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
power is great and there is no summing up of thy greatnesse and goodnesse beneficence and clemency Though but a man I will confesse thee though I am but one piece of thy Creation and but a man that carries his mortality about him and that beares within him a testimony of his sinnes though such a man such a portion of thy Creation yet will I praise thee If I were without thee I should not be whatsoever I am I should become nothing Thou wast in mee to make me have a being and to be with thee but I departed from thee although I am thus in thee and with thee But how could I depart or be absent from thee how could I fly from thy face if I ascended into Heaven thou wast there for thence didst thou cast downe headlong the spirit of pride and authour of disobedience if I should make my bed in hell thou wouldest be there also for thou hast the keyes thereof and setst open the gates thereof for them that trust not in thee if I should plunge my selfe in the depth of the Sea thou wouldest there find mee for thou didst cast disobedient peevish Jonah into the maw of the whale thou madest him there a prisoner 3 nights and 3 dayes and then didest draw him thence neither torne hurt or wounded if also I should take the wings of the morning and make my habitation beyond the farthest Seas even there would thy hand lead mee and thy right hand take hold upon mee if I should say yet shall the darknesse hide me why even night shall be turned into day unto me darknesse it selfe cannot hide from thee the night to thee shines like the day darknesse is light and light as darknesse not houses nor vailes nor walls nor enclosures no caves that are under ground or dens that are full of darknesse can shut out thy presence thou art more nearely present with us than we are to our selves Thou searchest through our life our actions and all our thoughts Can any lurking place hide any from thy presence Doest not thou fill heaven and earth and art a God at hand and also afarr off Thou art all eye for thou seest all things all eare because thou hearest all things all hand for thou framest all things all foot for thou art every where present thou art neare me thou art with me thou art in mee thou sittest within mee thou art an observer of all my good and evill and art my protector yet my God I went from thee I departed and forsook thee I blush when I speak this yet I speak it willingly because forthwith thy mercy offers it selfe vnto me Souldiers that keep not their stations are punished with death and hee that in the battell first begins to runne loses his life yea for a man but to lose his target is counted a crime and to cast away his weapons is counted a most reproachfull thing Ah! how foulely have I left my station without thy command O heavenly eternall commander there was yet no ordered or marshalled battell with Satan I was but only assailed by a light skirmish and at the very first onset I threw away the buckler of my integrity and faith I suffered my weapons to bee shaken out of my hands and I fled from my allegeance from before thy face With what a slight resistance and by how childish a valour might I have overcome Satan it was my sloath and not his force that made him strong As a man greedy of gaine seeing an orphant have riches entices him often to his house makes him a banquet bestowes something on him and beguiles him with faire words till hee hath gotten his meanes so the devill seeing that I had a pretious treasure heavenly wisdome layd up in an earthen chest presently offered mee wealth pleasures and honours that baited with these hee might spoyle mee of my heavenly riches he hath stripped mee and spoyled mee of all my treasure which I ought to have kept holily and might without difficulty have done it But what gave he me in requitall what riches what pleasures what honours What can he repay whose inheritance and riches is that infernall torment that gulfe that vomits forth pitch and flames whose torments are without end and his confusion everlasting But thou my God for my backsliding hast rendered a reacceptance of me for my falling from thee thou hast requited mee with thy favour For thy grace and mercy is precedent and greater than my whole offence and all my failings I read it spoken by thy Kingly servant that thy mercy is great great hee said it was but how great hee could not tell wee have knowne that it is great but how great we have not knowne nor can perceive We know not the quantity of it's greatnesse which cannot be expressed in words Wee see the fruit of mercy is great for were it not extended beyond measure we had not after our Fall been received of thee Ah what is sinne to the mercy of God A spiders web that a blast of wind makes invisible Consider a spark of fire if it should fall into the Sea could it continue living or visible as a spark to the Sea so is mans malice to Gods Pitty and Clemency yea not so only but farre lesse for the Ocean though it be vast yet is not unmeasurable but of Gods mercies there is no measure CONTEMP c. 4. Of the Councell of the Trinity touching the Creation of Man and of the end why Man was created WHat is man that thou wast mindfull of him what the son of man that thou didst visit him Thou thoughtest of me before I had a being I was in thy minde before I was in the world thou appointedst a consult O my God when thou wast to make me after thou hadst brought forth all things and hadst built this vast stage of the world hadst replenished and adorned it thou didst say Let us make man after our Image Thou God and Father who art the beginning and originall of the Trinity with whom consultedst thou was it with the Angels and those holy Inhabitants of heaven why surely they joyned not with thee in the Creation of man nor was man made according to their similitude Did hee consult with the Earth or with the Sun because the Sun and man are said to generate man who may be suffered to trifle thus Let us make man saidst thou we our selves will be busie about him and not an Angell not the Earth not the Sunne not the Water nor any other thing But who is with thee doest thou speak in the Potentates language Nor was this sutable thou speakest to thy Coeternall and Coessentiall Son and holy Spirit thou speakest God with God one God as the Father workes so works the Son and holy Ghost they work but one Thou createdst man the worke of the whole Trinity to live in this world better than the whole world the most exquisite Creature of all creatures the most
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
of thee we confesse thou art one in Substance three in Person Father Son and Holy Ghost O blessed Trinity God Lord Comforter Charity Grace Fellowship Begetter Begotten Regenerating true Light true Light of light illumination invisible visibly visible invisibly Fountaine and watering streames from whom by whom and in whom are all things he that lives from himselfe and is Life it selfe he that receives life from him that lives and he that gives life to those that live a true Father the Son of truth the Spirit of truth one Essence one Vertue one Goodnesse God above whom is nothing and out of whom is nothing and without whom is nothing God under whom is all in whom is all and with whom is all we call upon thee wee adore thee wee praise thee encrease our faith stirre up our hope and infuse us with charitie Amen CONTEMP c. 29. Of shunning Curiositie in things not revealed unto us WHy art thou afflicted O my soule if reason be tormoiled and doth groane and cry out being plunged in a bottomlesse gulfe A thing is not therefore false because I cannot conceive or understand it reason is not the measure of things but it is bound to fit it selfe to things reason is streight and why then dost thou marvell if it cannot comprehend the vastnesse of heavenly things by how much more simple our faith is so much is our life more agreeable to it although we neither dispute of neither doe understand all things By so much more noble and more renowned shall the citizens of the Church be hereafter esteemed of God because forsaking all they shewed themselves willing to become only most deare unto him it is a short way for religious and simple minds both to cast away errour and to search out the truth For if we returne to the fountaine and head of divine tradition the errour of man vanisheth away and the reason of the heavenly Sacraments being understood what ever before lay hid under the mist and cloud of obscure darknesse is made apparant by the light of truth if the waters of the channell which used to flow plentifully be suddenly dried up doe we not presently goe to the spring-head that there we may discover the reason that it failes whether the pipes grow dry from the head or running full and currantly from thence they bee not stopped in their middle course but if we finde it is by reason that the pipes it flowes in be either stopped or broken that the water cannot runne constantly and flow as it used to doe when we have stopped and sodered the pipes the waters being collected are brought in the same plenty and constancie for the use and drinking of the Citizens as they doe flow from the fountaine Wee must even doe thus according to Gods command that is if truth shall stagger or reele in any thing let us returne to the originall of it namely our Saviour his Gospell and the Apostolicall traditions and thence let us ground the reason of our actions whence the order and originall of it first arose Whilst others make lyes of probabilities they frustrate the truth by subtilties and this is done because they have no recourse to the originall of truth nor doe they seeke to the head nor observe the doctrine of their heavenly Master which whosoever considers and examineth he hath no need of arguments and long discourses The triall of our faith is easie by the compendiousnesse of truth I would have no man dispute how God the Father begate the Son nor doe thou too curiously involve thy selfe within the secret of this depth lest perhaps whilst thou too obstinately searchest after the brightnesse of this in accessible light thou be deprived of that little sight which by Gods gift is afforded unto mortall creatures Or if thou thinkest thou oughtest to wade so farre in this kind as thou art able First begin thou with things which concerne our selves which if thou wilt consequently wade thorow then prepare thy selfe to passe from earthly things to heavenly things from visible things to invisible things First unfold and declare if thou canst how the minde that is in thee begets a word and what is the spirit of memory that is in it how these things that are different in things and actions are notwithstanding but one nature and substance and though they proceed from the minde yet are never separated from it But these things although wee have them in us in the very substance of our soule yet they seeme to be so much the more hidden unto us by how much they are more invisible to the eyes of the body Let us enquire of things more open how doth a fountaine of it selfe beget a river and by what spirit are the swift streames thereof moved and though the fountaine and streames be but the same one inseparable thing yet cannot the fountaine be either understood to bee or be called the river nor the river the fountaine yet he that sees the streames sees the fountaine First exercise thy selfe thou superstitious and impertinently laborious and thou soule that toylest after nullities in the unfolding of these things and discusse if thou canst what we hold in our hands and then we will proceed to things higher than these nor thinke I perswade thee in an instant to ascend from earth above the heavens but first if it please you I will bring you to that firmament which is apparant to our view and there if thou canst unfold the nature of this visible light how that heavenly fire begets from it selfe the shining light how it begets vapors and which being three in distinctnesse of things are yet but one in substance although thou couldest finde out all this know yet that the mystery of the heavenly generation is by so much more different and higher than these things by how much the Creator is more powerfull than the creatures and the workman more excellent than the worke he makes by how much he who is from all eternity is more noble than that that tooke its originall from nothing God is therefore to be beleeved to be the Father of his onely Son our Lord and it is not to be enquired how For a servant ought not to dispute of his masters nativity He wants nothing O man who is confirmed by the doctrine of both Testaments Both of them are these two swords of which the eternall Doctor said It is enough I wish againe and againe my long-suffering God that I might learne and know him but if I know not the originall nor can measure the quantity nor am able sufficiently to consider what manner of thing my soule is which rules over my body if I know not the reason why it should take pleasure in the body which persecuteth it if I be ignorant who hath graven this law of my members that the flesh should oppresse the spirit in so violent a command and that the better and more worthy part of nature should yeeld to
