whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne And therefore the opinion of meritorious works and works of supererogation I beleeue cannot be grounded on a true sauing faith for to assume selfe-power to doe good and there-by to merit saluation is meerely against Christ and his merits as is also the pretēded propitiatorie sacrifice of the Masse and the reall being of Christs flesh in the Eucharist not onely not necessary to enter into my beliefe but rather that I beleeue that the death of Christ once for all apprehended by a liuely faith and his merits applyed for the pardon of my sinnes to my vnderstanding 〈◊〉 is a 〈◊〉 sufficient for the washing away of the sins of as many as doe truely beleeue and earnestly repent and doe receiue in that faith the sacramentall signes of the breaking of his body and sheading of his bloud vpon the crosse namely bread and wine faithfully I beleeue that Christ cōtinues really in heauen sitting at the right hand of God a continuall and alone Mediator euen for me and that the heauens shall so contayne him vntill his second comming vntill which time the Sacrament is left vnto all beleeuers to be a remembrance vnto them of his death which is a sufficient propitiation for the sinnes of all beleeuers I doe therefore beleeue that the holy Ghost possessing my heart at my participation of that holy Sacrament worketh faith in me which faith looketh backe vnto the death of Christ vpon the crosse beholding as it were by the eye of the same faith the breaking of his bodie and the powring out of his bloud euen then sacramētally represented vnto mee by the bread broken signifying his bodie and by the wine powred out signifying his bloud which I corporally eating and drinking I doe as verily taste of the vertue of Christs death in my heart by faith as I do taste in my mouth the bread wine And this I beleeue to be the true vse of this holie mystery whereof all faithfull receiuers do no otherwise partake of Christs bodie now crucifyed then the faithfull Iewes did partake of him in eating the Paschall Lambe prefiguring the death of Christ to come as now we solemnize the commemoration of his death past but that they had it vnder a more darke vayle which now being taken away appeareth to vs most perspicuously and cleerly MEDIT. X. Christ elected none for foreseene workes I Doe not beleeue that GOD elected me for the foreseen good works that I would doe for I disclayme all inherent goodnesse by nature and doe belieue that God giues me both will and the power to doe good and all the good that I doe I acknowledge to be of God and the euill that I doe to bee of my selfe therefore the good that I doe I doe not beleeue to be the cause but the effect of mine election I confesse that God did foreknow I would doe good not but that hee likewise forepurposed to indue me with his owne Spirit whereby I should doe it therefore is not the worke mine but the Spirits that God hath giuen me for if I should beleeue that God foresaw the good that I setting the Spirit of God aside should doe and therefore did elect mee were it not to beleeue that mine own workes were the cause of mine election and so assume vnto my selfe power to worke mine owne saluation which God forbid God giues the wil and the power to worke and rewards the worke not as a debt hee owes mee for my worke but as he first gaue me the will and the power freely so hee rewards not my work but manifesteth his mercie wherein hee likewise as hee freely elected mee so hee freely bestowes vpon me his saluation through his owne meanes and therefore I rather vtterly condemne my best works then to expect any meritorious reward for them I feele the force of mine owne corruption daily and that appeares in the whole course of my life by the fruits which of them-selues are euer euill which I cannot suppresse but by the grace of GOD in Christ. If I knewe nothing by my selfe to yeeld me cause of doubt yet were not I thereby iustified But I know no good in my selfe what shall I say then am I condemned God forbid for as God did freely elect mee so hee freely iustifies mee not for mine owne good workes the best of which are imperfect but of his owne free mercie by imputing Christs righteousnesse and merits vnto me in whom and with whom a Crowne of glorie is laid vp in heauen euen for mee from whose fulnesse I receiue euen here grace for grace whereby and not by any meanes of mine owne I doe grow and increase and the elder I waxe in Christ the more I fasten my roote and the more I flourish in the Spirit for They that are planted in the Courts of the Lord shall flourish in their age and bring forth fruit and happy are they that are in Christ Iesus whom neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come shall separate from the loue of God Shall not Death then separate me from Christ no it shall not only not separate me but it shall bring me into his Real and Royall presence into his Kingdome of glorie new Ierusalem where I shall see his Maiestie as farre to exceed the glorie of Salomon in the day of his magnificent Coronation as the Sunne exceedes in brightnesse the darkest and blackest cloud Is this then the hurt that Death can doe vnto mee and shall I feare it will a wise man refuse a rich possession for not passing to it by an ordinarie bridge by which hee hath seene millions goe before him And shall I desire to dwell in this base and beggerly cottage this ruined and rotten house of clay in labour trauaile care feare trouble enuie griefe and a thousand miseries rather then passing by the ordinaire way of death to inherit a glorious Kingdom God forbid I desire farre rather to be with CHRIST in glorie which glorie I beleeue farre surpasseth both what is or can be spoken or conceiued of it The very Angels that presently partake of it cannot expresse it nay the holy Ghost though hee doe assure vs that it is prepared for all Gods elect yet the very fulnesse of it is not reueiled words cannot so sufficiently declare it as that the most illuminate man can expresse it not Paul himselfe though hee were taken vp into the third Heauen where hee heard and no doubt sawe wonderfull things yet could hee not discouer them to the full apprehension of any mortall But by the glorie that God hath reueiled in his works by the Firmament the Sunne the Moone the Stars the Seas the Earth the order and course of all his creatures visible may leade vs to iudge by way of comparison That if the things for the vse of mortall men here bee so wonderfull and glorious what are they
dangerous thing to accompanie such as liue viciously and inordinately for of them yee shall but learne to be vicious and so to perish with them through GODS iust iudgement therefore if yee haue any fellowship with such come from among them returne to GOD that hee may returne to you trust in him that hee may protect you and direct you let your wils be guided and gouerned by his reueiled will and so with patience possesse your soules bee not led by your owne wisedome but apply your mindes and wills to his will who is wisedome it selfe Aske of him and he will giue you wisedome yea such wisdome as like as the Serpent which Aaron made of the rod did eate vp the Serpents of the Sorcerers shall preuent the circumuenting practices and policies of the hypocriticall flatterers and bring their counsels plotted against you to the like end as he brought Achitophels Hee will suppresse them that oppresse you will laugh them to scorne that haue you in derision therefore yet a little while wait and the wicked shall not appeare and your insolent enemies whatsoeuer they be shall be put to silence and if ye be meeke ye shall possesse a competent portion in the earth and shal haue your delight in the multitude of peace as worldlings haue in the multitude of plenty whose riches are seene and felt and gotten and lost but the riches that yee shall possesse are great yet not seene nor felt of any but of such as enioy them they are not gotten but freely giuen and cannot be lost for hee that giues them shal continue them in you to you and for you What are riches of the world honor of the person libertie of the body or pleasure of the minde they seem to be somthing for all the wise men of the world seeke after them but being duely considered they are found but shaddowes which wee see doe often-times suddenly vanish and he that enioyeth them most and longest is nothing the better and he that hath of them least and but a moment is nothing the worse And what is pouertie ignominie captiuitie miserie but seeming not necessarie causes of griefe vnder all which the minde of the sanctified man passeth the course of this life with farre more inward alacritie and true consolation then the worldly man that passeth his life in al carnall contentment and is more willing and readie to die hauing his cōscience cleer through faith in Christ then the carnall man can bee The godly poore haue their dependance on Gods prouidence for the supply of their wants and the godly rich accounts his wealth not