which are in Heauen haue mercie vpon me and be thou my mercifull mediator for me vnto thy Father that I may be saued O holy Ghost God conqual with the father the sonne haue mercie vpon me worke thy diume power in me thorow thy gracious mipiration Drame me vnto Iesus Christ that I may finde fanour and be saued Amen The second part As concerning my bodie that I bequeathe vnto the earth from whence it came My Consission I Knowledge and confese with all my heart that I am a sinner yea such a sinner as hath neede of the grace mercie and fauour of God My faith ioyned with hope I beleeue that the Lord will haue mercie vpon me for he hath first made me and if it shall please him he may saue me This I beleeue whether I liue or dye I am the Lords My hope I Hope that I shall find both grace and mercie for my sinnes of God the Father euen for Iesus Christes sake in him I beleeue he is my redeemer he liueth for euer and euer He maketh intercession for sinnes So this I know that now I am a corruptible body but I hope through Christ to rise an vncorruptible body Now a mortall bodie but through Christ and his merites I hope to haue though now an earthly bodie then an heauenly bodie For as many as shall be saued shall shine in the kingdome of God as bright as the Sunne This my faith and hope I lay vp in my minde the mind of my Soule trusting onely to be saued thorowe the merites of Iesus Christ God and man which is in Heauen From whence we looke againe the which shall change our vile bodie and make it like his owne most glorious bodie whereby he is ablel to subdue all things vnto himselfe O Christ haue mercie vpon mee thou hast redeemed mee O Christ saue me A Prayer for the Sicke OH how sicke am I My weakenesse increaseth more and more Lord be mercifull vnto me and giue mee grace pacientlie and thankefullie to beare the crosse and in the middest of this my sickenesse alwaies to say Thy will O heauenly Father bee done and not mine Another Prayer for the Sicke O Lorde Iesus Christ which art the onely health of all men liuing and the euerlasting life of them which dye in thy faith I wretched sinner giue submic my selfe wholy to thy most blessed will And I being sure that the thing cannot perish which is committed vnto thy mercie most humbly beseech thee O Lord to giue me grace that I may now willinglie leaue this fraile wicked flesh in hope of the resurrection which in better wise shall restore it to me againe I beseech thee O most mercifull Iesu Christ that thou wilt by thy grace make strong my soule against all temptations and that thou wilt couer and defend my with the Buckler of thy mercie against all the assaults of the Diuell I see and acknowledge that there is in my selfe no helpe of life and fasuation 〈◊〉 my considence hope and trust i◠in thy most mercifull goodnesse I haue no merites 〈◊〉 good workes which I may alleage before thée Of sinnes and euill works alas I see a grace heape but through thy mercie I trust to be of the number of them to whom thou wilt not impute their sinnes but take and accept me for righteous and iust and to be the inheritour of euerlasting glorie Thou O most mercifull Lord waste borne for my sake Thou diddest suffer both hunger and thirst for my sake Thou diddest preach and teach thou diddest pray and fast for my sake Thou didest all good woorkes and deedes for my sake Thou sufferedst most greeuous paynes and torments for my sake And finally thou gauest thy most precious body to dye and thy most blessed blood to be shed on the Crosse for my sake Now most mercifull Sauiour let all these things profite me which thou freely hast giuen me which hast giuen thy selfe for me let thy blood cleanse and wash away the spottes and foulenesse of my sinnes Let thy righteousnes hide and couer my vnrighteousnesse Let the merites of thy passion and blood be the satisfaction for my sinnes Giue me Lord thy grace that my faith and perswasion in thy blood wauer not in me but euer be firme and constant that the hope of thy mercie and life euerlasting neuer decay in me that Charitie waxe not colde in me finally that the weakenesse of my flesh be not ouercome with the feare of death Graunt me also O most mercifull Sauiour that when death hath shut vp the eyes of my bodie yet the eyes of my Soule may still behold and looke vnon thee and that when death hath taken away the vse of my tongue and speech yet that my heart may crye and say vnto thee O Lord into thy hands I giue and commit my soule Lord Iesu take my Spirit A thankes giuing to God for the departure of the faithfull out of this vvorld O How can we most louing Father render vnto thee sufficient thankes for thine inestimable goodnesse toward thy faithfull seruants Whom thou calling out of this wetched world vouchsafe to place in thy heauenly Ringdome among the glorious companie of thy holy Angels and blessed Saints O full precious is the death of the faithfull