downe from heaven thy holy Spirit the teacher of truth and worke in my tough and hard heart inward and divine repentance that I may never repent me of And now thou love of that heavenly power thou holy communication of the omnipotent Father and the blessed issue thou Spirit the Omnipotent Comforter slide within the most secret places of my heart by thy powerfull operation and enlighten every darke lurking place of this my neglected habitation by the brightnesse of thy glorious light Come come now thou most courteous Comforter of the languishing soul that defendst it in its necessities art its helper in tribulation Come thou cleanser of my filthinesse thou curer of my wounds Come thou Strength of the weake thou Sustainer of those that slide Come thou Instructer of the humble and Confounder of the haughty Come thou holy Father of the orphans thou milde Judge of the widowes Come thou Hope of the poore thou Refresher of those that faint Come thou sea-mans Starre thou Haven against shipwracke Come thou singular Beauty of all that live thou only Safety of those that die Come most holy Spirit come and take pity upon me Fit me for thy selfe and mercifully condescend to my weaknesse that according to the multitude of thy mercies my meannesse may be acceptable to thy Majestie and my weaknesse to thy power There was a time my God when I had no being which I cannot remember and then thou madest me to have a being thou formedst me of the clay of the earth and madest me according to thine owne image and representation Thou broughtest me out of my mothers wombe thou wast my hope when I hung upon my mothers breasts from the wombe was I cast upon thy providence for from the very time that I first drew my vitall breath and entred this tabernacle of the world and my soule tooke possession of her earthly house thou art my Father thou art my Redeemer thou art my Saviour thou art my Helper Thou didst create my body and all the members thereof thou gavest me my soule and all the faculties thereof and hast most mercifully preserved my life even to this present houre Thou hast added another blessing farre more pretious than the rest that thou mightest tie me the nearer unto thee Thou descendedst O God from heaven to finde me out thou soughtest for me being lost of all hands By thy incarnation didst thou rid my weake and miserable flesh out of the ignominy and basenesse which by the devils seducing suggestions it was fallen into Thou sanctifiedst my sinfull nativity by thy most holy birth by thy bonds and captivity thou hast freed me from the bonds of my enthralling sinnes Whilst thou deliveredst thy selfe into the hands of sinners thou hast snatched me out of the power of sinne in the forme of sinfull flesh thou hast abolished my sinfull life which is the worke of Satan by this thy great mercy thou hast most straightly tied me unto thy selfe thou hast enticed me unto thee with those benefits thou hast confirmed and strengthned my hope with those great merits thou wouldest stirre up in me a hatred and detestation of my sins in that thou hast wrought and endured so many and so great things that thou mightest reconcile me to thy heavenly Father and overthrow the kingdome of sinne so thou hast kindled bright coales over my head that thou mightest thereby set my heart on fire that overwhelmed as it were with the works of thy mercy which are included in this thy worke of Redemption I might love him with all my heart who hath wholly loved me and imparted himselfe wholly unto mee Thou hast redeemed me O Lord my God but what good had it beene unto me except thou hadst permitted me to be baptized amongst so great a multitude therefore of Infidels thou wast pleased I should be borne of faithfull parents and hast blessed me so farre above all unbeleeving Ethnicks Turks and Jewes that I might be regenerated by the lavacre in thy word and according to thy Word and might put on my Christ with all his benefits There thou hast adopted me for thy sonne and made me thy heire there make I that wonderfull covenant with thee that I should be thine and that thou shouldest be mine that thou shouldest be my Lord and I should be thy servant that thou shouldest be my father and I should be thy sonne there is it so so covenanted betwixt us that thou shouldest manifest thy fatherly affection to me and that I should with a filiall obedience hearken unto thee What need I rehearse the other use of this Sacrament namely that thou hast made it the curing physicke of our sins that by thine own blood thou mightest heal my unhappy and festring wounds and mightest thereby more and more adde perfection unto me But though I have received so many blessings of thee and have in a readinesse so many antidotes against sinne yet have I not continued in obedience but have often broken that covenant and yet hast thou bin so mercifull and so milde a God that thou didst endure my disobedience O God my salvation and hope how can I recount thy mercy and clemency without shedding of teares for how often O just judge mightest thou kill and bring me to nothing and yet none of these things is befallen me how many thousands of soules are already thrust into hell to be punished with eternall plagues and fire that never came neare my sinnes either in number or weight and yet am not I burned what had become of me if thou hadst cut me off together with them How ought I to feare thy terrible and fearfull judgement if thou shouldest punish me in thy immutable and severe judgement according to the foulnesse of my iniquities O my God who tied thy hands who was my Intercessor when I most securely slept the sleep of sin who held the scourge of thy wrath when as day by day I provoked urged thy vengeance what was there in me to please thee what was there in me so worthy of thy acceptation that thou shouldest spare me when thou didst root out others who wallowing in the mud of their sinnes thou didst summon to thy most righteous judgement seat in the midst of their dayes My sins did cry to heaven and thou didst stop thine eares my wickednesses were daily multiplied and thy mercy was likewise encreased to me I did sinne and thou didst expect my repentance I fled from thee and thou didst draw neare to me I provoked thee so often to wrath that I might weary thee by my provocations yet wast not thou weary of taking pity upon me as if my transgressions against thee being abominable ingratitude in me were pleasing in thy sight Thou hast suggested unto me many good thoughts and given me many profitable admonitions to turne me from my transgressions even in my full speed of sinning How many times standing before the doore of my heart hast thou knocked and called saying
I see better Contemplations Sighs Groanes of A Christian I follow worse London printed for William Lee and are to be sold at the Turks head in fleete streete 1640. CONTEMPLATIONS SIGHES and GROANES of a Christian Written in Latine By IOHN MICHAEL DILHERRUS And Englished by WILLIAM STYLE of the Inner Temple Esquire LONDON Printed by Richard Bishop for WILLIAM LEE and are to be sold at the Great Turks Head next to the Mitre Taverne in Fleet-street 1640. The Authors Dedication TO THEE O IESVS CHRIST Son of the living God and borne of the Virgin Mary Lord of the living and of the dead Doe I with Teares and Groanes Give Dedicate and Consecrate These my CONTEMPLATIONS and SIGHES And doe begge and beseech thee that thou wilt make them unto mee A helpe in my life A comfort at my death My protection in Iudgement Thy adorer redeemed by thy blood J.M.D. The Translator to the Reader BOokes if they bee good need no protection if bad in this our age and state they can have none bee not the Surveyors of the Presse a thing not to be presumed either corrupt or negligent Now therefore to see a booke in print with an Imprimatur in the front is a sufficient warrant for all to buy and a sure rule for thee to reade without either offence to thy selfe or displeasure of any other Besides this is no new Booke though a new Translation and therefore I hope as it hath been publikely vendible for many yeares without restraint and good applause in the Latine tongue so it may now find as free a passage and as faire an acceptance in the English and shall not need a Protector to keepe it off from a publique censure or warrant it from the fire And this is all I now wish either for my Author or my selfe Yet I have a Patron too even He that commands not only the hands but even the tongues and hearts of men If he be pleased with these my weak endevours for whose honour I chiefly undertooke them I have my Guerdon even all I expect or desire if not I am sure I shall vainly implore any other patronage how potent soever as no way sufficient to protect either me or my Translation from his All-seeing eye and All-doing hand of him therefore doe I beg pardon of my errors committed and to his service doe I in all humilitie dedicate my selfe and this Manuall and doe loveingly commend the use thereof to thee my courteous Reader From my chamber in the Inner Temple August 20. 