so fullie fraughted with all sortes of sins which like most filthie streames flow from the first fountaine or rather puddle of our originall sinne which wee haue from the Loynes of Adam Wee are all infected with this spirituall Leprosie there is nothing that can wash vs and make vs cleane saue onelie the Iordan of the blood of Iesus Besprinkle our consciences O LORD with the vertue of that Blood which cryeth for better things than the blood of Abel Seale vp thy Loue in our heartes by the blood of the Sealed man whom Thou the Father did seale and appoint to bring Life eternall to the world In him thou art well pleased In his Name and for his Loue wee begge thy fauour He himselfe hath tolde vs that what wee shall aske thee in his Name we shall receiue it O Father of mercies remember the promise of thy Sonne In confidence of his Command wee take the boldnesse at this time particularlie to put vp our prayers vnto thee for this thy diseased Seruant tossâ—…d to and fâ—…o with diuerse temptations Sathan the enemie of his Saluation the feare of Death the loue of the world and of worldlie things haue set themselues in Battell-array like armies betweene his Soule and the entrie of Heauen They haue maliciouslie ensnared his heart and taken his affections captiues with the immoderate loue of perishing thinges Oh how hath hee beene bewitched with the seeming sweetenesse of such vanities O Thou LORD IESVS the LORD of Life encourage him so with thy liuelie Spirit that he may be bold couragiously to face Death and the Graue Put these interrogations in his mouth O Death where is thy Sting O Graue where is thy victorie Cause thy Spirit whisper in his eare that thou hast put out the life of Death Cast into his rememberance the words wherewith Thou boasted Death and the Graue O Death I will be thy plagues O Graue I will bee thy destruction Let his Soule knowe that the Graue is a Bed of rest for all these that die in the LORD wherein they rest from their labours beeing at ease in peace without any toile or turmoile Worke in his heart a desire to be dissolued for to bee fred from the sinfull bonds of mortality for to goe dwell where hee shall neuer anger the Lord againe Let the Loue of Christ waine his heart from the desire of anie abiding heere O deare IESVS who was both buffeted slaine and buried for to saue man set the print and stampe of thy mercie vpon this Soule Seuer all his thoughts from all that is earthlie whether it bee Life Lands Children Houses or whatsoeuer other thing may allure him for to sojourne heere in a strange Land wherein wee are all strangers from God whom wee cannot see heere but behind Vntye his heart from the loue of this his natiue soile Purge him of this out-bearing humour O LORD flesh and blood will neuer teach a man to renounce his deare selte and such other carnall things wherewith hee is in phantasie The earthlie minde is so lumpish that it wearieth to thinke of thee and of the pleasures of thy Palace A carnall hearte is euer rouing and wandering heere about this worlds businesse Martha is a mother of many Children who trouble themselues about many thinges But few are these that with Marie can fold their heart for to sit downe at the feete of IESVS for to make choise of that best part which should neuer bee taken from them Thou to whoÌ„ nothing is impossible draw this Soule vnto thee make the bent of his affection to bee vpon thee O great IEHOVAH thou hast heard and seene how carnall temptations haue teared the Soule of thy Seruant this day in the bedde of his languishing Immoderat cares for thinges below haue depriued him of all rest and joyes which he should haue in thee Wee must confesse to thee and from his heart hee acknowledgeth to bee true that his minde hath beene too bent vpon such perishing shadowes which can not bee gripped Such trashes of no worth haue taken too much roome into his heart Hee who is not content to quite all for to come to thee is not worthie of thee But LORD if mans Saluation were grounded vpon the sand of his owne worthinesse such a building could not stand against the winds floodes of temptations But his Saluation shall neuer bee branled because it is builded vpon the euerlasting and most sure Rocke the foundation of thy Church O LORD wee faile all in many things If hitherto this thy Seruant hath not as hee should minded thâ—… thinges which are aboue but lodged in their place the desire of thinges below now in thy greaâ—… mercie inlighten his mistie mindâ—… and bee mercifull to him in thâ—… thing Make the flesh now to cede and giue place vnto the Spirit Let the heauens come in with the pledges of thy Loue which no mortall armes can fadome Come with thy Spirituall and diuine motions and fill therewith the chambers of his heart where earthlie thoughts had their abode Make his Soule to inuite thy Spirit to come in Saying with Laban Come in thou blessed of the Lord wherefore standest thou without O deare IESVS direct so all his thoughts that hee wearie himselfe no more with the desire of that which sooner or later heee must â—…orgoe Why should thornie cares for dust and clay choake the good motions of thy Spirit Let no such care cumber him any more for foolish fáding commoditie Dissolue this glew by which his heart is tyed to the ground In thy Light let him see Light whereby hee may perceiue how fraile fickle are all such transitorie trashes which beeing too much loued both coole our zeale and clogge our affections so that they can in no wise soare vp toward thee O blessed Sauiour in whom is the very pith sweetest marrow of Gods mercies make thy seruants heere to loue thee aboue all things in heauen or earth Make his heart to say Whom haue I in Heauen but thee Make him to loue thee for thy selfe and not for thine onelie which is but an hyred Loue Put in thine owne hand at the hole of the doore of his heart and let some droppes of the Mirrhe of thy mercie this night fall vpon the handle of the Barre that his Soule beeing affected therewith may runne out of the Chamber of sleepe for to seeke him who loueth his Soule euen his blessed Sauiour the LORD IESVS Bee mercifull to all thine afflicted members in the Church militant fighting vnder the bloodie Banner of the LORD IESVS CHRIST The Church is thy Spouse keep her as the Apple of thine eye make all her members with one minde and one mouth to glorifie thy Name Blesse our gracious Soueraigne the Kings Majestie with thy best blessings Adorne him with spirituall Graces and giftes wherewith hee may please thee in his whole carriage both Ecclesiastice and Ciuill Make Iustice and Iudgement the habitation
of his Throne make Mercie and Trueth goe before his Face Blesse His Royall Match make thy mercie to bee shed abroad in Her Heart Cloth Her with the Royall apparell of Christs Righteousnesse Let readinesse to heare the Preaching of the Word bee Her Eare-ring and good Workes in Her Hand like golden Rings vpon Her Fingers Write vpon the Tables of Her Heart the Loue of true Godlinesse The LORD bee mercifull to the Common-wealth of this Land protect It from the rage of forraine Enemies Let neuer thy protection depart from this Land Let it bee like that Bed of Solomon Threescore stronge men are round about it of the valiant men of Israel They all handle the Sword and are expert in warre euerie one hath his sword vpon his thigh for the feare by night The LORD be gracious vnto vs all whō are heere vpon our kneees before Thee What wee haue said to Thee on earth LORD heare Thou in Heauen Let this afflicted Soule haue a proofe of thine own Trueth that the effectuall prayer of the Righteous auaileth much LORD hea◅ vs for the sake of him who is righteousnes it selfe in whose most perfect Prayer we close vp allour sutes saying Our Father which art c. The Peace Grace and Mercie of our GOD bee with you Sir for euer I hope that by Gods Grace I shall see you earlie in the Morning The sicke Man The LORD render to you according to his gracious promise made to all these that serue him in sinceritie A great blessing requireth great thankes I neuer deserued such kindnesse at your hands The lesse deseruing bee in mee the more deeplie doe I hold my selfe bound vnto your loue I pray you Sir be as good as your word come againe earelie in the Morning The Spirit of IESVS goe with you THE SECOND DAYES Conference Of spirituall temptations The Pastour GOD saue you Sir How haue yee rested this Night Haue yee found any working of Gods Spirit within you since our last conference Is your minde so at quiet now that yee may boldlie say with Simeon Now let thy seruant depart in peace The sicke Man Alas Sir Satans temptations are like that Serpent of Lerne called Hydra which had fiftie heades whereof one beeing cut off two sprang vp in the place thereof I take that serpent to haue beene but a fable But that which I say may bee written for an Historie Many heads of temptations haue yee cut off with the sword of Gods word But now I think that for euerie head cut off two are sprung vp in the place thereof All my temptatons hitherto haue beene but vpon the skin like the scratch of a pinne wrinkles but not woundes All my troubles hitherto hath beene but matters of trifles viz. Feare for my Life feare for my Children feare for the Graue of this our muddie mortalitie and for other such trifles and trashes vnworthie for to trouble a couragious Spirit The Spirit of a couragious man said Solomon will beare his infirmitie But the wounded spirit who can beare it well is the child of God in his ◅orest sicknes for while his bodie is sicke his Soule is sound His God in great loue will make all his bed in his sicknesse and strengthen him into the bed of languishing Hee whom God loueth is armed with Faith and patience all his troubles are but outward scrappings vpon the skinne The temptations wherewith I am lashed are spirituall woundings for my sinnes which neuer troubled mee before I heard oft-ten of such troubles but I neuer knew before this time what such things did meane Thinke ye Sir that the Spirit of a godlie man can bee thus wise troubled I heare Dauid crying in his mourning There is no soundnesse in my flesh neither is there anie rest in my bones But what reckes of flesh and bones if the Spirit were free The Pastour The most godlie that euer liued haue suffered spirituall woundes Christ the Captaine of our Saluation said That his Soule was sadde euen vnto the death Iob cryed that h◅s Spirit was drunken vp with the poyson of Gods arrowes The arrowes of the Almightie said hee are within me the poyson whereof drinketh vp my Spirit See how that holie man of God complaineth that his Spirit was like a drinke drunken vp by the poyson of Gods arrowes By this yee see that spirituall wounds are alloted to the dearest of Gods Elect so that they are not exeemed from inward blowes Trouble of Conscience is the disease of the innocentest Soule The sicke Man That satisfieth mee not As for Christ the blowes which hee suffered in his Soule were blowes of satisfaction for the sinnes of others As for Iob these blowes were blowes of probation of tryall for to let the world see that he was not an hypocrite that serued GOD for rewardes as Sathan did alledge But it is not so with me who am a bond slaue of corruption I suffer for my sinnes which are euer before mee The fainer I would forget them they flow the faster into my rememberance The voyce of my Conscience followeth mee with hue with cry Though God hath spared thee long thou hast not beene bettered looke now for vengeance after so long delayes I can make no answere I can not denie but God hath spared mee long In this is my greatest feare The higher a stroake bee fetcht the longer it is in comming But the higher it bee lifted the heauier it will fall The Pastour I answere to that which yee said first viz. that Christs sufferings are no comfort to you because they are blowes of satisfaction The afflictions of Christ were of diuerse vses first of all for to make payment to Gods Iustice for our sinnes Secondlie he suffered that by his own experience of sense hee beeing expert what it is to suffer might assure vs that hee is both a mercifull and a faithfull high Priest For in that hee himselfe hath suffered beeing tempted he is able to succour thē that are tempted Thus the Apostle declareth plainelie afterward Wee haue not said hee an high Priest which cannot bee touched with the feeling of our infirmities But was in all pointes tempted like as wee are yet without sin This experience which he had of our miserie is called his learning Though hee were a Sonne yet learned hee obedience by the things which he suffered Hee also suffered for to bee an example vnto vs. The sicke Man I vnderstand not well these words that Christ learned obedience by his sufferings The Pastour The words indeed seeme obscure The most Learned think that Christ is said to haue learned obedience by his sufferings because while he suffered hee felt indeed how difficile a thing it is talem obedientiam Deo praestare to yeeld such obedience vnto God others say that by his suffrings hee joyned to his diuine
song for joye that the night is past The Sicke Man Sathan alas hath so hood-winked my Soule with my sinnes that I cannot get a sight of mercie the sense of my sinnes giueth mine heart many a cold pull I feare to die in despaire What say yee Sir Doeth not your heart pittie mee The Pastour The Lord pittie you giue me an heart to pray for you The Lord put the wordes into my mouth that may comfort your comfortlesse Soule in this Iingring tryall Haue patience in your paine sinne is like a rotten tooth the deeper roote it hath in the jawes the more painefull it is in the drawing Continue Sir to discouer your sore if the boile of such corruption bee ripe I shall launce it that such filthie matter may bee cleansed away I pray God so to direct mee that I may proue a Surgeon cunning in this cure if there bee any thing as yet that troubleth you conceale it not if ye think that my comforts may be helpfull vnto you Many are more ashamed to confesse a faulte than to commit a sinne What is this that grieueth you now Sir The sicke Man The wrath of God affrayeth me His anger is like a Lyon which can not bee tamed My sinne is past but punishmēt is to come Terrors cry out of the fire Thy pleasures now are ended now thou must suffer paines From the toppe of the pinacle of all thy preferments come down to the dungeon of darknes because thou hast fallen downe before the god of this world goe downe goe downe to him whom thou on earth hast worshipped These bee the terrours of God standing in battell array against mee which make mee to fling all comfortes from mee My Soule is possessed with a slauish feare Indeed I must confesse that I am much beholden vnto God for so large a time of repentance But alas I haue neglected it yea and obstinatlie haue kicked against my Maker So now I finde by doolefull sense that I remaine into the guilt my Soule is so sicke with this that I cannot tell All comfortes are vnto it like a dead potion into the stomacke which hath no vertue to worke God thinketh mee not worthie of comfort For while I was in prosperitie I was so couered ouer with the spirit of slumber that I would not be warned nor wakened by the voyce of Gods Trumpeters sounding judgements as sonnes of thunder Because I misregarded Boanarges the Sons of Thunder God will not daine mee with a Barnabas a Sonne of consolation Now behold Sir what grieueth mee what say yee for my comfort The Pastour I rejoyce from mine heart not in your griefe but in that yee are so grieued for your sinnes God in mercie by such sorrow doeth whet vp your desires after him The Child by a knocke a fall knoweth his owne weaknesse and perceiueth the need of his Nourse I rejoyce to see you humbled with the sense of your sins vnder the hand of God I am comforted to see you humbled let this humilitie bee a comfort to your selfe It is good to be of a humble and contrit Spirit To whom will I looke said the Lord euen to him that is of a contrit Spirit and trembleth at my word The more a man be humbled he is neerer to be justified The Publicā a litle before he was justified was knocking vpon his breast and crying to God for mercie to him a miserable man The more humble a man bee hee is the farther from the dint and danger of Gods judgements The sicke Man By your discourse Sir it would seeme that a cast downe Soule with its owne vnworthinesse is in lesse danger of judgement than these who are high lifted vp in their owne conceit The Pastour It is most certaine The humble the proud are like these seeds that were sowne in Egypt when the plague of haile came the Flaxe and the Barley were smitten saith the Scripture for the Barley was in the eare and the Flaxe was bolled But the Wheat and the Rye were not smitten for they were not grown vp The wicked in time of wrath are lik Flaxe Barley because they are lifted vp they are smitten they are in the eare yea and bolled in their pride and therefore cannot escape But as for the humbled heart of the godlie man it is lik the Wheat and Rye the best corne It is not smitten because it is not growne vp but lyeth humble before the Lord Corpora magnanimo satis est prostrasse Leoni Humiliation maketh the Lyon to spare his aduersarie God is pleased and pacified so soone as hee seeth a man humbled in heart Ahah had killed after also had taken possession Yet so soone as hee humbled himselfe in Sacke though all his humilitie was but outward the Lord looked vpon him and would haue Elijah to see it also Seest thou said the Lord to his Prophet how Ahah hath humbled himselfe before mee Because hee humbleth himselfe before mee I will not bring this euill in his dayes Blesse God Sir for your humbled heart yet relye neuer vpon any grace that is within your selfe let Gods meere mercie alone bee your strength and your stay The least opinion of our owne worth is a frost which nippeth Repentance in the blossome The sicke Man Thinke ye Sir that before a man win to Heauen that hee must bee racked and riuen as I am with fearefull temptations The Pastour Before the most part of the Elect can enjoy these joyes that are aboue they are not onelie racked with paine but also as it were racked thorow hell There must first bee an hell in the conscience with the sense of our sinnes wee must haue a sight of wrath before wee enter into Gods Rest Heauen is not winne with a wish Christ saith that it suffereth violence and that the violent take it by force Thorow manie tribulations and afflictions wee must enter into it The Crowne is after a course of crosses The sicke Man I am haled away with the strong streame of temptations I cannot thinke that if God loued mee hee would suffer mee to bee thus way tread vnder foote like dust with such fearefull temptations O how fearefull is the crosse vpon the Conscience The Pastour These whom GOD loueth best hee chasteneth The louing Mother will runne vpon her dearest Daughter with her feete if shee perceiue her to bee giuen to folie God treadeth not vpon his owne but for profite The Godlie are like Saffron or Camomile which grow the better the more they bee troden downe Grace must gripe Nature till it gaspe The sicke Man Mine heart is strained and squised with griefe O the heauie weight of my sinnes which hang so fast on I am like a tyred horse that faine would bee rid of his burden The Pastour To bee tyred of sinne is a token that yee shall
