Therefore for our sinnes God casts us off Take not thy holy Spirit from me Therefore as bees are driven away with smoak and pigeons with ill savours so by our sinnes is the holy Spirit driven out of the temples of our hearts Restore me the joy of thy salvation Therefore sinne doth torment the minde and dry up the moisture of the heart The earth is defiled by the inhabitants thereof which have transgressed the law crieth Esay Therefore sinne is a contagious and infectious poison Out of the deeps have I cryed unto thee O Lord saith the Psalmist Therefore our sinnes presse us down unto hell We were sometimes dead in our sinnes saith the apostle Therefore sinne is the spirituall death of the soul. By mortall sinne man loseth God God is the infinite and incomprehensible good Therefore to lose God is an infinite and incomprehensible evil As God is the chiefest good so sinne is the chiefest evil Punishments and calamities are not absolutely evil for many times there comes good of them Yea rather it appeares that they are good because they come from God who is the chiefest good from whom can proceed nothing but that which is good They were in the chiefest good to wit in Christ And the chiefest good cannot partake in that which is evil truely so called And moreover they leade us unto the chiefest good that is to life everlasting Christ by his passion entred into his glorie And so do Christians by tribulations enter into eternall life Therefore sinne is the chiefest evil because it withdraws us from the chiefest good The nearer thou comest unto God the further thou departest from sinne The nearer thou comest unto sinne the further thou departest from God How saving therefore is repentance which withdraws us from sinne and brings us back again unto God! Sinne is measured by the greatnesse of him that is offended But him the heavens the earth cannot contain In like manner such is our repentance as he unto whom we return by repentance The sinner is accused by his conscience which he hath defiled by the Creatour whom he hath offended by the sinnes which he hath committed by the creatures which he hath abused and by the devil by whom he hath been seduced How saving then is repentance which frees us from such accusations Let us make haste therefore let us make haste to such a saving medicine for such a grievous disease If thou repentest at thy death thou dost not leave thy sinnes but thy sinnes leave thee Thou shalt scarce finde any one that repented truely at his death unlesse it were the thief upon the crosse Fourteen yeares have I served thee said Jacob to Laban it is time now that I should provide for mine own house And if thou hast served the world and this life so many yeares is it not fit that thou shouldest begin now to make provision for thy soul Every day doth our flesh heap sinne upon sinne Let the Spirit therefore every day wash them away by repentance Christ died that sinne might die in us And shall we suffer that to live and reigne in our hearts for the destroying whereof the sonne of God himself died Christ enters not into the heart of man by grace unlesse John Baptist prepare the way by repentance God poureth not the oyl of mercie but into the vessel of a contrite heart God doth first mortifie us by contrition that afterwards he may quicken us by the consolation of the Spirit He first leads us into hell by serious grief that afterwards he may bring us back again by the taste of grace Elias first heard a great and strong winde overturning mountains and cleaving rocks and after the winde an earthquake and after the earthquake there appeared fire At length there followed a small and still voice In like manner terrour goes before the taste of Gods love and sorrow before comfort God bindes not up thy wounds unlesse thou lay them open by confession and bewail them He covers not unlesse thou first uncover He pardons not unlesse thou first acknowledge He justifies not unlesse thou first condemne thy self He comforts not unlesse thou first despair in thy self This true repentance God by his holy Spirit work in us Meditat. IIII. Of the name of JESVS Blessed blessed name of Jesus Who tormented was to ease us O Good Jesus be thou my Jesus for thy holy names sake have mercy on me My life condemnes me but the name of Jesus shall save me For this thy names sâ—ke do unto me according to thy name seeing that thou art a true and a great Saviour surely thou dost respect those that are sinners indeed yea great sinners Have mercie on me O good Jesus in the time of mercie that I be not condemned in the time of judgement If thou receive me into the bosome of thy mercy thou shalt have never the lesse room If thou bestow upon me the crumbes of thy goodnesse yet thou shalt want never the more For me thou wast born for me thou wast circumcised to me also thou art become a Jesus How sweet and delightfull is this name For what is Jesus but a Saviour and what harm can happen to those that are saved what else can we desire or expect beyond salvation Receive me Lord Jesus into the number of thy sonnes that together with them I may land thy holy and saving name Though I have lost my integritie yet thou hast not forgotten thy mercy Though I had power to lose and condemne my self yet thou in thy mercie art more powerfull to save me Lord do not thou so look upon my sinnes as to forget thy mercy do not so ponder and weigh my offences that they overpoise thy merit do not so remember my wickednesse as therefore to forget thy goodnesse Remember not thy anger against my guiltinesse but remember thy mercie towards my miserie Thou who hast given me a minde to desire thee withdraw not thy self from my desire Thou who hast shewed unto me my unworthinesse and just damnation hide not from me thy merit and the promise of everlasting salvation My cause is to be tried at the heavenly tribunall but this is my comfort that in the court of heaven thou hast assigned unto thee the name of a Saviour for that name was brought down from heaven by an angel O most mercifull Jesus to whom wilt thou be Jesus if not to miserable sinners that seek thy grace and salvation They that trust in their own righteousnesse and holinesse seek salvation in themselves but I flie unto thee my Saviour for I finde nothing in my self worthy of eternall life Save the condemned shew mercie to the sinner justifie the unrighteous absolve the accused Thou Lord art truth thy name is holy and true Let thy name also become true in respect of me and become thou my Jesus and Saviour Be thou unto me Jesus
in this present life be thou unto me Jesus in death be thou unto me Jesus in the last judgement be thou unto me Jesus in the life which is everlasting I know thou wilt sweet Jesus for as thou art immutable in thy essâ—nce so also thou art immutable in thy mercy Thou wilt not change thy name Lord Jesus for my sake alone who am a miserable sinner Yea rather thou wilt become my Saviour For thou dost not cast out him that cometh unto thee Thou that hast given me a will to come unto thee grant also unto me that coming I may be received For thy words are truth and life Let the propagation of originall sinne within me condemne me yet thou art my Jesus Let my conception in sinne condemne me yet thou art my Jesus Let my forming in sinne and under the curse condemne me yet thou art my Saviour Let the corruption of my nativitie condemne me yet thou art my Saviour Let the sinnes of my youth condemne me yet thou art my Jesus Let the course of my whole life defiled with most grievous sinnes condemne me yet thou art still my Jesus Let deâ—th the just punishment of my many and grievous sinnes and offences condemne me yet thou art my Saviour Let the severe sentence in the last judgement condemne me yet thou art my Jesus In me is sinne reprobation damnation In thy name is righteousnesse election salvation I was baptized in thy name I beleeve in thy name In thy name will I die In thy name will I rise again In thy name will I appeare in judgement In this name are all good things prepared for us and shut up as it were a treasure So much are they diminished as my diffidence is increased which that it may be farre from me I beseech thee by this thy name good Jesus that for my sinne and unbelief I be not damned whom by thy precious merit and saving name thou wouldst have saved Meditat. V. An exercise of faith from the love of Christ in the agonie of death The grace of Jesus Christ to me Is th' onely true felicity SEe Lord Jesus how injurious I am to thy passion My heart is vexed and my soul is very sorrowfull because I have no good works of mine own because I have no merits when as thy passion is my action thy works my merits I am injurious to thy passion when as I seek for the supplement of my works whereas it is in it self all-sufficient If I should finde righteousnesse in my self thy righteousnesse would profit me nothing or else I should not so much desire it If I seek for the works of the law by the law shall I be condemned But I know that now I am no longer under the law but under grace I have lived wickedly I have sinned holy Father against heaven and before thee I am not worthy to be called thy sonne yet thou wilt not refuse to call me thy servant Deny me not I pray thee the fruit of thy passion let not thy bloud wax barren but let it bring forth fruit and deliver my soul. My sinnes have alwayes lived in my flesh but I intreat thee let them at length die with me Hitherto the flesh hath alwayes ruled over me but let the Spirit at length triumph Let the outward man be subject to corruption and worms that the inward man may be glorified Hitherto I have alwayes given way to the suggestions of the devil but grant hereafter I beseech thee