his but Gods that gaue them and is readie to restore them and so to dispose them as GOD requireth him but the rich that haue their hope in earthly things haue no willing minde to leaue them but here to possesse them rather then to goe they know not whither after death Miserable riches that tye the mindes of the possessors of them to the loue of this vncertaine life and to an vncertaine knowledge of the life to come The defence of the poore and needie abused slandered oppressed and wronged by the worldlings consisteth in their faith in GOD through Christ. I will vp saith the Lord and will set them at libertie whom the wicked haue snared If worldly men bee wronged they will vp in their owne defence they wil bring forth the vveapons of their might their gold and siluer and be therewith reuenged against such as rise vp against them therefore is their pride as a chaine of gold about their necks at whose glorie the poore must bow and though he be content to become the rich mans foot-stoole yet many times the rich doe with the poore as Aesops Wolfe did with the Lamb who although hee dranke of the current below the Wolfe yet the Wolfe checkt him for troubling the water So oftentimes the rich picke causelesse quarrels against the poore when they cannot haue a cōfining Vineyard house or adiacent field that they desire of them I intimate this vnto you to the end that as much as in you shall bee you giue place to the wrath of wicked men not recōpensing vnto them euill for euill but rather good for euill knowing it is the will of your heauenly Father so to heape coles of fire vpon such wicked men among whom I know may also bee numbred many poore men that haue not in them faith the feare of God for as it is not riches that of themselues doe make a man euill so it is not pouertie of it selfe makes a man good PART IX More euill then good men in the world TO consider duely the estate of the world as common experience at this death findes it It may bee obserued that the world is more fraught with wicked then with men fearing God so that it followeth that there are more men apt and ready to hurt then able or willing to helpe the distressed and as the multitude is great so their actions and conditions are many diuers Some men seeme onely hurtfull vnto themselues according to a foolish prouerbe Hee is no mans foe but his owne as the drunkard speudthrift who yet are not only foes to themselues but to others notwithstanding the prouerbe drawing them into their companies and wicked societies by their examples many take the same most vngodly course with them following likewise forbidden excesse and riot Some are apparantly hurtfull to themselues and others as the enuious and malicious man who howsoeuer hee aymes to hurt another hee may misse of his purpose but neuer of wounding himselfe for his will to doe the euill he intended is imputed to him in diuine Iustice as the deede done God in his prouidēce preuenting the act for his sake to whom it was intended and howsoeuer God permit a wicked man to hurt one that feares GOD in body goods or reputation the hurt that he giues is onely outward and may worke to the good of him that is hurt but hee that hurts receiues a deadly wound within and so much the more grieuous by how much it is little felt for an enuious man hurts with desire and reioyceth in his wicked deede If therefore there come a Shemei to raile causelesse vpon you a Iudas to betray you a Cain causelesse to kill you false witnesses to accuse you as the wieked Iudges did Susanna or an Achab or a lezabel to wrest from you both life and liuing or whatsoeuer crosse or calamitie soeuer befall you through the malice of men grudge not thereat nor seeke despitefull reuenge but examine your consciences whether ye be guiltie of that which is laid to your charge if so confesse it and repent it or whether ye haue secretly offended GOD in some thing whereof yee were neuer accused or for which yee were neuer punished Thinke if ye finde any such thing in your selues though no man else knowes it
sinners I had perished through thy iust iudgement long agone euen in my youth for as soone as I was able to speake though vnderstanding little I indeuoured to excuse my childly errors with vntruths falshood lying growing to mans estate and to the abilitie to act greater sinnes I omitted no one forbidden vanitie offered to any of my sences but greedily imbraced it and as I increased in yeeres and in strength to sinne so did I increase in cōmitting wickednesse neither reuerencing thee nor seeking to know thee or to obey thee according to my dutie but rebelled against thee and thy Lawes as if thy threats against sinne and sinners had been only to terrifie and not to punish them And thy promises of spirituall comforts and future happines had been only to withdraw mee from my carnall delights wherein I reposed all my felicitie perswading my selfe there was no danger in sin nor reward for well-doing Thus foolish was I and ignorant by nature shewing that I had no originall goodnesse in mee but corrupt in my conception sinfull in my birth and wicked in my life and consequently the childe of wrath This masse of miserie befell me by the fall of the first man ADAM in whom I was first good and pure and righteous and holy like vnto thee O God of heauen And had not Adam defaced that Image of sanctitie in himselfe I should haue remained holy as thou art holy for euer But by his disobedience I lost in him all obedience towards thee and became a Rebell like vnto him euen in his loynes for in him I was conceiued in sinne and through the corruption of that my conception I only bring forth iniquitie Beeing thus miserably cast downe from glorie to shame from light to darknesse from sanctitie to sin from Heauen to Hell to whom shall I appeale for reliefe whose aide shall I craue for the obtayning of thy fauour loue againe for being depriued of thee I am dead being aliue if I die without thee I die eternally But Lord now I know thee and whom thou hast sent IESVS CHRIST and I know that in thy seuere iustice through him thou remembrest mercie and in thy fierce wrath thou shewest compassion which in nothing appeareth so much as in the performance of thy promise in sending thy Sonne the Seede of the Woman who according to thy Couenant hath conquered Satan and trodden downe the Serpent by whome our first Parents were inuenomed and stung vnto death and I in them But now in and by that sacred Seede Iesus Christ that poysonous sting is remoued and all beleeuers restored to life Therefore Lord Iesu thou Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world haue mercie vpon me take away my sins wash me and make mee cleane through thy bloud from all my filthinesse giue me a liuely faith to take hold of thy merits and to depend vpon thy promises of saluation And that I may apply thy salutarie death vnto my sicke and diseased soule wounded by the dart of sinne and guilt of disobedience set thy righteousnesse against my sins and thine obedience to my disobedience couer me with the Robe of thine owne Innocencie that the foulenesse of my deseruings may be hidden from mine highly-offended God who by promise will impute thy most absolute integritie to be mine as he imputed and laid all the sinnes of Adams posterity vpon thee as thine Lord now at the last lighten mine vnderstanding purifie my heart sanctifie my will order all mine affections and actions and rectifie so my conuersation as I may walke as thy truly adopted sonne in holinesse and true righteousnesse and be kept euer blamelesse vntill the glorious appearing of Christ my Sauiour in whose name I now come vnto thee most louing and mercifull Father beseeching thee for his sake that I feeling and confessing the hainousnesse of my sinnes past and groning vnder the burden of them may feele the release and ease of them in that I through thy holy Spirit am assured and stedfastly doe beleeue that CHRIST my most louing Redeemer hath borne the burden of them euen for me Grant deare Father that I being assured hereof in my conscience may be renewed in the inner man through thy grace that I may hate detest and abhor sinne and indeuour to liue according to thy will all the dayes of my life And for as much gracious Lord God as I must here continue during thine appointed time in this dangerous wildernesse of many vanities subiect to many troubles tryed with many temptations and compassed with many and infinite miseries and dangers hauing of my selfe no succour no defence no safetie but in thine alone fauour power and prouidence I humbly pray and beseech thee O mercifull Lord God to looke downe from heauen vpon me in mercy and louing kindnesse Shew mee thy wayes teach mee thy pathes leade mee euer in thy Truth and instruct me in the things that I ought to learne and learne mee how to practise to leade my life according vnto the same lest I follow vanities and delight in sinne lest I fall into troubles and there bee none to deliuer mee lest Sathan preuaile against me and I fall from thee and