God for this chastisement Though for a space yee bee in the fearefull depths of temptations Let nothing mak you to despaire Christ the most solide Rocke of your Saluation shall turne all such surges into froth While Ionah was in the bellie of hell and all the billowes of Gods wrath passing ouer him yet vvould he not despaire into that hell but beeing tumbled vp downe there hee trembled in his belieuing and belieued in his trembling Then I said I am cast out of thy sight There was his trembling Yet I will looke againe toward thine holie Temple There was his belieuing And the Lord spake to the Fish and it vomited out Ionah vpon the dry land these were the fruites of his Faith Learne Sir of Ionah not to despaire were it in the bellie of hell Though for a space ye as it were goe downe with that Prophet to the bottomes of the mountaines the time shall come that yee shall sing to God yet hast thou brought vp my life from corruption O Lord my God God for a space for the sinnes of his chosen for his glorie for his praise for proofe for example and manie other reasons may bee ecclipsed from shining to the sillie sinfull Soules of his Turtles But there is none obscuritie that shall be able for euer to restraine from them the Celestiall influence of his blessed beams of comfort In a litle wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment but with euerlasting kindnes will I haue mercie on thee saith the Lord thy Redeemer The sicke Man But alas mine heart is al◅eadie wounded with vncurable wounds The Pastour In Christ is your remeede If yee bee wounded there is health in his winges for the healing of your wounds Though for a space such wounds bee sore in your feeling yet fret not Yee would gladlie suffer all that and more if yee knew how many stripes Heauen were worth Though Christ tarie yet he will not tarie He is more sensible to our sores than we can imagine Belieue him while hee speaketh These bee his words of sense Hee that toucheth you toucheth the Apple of mine eye Be of good heart Sir Christ shall bee the Iudge of our sinnes who was judged for our sinnes He to whom all judgement is deliuered was deliuered for vs vnto death Yee say that your heart is wounded let this bee a salue for your sore a broken heart is the verie heart of repentance neuer to bee repented of The heart which was neuer wounded for sinne is deadlie wounded with sinne The heart which was neuer wounded for sin hath neuer known the vertue of Christes woundes the onelie remeede of sinne Be of good courage in this good fight like the Church who for her valour in spirituall warfare is compared to the troopes of horses in the Chariots of Pharaoh Now seeing the day groweth to an end after that in my prayer I haue recommended you to Gods protection and direction I will leaue you vntill morrow Let vs pray A Prayer for the sicke Man tossed with spirituall temptations O LORD how terrible art thou when thou art angrie at thy creatures Who can stand before thee a cōsuming fire When thou is prouocked the Earth shaketh and trembleth the foundations of the hilles are moued When thy wrath is kindled smoke commeth out of thy nostrils and out of thy mouth commeth a deuouring fire whereby coales are kindled O the terrour of these euerlasting burnings Who darre approach vnto thee Who shall bee so bolde as to stand before thee seeing there is none so fierce that darre stirre vp the Leuiathan one of thy Vassals whose scales are his pride whose eyes are lik the eye lids of the morning who by his neesinges maketh a light to shine kindleth coals by his breath O GOD most gracious make thy North winde to awake and blow vpon him for the cooling of his conscience parched with fierie temptations Change thine angrie countenance toward this sillie cast-downe Soule sore tossed and troubled with spirituall tempest O heare our earnest sute and bee not deafe towards vs O let the bright beames of thy mercie disperse and breake thorow the cloudie glominesse of thy wrath Let the cleare skie of thy fauour appeare vnto this darkened spirit that in a holie boldnesse hee may come vnto the Throne of thy grace Thou hast said Lord Anger is not with mee Thy word plainelie affirmeth that there is but a moment in thy wrath In wrath thy custome is to remember mercie Forget not so good a custome O remember here a sinner vexed with thy wrath Breake not this bruised reede neither quench this smoking flaxe but kindle vp the lurking sparkle Make thy strength perfect in his weakenesse make thy Mandrakes to giue a smell that his Soule may bee refreshed with the sauour of life vnto life Take from him all hardnesse of heart Suffer not his Conscience to bee seared with sinne neither too sensible of sinne lest that hee losse his patience Giue him a soft and a yeelding heart for to admitte the comforts of thy Spirit O take out of his breast the hard marble and flintie heart of Nature and put in the place thereof a fleshie and melting heart with a tender feeling Spirit Open his eyes with thine eye-salue that hee may see thy mercie thorow the crosse-barred gates of so fearefull temptations As the weight of thy wrath hath made his Conscience to bleede so let the might of thy mercie like Balme cu◅e couer the wounds of thy wrath O GOD of pittie pittie this poore Soule weeping in secrete at thy feete Pittie this Spirite which is filled with heauinesse Sore sorrow O LORD is entered through all the powers of his Soule euen to the diuiding of the joynts and the marrow of his bones Put these wordes of comfort in his minde and mouth that thou retainest not thine anger for euer because thou delightest in mercie O sanctifie the force of all his paineful temptations that they may worke to his well let him know that thou hast an hand in all his troubles Let him say Let the righteous smite mee and it shall bee a benefite Yea though thou should slay mee yet will I trust in thee Good GOD giue him not ouer to the raging euill of his owne corruptions Suffer not his Spirit to bee ouerwhelmed with the burden of temptations but with the temptation giue him an out-gate Make the Spiknard of thy mercie send out a sweete smell whereby his fainting heart may bee comforted Giue him victorie ouer all the enemies of his saluation As Ioshuah made his men of warre to set their feete vpon the neckes of their enemies and tread them vnder foote euen so LORD make this thy weake seruant to sette his feete vpon the neckes of these sinnes which like Kings haue swe◅ed their sinfull Scepter
bee the more streightned O the vnspeakeable compasse of Gods compassions The sicke Man I doubt not of the infinite compasse of his mercie but whether or not he will shew that mercie to such sinners as I am this often troubleth my darkned and droopping Soule The Pastour To shew mercie to most mise rable persons is most familiar to Gods Nature * Hee neuer executeth judgement till we egge him and inforce him vnto For this cause where he punisheth hee is said To doc his worke his strange worke and to bring to passe his act his strange act Hee hath sworne by his life that he taketh no delight in our death Our God is not rigorous against these that would faine doe well No not but lik as a father that pittieth his children so the Lord pittieth them that feare him for hee knoweth our frame hee remembreth that wee are but dust Our God will not exact strictlie a perfection in the life of his Children If wee haue an affection to doe well though wee cannot affect it hee will accept it A godlie Father hath said well concerning this Deus magis delectatur affectu quam effectu that is God is more pleased with the affection of a man than with the effect it selfe Christ thought more of the poore womans mites than of rich mens millions and that all because of her good affection Well is the Soule in whose bosome it lodgeth The sicke Man But the good affection must euer bee followed with some effect * Mine heart hath beene nothing but a filthie puddle a false Fox hole The more I dig into this dung hill I am the more confounded O what a jewell is a good Conscience coâ—…ered vp into the heart of a Christian It is like a precious pearle in a Ring I am ashamed to come into Gods presence while I looke vpon my sinnes The Pastour Shall the sicke man bee ashamed to lay out his sores to a secret and wise Surgeon It is good to think shame of sinne before wee doe it for to abstaine from it It is also good to think shame of it after it is done for to repent vs of it But wee must neuer thinke shame to confesse it This is the craft of Sathan hee ta keth away shame from man at the commission of sinne and restoreth it againe to man at the confession of sinne That which hee hath once taken away from a man by forged cauillation like Zacheus he though in a worse sense refloreth him fourefold A wicked man after that he hath sinned hath fourefold more shame to confesse his sinne before a Congregation which indeed should bee his honour thaâ—… hee had at the committing of sinne the onelie cause of shame If hee had beene as ashamed to commit sin priuilie as hee is ashamed to confesse it publicklie he had neuer taken pleasure into sinne Men of widest Consciences whose hearts are sâ—…uft and engrossed with wickednes will often I confesse seeme shame fâ—…st before men In the presence of a carnallâ—… eye they will straine the gâ—…ate like â—…e Maidens which cannot eate at Table where they are seene their throat is so narrow that hardlie can any meate passe ouer quasi vero O but in secret greatest gluttons deuouring blacke bread embrued with yesterdayes broth Shee that but pitissat sippes before the Sober can skip at the scols with her Commers till shee bee sicke with healths Euen so it is of such sinners most modest they are shamefast while they are seene The gnate of a light vaine word they cannot digest if men haue heard it but in the meane time in the polluted thoughts of their prophane hearts they are filthy dreamers if secret occasion serue without shame of God they will swallow Camels making no bones Though their sinne bee neuer so huge in greatnesse euen Adulterie the wracke of most famous Families if they can straine and passe it with a close conueyance their heart will say of it as Lot said of Bela Is it not a little one Well is that Soule which while it is tempted to sinne hath euer an eye vpon its God saying with Ioseph Now behold my God seeth mee and hee is a witnesse of this my doing How then can I doe this great wickednesse and sin against God As for that yee say now that yee are ashamed to come before God while yee looke vpon your sinnes It is good sir that ye think shame to come into Gods presence because of your sinne but thinke not shame in Gods presence to confesse your sin Sin whether secret or confessed is euill but the confession of sin is euer good Gods word is true If wee confesse our sinnes hee is faithfull and just to forgiue vs our sinnes and to cleanse vs from all vnrighteousnesse Trust in God Sir relye vpon his mercifull bowels who out of his great compassions hath said I haue receiued a ransome God loueth those that are feelinglie affected wakened out of the slumber of Conscience The sicke Man But thinke yee verilie that God will bee mercifull to mee whose Soule hath beene but a soile for weedes The Pastour I thinke that yee your selfe should thinke none otherwise A good man saith Solomon is mercifull to his beast It is a beastlie thing for a man to thinke that God will not bee more mercifull to his Soule than any man can bee to his beast God was more offended at Cain for despairing of his mercie than for killing of his brother Iudas kindled more Gods wrath for the desperate hanging of himselfe than for the betraying of his Lord that was hanged by his treason Hee who offered his mouth to receiue a kisse from that Treatour had neuer refused him mercie if hee had sought it with a repenting heart Because prophane Ahab had but a shew or outward scroofe of repentance hauing Sackcloth neerest his skinne the Lord spaired him all his dayes to let men see what he will doe to true repentance seeing hee is so gracious vnto that which is but an outward likenesse thereof There is no sinne that offendeth God more highlie as distrust Here is the great injurie of doubt or despaire it maketh the sinne of a little Grashopper to ouer-reach the infinite mercie of the most High as though man a little clat of clay could bee more sinfull than that infinite Majestie can bee mercifull Happie is that Soule which God hath singled out in time for to make it loath its best loued pleasures God delighteth to take vp a seat in a bruissed heart sorrow beaten for displeasing of its God Take a good heart Sir yee haue to doe with a God whose Name and Nature is mercie a God whose mercie is great aboue the Heauens yea and ouer all his workes That which ouer reacheth all Gods
many doe But yet yee must know that hee that made the Time will not bee subject vnto Time the King of Time is Eternall GOD is eternall and hath all Times at his command There is no Time that can hinder him to bee mercifull to a sinner at whatsoeuer time he sha◅l repent For this cause Christ for to let the world see that hee can forgiue when a sinner can repent hee took from the Crosse the Soule of a condemned Theefe and after that hee had absolued it hee carried it to Paradise God hath said That at whatsoeuer time a sinner shall repent that hee will put away his wickednesse out of his rememberance Fra once hee hath said the word hee cannot take his word againe He is constant in all his wayes and therfore neuer saith and vnsaith one thing Hath he said shall hee not doe it If yee can but waite a little ye shall finde all the fiercenesse of his fur◅e to bee turned into the fulnesse of his fauour * Hee who shall seeke him earnestlie shall not receiue an emptie answere There is mercie in heauen for an hell of conscience vpon earth Cast all your cares aside cast your selfe into the armes of your God Cast thy burden vpon the Lord and hee shall sustaine thee Be strong in the Faith of God In hope belieue against hope though for a space your Spirit bee distempered yet still relye vpon the mercie of your God Goe not off this that the Blood of Iesus was shed for you that Christ hath payed your ransome What euer Sathan by his temptations suggest vnto you belieue him not Take my counsell I pray you Sir that I speak the trueth heere I darre take it vpon my Soules Saluation The sicke Man I thank God from mine heart that euer I heard you your words are ful of comfort O how indebted am I to the mercy of my God who hath vnlocked the bowels of his loue towards me At our first meeting I found my selfe inuolued with much miserie and mischief but since I haue heard you I finde I blesse God some stirring of God Spirit within mine heart mine heart before this time hath beene lik that Altar at Athens wherin was ingrauen in great Letters TO THE VNKNOVVNE GOD I heard often of God but I neuer knew him truelie vntill now This is the infancie of my regeneration I haue beene too long a stranger from so good a God My Soule now rejoyceth after many toes and froes I finde mine heart loosed from the cartropes of my sinnes and linked vnto my Sauiour with stronger chaines than of before There bee better motions within than euer I did feele before this houre O thou who is Loue let my Soule bee possest of a sound and constant loue to thy most mercifull Majestie Bring my Soule from the shadow of death to the light of thy countenance O Lord my strength and my Redeemer O Lord of Hostes giue me strength and courage to fight out this Christian fight whereof the victorie is glorious and the reward a Crowne of immortalitie Inspire mine