that I may trample them under my feet Satan is readie at hand to accuse me but he hath nothing in me The sight of death affrighteth me but death is the end of my sinnes and the beginning of an holy life Now at length shall I be able perfectly to please thee O my God Now at length shall I be confirmed in goodnesse and vertue Satan terrifieth me with my sinnes but let him accuse him which took upon him my infirmities whom the Lord hath smitten for my sinnes The debt which I ow is great indeed and I cannot pay any part thereof but my trust is in the riches and bounty of him that hath undertaken the payment Let him discharge me who hath made himself suretie for me Let him pay for me who took my debt upon himself I have sinned O Lord and my sinnes are many and grievous But this horrible sinne I will not commit to make thee a lyar who by thy words works and oath dost testifie that satisfaction is made for my iniquities I am not afraid by reason of my sinnes for thou art my righteousnesse I am not afraid by reason of my ignorance for thou art my wisdome I am not afraid of death for thou art my life I am not afraid of my errours for thou art my truth I am not afraid of corruption for thou art my resurrection I am not afraid of the sorrows of death for thou art my joy I am not afraid of the severitie of judgement for thou art my righteousnesse Distill upon my withered soul the dew of thy grace and quickening consolation My spirit waxeth dry but it shall shortly rejoyce in thee My flesh doth languish and is withered but it shall shortly bud forth I am subject to corruption but thou shalt deliver me from corruption for thou hast delivered me from all evils Thou hast created me How then can the workmanship of thy hands be dissolved Thou hast redeemed me from all mine enemies How then can death have rule over me Thou hast bestowed thy body and bloud and all that thou hadst yea even thy self for my salvation How then shall death withhold them which thou hast redeemed with so precious a ransome Thou Lord Jesus art righteousnesse it self So then my sins cannot prevail against thee Thou art life it self and the resurrection So then my death cannot prevail against thee Thou art God Therefore Satan cannot prevail against thee Thou hast given me the earnest of thy Spirit in that do I glorie in that do I triumph and am fully perswaded without doubting that I shall be admitted to the marriage of the Lambe Most deare bridegroom thou art my wedding-garment which I put on in baptisme thou shalt cover my nakednesse neither will I sow the supplement of my righteousnesse to this most precious and beautifull garment What is mans righteousnes but the cloth of a menstruous woman How then can I dare to patch that most precious garment of Christs righteousnesse with this abominable ragge In this garment will I appear before thy face in judgement when thou shalt judge the world in righteousnesse and equitie In this garment will I appear before thy face in the kingdome of heaven This garment shall cover my confusion and reproch that no man remember it any more for ever There shall I appear glorious and holy in thy sight And this my flesh this my body shall be arayed with beatificall glory which glory shall be
everlasting and without end Come Lord Jesus and whosoever loveth thee let him say Come Meditat. VI. Consolation for the penitent from the crosse of Christ gathered chiefly out of Anselm Christs crosse my crown I do esteem What 's ' ever heathen men do deem ALl the glorie of the godly consists in the ignominie of the Lords passion All the rest of the godly consists in the wounds of our Saviour our life in his death our glory in his exaltation How great is thy mercy O heavenly Father and Almighty God! Of my self I could offend thee but of my self I could not appease thee Thou therefore in Christ dost reconcile me unto thee Behold therefore holy God the holy pledge of his flesh and forgive the guiltinesse of my flesh Have respect unto what thy Sonne hath suffered for me and forget what thy wicked servant hath done against thee My flesh doth provoke thee to anger Let the flesh of Christ I beseech thee move thee to mercy It is much that my wickednesse hath deserved but it is much more that the holinesse of my redeemer hath merited Great is my unrighteousnesse but much more great is the righteousnes of my redeemer For as much as God is higher then man so much is my wickednesse lower then his goodnesse both in qualitie and quantitie I am wholly thine by condition grant also that by love I may be wholly thine Thou that makest me to ask make me also to receive Thou that grantest unto me to seek grant unto me also to finde Thou that teachest me to knock open unto me when I knock To desire I have from thee Let me have from thee also to obtain To will I have from thee Let me have from thee to do also Holy God just Judge If my sinnes be concealed they are uncurable if they be seen they are detestable they do burn me with grief and do much more terrifie me with fear Do not withhold I pray thee thy true mercy where thou findest so true miserie Great is the sinne which thou findest here but let thy grace be greater and more plentifull Holy Father poure not I beseech thee thy wrath upon me seeing that thou hast smitten thy Sonne for me O holy Jesus deliver me from the wrath of God thou that didst take it upon thy self for my sake upon the crosse O holy Spirit protect me by thy consolation against the wrath of God thou that in the gospel hast declared mercie to the contrite and penitent O holy God and just Judge I finde no place to flie unto from the presence of thy wrath If I ascend up into heaven thou art there If I descend into the deep behold thou art there also If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea there also shall thy hand lead me and thy right hâ—nd lay hold on me Unto Christ therefore will I flie and hide my self in his wounds O mercifull God behold the body of thy Sonne wounded in every part and look not upon the wounds of my sinnes Let the bloud of thy Sonne wash me from all my spots Heare his most ardent prayers offered unto thee for the salvation of the elect O holy God and just Judge my life affrights me for if it be exactly examined it is either sinne or barrennesse And if there seem to be any fruit in it it is either counterfeit or imperfect or some wayes corrupted so that it cannot please thee yea it must needs displease thee Truly all my life is either sinfull and damnable or unfruitfull and contemptible But why should I separate unfruitfull and damnable Certainly if it be unfruitfull it is damnable for every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewen down and cast into the fire Not onely the tree that bringeth forth ill fruit is cast into the fire but that also which bringeth forth no fruit The goats affright me for they were set on the left hand of the judge not because they did any evil but because they did no good To the hungry they gave no meat To the thirsty they gave no drink Therefore thou withered and unfruitfull tree which hast deserved everlasting fire what wilt thou answer in that day when thou shalt give account for all the time spent in this life even to the twinkling of an eye An hair shall not perish from thy head nor a moment from time O the straits On this side shall be thy sinnes accusing On that side justice terrifying Underneath thee the horrible pit of hell gaping Above thee the angry judge condemning Within thee thy conscience burning Without thee the world flaming The just man shall scarce be saved Whither then shall the sinner thus taken unawares betake himself To lie hid it is impossible To appear it is intolerable From whence then shall I seek for the salvation of my soul from whom shall I seek counsel Who is he that is called the Angel of great counsel It is Jesus He is the judge between whose hands I tremble Fear not then O my soul be comforted despair not Hope in him whom thou fearest betake thy self unto him from whom thou hast fled O Jesus Christ for this thy names sake do unto me according to thy name Look upon me miserable man that call upon thy name If thou receive me into the most ample bosome of thy mercy thou shalt no whit be straited It is true O Lord my conscience hath deserved damnation and my repentance is not sufficient for satisfaction But it is most certain that thy mercie is greater then my offence In thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be confounded Meditat. VII Of the fruit of the Lords Passion My hope on Christ is fixed sure Who wounded was my wounds to cure AS often as I think of the Lords passion I presume much of the love of God and the forgivenesse of my sinnes He bowes down his head to kisse me He stretcheth forth his arms to embrace me He openeth his hands to give unto me He openeth his side that I may see his heart flaming with love He is lifted up from the earth that he may draw all unto him his wounds are blue with grief and shining with love Therefore by the opening of his wounds we ought to enter into the secrets of his heart With him there is most plenteous redemption because his bloud distilled not down drop by drop but flowed down most plentifully from five parts of his body As the grape cast into the wine-presse is squeezed and poureth forth liquour on every side So the flesh of Christ being pressed with the weight of Gods anger and our sinnes doth on every side poure forth the liquour of blood When Abraham would have offered his sonne for a sacrifice the Lord said Now I know of a truth that thou lovest me Do thou likewise acknowledge the
