â—â—at the place shall be thereabouts 2. Because that as Christ was thereaâ—â—uts crucified and put to open shame â—â— over that place his glorious Throne â—hould be erected in the Air when he â—â—all appear in Judgment to manifest his Majesty and Glory For it is meet that â—â—st should in that place judge the â—orld with righteous Judgment where â— himself was unjustly judged and conâ—mned 3. Because that seeing the Angels shall â— sent to gather together the elect from the â—â—â—r winds from one end of heaven to the other it is most probable that the place whither they shall be gathered to shall be near Jerusalem and the Vally of Jehoshaphat which Cosmographers describe to be in the midst of the supersicies of the Earth if the termini à quibus be the four parts of the world the terminus ad quem must be about the Center 4. Because the Angels told the Disciples that as they saw Christ ascend from Mount Olivet which is over the Vally of Jehoshaphat so he shall in like manner come down from Heaven This is the opinion of Aquinas and all the Schoolmen except Lombard and Alexander Hales 5. Lastly When Christ is set in his glorious Throne and all the many Thousands of his Saints and Angels shining more bright than so many Suns in glory sitting about him and the Body of Christ in glory and brightness surpassing them all the Reprobates beiâ—g separate and remaining beneath upon the earth for the right-hand signifies a blessed the left-hand a cursed estate Christ will first pronounce the sentence of absolution and bliss upon the Elect First because he will thereby increase the grief of the Reprobate that shall hear it Secondly to shew himself more proâ—e to mercy than to Judgment And thus from his Throne of Majesty in the Air he shall in the sight and hearing of all the World pâ—onounce unto his Elect Come ye blessed of my Father and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world c. Come ye Here is our blessed Vnion with Christ and by him with the whole Trinity Blessed Here is our absolution from all sins and our plenary Endowments with all Grace and Happiness Of my Father Here is the Author from whom by Christ proceeds our Felicity Inherit Here is our Adoption The Kingdom Behold our Birth-right and Possâ—ssion Prepared See God's Fatherly Care for his chosen From the foundation of the World O the free Eternal unchangeable Election of God! How much are those Souls bound to love God who of his meer good Will and Pleasure chose and loved them before they had done either good or evil For I was hungry c. O the goodness of Christ who takes notice of all the good works of his Children to reward them How great is his love to poor Christians who takes every work of mercy done to them for his sake as if it had been done to himself Come ye to me in whom ye have believed before ye saw me and whom ye have loved and sought for with so much devotion and through so many tribulations Come now from labour to rest from disgrace to glory from the jaws of Death to the joys of eternal Life For my sake ye have been railed upon reviled and cursed But now it shall appear to all those cursed Esau's that you are the â—rue Jacobs that shall receive your heavenly Father's blessing and blessed shall you be Your fathers mothers and nearest kindred forsook and cast you off for my truth's sake which you maintained but now my Father will be unto you a Father and you shall be his Sons and Daughters for ever You were cast out of your lands and livings and forsook all for my sake and the gospels but that it may appear that you have noâ— lost your gain but gained by your loss instead of an earthly inheritance and possession you shall possâ—ss with me the iâ—heritance of my heavenly kingdom where you shall be for love sons for birth-right heirs for dignity kings for holiness priests and you may be bold to enter into the possession thereof now because my Father prepared and kept it for you ever since the first foundation of the World was laid Immediately after this sentence of Absolution and Benediction every one receiveth his crown which Christ the righteous Judge puâ—s upon their Heads as the reward which he hath promised of his Grace and Mercy unto the Faith and good Works of all them that loved that his appearing Then every one taking his crown from his head shall lay it down as it were at the feet of Christ and prostrating themselves shall with one heart and voice in an heavenly sort and consort say Praise and Honour and Glory and Power and Thanks be unto thee O blessed Lamb who sittest upon the Throne wert killed and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests to reign with thee in thy Kingdom for evermore Amen Then shall they sit in their Thrones and Orders as Judges of the Reprobates and evil Angels by approving aâ—d giving testimony to the righteous Sentence and Judgment of Christ the Supreme Judge After the pronouncing of the Reprobates Sentence and Condemnation Christ will perform two solemn Actions 1. The presenting of all the Elect unto his Father Behold O righteous Father these are they whom thou gavest me I have kept them and none of them is lost I gave them thy word and they believed it and the world hated them because they were not of the world even as I was not of the world And now Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me and that I may be in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one that the world may know that thou hast sent me and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me 2. Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father that is shall cease to execute his office of Mediatorship whereby as he is King Priest Prophet and supreme Head of the Church he suppressed his Enemies and ruled his faithful People by his Spirit Word and Sacraâ—â—â—ts So that his Kingdom of Grace over his Church in this World ceasing he shall 〈◊〉 immediately as he is God equal with â—he Father and the H. Ghost in his Kingdom of Glory for evermore Not that the dignity of his Manhood shall be any thing diminished but that the glory of his Godhead shall be more manifested so that as he is God he shall from thenceforth in all fulness without all external means rule all in all From this Tribunal-seat Christ shall arise and with all his glorious company of Elect Angels and Saints he shall
estate for evermore Therefore it is termed everlasting life and Christ saith that our joy no man shall take from us All other joys be they never so great have an end Ahasuerus's Feast lasted an hundred and eighty days but he and it and all his joys are gone For mortal man to be assumed to heavenly glory to be associated to Angels to be satiated with an delights and joys but for a time were much but to enjoy them for ever without intermission of end who can hear it and not admire it who can muse of it and not â—e amazed at it All the Saints of Christ as soon as they felt once but a true taste of these eternal joys counted all the riches and pleasures of this life to be but loss and dung in respect of that And therefore with uncessant prayers fastings alms-deeds tears faith and good life they laboured to ascertain themselves of this eternal life and for the love thereof they willingly either sold or parted with all their earthly goods and possessions Christ calleth all Christians Merchants Luke 19. and Eternal Life a precious Pearl which a wise Merchant will purchase tho' it cost him all that he hath Matth. 