heart with the life of Grace If thy care had not hitherto preserued my Spirit my Soule had long since bene drowned in a sea of sin and sorrow There haue bene such lecks into mine heart that except the Lord in time had pumped it with repentance my Soule long since had made ship-wracke of Faith O how much am I beholden to my God who hath taken longer day with mee than within any others from whom before they were prouided hee hath demanded his due Blessed bee my God who hath made mee free from the frenzie of Spirite by appearing vnto mee in a greater calme The feeling of his wrath past I hope shall be a sauce for to sharpen my blunted loue towardes him in all times to come with vndaunted constancie I perceiue nowe that the day is darkened and that the night approcheth Oh that I might cōtinue conference with you but least I should wearie you from the best of my bowels my deare Pastour I bidde you farewell I looke to morrow for a new conference for with many difficulties mine heart is yet troubled and tossed I requeast you before yee goe to helpe mee with your prayers The Pastour I blesse God who hath begunne to intermingle the sweete honey of some comfortes with the bitter gall of painefull temptations GOD who hath begunne to make you his his Prentice in Grace shall an one mak you a free man in Glorie As Ministers must first sit at Gamaleels feete for to learne before they sit in Moses chaire for to teach so must Christians first bee humbled with temptations on earth before they bee honoured with exaltations into the Heauens Well is the man that is truelie humbled by GOD and made a foole in his owne eyes for hee which thinketh himselfe wise is a foole ipso facto All naturall wisedome without Spirituall humilitie is like ouernights Manna which did no good but mould and fust God by diuers temptations first carnall and after spirituall hath besieged the corruptions of your nature and hath battered downe the strong holds and fortified Castles of your imaginations and reasoning the high thinges which exalt themselues against the knowledge of GOD Before hee leaue you hee shall bring into Captiuitie euerie thought of your heart to the obedience of Christ According to your desire wee shall bend our knees to GOD in prayer that yee may spell his loue out of such a Fatherlie correction and learne in time to stay your selfe vpon his kindnesse and good will A Prayer for the sicke Man O LORD of Mercie whose bowels are turned within thee when thou beholdest the griefe of the godlie Bee heere present for the reliefe of this thy poore distressed Seruant His eyes are stedfastlie fixed vpon Thee as the eyes of the hand maide are fixed vpon the hands of her Mistresse Behold LORD and heare his amazed broken heart braying after thee as an Hart panting after the Riuers of waters Pitie this sillie Soule which is like the drye ground gaping for droppes of Raine Oh LORD his strength is d◅yed vp like a Pot shard his tongue cleaueth vnto his jawes and thou hast brought him into the dust of death Let the sweetest comfortes of thy bleeding bowels bee powred into his broken heart Make the joyfull Light of thy countenance breake foorth vpon his drooping and cloudie Conscience O strengthen his sillie Soule in this heauie houre Pacifie the pangs of his remorse that hee may laye holde vpon the merits and mercies of thy Sonne IESVS Come gracious GOD with thy strength for his succour Sathan a most bitter enemie hath besieged his Soule with most fearefull temptations There is no mischiefe which could bee deuised but hee hath m◅stered it and set it in battell arraye against him While hee had health and youth this enemie
was the chiefe entiser of him vnto sinne by bearing him in hand that it was an easie thing after many sinfull pleasures enjoyed to returne vnto God whose fauour and kindnesse might bee procured by and by without anie labour But now Father while he seeth his day declining the Sun of his life neare its setting of an Entiser hee is become an Accuser striuing by all meanes to cause him make shipwrack vpon the bankes of despare Night and day hee vexeth and teareth his Soule by whispering into his eare most impudent lyes against thy Trueth viz. That hee is so miserable that thou art not able to be mercifull vnto him He suggesteth most craftily that it is in vaine for him to sue to thee for thy grace that there is none hope of mercie left for such a sinner that there is none accesse vnto the Throne of Grace for the prayers of such a miserable wretch and that it is no purpose for him to pray But what LORD thou who art Trueth it selfe wilt thou suffer this father of lyes to trouble still thy Seruant Wilt thou heareanie longer thine infinite mercie thus reproached and reuiled as though thou were not able to paâ—…don the faultes of thine owne poore creature What is that to say but that God shall cease to be that God whose mercie is aboue all his workes O LORD most mercifull can the sinfull scarlet rednesse and the Crimsin colour of mans corruptions bee â—…o dyed that it cannot bee washen away with the Blood of thy Lambe O seale vp the sense of thy loue in his heart make thy Spirit to whisper in his eare that mercie is with thee that thou may bee both feared and loued Shall anie thing LORD withhold the heart broken sinner from the Throne of Grace Is not this the voyce of thy Spirit Come vnto mee all ye that are wearied and ladened with sinned Is not thy promise written in thy Booke that thou wilt ease them O most louing Father euen in despite of Sathan and his most despitfull suggestions make his Soule bolde and confident that it may aduenture it selfe to the mercifull Throne of thy Grace Cleare and cleanse his eyes from the Spirituall goare of sin that with Simeon he may see thy Saluation which thou hast prepared before the face of all people O deare IESVS deliuer his Darling from the power of the Dogge Incline thine eares and heare the grieuous groanes of this poore prisoner Make him a prisoner of hope Turne thee now about and refresh his wearied heart with a blinke of thy mercie Shew him the light of thy Countenance and hee shall bee saued Enlarge his heart that thy Graces finding a spacious roome may plentifully harbour in his soule Alas LORD what shall we say if thou shalt say to him I haue no delight in thee Behold heere hee is doe to him as shall seeme good in thine owne eyes Thou hast not forgotten neither can thou forgette but that thy delight is in mercie Where sinne doeth abound shall not there thy Grace abound much more Thou LORD hast often bathed this sillie Soule in most bitter brimie teares Thou hast hid thy selfe from it and it hath beene troubled Now amid the vexations of so many temptations blinke vpon him with a reconcealed face O GOD of Battels in this Bartell of the Soule send downe thy strength for to guarde him against the assaultes of Satan who pursueth him so eagerly with most sharpe and fearefull afâ—…aultes like a Dogge hunting after a sillie straggling sheepe Though for a space thou suffer him to bee buffeted with a messenger of Sathan yet let him know that thy Grace shall bee sufficient for him Let thy right hand hold him vp and let thy gentlenesse make him great Renew his heart with the power of thy Spirit reinuest him with the image of thine holinesse which once hee lost in Adam Cast his Spirit againe in thine owne mouâ—…d At last LORD put Sathan to silence let thine owne Spirit speake vnto this Sicke in his inward partes Say vnto his Soule I am thy Saluation Make thy good Spirit of comfort to whisper in his eare that thou aâ—…t well pleased and that thou hast receiued a ransome Such wordes of mercie will bee a blessed Balmeâ—… wherby thou shalt heale this sorrow beaten Soule stung with a checke and smart for his sinnes Though LORD hee hath but some poore beginnings of Grace in a time wee confesse when thy graces in him should haue beene ripe for that glorie which is now shortly to bee reuealed vnto him yet notwithstanding let it please thee of thy meere mercie to pittie and â—…don Remember thy mercies of old which were neuer wont to break the bruised reede nor to quench the smoaking flaxe If thy great mercie be not his strength and stay he must needs bee ouercome For whom hath hee in Heauen but thee Or who is on earth whom hee can desire besides thee O Thou whom his Soule loueth tell him where thou makest thy flock to rest at Noone in the greatest heate of affliction Seeing he seeketh after thee onelie let him bee refreshed with thy comforts for why should he turne aside by the flockes of thy companions Consider well wee pray thee LORD how bene he hath vexed and d squieted with many fearfull temptations now at last come with thine helping hand come and abate the force and furie of all his enemies whether within or without subdue their raging and reigning power that when the houre of his departing shall come hee may with Simeon depart in peace Stand LORD fast by him forsake him not in this perelous time Let thy Spirit guide and leade him in the Land of righteousnesse Let thy grace be vnto him a Sunne by day a Moone by night Take all impedimentes out of the way bridle so curbe all his vnrulie affections that they may fold vnder thine obedience Suppresse all his carcing heart deuiding cares whyp out of his heart all treacherous temptations Embalme his hearte with the sweetnesse of thy new fresh graces Settle in his Soule that godlie sorrow which cause Repentance neuer to bee repented of This sillie Soule LORD hath beene fearefullie tossed to and froe with the waues of thy wrath Let it please thee to command a calme Settle thou his heart and stablish it with thy free Spirit Mercifull GOD thou knoweth how Sathan hath sought to sift and to winnow him but of thy mercie thou shalt neuer suffer his Faith to faile Build vpon the Rocke which cannot bee shaken Through thy fauour giue him peace in belieuing and joye in the holy Ghost that by the grace and power of thy Spirit hee may finish his course with comfort Let in now be made manifest that his life hath beene hid with Christ in God Thou who hast numbered his haires obserue his griefe his groans pittie the crouding of thy Turtle-Doue Tak thou to heart the
subject vnto changes lik the Moone Crownes haue their composse triumphs haue their tombes All our sweetest thinges in end proue but honied poyson Thus all that yee see heere below is vnconstant The greatest kingdomes are turned about as with whirling wheeles The Kinges vpon its spokes are marked vpon this dittâ—… 〈◊〉 Regnabo regno regnam suâ—… 〈◊〉 sine regno One Prince is lying vpon his backe another hath a spok in his hand climing vp the Wheele The third is vpon the top The fourth is fallen hauing his heeles vp his head down All the things of this world are diuided into foure Either they lye low or they climbe they stand or they are fallen The poore man is lying vpon his backe without any helpe or hope Another is fall of climbing conceits The third beeing there where all would bee euen vpon the toppe the higher hee is mounted the greater is his fall He then falleth that another may stand in his place while hee againe is lifted vp hee must stand with feare and heare Let him that standeth take heede lest hee fall At last also to him the haÌ„dwritting commeth foorth that in Gods ballance he is found wanting that therfore his kingdome must bee taking from him Then all the pleasures of his wine of his whoores then all his feasting his mirth and his Musicke is turned into a trembling feuer which maketh all his joyntes to shiuer and his knees to smyte one against another Beholde and consider how the glorie of Kings the gods of this world is brought to destruction Though their heads bee golden their feete are but of clay like Nebuchadnezars image Gods litle stone cut out without hands is able to bruise grinde in powder their Golde Siluer Brasse Yron and Clay for the allaying of the pride of their peacocke feathers Hee can let them see the blacknesse of their feete None of them can stand before the winde of that voyce Returne ye ChildreÌ„ of men Though their honours which they doe broach with so bold a face were reared aboue the highest cloudes and exalted aboue the starrie Skie yet must they descend at the Euening of their life and make their bed with the beggers in the dust Thus after they haue drunke vp the pleasures of this world as Behemoth the Riuer of Iordan they at last find all to be but vanitie and change When their houre is come they must quite all and make resignation of all into the hands of a new succession for to goe dwell in the Land of darknesse and shadow of death Who knewe the weight of their Crownes they would neuer be so sicke for them as King Ahab was for Nabothes vine yarde If of any man may bee said this is most true of him who is in highest places While his flesh is vpon him hee shall haue paine and his Soule within him shall mourne After that for a space hee hath feasted with Belshazzar and fatted himselfe against the day of slaughter with Wheat Wine and Oyle at last shall hee know but too late that no Feast is continuall but that of a good Conscience * Oh that great men while their minds with Dauid are beastlie would with Dauid goe to the Sanctuarie of God for to learne that if great men be not good men though they were Kinges they are sette in slipperie places Seeing Kings and Kingdomes are but vanitie what is that on earth that is not vaine There is nothing that can stretch to eternitie below In this world all men are strangers in their birth Pilgrimes in their life at last lik combersome guests by death they are thrust out at doores The language of Tabor was that It is good for vs to bee heere But the language of heaueÌ„ proclaimed that Peter knew not what he said Striue to keepe euer your heart loose from the earth The glassie sea of this vvorld is neuer without tempests Hee that would haue his Soule wained from the loue of this world let him remember but these sixe things 1. What hee is in himselfe 2. What is within him 3. What is aboue him 4. VVhat is beneath him 5. What is before him 6. What is behind him Man in himselfe is but dust and ashes a cage of corruptioÌ„ Thrise with one breath is he called Earth earth earth Earth by creation sustentation and corruption saith Bernard Within him is a blind minde a peruerse will and most vile affections yea so that euerie imagination of the thoughts of his hearte are onelie euill continuallie Aboue is a weightie vengeance hanging by a small twined threed of Gods patience Below him is a fierie fornace and the smoking brimstone gulfe of euerlasting burnings Against him Sathan and sinne with their legions posting to and fro so that when one departeth it is but to fetch seuen others worse than himselfe Before him is nothing but miserie volumnes of woes and lamentations Those bee his Day-booke Behind him pale Death followeth with stealing steppes See vvhat a masse of miserie like an hudge armie besetteth and besiegeth the whole course of the life of man till death at last come with the dead stroke and separate the Soule from the lumpish heauinesse of clay Then they that die in the Lord are blessed yea saith the Spirit That they may rest from their labours But because the day is alreadie spent yee shall now carefullie thinke vpon that which hath beene said It was a speciall propertie required in Sacrifices fitte for God that they could chewe the cude I leaue that which ye haue heard vnto your nights meditations I pray God that by his Spirit he would conuoy into the substance of that which your eare hath receiued Before I leaue you let vs all bend our knees vnto God in prayer that it would please his Highnesse to blinke downe vpon you with a reconcealed face His boundlesse and bottomelesse mercies did neuer yet know how to breake a bruised reed or quench a smoaking flaxe Let vs pray A Prayer for the sicke Man O LORD the GOD of the Spirits of all flesh the preseruer of men in whoÌ„ is both power for to saue and to destroy Thou art the true Teacher of Israel Thou hast the keyes of Heauen of Hell and of the Graue Come and cast the armes of thy mercie about this sorrow-beaten sinner Rejoyce him with the comforts of thy Spirit Inspire him with holy motions and with the life of Grace till hee bee made partaker of the diuine Nature Thou hast alreadie made his heart to melt within him at the sight of his transgressions Thou hast sette all his sinnes in order before him This is out of thy great mercie wherby thou wold not suffer him to freeze in the dregs of his corruptions Now at last LORD after thou hast refined him in the fierie fornace of temptations send him