he hath already punished in his Sonne The truth of the Lord endureth for ever As I live saith the Lord I will not the death of a sinner but rather that he turn from his wickednesse and live Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will refresh you saith our Saviour Shall we make God a liar and labour by the weight of our sinnes to bear down his mercy To make God a liar and to denie his mercy is a greater sinne then all the sinnes of the whole world and therefore Judas sinned more in despairing then the Jews in crucifying Christ. But rather where sinne hath abounded there also grace hath abounded much more and overweigheth our sinnes by infinite degrees For sinnes are but the sinnes of men but grace is the grace of God Sinnes are temporall but the grace of our Lord is from eternitie to eternitie Satisfaction hath been made for our sinnes and the grace of God is repaired by the death of Christ and is established for ever unto which I betake my self as a devout suppliant Meditat. XI Of the satisfaction made for our sinnes The death of Christ is life to thee If thou a Christian truly be COme unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will refresh you they are the words of our Saviour It is true indeed Lord Jesus I am burdened overmuch and I sigh under the weight of my sinne But I make haste unto thee the fountain of living water Come unto me Lord Jesus that so I may come unto thee I come unto thee Lord because thou first camest unto me I come unto thee Lord Jesus and with anxietie I desire thee for I finde no goodnesse in my self But if I found any goodnesse in my self I should not with such anxietie desire thee True Lord Jesus I labour and am heavy laden neither can I compare my self with any of the saints or penitent sinners unlesse it be with the thief upon the crosse Lord have mercy upon me thou which hadst mercy on the thief upon the crosse I have lived wickedly I have lived iâ— sinne but I desire to die the death of the holy and righteous But holinesse and righteousnes are farre from my heart Therefore to thy holinesse and righteousnesse do I flie Let thy soul Lord Jesus succour me let it succour me seeing that thou layedst it down for a price of redemption for many Let thy most sacred body which was afflicted with rods spittings buffetings and thorns and fastened to the crosse for me let that succour me Let thy sacred and holy bloud O Jesus let that bloud succour me which ran out of thy side at thy death and passion which cleanseth us from all our sinnes Let thy most holy divinitie succour me thy divinitie which upheld thy humanitie at thy passion which also resting and not shewing it self the great mysterie of our redemption was finished which added infinite strength and weight unto thy passion Insomuch that God by his own bloud hath purchased unto himself me miserable man Let thy wounds succour me in which all my cure consisteth Let thy most holy passion succour me Let thy merit succour me as being my last refuge and a remedie against my sinnes For in that thou sufferedst thou sufferedst for me Therefore in that thou meritedst thou meritedst for me and for mine unworthinesse Therefore God commendeth his love towards us and proveth it by a testimonie surpassing the understanding of all men yea of the angels themselves in that Christ died for us when as yet we were sinners and the enemies of God Who can choose but admire this Who can choose but be astonished at it The Sonne of God intreated by no man yea hated of all men in great mercy intreated for us who were sinners and his enemies Neither intreated he onely but also satisfied Gods justice for us by his most poore nativitie by his most holy life by his most bitter passion by his most cruel death O Lord Jesus Thou that intreatedst for me sufferedst for me and diedst for me before I could desire thy merit and passion or move thee by my prayers to pay the ransome for me how canst thou cast me away from thy face How canst thou denie unto me the fruit of thy most holy passion when as now out of the deeps I cry unto thee and beg the fruit of thy merit with tears and sighs I was an enemie by nature when thou diedst for me but I am made by grace thy friend thy brother and thy sonne Thou heardst an enemie before he prayed unto thee and how canst thou despise thy friend which comes unto thee with prayers and tears Thou wilt not cast out him that cometh unto thee because thy word is truth Thou hast spoken unto us in spirit and truth and we have received from thee the words oâ— eternall life Attend and raise up thy self O my soul Before we were sinners by nature but now we are just by grace Before we were enemies but now we are friends and kinsfolks Before our help was in the death of Christ but now it is in Christ his life Before we were dead in sinnes but now we are quickned in Christ Oh the exceeding love of God wherewith he loved us Oh the superabundant riches of his grace whereby he hath in heaven provided a place for us Oh the tender mercie of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us But if the death of Christ hath brought unto us righteousnesse and life what shall his life do If our Saviour dying paid the price unto his Father what shall he do now being alive and interceding for us For Christ liveth and dwells in our heart if the remembrance of his most holy merit live and flourish in it Draw me Lord Jesus that I may possesse in the truth of the thing that which here I expect by the firmnesse of hope Let thy servant I pray thee be with thee and let him behold the glorie which the Father hath given to thee and let him inhabit the mansion which thou hast prepared in thy Fathers house Blessed are they that dwell in thy house O Lord They shall praise thee for ever and ever Meditat. XII Of the nature and properties of true faith Faith is not faith or if it be Faith is but dead wants charity O Thou beloved soul consider the power of faith and give thanks unto God who is the onely giver thereof It is faith alone that doth in such manner ingraft us into Christ that as vine-branches do draw their sap from the vine so we also from him do draw life righteousnesse and salvation Adam fell from the grace of God and lost the divine image by his incredulitie But we are again received to grace and the image of God begins to be renewed in us by faith By faith Christ becomes
Because she despiseth earthly things that are subject to sundry changes Consider thou devout soul the exceeding great dignitie of the church and render due thanks unto God Great are the benefits which are in the church of God but all do not meet with them It is a garden enclosed and a fountain sealed up No man sees the beautie of this enclosed garden but he that is in it Neither doth any one know the benefits that are in the church but he that is himself in it This spouse of Christ is black without but beautifull within For the kings daughter is all glorious within This ship is tossed with many tempests of persecutions This vineyard being bound doth rise up and being cut down groweth up For this woman the infernall Dragon lieth in wait after diverse manners The church is a fair lilie But yet among thorns The church is a most beautifull garden But when the North-winde of tribulations doth blow upon it the spices thereof fall The church is Gods daughter But she is exceedingly hated of the world She looks for an heavenly inheritance and therefore she is compelled to be a pilgrime in this world In this pilgrimage she is oppressed in her pressure she is silent in her silence she is strong in her strength she overcometh The church is a spirituall mother But she is compelled to stand under the crosse with Mary the mother of Christ. The church is a palm-tree Because under the weight of tribulations and tentations she grows most Consider thou devout soul the dignitie of the church And beware thou commit nothing to her dishonour The church is thy mother Take heed therefore that thou contemn not her voice She is thy mother Therefore thou must alwayes hang upon her breasts The breasts of the church are the Word and the Sacraments The church is a virgin If therefore thou art her true sonne abstain from the worlds embracements Thou art a member of the virgin the church See therefore that thou prostitute not the virgins members and so commit fornication with the devil by sinne The church is the spouse of Christ and so is every devout soul Let her beware therefore that she cleave not unto Satan Thou art the spouse of Christ See thou lose not the earnest of the holy Spirit which he hath given thee Thou art the spouse of Christ Pray continually that the bridegroom would make haste and lead thee in unto the celestiall marriage But the bridegroom will come in the night of securitie Watch therefore lest when he cometh he finde thee sleeping and so shut thee out of the gate of eternall salvation Let the oyl of thy faith shine lest at the coming of the bridegroom thou beest constrained to desire it in vain Thou art carried in the ship See therefore that thou dost not throw thy self headlong into the sea of the world before thou comest to the haven Thou art carried in the ship pray that thou beest not swallowed up by the tempests of afflictions and waves of tentations Thou art called into the Lords vineyard See that thou labourest stoutly Think upon the penie and not upon the dayes labour Thou art the Lords vineyard Cast away all unprofitable branches that is the unfruitfull works of the flesh and think the whole time of thy life to be the time of pruning Thou art a vine-branch in Christ the true vine See that thou dost remain in him and bring forth much fruit Because the heavenly husbandman will take away every branch that bringeth not forth fruit and purge that which bringeth forth fruit that it may bring forth more