1639. THE AVTHOVR to the Reader THE time is already come which our Saviour foretold should be before the Fabrick of this world should be dissolved take heed saith he you bee not deceived for many shall come in my name and shall say I am Christ and that time draweth nigh but go not after them And when you shall heare of wars and tumults be not affraid for these things must first be but the end is not yet for Nation shall rise against Nation and Kingdome against Kingdome and there shall be great earthquaks in divers places and famines and deaths and there shall be terrors and oppositions and great signes shal be seen from heaven and there shall be great tempests but before all these things come to passe they shall violently lay hands upon you they shall persecute you and deliver you up to their Synagogues into prisons and shal set you before Kings and Governors for my Name sake your own parents brethren kindred and friends shall betray you and they shall put some of you to death and you shall bee hated of everybody He that makes a doubt of the fulfilling of this Prophesie let him cast his eyes upon the actions of the former age and behold the tragedy which is even acted in the sight of all men which dyes in purple both the body and estates of all men and yet its Catastrophe doth not yet a peare to us How many imaginary Christs forged in hell hath the old Serpent put upon us he hath suffered almost no age to passe wherein he hath not hammered out new Authors and Princes of Salvation and hath prepared new ways for impious devotion so that we are even reserved to that time than which none was ever more fierce for Religion nor more barren in Piety If any more sincere and more unspotted than the rest be given us from heaven that may shew us the path to those heavenly mansions and that faith which is the only ladder to life eternall and commands to bee clothed with works bids those other personating sectaries of Christianitie to carry more devotion in their hearts than in their countenances and to be fiercer in doing than saying he shall scarce get from them without hissing and a clownish jeere I dare say that these very things doe happen even within the Orchyard of the Church How many witnesses of the Gospels truth are delivered by our adversaries to make themselves pastime to be destroyed by the cruell sword to be consumed by the devouring flames and to be pined within a dark prison In our age have wee seene Nation to rise up against Nation and their great burden pressing the earth more than ever wee reade of in our bookes we find by daily experience that fathers grow mad and cruell against their own sonnes mothers against their daughters and children against their parents and that either for Christs or Mammons sake Though we see not innumerable Cities overwhelmed by earthquaks yet we know it to bee true in other parts of the World We see armies of fires in the Firmament representing unto us and besmeared with the humane blood which is after to be shed netther is the breaking in of seas and floods any new thing and more I need not say for as Gregory the Great out of whom wee have taken something of that we have formerly declared doth write when the swelling waves hang over us and doe threaten death which they bring with them wee call to mind no carnall pleasures yea we cast over boord those very things for which we have made a long voyage and all things compared with our life are set at nought So we also when we perceive the waves of Gods wrath to swell high we laye aside the burthen of our wordly possessions we remove our vaine desires and cast from us the weight of all our worldly cares being earnestly and only sollicitous for our hoped for eternal life So shall it bee that thus lightned the ship of our devotion may floate which laden must sink for the cares which depresse us in this life do draw our soules into the deep which is borne so much the higher amidst the billows of temptation as wee are carefull to rid it from the thoughts of this world but there is another thing which wee should duly consider in these our tempestuous times when a storme doth first arise the waves are then but small but presently after they swell to
what manner to end the strings of my tongue are ready to move something concerning thee but can find neither Prologue nor Epilogue neither exordium nor conclusion of thee O my God guide mee and instruct mee cherish and help mee If I behold thee what is it that in the first second third and last place doth offer it selfe unto me it is love I observe it is love that I see and feele all the objects of my eyes are love the fishes in the Sea are sparkes each pile of grasse in the feild is a spark the trees in the orchards are sparks the leaves upon those trees are sparks the often rising and setting Sun is a spark and his beames enlightning all the world are sparks the Moon 's a spark and her hornes are sparks the glittering Sarrs and all the host of Heaven are sparks of it If all the members which thou hast bestowed upon my body were tongues if I had the understanding of an Angell yet could I not comprehend or set forth the footsteps of thy love O violent love burning love vehement love love that cannot be kept within thee When I was nothing thou wouldest make me something and thou didest not create mee after the likenesse of the Sun or Moon nor yet of the Angells but after thine own likenesse that I might serve thee in this life and after this life changed not by death but by an easie passage that I might reigne with thee and prayse thee for evermore Thou didst place mee in Paradise the garden of pleasure not to warre with beasts or to terrifie me with the Lyons roaring or the grumbling of Beares but that all the beasts should be subject to me and stand in awe at my beck and faune upon me in an humble observance I would O God find out thy works but cannot Moyses writ something but he did but write and straight went hence unto thee nor have J him now here present for if he were I would hold him and beseech him and beg of him for thy sake that hee would freely lay open to mee the wonderfull things of the Creation wherein the fountaine of thy love did flow and bubble up most plentifully and I would fasten my bodily eares to the words that should break from his mouth I would also admit them within the harbour of my breast and hee should make me sensible and even touch my very soule but hee is gone who did but shaddow forth unto me thy wonders and there is not one left that can unfold the whole and surely thou wouldest have mee understand thy works but in part only whilst I am absent from thee with thee I shall be most fully instructed Neither yet doe I O most Mighty enough understand that part which thou hast granted and permitted mee that I may understand spare therefore thou Mercy it selfe thy servant the work of thy hands thy hands have moulded mee thy spirit gave mee a soule and added life to my life it gave mee what I can neither value nor number and such is God and such are Gods gifts alas give mee this also that I may obtaine this neere tye of thy love that as thou art my Creatour thou wilt bee also my father and that thou wilt not refuse or reject or disinherit of thy love a sonne unworthy so great a father CONTEMP c. 2 Of the Originall Nobility of Man and his falling away from it I was in honour O lord and heavenly King even so great that I cannot now set it forth but when I was in honour I understood not what that honour was In what an honoured place did I inhabit in a place of delight My life found neither trouble nor want I was compassed with fragrant apples I was propped up with honours crowned with glory and honour and placed above the works made of clay But I was the more excellent in regard of the badge of thy divine image and my lot and company was the society of Angels and the whole Army of the Host of Heaven but I did change that glory into the similitude of a calfe that eateth hay How many virtues was I cloathed with What did I want whom mercy protected truth instructed justice did governe and peace did cherish But alas what shall I say O my God thou bestowedst that property of reason upon me whereby I might excell all living creatures and didst so sublime it by a peculiar gift that I wanted but little of attaining to those thy most pure Ministers I knew this but did not acknowledge it nor did I weigh for what end thou gavestime this wisdome I call not that a good ship that is painted with gaudy colours nor which hath a guilded or silvered head nor whose hull is inlayed with ivory nor which is fraught with Kingly wares and treasures but that is strong and firme and hath thick ribs to shut out the waters and tough to endure the assaulting Seas that is pliant to her rudder can make good way and fetch all winds I call that a good sword not that hath an embroydered belt or whose scabard is set with pretious stones but that that hath both a keene edge to cut and a point that can pierce any armour Men desire a straight rule and not a faire one wee commend a thing so farre only as it is usefull for that end for which it was made So I who did then know these things better than now ought to have acknowledged that I received all good from thee if I would have ordered my selfe according to the rule of thy heavenly government the obedience only which thou requiredst and which without thy command was due unto thee had made mee blessed and perfect if I would and had not obeyed the detestable suggestions of the old Serpent From my originall I was good but that goodnesse came only from thee none of it was from mee yet thou wouldest have some goodnesse come from mee to the end that thou mightest see I did acknowledge that thy goodnesse but I obeyed that traytour Satan thy enemy more willingly and more readily than thee when I might with more ease have contemned his slights than I can now those foresaid poysons which are mixed in my draughts and that even by my friends I am undone I am undone I have neglected my perfection O sad and mournfull change O man the inhabitant of Paradise the lord of the earth Citizen of Heaven one of the Lord of Saboths family and fellow heire of Heavenly vertues from whence by a sudden change art thou cast headlong by reason of infirmity hee lyes in a stable for his likenesse to beasts hee even needeth hay for his untamed fiercenesse hee is tyed to a manger I am undone I am undone and nothing can repaire mee but thou O most Mercifull CONTEMP c. 3. Of Mans departing from God of the subtilties of Satan the omnipresence and Clemency of God THou art wonderfull O God and very much to bee praised thy