before the Lord Let vs all humble our selues heere before our Maker A Prayer for the sicke Man O LORD prepare our heartes to prayer Let vs not be rash with our mouth nor hastie with our heart to vtter any thing before Thee O glorious GOD and all mercifull Father which art the true Physicion both of Soule and bodie we must humblie bend our knees before Thee intreating thee to be with thy seruant heere whom thou hast now laide into this bedde of languishing Let not his sinnes whereof hee hath beene guiltie from his youth vp prouok thy wrath any more against him Knit them all in a bundle and cast them all behind thy mercifull back burie them al into the bottomlesse sea of thy compassions that they neither bee able to accuse him any more in this worlde nor yet to condemne him in the world to come Though his sinnes LORD were like Scarlet and Crimsin there is vertue into the Blood of thy Lambe to make them white like woole and whiter than the Snow For thy Sonnes sake remoue all his transgressions as far frō him as the East is from the west Hell LORD Destruction are before thee how much more the hearts of the Sonnes of men Thine All seeing Eye pryes most clearelie into the in-most closet of mans heart Look with the Eye of thy compassions within the Doores of this wearied heart of thy Seruant Looke in and proclaime mercie and pardon vnto his sillie Soule Let him know that neither Death nor Life shal be able to separate him from thy Loue O LORD assist him and stand fast by him in this houre Desert him not in his greatest last agonie Let thy Spirit possesse him so fullie that there be none entrie or roume for Satans temptations whē the Temper is bufiest let thy Spirite bee strongest Arme him with all Pieces against the last conflict of this bloodie battell Honour him with the Lawrels of victorie Let thy strength be made perfect in his greatest weak nesse Doe the turne by thine owne force and take all the glorie to thy selfe By the vertue of thy Christ crucifie into him the olde Man and his vvorkes Make him to die into him that hee may liue to Thee vvho to all the Faithfull is aduantage both in life and death Hee is now LORD walking betweene thy Mercie and thy Iustice through many-temptations Gouerne thou his steppes vvith such vvisedome that the feare of Iustice may keepe him from presumption and the hope of mercie may preuent despaire Increase his patience vvith his paine Sanctifie his Sickenesse make it as Bellowes to thy graces that thereby they may be kindled and blowne vp to a greater flame Enamour him vvith the loue of thy goodnesse Powre in the oyle of thy mercie into his bruissed hearte which hath bene filled with mournfull groanes And seeing now thou art calling him to repetitions to see vvhat hee hath profited in thy Schoole cast into his rememberance all the good things that hitherto hee hath heard or meditate for to comfort this houre Bee strong in him now in this time of tryall Applye vnto his wounds the Balme of Gilead Hee is weake and therefore O LORD forbea◅e him in thy mercie O pittie this wounded man as did that Samaritane Powre Oyle into his wounds bind them vp and take him to thine Inne For thy mercies sake remember him Forthy Sonnes sake pittie him For thy promise sake forget him not Free his Soule f◅ the maze of all worldlie cares Inspite into him the life of grace with a most fresh vigout and feruent heate of zeale to thy Glorie Hee LORD in his most piercing paines knoweth not what to doe but his eyes are on Thee In thine handes is both Life and Death Thou bringest to the Graue and bringest backe againe In thy greate mercie O LORD make all his bedde in his sicknesse make his bedde to be a Schoole vnto him wherein hee may not onelie learne the hudgnesse of his owne miserie but also the greatnes of thy mercie Let neither Death fright him nor the Graue grieue him Let him knowe that Death is but a sleepe for the friendes of Christ and the Graue a bedde for the resting of their wearied bones Let not the weight of mortalitie beare downe his Spirite frō minding the things which are aboue Make him content to quite gladlie all earthlie pleasures and contentments for to goe dwell with Thee his GOD in immortalitie Let neither the sweetnesse of the Figge nor the grapes of the Vine nor the fatnesse of the O liue hinder his desire to reigne in heauen Against the feare of death comfort him with hope of the glorious Resurrection Assure his Soule though his bodie goe to bee eaten of the wormes that hee in that bodie againe shall see his Redeemer and none other for him Furnish him with spirituall courage vnto the end Giue him boldnesse to march without feare thorow the valey of death for to come to Thee yea to run were it thorow Hell for to come to Thee in Heauen Tell vnto his Soule that his paines dismay him not seeing his trauell is to bring foorth eternall life Let thy Iustice seate trouble him no more seeing Christ hath payed his debts Let him not bee afraide to come before the Face of his Iudge seeing the Iudge himselfe is his Brother who hath both cut cancelled that hand-writting of the Law which no flesh was able to performe Pittie him LORD pittie him for loe hee is nowe in thine handes looking pittifully vp to Thee for thy mercie Some of thy setters are yet vpon him none can loose him but the hands which haue bund him Pittie good LORD and pardon set vnto this Soule the seale of thy pardons by the Spirit of adoption Heale and sweetlie close vp the wounds of his Spirit by the vertue of thy most blessed Blood This is our confidence that thou who hast stricken him is able to heale him and will also doe it if it bee for thy glorie and his well if not Lord in judgement remember mercie If it bee his best that after some dayes sicknesse he depart out of this mortall life let these paines which hee suffers nowe bee like Ionathans arrowes which were not shot for to ◅urt but to giue warning Giue him grace that like an obedient Childe hee may as w◅ll kisse thine hand while it beateth as while it blesseth If thy decree be come foorth that hee must remoue from this World assure him of a better place where pleasures are in greater number th◅ the starres Teach him by thy Spirit that by death hee shall change a mortall habitation a dungeon of darknes◅◅ cage of corruptions for euerlasting T◅bernacles most heauenlie sacred M◅sions where constant peace vnmi◅ joyes remaine Weane his heart from the loue of all things that are vnder the Sunne Let the beautie and glorie of the Heauens whereof hee hath heard at length this day
with thy mercie In the multitude of thy compassions blot out my transgressions wash me throghlie from mine iniquitie and cleanse mee from my sinnes where by the seed of thy grace within mine heart hath beene choaked and starued Let the depth of thy mercy swallow vp the deepes of my miserie Bridle my sinnes and spurre forward thy graces within mee Set all mine affections on foote that they may follow after Thee Put a fairer flame into my smoking slaxe and more strength into this bruisedreede that the bones which thou hast broken may re◅oyce O Lord with thine eye salue cleanse and open the eyes of my poore Soule that I beholding these things that are aboue may gladlie desire to be dissolued for to be there with my Lord and Sauiour Lord let thy Spirit carrie still a strong hand ouer me Furnish mee with such measure of thy graces whereby I may patiently waite vpon thy will Except that by a speciall fauour thou vphold mee I shall neuer bee able to secure my feete in so slipperie ground While I haue beene hearing most glorious speaches of the Heauens the shadowes of earthlie things haue ecclipsed my minde like a Moorie O make such shadowes to flie away that the horizon of my spirituall sight beeing cleared I may in some measure see thy backe partes whereby my Soule may bee enlightened like the face of Moses Though often I haue beene deafe at thy preachinges bee not thou dumbe at my prayers O Father of mercies listen vnto the groanes of my drooping spirite assailed with diuerse temptations Heare the sighes and crouding of thine owne Turtle Doue O LORD leade mee into the Land of vprightnesse and make thy grace to seat it selfe into mine heart Store my memorie with these good lessons which I haue heard preached in mine health Let mee neuer ouer-pryze anie good thing that is within my selfe Though Iames and Iohn bragged that they were able to drinke of thy cuppe scarce could they abide to see Thee drinke it O Lord make mee euer to vnder-value thy greatest worth that thorow the valey of humilitte I may come to these euer lasting exaltations Come LORD for loe thy seruant commeth I am willing Lord helpe my vnwillingnesse If it bee thy will to loose me out of this sinfull prison when I shall leaue this earth to earth appoint thine Angels to carrie my Soule vnto Abrahams bosome where I may sing with thy Saincts Halleluiah for euer Come Lord now and seeke thy lost groate Fetch home vpō thy Shoulders this wandering Sheepe and make all the Heauens to rejoyce Despise not that which in the creation thou diddest ennoble with thy liknesse Giue mee a warrand and a token to bee admitted within the Gates of thine euerlasting Tabernacles Till I come there make my Soule to burne still in holie feelings Lord heare mee for the deare sake of thy Sonne to whom with Thee and the Spirit of grace as it is most due wee render all praise glorie and dominion for euer AMEN The Pastour Blessed be God Sir who maketh his Spirit to worke so powerfullie within you Wee are all greatlie refreshed with your comforts It hath beene a great joye to vs all to heare that most sweete feruent prayer full of the groanes of the Spirit of Iesus In you haue wee seene the trueth of that Text The Spirit helpeth our infirmities for wee know not what wee should pray for as wee ought But the Spirite it selfe maketh intercession for vs with groanings which cannot bee vttered I am assured that that same Spirite hath made intercession for you with groaninges in that prayer which now yee haue vttered And againe while I consider in what weakenesse and faintnesse I found you at the first I wonder at such a vigour of Spirit which I petceiue now to be into you Truelie the word of God is most true God giueth power to the faint to them that haue no might hee increaseth strength Euen the Youths shall faint and bee wearie and the young men shall vtterlie fall But they that waite vpon the Lord renewe their strength They shall mount vp with winges as Eagles Many in their afflictions either desparatelie rage or weaklie wa◅le But God in great mercie hath at last filled you with true Christian courage and comfort in your greatest smart Hee hath listened to all your desires beeing moued with that sacred Loue which alwayes burneth in his bosome His Grace like the Notherne Pole hath giuen you aime and direction whether to bend your course Now the darkenesse of the night beginneth to ouer-cloud the earth By Gods grace I shall returne in the Morning so soone as the birdes shall begin to chirpe at the spring of day Because while the spirit of man is idle it weareth and wasteth it selfe away with barren and lumpish melancholie While yee shall awake cause reade Scripture vnto you and particularlie these places Psalme 27. Psalme 84. Psalme 87. 1. Corinthians 15. 2. Corinthians 12. Reuelation 21. Reuelation 22. His Grace bee you THE SEVENTH DAYES Conference The sicke Mans last wordes to his Pastour Friendes Wife and Children The Pastour THE Lord blesse you Sir According to my promise yester-night I am come againe earlie All this night mine heart hath earned to knowe of your estate How haue yee passed this night The sicke Man O the mercie of my God towards mee that hath moued you to take such paines for mee an vnworthie worme By your most holy Sermons yee haue furnished and supplied my minde with store of holie and heauenlie meditations Ye haue beene both a Paul for to plant mee in the true Faith and an Apollos for to water mee Christ the Master builder by the Finger of his Spirit hath laide the foundation of his Temple within mine heart Hee hath made choise of you a skilefull Workeman to aduance the worke till in mercie at last hee shall roofe his graces in mee with celestiall Glorie By the word of God yee haue comforted mee that is onelie the word of comfort Of all other words were they neuer so eloquent I will say with a Father In a thousand talents of worldlie wordes a man shall hardlie finde an hundreth pence of spirituall heauenlie wisedome This life is like the Haw thorne more pricking than pleasant Ye haue rauished my heart with desire of immortalitie aboue I blesse God Sir that euer I saw you The Pastour All these good things are to bee ascribed to the working of GODS Spirit All the juice and sappe whereby the branches spring and liue ensueth and riseth from the roote of the tree We who are Pastours are but the Lords Spouts and Cocks of his Conduits wherby his graces are conuoyed vnto the heartes of our hearers If the Spirit of God mak not a mans Saluation sure hee will incessantlie reele from one doubt to another from one temptation to another like a drunken man from wall to wall It is
the Lord and therefore if yee would please good men or haue good men for to please you walke in the wayes which will please the Lord All mens hearts are in his hands like riuers of water Hee can make a foe of a friende and a friende of a foe If yee neglect this counsell yee shall at last be forced to stand at staues end with the whole world Hee who is at variance with his God will neuer agree with himselfe and so shall bee in discord with all for as the Pagan said well Conveniet nulli qui secum dissidet ipse Hee who is not good to himselfe can bee good to none Though commonlie men say of some Hee is or was euill to none but to himselfe A wise man in this land hath made a good replye to that speach viz. It were almes to hang him that is not good to himselfe Now yee are young yet breath is in the bodie Worke while it is light Bee carefull to keepe a Callender as it were of your dayes which may call vpon you hourelie bee diligent for the time is short By years dayes and houres our life is continuallie cut and sklised away What shall I say more The Lord giue you wisedome in all thinges Godlinesse is true wisedome Best spirited men are not euer most spirituall As for you striue truelie to bee religious Nathanaels Israelites indeed Euerie night before ye goe to bedde set before your eyes the mercies of that day Muster them orderlie and take a view of them carefullie that vpon your knees from your heartes yee may giue God his praise While ye are gone from the publick prayer of the Familie vnto your priuate bed Chamber remember Gods mercies afresh While yee remember them let this bee your last collation drinke before yee goe to bedde take with Dauid the cup of Saluation and call vpon the Name of the Lord As trades men haue a day Booke for daylie receites it were expedient that all the godlie haue a register wherein may bee written the noble actes of the Lord for to helpe ou◅ weake memorie lest wee suffer his mercies to slippe out of our minde If yee either forgette your sinnes or Gods mercie remember that yee haue a Conscience which is a daylie obseruer a night watch and a secret spye into your Soules In all your adoes striue to be righteous before God and vpright before men See in a short verse what shall bee the end both of the godlie and wicked The memorie of the just is blessed But the name of the wicked shall rotie O my deare Children lay vp carefullie these wordes into your hearts which I your olde Father haue spoken with much paine Thinke vpon this one day Death will inquire what Life hath beene doing As for my worldlie affaires as Rents or Goods if they bee great lippen not to them If they be little little with Gods grace is enough If yee bee godlie God shall bee your Father and your feeder If yee abound bee not prodigall Make not a god of your Bellie Beware to tipple or quaffe or with the glutton to feede delicatelie Care not for panch pleasures Iohn liued on locusts It is better to liue on Cake and water with a godlie Elias than to feast royallie with a foolish Nabal Though feasts bee pleasant they are dangerous When the dayes of feasting were ended Iob sent sanctified his children rose vp earelie in the morning for to offer burnt offerings for them al for Iob said It may be that my sons haue sinned cursed God in their heart Single feasting is fittest for the Soule and most wholesome for the bodie God sendeth sluggardes to the Pismire as to a Master of worke for to direct them from loitering to labour Let gluttons whose dearest delightes are in panch-pleasures from morning vntill euen learne of the Swallowes who sit not down to dine but feede while they flee As they feede on flees so they flee while they feede What should man doe with his Bellie but feede it as in a flight Let the winges of sobrietie carrie you from glutting plentie before yee bee ouer-taken with that which shall make you to be ashamed to morrow While yebegin to drinke beware of after-clapes Men by a litle distemper at the fi◅st contract easily an habit of sine S. Augustine speaking how his Mother MONICA learned to tipple ◅aith Primoribus labijs sorbebat exiguum Itaque ad illud modicum quotidi◅na modica addendo in eam consuetudinem lapsa erat vt prope jam plenos mero calices inhianter hauriret That is At the first shee began but to kisse the cuppe and to sippe a little of the wine while shee filled the Cup to her Parents but anone shee came to this that shee made no bones to sucke drie full Cups of wine See how from sipping at last shee came to carousing Oh but that is a deare drink which costeth a man a Spot in his name a blot in his conscience Experience telleth that pleasures is more dangerous than paine and feasting thā fasting Remember Iobs children see in what a feare that godlie Father was concerning their ◅easting Certainelie his feare was not a foolish feare without anie ground It is set down in Scripture for to teach men feare in feasting Too manie at such times turne themselues into barrels and beastes swinishlie ouerturning all reason judgement that is within them As for you be yee sobber if yee would bee holie God will not tarie into that heart which hath a god in the bellie Hee who would lodge the Arke must chasse Dagon to the doore like a dogge Manie who neglect the bellie haue pride printed in great capitall Letters vpon their backe Bee yee not sumptuous in apparrell Let God giue you the coat according to the cold Follow not new fashions Beware of euill example Woe to the world for scandales As yee should not bee prodigall bee not also misers pinch-pennies Defraude not your selues of your graunted good Bee thankfull to God for all his giftes Away with these who after they haue receiued that which they sought haue done with God till they neede him againe In all the course of your life striue to hold the Ballance equall vertues in the midst Extremities are like Border Theeues not subject to the Lawes Bee neither too nice nor too pert too scurrile nor too silent In worldlie wealth trye before yee treasure If yee bee rich glorie not in your riches if yee bee poore pray God to keepe you from the extremitie of pouertie lest that yee put foorth your hand to steale If God send pouerty be not discouraged Though it bee sore it is no sinne Lazarus with his ragges was welcomer to God than Diues with his purple Hee who begged from that rich man on earth saw the rich man a begger into Hell Hee is rich enough