in thy sight Blessed are the dead that dye in the Lord. For they are at rest from their painfull trauels and labour The soules of the righteous are in thy hand O God and the paine of death shall not touch them In the sight of the vnwise they appeare to dye but they are in peace They shine as the sparkes that runne through the red bush They glister as the shyning heauen They are as the starres world without end They are as the Angels of God They are clad with white garments and haue golden Crownes vpon their heads Tey doe seruice day and night before the glorious Throne of thy Diuine Maiestie They neither hunger nor thirst any more neither doth the Sunne or any heate fall vpon them for the Lambe which is in the middest of the Throne gouerneth them and leadeth them vnto the liuing fountaine of waters They followe the Lambe whithersoeuer he goeth They haue such ioyes as eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard neither is there any heart able to thinke them infinite and vnspeakeable are thy treasures O Lord which thou hast layde vp for them that depart in thy faith For these thy fatherly benefites toward the soule of the faithfull and for that it hath pleased thee to call this our Christian brother from this vale of miserie vnto thy heauenly kingdome we giue vnto thee most heartie thankes humbly beseeching thee that thou wilt take like care for vs and so gouerne vs with thy holy Spirit both in sicknesse and in health that we may liue a good and godly life in this present world and whensoeuer it shall be thy good pleasure to call vs hence we may with strong faith
in thee and in thy sonne Christ Iesu our Lord commend both our bodies and soules into thy mercifull hands and through thy goodnesse be placed in thy glorious kingdome among thy faithfull chosen people and so for euer and euer praise and magnifie thee our heauenly Father to whom with thy dearly beloued Sonne Iesu Christ our Lord and Sauiour and the holy Ghost that most sweete comforter bee all glorie and honour world without end Amen A Prayer of the comming of Christ to iudgement and of the reward both of the faithfull and vnfaithfull OH Lord Iesus Christ the Sonne of the euerliuing God by whom all things were made are ruled and gouerned as of thy loue for our redemption thou diddest nto disdaine to be our mediacour and to take vpon thee our nature in the wombe of a Virgin purely and without sinne by the operation of the holy spirit that both thou mightest in thine owne person woonderfully beautifie and exalt our nature and worke the same in vs also first abolishing the giltinesse of sinne by remission then sinne it selfe by death and last of all death by raysing vp againe these our bodies that they may be like vnto thine owne glorious and immortall bodie according to the power wherewith thou art able to subiect all things vnto thee as I say of the loue for our redemption thou becamest man and that most poore and afflicted vpon earth by the space of three and thirtie yeeres at the least in most humilitie and paydest the brice of our ransome by thy most bitter death and passion for the which I most hartely giue thankes to thee so of the same by loue towardes vs in thy good time thou wilt come againe in the cloudes of Heauen with power and great glorie with flaming fire with thousands of Saints with Angelles of thy power with a mightie crie shoure of an Archangel and blast of a Trumpe suddenly as a lightning which shmeth from the East c. when men thinke least euen as a Theefe in the night when men be asleepe thou wilt so come I say thus suddenly in the twinekling of an eye all men that euer haue been be and shall be with women and Children appearing before thy tribunall iudgement seate to render account of all things which they haue thought spoken and done against thy lawe openly and before all Angels Saints and Deuils and so to receiue the iust reward of thy vengeance if that they haue not repented and obeyed thy Gospell and so depart from thee to the Deuill and his Angels and all the wicked which euer haue been or shall be into Hell fire which is vnquenchable and of paynes intolle rable easellesse endlesse hopelesse euen from the face of thy glorious and mightie power but if they haue repented and beleeued thy Gospell If they be found watching with their Lamps and Dyle in their hands if they be found readie apparelled with the wedding garment of innocencie if they haue not hardned their harts and hoorded vp the Treasure of thy vengrance in the day of wrath to be reuealed but haue vsed the time of grace the acceptable time the time of saluation that is the time of this life in the which thou stretchest out thy hand and spreadest thine armes calling and crying vnto vs to come vnto thee which art meeke in hart and lowly for thou wilt ease all that labour and are heauie ioden If they hane visited the sicke and prisoners comforted the