13. Alexander hearing the report of the great riches of the Eastern Country divided forthwith among his Captains and Soldiers all his Kingdom of Macedonia He phaestion asking him what he meant in so doing Alexander answered That he preferr'd the riches of India whereof he hoped shortly to be master before all that his Father Philip had left him in Macedonia And should not Christians then preferr the eternal riches of Heaven so greatly renowned which they shall enjoy ere long before the corruptible trash of the Earth which lasts but for a season Abraham and Sarah left their own Country and Possessions to look for a City whose builder and maker is God and therefore bought no Land but only a place of Burial David preferred one day in this place before a thousand elsewhere yea to be a door-keeper in the house of God rather than to dwell in the richest Tabernacles of wickedness Elias earnestly besought the Lord to receive his Soul into his Kingdom and went willingly tho in a fiery Chariot thitherâ— St. Paul having once seen Heaven continually desired to be dissolved that he might be with Christ. St. Peter having espied but a glimpse of that eternal glory in the Mount wished â—hat he might dwell there all the days of his life saying Master it is good for us to be here How much better doth Peter now think it to be in Heaven it self Christ a little before his death prayeth his Father to receive him into that excellent Glory And the Apostle witnesseth that for the joy which was set before him he endured the Cross and despised the shame If a Man did but once see those joys if it were possible he would endure a hundred deaths to enjoy that happiness but one day Saint Augustine saith That he would be content to endure the torments of hell to gain this joy rather than to lose it Ignatius St. Paul's Scholar Being threatned as he was going to suffer with the cruelty of Torments answered with great courage of Faith Fire Gallows Beasts breaking of my bones quartering of my members crushing of my body all the torments of the devil together let them come upon me so I may enjoy my Lord Jesus and his Kingdom The same constancy shewed Polycarp who could not by any terrours of any kind of death be moved to deny Christ in the least measure With the like resolution answered Basil his persecutors when they would terrifie him with death I will never said he fear Death which can do no more than restore me to him that made me If Ruth left her own Country and followed Naâ—â—i her Mother-in-law to go and dwell with her in the land of Canaan which was by a type of Heaven only upon the fame which she heard of the God of Israel though she had no promise of any portion therein how shouldst thou follow thy holy Mother the Chruch to go unto Christ into the heavenly Canaan wherein God hath given thee an eternal inheritance assured by an holy Covenaâ—t made in the word of God signed with the Blood of his Son and sealed with his Spirit and Sacraments this shall be rhine eternal happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven where thy life shall be a communion with the blessed Trinity thy joy the presence of the Lamb thy exercise singing thy ditty hallelujah thy consorts Saints and Angels where youth flâ—urisheth that never waxeth old beauty lasteth that never fadeth love aboundeth that never cooleth health continueth that never slacketh and â—ife remaineth that never endeth Meditations directing a Christian how to apply to himself without delay the aforesaid knowledge of God and himself THou seest therefore O Man how wretched and cursed thy state is by corruption of â—â—ture without Christ insomuch that whereas the Scriptures do liken wicked men unto Lions Bears Bulls Horses Dogs and such like savage Creatures in their lives it is certain that the condition of an unregenerate man is in his Death more vile than a Dog or the filthiest Creature in the World For the Beast being made but for Man's use when he dieth endeth all his miseries with his death But Man endued with a reasonable and immortal soul made after God's image to serve God when he ends the miseries of this life must account for all his misdeeds and begin to endure these miseries that never shall know end No creature but man is liable to yield at his death an account for his life The brute creatures not having reason shall not be required to make any account for their deeds and good Angels tho' they have reason yet shall they yield no account because they have no sin And as for evil Angels they are without all hope already condemned so that they need not make any further accounts Man only in his death must be God's accountant for his life On the other side thou seest O Man how happy and blessed thy estate is being truly reconciled unto God in Christ in that through the restauration of God's Image and thy restitution into thy soveraignty over other creatures thou art in this life little inferiour to the Angels and shall be in the life to come equal to the Angels Yea in respect of thy Nature exalted by a personal Vnion to the Son of God and by him to the glory of the Trinity superior to the Angels a Fellow-Brother with Angels in spiritual Grace and everlasting Glory Thou hast seen how glorious and perfect God is and how that all thy chief bliss and happiness consisteth in having an eternal Communion with his Majesty Now therefore O impenitent sinner in the bowels of Christ Jesus I intreat thee nay I conjure thee as thou tenderest thy own salvation seriously
man to travel in and the night for him to take his rest so I beseech thee sanctifie unto me this night's rest and sleep that I may enjoy the same as thy sweet blessing and benefit That so this dull and wearied body of mine being refreshed with moderate sleep and rest I may be the better enabled to walk before thee doing all such good works as thou hast appointed when it shall please thee by thy divine Power to waken me the next morning And whilst I sleep do thou O Lord who art the keeper of Israel that neither slamberest nor sleepest watch over me in thy holy providence to protect me from all dangers so that neither the evil Angels of Satan nor any wicked enemy may have any power to do me any harm or evil And to this end give a charge unto thy holy Angels that they at thine appointment may pitch their tents round about me for my defence and safety as thou hast promised that they should do about them that fear thy name And knowing that thy name is a strong Tower of defence unto all those that trust therein I here recommend my self and all that do belong unto me unto thy holy protection and custody If it be thy blessed will to call for me in my sleep O Lord for Christ his sake have mercy upon me and receive my soul into thy heavenly kingdom And if it be thy blessed pleasure to add more days unto my Life O Lord add more amendment unto my days and wean my mind from the love of the world and worldly vanities and cause me more and more to settle my conversation on heaven and heavenly things And perfect daily in me that good work which thou hast begun to the glory of thy Name and the salvation of my sinful soul. O Lord I beseech thee likewise save and defend from all evil and danger thy whole Church our King Charles Queen Mary the noble and hopeful Prince Charles with the rest of the Royal Progeny the religious Lady Elizabeth the King 's only Sister and her Princely Issue keep them all in the sincerity of thy Truth and prosper them in all grace and happiness Bless the Nobility Ministers and Magistrates of these Churches and Kingdoms each of them with those graces which are expedient for their place and calling And be thou O Lord a comfort and consolation to all thy people whom thou hast thought meet to visit with any kind of sickness cross or calamity Hasten O Father the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Make me ever mindful of my last end and of the reckoning that I am to make unto thee therein and in the mean while careful so to foâ—â—ow Christ in the regeneration during this life as that with Christ I may have a portion in the resurrection of the just when this mortal life is ended These graces and all other blessings which thou O Father knowest to be requisite and necessary for me I humbly beg and crave at thy hands in the name and meditation of Jesus Christ thy Son and in that form of Prayer which he himself hath taught me to say unto thee Our Father which art in Heaven c. Another short Evening Prayer O Eternal God and heavenly Father if I were not taught and assured by the promises of thy Gospel and the examples of Peter Mary Magdalen the Publican the Prodigal child and many other penitent sinners that thou art so full of Compassion and so ready to forgive the greatest sinners who are heaviest laden with sin at what time soever they return unto thee with penitent hearts lamenting their sins and imploring thy grace I should despair for mine own sins and be utterly discouraged from presuming to come into thy presence considering the hardness of my heart the unruliness of my affections and the uncleanness of my conversation by means whereof I have trangressed all thy laws and deserved thy curse which might cause my body to be smitten with some fearful disease my soul to languish with the death of sin my good name to be traduced with scandalous reproaches and make mine estate liable to all manner of crosses and casualties And I confess O Lord that thy mercy is the cause that I have not been long ago confounded But O my God as thy mercy only staied thy judgment from falling upon me hitherto so I humbly beseech thee in the bowels of the mercy of Jesus Christ in whom only thou art well pleased that thou wilt not deal with me according to my deserts but that thou wouldst freely and fully remit unto me all my sins and transgressions and that thou wouldst wash them clean from me with the vertue of that