Seruant fainting in great weaknesse of bodie But thogh flesh and friends health wealth and all should faile him thou LORD will neuer faile him Hee is thy Seruant he is thy Seruant the son of thy hand-maide Thou hast most powerfullie hitherto supported and vpholdeÌ„ him by thy mercifull hand Now leaue him not while he is drawing neare vnto his long home It is easie to perceiue that his age is departing from him like a shepheards tent and that thou art readie to cutte off his life like a weauer His desire LORD is to bee with Thee Thou hast heard the sighings of this prisoner and thou hast vnderstood the groanes of thine own Spirit As thou hast begunne the good worke in him so perfect it in due time As thou doest with the yeare crowne it with thy goodnesse with-draw not thy Grace from him till it bee made perfect in weaknesse Thou LORD hast manifested thy loue to him wonderfullie by putting into his minde and mouth such diuine preceptes and counselâ—… to his Friends Wife and Children that all that haue heard them haue beene forced to wonder at the glorie of thy grace Now deare Iesus let thy force be with him in his fainting but the nearer hee draweth vnto his end lâ—…t thy Spirit the Comforter enable him the more till victoriouslie hee hath put an end vnto this Battell As the strength of his bodie shall beginne to decrease let the comfortes of thy Spirit increase in his Soule Seale vp in his heart that peace which thou hast purchased by the blood of the Prince of peace Assure him of the rest of these joyes which are to bee reuealed whereof hee hath alreadie receiued the earnest O say vnto his Soule that thou shalt bee his Saluation In the silence of the night while deepe sleepe falleth on man make thou his reines to instruct him Suggest vnto his heart the sweetest wordes of thy comforts which may bee vnto him like apples of gold in pictures of siluer Waine his heart daylie more and more from the loue of things below Make thou his Soule to soare vp with Eagles wings towardes the heauenlie Mansions Prepare nowe his Soule to the last conflict Put vpon him all the Armour of God Strengthen his Faith that hee may holde fast by Thee yea so resoluedlie that though thou should slay him yet hee may trust in thee When the force of sicknesse shall tak away the vse of his tongue make his heart to groane vnto Thee in the secret language of thy Spirite â—…hat in thine hands he commenâ—… 〈◊〉 his Soule and that he desireth thee to come quicklie for his reliefe Let not the increasing throes and pangues of death discourage him In greatest anguish vphold his enfeebled heart with the hope of Glorie Look on him Lord with the eye of thy mercie incline thine eare to the sighes of his heart make haste to come for his Soule is longing for his appointed time till his change come As thou art the Lord of life so vnto thee belong the issues of death Let strength proceede from thee like vertue from Christes garment whereby hee may bee encouraged against the fearefull assaults of death which shortly in all appearance shall besiege his noble parts for to bring him vnto dust froÌ„ whence hee came Make thy Spirit to enter into his hearte for to vphold him against this feare smart of his last and most heauie houre Let him know that if the earthlie house of his Tabernacle bee dissolued that he hath a building of God an house not made with hand eternall in the heauen Make his Soule more and more earnestlie to groane for to bee cloathed vpon with his house which is from Heauen Seeing while hee is heere at home in the bodie hee is absent from the Lord make thou him confident and willing rather to bee absent from the bodie that hee may bee present with Thee in the Heauens Let the hope of the Resurrection vphold him against all the terrours of the Graâ—…e Perswade his Soule that at the sound of that shrill celestiall Trumpet his bodie shall arise and with these same eyes shall beholde his Redeemer and none other for him Innumerable euils Lord haue compassed him about Nowe the time approacheth that thou wilt deliuer him from all his feares Make haste Lord Come Lord Iesus come Rebuke Sathan wee intreat thee that in the darksome night he interrupt not the comforts of thy Spirit Suffer neuer that slie and craftie one to bereaue him of the pledges of thy loue Make him to holde fast that which hee hath that none bee able to take his Crowne O mercifull God take notice of all his wants and necessities and bee thou to him SHADAI GOD all sufficient for to supplie them Let him not want that Grace without the which hee cannot serue thee Through thy selfe make him to push downe all the enemies of his Saluation Through thy Name make him to treade them vnder foote that rise vp against him for he hath not forgotten the Name of thee his God neither hath hee stretched out his hands to a strange God While his eye-stringes shall bee broken and when the throes of death shall make his heart to tumble within him then bee thou the strength of his heart the health of his countenance and his God In his greatest griefes anoynt his Soule with some droppes of that oyle of gladnesse wherewith thou once anointed our Lord and Sauiour aboue his fellowes Let thy Graces like that precious ointment that ran downe vpon the beard of Aaron flowe down from thee aboundantlie vpon all the powers of his Soule Let spirituall vertues drop downe vpon him as the dew of Hermon and as the dew that descended vpon the mountaines of Zion O thou the perfection of beautie shine vpon his Soule Indue him with a melting and relenting heart Bee mercifull to thy distressed Church comfort Her in all Her teares and troubles Pittie Her deformities Adorne Her with Puritie and Vnitie Though Shee bee outwardlie 1. duskie because the Sun hath withered Her yet Shee is the Kings Daughter whose 2. whole glorie is within 3 Awake O North Wind and come thou South blow vpon Her Garden that the spices thereof may flowe out Declare vnto Her enemies that if they 4 touch Her they shall touch the Apple of thine Eye Let them all know that it is 5 hard to kicke against prickes and that if they perlecute thee Thou wilt throw them to the ground Bee mercifull to our gracious SOVERAIGNE the Kings Majestie as by thy Grace thou hast made him a King so by thy Grace make Him a good King Powre down a princelie Spirit vpon his Soule that Hee may haue courage for the Trueth Make Him answerable to his most honourable Style Defender of the Faith Vouchsafe thy mercie vpon his Princelie Spouse Let the beautie of the Lord Her God bee vpon Her Make Her like
thee in righteousnesse in judgement in louing kindnesse in mercies come now and perfect the marriage in glory before the Sainctes and Angels that are aboue where pleasures are for euermore The Pastour Amen Amen The Spirit of God Sir is with you within you Continue in such holie and heauenlie thoughtes Contemne still the transitorie triffles of this world that gladlie yee may desire to goe dwell with your God Naturallie all men are so stiffe-necked and so steele hearted that they cannot submit their will to the good pleasure of their God O that men would bee wise in time and could consider how they must bee accountable for euerie houre of time they haue imployed in their life Our Soules alas are so sensuall that they will not knit into acquaintance with Right and Reason but like factious ligged lieges rebell stifelie against their Lord Hardlie will mans heart rander vnto that petition which is often in his mouth viz. Thy will bee done in earth as it is in heauen The pride of mans heart perketh it selfe aboue the Lawes of humble obedience Blessed bee God whose mercie hath made you a resolued man such wordes as I haue heard of you were neuer teached in the Schoole of Nature Nature cannot speake the language of Canaan We haue nothing to rander vnto God for his working mercies but the mites of praise O but ye are much beholden vnto GOD who hath endued your Soule with his loue subdued the raging power of temptations whe◅with your Soule at the first was caried lik chaffe or dust before a gale mightie winde O but your heart at the first was fearefullie hacked and mangled with most terrible temptations O but the Spirite of Iesus hath wrought wonderfullie within you Now by him are ye made free from all the terrors of temptations which like venemous hornets did flie in your face The sicke Man I finde now all that to bee true Glade is my Soule that euer it knew that Lord Full welcome is his Spirit to me Christ is now my Loue mine hearts delight Hee hath ridde my Soule of all mine heauie-hearted thoughts By his blessed Spirit hee hath perswaded mee that my Soule hath a true and reall enterest in these blessed tidings of peace and Saluation which hee by his Blood hath bought and broght from the Heauens O the mercie of my God! O the Ocean of his compassions which hath swallowed vp the most hudge mountaines of mine iniquities O what a redemption is this to bee deliuered from so great a death wherin the damned must die so long as God shall liue O death of torments without anie end O life of continuance without anie ease O the immortalitie of that death wherein sinners shall euer bee dying but neuer dead wherein the least touch of paine cannot bee counteruailed with the millions of pleasures O the tumbling and tossing that shall bee there where the wrath of God shall infinitelie burne Now Christ the Lord of life hath made mee free of all these fear◅s I hope shortlie to bee with him I rejoyce in hope of the glorie of God To him will I say as hee said to Zacheus Today I must bide with thee I long to bee out of this state of strife My bodie is weake and mine ◅eart fainteth within mee O Lord recreate and refresh my Soule with the blessed Blood of the Lambe orientle streaming thorow the channell of his wounds Giue mee a constant assurance that all my sinnes are blotted out of thy Register Where no woode is there the fyre goeth out Where sin is taken away there wrath ceaseth to bee O Lord conduct the Ruther of my Soule till it hath sailed thorow al the seas of sorrows and become to the Port of pleasures for euermore The Pastour Take courage and continue so Lift vp your head with the eye of Faith behold the other Shore euen the Land beyond the riuer The Land of vprightnes Canaan which is aboue Bend vp all your heart-strings with hauenlie desires Fixe fast your eyes vpon that Crowne of immortalitie Let now all your thoughts claspe fast about the mercies of your God Hee nowe imbraceth you his hand is a sure hold fast which neuer letteth slip that which it once hath seized on In al appearance your Battell is neare an end Waite stedfastlie vpon the Lord Christ shortlie with a soft hand shal loose the knot of your life that your Soule may goe free to the place of its rest your Soule alreadie by the mercifull Arme of Iesus hath beene deliuered from the painefull racke of repentance and now is sette vpon the rocke of your Saluation The gracious God hath beene your Father Feeder and Defender Your desirs which of before were grappled to the ground now only aspire to things which are aboue Afflictions to the Soule is like the gade to the Oxe a teacher of obedience Finde ye now the tempest of your Conscience so allayed as yee would wish Is all calme and at quiet within I hope that the blessed droppes of the Lambes Blood haue quenched that wilde fyre wherewith once your troubled Conscience was enflammed Yee as I esteeme are no more troubled for your sinnes as though God neither would nor were able to forgiue I pray God that yee may boldlie say with a godlie Father What shall I returne vnto my gracious God that I darre now looke my sinnes in the face and not bee afraide The sicke Man My sinnes I blesse God fright mee no more O the rich bowels of Iesus wherein is a Myne of mercie I remember now of a sweete saying of a godlie mā on his death-bed When mine iniquities saide hee are greater than thy mercies O God then will I feare and despaire The comfortes of my God now refresh my Soule lik the Riuer of Siloah that watered the Citie of God I blesse God for all my try all troubles which hee hath made to worke together to my well Grace in the heart is often like fyre in flint insensible vntill it bee beaten It is good for vs that wee bee afflicted The bluenesse of the wound purgeth away euill My Saluation now is surelie sealed by the hand of the Spirit By his seale it is made sure and authenticall O how my Soule hath with a bright eye discouered the fauours of his face O if God forsake a man hee will shortlie with Iudas passe from the horror to the halter O the mercies of God towards me The Pastour O how much are yee beholden vnto God who by his Spirit hath so directed your heart and mouth with wordes perfumed with the sauour of life vnto life yee haue refreshed all our Soules as with a sweete breath If the Spirit of Grace guided not our tongues in our temptations our mouths to our euerlasting shame should breath out stiffe and stinking blastes of blasphemie against the Lord our
Nowe graunt that the hope of that glorie which is to bee reuealed may bee so strong in his Soule that it may shield and fence him from the force and furie of the last assaults The nearer he draweth vnto death inlarge the chanell of thy graces like a Riuer which is broadest towards the end of its course Make his heart in the ◅orest pangs of death to bee still lifted vp towards thee And seeing Death and the Deuill mans two last enemies are euer busie the one for to fright the other for to tempt Prepare him Lord and furnish him so with thy Graces that hee may proue victorious in this last assault O gracious GOD assist him by thy force against the most violent blustering winds of the last and most fearefull temptations If Satan looke in at the doores of his heart seeking for an entrie let him neuer get so much as one chamber-roome set a part for his sojourning Make thy grace vnto him like a Sunne like a Bridegroome comming out of his Chamber to disperse the darknesse of his mistie minde Vnto his last gaspe direct him so by thy good Spirit that his Soule may cleaue so fast vnto thee that neither sinne nor sicknesse life nor death may bee able to separate him from thee Thogh thou shuld slay him yet wil hee trust in thee Faile him not now in time of neede vphold his heart in this heauie houre Let his Soule lurke vnder the winges of thy mercie till the tempest of wrath bee calmed past ouer Bee thou to him a shelter against the heauie showers of the last agonie O gracious Lord in wrath remember mercie In the multitude of thy compassions blot out his transgressions and that for the dearest drops of that sacred Blood that gushed vpon the cursed crosse Rinse and cleanse his heart from all vncleannes Giue him courage in his greatest fears Let not Death bee vnto him as a king of feare nor hee as one of the wicked whose hope doeth perish with their breath O Lord let thy Name bee vnto him like a strong tower for to hid him into the time of trouble Let this bee the cleare candle of his comfort neuer to bee quenched that Christ by his death hath for him and all the Faithfull ouercome Death and disarmed it of its sting Declare by the inward motion of thy Spirit to his Soule that the nature of death by the death of Christ is changed into a sleepe vnto all the friends of Christ who by the infinite power of his diuine Nature hath swallowed it vp in victorie and hath so digested it that now the bitternesse thereof is past As the Arke was to Noah and Zoar vnto Lot so bee thou a refuge to this faithfull Soule fighting thy battels not onelie against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the gouernours of darknesse of this world and against spirituall wickednesse in high places Let thy strength bee made perfect in his weaknesse As thou hast vp holden him hitherto by the strength of thy Spirit so continue with him vntill the end The battell is the Lords fight Lord for thine own cause euē for this Soule one of thy redeemed Ones obtaine thou the victorie and take the glorie to thy selfe O God both of grace and glorie seale surely vp in his bosome the pardon of all his iniquities Perfect the comfortes which thou hast begunne say vnto his Soule That heauen is not so high nor hell so low nor the world so wide as are thy mercies towards him All thy creatures haue their owne dimensions but thy mercie Lord like thy selfe is without measure Out of these infinite compassions make this sillie