lest I fall into dangers and perish in my miseries Turne thy face towards me O Lord and cheere me with the brightnesse of thine amiable countenance for when thou turnest thy face from me I faint and when thou hidest thy countenance I fall fearefully As long as thou art with me I am safe when thou leauest mee then troubles afflict me enemies insult me and triumph ouer me I am then subiect to all miseries Satan with his temptations preuaileth my corrupt affections misleade me the world with vanities distract me and I am not able to looke vp my heart is cast downe my mind is estranged from all goodnesse and my will is carried into all forbidden things So that I am as a dead man or rather no man but the meere image of a man in whom dwelleth neither right reason nor humane vnderstāding a beast in thy sight Hide not therefore thy face from me O Lord nor cast thy seruant away in displeasure Thou hast been euer and in all things my succour leaue me not now O Lord nor forsake me O God of my saluation But continue thy loue and fauour towards mee that I may againe recouer my spirituall strength and be enabled to serue thee with a faithfull constant and obedient heart vnto the end In my necessitie furnish me O Lord with all competent meanes for the maintenāce of my present life and estate here in plen tie make me truly thankefull in want patient in sicknesse be thou my Physician and heale me and preuent Satan that he in the time of my finall visitation ouer charge me not laying before the eyes of my weake conscience my sins past but arme me with the assurance of thy mercies and with a liuely hope of future glorie with thee in the heauens
heart a sanctified spirit that I may walke here before thée and here doe thy will as thy Saints and heauenly Companies doe thy will in Heauen that in this earthly Pilgrimage I may bee numbred among thy Saints Militant that I may not feare to bee translated from this place of banishment vnto that Inheritance purchased by Christ my Redéemer where I shall partake of his glory with thy Saints now Triumphant in that most glorious new Ierusalem While I liue here let thy Word bée deare vnto me let the Crosse of my Lord and Sauiour Christ be euer before the eyes of my mind euer assuring my selfe that his death is my life make mee therefore holy as he is holy And as hee layd downe his most sacred bodie in the Earth for a time and rose againe to glorie and as hee resigned his afflicted yet innocent Soule into thy hands euen for me to follow him so grant that whensoeuer or howsoeuer my soule shall leaue this mortall bodie it may follow my Loue Iesus to the place to which hee is gone before While I liue here leaue me not Father vnto my selfe for I am weake and mine enemies are strong but thou art Truth the strongest kéepe mée vnder thy feathers and bind mée vp in the bundle of thine Elect neuer to be deuided or set apart from them that shall bee saued make my life perfect to euery good worke and worke in mee that which is pleasant in thy sight through Jesus Christ Amen Lord increase and euer confirme my faith MEDIT. III. THough death now be the end of my fleshly part it is sufficient that I am assured of the continuing life of my soule after the temporall death of my body which yet shall not so perish but it shall haue a future being and bee re-vnited to my soule and so bee made one glorified body by the glory of Christ my Redeemer The present consideration of death can therefore but put mee in minde of and giue mee desire to bee dissolued to enioy a better life And thereby so much the more mooue me to frame my life in my health as if I were presently dying Death is certaine common to all the time vncertaine to all yet all liue not as if their death were neer or that they did think that death would come at all But let no man deceiue himselfe by his long life that death is farre off or that it hath forgotten him it will come as a Thiefe suddenly to some sooner to some later to all when they least suspect it In the first Age of the World men liued long many hundred yeeres Methusalah almost one thousand yeeres Adam Noah and many others to an extraordinarie age In their dayes it might haue beene conceiued by the number of their yeeres that they might haue liued many thousand yeeres But being all seene in their times and turnes to dye the opinion of a perpetuall life in earth was found erronious As the World grew in age so decreased the ages of men In Dauids time the age of man was seldome aboue threescore and ten if hee liued to fourescore it was reputed a great age rare yet nothing pleasant to the partie for weaknesse and infirmities of so many kinds commonly possesse the bodies and mindes of that age as these dayes are but a burden vnto them yeelding only sorrow heauinesse griefes and miseries And yet many of that decrepit age are loth to dye which may argue no godly preceding life Moses before Dauids time liued one hundred twenty yeeres and was then in that state of strength and agilitie of bodie and perfection of his sences as in his best age and strongest yeeres yet he dyed Mine own naturall father liued one hundred and three yeeres lusty and strong much admired for his agilitie euen to that age yet I doe not by these precedents collect any probabilitie or hope that I shall liue much more then halfe his yeeres though I presently feele no apparant tokens but desire of my dissolution And therefore I account my life but a meere watch for the time of death If I had seene the man that had liued many thousand yeeres and were yet in health and strength I should bee farre from flattering my selfe that I might liue the longer for his long life yet I see that one man couets to attaine vnto the yeeres of the most aged The man of sixtie or seuentie yeeres desires to liue to eightie he of eightie to one hundred yet doe we scarcely see one man of ten thousand to see one hundred nor one of one hundred seuentie yeeres nor one of fiftie fortie yeeres If I should liue one hundred yeeres when death comes it is but as if I were in my Cradle Twentie yeeres in expectation seemeth farre more then one hundred yeeres past I thinke it therefore wisedome not to allow vnto my selfe the assurance of many yeeres not of many dayes nay not of one houre for I see some suddenly stricken dead yea in a moment a fearefull spectacle yet little moouing some beholders But this vse Wisedome teacheth me to make of other mens lots namely to keepe continuall watch ouer my desires wordes and wayes that I may so liue as if I saw Death with his Dart at my brest Death then being certaine and his comming vncertayne by the rule of right reason I should bee alwayes readily prepared for Death imports feare and Feare presupposeth danger Danger requireth watchfulnesse Watchfulnesse patience Patience Faith and Hope As touching the first namely feare it is both filial and son-like and seruile or slauish which last I exempt as not the feare required of mee in this expectation and watchfulnes for death But the feare which becomes a most dutifull sonne to a most louing father is it wherewith I desire alwaies to be truly qualified hauing an eye euer vnto God as the eye of a Mayden to the hand of her Mistris fearing in loue not louing for feare When Baruch read the booke of the curses against Iudah and Israel vnto the people both the good and the bad feared Some fearing as children desiring to be reformed according to the Law of the Lord some as slaues feared the horror of punishment threatned without eyther the loue of God or their owne reformation This is not the feare that Salomon prescribes where he saies Feare ye the Lord all his Saints and depart from euil He that sayes he feareth God and walketh not in his wayes feareth not at all as he ought to feare and that for want of Wisedome for as wisedome is giuen to them that feare God so doth the feare of God shew it selfe by wisedome namely by gouerning his life according to the Word of God Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord and walketh in his waies So that it is not in mee nor of my selfe to feare God I must be first blessed of God before I can truly