most precious blood which thy Son Jesus Christ hath shed for me For he alone is the Phâ—sician and his blood only is the medicine that ean heal my sickness And he is the true brazen Serpent that can cure that poison wherewith the fiery Serpent of my sins have stung and poisoned my sick and wounded soul. And give me I beseech thee thine holy Spirit which may assure me of mine adoption and that may confirm my faith encrease my repentance enlighten my understanding purifie my heart rectifie my will and affections and so sanctifie me â—hroughout that my whole body soul and spiâ—it may be kept unblameable until the glorious â—oming of my Lord Jesus Christ. And now O Lord I give thee most hearty thanks â—nd praise for that thou hast this day preserved me from all harms and perils notwithstanding all my sins and ill deserts And I beseech thee likewise defend me â—his night from the roaring Lyon which â—ight and day seeketh to devour me Watch â—hou O Lord over me this night to keep â—e from his temptations and tyranny and â—et thy mercy shield me from his unappeaâ—ble rage and malice And to this end I â—ommend my self into thy hands and proâ—ection beseeching thee O my Lord and God not to suffer Satan nor any of his eâ—il members to have power to do unto me â—ny hurt or violence this night And grant â—ood Lord that whether I sleep or wake â—ve or die I may sleep wake live and die â—nto thee and to the glory of thy name â—nd the salvation of my soul. Lord bless â—nd defend all thy chosen People every â—here Grant our King a long and happy â—eign over us Bless our gracious Queen Mary with their Princely Progeny the â—ady Elizabeth the King 's only Sister and â—er Princely Issue together with all our â—agistrates and Ministers comfort them â—ho are in misery need or sickness good â—ord give me grace to be one of those â—ise Virgins which may have my heart â—repared like a Lamp furnished with the 〈◊〉 of faith and light of good works to meet the Lord Jesus the sweet Bridegroom of my soul
Whereunto as thou shalt be thrust there shall be such weeping woes and wailing that the cry of the company of Korah Dathan and Abiram when the earth swallowed them up was nothing comparable to this howling nay it will seem unto thee an Hell before thou goest into Hell but to hear it Into which bottomless lake after that thou art once plunged thou shalt ever be falling down and never meet a bottom and in it thou shalt ever lament and none shall pity thee thou shalt always weep for pain of the Fire and yet gnash thy Teeth for the extremity of Cold thou shalt weep to think that thy miseries are past remedy thou shalt weep to think that to repent is to no purpose thou shalt weep to think how for the shadows of short pleasures thou hast incurred these sorrows of eternal pains thou shalt weep to see how that weeping it self can nothing prevail yea in weeping thou shalt weep more tears than there is water in the Sea for the water of the Sea is finite but the weeping of a Reprobate shall be infinite There thy lascivious Eyes shall be afflicted with sights of ghastly Spirits thy curious Ears shall be affrighted with hideous noise of howling Devils and the gnashing Teeth of damned Reprobates thy dainty Nose shall be cloyed with noisom stench of Sulphur thy delicate Taste shall be pined with intolerable hunger thy drunken Throat shall be parched with unquenchable thirst thy Mind shall be tormented to think how for the love of abortive pleasures which perished ere they budded thou so foolishly lost Heaven's Joys and incurredst Hellish Pains which last beyond Eternity Thy Conscience shall ever sting thee like an Adder when thou thinkest how often Christ by his Preachers offered the Remission of Sins and the Kingdom of Heaven freely unto thee if thou wouldest but Believe and Repent and how easily thou mightest have obtained mercy in those days how near thou wast many times to have repented and yet didst suffer the Devil and the World to keep thee still in impenitency and how the day of mercy is now past and will never dawn again How shall thy understanding be racked to consider how for momentany Riches thou hast lost eternal Treasure and changed Heaven's felicity for Hell's misery where every part of thy Body without intermission of pain shall be continually tormented alike In these Hellish Torments thou shalt be for ever deprived of the beatifical sight of GOD wherein consisteth the sovereign good and life of the Soul Thou shalt never see Light nor the least sight of Joy but lie in a perpetual Prison of utter Darkness where shall be no Order but Horrour no Voice but of Blasphemers and Howlers no Noise but of Torturers and tortured no Society but of the Devil and his Angels who being tormented themselves shall have no other ease but to wreak their Fury in tormenting thee Where shall be punishment without Pity misery without mercy sorrow without succour crying without comfort mischief without measure torment without ease where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is never quenched where the Wrath of God shall seize upon the Soul and Body as the flame of fire doth on the lump of Pitch or Brimstone In which flame thou shalt ever be burning and never consumed ever dying and never dead ever roaring in the pangs of Death and never rid of those pangs nor knowing end of thy pains So that after thou hast endured them so many thousand years as there are Grass on the Earth or Sands on the Sea-shore thou art no nearer to have an end of thy torments than thou wast the first day that thou wast cast into them yea so far are they from ending that they are ever but beginning But if after a thousand times so many thousand years thy damned Soul could but conceive a hope that those her torments should have an end this would be some Comfort to think that at length an end will come But as oft as the Mind thinketh of this word Never it is as another Hell in the midst of Hell This thought shall force the damned to cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as much as if they should say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O Lord not ever not ever torment us thus But their Consciences shall answer them as an Echo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ever ever Hence shall arise their doleful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wo and alas for evermore This is that second Death the general perfect fulness of all cursedness and misery which every damned Reprobate must suffer so long as GOD and his Saints shall enjoy bliss and felicity in Heaven for evermore Thus far of the misery of Man in his state of corruption unless he be renewed by Grace in Christ. Now followeth the knowledge of Man's self in respect of his state of Regeneration by Christ. Meditations of the State of a Christian reconciled to God in Christ. NOw let us see how happy a Godly man is in his state of renovation being reconciled to God in Christ. The godly Man whose corrupt Nature is renewed by grace in Christ and become a new creature is blessed in a threefold respect First in his Life Secondly in his Death Thirdly after Death 1. His blessedness during his Life is but in part and that consists in seven things 1. Because he is conceived of the Spirit in the womb of his Mother the Church and is born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God who in Christ is his Father So that the Image of God his Father is renewed in him every day more and more 2. He hath for the Merits of Christ's Sufferings all his sins original and actual with the guilt and punishment belonging to them freely and fully forgiven unto him And all the righteousness of Christ as freely and fully imputed unto him and so God is reconciled unto him and approveth him as righteous in his sight and account 3. He is freed from Satan's bondage and â—s made a brother of Christ a fellow-heir of his Heavenly Kingdom and a spiritual King and Priest to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by Jesus Christ. 4. God spareth him as a Man spareth his own Son that serveth him And this sparing consists In 1. Not taking notice of every fault but bearing with his infirmities Exod. 34. Verse 6 7. A loving Father will not cast his Child out of doors in his Sickness 2. Noâ— making his punishment when he is chastned as great as his deserts Psal. 103. 10. 3. Chastning him moderately when he seeth that he will not by any other means be reclaimed 2 Samuel 7. Verse 14 15. 1 Cor. 11. 32. 4. Graciously accepting his Endeavours notwithstanding the imperfection of his obedience and so preferring the willingness of his mind before the worthiness of his work 2 Cor. 8. 12. 5.