Soule partaker of the dearest mercies that euer rould together the relenting bowels of thy tenderest loue Heare vs Lord in all these our sutes and that for the sake of thy best beloued and onelie begotten Sonne the Lord Iesus Christ in whose Name and at whole command wee powre out our heartes to thee in that prayer which by his own sacred and most blessed mouth hee hath taught vs Our Father c. The sicke Man Lord heare thou in Heauen Blessed for euer be thy Name for such spirituall comfortes for so manie mercies I can rander nothing but the little mites of praise and thankesgiuing Mine heart is filled with songs of Gods mercie If his Spirit of grace had not vpholden mee in my first feares while as I thought I was wrapped into an infinite wrath I had certainelie beene swallowed vp with ouermuch sorrow But now blessed eternallie bee the Lord who hath made the earth to swallow vp all the floodes of temptations and tribulations which that red Dragon the Deuill a bloodie murtherer hath cast out of his mouth after mee for to carrie my Soule down head-longs to perdition Now finde I Gods word to bee true that hee is ouercome by the Blood of the Lambe Except that the Lord had beene on my side O in what a dumbe dumpe had my poore Soule beene driuen into ere now The Pastour Hee who followed Adam thorow the thicke bushes and Ionas in the bottome of the sea Hee who blessed the crooked man and made the barren fertile and the dumbe to speake the deafe to heare and the blind to see hath made his grace perfect in your weaknesse He best feeleth the pulse of our heartes and the force of our life Loth would hee bee to breake the bruised reede or to quench the smoking flaxe All men by nature are but like an vncleane Dung-hill of drosse their heartes at the first are but a den of Dragons But so soone as the Spirit of grace hath begunne to drawe the draughts and lineamentes of Gods image within the soule of a man nothing shall bee able to deface or mangle that liuelie image To all sorts of temptations Gods wisedome shall finde an out-gate Neither the traines of Sathan nor the treason of our bosome sinnes nor the terrors of hell nor the trashes of the world shall euer be able to preueale against Adirim Gods excellent Ones According as Zacharias filled with the holie Ghost prophecied It is granted vnto vs that wee beeing deliuered out of the handes of our enemies may serue him without feare The sicke Man I blesse God for such inestimable comforts Sathan hath shrewdlie assaulted mee but could not preuaile My corruptions haue beene subdued and awed by the Majestie of the Spirit of Iesus My Soule rejoyceth in GOD In the merites of Christ as in a glasse I see him a meeke a mercifull Father I am not now afraide to come to a tryall at his Tribunall I am no more dismayed for the vnquencheable flammes of the fierie lake I thinke certainelie that there was neuer a man so much beholden to my God as I am Truelie may I sing with the Psalmest I waited patientlie or the Lord and hee inclined vnto mee and heard my cry Hee
dreadfull visitatations of Conscience His Soule hath bene sore racked with the pitifull perplexities of a vexed minde Now death is approaching Sight senses all are failing but thou Lord will neuer faile him While the naturall eyes of his bodie beginne to growe dimme then cleare thou the spirituall eyes of his soule that hee may with Stephen see the heauens opened and the Sonne of man readie to receiue him And alwayes Lord as the time of death shall approach so let his Soule draw nearer vnto thee that while sicknesse shall take away the vse of his tongue his heart may cry to thee Come Lord Iesus come in thine hands I resigne my Spirit Nowe Father of mercies seeing thy Girnels are prepared for him by the power of thy grace fanne this Corne cleane from its chaffe that it may bee treasured vp therein Put his life in a readinesse that hee may giue thee a chearefull account of all wherein hee hath imployed thy Talents Let him heare these words of joye Faithfull seruant come and enter in thy Masters joye Long hath his Soule beene wooing the heauens with weake fluttering desires Nowe open the window of thine Arke and let in this wearied Doue crouding for thy Rest Manie depthes bee betweene vs and heauen One deepth calleth vpon another deepth for flesh and blood there is no possibilitie of passing thorowe But Lord that which is impossible with men is possible with thee Let therefore the vertue of thy death be to him like a Bridge for to sette him safe ouer all the gulfes of miserie In his journey to thy Kingdome remoue all rubbes out of the way O Lord listen to our cry Put these our vnworthy prayers into thy golden Censer Perfume them with the incense of thy righteousnesse and offer them vp to thy Father vpon the Altar of thy diuinitie And thou Fatherof mercies for the merites of thy Son his all sauing death which hee hath suffered for al repēting sinners Receiuein mercy this Soule which Sathan hath sought to sift Receiue the deare price of the Blood of thy Son Let thy Iustice say I am satisfied Let thy mercie so smile vpon him that it may bee the health of his countenance and the comfort of his Conscience While hee shall finish his course finish thou his Faith with perfection whereby hee may die hauing a settled assurance of that blessed Inheritance and massie Crowne of immortalitie which Christ hath conquised by his bloodie merites To whom with Thee and the Spirit of Grace bee all Glorie honour dominion and euerlasting power for now and euer Amen The sicke Man Lord heare thou in Heauen O blessed God and Father of eternity seeing my time nowe is short giue mee grace to manage it well Shute not thine eares to my sighes while my tong in the jawes of death shall cleaue fast to the roofe of my mouth O follow me with thy fauours euē thorow the valey of the shadow of death O Lord because thou art faithfull cannot lie I look shortlie to receiue in hand that which I haue in hope O come now and put an ende to the dayes of my vanitie The Pastour Blessed magnified be the Lord of eternitie for such wonderfull mercies towards you He most powerfullie most wonderfully hath brought you back from the corrupt course of Nature as a Boat rowed against the streame by the force of Armes and of Oares Behold now ye approch vnto your Heauen Be of good heart Sir ye are neare vnto your rest the place of pleasures for euermore Nowe seeing the ende draweth neare yee haue to remember well if yee haue anie grudge against anie that before yee decease they may be fetcht and friended with you The sicke Man I wish all men to be well I hope that no man wisheth otherwise to mee My desire was neuer either to reuile or to reuenge I am readie to satisfie where I haue failed and to forgiue where I haue receiued the greatest wrong Mans wronges against mee are but light in comparison of my wickednes against God Hee is not worthie that God shuld forgiue him his sinnes who will not forgiue his neighbour an injury My good God hath forgiuen mee all As hee hath forgiuen mee so I forgiue all men and desire the lik to be done by others vnto mee My Soule abhorreth these words of ranckour I may forgiue him but I will not forgete him The softning Spirit of God cannot dwell where there is such stonie steelie hardnesse of heart O Fountaine of Grace powre the powers of thy Spirit within my breast that my Soule may bee refreshed with thy blessed balmie comfortes of sauing grace Draw vp my spirit toward the Tabernacles of immortalitie O when shall I come and appeare before God! Put to the Spure to this dull jadde of my foggie flesh that I may make more haste in my journey The Pastour Lord heare thou in heauen Seeing God hath blessed you with Wealth I doubt not but that ye will doe some thing for the well of Colledges Hospitales Colledges are the Seminaries or seede-plotes of vertues out of which come these who become Rulers of the Church Common-wealth Hospitals are shelters for the poore the friendes of Christ Christs counsell to the rich is that they make friendes of the Mammon of vnrighteousnes Such words were not spoken by our Lord without great and weightie reasons The sicke Man All these things were done in my Testament while I put mine house to an order I haue not forgot that point of duetie Hee is not worthy to be called a faithfull man who leaueth not behind him some fruits of his Faith That Faith which cannot justifie a man by good works before men will neuer justifie his soule before God Remember mee O Lord cōcerning this wipe not away my good deedes which I haue done for thy glory Let men dreame of Saluation as they please S. Iames his precept is that men shewe their Faith by their workes Though Pharisees doe all that they doe for to bee seene men must not in mens sight forbeare to doe well Because Hypocrites come to preaching prayers publicklie true Israelites for that must not sitte at home The Godlie must not bee so base in heart as to abstaine from all publicke good because the wicked worshippe but outwardlie Shewes without substance in some should not bee able to banish the shewes of substance from others The Pastour Indeede Sir yee speake wiselie As the tree is first seene in the budde and then in the flourish and after in the fruite so muste the life of man bee Because the barren figge tree had nothing but leaues the fruitfull tree must not grow bare the leaues of the tree haue their owne vse among the fruites So haue godlie shewes good vses when they are joyned with true substance The Faith of a Christian should not think shame to shew
her faire face because Hypocrisies face seemeth to be faire while it is fairded No not God will haue true faith to come out that the world may see her into works Shew mee thy Faith by thy workes Christ who desireth that the niggard or ambitious left hand know not or see not the liberalitie of the charitable right hand commandeth that wee let ouâ—… light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our Father which is in heauen The graces of Gods Spirit in a man are like a light candle No man light a Candle and put it vnder a bushell but on a Candle-sticke it giueth light to all that are in the house The good life of the godlie man should bee like a Citie sette on an hill which cannot bee hid The labourer soweth not his seede on the ground that it may still remaine hidde vnder the cloddes neither doeth God sow his graces in our heartes that there they may luâ—…k still abide secret I like not these who feare to seeme godlie left they should bee thought to be Hypocrites Euen in that are they Hypocrites that for feare they seeme to affect godlinesse will not doe good that may bee seene which would moue the true Israelits to glorifie our Father in heauen yea and also allure these to come to God who as yet are strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel I confesse that fewe bee troubled with such a feare It is a sin whereof verie few in this Land are guiltie yet seeing it is a sinne it would bee carefullie auoided Because Papists whollie relye on their workes Protestants with great scandale will onelie bragge of their Faith Thus both the one and the other against the truth of doctrine separate that which God hath joyned together The sicke Man O Lord GOD of gods O Father of euerlasting compassions whose blessed bowels did bleede vpon the crosse for to saue sinners pittie heere a fraile feeble creature yet tugging and wrestling in the Barras of this sinfull flesh Furnish mee with strength whereby I may surmount and vanquish all difficulties which are betweene my Soule and the place of its euerlasting rest I am weake forbeare mee Lord in thy great mercie Ioyne thy Grace with my griefâ—… O that I were with my Christ the Marke whereat I aime the Port whereto I saile the rest of my desires Let thy good Spirit O Lord assist mee Let thy fauour and grace bee my vade-mecum till I come to thy Glorie O who shall giue to my soule the wings of a Doue that it may flee out of the Douket of this bodie vp to its God O deare Sauiour set mee as a seale vpon thine heart Draw mee and wee shall runne after thee Holde mine heart aloft that it may onelie minde the things aboue The Pastour Lord heare thou in heauen and grant the sute of thy seruant I feare Sir that yee bee wearied with speaking As I perceiue yee force your selfe in your words aboue the reach of your strength Seeing yee trauell thus in paine of your speach spend the little space of life that resteth in holie meditations concerning the bloodie wounds of Christ your Sauiour The sicke Man Christ now is onelie my comfort I loue him with the best bowels of mine heart In the bowels of his mercie I reade by the eye of Faith most faire lines of his loue all written in great Capitall letters of an heauenlie impression Christ is to mee in stead of all for alreadie in my neede hee hath stood mee in more stead than all O in what a pitifull plight my sillie and forlorne Soule was once into Blâ—…ssed bee hee for euermore who in so great kindnesse hath shined vpon me with the blessed bright and vnspotted beames of his mercy O but my Soule panteth after him Oh how this heart of mine is euill to breake What a piece of clammie teugh clay is this that settereth so my Soule that by no meanes can it bee loosed from it that it may soare vp to its God from griefe to glorie O that I were with him with whom I shall not want the thing that I can wish Now Lord the time is come pull off mee the dull wiede of sinfull mortalitie and cloath my soule in white with the Robe of Christes righteousnesse that it may followe the Lambe O but I am wearied My Soule longeth to see the Face of my God The Pastour Waite vpon the Lords will when it is time hee will open the prison doore and let your Soule flie vp to your Glorie Thinke on Heauen still Mount vp your minde to your Maker who shall shortlie roofe with Glorie the graces which hee hath reared vp into your heart Let the hope of these thinges hearten you in the mudde and myre of this sinfull mortalitie The sicke man O Lord pittie this Soule which I haue defiled and defaced with scarlet transgressions and crimsin iniquities Thou hast begunne the good worke in me It is now neere to perfection Put to now the last hand and perfect the worke Rub out perfectlie with the Blood of thy Lambe the least staines which sticke in my Soule that while thou shalt look vpon mee thou may know mee to bee thy redeemed one by the stampe of thine owne Image O Lord fixe mine heart so into thine owne heart that nothing bee able to pull it out without pulling out thine owne It hath beene like a crooked twigge O writh it so nowe the right way that it may bee according to thine owne heart The Pastour Lord heare thou in Heauen and graunt the sute of thy Seruant Let nothing bee able to tickle tempt or trouble his Soule Be of good heart Sir the Battell is neare an end Fight out the good fight finish your course and keepe the Faith hence-foorth is laide vp for you a Crowne of righteousnesse which the LORD shall giue you at that day Make now full proofe of your courage which shall shortlie be couered with a Crown Hold out still in your holie exercise till your change come The sicke Man I wearie of this cottage of claye I am at a point with all that is vnder the Sunne I care not for this worlds fauour no more for its frowne But O but my Soule longeth to be with my Lord that I may see his face with fulnesse of joye O thou with whom nothing is impossible make the scales of mortalitie to fall from mine eyes that I may fee thee before euen as thou art My Soule longeth to be out of this myry lak of miserie for to dwell with thee into the Pallace of immortalitie O when shall I get ridde of these sinfull bonds O Sauiour of mankind giue eare vnto my sute Deliuere mee from this seeming life that I may die to liue the life of pleâ—…sures for euermore O drawe drawe out this Soule entombed into this bodie Before