comfortlesse fed the hungrie clothed the naked lodged the harbourlesse if they haue not laden their hearts with Gluttonie and surfetting and carefulnesse of this life If they haue not digged and hid their Talent in the ground doing no good therewith but haue been faithfull to occupie thy giftes to thy glorie and here washed their garments in thy blood by heartie repentance then shall the Angels gather them together not as the wicked which shall be collected as Faggoctes and cast into thy fire but as the good wheate that is gathered into thy Barne then shall they be caught vp to meete thee in the Cloudes then shal their corruptible bodie put on incorruption then shall they be indued with immortalitte and glorie then shall they be with thee and goe whither thou goest Then shall they heare Come ye blessed of my Father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning Then shall they be set on Seates of Maiestie iudging the whole world then shall they reigne with thee for euer then shall God be all in al with them and to them then shall they enter and inherite heauenly Ierusalem and the glorious restfull land of Canaan where it is alwayes day and neuer night where is no maner of weeping teares infirmitie hunger colde sickenesse enuie malice nor sinne but all wayes ioye without sorrow mirth without measure pleasure without paine heauenly harmonie most pleasant melodie saying and singing Holy holy holy Lord God of hosts c. Finally the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man that they shall then inherite and most surely inio although here they be tormented prisoned burned solicited of Sathan tempted of the flesh and intangled with the world where through they are inforced to crye Thy kingdome come Lord Iesus c. How amiable are thy Tabernacles Like as the Hart desireth the water brookes c. Now let thy Seruants departe in peace I desire to be dissolued and to be with Christ we mourne to our selues wating for the deliuerance of our bodies c. O gracious Lord when shall I finde such mercie with thee that I may repent beleeue hope and looke for these things with the fruition of those he auenly ioyes which thou hast prepared for all them that feare thee and to rest with thee for euer more A prayer concerning life euerlasting the place vvhere it is and the incomparable ioyes thereof THat there is an euerlasting life none will denie but such as will denie God For if he be true and iust which he must needes be or els he is not God then can there not be but an eternall life That he hath both spoken it and promised it in Matth. 25.1 Cor. 16. Hebr. 4.11 and 13.1 Peter 1. it plainly appeareth and els where in very many places So that to deny an euerlasting life is to deny God to deny Christ and all that euer he did also to denie all duetie and religion to condemne of foolishnesse all good men Martyrs Confessours Euangelists Prophets Patriarkes Finally the denyal of eternal life is nothing els but a denyall of the immortalitie of the Soule and so a playne making of man nothing better then beasts If it so be let vs then cate and drinke for to morrowe we shall dye Lord preserue vs from the saduciall and Epicuriall impietie and graunt vs for thy mercies sake deare God that we may be assuredly perswaded that there is in deede an eternall life and blisse with
thee for them that put their trust in thee amongst whom account me for thy mercies sake Againe this eternall life and the place appoynted for them that be thy seruants all men doe graunt to be with thee because thou art euery where therefore eternall life is euery where For they by thy word doe knowe that in almuch as no man can see thee and liue this eternall life and thy blessed presence is most pleasant and had in fruition after in an other world whereunto by corporall death they dodepart and are translated to a place aboue them where thou dwellest in a light whereunto no man can approach Abrahams bosome they reade was aboue as the place of the wicked was alowe and beneath Helias was caught vp into Heauen and thy Sonne our deare Sauiour prayed that where he is those also might be which thou haddest giuen him and might see his glorie Now here deare Fatehr we learne by thy ppirit was ascended and taken vp in his very bodie into heauen whether Stephen looking vp and saw thy Christ standing on thy right hand to whom he prayed Oh Lord Iesus receiue my spirite Graunt I beseech thee gracious God and Father that I may haue a cleane heart more and more to see thee and so in spirit to see and looke often vpon this place whither bring me at the length in bodie also I humbly pray thee Now what a thing this euerlasting life is no man is able to conceiue much lesse able to vtter For the peace of God which is eternall life passeth all vnderstanding The eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard neither can mans heart conceiue those things which