fruit Thou hast put on Christ by faith and art clothed with this sunne of righteousnesse See then that thou treadest the moon that is all earthly things under thy feet And esteem all other things little worth in respect of eternall goods O good Jesus thou that hast brought us into the church militant bring us at length also into the church triumphant Meditat. XXIIII Of Predestination In Christ we are by God elect Without Christ God doth all reject O Devout soul as often as thou wilt meditate upon thy predestination behold Christ hanging upon the crosse dying for the sinnes of the whole world and rising again for our justification Begin from Christ lying in the manger and so thy disputation of predestination shall proceed orderly God elected us before the foundations of the world were laid but yet he elected us in Christ If therefore thou art in Christ by faith do not doubt but that election belongeth unto thee If with a firm confidence of heart thou adherest unto Christ do not doubt but that thou art in the number of the elect But if thou goest further beyond the limits of the word and wilt search into the profunditie of predestination it is greatly to be feared that thou wilt fall into the profunditie of desperation Without Christ God is a consuming fire Take heed therefore of coming too neare this fire lest thou beest consumed Without Christs satisfaction God by the voice of his law accuseth all and condemneth all Take heed therefore that thou drawest not the mysterie of predestination out of the law Search not into the reasons of Gods counsels lest thy cogitations do much seduce thee God dwelleth in light that no man can attain unto Presume not therefore to come unto it rashly But God hath revealed unto us the light of his gospel and in this thou mayest safely inquire into the doctrine of this secret and in this light thou shalt see true light Leave the profunditie of this eternall decree made from eternitie and convert thy self to the clearnesse of the manifestation which was made in time Justification made in time is the glasse of election made without time Out of the law take notice of the wrath of God for sinne and repent out of the gospel take notice of the mercie of God through Christ his merit and apply that unto thy self by faith Take notice of the nature of faith and shew it by thy godly conversation Take notice of Gods fatherly castigation in crosses and endure through patience And then at length begin to handle the doctrine of predestination This method the apostle teacheth This method let him that is the apostles disciple follow There are three things alwayes to be observed in this mysterie The mercie of God loving us the merit of Christ suffering for us and the grace of the holy Ghost by the gospel sanctifying us Gods mercie is universall because he loved the whole world The earth is full of the Lords mercy yea his mercy is greater then heaven and earth For it is as great as God is For God is love He hath witnessed by his word that he will not the death of a sinner And if this be too little he hath confirmed it with an oath If thou canst not beleeve him
for his promise beleeve him for his oath He is called the Father of mercies because it is his property to spare and to have mercy The cause and originall of shewing mercie he hath from himself of condemning and punishing from another Insomuch that it may appear that mercie and punishment proceed from him after a farre different manner The merit of Christ also is universall because he died for the sinnes of the whole world What can then more plainly prove his mercie then that he loved us when as yet we were not For it was his love that he created us Moreover he loved us when we were turned away from him For he sent his Sonne to be our redeemer To the sinner adjudged to eternall torments and not having wherewithall to redeem himself the Father saith Take my onely begotten Sonne and give him for thee The Sonne himself saith Take away me and redeem thy self Christ was a flower of the field not a flower of the garden because the odour of his grace is not shut up to some few but laid open to all Doubt not of the universalitie of Christs merit Christ suffering prayed for them that crucified him and poured forth his bloud for them by whom it was poured forth The promises of the gospel are universall because Christ saith unto all Come unto me all ye that labour That which was performed for all is also offered to all As farre as thou travellest amongst these goods by the foot of trust and confidence so much also shalt thou obtain God denies his grace unto no man but unto him that thinks himself unworthy of it Consider therefore thou faithfull soul these three props of predestination and rest upon them with the firm confidence of thy heart Consider the benefits of Gods mercie that are past and thou wilt not doubt of finall perseverance When as yet thou wast not God created thee When by the fall of Adam thou wast condemned he redeemed thee When thou livedst in the world out of the church he called thee When thou wast ignorant he instructed thee When thou wentst astray he redeemed thee When thou sinnedst he corrected thee When thou stoodst he upheld thee When thou wast fallen he lifted thee up When thou wentst he led thee When thou camest unto him he received thee His long-suffering appeared in that he expected thee and his mercie in that he pardoned thee Gods mercie prevented thee Hope firmly that it will also follow thee Gods mercie prevented thee that thou mightest be healed and it shall also follow thee that thou mayest be glorified It prevented thee that thou mightest live godly it shall also follow thee that thou mayest live with him for ever How came it to passe that in thy fall thou wast not ground to pieces Who put his hand under thee Was it not the Lord Be confident therefore hereafter in Gods mercie and hope assuredly for the end of perfect faith that is eternall salvation In whose hands doth thy salvation consist more safe and certain then in those which made both heaven and earth those hands that are never shortned those hands that do abound with the bowels of mercie and those hands that have holes in them by which mercie may flow forth But consider O devout soul that we were elected of God that we might be holy and blamelesse Whosoever therefore studie not to live an holy life to them belongs not the benefit of election We were elected in Christ In Christ we are by faith Faith shews it self by love Therefore where there is not love neither is there faith where there is not faith neither is there Christ where there is not Christ neither is there election The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal The Lord knoweth who are his But let him depart from unrighteousnesse whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord The sheep of Christ shall no man take out of his hand but yet let the sheep of Christ heare his voice We are Gods house But let us retain our confidence and the glory of hope firm even unto the end O Lord thou that hast given us to will give us also to perfect Meditat. XXV Of the saving efficacie of prayer Our prayers do pierce the starrie skie And fetch down blessings from on high IT is an exceeding great benefit of God towards us in that he requires us to conferre with him familiarly by pious prayer He bestoweth upon us the gift of prayer and the fruit of prayer Great is the force of prayer which is poured forth on earth but hath its operation in heaven The prayer of the righteous is the key of heaven Prayer ascendeth and deliverance descendeth from God Prayer is a saving buckler by which we repell all our adversaries darts When Moses stretched forth his hands Israel prevailed against the Amalekites If thou stretchest forth thy hands towards heaven Satan shall not prevail against thee As the enemie is kept off by the wall So the anger of God is repelled by the prayers of the saints Our Saviour himself prayed not that he had any need but to commend unto us the dignitie thereof Prayer is the tribute of our subjection Because God hath commanded that we should every day offer unto him our prayers as a spirituall tribute It is the ladder of our ascension unto God For prayer is nothing else but the souls travelling unto God It is the buckler of our defence For the soul of him that continueth in prayer is secure and safe from the assaults of the devil It is our faithfull messenger unto God For it goeth up unto his throne and solicits him to aid us This messenger never returns in vain For God alwayes heares our prayers if not according to our will yet to our profit and salvation We may assuredly hope for one of these two Either he will give us that we ask or else that which he knoweth to be more profitable for us God gave his own Sonne that most excellent gift being not intreated What will he do then if he be intreated We cannot doubt of the Fathers hearing or the Sonnes interceding Upon all occasions thou mayest with Moses by prayer enter into the tabernacle and consult with God the Lord And thou shalt speedily heare his divine answer Christ was transfigured when he prayed So in the time of prayer there are many changes wrought in the soul For prayer is the light of the soul and oftentimes leaves him in joy whom she found in despair With what face canst thou behold the sunne unlesse thou dost first worship him who sends that most pleasant light for thee to look upon How canst thou at thy table fall to thy meat unlesse thou dost first worship him who in his bounty bestows it upon thee With what hope darest thou commit thy self unto the darknesse of