all ennoble the Garden that Tree of life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evill When thy faithfull servant calls it the Tree of life doth he doe it because it had received this power from thee that he which should eat of its fruit should have his body confirmed in a setled state of health and a perpetuall strength that it should not decline to worse or to death by sicknesse or infirmity of age Thy very Word doth intimate thus much unto me Our first Parents were nourished with the fruits of the other trees that their living bodies should not suffer hunger or thirst but therefore they were to taste of the tree of life that death might not creepe upon them from any side nor that they should in continuance of time perish by reason of old age the other trees were for nourishment that for a Sacrament How great was thy care my God how great thy providence thou gavest me not a momentany pleasure nor a yearely but an everlasting Now I am weakned by diseases I am tormented with cares I am tortured with griefe but this is besides thy will though not contrary unto it for what could happen to me against thy Will could one haire have fallen from my head if thou hadst not willed it should be so what was now my first habitation the narrow and dark part of the womb where I was environed with the ill sented sides of the belly I come crying into this life I depart out of it with sweat and I passe through it with labour nor is there any one that can boast himselfe free from this condition being borne and brought into this light I cannot move my selfe from one place to another in my first infancy I am void of all pleasure I am a burden both to my selfe and unto others and exposed to innumerable dangers even till I attaine to these yeares wherein reason and judgement begin to florish in me happier in that one thing than in the other part of my life that I understand not my unhappy condition What shall I say O my God my yeares are multiplyed and my cares increase but I was not even worthy of these things Thou canst not doe otherwise than lead me and support me with thy hand although I did not deserve life but hell and destruction when I had opened my impious mouth and devoured the forbidden fruit thou didst ordeine the tree of the knowledge of good and evill for my Altar and Temple that I should yeeld thee due obedience in abstaining from the fruit thereof I would be made wiser and did become most unwise before the Fall I had the knowledge and experience of a present good I had only the knowledge but not the experience of an absent evil but after the Fall there was in me a certaine knowledge of a lost good but no experience of it and I had a knowledge an experience of an adherent evill Woe is mee when shall I returne thither whence I am expelled I desire not a garden but a house not a figure but the thing figured I desire not to rule but to become a servant I aske not to sit but to stand and observe thy Commandements Looke on mee O my Father looke on me and approve me and be pleased in thy mercy that I may finde favour in thy sight that the dores of thy palace may bee opened unto mee when I knock I beseech thee by my Lord thy Sonne the man of thy right hand the Sonne of man whom thou hast established for a Mediatour betweene thy selfe and me by whom thou soughtest me when I sought thee not that I might seeke thy Word by which thou hast made all things and mee amongst the rest thy onely Sonne by whom thou hast called thy beleeving people unto thy adoption and amongst them me also I beseech thee by him that sits at thy right hand and doth intercede unto thee for me in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge open quickly unto me and grant me passage O my God that I may enter into the joy which cannot enter into mee because it is farre greater than I am CONTEMP c. 6. Of the Serpent the Deceiver THe devill is wicked foule and terrible hee doth therefore as much as he is able hide his own face and puts on a strange countenance yet all his thoughts all his endevours and all his actions are to deceive when hee perswades to good hee deceives for a greater mischiefe that is to arise from that good in perswading unto evill under the shew of goodnesse in diswading from good as if it were evill in diswading from evill that he may bring in a worse evill The deceiver invades the Serpent that wee might not discover the hidden fraud that hee might with more ease and profit bring to passe that which hee had wickedly and most cunningly projected The Serpent was a beautifull and subtile creature therefore not unfit to entice to move to perswade and to seduce O thou deceiver O thou turne-coate O thou ensnarer and deceiver most lying spirit thou transformest thy selfe into an Angel of light that thy subtilty and slights of darknes should not be discerned thou dissemblest the night of thy malice that wee might promise to our selves goodnesse from that which is most vile and wicked thou mouldest and paintest deckest and fashionst thy instruments that they may finde some time for acceptance with us if thou shouldest rransforme thy selfe into an enraged lyon or wert so bold to change thy selfe into a cruell Beare who would not tremble take heed and flie from thee thou goest amongst us therefore most comely and most courteously that thou mayest without being perceived finde admittance of those that are heedlesse yea and oftentimes also of those that are most wary What are those vile teachers whose consciences are feared that glitter in so many ceremonies so many formes of worship and so many commentaries or expositions of things but serpents but broods of vipers that cunningly bite us they put on sheeps cloathing that they may cover their wolvish clawes Thou old Serpent thou usest the subtill wits of men which are the fittest of all for thy desires the simple humble and abject doe seldome broach Heresies He that hath profited much in knowledge for the most part attributes much to himselfe he avoides the beaten way wherein the credulous common sort of Christians doe walke and is wise apart and departs to fall headlong into the gulph of errors Give me my God moderate wisedome but that I may profit exceedingly in a holy life and in saving faith thou wilt not aske mee hereafter what I have scene but what I have beleeved not what I have read but what I have done Grant that I may receive with an humble heart what thou offerest mee and settest forth in thy Word not regarding what either superstitious reason or the mischievously obtuse pitch of wit and foolish subtilties of Doctors doe argue
soule beaten with the flood of sinnes findes no refuge in this world no comfort no aide be thou only my retiring place and my peacefull sanctuary the Dove makes her nest in the holes of the rock and in the cave of the flint wall my soule shall rest in the holes of thy wounds and shall therein perpetually delight her selfe no creature so well pleased with gemitus as the Turtle shee mourns both night and day Oh Christ I will send forth no other voice than a mourning and lamenting voice that I have not my portion hereafter with the Ravens but that thou O Christ mayst say to me behold my love thou art faire thy eyes are Doves eyes arise my love my faire one and come away arise make haste my love my Dove my faire one and come away O Christ when shall I come CONTEMP c. 10. Of Jacobs Ladder STir up now thy selfe O my soule and raise up thy whole understanding and consider as much as thou art able how great and what that is that is set before thee goe into Bethel enter into the house of God wherein the Lord inhabits which is the Gate of Heaven Where canst thou take better rest than where thy God doth rest If the heart of man bee not fixed in that eternall place it can never be firme but more wavering than motion it selfe passing from one thing to another seeking rest where there is none to be found for if his captive affections be taken up in these transitory and vaine things he can finde no true rest because the soule is of so great a value that nothing but the chiefe good can content it enter therefore O my soule into Bethel goe into the house of thy God dwell in the high place accompany thy God Ascend O my soule ascend the Ladder is set by which thou maiest climbe to the most High What is that Ladder O my God which thy holy Israel did see in his dreame which stood upon the earth and reached heaven with his top by which also the Angels of heaven did ascend and descend is it not thy righteous Sonne who is the Way the Truth and the Life and by whom only we have accesse to thee He stood upon the earth because hee assumed our humane nature into the unity of his Person and the branch of Iesse sprang from the earthly Virgin Thou my God willing of old to heale man the King of all thy creatures of his sinne didst make as it were thy blessed Sonne in a sort to goe back from the excellency of the Divinity and by extreme humility having passed over nine degrees those nine orders of Angels to descend by the incarnation unto the tenth degree even the humane nature He was borne unto us he lived amongst us he also ruleth amidst us he is with us nor doth he ever forsake those whom he once determined to love O blessed Ladder fixe thy selfe also upon my heart and cause my soule to mount up and remaine with thee Thou didst descend for my sake let me ascend to thee as thou hast conformed thy selfe to my infirmity so make me partake of that rest and pleasure which no care can either interrupt or lessen The top of this Ladder did touch the heaven but thou the Messiah dost not only touch heaven and art from thence to come unto us and hast from all eternity taken thy pastime therein but hast also framed it thou who hast neither beginning nor end of dayes for yesterday to day and for ever art thou the first and the last the great the true and blessed God who wast in the beginning and wast glorified with the Father before the foundation of the world was layd But the Ladder was but one that did reach from earth to heaven so thou O most sweete Jesus art Lord of heaven and a man of the earth yet but one Person but one Man one God and one Mediatour between a displeased God and a wretched man by the union of the Divine and humane nature By this Ladder Angels ascend and descend because Angels desire to look into the mystery of so holy and admirable an union who notwithstanding doe alwayes see and heare the holy Spirit instructing them There doe also other Angels ascend and descend even the Teachers and all beleevers who ought to preach nothing else but Christ because there is no admittance to life by any other nor is there any open familiar and daily passage to the Father but this Imitate O my deere soule the pure chaste and holy Angels in purity in chastity in sanctity except thou wilt lie groveling on the earth and laden with the durt of thy sinnes bee thrust into hell O Lord I cannot lift up my selfe bee thou my guardian where ever I goe and bring me out of banishment into thy promised Land nor neglect or forsake mee till I shall returne into my Countrey In the meane time let mee be like Iacob a supplanter and by faith let mee trample upon sinne let me prevaile and obtaine the blessing let mee rest upon the living Corner Stone and I shall not bee moved or confounded let me be also a spirituall Stone built upon that Corner Stone that I may become an Habitation and Temple of Divinity Ah Jesu my Redemption my Love and Desire bee present with mee I invoke thee I cry unto thee with a strong voice with my whole heart which voice none but thou canst heare I invite thee into my soule enter into it and fit it for thy selfe that thou mayest possesse it without spot or wrinkle for a pure habitation is suteable for a most pure Lord sanctifie mee therefore thy vessell which thou hast made empty out the malice and fill it with grace and keepe it still full that I may bee now and ever a Temple fitting for thee to dwell in Most Sweet most Benigne most Loving most Deere most Mighty most Desired most Pretious most Lovely most Beautifull Thou that art sweeter than Honie whiter than Milke or Snow pleasanter than Nectar more pretious than Gemmes or Gold and deerer unto mee than all the riches and honours of the World CONTEMP c. 11. Of the most tender care of God over his people to be collected from his care for his people Israel in the wildernesse MY soule doth often languish and my heart is often full of great cares when I thinke what I may bee namely an example of weakenesse the ruine of Time the scorn of Fortune the image of Mutability the beame of Envie and Calamity and the rest nothing but Flegme and Choler Oh who sees not how many things may be every where busie upon the circumference of the earth Oh with how many teares and sighes they fill the earth all which doe as it were by a certaine fate accompany mans life he deplores the sicknesses which possesse this his body he deplores the uncertaine condition of his health and the ambiguity of his life For what Age or Time is