thou deare God hast prepared for them that loue thee Whatsoeuer therefore can be spoken or imagined of the kingdome of the clearnesse ioy and felicitie of the same is nothing in comparison as we may see by the Prophets which because they could not otherwise vnder corporall things haue shadowed the same so that the confidence of eternall life what a thing it is can in no wise be tolde Howbeit somewhat we may be brought into some sight of it by earthly things to thinke on this sort If God hath giuen heere so many things in a strange place how many are the great good things that be at home If in a prison are so many mercies how many are they in the Palace If the wicked haue so many benefites what is the siore prepared for thy seruants Oh Lord If thy Children finde such comforts in the day of teares and mourning what shall they finde in the day of the Marriage If which beastes men being haue the vse of innumerable blessings Oh how many are the blessings which they shall enioy with thy Angels and with thee thy selfe O deare God when they shall see thee and haue the fruition of thee in whom is fulnesse without lothing of all good and faire things so that nothing can be more desired and that for euermore This thy children doe not see as they now beleeue it I say that euen in their bodies they shall see it for euer as Iob said They beleeue that they shall see thee and their owne eyes behold thee when these our corporall eyes our bodies being raysed shall doe their duties Such a knowledge of thee they beleeue to haue as shall not be onely intellectuall and by faith as now it is but euen a full sight and fruition yea a coniunction and fellowship with thee Now they see but in a glasse euen in a darke speaking but then they shall see face to face For faith though it be the substance of things hoped for and a certaine darke sight of thee yet it may not be compared to the reward of faith and glorious sight which we shall see in the life to come when faith and hope shall cease Now thy children knowe that they be thy Sonnes though it yet appeare not what they shal be We know say they that when our Christ God and man shall appeare then shall we be like vnto him for we shall see him euen as he is Oh great prerogatiue to see Christ is he is Which is not to be considered so much for the manhood as for the godhead it selfe as Paule doth also write that when all things are subiect vnto the sonne then shall he be subiect vnto thee deare Father also so that God may be all in all And therefore Christ our Sauiour prayed for vs that we might knowe thee the only true God not that our Christ thy Sonne is not with thee the true coequall and substantiall God but that we might knowe how that after the iudgement such a mysterie of his mediatorship shall not be in heauen as it is now in earth Then thou blessed Trinitie God the Father God the Sonne and God the holy Ghost shall be all in all thou shalt be the ende of our desires thou shalt be looked vpon with out ende thou shalt be loued without loathing thou shalt be praised without wearinesse Although lothsomnes be wont to followe fulnesse yet our fulnesse in the contemplation of thy pleasures shall bring with it now kynd at all of lothsomnesse Societie of ioyes shall be in the beholding of thee Pleasures are on thy right hand for euer We shal be satisfted when we arise after thine Image I meane in the resurrection Oh deare father show thy selfe vnto vs and we aske no more Oh graunt vs with thy Saints in euerlasting life to praise with perpetuall praises thy holy name Happie then and happie againe were we if that day were come that we might sing with thy Angels Elders and innumerable thousands a newe song and say thou Christ Iesus which wast staine art worthie to receiue power and riches and wisedome and strength and honour and glorie and blessing In this blessed life all kind of maladies griefes sorrowes and euils be sarre away and all full of all kind of myrth ioy and pleasure Oh that we might see now a little with Saiut Iohn that holy Citie nowe Ierusalem descending from Heauan prepared of God as a Bride trimmed for her husband Oh that we might now something heare the great voyce speaking out of the throne behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and he shall be vnto them their God he wil wipe away all teares from their eyes and death shall be no more nor weeping nor crying nor sorrowe for the former things are gone A prayer of death and the commoditie it bringeth WHat other thing do wee daylie in this present life then heape sinne vpon sinne and hoorde vp trespasse vpon trespasse So that this day is worse alwayes then yesterday by increasing of dayes so sinnes and therefore thy indignation good Lord against vs but when we shall be let goe out of the prison of this bodie and so taken into thy blessed companie then shall we be in most safetie of immortalitie and saluation