the patient man which on their parts that rayle on him is euill spoken of but on his part is glorified The Lord is a God of iudgement and they are blessed that waite on him with patience Attendance another branch of Watchfulnesse may bee said an expectation with patience for a thing feared or desired how feare and desire may bee of one and the same thing in one and the same subiect being of contrarie effects may bee thus answered Feare in this place is not seruile but filiall and therefore may well stand with the desire A sonne hauing a charge imposed by his louing father though hee indeuour to performe the thing coÌ„manded neuer so carefully feareth yet that hee may come short of some part of his dutie and therefore feareth how his father wil accept of what hee hath done and yet being perswaded through a cleane and cleare conscience that hee hath done his best endeuour hopeth his father will take it well and therefore desireth that his father would returne to obserue the performance of that he had in charge Although hee cannot make his account with such absolute perfection as hee should yet no doubt his father caÌ„not but hold him excusable in shewing his good will to doe it well so stands his feare with desire So I hauing charge of mine heauenly Father to doe his Commandements I confesse I cannot performe them as I ought though I haue a desire and a feare lest when I haue done all what I can I may yet bee found vnprofitable not withstanding my greatest care and most diligent attendance of the outward part to which attendance is required Attention namely the minde and will which I conceiue to be two-fold The first is to the Will and Word of God to practise it The second to mine owne imperfections to reforme them and to keepe mine affections in due coÌ„formitie with the CoÌ„mandements of God Attention to the Will and Word of God is that whereby I am directed to performe that which is honest iust and right and that in faith wayting with patience the reward set before me not as a reward for my worke done but as a free gift of God in Christ in whom and by whom my worke is accepted as perfect though imperfect Attention to mine owne imperfections is also double of the soule and of the bodie As touching the first it is to hearken vnto as it were and obserue the motions of my corrupt heart not to yeeld vnto and to fulfill them but to suppresse and preueÌ„t the fruits that grow from them euen in the buds though they seeme and shew themselues neuer so pleasant sweet and delectable for they breed Securitie a carelesse life insensible of true patience and so become subiect to a sudden surprize And the rather for want of the second attention namely to the vncertayne estare of my feeble bodie which is subiect besides infinite casualties being in health to a thousand infirmities and mortal diseases which may suddenly dissolue this mortall life though they bee not at the instant feared nor felt This Attendance Attention are the fruits and effects of Watchfulnesse through Patience for without patience who can waite for any future benefite The Husband-man is brought in by the Holy Ghost an example of wayting with patience for he committeth and commendeth the seed to the earth with great diligence hee waites for the crop with patience and attends the former and latter raine and by due attention hearkens how the course of things goe that he may make the best of his commodities Doth nature afford men this care patience attendance and attention in vvorldly and perishing things And shall I come short of these in spirituall and heauenly things and not rather in watchfulnes patience and godly obedience looke for the end of this mortalitie in hope to reape and receiue celestiall and eternall glorie God forbid But I acknowledge that all my whatsoeuer watchfulnesse in patience or suffering deserues not the least graine of glorie for I am often not only beset with temptations to sinne but also pressed with the continuall cares and troubles of this life and I through weaknesse doe yeeld vnto the one and faint vnder the burden of the other and in stead of true watchfulnesse with patience I fall either into the slumber of Socuratia oâ—â—nto a kind of seruile feare or despaire and most seldome watch I with the open eyes of true attention and patience A kinde of patience I seeme to haue but mixed often-times with a kinde of grudging discontent at my corporall and domesticke crosses and worldly troubles where with I often finde my selfe much oppressed which yet God I know for no other cause layeth vpon mee but to make me sensible of mine owne imperfections and to correct mee for and to reforme sinne in â—e while I liue in thè world that I bâ— not condemned with the world though it bee vnto me for the time very vnpleasant vntill I enter into consideration that through many tribulations I must enter into the Kingdom of heauen and that the man is blessed whome God correcteth and God giueth that blessed man patience to bear his corrections with-out grudging and giueth alwayes a comfortable issue to euery temptation There is a kinde of patience wherein a man indureth that which hee would and cannot auoid this hath the name but not the nature of that true patience which I wish to haue The patience which I indeuour to attaine vnto is a constant bearing of my crosses and a settled expectation through faith for the end of that which cannot bee auoyded nor better obtayned but by death Therefore casting aside all hope of temporall freedom the feare of death I only relie vpon and wait the performance of his promise who hath reserued all true freedome of those that are his of his owne free mercy in the heauens onely as from hunger thirst nakednesse enemies labours sicknes sinnes and all other miseries whatsoeuer which in this life short and euill I am inforced yet with patience to endure This freedome I know I cannot attayne vnto but by changing this life by death and therefore with patience I daily expect it reuerencing the intire loue of mine heauenly Father in chastising me here and doe acknowledge the riches of his bountifulnesse patience and long suffering that he hath spared mee so long to liue where hee might iustly haue coÌ„founded me long agone for my sinnes but contrarily hath fauourably kept me vnder his Fatherly discipline thereby to leade me in the way I ought to walke in as in watchfulnesse patience attendance and attention according to godlinesse through IESVS CHRIST in whose name I will addresse my prayers vnto my heauenly Father for the Spirit of patience to wait for a better life by death A Prayer for patient wayting for a future better life by death fit to be said
in sicknesse The Prayer O Lord my God I waite on thée My soule keepeth silence vnto thee for of thee commeth my saluation therefore do I submit my self vnto thy will giuing thée thankes for thy patience towards me in Jesus Christ nor thou hast shewed thy selfe towardes mee slowe to wrath and full of goodnesse and mercy Increase euer more and more thy graces towards mee that in this my Pilgrimage towardes my graue I may possesse my soule in patience waiting thy good time for my deliuerie for here where I now dwel I neither hear nor sée taste nor touch any truly comfortable thing only thy Word is my spirituall consolation and the hope of future glorie my ioy And were I not fed with the hope of a better life by death I were of all men most miserable for nature could not with patience beare the burden of this miserable life being so ful of all infirmities both of body and mind so fraught with sins of all sorts and accompanied with so many and sundry crosses and finally subiect to thy seuere Judgement But thy fauour and thy loue and thy patience towards me worheth in me patience knowing that the time is comming and at hand wherein I shal be fréed from this mortal and miserable to enioy a life immortall and glorious O confirme therefore increase the patience attendance and attention which thou hast begun in me that after I haue here done thy will I may receiue the promise wherein thou hast assured me that the patient abiding of the righteous shall be gladnesse Thou art a God of mercy and blessed are they that waite for thee Grant therefore Lord that I may be found blamelesse in the day of my distation and that I may here walke worthy of thee through Christ beeing strengthned with al might thrugh thy glorious power to all patience and long suffering with ioyfulnes Amen Lord increase my faith MEDIT. VIII Of Repentance and Merit NO man be he neuer so holy is free froÌ„ sinne and therefore neuer free from occâ—sions to mooue him to Repentance And I acknowledge that Repentance Patience Watchfulnesse Attendance and Attention are of no force vnlesse Faith be the ground of euery of them For it sufficeth mee not to bee sorrie for my sins as it séemeth Iudas and Kain were vn lesse by Faith I can feele assure my selfe that my sinnes are also pardoned as neither of them did for it is the free gift of God which God vouchsafed not to them Neither is it sufficient for mee to watch with Patience or to attend the bringing forth of outward oftentiue and vaine-glorious works but I must feele in my selfe the infallible tokens of mine effectuall calling and ingrafting into Christ through Faith before I can bring forth workes worthy amendment of life which is true Repentance Some tokens of mine effectuall calling I feâ—le in my selfe for I desire to do good yet euen then is euill present with me I delight in the Law of God as conceruing the inner man Namely as I am regenerate But I see another Law in my members rebelling against the Law of my minde and lending me captiue vnto the Law of sinne which is in my members So that I cannot doe the good I would doe but the euill which I would not do that I doe Should I then thinke that because I feele not the signes of my calling in perfection and because I am not free from all touch of