mouth I view the letters graven with the finger of God the learning people and teaching God and that there is as it were but one schoole of heaven and earth mixed of men and Angels For so it is written that when Moses had reported to the Lord the peoples words the Lord said unto him Now will I come to thee in a thick cloud that the people may hear me speake to thee And behold a while after they began to heare thunders and lightnings and thicke clouds began to cover the mountains And again He did descend upon the top of Mount Sinah And afterwards he spake with Moses all of them seeing that the Pillar of the Cloud did rest at the doore of the Tabernacle and they stood and worshipped in their Tent doors Thou didst speak O Lord to Moses face to face as one friend useth to doe with another O what a care hast thou of thy creature man thou God that affordst and performest these so great things for him making vile man partaker of thy Word and as it were admitting him to the fellowship of thy holy company opening thy hands full of immortall riches nourishing him with the cup of Nectar and feeding him with heavenly food What greater care I beseech thee couldest thou performe in that thy government or what greater affection couldest thou use that whereas they were but in the action of this present life they did notwithstanding then enjoy a representation of their future blisse Nor let any man here murmure that thou hadst this care of mankinde heretofore but that thou now hast it not Whence shall I beleeve this repining doth proceed by chance because we are not daily fed with Manna as they were although we reap from our fields most plentifull Wheat-harvests or is it because wee catch not Quailes flying as it were into our hands whereas we devour all kinde of birds of cattell and beasts or because we doe not with open mouthes receive the waters springing from the rockes whereas wee drench our Tavernes with the juice of the grapes Somthing I adde more that we our selves who thinke that God did then take care of them and do suppose that God doth now neglect us if wee could exchange our present blessings for theirs which are past wee would utterly refuse to wish to bee in their Condition For we would not lose the things wee now have that wee might possesse the things which they then used Not that wee have better things than that Nation then had but because even they who were fed by the daily ministery of heaven and of God himselfe did preferre the old gluttony of their bellies before the present good things they received beeing sad with the calling to minde of their carnall meates and falling sicke for the filthy love of leeks and oyons not that these things which they formerly used were better but because even as we now do so did they then they loathed the things they had and desired the things they had not We doe rather extol the things that were then than the things which now are not that we had alwayes rather have them if we might choose but because this is an usuall fault that mans soule is incident to to desire the things are absent and for other mens things to please us better than our owne and for ours to please others more than the things they doe enjoy so fastidious are we most miserable men that we are not worthy to live much lesse of life with the good things appertaining to it But what ere thou givest or deniest thou art alwayes a Father and dost never forsake a sonne that trusts and hopes in thee Give if thou wilt but onely five loaves and two fishes a handfull of meale a little oyle in a pitcher a few shreds and branches of trees and no more I will boast of the care thou hast of mee O my God in thee will I boast my heavenly Father who takest me up nor can I receive disquietnesse from thee for ever Thou wilt say to my soul I am thy salvation no good thing shall be diminished to them that seeke thee they shall not bee confounded in the evill day and in a time of famine they shall have enough Although I fall I shall not bee dashed to peeces because thou settest to thine hand I never saw the just man forsaken nor his seed begging their bread I will seeke thee O Lord and thou shalt heare mee and shalt snatch mee out of all my troubles being poore I will call unto thee and thou shalt save mee from all my cares those that feare thee cannot truly suffer want Thou wilt command that the meale in the vessell faile not that the oyle in the pitcher decrease not because I have need of all these things I will first seeke the Kingdome of God and other things shall be added unto me It is so far from thee my God and Lord that thou shouldest forsake thine that thou makest even dogs to helpe and give them ease I will expect thee O Lord I will play the Man I will suffer thine hand O Lord and my heart shall receive comfort let my father and mother forsake mee thou Lord shalt take mee up O God thou shalt be my helpe nor wilt thou despise me O God my salvation Thou shalt set me upon a rock thou shalt hide me in thy Tabernacle in the time of afflictions thou shalt hide me in the depth of thy Tabernacle in the time of affliction that I may see thy goodnesse in the land of the living CONTEMP c. 12. Of the Tabernacle of the Children of Israel Of the Cloud wherein Gods especiall presence was manifested Of the Mercy-seat Of the Arke Of the Manna and Of Aarons rod. I Creepe before thy Tabernacle my God I cōsider how thou didst appear to thy people I find many terrible things but yet comfortable also thou wrappest thy selfe in a Cloud yet is not thy Majesty the lesse resplendent it is so great that thou affrightest and art feared like a consuming fire and how shall I beleeve that an Intellect severed from all mixtion of mortality most excellent most wife and most holy a spirit piercing through all things and intent even to each particular part of the Universe which doth as it were to the strings of a most exquisite Harpe modulate the song of vanishing things in a most pleasing variety a Spirit unbegotten immortall everlasting that is onely a place yea a world able to conteyne it selfe and the greatest world of wisdome of holinesse of understanding of reason of life of formes to whom intelligible nature it selfe doth breath forth and ceases not to frame and render praises can be cloathed in a cloud yet thou cloathest thy selfe with a cloud that thou mightest then exhibit thy selfe according to the time of faith not as thou art a God but as men might endure to behold thee Thou teachest us spirituall things by corporall things and dost demonstrate
many chalenges many and so useth to commend her selfe often unto her beloved Kisse thou also the Lord O my soule lest at any time he be angry and thou perish in the way Who will give thee unto me O Lord O let me find thee and I will kisse not my hands or any thing my hands can touch but even thee O Lord. Let the tumultuous flesh be silent let the phansies of earth and water of ayre and of the vault of heaven hold their peace let dreams and imaginary revelations bee still let every tongue every signe and whatsoever is acted in a trice be quiet say nothing to thy selfe O my soule passe by thy selfe and have no thought upon thy selfe but upon my God For he is truly all my hope and trust For in God and our Lord Jesus Christ most sweet most bountifull and most pitifull is every of our portions our bloud and flesh the lover doth as much as possible desire to be one with the thing beloved and therefore they cling together and glew as it were their bodies in one and they strive to make of both their soules but one by the conjunction of kisses Thou O Jesus my love thou my desire thou my thought thou my hope thou my wish I would I could alwayes cleave unto thee Would to God that where thou my portion doest raigne there I may at least be a subject and where thou my blood doest rule there I may obey and where thou my flesh art glorified I may not bee there confounded I am indeed a sinner but yet I distrust not of the communion of grace and if my sinnes doe forbid it yet my substance requireth it if mine owne offences exclude me the fellowship of my nature drives mee not back for God is not so great an enemie that hee should not love his owne flesh his members and bowels I might indeed despaire by reason of my too too many sinnes and offences my infinite faults and negligences which I have committed and which I daily and without ceasing doe act in heart mouth and worke and by all wayes that humane frailtie can offend except thou haddest kissed me except O Word thou haddest beene made flesh except thou shouldest dwell in me Let reason here be silent and let faith speak the things are true which I say for thy Spirit hath revealed them unto me yet are they so profound that I cannot pierce into them they are so high that my abjectnesse will not suffer me to reach them I will adore them in silence and admire in my adoration And thy miraculous incarnation shall clense my spotted conception Let not reason conceive that which thy overshadowing doth work so that my Salvation may be firme sure and unshaken CONTEMP c. 14. Of Christs Nativitie THat which none ever saw now all the world beholds that which none ever heard now all the world doth heare God the Sonne of God undergoes the shame of our humane nature and takes upon him the reproachfull principles of our earthly originall he lyes in a manger to whom Angels doe yeeld their service he suffers himselfe to be wrapped in swadling cloathes who gives cloathing to the heavens no ambition seene in his house a bare couch in a stable and his Mother lodged in hay such an Inne doth the worlds Creator make choice of these were the dainties of the holy Virgins child-bed ragges in stead of purple for silke and princely trimming nothing but plaine hemmes hee that was before the foundation of the world was laid borne from the heart of his Father who had Alpha and Omega for his surname the beginning and the close of all things which were or are or shall be hereafter now in the end of the determined time put on the shape of a servant and is borne of a poore Virgin Let the vault of heaven sing let every Angell sing let all that belong to vertue sing to the praises of God let no tongue be silent and let every voyce for ever and ever sound forth his praises Old-age and youth quires of Infants troopes of matrons and virgins the simple maydens with tunable voyces let them with chast consorts chaunt forth his praises let every age acknowledge that the reward of our life is come after the bondage of our sharpe enemie Whence is this that not the Mother of our Lord but that the very Lord himselfe comes unto us How great is he that is given to mee hee is the Angell of peace the Lambe of God the Benefactour of all the horne of salvation the Bruiser of the Serpents head the Governour of Israel he is the desire of the Gentiles the guide of our life and the expectation of the Nations He is the Son of the most High the branch of Jesse the humble Caller of mankind he is our Intercessour he is our Righteousnesse he is our Deliverer hee is our Mediatour hee is our Nourisher hee is our Helper He is the Prince of Peace he is the great Prophet the Restorer of our quiet he is our Redeemer Hee is our Reconciler he is King of Sion a Saviour an Expiatory Sacrifice he is the heavenly Bridegroome the Expeller of sadnesse he is the Word made flesh the most ample Present the heavenly Zelote he is all things Let the bright heaven thunder let the glad earth personate let yawning hell mourne but let mankind keepe a Jubily we groaped in darknesse and were blinded and covered in a most thick night he proceedeth out of the darknesse and night that expelleth these mists of ignorance and night of sinnes Our nature is not now strange to God since that in it even in Christ our Mediatour the fulnesse of the Godhead doth now dwell for the Virgins womb was made choice of for the Lord of heaven and earth to spring in nor was that blessed masse the Sonne of God incarnate for her onely but that of his fulnesse all wee might be made pertakers God did not onely make mee but hee made many things for me seeing that the Word is made flesh for me and dwelleth in us he is become one flesh with me that he might make mee one Spirit with him Christ would become that which man is that man might become what God is it is impossible for mee to understand the secret of his Nativity My understanding failes my voice nay not mine only but even the voice of the Angels is stopped it is above Powers above Cherubin and Seraphin and above all sense I therefore lay my hand upon my mouth I may not search after these so high mysteries It may bee knowne that he was borne It is not to bee disputed how hee was borne it is rashnesse to enquire after this This is an unutterable Birth who shall declare it An Angell shewes it the Vertue overshadowes the Spirit assists the Virgin beleeves a Virgin brings forth and yet continues a Virgin who doth not admire the Word is born an Infant 8c length is acknowledged to be