sincere devotion for in the multitude of Opinions most Men have almost lost the practice of true Religion Think not that thou art a Christian good enough because thou dost as the most and art not so bad as the worst No Man is so wicked that he is addicted to all kind of vices for there is an antipathy betwixt some vices but remember that Christ saith Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of Heaven Consider with thy self how far thou comest short of the Pharises in Fasting Praying frequenting the Church and in giving of Alms Think with thy self how many Pagans who never knew Baptism yet in moral virtues and honesty of life do go far beyond thee Where is then the life of Christ thy Master and how far art thou from being a true Christian if thou dost willingly yield to live in any one gross sin thou canst not have a regenerated soul tho' thou reformest thy self like Herod from many other Vices A true Christian must have respect to walk in the truth of his heart in all the Commandments of God alike for saith St. James He that shall offend in one point of the Law wilfully is guilty of all And Peter bids us lay aside not some but all malice guile and hypocrisies c. One sin is enough to damn a Man's Soul without repentance dream not to go to Heaven by any nearer or easier way than Christ hath traced unto us in his word The way to Heaven is not easie or common but strait and narrow yea so narrow that Christ protesteth that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and that those who enter are but a few and that those few cannot get in but by striving and that some of those who strive to enter in shall not be able This all God's Saints whilst they here lived knew well when with so often fastings so earnest prayers so frequent hearing the Word and receiving the Sacraments and wiâ—h such abundance of tears they devouâ—ly begged at the hands of God for Christ's sake to be received into his Kingdom If thou wilt not believe this truth I assure thee that the Devil which perswades thee now that it is easie to attain Heaven will tell thee hereafter that it is the hardest business in the world If therefore thou art desirous to purchase sound assurance of salvation to thy Soul and to go the right and safe way to Heaven get forthwith like a wise Virgin the Oyl of Piety in the lamp of thy conversation that thou maist be in a continual readiness to meet the Bridegroom whether he cometh by Death or by Judgment Which that thou mayest the better do let this be thy daily practice How a private man must begin the morning with Piety AS soon as ever thou awakest in the Morning keep the door of thy heart fast shut that no earthly thought may enter before that God be come in first and let him before all others have the first place therein So all evil thoughts either will not dare to come in or shall the easier be kept out and the heart wilâ— more favour of piety and godliness all 〈◊〉 day after But if thy heart be not at thy first waking filled with some Mâ—dâ—aâ—ions of God and his Word and dâ—ested like the lamp in thae Tabernacle every morning and evening with the Oyl Olive of God's Word and perfumed with the sweet Incense of Prayer Satan will attempt to fill it with worldly cares or fleshly desires so that it will grow unfit for the service of God all the day after sending forth nothing but the stench of corrupt and lying words and of rash and blasphemous Oaths Begin therefore every days work with God's Word and Prayer And offer up unto God upon the Altar of a contrite heart the groans of thy spirit and the calves of thy lips as thy morning sacrifice and the first-fruits of the day and as soon as thou awakest say unto him thus A short Soliloquy when one first wakes in the Morning MY Soul waiteth on thee O Lord more than the Morning Watch watcheth for the Morning O God therefore be merciful unto me and bless me and cause thy face to shine upon me fiâ—l me with thâ— Mercy this Morning so shall I rejoyce and be glad all my days Meditations for the Morning Then Meditate 1. HOw Almighty God can in the Resurrection as easily raise up thy bâ—dy out of he grave from the sleep of death as he hath this Morning wakened thee in thy bed out of the sleep of nature At the dawning of which Resurrection day Christ shall come to be glorified in his Saints and every one of the bodies of the thousands of his Saints being fashioned like unto his glorious body shall shine as bright as the Sun All the Angels shining likewise in their glory the Body of Christ surpassing them all in splendor and glory and the Godhead excelling it If the rising of one Sun makes the Morning-Sky so glorious what a bright-shining and glorious Morning will that be when so many thousand thousands of Bodies far brighter than the Sun shall appear and accompany Christ as hiâ— glorious â—raâ— coming to keep his general Sessions of Righteousness and to judge the wicked Angels and all ungodly Men and let not any transitory profit pleasure or vain glory of this day cause thee to lose thy part and portion of the eternal bliss and glory of that Day which is properly termed the Resurrection of the Just. Beasts have bodily eyes to see the ordinary light of the day but endeavour thou with the eyes of Faith to fore-see the glorious light of that Day 2. That thou knowest not how near the evil spirit which night and day like a roaring Lion walketh about seeking to devour thee was unto thee whilst thou slept'st and wast not able to help thy self and that thou knowest not what Mischief he would have done to thee had not God hedged thee and thine with his ever-waking providence and guarded thee with his holy and blessed Angels 3. If thou hearest the Cock crow remember Pâ—ter to imitate him and call to mind that Cock-crowing sound of the last Trumpet which shall waken thee from the dead and consider in what case thou wert if it sounded now and become such as thou wouldst with to be then lest at that day thou wilt wish that thou hadst never seen this yea curse the day of thy natural birth for want of being new born by spiritual grace When the Cock crows the Thief despairs of his hope and gives over his nights enterprise So the Devil ceaseth to tempt or attempâ— any further when he hears the devout Soul wakening her self with Morning-Prayer 4. Remember
and receiving of the Sacrament to the knowledge of thy saving grace and obedience of thy blessed will for that thou hast bought and redeemed me with the blood of thine only begotten Son from the torments of Hell amd thrall of Satan for that thou hast by faith in Christ freely justified me who am by nature the Child of wrath for that thou hast in good measure sanctified me by thy holy Spirit and given me so large a time to repent together with the means of repentance I thank thee likewise good Lord for my life health wealth food raiment peace prosperity and plenty and for that thou hast preserved me this night from all perils and dangers of body and soul and hast brought me lafe to the beginning of this day And as thou hast now wakned my body from sleep so I beseech thee waken my soul from sin and carnal security and as thou hast caused the light of the day to shine in my bodily eyes so good Lord cause the light of thy Word and holy Spirit to illuminate my heart and give me grace as one of thy children of light to walk in all holy obedience before thy face this day and that I may endeavour to keep faith and a clear conscience towards thee and towards all men in all my thoughts words and dealings And so good Lord bless all my studies and actions which I shall take in hand this day as that they may tend to thy glory the good of others and the comfort of mine own Soul and Conscience in that day when I shall make my final accounts