thou separate them sâ—…ale surelie thy pardons within my Conscience and doe perfectlie away all my transgressions Guarde mee assist mee and harnesse my Soule against Sathan his last on-sette Let my Soule graspe with an holy greedinesse in the hand of Faith such spirituall comforts as thou O Lord makest to come from the boundlesse and bottomelesse fountaine of thy mercie toward all these whoÌ„ thouloueth Let my soule feele more and more sensiblie these mercies which fairelie oriently streame thorow the bloodie wounds of my blessed Sauiour Iesus the 〈◊〉 wash and bath my drooping Soule in the well of life Giue vnto it a drinke of the riuers of thy pleasures O Lord of loue shedde thy loue into mine heart thorow the bleeding bowels of my blessed Sauiour O blessed Redeemer of lost mankinde O Pelicane of pittie whose heart did euer melt with mâ—…rcifull compassions pittie my Soule in this painefull plight Mine heart strings are racked my bowels are rent the house of the Soule is falling downe nowe open the doore of thine euerlasting Tabernacles that my Soule may goe from Grace to Glorie Make the power of thy loue like a load stone for to draw mine heart after thee from the mudde of this mortalitie The Pastour Lord heare thou in heauen and fulfill the sute of thy Seruant burie all his sinnes and his sorrowes in the bottomelesse sea of thy mercie Entombe in the Tombe of Iesus where they may lye for euer without anie hope of a resurrection The sicke Man I waite for the Lord my Soule doeâ—…h waite in his word doe I hope My soule waiteth for the Lord more thaÌ„ they that watch for the morning I say More thaÌ„ they that watch for the morning My Soule is wearied of this earthlie Tabernacle O when shall I come and appeare before God O that I were at my wished home O nowe moue the poole of thy mercie and moue my Soule to runne into it The Pastour It is likly that within an houâ—…e God shall grant you your desire Could not you watch with mee but an houre said Christ to his Disciples Yee haue nowe but an houres absence from your God Yee haue but an houres voyage from the bodie to the sight of Gods face the place of your rest Fixe fast your eyes vpon the Crowne of immortalitie till your Soule be past from toilesome Time to Eternitie Yet a little while God shall retire you from the tyring trauels of this life Watch but an houre and your end shall bee peace The sicke Man The Lorde sende a good houre wherein I may lay downe the loade of this mortalitie Alas manie an houre haue I euill and idlie spent in pam pering this foggie flesh with the light and loose pleasures of this life O Spirite of Grace drawe neare vnto my Soule Make thy residence into this broken heart Correct cure and couer all the corruptions of my Nature Beginne and end crowne the worke with thy goodnes At last close in me thy graces with thy glorie O make mine eyes to see and mine armes to carrie and mine heart to bee filled with thy Saluation Conuoye vnto my Soule the warmest blood that euer heated the heart of Iesus Let that euer recking blood wherein is a Sauour of life vnto life Comfort and vp-holde my Soule in this last heauie houre Now Sir seeing the end draweth neare helpe mee to spend well this houre which in all appearance shall be my last I wish that all my thoghts and affections bee nowe so bended toward my God that they neither sway nor swerue from him by anie idle wandering of minde O Thou that art high and excellent who dwellest in the high and holie place Thogh thou be high thy promise is to dwell also with him that is of a contrite humble spirit According to thy promise reuiue the Spirit of the humble and giue life to him that is of a contrite heart O Lord according to thy wonted grace make mee in my last agonie to possesse my Soule in peace and patience Disapoint Satan in all his craftie fetches O couer this sillie Turtle vnder the mantle of thy mercie All other couerings are but light and slight like Spiders webbes which cannot endure the breath and blast of thy mouth The Pastour Lord hearken thou in heauen giue eare vnto the sute of thy Seâ—…uaÌ„t I perceiue indeede that now your words wearie you Lest yee faint I shall tak the speach vpon me If it be your will I shall let you heare a most diuine discourse taken from a godly preacher on his death-bed the words surely are weighty of great power If ye please I shal let you heare them while I speake them meditate yee and in your minde make them your owne wordes The sicke Man I intreate your Sir for to let mee heare them I shall follow you in mine heart as I can I finde that my tongue almost now faileth mee O God while I heare let the Spirit of grace take harbour into mine heart Set all mine affections on bensell that I may carefullie giue eare vnto thy comfortes the cordials of thy Gospel O cleare the sight of my minde dazeled with the mist of my corrupt affections The Pastour Lord heare thou in heauen and forgiue the sinnes of thy seruant After this manner Sir the man of God spake vpon his death-bedde I owe to God a death as his Son died for mee Euer since I was borne I haue beene sayling to this Hauen and gathering patience to comfort this houre therefore shall I bee one of these Guestes nowe that would not come to the banket when they were inuited What hurt is in going to Paradise I shall lose nothing but the sense of euill And anone I shall haue greater joyes than I feele paines For mine Head is in Heauen alreadie to assure mee that my Soule and bodie shall follow after O Death where is thy sting Why should I feare that which I wold not escape because my chiefest happines is behind I cannot haue it vnlesse I goe vnto it I wold goe through Hell to Heauen And therfore if I march but through death I suffer lesse than I would suffer for God My paines doe not dismay mee because I trauaile to bring foorth eternall life My sinnes doe not fright me because I haue Christ my Redeemer The Iudge doeth not astonish me because the Iudgâ—…s Sonne is mine Aduocat The Deuill doth not amaze mee because the Angels pitch about me The Graue doeth not grieue me because it was my Lords bedde Oh that Gods mercie to mee might moue others to loue him For the lesse I can expresse it the more it is The Prophets and the Apostles are my fore-runners Euery man is gone before mee or else hee will follow after mee If it please God to receiue mee into Heauen before them which haue serued him better I owe more thankfulnesse vnto
him And because I haue deferred my repentance till this houre whereby my Saluation is cutte off if I should die suddenlie Loe how my God in his mercifull prouidence to preuent my destruction calleth mee by a lingring sicknesse which stayeth till I bee readie and prepareth mee to mine ende like a preacher and maketh mee by wholesome paines wearie of this beloued world lest I should depart vn willing like them whose death is their damnation So hee loueth mee while hee beateth mee that his stripes are plasters to saue mee therefore who shall loue him if I despise him This is my whole office nowe to strengthen my bodie with mine heart and to bee contented as God hath appointed vntill I can glorifie him or vntill hee glorifie mee If I liue I liue to sacrifice and if I die I die a sacrifice for his mercie is aboue mine iniquitie Therefore if I should feare death it were a signe that I had not Faith nor hope as I professed but that I doubted of Gods trueth in his promise wh◅ther hee will forgiue his penitent sinner or not Hee is my Father let him doe what seemeth good in his sight Come Lord Iesus for thy seruant commeth I am willing helpe mine vnwillingnesse Heere is the end of that godlie mans speach As at that Brydell in Cana the best wine came last so shall it be heer◅ After the words of a godlie man I shall let you heare the words of God spoken by a man inspired by his Spirit euen the last words of Dauid the man whose praise is this that hee was a man according to Gods owne heart The last words of Dauid Dauid the sonne of Iesse said and the man who was raised vp on high the a◅ointed of the God of Iaacob and the sweete Psalmist of Israel said The Spirit of the Lord spake by mee and his words was in my tongue The God of Israel saide the Rocke of Israel spake to mee Hee that ruleth ouer men must bee just ruling in the feare of God And hee shall bee as the light of the morning when the Sunne riseth euen a morning without cloudes as the tender grasse springing out of the earth by cleare shining after raine Although mine house bee not so with God yet hee hath made with mee an euerlasting couenant ordered in all things and sure For this is all my Saluation and all my desire although hee make it not to growe But the sonnes of Belial shall bee all of them as thornes thrust away because they cannot bee taken with hands But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with yron and the staffe of a speare and they shall bee vt◅er lie burnt with fyre in the same place Alittle before his death at the inauguration of his Sonne Solomon he spake manie notable words among others these bee of great weight O Lord wee are heere but strangers before thee and so◅ourners as were all our fathers Our dayes on the earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding O Lord God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel our Fathers keepe this for euer in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people and prepare their heartes vnto thee That hundreth and two Psalme is excellent It is intituled a prayer of the afflicted when he is ouerwhelmed and powreth out his complant before the Lord. Heare my prayer O Lord and lette my cry come vnto thee hide not thy face from mee in the day when I am in trouble incline thine eare vnto mee In the day when I call answere mee spe◅dilie For my dayes are consumed like smoke and my bones are burnt like an hearth c. Seeing as wee see that nothing is stable in this world but as it is in that Sermon of the Preacher vanity of vanities and all is vanitie wee haue to intreate the Lord earnestlie as Moses did a little before his death That hee would so teach vs to number our dayes that we may applye our hearts to wisedome and to well doing All things below wither and decay our best beauties are w◅ithed and wrinkled by time But the beautie of the Lord is of euerlasting continuance Let the beautie of the Lord our God bee vpon vs. O the beautie of the things aboue O the beautie of the Firmament O these azured Curtaines spangled with stars of light What jewels of joy are within no mortall tongue can tell Looke vp nowe Sir with the eye of your Faith and visite these heauenlie Mansions and blessed buildinges for immortaltiie Yee are shortlie for to change for the better So long as our sillie Soules are here they are but poore Soules reading and meditating the mercies of God within a cottage of clay hauing nothing to see with but the weak light of the small Candle of grace a light dimmed and darkened with the reekie smok of our sinfull corruptions But so soone as wee shall bee dissolued by Death we shall come to the euerlasting Beames of a Sunne which by nothing is able to bee ecclipsed alight which knoweth no darknesse euen that Light which bringeth light out of darknesse Now Sir vp with your heart saile out your course Be like the Pylot who while hee hath hand on the Helme hath his eye fixed on the heauen Take now the Cuppe of Saluation the great Mazer of his mercie and call vpon the Name of the Lord Hee is worthie to bee praised for his vnspeakable fauour toward you He in great mercy hath toward you turned all the sharpe corrasiues of the Law into most sweete cordials of the Gospel He hath now made you free of all these terrours whereinto yee found your selfe once lyable Oh Lord how did once the sharpe edge of thy Law laide to his mourning heart cutte him thorow the verie gall But blessed bee thou who in thy great mercie hast cut the Cartropes of his sinnes where with hee was once kept fast vnder the most heauie bondage of Hell What say yee now Sir How is it of all Haue yee heard all these words and laide them vp into your minde The sicke Man I haue heard them all that with great comfort now mine heart is in heauen Christ by the vertue of his vnualuable Blood-shed hath takē away the gall of my guiltines Now my bodie is wholly dead to its paine and my Soule is whollie aliue to its glorie I see a Crowne of immortalitie which my Soule would not sticke to fetch thorow the brimstone beames of hell My Soule seeth the face of its Redeemer Christ with a soft hand is now loosing all the bondes of my miserie His most sacred Blood hath melted my marble heart Nowe come Lord Iesus come Long haue I looked for thy Saluation Nowe let thy seruant depart in peace for mine eyes haue seene thy Saluation O my deare Soule I summond thee with all thy powers and faculties to
Pastour hee is come hee is come whom my Soule loueth I am my Beloueds his desire is towards mee The lost sheepe is found The vnthriftie Son is come home againe All the snares of destruction are broken My Soule is escaped like a Birde I am now at a point infinitlie desirous rather to goe to my God than to sojourneanie more on earth Mine heart is more in God than in my selfe I haue a begunne possession of Heauen by the first fruites I looke for perfection in fulnesse of joye and pleasures fore euermore O blessed Iesus set me as a Seale vpon thine heart O deare Sauiour the Roote and the Rocke of my Saluation loe I come stretch out thine Armes and take my Soule into thy bosome yet a little while and I shall bee no more a stranger vvith thee and a sojourner The Pastour O blessed bee our God for euermore who hath made you to triumph so ouer all your enemies after such vnuterable groanes of griefe where your mind was sore perplexed at the first Hold fast now that which yee haue Your heart is now richlie stored with the true treasures of godlinesse Yee are but sipping of these joyes wherof in Heauen ye shal drink in a full cup. The sicke Man Christ the Lord is mine Hee is mine Hee is to mee hoth in life and death aduantage My comforts are in my Bosome The Angelicali Guardes are heere about mee I dye in the Faith of Iesus Come euen Lord Iesus come quicklie and loose this Soule a prisoner in clay groning to bee at liberty O my Soule returne vnto thy rest for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee Now may I say This poore man cryed and the Lord hath heard him deliuered him out of all his troubles The Pastour The Lord is with you who ere it be long shall fulfill all your hearts desires yea hee shall doe aboue all that yee can thinke or wish Now Sir yee haue him whom your soule loueth His Spirit is in the verie bosome of your heart Hold fast the grip yee haue Dye in his Armes sleepe in the blessed bosome of your God Full libertie is at the doore readie to enter in Yet a little and yee shall haue a joyfull meeting with Christ and all his Angels in the Kingdome of your Father Till yee come out of this bodie sticke fast by Faith to Christ your Redeemer Claime boldlie that which hee hath deerelie purchased by his Blood O deare Iesus his Staffe and his Strength wrape now his Soule into the white winding-sheete of thy righteousnesse While hee hath life liue thou in him that while he breaths hee may liue to thee and after death may liue with thee for euer Let neither life nor death bee able to separate him from thy loue The neerer death approacheth for to separate his Soule from his bodie d◅aw thou the neerer vnto his Soule till thy Spirit the Spirit of Life fullie finallie in all perfection liue into him the Soule of his Soule Fixe your eye nowe vpon the heart of Christ deadlie wounded for your transgressions Behold that Speare-hole in his heart which hee suffered for to sa◅e you Consider his bleeding woundes all dropping the balme of mercie which hath proceeded from the bowels of his compassions Hee it is who hath died for your sinnes and is risen againe for your righteousnesse The sicke Man I know that my Redeemer liueth his blood of an vnualuable price is the onelie ransome of my Soule Hee onelie is the joye of mine heart and the health of my countenance The Pastour Holde fast that confidence Let your Soule repare vnto the euerlasting Armes of his loue Shroud shelter your selfe vnder the winges of the Almightie Yee are nowe neere the ende of the Race The Lord guarde you with his Grace that no temptation of Satan be able trippe your heele before that yee be entered in his rest Nowe the lowring showring seede-time of teares is past and the Haruest of joye is hard at hand Now Sir Christ is at the doore Beholde hee standeth at the doore and knockes hee is nowe for to suppe with you on earth that yee may suppe with him for euer in the Heauens Behold hee is with you The sicke Man I haue found him whom my Soule loueth I will surelie hold him and will not let him goe My Soule hath already taste of the fruite of Canaan by the report of the spye of my faith Christ now is mine The Pastour Seeing yee haue him wrap your soule into the bowels of his euerlasting compassions waite on perfectiō is the last gift Lift vp continuallie the eyes of your spirit to the worthy woundes of Iesus In them behold read in great Capitall characters the vnspeakable loue of the Father The sicke Man O Lord I haue waited for thy Saluation Remember mee nowe while as thou art into thy Kingdome Father into thine handes I commend my Spirit my Soule I giue to thee who hast giuen it to mee The Pastour Now Sir your wished houre is come Christ is laying his Arm◅s about you for to receiue your Soule in his bosome Solace your selfe in your Sauiour who hath made it free of al weights that swiftly without anie let it may flee vp to its God O the loue of Iesus towardes you Hee hath not onelie beene an Inte◅cessour to pray for you but an Advocatalso to pleade for you By the vertue of his Blood your cause is win And therefore homage ye now your heart sealed with the sense of his loue Yeelde and surrender your Soule into the Armes of his mercie that hee may perfect his graces in you with glorie in immortalitie The sicke Man Lord Iesus receiue my Spirit and glad it with thy glorie The Pastour He againe is fallen into a traunce His battell is now neere an end Let vs waite a little see what he doth Hee now beginneth a little for to stir There is yet some life into him as I perceiue Now Sir be glad Christ is knocking at the doore for to call foorth your Soule from bondage to libertie from your banishment to an heauenlie home from a prison of paine to a palace of pleasures for euermore That we may haue assurance that ye die in the Faith of Iesus shew vs some signe Lift vp your hand in token that yee are assured to goe to God Behold how he hath lifted vp his hand Cortenet quod lingua tacet His hande telleth what is in his heart O but this poore Soule since the beginning of this bloodie Battell hath beene miserablie mangled howed and hacked vpon by most bitter and bloodie temptations what carnall what spirituall Now blessed bee God from all his troubles he is come to his good things We are all oblished to giue praise vnto God who hath set out this man before vs as an excellent example and mirrour of his mercie It is the