the old man Page 72 Prayer 2 For conservation and increase of faith Page 74 Prayer 2 For conservation and increase of faith Page 74 Prayer 3 For conservation and increase of hope Page 77 Prayer 4 For conservation and increase of charitie Page 80 Prayer 5 For conservation and increase of humility Page 83 Prayer 6 For the gift and increase of patience Page 86 Prayer 7 For the gift and increase of meeknesse and gentlenesse Page 89 Prayer 8 For the gift and increase of chastitie Page 91 Prayer 9 For contempt of all earthly things Page 94 Prayer 10 For deniall of himself Page 97 Prayer 11 For victorie over the world Page 100 Prayer 12 For consolation in adversity and true rest of the soul. Page 103 Prayer 13 For victory in tentations for deliverance from the snares and treacheries of the devil Page 106 14 For a blessed departure out of this life and a blessed resurrection unto life everlasting Page 109 IIII. Supplications for others Prayer 1 HE prayes for the conservation of the word and increase of the Church Page 114 Prayer 2 He prayes for pastours and hearers Page 117 Prayer 3 He prayes for Magistrates and subjects Page 121 Prayer 4 He prayes for houshold-government and private families Page 124 Prayer 5 He prayes for parents brethren sisters kinsfolk and benefactours Page 128 Prayer 6 He prayes for enemies and persecutours Page 131 Prayer 7 He prayes for those that are afflicted and in miserie Page 134 The disposition and method of this daily Practise of pietie THis Practise of piety is reduced to foure heads according to the number of the objects about which it is employed For we must every day weigh and consider with our selves 1 The grievousnesse of our sinnes and ask pardon thereof for Christs sake 2 GODS benefits for which we must offer humble and heartie thanksgiving 3 Our own necessities where we must pray for conservation and increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and for a spirituall victory in all tentations 4 Our neighbours necessities where we must pray for all things needfull for them for this life and that which is to come The first Part. Of Confession of sinnes The Argument The meditation of our sinnes comprehendeth in it these two heads of originall and actuall sinnes Actuall sinnes are committed in thought word and deed By the committing of evil and by the omitting of good Against GOD our neighbour and our selves The offences of our youth aâ—e many and our daily infirmities many We are often tempted of the flesh and we do often yeeld unto it We partake many times in other mens sinnes and in many things we are defective our selves We are convicted of our sinnes by all the creatures and we behold the severitie of GODS anger against our sinnes in the passion and death of CHRIST PRAYER I. He weigheth and considereth the grievousnesse of originall sinne HOly God and just Judge I know that I was conceived and born in sinne I know that I was formed of unclean seed in the wombe of my mother That poyson of sinne hath so corrupted and putrified my whole nature that no facultie of my soul is free from the contagion thereof That holy pledge of the divine image which was committed unto me in our first father is perished in me There is no power at all in me to begin to come unto the saving knowledge of thee the fear of thee confidence in thee and love of thee There remains no sufficiencie in me to perform obedience unto thy commandments My will is averse from thy law and the law of sinne in my members being repugnant to the law of my minde makes my whole nature become corrupt and perverse I wretched and miserable man do feel the power of sinne cleaving fast to my members I do feel the yoke of wicked concupiscence grievously pressing me For although I am regenerate and renewed by the spirit of grace in the laver of baptisme yet am I not as yet wholly free from the yoke and captivitie of sinne For that root of bitternesse which lieth hidden in me doth alwayes desire to put forth new branches The law of sinne reigning in my flesh doth strive to captivate me I am full of doubts distrust and desire of mine own honour Out of my heart proceed wicked cogitations Filthy thoughts defile me throughout in thy sight Out of that poysoned fountain flow forth rivers of poyson Enter not therefore into judgement with thy servant O Lord but be propitious unto me according to thy great mercie The deep of my miserie calleth upon the deep of thy mercy For this uncleannesse and filthinesse of my polluted nature I offer unto thee the most sacred conception of thy Sonne For me he was born For me therefore he was conceived For me he was made sanctification and righteousnesse For me therefore he is become purification and cleannesse Through him and for him thy Sonne have mercy on me O thou most highest and set not in the light of thy countenance that hidden corruption that cleaveth to my nature but look upon thy beloved Sonne my Mediatour and let his most holy and immaculate conception succour my miserie Amen PRAYER II. He recalls to our memorie the sinnes of our youth HOly God and just Judge Remember not the offences of my youth and call to minde no more my sinnes that are past How many venemous fruits hath the vicious root of concupiscence that is inherent in me brought forth In my childhood what an innumerable brood of actuall transgressions hath the evil of originall sinne hatched The very thoughts of my heart are wicked and perverse even from my childhood yea even from my tender infancie For when I was an infant but of one day I was in no wise innocent before thee As many as the dayes of my life are so many offences do burden me yea many more by farre in number seeing that the just man falls seven times in one day But if the just fall seven times in one day then I wretched and unjust man without doubt have fallen seventy times seven times As my life hath increased so hath the web of my sinnes increased and as much as hath been added to my life by thy bounty so much hath been added to the course of my sinnes by the wickednesse of my corrupt nature I examine my life that is past and what else do I behold but a filthy stinking cloke of sinne I attend unto the light of thy precepts and what do I finde in the course of my yeares that are past but darknesse and blindnesse The tender flower of my youth ought to have been crowned with vertues and offered to thee for a sweet savour The best part of my age past did ow it self unto thee the best Creatour of nature But the dirty filth of my sinnes hath most foully polluted the flower of my age and the stinking
Without the love of God there is no desire of eternall life How then can any one be partaker of the chiefest good which loveth not which seeketh not which desireth not Such as thy love is such art thou because thy love transformeth thee into it self Love is the chiefest couple because the lover and the thing loved become one What hath conjoyned the most just God and wretched sinners What hath conjoyned them being infinitely distant one from the other Infinite love And yet that the infinite justice of God might not be weakned the infinite price of Christ interceded Again what hath conjoyned together God the Creatour and the faithfull soul created things infinitely distant Love In the life which is eternall we shall be joyned to God in the chiefest degree Why Because we shall love him in the chiefest degree Love uniteth and transformeth if thou lovest carnall things thou art carnall If thou lovest the world thou shalt become worldly But flesh and bloud cannot enter into the kingdome of God If thou lovest God and celestiall things thou shalt become celestiall The love of God is the chariot of Elias ascending up into heaven The love of God is the joy of the minde the paradise of the soul it excludeth the world it overcometh the devil it shutteth hell it openeth heaven The love of God is that seal by which God sealeth the elect and beleevers God at the last judgement will acknowledge none to be his but those that are sealed with this seal For faith it self the onely instrument of our justification and salvation is not true unlesse it doth demonstrate it self by love There is no true faith unlesse there be a firm confidence and there is no confidence without the love of God That benefit is not acknowledged for which we do not give thanks and we do not give thanks to him whom we do not love If therefore thy faith be true it will acknowledge the benefit of our redemption wrought by Christ it will acknowledge and give thanks it will give thanks and love The love of God is the life and rest of the soul When the soul departs from the body by death then the life of the body departeth When God departs out of the soul by reason of sins then the life of the soul departeth Again God dwells in our hearts by faith God dwells in the soul by love because the love of God is diffused in the hearts of the elect by the holy Spirit There is no tranquillitie to the soul without the love of God The world and Satan do much disquiet it But God is the chief rest of the soul There is no peace of conscience but to those that are justified by faith there is no true love of God but in them that have a filiall confidence in God Therefore let the love of our selves the love of the world the love of the creatures die in us that the love of God may live in us Which God begin in us in this world and perfect in the world to come Meditat. X. Of our reconciliation with God Fear not my soul be not dismaid For Iesus Christ thy debts hath paid CHrist truly took our infirmities and bare our griefs and sicknesses O Lord Jesus That which in us merited eternall punishment thou tookest upon thy self That burden which would have pressed us down into hell thou hast undergone Thou wast wounded for our iniquities thou wast