and wayes are full of hidden dangers which without thy protection could not but haue faln vpoÌ„ me so is not this place whereinto I am safely retired by thy prouidence free from perils and therefore as thou hast hitherunto kept me keepe me now in this place wherein if thou dwel not by thy power and louing fauor there cannot but abide Sathan sinne and vanities powerfull enemies and able to surprise the strongest naturall man Strengthen me Lord aboue nature and helpe the parts of most infirmitie that my soule body being strengthened I may be able to giue thâ—â— the more sound prayses and haue spirituall power to resist whatsoeuer shall spiritually seeke to seducâ— me and in thy prouidence preseruâ— me in body safe giue me whatsoeuer is needfull for me in this place and continue thy louing fauour towards me that all things at all times in all places may prosperously succeed vnto me depart not from me good Father but blesse me first that I may be euer blessed So shall all things goe well with me both going foorth and comming in and all things worke together for my continuall consolation wherefore giue me grace euer to loue thee in Christ mine euerlasting Redeemer Amen O Lord increase my faith A MOTIVE TO A Prayer to be said before a Sermon MAn by nature being a sincke of corruption and a gulfe of hidden hypocrisie his conscience naturally oppressed with a slauish feare lest his inward and secret euill thoughts should be reueiled and his hidden iniquities discouered as much as in him lyeth coueteth to shun the light of the word of God which comprehendeth both the killing Law and the sauing glad tidings of the Gospel by the one he is condemned and therefore hateth the sentence which pronounceth that whosoeuer sinneth shall die yet apprehendeth he not either the grieuousnesse of his sinnes nor the miserie of the Gospel which is the preaching of repentance and the forgiuenesse of sinnes but lying securely in his sinnes thinketh not of any account and therfore regardeth not much the word preached But wheÌ„ shame or authoritie presseth the carnall man to heare the word he thâ—â— heareth sinne reproued and the sinfull condemned which is so vâ—sauâ—ry vnto him as he wisheth himselfe out of the hearing Herod could not endure the preaching of Iohn Baptiâ—â— reprouing him for his brothers wife be it the Law or the Gospel that such men heare it is as harsh vnto them as the words of Michaiah to Ahab yet we must vnderstand that though maâ— deliuer the word it is not his but the word of God and therefore no man but such a one as is yet in the state of reprobation wil refuse to he are God who is mercifull and louing speake vnto him if it be but the threatning Law which teacheth what is sinne and what is the reward of sinne wherby being cast downe with sorrow that he hath committed things so contrary to the will of his Creator he may seeke atonement and reconciliation with his offended God by the Gospel the testimonie of his loue Are not my words saith God good vnto him that walkes vprightly Therefore none but the obstinately wicked will shun the word preached which aswell offereth remission of sinnes committed as it threatneth death to the impenitent The Scriptures in many places command vs to seeke the Lord which argueth that we by nature are strangers from God separated by sinne and to remaine so is the most miserable condition that can befall the sonnes of men And where is the Lord to be sought but in his word which is the life of the soule As the soule body are knit together and conserued by breath So are our soules connexed and conioyned vnto God by the word of truth preached by Gods minister apprehended by faith and practised in spirit and truth The naturall man couets and delights to refresh himselfe in his griefes and crosses by musicke by merry company and by reading prophane bookes or hearing pleasant conceited songs or comedies which doe not onely not comfort but rather increase their griefes Contrarily Dauid protested that hee sought and found the onely true comfort in the word of God So doe all that are truely qualified in the rules of right religion though worldlings account it a melancholike wearinesse to sit an houâ—e to heare God speake vnto them But let them thinke that this wearinesse shall be a witnesse against them that they belong not to the Lord. Euery man desires to see his image in a glasse for two ends the one to see his feature the other to correct his deformities And Saint Iames compares the word of God to a glasse wherein are two sorts of Images discouered namely of Nature and Grace The first sheweth what we our selues are the second what we ought to seeke to be namely to be like vnto our head Christ Iesus in all sanctitie and holinesse in suffering patiently and obeying God truely This is by no other meanes learned but by the word of God preiched But some that haue made the least progresse in the loue to godlinesse of life thinke it sufficient to read the word of God