infirmities and sinnes in thought word and deed that therefore I haue no Repentance God forbid for to perswade my selfe that I haue no sinne were to deifie my selfe and to make mee equall with Christ as doe those that are faithed from yet by their workes of Merit and of Supererogation presume to affirme that they can bring not only them-selues but others to saluation whose arrogate Merit stinkes before God making the death of Christ of none effect the highest Blasphemie that mortall man can spew out against the Trinitie for hereby is the most vnsearchable loue of God the Father in sending his Sonne made vain and fruitlesse the obedience of Christ to his Fathers will made needlesse and his death causlesse and the worke of the Holy Ghost who giueth Faith in the hearts of them that shall bee saued excluded and the corrupt heart of miserable man wherein by nature is nothing but sinne the dregges whereof will remaine euen in the regenerate man during this mortall life exalted aboue the merits of Christ. Which Blasphemy be farre from me Hee that can merit his owne Saluation needs no Repentance which I disclay me and cleaue only and alone to the merits of Christ my Sauiour in whom my Repentance imperfect is reputed true Repentance howsoeuer the â—ing of sinne remaines in me yet without mortall venome only to keepe me euer in minde of mine imperfections for when sinfull motions arise in mee I cannot but acknowledge in my selfe corruption which cannot but humble mee before God and occasion me to pray for the Spirit of Repentance and that God will deliuer mee from this bodie of sinne A Prayer for true Repentance and a reformed life The Prayer O Lord my God I come here into thy presence fearefull to looke vp to Heauen where thou sittest from whence thou beholdest all my wayes and obseruest all mine actions in earth cursed and euill and wherein I haue too too long wallowed my selfe and as it were bathed my selfe in the bloud of mine owne soule which I haue diuersly wounded through my sinnes seldome or neuer calling my selfe to an account what I haue done but resting secure haue followed vanitie vpon vanity heaping â—â—â—ne vpon sin as if there were neither pleasure nor profit but in a carnall course of life O touch my heart with a true sorrow for euery idle thought of my heart for euery vaine word of my mouth and for euery act that I haue commited against thy sacred Maiestie giue mee grace to call to minde my sinnes of all sorts of all seasons and of all places howsoeuer or wheresoeuer I haue done and committed them that they appearing vnto mee in their vgly likenesse I may truely lothe them hate and abhorre them and vnfainedly repent them while Ihane time and while thy Mercies may be found for in death there is no remeÌ„brance of thee and in the graue who shall prayse thee Returne O Lord deliuer my soule saue mee for thy mercies sake withdraw not thy tender mercie from mee O Lord let thy Merrie and thy Truth alwayes preserue me Open Lord my dimme eyes the â—ies of my heart that I may hence-forth sée and walke in thy wayes Soften and molliste my hard and stonie heart that with Peter I may go out of my sinnes and bitterly bewaile them Send thy light and thy truth let them lead mee let them bring me vnto thine holy Mountaine and to thy Tabernacles Giue me a truly repenting heart through a liuely Faith in the Merits
of thy Sonne in whom say vnto my Soule and seale it vnto mee by thy holy Spirit that thou art my Saluation Lord increase my faith and accept my Repentance MEDIT. IX Of Faith and Hope and the effects of them both and of the glorie to come FAITH HOPE the maine Pillars whervpō are builded all other Diuine Vertues are the meere gift of God without which I doe acknowledge I cannot be saued Saint Paul writing vnto the Hebrewes describes the faith whereby I beleeue in Christ not to be a dead but a working faith knowne by the effects whereof are many Examples Rom. 11. And whereby many most worthy men approued themselues to bee of God and to bee beloued of God who by their faith apprehended things absent and vnseene to their vnspeakable comfort as really and truly a◠if they had beene present and visible confirming thereby that faith is the ground of things which are hoped for and the euidence of things which are not seene By this our faithfull Fore-fathers saw Christ long before he came in the flesh and beleeued him to come to bee the Messiah Moses saith Christ saw my dayes So did the Prophets Dauid and many other who hoped for that which they saw not yet at length obtained the visible glorie of the same Sonne of God by whom and in whose bloud to bee shed they were saued Without faith howsoeuer a man may liue in a seeming sincere course of life before men though he bee obserued to doe no man wrong yet if hee take not hold of Christ by this liuely faith if hee imbrace not his Word lay it vp in his heart if he bring not forth fruits worthy amendment of life he pleaseth not God for in nothing is GOD pleased but in and by his Sonne and is delighted is none but in such as seeke him and serue him in and by his Sonne I cannot come vnto God without Christ nay I cannot beleeue that God is but by Christ. I cannot hope to receiue the good things of Heauen not with patience abide for them but that Christ hath purchased the same for me and promised the same vnto me And therefore I beleeue them to bee certaine and sure though yet but in expectation therefore I wait with patience The Husbandman wayteth for the Haruest many dayes after his chargeable and laborious committing the Seed vnto the earth if the Haruest were instant vpon the casting away of the Seed there were neither Patience nor Hope in the Seedes-man And if by experience hee found not that the Seed cast into the Earth would render recompence hee would either forbeare to cast it away or being sowne neuer hope for fruit So I wretched man though I deserue no other fruit to reape then I haue sowne namely of the flesh corruption yet I hope to reape what I haue not sowne namely of the Spirit euerlasting life and that through Iesus Christ who and not I hath cast the Seed of the Spirit into my Soule the fruit whereof I shall reape at the generall Haruest to mine owne euerlasting vse as if the Seed had beene mine owne for which I hope with patience in Faith As the Light followeth the Sunne so Hope followes Faith But if I beleeued not God in Christ and in him had assurance through Faith of the performance of his promise of future glorie I might well say with Saint Paul I were of all men most miserable for to endure here miseries crosses enemies labours anguishes and perplexities of bodie and minde and to bee also frustrate of future comfort my case were worse then the Bird in the Ayre the Fish in the Sea or the brute Beast of the Field But glorie bee to God in Christ who hath assured mee of a Kingdome to come an inheritance immortall Edifie your selues saith Saint Iude in your most holy Faith praying in the Holy Ghost and keep your selues in the loue of God looking for the Mercie of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto eternall life Eternall life then being the end of my Hope I will with patience abide it for comming I know it will come And the delay of mine enioying it is but the try all of my faith which yeeldeth me that assurance that to mee is much more precious then Gold that perisheth and shall bee found to my glorie at the appearing of Iesus Christ whom though I haue not seene yet I loue him beleeue and reioyce in him with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious and shall receiue the end of my Faith euen the saluation of my soule after this death It may bee demanded Is it so easie a matter to obtaine eternall life To beleeue onely no I beleeue not that simply to beleeue can obtaine saluation But if I confesse with my mouth the Lord Iesus and doe beleeue in my heart that God raysed him vp from the dead I shall bee saued It may bee againe obiected Here is yet but faith of the heart and confession of the mouth If this bee all that is required to saluation it is not so hard a thing as it is conceiued to obtaine it I hold in deed that the bare confession of Christ and to beleeue that Christ is though I beleeue him to bee the Sauiour of the World and yet doe not apply his merits and death vnto my selfe my Faith profits mee little and my Confession nothing at all Thou beleeuest saith Saint Iames that there is one God thou doest well the Deuils also beleeue and tremble and therefore barely to beleeue that there is a God and a Christ to confesse as much is no more then the Deuils doe Therefore this Faith and this Confession is not sufficient to my saluation for then should the Deuils that beleeue bee also saued but they beleeue and tremble I beleeue and hope desiring to shew my Faith by my workes Abraham indeed was iustified by his faith that before the attempting of the offering of his son But by the offering of his sonne hee shewed that his faith was not a naked and bare faith but a faith accompanied with obedience good Workes for his workes preceded not his iustification but beeing first iustified he beleeued and obeyed Abraham beleeued God and it was imputed to him for righteousnesse Faith being the gift of God brings forth good Works which in Abraham grew not by nature but by the free mercie of God wrought and working by the Holy Ghost whose fruits they were yet in Gods mercie imputed as the fruits of Abraham so what-soeuer good thing proceedeth of my faith in Christ I assume it not as mine though through Christ so imputed I beleeue that true and sauing Faith cannot bee without good Works for without good Works faith is dead And I also beleeue that there may bee works of themselues good and yet without true faith not onely not acceptable to God but rather condemned of him for