broken for our sinnes By the bluenesse of thy wounds are we healed The Lord hath laid upon thee the iniquities of us all Surely wonderfull indeed is this change Thou takest our sinnes upon thy self and bestowest thy righteousnesse upon us Death due unto us thou undergoest thy self and conferrest life upon us I cannot therefore by any means doubt of thy grace or despair by reason of my sinnes The worst thing that was in us thou tookest upon thy self How then canst thou despise that which is the best in us and thine own work to wit our soul and body Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption For he is truly sanctified whose sinnes are abolished and taken away Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and to whom the Lord imputeth not his sinnes How can God impute our sinnes to us when he hath already imputed them to another For the wickednesse of his people he hath smitten his best beloved Sonne By the knowledge of him therefore he shall justifie many and shall bear their iniquities How shall he justifie those that are his Heare and attend O my soul He shall save them by the knowledge of him that is by the saving acknowledgement and firm apprehension by faith of the mercie and grace of God in Christ. This is life eternall to know and acknowledge thee the onely true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent And therefore if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and beleeve in thy heart that God raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Faith apprehendeth Christs satisfaction He bare the iniquities of those that are his he suffered for the sinnes of many he interceded for the transgressours For he should have had very few just unlesse in mercy he had received sinners Thou shouldst have had few just O Jesus unlesse thou hadst remitted the sinnes of the unjust How then shall Christ judge according to severitie the sinnes of the penitent which he hath taken upon himself How shall he condemn him that is guilty of sinne seeing that he himself was made sinne for us Will he condemn those whom he calleth his friends Will he condemn those for whom he hath intreated Will he condemn those for whom he died Lift up thy self therefore O my soul and forget thy sinnes for the Lord hath forgotten them Whom dost thou fear as the punisher of thy sinnes but the Lord who himself made satisfaction for thy sinnes If any other had payed the price of my redemption I might have doubted whether the just Judge would accept of that satisfaction If a man or an angel had satisfied for my sinnes yet still there might be a doubt whether the price of redemption were sufficient But now there is no place for doubt How can it be that he will not accept of that price which he hath payd himself How can that choose but be sufficient which is from God himself Why art thou troubled O my soul All the wayes of God are mercie and truth Iust is the Lord and just are his judgements Why art thou troubled O my soul Let the mercy of God raise thee up let the justice of God also raise thee up For if God be just for one offence he will not exact double satisfaction For our sinnes he hath smitten his Sonne How then can he smite us his servants for them How can he punish our sinnes in us which
grace and remission of my sinnes Thy creatures accuse me the book of my conscience accuseth me both the tables of thy divine law accuse me Satan accuseth me day and night But take thou upon thee my patronage O sweet Jesus To thee the poore man is left bereft of all solace of the creatures All my refuge is placed in thy satisfaction for my sinnes and in thy intercession at the right hand of the Father for me My soul take thou the wings of the morning and like a dove hide thy self in the clefts of the rock that is in the wounds of Christ thy Saviour Hide thy self in this rock till the anger of the Lord be passed by and thou shalt finde rest and thou shalt finde protection and thou shalt finde deliverance therein Amen PRAYER VIII He by the effects of contrition argues us to be convicted of the hainousnesse of sinne HOly God and just Judge My heart is contrite and humbled my spirit is heavy and in a great strait by reason of the burden of my sinnes wherewith I am oppressed The courage of my heart hath failed and the sharpnesse of my eyes is decayed My heart is pressed and from thence gush out tears My spirit is oppressed and I forget to take my bread My heart is wounded and from thence gusheth out bloud and a fountain of tears Who knows how oft he offendeth Who knows the sorrow of the heart that is in a great strait by reason of offences My soul is dry and broken in pieces and thirsteth after the fountain of life O Christ feed me with the dew of thy Spirit of grace My heart that is in a great strait sigheth unto thee O thou true joy give unto me peace and quietnesse of heart that being justified by faith I may have peace with God My heart condemneth me But do thou absolve me who art greater then my heart My conscience accuseth me But do thou absolve me who hast fastned to the crosse the hand-writing of my conscience I offer unto thee O my God my contrite and humbled heart for a most acceptable sacrifice I offer unto thee my sighs as the messengers of true and serious contrition I offer unto thee my tears as abundant witnesses of my unfeigned grief In my self I despair In thee is my trust In my self I faint In thee I am refreshed In my self I feel straitnesse In thee again I finde enlargement I am troubled and burdened overmuch Thou shalt refresh me and give rest unto my soul. One deep calleth upon another The deep of my misery calleth upon the deep of thy mercy Out of the deeps do I cry unto thee Cast thou my sinnes into the deep of the sea There is no soundâ—esse in my flesh by reason of thy anger neither is there any rest to my bones by reason of my sinne For mine iniquities are gone over my head and become too heavy for me Cure my soul thou heavenly Physician that I be not swallowed up of eternall death Take the burden of my sinnes from me thou that hast taken it upon thy self on the crosse that I despair not under the intolerable burden thereof Have mercy on me thou fountain of grace and mercy Amen PRAYER IX He declareth the number and greatnesse of Gods benefits unto us and the grievousnesse of our sinnes HOly God and just Judge By how much the more benefits thou hast bestowed upon me by so much the more I grieve that I have so often displeased thee so loving a Father As many gifts as thou hast heaped upon me so many bonds of love hast thou sent over unto me Thou wouldest have bound me unto thy self but I have forgotten thee and thy beneficencie and linked sinne unto sinne Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee I am not worthy to be called thy sonne make me as one of thy hired servants I am altogether displeased with my self Make thou me altogether to please thee Thy large bounty and wonderfull patience have often invited me to repentance But hitherto I have been backward to come Thou hast often called me O most bountifull God by the preaching of thy word by the teaching of thy creatures by the punishment of the crosse and by inward inspiration But I have stopped the eares of my heart altogether at thy call All the faculties of my soul all the members of my bodie are thy gifts I ought therefore with all the powers of my soul and parts of my bodie be ready to do thee all holy service which is due unto theâ— But I have made them the more is my grief the weapons of iniquitie and unrighteousnesse The breath which I fetch is thine the aire which I suck in is thine the sun whose light I see daily is thine All these ought to have been unto me as furtherances and instruments to sanctitie of life But I have abused them the more is my grief to the slavery of sin Thy creatures I should have used to the glory of thee the Creatour But I have wickedly abused them to thy dishonour In the light of the sunne I should have put on the armour of light But therein have I committed the works of darknesse How much soever is added unto my life comes all from thy bountie Therefore my whole life ought to be employed in thy service on whom it doth wholly depend And yet I have scarce bestowed the least part thereof in thy service As many good inspirations as I have felt within me so many hand-maids of thy grace hast thou sent as ambassadours to invite me mosâ— lovingly to return unto thee by true repentance But alas how often have I stubbornly refused to give them audience But yet receive him who now at length returns unto thee with sighing and a contrite heart Sprinkle me with the bloud of thy Sonne that so being purged fâ—om all the pollutions of the flesh and the spirit I may become whiter then snow and with all thy elect praise thee in the heavenly Jerusalem world without end Amen PRAYER X. He considereth the severitie of Gods angeâ— against our sinnes in the death and passioâ— of Christ. HOly God and just Judge I behold thy Sonne hanging upon the crosse and pouring forth plentifull rivers of bloud I behold him and behold for very terrour I faint altogether My sinnes are those iron nails with which I have bored his hands and his feet My sinnes are â—hose pricking thorns with which his most sacred head which is to be reverenced of the angelicall powers was crowned My sinnes are those stinging thongs with which his most â—ure bodie the proper temple of Diâ—inity was scourged A cruel wilde â—east hath torn in pieces the heavenly Joseph and embrewed his coat with his bloud I miserable sinnner am that wicked beast for my sinnes did make an assault and rush upon thy most beloved Sonne If thy most obedient Sonne is so vexed