unto thee for them Oh my God keep thy servant that I do no evil unto any man this day and let it be thy blessed will not to suffer the Devil nor his wicked Angels nor any of his evil Members or any malicious enemies to have any power to do me any hurt or violence But let the eye of thy holy providence watch over me for good and not for evil and command thy holy Angels to pitch their Tents round about me for my defence and safety in me going out and coming in as thou hast promised they should do about them that fear thy Name For into thy hands O Father I do here commend my soul and body my actions and all that ever I have to be guided defended and protected by thee being assured that whatsoever thou takest into thy custody cannot perish nor suffer any hurt or harm And if I at any time this day shall through frailty forget thee yet Lord I beseech thee do thou in mercy remember me And I pray not unto thee O Father for my self alone but I beseech thee also be merciful unto thy whole Church and chosen people wheresoever they live upon the face of the earth Defend them from the Rage and Tyranny of the Devil the World and Antichrist Give thy Gospel a free and a joyful passage through the world for the conversion of those who belong to thine Election and Kingdom Bless the Churches and Kingdoms wherein we live with the continuance of Peace Justice and true Religion Defend the King's Majesty from all his Enemies and grant him a long life in health and all happiness to reign over us Bless our gracious Queen Mary Prince Charles the Lady Mary the Lady Elizabeth and her Princely Issue Increase in them all heroical gifts and spiritual graces which may make them fit for those places for which thou hast ordained them Direct all the Nobility Bishops Ministers and Magistrates of this Church and Common-wealth to govern the Commons in true religion justice obedience and tranquility Be merciful unto all the Brethren which fear thee and call upon thy name and comfort as many among them as are sick and comfortless in body or mind especially be favourable to all such as suffer any trouble or persecution for the testimony of thy truth and holy Gospel And give them a gracious deliverance out of all their troubles which way it shall seem best to thy Wisdom for the glory of thy Name the further enlarging of the truth and the more ample increase of their own Comfort and Consolation Hasten thy coming O blessed Saviour and end these sinful days And give me grace that like a wife Virgin I may be prepared with oil in my Lamp to meet thee the sweet Bridegroom of my Soul at thy coming whether it be by the day of Death or of Judgment and then Lord Jesus come when thou wilt even Lord Jesus come quickly These and all other graces which thou knowest needful and necessary for me this day and evermore I humbly beg and crave at thy hands O Father giving thee thy glory in that form of Prayer which Christ himself hath taught me to say unto thee Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy Name c. Meditations to stir us up to Morning Prayer IF when thou art about to pray Satan shall suggest that thy Prayers are too long and that therefore it were better either to omit Prayers or else to cut them shorter meditate that Prayer is thy spiritual sacrifice wherewith God is well pleased and therefore it is so displeasing to the Devil and so irksome to thy Flesh. Bend therefore thy Affections will they nill thy to so holy an exercise assuring thy self that it doth by so much the more please God by how much the more it is unpleasing to thy flesh 2. Forget not how the Holy Ghost puts at down as a special note of reprobates they call not upon the Lord they call not upon God And when Eliphaz supposed that Job had cast off the fear of God and tha◠God had cast Job out of his favour he chargeth him that he restrained prayer 〈◊〉 God making that a sure none of the 〈◊〉 and a sufficient cause of the other On the other side that God hath promised that whosoever shall call on his name shall be saved It is certain that he who maketh no conscience of the duty of Prayer hath no grace of the holy Spirit in him For the spirit of grace and of prayer are one And therefore Grace and Prayer go together But he that can from a penitent heart morning and evening pray unto God it is sure that he hath his measure of grace in this world and he shall have his portion of glory in the life which is to come 3. Remember that as loathing of meat and painfulness of speaking are two symptoms of a sick body So irkesomness of praying when thou talkest with God and carelesness in hearing when God by his Word speaks unto thee are two sure signs of a sick Soul 4. Call to mind the zealous devotions of the Christians in the Primitive Church who spent many whole nights and vigils in watching and praying for the forgiveness of
iniquities are full he will make the land to spue out every Canaanite Religion then and the Service of God in a Family is the best building and surest entailing of House and Land to a Man and his Posterity for the righteous Man shall inherit the Land and dwell therein for ever As therefore thou desirest to have the blessing of God upon thy self and upon thy family either before or after thy own private devotions call every morning all thy family to some convenient room and first either read thy self unto them a Chapter in the Word of God or cause it to be read distinctly by some other If leisure serve thou maist admonish them of some remarkable notes and then kneeling down with them in reverent sort as is before described pray with them in this manner Morning Prayer for a Family O Lord our God and heavenly Father who art the only Creator and Governour of heaven and earth and all things therein contained we confess that we are unworthy to appear in thy sight and presence considering our manifold sins which we have committed against heaven and before thee and how that we have been born in sin and do daily break thy holy Laws and Commandments contrary to our knowledge and consciences albeit that we know that thou art our Creator who hast made us our Redeemer who hast bought us with the blood of thine only begotten Son and our Comforter who bestowest upon us all the good and holy graces which we enjoy in our souls and bodies And if thou should'st but deal with us as our wickedness and unthankfulness have deserved what other thing might we O Lord expect from thee but shame and confusion in this life and in the World to come wrath and everlasting condemnation Yet O Lord in the obedience of thy Commandment and in the confidence which we have in thy unspeakable and endless mercy in thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ we thy poor servants appealing from thy Throne of Justice where we are justly lost and condemned to thy Throne of grace where mercy reigneth to pardon abounding sin do from the bottom of our hearts most humbly beseech thee to remit and forgive unto us all our offences and misdeeds that by the virtue of the precious blood of Jesus Christ thine innocent Lamb which he so abundantly shed to take away the sins of the world all our sins both original and actual may be so cleansed and washed from us as that they may never be laid to our charge nor ever have power to rise up in judgment against us And we beseech thee good Fatherâ— for Christ his death and passions sake thaâ— thou wilt not suffer to fall upon us thaâ— fearful curse and vengeance which thy laâ—â— hath threatned and our sins have justly deserved And for as much O Lord as we arâ— taught by thy word that Idolaters Adulterrers covetous Men contentious Persons Drunkards Gluttons and such like inordinate livers shall not inherit the kingdom of God pour the grace of thy Holy Spirit into our