fit to stand alwayes vpon my Watch-towre in continuall Prayer that I bee not vnder the least power of any of mine enemies when my separation shall come I will indeuour to make vse of the Parable of Christ my Sauiour who by way of premonition saith Vnderstand this as being a matter of chiefe consequence for my safetie If the good man of the house which is the soule of euery man dwelling in the bodie knew at what houre the Thiefe namely Death would come hee would be readie to entertaine it And would not suffer his house his bodie to be digged thorow namely by violence to be surprized and to be desperatly spoyled of his goods his soule to be tormented perplexed by a guilty conscience and an vnrepentant heart for sinne committed against God but would bee still watching to preuent euery euill motion to sinne and wait for that Thiefe Death willingly to lay downe his bodie for a time in the graue and to yeeld vp his soule to God that gaue it in Christ who redeemed it As touching this watchfulnesse it is comprehended in a godly life and in a continuall serious obedience to God eschewing euill and doing good in seeking peace and following it This is true watchfulnesse and blessed is the man whom the Lord when hee commeth shall find thus waking For he that slumbreth in security carelesse of future dangers leding an vngodly life not remembring his end and what accoūt he is to make when Death comes vpon this man he shal be suddēly carryed to the place of ex treme and perpetuall torment neuer to bee relea sed I will therefore pray that I may retayne a continuall watchful heart and striue to liue soberly because I know not the time A Prayer that I may be alwayes readily prepared for Death The Prayer O Lord my God who hast created mee of nothing here to liue and breathe in the Earth for some few dayes few were the many thousand yéeres in comparison of thine Eternitie and yet the end of these my dayes altogether vnknowne vnto mee Therefore thou commandest me to watch and to awake to siue righteously and not to sinne and yet by nature I sléepe in carnall securitie Thou willest me not to sleepe as doe other but to watch and bee sober but alas I slumber in mine owne vanities the deceits of sinne True Wisedome willeth mée to watch because the time of my dissolution is at hand when I shall bee no more breathe no more but bee taken from all the pleasures and delights of this life Frame in me therefore I beséech thée good Father a watchfull heart Banish from me the darknesse of ignorance and all wicked affections by the knowledge of thy truth Giue mee grace to order my life according to that certaine and sure rule of all righteousnesse and sinceritie by the vertue of the Spirit of Iesus Christ. The darknesse of the night is past and I haue the light of thy Word giue me therefore the will and ablenesse to cast off the workes of darknesse and to put on the armour of light That I may henceforth walke honestly as in the day not in gluttonie and drunkennes nor in chambering and wantonnesse nor in strife and enuying but by putting on the Lord Iesus Christ and not to take thought for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof I am subiect O Lord to many temptations giue me therefore the Spirit of Wisedome and strength to resist and ouercome them And that I may kéep cōtinuall watch ouer all my thoughts words and wayes that I bée at no time idle in wel-doing that Death which standeth at my doore finde me not without the Lamp of Loue faith and Obedience burning in my heart Make mee holy and constant in all good and godly duties that with a pure and sanctified con science I may at all times and in all places serue thee walking before thee in truth and that with a perfit heart that I fall not into the power and lust of mine Aduersaries nor be ouer-swayed with the destres of my corrupt heart but bee found perfect to euery good worke for thou art my God Uigilant and watchful is Death still attending to seize vpon mée yet cannot before thine appointed time for my time is in thine hand Giue me therfore a watchful heart that I may liue to thée and die in thée that whensoeuer it shall come to passe that I must yéeld my body to the dust I may be sound waking my heart settled vpon Heauen and heauenly things So shall not this death be terrible but most acceptable vnto me being the way by which I shall enter into that holy place new and spirituall Ierusalem where the filthy garments of sinne shame and confusion shall bee taken from mee and the most glorious Robes of Righteousnesse in the merits of thy glorified Soune bée put vpon me neuer to war old which grant most louing father for his sake So be it O Lord increase my faith and giue mee euer a watchfull heart pure and holy MEDIT. VI. The third cause of watchfulnesse the vncertaine Comming of Christ to Iudgement THe third cause of watchfulnesse I find to be lest my finall iudgement come vpon me suddenly as by vnprouided Death and I be found not only idle in wel-doing but in doing that which is euill And if I should not though much vnlikely lay downe this mine earthly Tabernacle before that generall dissolution of all things being doubtlesse not farre off the sudden comming of that Day will not excuse me for as I shall bee then found I shall be iudged I shall receiue the sentence due vnto me either in mercie or seueritie at the instant of Christes appearing and yet shall not preuent them that haue slept euer since the death of innocent Abel So that whether I goe before or stay till hee come I shall finde no difference for in the graue there is no remembrance of good or euill no feare of future danger or hope of Happinesse to come and therefore the time of my bodies sleep in the Earth bee it long or short is not conceiued or felt Only my soule that shall goe before cannot but apprehend it selfe not fully perfect vntill that generall Day when my body shall bee raysed againe out of the dust and partake together with my soule the vnspeakeable glorie of Christ my Sauiour not that I haue deserued it but the prayse I yeeld vnto him that hath merited the same for mee euen by his death It much behoueth mee therefore to watch and to make mine account ready for I find that the generall Audit is at hand where I shall be strictly examined how I haue bestowed the talents which I haue receiued of my Lord. At which generall Audit all must appeare Emperours Kings Potentates Bishops yea from the greatest to the least all shall bee summoned with the fearfull sound of a terrible Trumpet sounding far lowder then the most
should I fulfill the desires and vaine delights of my corrupt heart Why should I sweeten and perfume my out-part to make it odoriferous to others mine inward part resting yet odious to God This superfluous care of my bodies vanities would not only make mee the more sweet and pleasing but farre the more hatefull to God and godly men therefore shall my desire and practice bee by the grace of God during the short remaining part of this my miserable life to couer my nakednesse with apparell meerely needfull and seeke to maintaine it with food such as it shall please my God to blesse vnto mee and through the same grace my hearts delight shall bee in the continuall true seruice of my heauenly Father hauing euer an eye vnto and desiring that time when and that place wherein I shall need neither rayment nor food and where I shall be onely delighted with the glorie wherewith I shall bee filled after this bodies death which although it perish for a time my soule resteth euer immortall God being the God not onely of mine immortall soule but of my mortall bodie also And I beleeue that hee will not lose one haire of mine head nor the smallest dust that shall come of my putrified carcasse nor one bone of my rotten and consumed bodie and that hee will rayse my mortall part in all fulnesse of all the parts and make them all ioynt-partakers of eternall glorie in Heauen in the Day of Christs second appearing in what manner soeuer it bee dissolued burnt in the fire drowned in the Sea deuoured by wilde Beasts or by any other meane whatsoeuer I heare naturall reason say It is an easie matter to beleeue that I shall dye experience makes it so common But to beleeue that this my