or the workes of good and godly men at home an exercise not to bee in it selfe condemned but in respect of it to neglect the word preached is the contempt of Gods ordinance who hath in greatest fauour instituted his ministers to teach by the powerfull preaching of the word which worketh a more deepe impression in the heart of the hearer then of the reader For if wee consider the authoritie of the word preached it is from God the ministery from the mouth of man who is the mouth of God he therefore that neglects or contemnes the word preached neglectes the meanes of his saluation which is faith in Christ Iesus For faith commeth by hearing and hearing by the word of God preached It is not yet sufficient to heare the word but as Marie laid vp the word in her heart so must euery profitable hearer retaine the word in their mindes permit it to rule in their affections and to bring foorth the fruits thereof in their actions reioycing when they doe the commandements of God and grieuing when they transgresse the same And because there be many things that hinder the growing of this sauing seede and many grounds receiue it but onely one namely good ground can bring forth the fruit It behooueth to pray that our hearts may be made fit to heare our affections fit to loue and our whole man apt to cherish this seede by continuall holy practise Lord increase my faith A Prayer to be said before the hearing of a Sermon THou Lord hast commanded vs or rather louingly inuited vs to seeke thy face and yet thou art in the highest heauens among thine Angels Seraphims and Cherubims and wee dust and ashes are in the earth full of infirmities not able to looke vnto much lesse into the heauens to behold thee there no the very Angels hide
their faces at the glory of thy great Maiestie And as for man clothed with mortality thou affirmest cannot see thy face and liue And yet thou sayest Seeke my face Lord what is it to seeke thy face but to seeke thy truth and to search thy word to couet to know thy will and to bee truely instructed and faithfully and sincerely inclined to keepe thy commaundements Thy word is a light vnto our pathes and a lanthorne vnto our feet It is the life of our soules the heauenly Manna without it there is no light no hope no spirituall comfort no assurance of saluation O how deare ought this word then be vnto vs Farre more sweet then the hony or the hony combe more precious then golde yea then the finest gold therein Lord see wee thy face therein beholde wee thy louing countenance there finde we the hidde pearle which to purchase the wisest will sell all worldly vanities yet is it to the foolish foolishnesse and a stumbling blocke vnto the carnally minded Jt is a mysterie Lord and a secret hidden from the wise of the world and reuealed onely vnto the humble to such as acknowledge themselues ignorant and hunger and thirst for the knowledge of the truth Such hast thou promised to teach and to instruct in the way of true wisedome by reuealing thy word which howsoeuer it seeme in the outward letter easie to be vnderstood it hath a spirituall and diuine sense which requireth a spirituall and diuine interpretation which commeth not neither can it be apprehended by nature And therefore in thy great mercy and loue thou hast ordained meanes whereby they whom thou hast appointed to saluation may bee made able to vnderstand the same namely the outward ministrie of men and the iuward elumination of thy holy spirit for without the second the first auayleth nothing neither in the minister that speaketh nor they to whom he speaketh vnlesse hee be sent of thee and the hearers eares opened and their hearts prepared by thee hee preacheth and they heare in vaine To the one a woe is pronounced as not preaching the Gospel sincerely to the other a curse for not receiuing the good word of truth as into good and fruitfull ground bringing foorth the liuely fruits of a life answerable to that word which is either the sauour of life vnto life or the sauor of death vnto death O Lord I am now come into thy presence to heare thee speake vnto vs here assembled by the mouth of thy seruant whom thou hast sent to preach thy word open therefore mine eares prepare my heart sanctifie mine Attention inlighten mine Vnderstanding strengthen my memorie rectifie my will that I may diligently heare attentiuely harken retentiuely remember and willingly imbrace and practice what shall bee truely and sincerely deliuered by thy minister And let not thy word Lord that shall fall from his mouth bee either choaked in mee with the thorny cares of the world nor be cast into so corrupt a heart as the vaine delights of my minde should deuoure it nor into so â—arraine a heart as should not bring foorth fruit at the least twentie fold to the glory and prayse of thy most blessed name to the beâ—â—ering and better direction of my conuersation before men to the assurance and sure sealing vp of my saluation in Jesus Christ to whom with thee O