this age and the mud of this present life to the excellent kingdome of thy glory where is neither scab nor blindnesse nor doth any one suffer any uncleane issue of blood nor is any one uncleane where is no farther need of a lavacre thy glorious body being joyned unto our body Thou must needs fulfill thy promise made and both finish and confirme the good worke thou hast begun in me through Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen CONTEMP c. 40. Of the worthy preparation to the holy Sacrament I Will make an entrance unto the Altar of God even to the God that maketh my youth rejoyce Laying aside the garments of my inveterate iniquity I will renew my youth like an Eagle and hasten to approach that heavenly banquet A plentifull and delicate banquet is prepared which is a medicine to the sicke a way to those that wander a banquet that comforteth the weake delights those that are in health cures sicknesse preserves health a banquet that makes a man more pliant to reproofe more patient to labour more zealous to love more wise to warinesse more ready to obedience more devout to thanksgiving a banquet by which our daily sinnes are forgiven the powers of Satan expelled strength given to undertake even martyrdome it selfe finally a banquet by which all good things are brought unto thee because a man partaking of it doth even become the same thing he receives This banquet compared with Ahasuerus his banquet relisheth farre above it compare it with the table spread in the Wildernesse for the children of Israel and it refresheth thee far more For though that Table contained in it the figure of this our Eucharist when God rained downe Manna for our Fathers in the Wildernesse and they were daily fed with food from heaven and men did eat Angels bread yet they that did eat that bread did die but this living bread that is set before thee in this costly banquet did come from heaven and hath given life to the world That Manna came from heaven this from above the heavens That being reserved to the next day was full of worms this is free from all corruption whosoever shall religiously taste thereof shall not see corruption That was given the Fathers after their passage over the red sea where the Egyptians were drowned and the Israelites were delivered so this heavenly Manna can profit none but the regenerate That corporall bread sustained the ancient people in their passage thorow the Wildernesse to the Land of promise this heavenly food sustaines the faithfull of these times in their passage to heaven Moses was Master of their Table and here Christ is ready at hand who hath furnished this Table and blessed it For it is not man that makes the bread and wine set on this Table to be the body and blood of Christ but Christ himselfe that is crucified for us words are uttered by the Priests mouth but the things set before thee are consecrated by the power of Christ who used these words unto his Disciples This is my Bodie this is the Cup of the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you It is Christ in whom doth dwell all the fulnesse of the God-head bodily who is the power of God unto whom is given all power in heaven and earth Hee when hee was to put an end to the Ceremonies of the Law would prepare for himselfe the Passeover and before he would be condemned to death and be nailed to the Crosse he was pleased according to the solemnitie to celebrate the Passeover the roasted lambe unleavened bread and sowre herbs When this Supper was so prepared amidst these sacramentall dainties both the old and also the new institutions offered themselves to him and having eaten the Lambe that the old tradition did set before them This great Master sets before his Disciples a meat not to be consumed nor are here the people invited to a banquet made exquisite both by cost and paines but the nourishment of immortality is given them differing from common food keeping the forme of a corporeall substance but by the invisible efficacie of the divine power working in us and proving Gods especiall presence accompanying it Come hither yee faithfull soules refresh and recollect your selves cheere and fill your selves joyne in one by your faith your remembrance of Christ with the application of his merits with hearty thanksgiving for your deliverance made through his blood receive the pledge testimony and assurance of your holy communion and fellowship with Christ your Head and by him with the Father and the Holy Ghost also encrease cherish comfort and hold fast the faith of the remission of your sins your faith is imperfect perfect it not only by the hearing of the Word preached but by using this holy Supper the Word offers but this Supper applies Christ unto us Encourage your selves to the studie of good works How too often are we hindred stopt and grow stupid in performing this work Here Christ keepes us company in exhibiting unto us his bodie and blood hee doth daily more and more mortifie in us the body of sinne and beginne in us the newnesse of a spirituall life performe each to other the offices of concord peace and love for we eat the same flesh we drink the same blood we are nourished with the same food we are refreshed with the same drink we are made one body under the same head but who hath ever seene the members of one and the same body to disagree to strive jarre or contend Cast out rancour pluck up hatred purge out the old leaven The faithfull under the Gospell must not be made of leaven The holy Banquet requires pure and sincere mindes The sweet savour that comes from Christs scorching upon the Crosse doth concoct all crudities of our carnall senses and doth harden and settle the affections of the minde nor let there bee any spot in the Sacrament of