bodie when it shall bee rotten and consumed to dust eaten with fishes deuoured and digested by wilde beasts or burnt to ashes or bee vtterly otherwise consumed that it shall rise againe to glorie is not so easily apprehended no experience teaching it but the resurrection of Christ which I haue not seene I disclaime in this point all naturall reason and doe faithfully beleeue that as my Redeemer Iesus Christ dyed and rose againe So after my death I shall by the vertue of his Resurrection rise againe to eternal life Iob prophesied of the Resurrection of humane dead bodies and affirmeth that hee knew that his Redeemer liued and that though after his death the wormes should deuoure his flesh yet in the same flesh he should see God looke vpon him and behold him and that with his owne namely with the eyes that then hee had And the Prophet Esay affirmeth that the dead bodies in the graue shall rise againe some to glorie some to torment The dead men saith hee shall liue euen with their bodies shall they rise Christ saith maruell not at this The houre shall come when all that are in the Graues shall heare his voyce and shall come forth they that haue done good vnto the Resurrection of life but they that haue done euill vnto the Resurrection of condemnation Christ also affirmeth that it is his Fathers will that sent him that hee shall lose nothing of that he hath giuen him but that hee shall raise it vp at the last Day They that sleepe in the dust shall awake Infinite are the proofes of the Resurrection of humane bodies in the Scriptures both of the iust and of the vniust of the godly and the wicked but to two contrarie final effects The godly shall rise to euerlasting life euer to remayne with the Lord the vngodly shall rise to euerlasting punishment to bee tormented for euer with the Deuill and his Angels in continuall horrour weeping and gnashing of teeth Here is matter of Meditation hence ariseth hope and horrour comfort and calamitie There are but two ends of the Resurrection life and death and both perpetuall And these succeed the death of the bodie Shuld I then be so iniurious vnto my silly soule that dwelleth in my mortall bodie as to forget that it shall come into iudgement in a time comming and at hand and that this bodie this fleshly and corrupted part shall againe bee raised to glorie or shame to partake of eyther with the soule were it not as if I should say in my heart there were no God no Heauen to glorifie or Hell to torment perswading my selfe that either after death there remaineth neither euill nor good but that I should goe into vtter obliuion to an eternall sleepe neuer to returne into any second existence or that GOD were a God onely of the immortall soule and not of the mortall bodie or a God of Mercie and not of Iustice Should I thus foolishly for lesse then a messe of Pottage sell my Birth-right in Heauen for a graine of temporarie vanitie sell a Crowne of perpetuall glorie Farre bee it from me for a Kingdome I know is prepared for me and a Kingdome I seeke waiting for it vntill it fall vnto mee as mine Inheritance through Christ who hath purchased the same by his bloud In the meane time I must taste and vndergoe many troubles afflictions pouertie want enemies and the scorne of the World Doth GOD suffer his owne Children to be afflicted in this life how can hee then bee said a louing Father vnto them Doth not that worthy Prophet King Dauid affirme that they that loue his Law shall haue great prosperitie and no hurt befall them How then comes the cōtrary to passe The Answere The Spirit of God that spake thus by the mouth and pen of Dauid lyeth not for the afflictions that I feele and the crosses that I haue proceede from the loue of God and hinder not but rather doe much further my spirituall prosperitie For whom the Lord loueth hee chasteneth and scourgeth euery sonne that he receiueth If therefore I patiently endure chastening God offereth himselfe vnto mee as to a sonne If I were without correction whereof all Gods Children are partakers I were a bastard and no sonne Blessed is the man saith Iob whom God correcteth therefore will not I refuse the chastening of the Almightie let him therefore deale with mee according to his owne will in giuing me what he will health or sicknesse wealth or want prosperitie or aduersitie for I know that all things worke together for the best to them that loue God he may make a wound but he will bind it vp againe he may smite but his hands make whole againe hee giueth alwaies the issue with the temptation GOD forbid therefore that I should entertaine the least thought in my heart that whatsoeuer crosse or affliction befals me were in GODS indignatiō but onely in loue I doe acknowledge that sinne is the cause of all the crosses calamities afflictions miseries that I endure if God should deale with me answerable to what I haue done I could not beare his
true peace with or in the World and happie is hee that hath warres with it and peace with God But here is the miserie of miseries hence is griefe hence often vpbraydings especially domesticke the want of daintie fare gay and fashionable garments and the want of meanes to preferre and aduance Posterities is the Houshold Breake-peace and to auoid this miserie some runne into a mischiefe vsing sinister and vnlawful means to satisfie the World and worldly mindes displeasing God to please vaine fantasies yet for a time it is sweet and pleasant yeelding a kind of content and carnall comfort such as CHRIST fore-told that Worldlings should haue in this life as the Rich man in the Gospell had but GODS owne Children should haue contrarie enentertainmēt in the world they should want weepe and lament as Lazarus did and as their estates of wealth and want pleasure and paine faith and infidelitie doe differ so do their ends for fulnes and want mirth and mourning ioy and sorrow idlenesse and labour stand not together in this life neither yeeld they like comfort or calamitie after death There are but two extremes in riches and pouertie but their degrees are infinite so are there of pleasure and paine after this life The true vse of riches and the patient acceptance of a meane estate are equall and receiue eequall proportion of reward So the abuse of riches and the impatient vndergoing of a poore estate shall be equally punished whether therefore I bee poore or rich I am in neither happie but so farre as I walke in either of them in the feare and loue of God that giues both for the good of the good and to the reproofe of them that abuse either O happie is that heart that harbours the hope of heauenly things it is contentedly satisfied with the smallest portion the world doth yeeld and yet resteth not idle in well-doing but carefully indeuoreth so to liue as willingly not to be chargeabe to any desiring rather to bee able to helpe the needie and to owe nothing but good will to any Naked came I into the World poore and in a meane estate I liue and naked I must goe hence as touching my spirituall part I shall be clothed with the Robe of my Redeemers merits in the Heauens vntill my bodie shall be raysed againe and then reunited vnto my soule and both become one bodie clothed with eternall glorie And therefore Come Lord Iesus come quickly and finish these dayes of sinne that I may partake of thy glorie THE HVSBANDS Christian counsell to his Wife and Children left poore after his death PART 1. Death certaine his comming vncertaine BY the former Discourse ye may perceiue that Death will certainly come vpon mee and you as vpon all men but when where or how no man knowes and that after death all shall come to Iudgement and yeeld account for whatsoeuer they haue done in this life and therefore wee all should prepare vs against the time by continuall watchsulnesse in well-doing You may also conceiue and I know you haue too well experimented my poore estate to bee such as I cannot leaue behinde me such testimonies of my worldly happinesse as many other men doe to them they leaue behinde them that may challenge some remembrance by their worldly substance And therefore in stead of such commemorations I desire before I goe hence and bee no more seene to leaue such token of my loue towards you as I can that you may likewise remember mee in Christian imitation after my death wishing you to take that in good part at my hands that I shall giue you in counsell though words I know make none wealthy In stead therefore of Possessions and Pecuniary Portions I wish you euer to esteeme the fauor loue and prouidence of God your chiefest riches who as he hath been euer mine so will hee bee assuredly yours if in faith yee serue him and seeke him Bee yee therefore patient in that which in this life necessitie inforceth to be vndergone howsoeuer hard and vnsauourie it bee to flesh and bloud and make of that necessitie a vertue which if bee taken with grudging turnes into sinne The time will not bee long which will giue end to the greatest miseries then what difference can there bee obserued betweene them that