thy comming and that the old Religion should not seeme utterly rejected or that thou mightest save the Iewes by receiving of Circumcision as thou didst the Gentiles by Baptism that is wert thou to save them by the powring forth of the purified dew or was it that thou mightest keepe fulfill and establish all the Law What need I to reckon up many things thou wast circumcised for the cause that thou wast borne and for which thou didst suffer none of all this was for thy selfe but all was for thy Elect for mee for all that cleave unto thee that thou mightest pay for us those debts even thou that didst owe nothing thy selfe and mightest free us from our owne and from the offences of others O most loving Jesus I adhere to thee doe thou everlastingly stick to me I have runne into debt doe thou pay them I beseech thee by that pretious blood which thou wast willing to shed for sinners in thy most holy Circumcision and afterwards most abundantly to powre out for them in thy most bitter passion that thou mightest wash away all mine iniquities looke upon me most humbly petitioning and often calling upon thy holy Name cause me O Lord readily to submit my selfe to thy Lawes I learne from thy selfe my Lord to obey thy Lawes and to obey thee not by constraint but by free consent for this is the true obedience of the humane nature when it subjects its will readily to the will of God and when by working it perfecteth the good will it hath received with a willing liberty without any constraint Give me O Lord the Circumcision of the heart which is that the cloud of errour being taken away to acknowledge the Creator God the Father and his Sonne Christ by whom he hath created all things that the truth of God might be fulfilled grant that I may cut off and cast out of my heart all uncleannesse of thoughts and impuritie of my senses For the Gospell hath not enjoyned cutting away of the Prepuce but the circumcision of the heart and that by the Sword of the Spirit wee should cut away all petulancie as well of our members as of our affections this Circumcision is not in my power succour my weaknesse O Lord and assist me that I may doe that which thou hast promised by thy faithfull servant Moses the Lord shall circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed that thou mayest love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule I am present O Lord as thou hast commanded by thy faithfull servant Jeremy Be circumcised to the Lord and take away the fore-skinne of your hearts that my wrath break not forth like fire Give me that which Saint Paul speaks concerning me Thou art circumcised with a Circumcision which is made without hands if thou put off the body of sins by the Circumcision of Christ The Iewes circumcised but one member of the body grant O Lord that I may circumcise all my members The heart of man is wicked it must therefore be circumcised and the Sword of the Spirit is to be unsheathed for it and this is the preaching of the Gospell of Iesus Christ which if any one receiveth into his heart by faith first his sinnes shall not be imputed to him but he shall be accompted just for Christs sake then the holy Ghost shall bee given unto him by whose power it shall come to passe that the reliques of sinne shall not raigne in his mortall body but hee shall fit his members as weapons of righteousnesse unto God Stirre me up O Lord and strengthen me that I may circumcise my eyes that they behold no vanitie nor defile themselves with privie adulteries Thou hast commanded this O Lord if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee Stirre me up O Lord and strengthen mee that I may circumcise my hands that they be not enraged and shed innocent blood for thou hast commanded this O Lord if thy right hand offend thee cut it off Stirre me up and strengthen me O Lord that I may circumcise my feet that they goe not in the way of sinners and that they haste not to doe evill so putting off the old man and putting on the new I shall become a new creature and shall possesse the inheritance of thy Kingdome O Christ I shall enjoy the societie of the citizens of heaven the quire of Angels singing Hymnes unto thee and the sweet fellowship of all thy blessed ones Thus thou shalt speak O Christ to thy Father I will that those thou hast given me may now be with me that they may behold my glory which I had with thee before the world was made O when wilt thou speake this O Lord O when shall I heare this CONTEMP c. 17. Of the passion of Christ DOest thou ascend for me to Ierusalem that all things might be accomplished which are written by the Prophets that thou mightest be exposed for a scorne to the Gentiles that thou mightest be scourged that thou mightest be spit upon that thou mightest be fastned to the Crosse thou who art the God of glory the God of life safety the chiefe best and Omnipotent most mercifull most just most secret most present most beautifull most strong stable incomprehensible God invisible yet seeing all things immutable yet changing all things immortall illocable interminable unbounded without ending inestimable unutterable fearfull and terrible to be honoured and reverenced venerable and renowned never new nor ever waxing old and innovating all things For me who am deep darknesse miserable earth the sonne of wrath a vessell fitted for reproach begotten in uncleannesse living in misery that must die in extremity a vessell taken from a dunghill a shell of corruption full of filth and horror blinde poore naked subject to many wants and wretched and mortall as I am ignorant when I came in or when I must goe out of the world whose dayes passe like a shadow whose life vanisheth like the shadow of the Moone a mad mans phansie as the blossome upon the tree blowes and forthwith is rotten now flourisheth and by by is dried up whose life is a fraile and fading life that the more it continues the more it decreaseth the farther we proceed in it the nearer it approacheth to death What shall I thinke what shall I say what hast thou commited O most sweet Saviour that thou shouldest be thus judged what hast thou done O my most loving Saviour that thou shouldest be handled so rudely what is thy wickednesse what thy offence what the cause of thy death what the occasion of thy condemning I am the stripe of thy paine the offence for which thou art slaine I am the desert of thy death the wickednesse revenged upon thee I am the spleene of thy passion and the labour of thy torments O the greatnes and foulnesse of my sinnes Out of the consideration of the remedy I value the measure of my
sharpe nailes which pierced and fastned thy feet and hooked them to the Crosse O Iesus have mercy upon me and intercede for mee to thy heavenly Father intercede for me to day this houre this moment that he may pardon me my sins In the second place he said Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise How milde O Lord how courteous art thou to sinners thy delight is amongst the sonnes of men even in thy strongest and most unutterable torments Thou wast hanged betweene a most wicked paire of theeves thou stretchest forth thy hand that one of them might take hold of it and that thou mightest draw him to thee with it and gather him to thee as a hen gathereth her young ones under her wings How pleasing is the society to thee when a sinner joynes himselfe to thee and if they will with what affection dost thou receive and heale them The Theefe on the left-hand thinking reproachfully of thee doth revile and blaspheme thee most virulently therefore thy sorrowes sweat labour drops of blood streams of blood prayers and intercession could nothing profit him the Theefe on the right-hand having a zealous opinion of thee acknowledgeth thee and though he cannot with his hands yet doth hee embrace thee with a contrite and devout heart he begges a great thing of thee and obtaines the greatest he begges for a favourable remembrance of him and he obtains eternall gladnesse O example of true and wonderful repentance For what is true repentance what but that which is sorrowfull for offences confesseth them and hath recourse to Christ their Deliverer by a stedfaâ—â— faith but it is miraculous because then at length Christ is acknowledged the expiation of his sin when his most sick soule doth meditate the forsaking of the habitation of his body and the Redeemer himselfe is in suffering the last and most horrid punishment O Christ my Lord and my God grant that I also may bewaile and confesse my sinnes and aske thee pardon for them and alwayes weigh with my selfe thy merits grant that I may doe this with the Theefe but that I may not put off my desire of thee to the last period of my life as many doe who naughtily excuse their most wicked procrastination by the example of the Theefe Let me not come to that hardnesse of heart that the late gained salvation of the converted Theefe should make me more carelesse nor let me say my conscience tortures me not my life shall not trouble me because I see the Theefe had all his sinnes pardoned in a moment Consider ô my soule thou guest and companion of my body not so much the concise confession and faith of the Theefe but the earnest devotion and mournfull time wherein the Apostles themselves did wander and forsake their Master then imitate the faith and zeale of the Theefe and at last promise to thy selfe his salvation Now that unplacable enemie of our soules tries to leade thee into this security that in the fatall houre of death he may thrust thee head-long into infernall destruction It is impossible to be spoken how many are circumvented and damned by the shadow of this deceitfull hope he deceives himselfe and makes a sport of his damnation whosoever seekes not for the mercie of God but at the houre of his death they are abominable to God that sinne with a hope that it will be time enough to be converted to God in their old age The Theefe that at this time did so miraculously apply Christs death to himselfe had not formerly put off his repentance for he had never before heard of the doctrine of Christ therefore in this minute of an houre in this twinckling of an eye make mee pray unto thee and convert thee unto