Father and the holy Ghost 〈◊〉 prayse for euer Amen Lord increase my faith A MOTIVE TO A Prayer to bee said after a Sermon heard AS the body of a man 〈◊〉 beast neither groweth to strength nor co 〈…〉 nueth in health without naturall foodâ— no more can the soule of man liue without Spirituall food the word of God And as man by art helpeth nature to concoct and digest his food to make it nutratiue to his body So the spiritual man hauing heard the sauing word of God vseth the means to make it profitable to the soule for as natural food takeÌ„ into the mouth and instantly spet out againe though it be a while detained and chawed and not taken into the bodie relieueth not the body So the Word heard with the care and not conueyed into and retained in the heart yeeldeth no comfort vnto the soule but rather worketh a kinde of contempt by custome and a kinde of lothing of the Word as a matter without the which his soule may liue for as that meate wherein the pallet hath no feeling of a pleasing taste delighteth not the appetiâ—â— no more can that Word which is not sauourie and delightfull to the soule be pleasing or profitable to the outward eare and consequently nothing comfortable to the vnfeeling soule But it is not in the power of man by nature profitably or with comfort to heare much lesse to make true vse of the word of God It is the gift of God to open the eare which is common to the good and bad hearers but a worke of the holy Ghost to open and prepare the heart to receiue the Word and to bring forth the fruit thereof without the which it is not only not an idle sound but a killing letter for it neuer falleth into the ears of any but it is either the sauour of life vnto life by the operation of faith and repentance or the sauour of death vnto death by the hardnes of the impenetrable and impenitent heart Therfore it much behoueth Christians not only to be carefull to heare but to be diligent and considerate how they heare to lay it vp in their hearts to make vse of it vpon all occasions in prosperity and aduersitie in sicknes and health and in what estate soeuer he is for it is as a treasure to purchase in euery calamitie comfort through patience and in all consolation inward or outward liuely and true thankfulnes Whatsoeuer or whosoeuer therefore thou be that hast at any time tasted of the good word of God forget not that although it be pronounced by man it is the word of the most Highest who will take an account of thee how and what thou hast heard and if thou fold it vp in the napking of forgetfulnes and put it not forth to the vse of thy soule it shall be taken from thee euen that thou hast and thou cast out of his presence whose word and counsaile thou hast so neglected Be not therefore forgetfull to ruminate and as it were often to â—hew the cud of that word thou hearest as at the mouth of God and because we are naturally al flow to heare what we should heare and our mindes very hard to retaine the good things proceeding out of the mouth of God we are to pray and humbly to petition the Lord of life to turne the word heard to the sauour of life vnto our eternally life it ought to be our continuall studie yea aboue al our worldly cares and occasions to meditate of the word we haue heard that it slippe not out of our mindes it is a Iewell which we shall hardly
considereth that death is the end of all flesh and that sicknesse is the fore-runner of death cannot bee suddenly surprised because he stil expecteth the comming of that which whether it tarrie long or come quickly come it will and finding vs secure and wanton and carelesse and deliting our selues in the strength of our sinning parts it wil be so much the more grieuous and irkesome by how much we affect the strength to sinne which is thereby weakened And to that end doth God euen in loue punish his own children with sicknes and maladies of the bodie to kill sinne presently possessing vs and to preuent the power of future sinning and threatneth the stifnecked and rebellious with many infirmities as to smite them in the knees and in the thighes with a fore botch that they shall not be healed euen from the sole of the â—â—ore to the top of their head The Lord will make the plagues of the disobedient wonderfull and of long continuance and their diseases cruell and of long durance For as much then as Sicknesse is both the reward of sinne as also the physicke for sinne It implieth both the mercie of God towards his and his iudgements against the impenitent And therefore whosoeuer thou be that art visited with whatsoeuer bodily disease or infirmitie think that God hath sent it as a cure or a curse A cure to them that enter into the examination of their sinnes and truely repent them and a curse vnto them that make no vse of it as too many worldlings doe who in their sicknesse are as inclinable in desire to sinne as in their health And nothing preuenreth the acte of sinne but weaknes to effect it or oportunitie to attempt it If