haue abundance and them that haue least they shall carrie equall portions to their graues only nakednesse which both the rich and poore the glorious and the base brought into the World with them yet their future portions may differ as did the Rich mans and Lazarus Let vs therefore as long as we liue together couple and comfort our hearts together in the Lord whose pleasure it is and that in loue to keepe vs low in this World to the end wee should not be transported from the loue of heauenly to earthly things the best whereof is our bodie which yet is compared to a Flowre that fades and comes to nothing If therefore pouertie and afflictions continually possesse vs and presse vs downe euen vnto our liues ends Let vs rest euer faithfull cleauing constantly vnto God for hee careth for vs so shall wee bee the lesse carefull for worldly things Care not for your liues saith Christ namely what yee shall eate or what yee shall drinke nor for your bodies what yee shall put on for the bodie is more worth then meate and of more value then rayment bee it neuer so precious yet shall it naturally rot as the Garment doth but so much the more precious is the bodie though it perish by how much it shall bee futurely glorified But the bodies of the disobedient and wicked are so much the more base and vile then is a garment by how much it shall not so totally perish as the garment doth but bee reserued and raysed to endlesse torments The fowles of the ayre are brought in by Christ to teach man to cast his care vpon God Who careth for the verie fowles though they sow not nor reape nor carrie into barnes yet they are fedde and nourished by God but they are not idle for as God hath ordained food for them so are they to flye to and fro to seeke it teaching as not to rest careles of lawfull labours though Christ say Care not for to morrow but rather that we should bee so much the more industrious euery where by all meanes at all times in our lawfull callings omitting no opportunitie lawfully to encrease our store Christ likewise by way of comparison brings in the Lillyes of the field setting their glorie to the glorie of our corrupt bodies shewing that although wee labour and toyle and carke and care and busie our bodies and braynes about superfluous and vanishing things wee can neuer bee comparable to the glory of the Lilly other glorious beautifull flowers no not Salomon in his most glorious robes yet as glorious as these
commendable for there is labour in forbidden vanities and paine in whatsoeuer pleasure But labour allowed of God and good men is that which is seasoned with the feare of God for it neuer goeth without the blessing of GOD which it euer finds by the successe If therefore such an industrious man seeme poore by reason of his basenesse yet is he rich hauing the blessing of God and hee that is blessed of GOD here doth euen here beginne his euerlasting happinesse If hee bee idle here or giuen to carnall vanities bee hee neuer so worldly glorious he euen here begins his perpetuall miserie and wretchednesse Labour of it selfe maketh not rich but the blessing of God vpon our labours Blessed are they that feare the Lord and walke in his wayes If therefore yee feare the Lord and therein labour Yee shall eat the labours of your owne hands and well and happie shall yee bee Except the Lord build the house they labour in vaine that build it It is in vaine for you to rise early and to lye downe late and to eat the bread of carefulnesse It is God by his blessing that prospereth your labours making them sweet vnto you and profitable Haue also respect vnto your seruants that labour vnder you that they bee such as neere as you can as feare God for God often-times blesseth the Master for his seruants sake as Laban confessed that God had blessed him for Iacobs sake in all his substance The little that hee had before Iacobs comming was wonderfully increased So was Potiphars House blessed for Iosephs sake If then the wicked bee blessed for godly seruants sake how much more when godly Masters haue religious seruants fearing God And as there is a blessing promised to the godly so a curse denounced against the wicked in their labours They shall carrie out much Seede into the Fields and shall bring in but little They shall plant Uineyards and not drinke the Wine Nothing shall truely prosper with them what paine soeuer they take Feare yee God therefore bee doing good and yee shall bee fed assuredly Yee shall bee like Trees planted by the Riuers of waters that shall bring forth fruit in due season whose leafe also shall not wither and whatsoeuer yee doe it shall prosper The wicked are not so but are as the chaffe which the winde driueth away and scattereth The poore shall not alwayeâ— be forgotten the Lord will bee a refuge vnto you a refuge euen in your greatest dangers for he heareth the desires of the poore and prepareth their hearts O the wonderfull deepnesse of Gods Mercies who because we of our selues are ignorant of good things and dull to all goodnesse our hearts being prophane by nature hee euen hee himselfe hath promised to prepare euen these dull and wicked hearts and to make them fit for his owne seruice not that hee hath neede of any good that our best workes can doe him but for our comfort hee doth it lest that through our owne infirmities we should faint vnder the hand of his most louing corrections and therfore mooued euen of his free Mercies and tender compassion towards the distressed he hath promised and will assuredly performe it that for the oppression of the needie and for the sighes of the poore he will arise and set at libertie whom the wicked hath snared O set the Lord therefore alwayes before you hee is at your right hand therefore shall ye not fall PART VII Pouertie hinders not neither doth riches further true happinesse I Would haue you thinke that happinesse consisteth not in riches nor that pouertie hinders it for riches come and goe and therefore is a man no longer held happy then hee hath riches and consequently reputed happie according to the proportion of his riches But it is not so with godly pouerty or pouertie in the godly which although it be in the extremest degree it is but pouertie when hee wants all necessaries whatsoeuer as meate drinke clothing lodging friends and all helpe yet God careth euen for these poorest fearing him calling vpon him Pouertie nor riches are of themselues good or ill neither make they a man happy or vnhappy but he is happy who trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is And blessed are they that keâ—pe his Testimonies and seeke him with their whole heart This is true happinesse and none besides Let pouertie or riches fall to a man that knowes not how to vse either hee will bee the worse for either but let either befall a good man and hee will be no worse for neither But coÌ„monly where men are honored for their wealth poore men are despised for their pouertie without respect of vice or vertue so that not the persons but the portions of either are honored or despised If the richest waxe poore contempt increaseth as his greatnesse diminisheth if the poore growe rich his honour growes as doth his welth Is not this respect of persons is there not great partialitie in reuerencing the glorious though vicious and disgracing the poore be he neuer so vertuous God indgeth according to euery mans worke not according to his worth God is indifferently rich in loue to all aswell to the rich as to the poore being Lord ouer all but a father to them onely that loue him in Christ whom he will neuer faile nor forsake vnto the end Let not then pouertie moue you to distrust the Lord though the world despise you and say of you as they did of Dauid yea of my selfe also that there was no helpe for him in God a grieuous temptation I acknowledge but not to the faithfull that hath learned to bee patient to depend on God who is neuer neerer then when carnall men thinke hee hath forsaken his children be not deceiued nor dismayd at their reproches for the poore shall not bee alwaies forgotten neither shall the hope of the afflicted perish for euer Though worldlings make a mocke at the counsell of the poore because their trust is in God Remember they are the men of the world who haue their portion in this life whose bellies God filleth with his hid treasure their children haue enough and leaue the rest of their substance vnto their childrens children But behold yee the face of the LORD in righteousnesse liue godly and yee shall be timely satisfied with euery thing necessary he will send downe from heauen and take you and bring you out of all your troubles God chooseth to himselfe the man that is godly and when he calleth vpon him he will heare him He blesseth the righteous and with fauour compasseth him about on euery side as with a shield therfore feare not your pouertie nor bee afraid of man that may despise you and reproch you for your afflictions sake Remember the afflictions of Dauid and the reproches that Shemei cast vpon him rayling on