and troubled for other mens sinnes What cause hath the undutifull and disobedient servant to fear in regard of his own sinnes The wounds of my soul must needs be great indeed and mortall when as thy onely begotten Sonne is so miserably smitten for to cure them The disease of my soul must needs be great indeed and mortall when as the heavenly Physician and life it self doth die upon the crosse to cure it I see the torment of his most holy soul I heare the miserable exclamation of my most holy Saviour upon the crosse For me it is he is so vexed it is for my sinnes that he complaineth that he is forsaken of God If the weight of other mens sinnes doth so exceedingly presse the Almighty Sonne of God that it wrings from him a bloudy sweat How intolerable shall the anger of God be and how unmeasurable shall be his wrath against the unprofitable servant O thou drie and unhappy wood that hast alwayes served as a slave the everlasting fire of hell What must thou fear when thou seest these things come to passe in the green wood Christ is the green tree In the root of his divinitie in the love of his humanitie in the boughs of his vertues in the leaves of his holy words and in the fruit of his good works He is the cedar of chastitie the vine of joyfulnesse the palm of patience and the olive of mercie But if the fire of the divine anger inflames this green tree of life How much more shall it consume the sinner like dry wood for his unfruitfull works In what capitall and bloudy letters are my sinnes ingraveâ— in the bodie of Christ How conspicuous O thou most just God is thine anger against mine iniquities How strait must that captivity needs be in which my soul was held when so precious a ransome was paid for her delivery How great must the stains of my sinnes needs be when rivers of bloud flow down from the bodie of Christ to wash them away O thou most just God and yet most mercifull Father consider what indignities thy Sonne hath suffered for me and forget the wicked works of me thy unworthy servant Behold the profunditie of his wounds and overwhelm my sinnes in the profound sea of thy mercie Amen The second part ¶ Of thanksgiving for benefits The Argument The meditation of Gods benefits doth gather out of the garden of nature and of the Church sundry and those most fragrant flowers of divine gifts and recreating it 〈◊〉 with the odour thereof offereth again to God the sacrifices of the lips for a savour of sweet smell Now the immense and innumerable benefits of God may be divided according to three articles of our Christian faith God hath created redeemed and sanctified us He heapeth his benefits on us in this life and hath promised greater unto us in the life that is everlasting He conferres upon us the gifts of the minde of the body and of fortune which we call externall goods He preserveth us from evil and conserveth â—s in good That which is past he covereth that which is to come he governeth His privative blessings are more then his positive In brief we can neither in word expresse nor in thought conceive the number and dignitie of Gods benefits which will afford unto us hereafter in the world to come most plentifull matter of eternall praise and thanksgiving PRAYER I. He giveth thanks for our forming in the wombe and for our nativity ALmighty eternall God Father Sonne and holy Ghost I give thanks to thee I praise thee I glorifie thee because thy hands have fashioned me and made me wholly round about Thou formedst me like clay in my mothers wombe Thou didst draw me like milk Thou didst curdle me like cheese With flesh and skinne hast thou covered me and compacted me together with bones and sinews Thou hast given me life and mercy and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit This thy great mercy bestowed upon me I will celebrate with perpetuall praises Thy goodnesse I will sing of in continuall songs Thou didst protect me in my mothers wombe I will confesse unto thee For I am wonderfully formed Marvellous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well My bones are not hid from thee which thou didst make in secret and deckedst me with divers members in the lower parts of the earth Thy eyes saw me yet being imperfect and in thy book were all my members written which day by day were fashioned when as yet there were none of them How precious unto me are thy thoughts O God! how great is the summe of them If I go about to reckon them I finde them multiplied above the sands of the sea Thou didst shew thy mercy unto me before I understood it Thou didst prevent me with thy blessings before I did desire them Thy bounty did embrace me on every side before I could give thanks for it Thou art he who not onely didst form me wonderfully in the wombe but also didst take me out Thou art my hope even from my mothers breast Out of my mothers wombe I was cast upon thee Thou art my God from my mothers wombe As often as I think upon many that have been extinct and never came to the light of this life So often I admire and praise thee for thy mercy which brought me out of that prison into the theatre of this world safe and sound How many yeares are past in which I was not and yet thou didst erect for me this house of my body and didst bring me out of that bottomlesse pit and the darknesse of my mothers wombe Thou gavest unto me a reasonable soul Thou madest me a man not a stone or a serpent To thee O my God for this thy mercy be honour and glory for ever Amen PRAYER II. He renders thanks for our sustentation I Render thanks unto thee Almighty and mercifull God for that thou hast sustained me from the very first dayes of my life Naked I came into this world and thou coveredst me most graciously Hungry I entred into this world and thou hast hitherto fed me most bountifully In thee I live move and have my being Without thee I fall again into nothing and die Through thee I bowe and move my members Without thee I can neither be partaker of life or motion Thine is the sunne that giveth me light which I see daily with mine eyes Thine is the aire which I draw in with continuall breath The night is thine and the day is thine whose intercourses serve for my labour and rest Thine is the earth whose fruits do nourish me most plentifully Every creature in heaven aire earth and sea is thine and is appointed for my use and service Silver is thine and gold is thine Whatsoever is necessary for the sustentation of this my present life all that I receive from thy most liberall and bountifull
and sanctuary of libertie and the rock of my strength and horn of my salvation In me there is nothing but sinne death and condemnation In thee there is nothing but righteousnesse life health and consolation I despair therefore in my self and I hope in thee I am dashed in pieces of my self and I am raised up by thee Let tribulations be multiplied so that thy quickening consolations be present unto me and erect my hope Tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed In thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be confounded Amen PRAYER IIII. He prayes for the conservation and increase of charitie ETernall and mercifull God who art charitie and love it self Grant unto me the riches of true and spirituall love My heart is cold my heart is earthy O thou that art fire O thou that art love it self kindle me My heart is hard and stony O thou that art the rock O thou that art love it self soften me My heart is full of thorns and thistles of anger and hatred O most gracious Father O thou that art love it self weed me I will love thee O Lord my strength my rock and my tower of defence my deliverer my God my buckler and the horn of my salvation Whatsoever I see in the creatures either good or excellent all that I finde in thee who art the chief good more abundant and excellent I will love thee therefore with all my heart above all things in whom I know there is such plenty excellencie of all good It is so much the better for me by how much the more I come unto thee then whom there is nothing better But I will come unto thee not walking on the feet of my body but loving thee with the affection of my heart If I desire beauty thou art the most beautifull of all If I desire wisdome thou art the wisest of all If I desire riches thou art the richest of all If I desire power thou art the most powerfull of all If I desire strength thou art the strongest of all If I desire honour thou art the most glorious of all Thou didst love me from eternity I will therefore love thee again unto eternitie Thou didst love me in giving thy self for me I will love thee again in rendring my self up wholly unto thee Let my heart be set on fire let every creature seem vile unto me Do thou onely become sweet unto my soul. It was thy will that the humane nature should be united unto thy Sonne by an unseparable union How much more is it fit that my heart be joyned unto thee by an unseparable bond of love A divine love drew thy Sonne from heaven to earth tyed him to a pillar to be whipt and fastened him to the crosse to be crucified Should not as fervent a flame of love lift up my heart from earth to heaven and binde me to thee the chief good and that unseparably I should offer much injury unto thee and unto my self if I should love terrene vile and mean things when thou hast so much honoured me and given me such large promises to the end I might love thee From this love of thee let there arise in my heart a sincere love of my neighbour Whosoever loveth thee O thou chief good keepeth also thy commandments seeing that the doing of the work is the triall of love Wherefore seeing that thou hast commanded us to love our neighbours therefore 〈◊〉 man loves thee sincerely which payeth not unto his neighbour the debt