hearts whereby we may be enlightned to see the filthiness of our sins to abhor them and may be more and more stirred up to live in newness of life and love of thy Majesty so that we may daily increase in the obedience of thy Word and in a conscionable care of keeping thy Commandments And now O Lord we render unto thee most hearty thanks for that thou hast elected created redeemed called justified and sanctified us in good measure in this life and given us an assured hope that thou wilt glorifie us in thy heavenly kingdom when this mortal life is ended Likewise we thank thee for our life health wealth liberty prosperity and peace especially O Lord for the continuance of thy holy Gospel among us and for sparing us so long and granting us so gracious a time of repentance Also we praise thee for all other thy mercies bestowed upon us more especially for preserving us this night past from all dangers that might have befaln our souls or bodies And seeing thou hast now brought us safe to the beginning of this day we beseech thee protect and direct us in the same Bless and defend us in our going out and coming in this day and evermore Shield us O Lord from the temptations of the Devil and grant us the custody of thy holy Angels to defend and direct us in all our ways And to this end we recommend our selves and all those that belong unto us and are abroad from us into thy hands and Almighty tuition Lord defend them from all evil prosper them in all graces and fill them with thy goodness Preserve us likewise this day from falling into any gross sin especially those whereunto our Natures are most prone Set a watch before the door of our lips that we offend not thy Majesty by any rash or false Oaths or by any lewd or lying Speeches give unto us patient Minds pure and chaste Hearts and all other graces of thy Spirit which thou knowest to be needful for us that we may the better be enabled to serve thee in holiness and righteousness And seeing that all Man's labour without thy blessing is in vain bless every one of us in our several places and callings direct thou the work of our hands upon us even prosper thou our handy-work for except thou guide us with thy grace our endeavours can have no good success And provide for us all things which thou O Father knowest to be needful for every one of us in our Souls and Bodies this day And grant that we may so pass through the pilgrimage of this short life that our hearts being not setled upon any transitory things which we meet with in the way our Souls may every day be more and more ravished with the love of our home and thine everlasting Kingdom Defend likewise O Lord thy universal Church and every particular Member thereof especially we beseech thee to continue the peace and prosperity of these Churches and Kingdoms wherein we live Preserve and defend from all evils and dangers our gracious King Charles Queen Mary the noble and hopeful Prince Charles with the rest of the Royal Progeny the Lady Elizabeth the King 's only Sister and her Princely Issue Multiply their days in bliss and felicity and afterwards crown them with everlasting Joy and Glory Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates with all graces needful for their places and govern thou them that they may govern us in peace and godliness and of thy mercy O Lord comfort all our brethren that are distressed sick or any way comfortless especially those who are afflicted either with an evil conscience because they have sinned against thy Word or for a good conscience because they will not sin against thy truth Make the first to know that not one drop of the blood of Christ was a drop of vengeance but all drops of grace powerful to procure pardon upon repentance for
which is to come And for as much as thou hast created us to serve thee as all other Creatures to serve us so we beseech thee inspire thy holy Spirit into our hearts that by his illumination and effectual working we may have the inward sight and feeling of our sins and natural corruptions and that we may not be blinded in them through custom as the Reprobates are but that we may more and more loath them and be heartily grieved for them endeavouring by the use of all good means to overcome and get out of them O let us feel the Power of Christ's Death killing sin in our mortal Bodies and the vertue of his Resurrection raising up our Souls to newness of life Convert our hearts subdue our affections regenerate our minds and purifie our nature and suffer us not to be drowned in the stream of those filthy vices and sinful pleasures of thâ—s time where with thousands are carried headlong to eternal destruction but daily frame us more and more to the likeness of thy Son Jesus Christ that in righteousness and true holiness we may so serve and glorifie thee that living in thy fear and dying in thy favour we may in thine appointed time attain to the blessed resurrection of the just unto eternal life In the mean while O Lord increase our faith in the sweet promises of the Gospel and our repentance from dead works the assurance of our hope in thy promises our fear of thy name the hatred of all our sins and our love unto thy children especially those whom we shall see to stand in need of our help and comfort that so by the fruits of Piety and a righteous life we may be assured that thy Holy Spirit doth dwell in us and that we are thy Children by Grace and Adoption And grant us good Father the continuance of health peace maintenance and all other outward things so far forth as thy Divine Wisdom shall think meet and necessary for every one of us And here O Lord according to our bounden duty we confess that thou hast been exceeding merciful unto us all in things of this life but infinitely more merciful in the things of a better life and therefore we do here from our very souls render unto thee all humble and hearty thanks for all thy blessings and benefits bestowed upon our souls and bodies acknowledging thee to be that Father of lights from whom we have received all those good and perfect gifts and unto thee alone for them we ascribe to be due all glory honour and praise both now and evermore But more especially we praise thy divine Majesty for that thou hast defended us this day from all perils and dangersâ— so that none of those judgments which our sins have deserved have fall'n upon any one of us Good Lord forgive us the sins which this day we have committed against thy Divine Majesty and our brethren for Christ his sake be reconciled unto us for them And we beseech thee likewise of the same thine infinite goodness and mercy to defend and protect us and all that belong unto us this night from all dangers of fire robberry terrours of evil angels or any other fear or peril which for our sins might justly fall upon us And that we may be safe under the shadow of thy wings we here commend our Bodies and Souls and all that we have unto thine Almighty protection Lord bless and defend both us and them from all evil And whilst we sleep do thou O Father who never slumberest nor sleepest watch over thy Children and give a charge to thy Holy Angels to pitch their tents round about our House and Dwelling to gâ—ard us from all dangers that sleeping wiâ—h thee we may in the next morning be awakened by thee and so being reâ—reshed with moderate sleep we may be the fitter to set forth thy glory in the conscionable duties of our callings And we beseech thee O Lord to be merciful likewise to thy whole Church and to continue the tranquility of these Kingdoms wherein we live turning from us those plagues which the crying sins of this Nation do cry for Preserve our Religious King Charles Queen Mary the Noble and Hopeful Prince Charles with the rest of the Royal Progeny the