therfore the will to do euill be not mortified by the sicknes of the bodie it is an argument that that man or woman hath his or her conscience seared vp which is a fearefull estate and full of horror howsoeuer it be for the time hidden euen from his or her feeling and sence in fine it will work in the accusing conscience and bring forth the fruit of despaire of recouery of bodily health and plunge the soule into the pit of ineuitable perdition It is therefore a most dangerous negligence in men so little to consider the inconstancy of corporal health which is long in decaying yet sodaine in surprising men of greatest strength and when men are taken and cast downe be he as strong as Samson he is inforced to yeeld vnto weaknes and if he haue any sparke of grace he will then indeuour to turne his heart vnto God as Hezekiah did but then cannot his petitions be so powerfull as when he enioyed his health neither can his repentance be so well manifested being as it were wrested from him by this kinde of extremitie as when it is wrought in bodily strength for whatsoeuer commeth by compulsion is not so acceptable as what is voluntarie yet is repentance truely begun in sicknesse and effectually continued though weakly in respect of the bodies infirmity yet may it be most true through the strength of faith without repentance there is no cure comfortable to the soule or bodie Though God may permit a wicked man to be cased or cured of his bodily disease by humane physicke yet the soule lieth still in almost deadly sicknesse The truest ground of preuailing physicke is to make peace first with God the good and great Physitian according to the counsell of the Wiseman who thus aduiseth My sonne faile not in thy sicknesse to pray vnto the Lord and hee will make thee whole yet he addeth a condition That he leaue off from sinne that he order his hands aright and that he clense his heart from all wickednesse and if hw be able truely to say as Hezekiah in his sicknes did I beseech thee Lord remember now how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and haue done that which is good in thy sight Then he may bee assured that his sicknesse shall be turned from a curse to a blessing and God that hath made the wound will binde it vp and cure it he will raise him againe or giue him patience in a liuely hope to change this mortall for an immortall estate and for his patient suffering this medicinable crosse will giue him a glorious crowne of eternitie Whosoeuer therfore thou be that art visited turne vnto the Lord pray vnto him trust in him and recommend thy life death vnto his free disposition who worketh all things for the best to them that loue him A Prayer to be said of one that is sick or diseased LOrd God almightie Father louing in thy Son Iesus Christ cast thine eye of compassion â—n me thy creature whom thou hast at this time touched with sicknesse and brought low by thy present visitation Thou createdst me in the beginning not to liue euer in this â—abernacle of dust but that my liuing bodie of dust should be againe dissolued into dust without life at â—hine appointed time for all â—lesh is grasse and as the flower of the 〈◊〉 it withereth decayeth with 〈◊〉 sicknes or griefe of minde we are all but as â—arthen vessels whome thou canâ—â— make and confound with the breath of thy mouth and howsoeuer and whensoeuer the most Iustie and strong stand conceited of their health and permanent securitie of their bodies agilitie and the â—imbleâ—es of their limbes and sences suddenly thou touchest them and they become feeble in strength their beautie changed their sences dulled their hearts fainting and all the parts and powers of their bodies altered and the whole man turned as it were into the very image of pale death it selfe Thou hast appointed that all men shall once die but thou conceilest from al men the time when the place where the manner how they shall die and therefore it behâ—ueth all men to be euer watchful in well doing that when thou shalt send thy Messenger Sicknes of bodie to put them in mind that their day is comming they be not found vnprepared and great happinesse it is to him whom when he is suniâ—â—oneâ— he may chearefully say I am heereÌ„ Lord ready to attend thy will Oh make me thus ready deare father that now thou callest me I may not only not flie from thee for feare of death but hartily willingly and faithfully crie Come Lord Iesu come quickly for I am no better then my Fathers who are fallen asleepe therfore if this my sicknes be vnto death fortifie me against the feare thereof The spirit Lord is willing but flesh and bloud weake and fearefull But assist my spirit by thy sauing Spirit So shall 〈◊〉 heart within me reioyce that thou remembrest me and my weake 〈◊〉 feeble body shal sing forth thy goodnes in this sad and sicke estate all the powers of my bodie and faculties of my soule shall conioyne in the heauenly harmonie of thy sauing truth in the peace of mine owne conscience