of love Whatsoever my neighbour is he was so deare unto thee that thou didst wonderfully create him mercifully redeem him and graciously call him to the fellowship of thy kingdome In thee therefore and for thee I ought to love my neighbour whom I see to be raised by thy grace and mercy to such an height of glory Strengthen and increase in me this true and sincere love thou that art love eternall and unchangeable Amen PRAYER V. He prayes for the conservation and increase of humility ALmighty and mercifull God which art a severe hater of all pride grant that I may be the rose of charity and the violet of humilitie that I may by my deeds of charitie cast forth a good and fragrant smell and think humbly of my self in my heart What am I Lord in thy sight Dust ashes a shadow nothing Wherefore seeing that I am nothing in thy sight grant that I may seem to my self nothing in mine own sight Keep down that swelling pride that was born together with my heart that I may receive the dew of thy heavenly grace For the streams of thy grace do not flow upwards to the high mountains but are carried downwards to the low valleys of the humble heart There is nothing at all mine but infirmitie and iniquitie Whatsoever good thing there is in me it descends from the fountain of thy goodnesse unto me Therefore I can challenge no good unto my self seeing that there is nothing properly mine By how much the more I think highly of thee By so much the more I think basely of my self Farre be it from me most gracious Lord farre be it from me to be proud of thy blessings and in respect of them to despise others The treasures of thy riches thou didst depose in the chest of my heart as many and as great as it pleased thee God forbid that I should attribute them unto mine own worth and ascribe them unto my self Thou didst kindle in my heart by thy Spirit the fire of pietie and love Grant I beseech thee that I may cover it with the ashes of humilitie How little is the honour that by man is given unto man How little is the praise wherewith man is graced by man But he O most mighty Creatour is great indeed that is great with thee He that pleaseth thee pleaseth the true prizer of things But no man pleaseth thee unlesse he displease himself Thou art the life of my life Thou art the soul of my soul I therefore resigne my life and soul into thy hands and with an humble heart cleave fast unto thee Let thy highnesse look upon my lowlinesse Let thy loftinesse look upon my basenesse Alas why do I so desire to be extolled in the world seeing that there is nothing in the world to be desired Why do I so much lift up my self when as the yoke of sinne doth so keep me down Let the goad of thy godly fear prick my heart lest it die of the most dangerous disease of spirituall tumour Let my sinnes which are innumerable be alwayes in my sight As for my good works let them be buried in oblivion Let the remembrance of my sinnes make me more sorrowfull then the glory of any work that I do seemingly good but indeed unclean and imperfect merry and joyfull In thee alone do I rejoyce and glory who art my joy
that the raging madnesse and desire to persecute which they have in their mindes may hereafter cease Let them know O Lord and acknowledge that it is not onely a vain thing but also very dangerous to kick against the pricks Why do they imitate the furie of wolves when as they know that the bloud of Christ the immaculate Lambe was poured 〈◊〉 for us Why do they thirst to shed that innocent bloud for which they know that the bloud of the very Sonne of God was poured â—orth upon the altar of the crosse Convert them O Lord that they may be converted unto thee from their heart and so obtain the fruit of their conversion in this life and in that which is to come Amen PRAYER VII He supplicates for those that are afflicted and in miserie ALmighty eternall and mercifull God which art the Saviour of all men especially of the faithfull and by thy Apostle hast commanded us to make prayers for all men I intreat thee for all those that are afflicted and in miserie that thou wouldest support them by the consolation of thy grace and succour them by the aid of thy power Indue with power and strength from above those that labour and sweat in the most grievous agonie of Satans tentations Make them partakers of thy victory O Christ thou which didst most powerfully overcome Satan Let the cooler of thy heavenly comfort raise up those whose bones are become dry with the fire of grief and sorrow Bear up all those that are ready to fall and raise up those that are already fallen Be mercifull unto those that are sick and diseased and grant that the disease of the body may be unto them the medicine of the soul and the adversities of the flesh the remedies of the spirit Let them know that diseases are the handmaids of sinne and the forerunners of death Give unto them the strength of faith and patience O thou which art the most true Physician both of soul and body Restore them again unto their former health if it be for the everlasting salvation of their souls Protect all those that are great with childe and those that be in labour Thou art he that dost deliver children out of the straits of their mothers wombe and dost propagate mankinde by thy blessing be present with those that be in labour O thou lover and giver of life that they be not oppressed with an immoderate weight of sorrows Nourish those that are orphans and destitute of all help and succour Defend the widows that are subject to the reproches of all men thou which hast called thy self the Father of the fatherlesse and the judge and defender of the widows Let the tears of the widows which flow down from their cheeks break through the clouds and rest not untill they come before thy throne Heare those that be in danger by sea which cry to thee and send up their sighs unto thee seeing before their eyes their neighbours suffer shipwrack Restore libertie unto those that are captive that with a thankfull heart they may sing of thy bounty Confirm those that suffer persecution for righteousnesse sake that they may get the conquest over all their enemies and purchase the everlasting crown of martyrdome Be present with all those that be in danger and calamitie and grant that they may possesse their souls in true patience and denying their own wills take up their crosse Let them follow him under the crosse on whom they beleeve that he died for us upon the crosse And especially I commend unto thee most gracious Father those which are about the gates of death and are between time and eternitie and wrestle with all their strength with that last enemie Confirm them O thou most potent Conquerour of death Deliver them O most glorious Captain and Authour of life that they be not overwhelmed in the waves of tentations but by thy conduct they may be brought unto the haven of everlasting rest Have mercy upon all men thou which art the Creatour of all Have mercy upon all men thou which art the Redeemer of all To thee be praise and glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS The summe of Gerards prayers redâ—ced into a form of morning prayer for the use of an English familie The foure capitall words signifie the foure parts of Gerards prayers and the Arithmeticall figures point 〈◊〉 every prayer of those parts HOly God and just Judge Thine eyes are more purâ— then the sunne and cannot behold any thing that is unclear The Cherubims and Seraphims cover their faces before thy glorious majestie The heavens of heavens are not clean in thy sight How theâ— shall earth sinfull earth dust and ashes appear before thee We presume not O Lord to come before thâ— tribunal to plead for our righteousnesse for all our righteousnesse is aâ— filthie rags But we prostrate our selves with all humilitie of body and soul at thy mercy-seat to make CONFESSION of our sinnes Heare Lord and have mercy We confesse that 1 We sinned in the loyns of our first parents we were conceived in sinne we were shapen in iniquitie 2 In our childhood originall sinne brought forth actuall and actuall sinnes have increased in us ever since as our dayes have increased Who can reckon up the sinnes of his youth Who can tell how oft he offendeth The just man sinneth seven times a day But 3 We have sinned seventy times seven times every day â— 5 All thy holy laws and commandments we have broken in thought word and deed 6 We have been partakers of other mens sinnes 7 We are many wayes convinced of our sinnes We are convinced 8 By the contrition of heart and the testimonie of our conscience 9 By the greatnesse of thy mercy and thy benefits bestowed upon us 10 By the severitie of thy â—ustice declared in the death and passion of thy Sonne our Saviour Iesus Christ. Thou art an holy God and nearest not sinners Thou art a just Judge and thy justice must be satisfied We are sinners and the wages of sinne is death Thy justice must be satisfied or else we cannot escape death We have nothing of our own to give for the ransome of our souls Therefore we offer unto thee holy Father that which is not ours but thy Sonnes 1 For our originall sinne we offer unto thee just Judge his originall righteousnesse who is righteousneâ— it self for our conception in sinne we offer unto thee his most sacred conception who was conceived by the holy Ghost for our birth in sinne we offer unto thee his most pure nativitie who was born of a pure virgin 2 For the offences of our youth we offer unto thee his most perfect innocencie in whose mouth was found no guile 3 For our daily slips and falls we offer unto thee his most perfect obedience who made it his meat and drink to do thy will in all things 4 5 For our often breach of thy commandments we offer