me lest securely promising my selfe salvation I fall from my salvation Grant that being converted I may be charitable to my neighbour and take care for his conversion and salvation as the penitent Theefe did admonish the impenitent Theefe and did labour to bring him unto thee Ah my Lord remember me also in thy Kingdome if thou wilt at least think me worthy to be remembred and cast a gratious eye upon mee and I shall have enough because I am sure of thy power and wisdome and I am confident of thy pitie and charitie Ah suffer me to be with thee in Paradise where is the soules happinesse and the beautifull vision of God I cannot be well without thee nor can any ill be with thee CONTEMP c. 19. Of the third and fourth word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse WHo are they O Lord Jesus Christ who not onely followed thee to the Crosse but doe also abide under thy Crosse Who are they not only spectators of thy most cruell punishment but exposed also to the cruell torment of their eyes and soules It is Christs Mother the crowne of Virgins it is Mary thy Mother it is John thy kinsman it is thy most loving Disciple who leaned upon his Masters brest when he was at supper him whom thy soule loved a sword doth pierce their soules thornes and needles doe pricke their eyes whilst they see thee stretched upon the Crosse with all thy sinewes torne all bloody even springing forth with blood thou hast taught me by those thy distressed beholders made wet with showres of teares that thy most deare children are most neare to the Crosse those whom thou dost most fervently love they are most grievously and most often made subject to the Crosse There cannot bee a true Church that cannot bee miserable thou thy selfe dost drinke to her in the cup of affliction which if she refuse or loath it she is a bastard We ought to be like thee let us be contented that we may be as our Master whosoever desires to be above his Master is proud and not worthy of his Master we are a burning bush which is burnt but not consumed we are a citie besieged but not taken we are the Moone labouring under an eclipse but not perpetually losing her light wee are the Arke of Noah exposed to the Flood yet not over whelmed with it we are the woman in travell whom the dragon pursues but yet kills her not we are the lilly amongst the thornes and yet wee wither not thy most cruell torments O Lord could not so farre afflict and torture thee but that thou haddest a care of thine but that thou wouldest speak to thy mother and to thy disciple for thy third word upon the crosse was uttered to them behold thy Sonne behold thy Mother Me thinks O Lord I see into thy bowells into the depth of thy thoughts thou complainest the sorrowes of death have compassed mee about but yet that sword doth no lesse break and wound my heart which hath with unspeakable torment peirced thy soule most sweet mother I behold also thee most loving yong man the most inimate of my friends most sweet desciple I behold thy groanes and sighes for the losse
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
shall Sun or heat fall on us because thou dost governe us and leadest us to the fountaines of waters and shalt wipe away all teares from our eyes thou shalt make us drunk with the plenteousnesse of thy house and refresh us with the streames of thy pleasure O Lord as the hart desireth the fountaines of water so longeth my soule after thee O Lord my soule hath thirsted after God the living fountaine when shall I come and appeare before the face of God O Lord when shall I worthily call to mind thy mercyes thy praises which are farre above all things which thou hast given me and exceeding the multitude of the goods of my house which thou hast bestowed upon mee according to the multitude of thy mercyes CONTEMP 21. c. Of Christs sixt word uttered upon the Crosse THou hast performed all and every of those things which thou knewest necessary to recover our salvation most willingly and with all thy heart And therefore thy sixt word was not it shall be finished as thou diddest say in thy journey to Jerusalem behold we goe up to Jerusalem and all things shall be fulfilled which are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man for hee shall be delivered up to the Gentiles shall bee mocked shall be scourged and spitt upon and after they have scourged him they shall put him to death But hee saies it is finished whatsoever the wicked nation could invent to exasperate thy torments is finished thou truly diddest foretell the houre and power of darkenesse and the time of thy crucifying I have finished sayest thou the work which thou gavest me to doe but that was another work namely the work of Preaching the Gospell as thou thy selfe doest intimate unto mee when thou addest I have manifested thy name unto men this work which thou sayest is finished is the work of suffering for mankind the work of drinking off the cup of the passion which thy father hath given thee thou hast now drunk it all off so that there remaines nothing but that thou give up the ghost the power which was given the apostate Angels and the filthy rabble of wicked men is finished thy pilgrimage wherein thou wentest out from thy father and diddest come into the world is finished wherein thou wast upon the earth like a husbandman and a travailer the mortality of thy humanity is at an end every prophecy which the prophets had foretold concerning thy life or death is finished the greatest sacrifice of all sacrifices is finished that upon which all the sacrifices of the old covenant as types and shaddows did reflect for by one oblation thou hast for ever made perfect those that are sanctified and art become the end of the Law to every one that beleeveth Now the variety of carnall sacrifices ceasing thou fulfillest all those distinctions of beasts by once offering up of thy body and blood thou hast O Lord drawne all things unto thy selfe for by rending the vaile of the temple the Sanctum Sanctorum departed from the unworthy high Preists that the figure might bee turned into a truth the prophecy into a manifestation and the Law into a Gospell O cleane O unspotted sacrifice whose Altar was the Crosse which the viler it was before Christ overcame it so much the more famous and noble did it afterwards become the fire thereof that consumes the burnt offering and perfecteth the sacrifice is this immeasurable charity which like a furnace exceedingly heated did burne in thy heart O Jesus which the many waters of thy sufferings could not extinguish O Jesus my redeemer my mercy my Saviour I praise thee I give thanks unto thee though farre unproportionable to thy benefits though very voyd of devotion though leane in comparison of that fatnesse which thy most sweet affection towards us doth require in them yet my soule doth pay unto thee what thanks shee is able not such as shee knowes are due unto thee from mee Thou hope of my heart thou vertue of my soule let thy most powerfull worth perfect that which my most chill weaknesse doth endeavour my life thou end of my intention though I have not loved thee so much as I ought to love thee yet doe I at least desire to love thee as much as I ought O Jesus let this word alwayes stick in my memory It is finished When sinne and damnation shall band themselves against mee wrastling with the pangs of death and shall present unto mee my ugly life made deformed by my sinnes let me be able then to say the sacrifice for my sinnes is finished For thou art the Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world Thou hast not redeemed me with corruptible silver and gold but with thy most precious blood as it were of an unspotted undefiled lamb When the law shall accuse me and shall exact punishment let me say each tittle of it is accomplished For when the fulnes of time was come God sent his Son made under the Law that he might redeem those which were under the Law and that we also might receive the adoption of children When death shall infest and terrifie me let me say thy power is determined thou art conquered by my Lord who hath spoiled thee of thy power hath taken out thy sting and purged out thy poyson that death may be to me a sweet repose great gaine a dismission in peace a recalling from evils a momentary hiding me till wrath is past and till heaven gates be opned for me When kindred friends and acquaintance shall at the time of my departure bewaile my going hence and compasse my bed with groanes and teares let me say my course is finished the appointed time is past the period is fixed which we cannot passe the glasse is runne the houre of freedome drawes neare here my misery makes a stand and the haven I make to is neare where all teares shall be wiped away behold I leave unto you a Fulfiller of all good and an asswager and ender of all evill hee shall comfort you if you flie unto him hee shall keepe and defend you to whom I recommend my soule and to whom I recommend you the beloved of my soule for evermore Amen CONTEMP c. 22. Of the seventh and last word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse ALthough Lord Jesus Christ great is thy humility great thy abasement and great is thy affliction that thou seemest scarce a man but a worm yet in thy seventh and last word before thou gavest up the ghost tho-shewedst thy selfe not a man only but even set above the reach of mans power for when thou wast about to breathe out thy most holy Spirit thou criedst out Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Ah what a mournfull lamentable sad and miserable silence is there when mournfull lamentable sad and miserable man is commanded to breathe forth his soule how silent faint and how dead as it were are all things before death our death-bed takes
the more ignoble I ought to beare patiently if I understand not the Creator of the Universe who must even in the smallest parcels of his works professe mine owne blindnesse Let me not then proceed farther in other things than my small capacity wil beare not curiously pry into those things which are so high above me I will say with reason and constancie I know not his secrets and I am ignorant of his divine councell the oracle of the heavenly word is enough for me to try all causes God sayes he sees all things governes all things judges all things If thou wilt know what thou art to hold thou hast the holy Scripture it is perfect reason to hold what thou hast read But I will not suffer my selfe to aske for what cause God doth these things in such a manner I am a man I understand not the secrets of God I dare not search after them and therefore I even feare to meddle with them because even this is a kinde of sacrilegious rashnesse to desire to know more than is permitted unto thee Let it suffice thee that God doth testifie that himselfe doth act and dispose of all things leaving therefore these things let us rather seeke like good merchants to gaine the inheritance of heaven and those things that may profit our soules let us learne to get goods which will continue with us let us first seeke to have Gods seale stamped upon us because in the day of judgement when God shal make that separation when all the nations of the whole earth the sonnes of Adam shall be gathered together when the shepherd shall call his flocke whosoever have beene sealed shall know their shepherd and the shepherd shall know those he hath sealed and shall gather them together out of all nations Every man naturally desireth knowledge but what doth knowledge profit without the