religious Lady Elizabeth the King 's only Sister and her Princely Issue all our Magistrates and Ministers all that fear thee and call upon thy Name all our Christian Brethren and Sisters that suffer sickness or any other affliction or misery especially those who any where do suffer persecution for the testimony of thy holy Gospel grant them patience to bear thy cross and deliverance when and which way it shall seem best to thy Divine Wisdom And Lord suffer us never to forget our last end and those reckonings which then we must render unto thee In health and prosperity mâ—ke us mindful of sickness and of the evil day that is behind that these things may not overtake us as a 〈◊〉 but that we may in good measure like wise Virgins be found prepared for the coming of Christ the sweet Bridegroom of our Souls And now O Lord most holy and just we coâ—fess that there is no cause why thou who art so much displeased with sin shouldest hear the prayer of sinners but for his sake only who suffered for sin and sinned not In the only mediation therefore of thine eternal Son Jesus our Lord and Saviour we humbly beg these and all other graces which thou knowest to be needful for us shutting up these our imperfect requests in that most holy Prayer which Christ himself hath taught us to say unto thee Our Father c. Thy grace O Lord Jesus Christ thy love O heavenly Father thy comfort and consolation O holy and blessed Spirit be with us and remain with us this night and for evermore Amen Then saluting one another as becometh Christians who are the Vessels of grace and Temples of the holy Ghost let them in the fear of God depart every one to his rest using some of the former private Meditations for Evening Thus far of the Housholder's publick Practice of Piety with his Family every day Now followeth his Practice of Piety with the Church on the Sabbath-day Meditations of the true manner of practising Piety on the Sabbath-day ALmighty God will have himself worshipped not only in a private manner by private Persons and Families but also in a more publick sort of all the godly joyned together in a visible Church that by this means he may be known not only to be the God and Lord of every singular Person but also of the Creatures of the whole universal World Quest. But why do not we Christians under the New keep the Sabbath on the same seventh day whereon it was kept under the Old Testament I answer because that our Lord Jesus who is the Lord of the Sabbath and whom the Law
the Sabbath for his own profit or pleasure his heart never yet felt what either the fear of God or true 〈…〉 For of this 〈…〉 speech of S. James 〈…〉 faileth in one is guilty of all seeing therefore that God hath fenced this commandment with so many moral reasons it is evident that the Commandment it self is moral 2. Because it was commanded of God to Adam in his Innocency whilst holding his happiness not by faith in Christ's merits but by obedience to God's Law he needed no ceremony shadowing the redemption of Christ. A Sabbath therefore of a seventh day cannot be simply a ceremony but an Essential part of God's worship enjoyned unto Man when there was but one condition of all men And if it was necessary for our first Parents to have a Sabbath day to serve God in their perfection much more need their posterity to keep the Sabbath in the stare of their corruption And seeing God himself kept this day holy how can that man be holy that doth wilfully prophane it 3. Because it is one of the Commandments which God spake with his own mouth and twice wrote with his own fingers in Tables of stone to signifie their authority and perpetuity All that God wrote were moral and perpetual Commandments and those are reckoned Ten in number If this were now but an abrogated Ceremony then there were but nine Commandments the Ceremonial that were to be abrogated by Christ were written all by Moses But this of the Sabbath with the other nine written by God himself were put into the Ark where no Ceremonial Law was put to shew that they should be the perpetual Rules of the Church yet such as none could perfectly fulfil and keep but only Christ. 4. Because Christ professeth that he came not to destroy the moral Law and that the least of them should not be abrogated in his kingdom of the New Testament Insomuch that whosoever breaketh one of the least of these ten Commandments and teacheth men so he should be called the least in the Kingdom of heaven that is he should have no place in his Church Now the Moral Law commandeth one day of seven to be perpetually kept a holy Sabbath And Christ himself expresly mentioneth the keeping of a Sabbath among his Christians at the destruction of Jerusalem about 42. years after his resurrection By which time all the Mosaical ceremonies except eating of blood and things strangled were by a publick Decree of all the Apostles quite abolished and abrogated in Christian Churches And therefore Christ admonished his Disciples to pray that their flight be not in the winter nor on the Sabbath day Not in the winter for that by reason of the foulness of the ways and weather their flight should be more painful and troublsome unto them not upon the Sabbath because it would be more grievous to their hearts to spend that day in toiling to save their lives which the Lord had commanded to be spent in holy exercises to comfort their souls Now if the sanctifying of the Sabbath on this day had been but ceremonial it had been no grief to have fled on this day any more than on any other day of the week But in that Christ doth tender so much this fear and grief of being driven to fly on the Sabbath day and therefore wisheth his to pray unto God to prevent such an occasion he plainly demonstrates that the observation of the Sabbath is no abrogated Ceremony but a Moral Commandment confirmed and established by Christ among Christians If you would know the day whereupon Christ appointed Christians to keep the Sabbath S. John will tell you that is was on the Lord's day Rev. 1. 10. If you will know on what day of the week that was S. Paul will tell you that it was on every first day of the week 1 Cor. 16. 1. As Christ admonished so Christians prayed and according to their prayers God a little before the wars began warned by an Oracle all the Christians in Jerusalem to depart thence and to go to Pella a little town beyond Jordan and so to escape the wrath of God that should fell upon that City and Nation If then a Christian should not without grief of heart fly for the safety of his life on the Lord's day with what joy or comfort can a true Christian neglect the holy exercises of God's worship in the Church to spend the greatest part of the Lord's day in prophane and carnal spâ—rts or servile labour And seeing the destruction of Jerusalem was hath a 〈◊〉 and an assurance of the destruction of the World who seeth not but that the holy Sabbath must continue till the very end of the world 5. Because that all the Ceremonial Law was enjoyned to the Jews only and not to the Gentiles but this Commandment of the holy Sabbath as Matrimoâ—y was instituted of God in the stare of innocency when there was but one state of all men and therefore enjoyned to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews So that all Magistrates and Housholders were commanded to constrain all strangers as well as their own Subjects and Family to observe the holy Sabbath as appears by the fourth Commandment and practice of Nehemiah All the Ceremonies were a partition wall to separate Jews and Gentiles But seeing the Gentiles are bound to keep this Commandment as well as the Jews it is evident that it is no Jewish ceremony And seeing the same authority is for the Sabbath that is for marriage a man may as well say