feare of God certainly an humble rudenesse is better that is employed in Gods service than a proud Prelate or Philosopher who neglects himselfe and is alwayes contemplating upon God or the motion of the heavens How many are there who in this life by many curious enquiries have endevoured to know God who shall never see his face how many in this life doe labour to measure the heavens and to finde out all things belonging to them that shall never enter into them He that doth well know himselfe thinks meanly of himselfe and is not delighted in the praises of men If I did know all things in the world and were not in charity what would this knowledge profit me in the presence of God who then will judge acccording to my works I will therefore at length rest from the too much desire of knowledge because the more I know the more grievously will the most high God judge me except I live the more holily Give mee most blessed and most wise God the highest and most profitable knowledge that I may know thee God the Father Son and Holy Ghost with moderation and may inwardly know my selfe to be miserable and of no account that I may attribute nothing to my selfe and alwayes have a good opinion of others This is great wisdome and some sort of perfection Though I see another sinne openly and even to commit some grievous sinnes let me not think my selfe better because I know not how long I may continue in goodnesse we are all undoubtedly fraile but let me judge none frailer than my selfe that I may obtaine true strength in goodnesse CONTEMP c. 30. Of the Custodie of Angels BLesse the Lord O my soule all my bowels give praise unto his holy Name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not any of his benefits praise the Lord yee Angels of his yee that excell in strength fulfilling his Word giving eare to the voyce of his Word Praise the Lord all his Hoasts yee servants of his that doe his pleasure Praise the Lord all yee works of the Lord praise the Lord O my soule in all places of his dominion My heart is ready O God my heart is ready He hath commanded his Angels saith thy faithfull servant David speaking of man to preserve thee in all thy wayes they shall hold thee up with their hands that thou strike not thy foot against a stone God hath commanded it God the true and most excellent Life in whom and from whom are all things the Creator Governor of the world the Sweetnesse Beauty of the Angels the Creator and Preserver of men that God who is God of gods so great a God that no tongue can rightly expresse him hee hath commanded and hath commanded his Angels his holy Angels that are instructed of God by the eternall contemplating of which truth they become blessed hee hath commanded them concerning thee O man What is man that thou tookest notice of him or the sonne of man that thou didst esteeme him Thou sentest unto him thy only begotten Son thou sendest into him thy holy Spirit and that there should be no want of thy carefull working for him in the heavens thou dost also for our sakes send forth those blessed Spirits to minister unto us the most mercifull God sendeth forth those Spirits as it were so many bright sparks of his Deity sparkling from the Torches of his everlasting light who are conceived to bee divided into so great hoastes and into so many orders to prompt us not only with matter of prayer to God but of admiration of his greatnesse and goodnesse when I speake thus O my soule phansie not to thy selfe little faire Boyes whose countenances are over-spread with an admirable splendour whose soft dissheveld haire of colour like the finest gold hangs dangling to their shoulders fanned with the gentle breath of the peacefull westerne wind doth kisse the smooth pillars of their milkie necks if thou phansie such Angels thou art utterly ignorant of their power They have a pure nature subtill and aiery not to be represented in the shape of any body no spot of matter doth cloud it no mole of corruption doth sprinkle it and that I may speak briefly our best part is our soule an Angell is nothing but a soule But what soule not relishing of that fire whereby the Starres doe twinkle and the Axeltree of Heaven is moved but a vigour of a most quick moved understanding made so much the nearer to resemble the patterne the eternal Beauty by how much it approacheth nearer to and is the more plentifully sprinkled with that holy Fountaine Hence truely comes that notable comlinesse of all their ornaments and the immortall concurrence of goodnesse which they with a most acceptable ingenuity of will doe yeeld to their Creator they out-strip in speed the swiftest shippe sailing on the maine and driven by force of windane oares they out-fly a bullet in the aire sent from the sulphury mouth of a thundring Cannon these most excellent mentall Intelligences most wisely foresee all things with no trouble or interposition of time
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
most perverse wretch am turned into a beast and become the devils instrument Thou didst descend from the most glorious throne of thy heavenly Father unto mee that devill upon earth and I have not elevated my selfe unto thee nor would I ascend with thee but by the works of the flesh I have beene faster tied to the more base things of the earth and have pressed my selfe downe into the mud by the weight of my sinnes wherein I have long lien wallowing Thou hast delivered me out of the power of the devill and I of mine owne accord have ensnared my selfe in his devillish toiles Thou art made one body with me and I by my voluntary sinnes have plucked my selfe off from thee and have glued my selfe to the body of the wicked So many thy wondrous works could not force me to acknowledge thee So many testimonies of thy love could not soften my stony heart to make me love thee againe thy so great merit could not raise me up to cause me to place all my hope in thee That thy most accurate Justice which shines most clearly out and that many wayes out of the worke of our Redemption could not hold me so that I might consider the plagues and punishments which thou heapedst upon thy onely beloved Son for my sake and cause me to cry out If they have done these things in the greene tree what shall be done in the dry Thy so many torments and paines could not perswade me to descend into my self and to consider with what hatred thou persuest our sinnes for which thou hast permitted thy very Sonne to be most cruelly afflicted For these things ought I to have stood in awe and to reverence thy great Name So hast thou my Jesus humbled thy selfe that he that considers it may admire and with trembling behold thee yet am I growne proud and at this very time alas doe exalt my selfe above my brethren Thou didst hang naked upon the Crosse yet I not content with such cloathing as was necessary to cover my nakednesse have sought after excesse and superfluity and have most tenderly handled my slimy damnable body Thou didst suffer intolerable thirst in thy extreame plagues and torments and didst taste gall mingled with vinegar but I must as it were be fatted to the slaughter with lushious wines I have beene overcharged with gluttony and ravenousnesse and have thereby made my selfe strong in fleshly desires Thou didst beare all things that thy Father laid upon thee nor didst throw off the the burden till thou mightest truely say it is finished but I have esteemed it very troublesome and tedious for me to suffer but a very little for thee Thou that art the blessed Son of God didst suffer blows on the face from wicked wretches but I if I be but touched with a finger or wronged in a word doe presently burne with wrath and am most bitterly moved to indignation that am but a worme and not worthy the name of a man and doe deserve by reason of my filthy sins not only most vile reproach but the punishment scorne of hell it selfe And what shall I farther say of my most wicked life Thou didst most willingly die that I might die to sin and live to righteousnesse but I too much relying on this thy mercy doe wittingly and willingly rush into sins What greater disgrace could I put upon thee I have made thy mercies the occasion of my uncleannesse and have used so precious a meanes of my Redemption which ought to make every one to hate sin to the strengthning and continuation of my sins I thought sins were lawfull for me because thou wast so gentle and mercifull and for giving mee so many blessings I have requited thee with my infamous deeds so that I converted the remedy ordained against sin into the meanes to make me sin more freely and have set the point of that sword against mine owne brest and well-nigh destroyed my selfe therewith that thou gavest me to resist the blowes of Satan Thou art he only O Lord that dyed for us all that they that live might not live to themselves but to him that did both die and rose againe for us but I contrary to this have lived to my selfe and mine owne lusts as if thou hadst dyed for that end that I should live to fill my soule with fleshly desires and abusing thy grace I should weave the web of mischiefe O Lord how great is thy patience that thou wouldest be buffetted for my sake but much greater is thy patience that thou enduredst so many sinners in the world that even buffet thee with their sins But shall this thy patience last for ever I call to mind what thou threatnest against the impenitent I see that the earth which is watered with raine and brings forth no fruit is punished by cursing I see that the Vineyard well manured and yet remaining unfruitfull is wasted and trodden under foot O hard and iron heart O unprofitable and drie wood Dost thou not tremble if thou hearest the voice of the Omnipotent God saying Every branch not bearing fruit will my Father take away if any remaine not in me hee shall be cast out as a branch and it withereth and men gather it up and cast it into the fire to bee burnt What man can be so carelesse that trembles not and shakes not for feare of so horrible a judgement How deafe and sluggish is he that heareth not this voice With what a stupidnesse is he drowned in in what a lethargie is he buried who is not awaked with this thunder Ah! Lord this earthly tabernacle hath hitherto delighted mee I have walked amidst thornes and thistles that have choaked the seed of thy Word sowen in me so that I have had no desire to know thy will my lusts have seduced me my desires have driven me up and downe my thoughts have disturbed mee the worme of my conscience gnawes me and all these have I esteemed as secure delights and reckoned troubles to be peace What shall I doe my God What shall I doe I am forced to confesse that I am not worthy to come before thee I blush for my unrighteousnesse sake to lift up mine eyes unto thee I dare not lift them up to seeke thy favour and most mercifull presence if thou wilt punish me as I deserve nor heaven nor earth can hide me from thee but thou wilt not O Lord my God that any one perish but that all may be converted and live thou createdst mee for thy praise but who in hell where thou art blasphemed shall praise thy Name Thou didst pay so great a ransome for me yet if thou reject me in these my most great necessities who shall receive me if thou shalt refuse thy creature redeemed by so great a price who shall helpe me Why even thou my Father that Father of mercy even that mercy which is immeasurable which is infinite And although by my disobedience I have lost the right of mine
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