that marriage is but a ceremonial Law as the Sabbath And remember that whereas marriage is termed but once the covenâ—â—â— of God because instituted by God in the beginning the Sabbath is every where called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God because ordained by God in the same beginning both of time state and perpetuity therefore not Ceremonial 6. The corruption of our nature found in the manifest opposition of wicked men and in the secret unwillingness of good men to sanctifie sincerely the Sabbath sufficiently demonstrateth that the Commandment of the Sabbath is spiritual and moral 7. Because that as God by a perpetual decree made the Sun the Moon and other lights in the Firmament of Heaven not only to divided the day from the night but also to be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years so he ordained in the Church on Earth the holy Sabbath to be not only the appointed season for his solemn Worship but also the perpetual rule and measure of time So that as seven days make a week four weeks a month 12 months a year so seven years make a Sabbath of years seven Sabbaths of years a Jubilee 80 Jubilees or 4000 years or after Ezekiel 4000 cubits the whole time of the Old Testament till Christ by his Baptism and Preaching began the
blessed â—eath Say cheerfully Come Lord Jesus 〈◊〉 thy Servant cometh unto thee I am willing Lord help my weakness Seven sanctified Thoughts and mournful Sighs of a sick Man ready to die NOW forasmuch as God of his infinite mercy doth so temper ouâ— pain and sickness that we are not always oppressed with extremity but gives us in the midst of our extremities some â—espite to ease and refresh our selves thou mâ—st have an espâ—cial caâ—e considâ—ring how short a 〈◊〉 thou hast either for ever to lose or to obtain Heaven to make use of every breathing time which God doth afford thâ— and during that 〈…〉 time of ease 〈…〉 roweth with all his force to arrive at the wished Port and that the Traveller never resteth till he come to his Journeys end we fear to descry our Port and therefore would put back our Bark to be longer tossed in this continual tempest We weep to see our jorneys end and therefore desire our journey to be lengthened that we might be more tired with a foul and cumbersome way The Spiritual Sigh thereupon O Lord this life is but a troublesome pilgrimage few in days but full in evils and I am weary of it by reason of my sins Let me therefore O Lord intreat thy Majesty in this my bed of sickness as Elias did under the Juniper tree in his affliction It is now enough O Lord that I have lived so long in this vale of misery take my soul into thy merciful hands for I am no better than my Fathers The Second Thought THink with what a body of sin thou art loaden what great civil wars are contained in a little world the flesh fighting against the Spirit Passion against Reason Earth against Heaven and the World within thee bending it self for the World without thee and that but 〈◊〉 only means remains to end this conflictâ— death which in God's appointed time will separate thy spirit from thy flesh the pure and regenerate part of thy Soul from that part which is impure and unregenerated The spiritual Sigh upon the second Thought OWretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death O my sweet Saviour Jesus Christ thou hast redeemed me with thy precious blood And be cause thou hast delivered my soul from sin minâ— eyes from tears and my feet from falling I do here from the very bottom of my heart ascribe the whole praise and glory of my salvation to thy only grace and mercy saying with the holy Apostle Thanks be unto God which hath given me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Third Thought THink how it behoves thee to be assured that thy soul is Christ's for death hath taken sufficient gages to assure himself of thy bodâ— in that all thy senses be all ready to die save only the sense of pain but sith the beginning of thy being began with pâ—in marvel the less it thy end conclude with dolours But if these temporal dolours which only afflict the body be so painful O Lord who can endure the devouring fire who can abide the everlasting burning The spiritual Sigh upon the third Thought O Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the living God who art the only Physician that caâ—st ease my body from pain and restore my soul to life eternal put thy 〈◊〉 Cross and Death betwixt my 〈◊〉 and thy Judgments and let the merits of thy obedience stand betwixt thy Father's justice and my disobedience and from these bodily pains receive my Soul iâ—to thine everlasting peace for I cry unto thee with Stephen Lord Jesus receive my Spirit The Fourth Thought THink that the worst that Death can do is but to send thy Soul sooner than thy flesh would be willing to Christ and his heavenly Joys remember that that Christ is thy best hope â—he worst therefore of death is rather a help than a harm The spiritual Sigh upon the Fourth Thought O Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of all them that put their trust in thee fâ—rsake â—or him that in misery flâ—â—â—h unto thy graceâ— fâ—â— succour and mercy Oh sound that sweet Voice in the ears of my Soul which thou spakest unto the penitent thief on the cross This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise For I O Lord do with the Apostle from my Soul speak unto thee I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. The Fifth Thought THiâ—k if thou fearest to die That in Mount Sâ—on there is no Death for â—e that believeth in Christ shall never die And if thou desirest to live without 〈◊〉 the life eternal whereunto this 〈…〉 their miseries live with Christ in joys and thither shall all the godly which survive be gathered out of their troubles to enjoy with him eternal rest The Spiritual Sigh on the Fifth Thought O Lord thou seest the malice of Satan who not contenting himself like a roaring Lion all the days and nights of our life to seek our destruction shews himself busiest when thy Children are weakest and nearest to their end O Lord reprove him and preserve my Soul He seeks to terrifie me with death which my sins have deserved but let thy Holy Spirit comâ—ort my Soul with the assurance of eternal life which thy Blood hath purchased Asswage my pain increase my patience and if it be thy blessed will end my troubles for my Soul beseecheth thee with old blessed Simeon Lord now let me thy servant depart in peace according to thy word The Sixth Thought THink with thy self what a blessing God hath bestowed upon thee above many millions in the world that whereas they are either Pagans who worship not the true God or Idolaters who worship the true God falsly thou hast lived in a true Christian Church and hast grace to die in the true Christian Faith and to be buried in the Sepulchre of God's Servants who all wait for the hope of Israel and raising of their Bodies in the resurrection of the Just. The spiritual Sigh upon the sixth Thought O Lord Jesus Christ who art the Resurrection and the life in whom whosoever believeth shall live tho' he were dead I believe that whosover liveth and believeth in thee shall never die I know that I shall rise again in the Resurrection of the last day for I am sure that thou my Redeemer livest And tho' that after my death worms destroy this body yet I shall see thee my Lord and my God in this flesh Grant therefore O Christ for thy bitter death and passions sake that at that day I may be one of them to whom thou wilt pronounce that joyful sentence Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world The Seventh Thought THink with thy self how Christ endured for thee a cursed death and the wrath of God which was due unto thy sins and what