custome of God as we see to put his dearest Ones to the hardest proofe as wise Builders put the greatest timber and the heart of the Oake to the greatest stresse Manie thinke that Heauen standeth hard by their Bed-side and that a light Lord haue mercie will make the doore of Heauen to goe wide open to the wall no not Through man◅e tribulations we must enter into that Kingdome As Aprill showers goe before the May flowers so must our teares trickle before our Triumphs Wee must smert before we smile and grone before wee glorie All Christian Soules like Christ himselfe must enter by the port of paines vnto the palace of pleasures for euermore No co-reigning without a co-suffering O let vs consider what paines this godlie man hath suffered in this fierie tryall since this Battell beganne O with what difficulties hath hee swimmed thorow so many temptations If the righteous scarcelie bee saued where shall the vngodlie and the sinner appeare O sowre Apple of Adams pride many teeth hast thou set on edge The Sparrow by wandering the Swal low by flying may escape but where sin hath beene once there must also be sorrow before that the sinner can come to joye It is not so easie as manie men thinke to winne in at the doores of heauen as though one Gods-mercy were enough for to doe the turne Before that a man be able to winne in at the straite gate for to enter into his euerlasting rest hee must be buffeted with diuerse temptations and broken with sorrowes till his heart become contrit that is grund bruished small as if it were corne in a Querne There is none entrie into rest for man before that in great griefe hee hath pluckt out his right eye euen his dearest darling best bosome pleasure Hee that would lodge with God in eternitie muste heere lay holde on his Kingdome with an holie violence What wonder that he auen be hard to win seeing with all the infernall powers of darknesse legions of our owne corruptions combined oppose might maine the grouth of Gods graces in our Soules Manie foolishlie in the idle rowings of their braines content with a blush of zeale thinke that Heauen may bee winne with wishes and therefore in their life skippe wantonlie ouer the threatnings of the Law in hope that easilie at death they may catch at the promise of the Gospel But who had seene this holie man of GOD vpon the painefull racke of repentance would count all the perishing pleasures of sinne too deare bought pleasures Sinne at the beginning is like poyson in perfume pleasant at the first but not long after it worketh deadlie except that it be repelled with some stronger Antidote The way to heauen as wee see is not like the way to great ma◅ket Townes easilie discerned by the multitude of footesteppes Our good Friende is nowe in the verie panges of death A patient and Lambe like death is this His life is on his lippe This wearied Traueler is nowe neare the ende of his journey Seeing that the ende of a worke crowneth it let vs conceiue a Prayer whereby wee may lay his Soule into the bosome of his God who shall refresh him with euerlasting comforts O Lord by the vigour of thy Spirit giue wings to our groueling prayers A Prayer for the sicke Man approaching vnto Death O GOD of mercle and of mans Saluation who thinketh nothing too deare for a repēting soule were it to giue it a draught of the heart Blood of thy Sonne wee heere vpon the knees of our hearts humbled againe before the foote-stoole of the the Throne of thy Grace put vp to thee our most humble sute for this thy seruant who is nowe comming to thee His words now faile him but thou Lord wilt neuer faile him In stead of wordes let the crouding sobbes the Turtle finde roome into thine eares Heaue vp his heart to thy mercie seate with the requests of thy Spirit in sighs which cannot bee expressed O charitable Almes giuer open the hand of this Begger and thrust the money of thy mercie into it Seale fast vp in his heart the remission of all his sinnes in the blood of Iesus Burie all his transgressions in Christes Burial Establish thy free Spirit within him Take from him all dulnesse and deadnesse of spirit all secure and hardened thoughts all that may hinder him from comming vnto thee Continue his comfortes begunne Bee thou the ende and the ender of his worke Lorde disapoint Sathan who by his charmes and cunning traines hath gone about both by force fraud to catch this Soule of thy seruant Now Death is approaching To thee belongeth the issues of death Thou killest thou makest aliue thou bringest downe to the graue and againe thou raisest vp Now as euidentlie appeareth thou art for to remoue this thy seruant from the Land of the l◅uing and thy will must bee done Wee could haue wished the continuance of his Christian fellowship with the lengthening and enlarging of his dayes But most humblie wee submitte all our affections vnto thy good pleasure and will O Father of mercies in whose boundlesse bowels are moste pittifull compassions without anie passion shew thy selfe mercifull louing and kinde towardes this Soule which in the dayes of its fleshe hath beene with thee but a stranger and ◅ sojourner His Soule now is saying to thee with Iohn his two Disciples Rabbi Master where remaineth thou Answere it as thou answered them louinglie Come and see and after that tak it home to thine own house as Iohn tooke home thy Mother O deare Father of our Sauiour by Nature O our dearest Father by adoption bee fauourable to this thy seruant euen for that blood wherewith thou art passing lie pleased Forget and forgiue all his sinnes whatsoeuer Lay now thy louing Armes about him Claspe him hard to thy bosome and keepe him fast till hee be surelie and softlie placed into the heauens Now Lord thou hast begunne to loofe this Soule out of its prison Let earth goe to earth and his Spirit returne to thee that gaue it Place it into one of these heauenlie Mansions which thy Sonne is gone to prepare for these that are thine Strengthen him now at the last and highest point of his tryall O Great IEHOVAH who neuer hucketh to giue mercie to heart broken sinners let him finde more and more that thy bowels ouerflowing with mercie are readie to receiue him In the bottomelesse sea of thy mercie make his sinnes all to bee choaked and his Soule deliciouslie to be bathed with euerlasting comforts And because Sathan in his last assaults is most furious bee thou most powerfull in him by the vertue of thy Spirite Blunt so the edge of all his temptations that they bee not able any more to wound his Spirit Let thy secret loue bee vnto his Soule lik a Secret or jack in this bloodie battell
whereby he may be shielded from the bloodie blowes of a most cruell aduersarie Put on him Lord the compleate armour of God that hee may bee able to with-stand in this euill houre and hauing done all to stand Before this Battell end make him with stomacke and courage to runne all his enemies throgh with the two edged sword of thy Spirit Haue now Lord a speciall care of him Hemme in all his thoughts within the compasse of thy will Possesse him so with the fulnes of thy presence that in him there be found no roome for any ill motions Furnish him with the supplie of all these graces which thou knowest to bee wanting into him Let thy Spirit make residence in his heart as in an house of God Now Lord while it is time to saue saue the Soule of thy Seruant which is now readie to remoue Open vnto it that euer-flowing fountaine promised to the penitent of the house of Dauid for to tak away sinne and vncleannesse O Fountaine of Grace wash him and wash him throughlie with the blessed Blood of thy satisfaction After that thou hast made him perfectly cleane hold out thy succouring helpful armes vnto this Soule and take it into thy bosome Let it there taste of the honie of thy Compassions In this time of gloummines darknesse of death inlighten his Soule with the light of thy countenance Turne thy face now vnto it Hitherto it could see nothing but the Back-parts of Thee that Great IEHOVAH which bringeth joye but in parte From such parts now bring him vnto the fulnesse Turne thy selfe vnto this Soule that it may fullie see thy face wherein is fulnesse of joye And seeing no man can see thy face liue let this thy Seruant now see thy face and die that after death hee may liue with thee for euer in the Heauens Let neither the loue of life nor the feare of death turne his eyes from the prize of the high calling of God Make him now with a long steppe from the earth to the heauens to step in into immortalitie Now Lord engraue deepelie this Soule into the palmes of thine hands Set it as a seale on thine heart Wrap it within the Mantle of thy mercie warâ—…e it within the bowels of thy loue lappe it in thy bosome with that vnspeakable joye which Christ hath purchased with vnspeakable paine euen through the bloodie merites of his most bitter passions His wordes now are failed Square thou all his thoughts by the rule of thy Spirit of grace Lord make these our weake prayers to mount vp lik Pillars of smoke parfumed with the mercifull merites of thine onelie Sonne To him with thee his Father and with the Spirit of Grace be all Glorie Praise Power and Dominion for euer AMEN The spirituall Friend O deare Friende whome I haue seene a sorrow beaten sinner Rejoyce now in your Sauiour whose mercies haue beene the Bane of all your sinfull miseries Cleaue still fast vnto your Sauiour Let not him goe whom your soule loueth till ye come to Peniel where yee shall see him face to face The Lord refresh your wearied soule with the soft sweete breath of his Spirit The Lord kned into your heart these spirituall meditations which are of the purest straine O Father of mercies giue vnto this soule a most sure Infefâ—…ment of heauen by the hand of thy Spirit Make some drops of thy Myrrhe to enter in by some litle creuice of his heart Put in thine hand by the keye hole of the doore that his bowels may bee moued for thee Let such a strength now repare from thee vnto him that the world may see that thy strength is made perfect in weaknesse It shall bee expedient that nowe yee his Pastour in a short prayer recommend him to God againe Behold him now at the last gaspes his eye stringes are broken The water of death trickleth downe ouer his cheekes His life is now drawen to an haire O Lord while bodilie sight and senses faile make spirituall sight and sense succeede in a greater perfection Make a spaite of thy grace with a mightie streame to carrie him to glorie O deare Friend vp with your heart to your God Nowe all your sins shall die with your sicknesse The Rocke of your Saluation Iesus hath shiuered them in pieces There is 〈◊〉 condemnation to these that are in Christ who out of the pangs of loue suffered that paines of hell for mans RedeÌ„ption His Angels Sir are heere waiting vpon your Soule for to carrie it to pleasures for euermore Yet a little while and loe yee shall bee at the vpshotte of all your woe Yee are nowe vtterlie out of the reach of all the powers of hell euen vpon the borders of euerlasting pleasures vnmixed pleasures which shall turne all your teares into triumphes The Pastour Now Sir Gird vp the loynes of your minde make haste to your God who shortlie shall put into your haÌ„d the palme of victorie Sathan is chained vp now for doing you anie more harme The night of your trouble is past Christ that blessed Day spring hath brought a morning mercie vnto your Soule His graces in you hath shined more and more and so shall doe vntill the perfect day euen vntill your Soule carried on Eagles winges reach the hight of Heauen where without teares or tediousnesse are pleasures for euermore Though your tongue now faile you Sir let your heart be busie with God in prayer hee will hearten and encourage you in all the businesse Your taske is at an end Heaue vp your heart to Christ crucified with vs and that with sighes and sobbes the groanings of his owne Spirit Though your bodie now be cold the Spirit of Iesus shall by a free and vitall operation maintaine the heate and vigour of your Soule The Spirit of comfort conueye vnto your soule the warmest blood that euer heated the heart of Iesus Let vs pray The last prayer for the sicke Man in the verie jawes of death O LORD whose mercies are aboue all thy workes it was neuer thy custome to send away a broken heart without comfort Now heare the secret gâ—…oanes and sighes of thy seruant whose soule is ready in this gasping agonie to come out of its Tabernacle for to coÌ„peare before thee Thou who hast giuen him thy Son for a ransome giue him thy Spirit for a pledge Furnish him with force for to fight and finish this Battell in victory As thou hast bene at the beginning of his beeing euen the beginner of his beeing so now bee thou the ende at which hee aimes euen the ende of all his woes And seeing hee is now in the narrow throat of death helpe him by thy power till hee hath past this passage Put now into him a fresh liâ—…e that in a strong vigour hee may runne with the feete of the Hinde till hee come to thee in eteâ—…nitie Make him now supple and nimble
of the Resurrection Let the meditations of Gods mercie and promised fauour rouse vp your Soules from that lumpishnesse and melancholious drowsinesse which may creep in into your hearts in this troublous time Striue to bound and fence your heartes about deligentlie with the thoughts of Gods Fatherlie fauour who shall neuer leaue you fatherlesse Though your father be dead yet God is aliue Now Sir yee who aâ—…t the elder bee yee the more thankfull to God who hath giuen you the first place Shew good example vnto the yonger Oppresse them not but rather bee a father vnto them By your good counsell striue to make them plyable and frameable to Gods will reuealed in his word As for you who are yonger ones bee not discouraged for often grace maketh the yonger to bee the elder and sinne maketh the elder the yonger So Iacob found the blâ—…ssing though Esau was the first borne It is Vertue that maketh the Heire Let your heartes therefore relye vpon the Lord Let him bee the caruer of all your cares If yee depend on him yee shall not want Hee who created the world without matter and preserueth it without meanes is God all sufficient who can easilie finde out meanes for the maintenance of al these that by faith can laye claime to his promise If wealth bee expedient for you the Lord will giue you a large allowance till hee make your Cuppe to ouer flow But if otherwise hee hath appointed to exercise you with pouertie know that he who hath the hearts of all men in his hands can easilie for your comfort stirre vp some who by their liberalitie towards you shall prouide themselues bags vvhich waxe not olde If yee can bend your whole endevour to the seruice of your God hee shall satisfie you with the prouisions of his mercie But if otherwise yee become lewde and prophane haunting euill companie the verie canker and cut-throate of all godlinesse yee shall neuer prosper no not though by a painefull drudgerie ye should draw out the verie life-blood of your hearts It is not earlie rising noâ—… late going to bedde but Gods blessing that enricheth Now the Lord of grace blesse you mine hearts The Lord teach you to set seale these comforts with prayers patience vpon your hearts And seeing the dayes are now euill euen the dregges of dayes I intreate the most High to graunt you grace hour lie to renâ—…w and strengthen your watch that your hearts spirits may be preserued vnblamable and that vntill the day of his most glorious appearance AMEN A diuine and heauenly discourse fit to be read to these that are conueened in the house of mourning that thereby the liuing may be remembered of their mortalitie DEarlie Beloued this our godlie Friend one of Gods excellent Ones is now deceased that peacâ—…ablie like a Lambe into the armes oâ—… his God who hath euer lasting lie fast bund his Soule in the bundle of life The death of such is often a fearfull preâ—…age of much anger and euill to come His Soule is now glorious in the Heauens like a Starre new created in the Skie It is now liuing the life of God aboue where it is filled with the infusion of that 〈◊〉 which wee haue heere on earth 〈◊〉 by imputation Hee hath now alâ—… God and all that is in God in â—…speakable perfection beeing in that place where God is all in all At last after sore fighting and bitter bickering as diuerse godlie persons haue seene through the bent browes of an angrie Iudge hee hath seene the yearning and relenting bowels of a louing Father Now after his Battell ended he hath 〈◊〉 the Spirit Clepsydrâ—… 〈◊〉 his houre glasse is now runne out and his Soule is come to its wished home where it is free from the fetters of flesh Nowe from the â—…hanging turnes of time hee is at last come to Eternitie Thorow many seas of â—…orrows both bitter and brimie hath he sailed before that hee could ariue at that blessed Port. Our hearts cannot be but sorrowfull to bee depriued of such comfortable companie as was â—…is But here iâ—… our comfort and the matter of our joye hee is well and shall bee so for euer By the mercie of his God hee is now passed ouer thâ—… knoppes of the mountaines of miserie and thorow the muddie myres of sinfull mortalitie thorow fearefull tryals and troubles euen from the dyets of grace to the dainties of glorie from the Villages of this world vnto euerlasting 〈◊〉 farre aboue the rolling wheele of all changeable pleasures and smarting paines Poore mans life on earth is like a restlesse whirle-gigge whirled about The mouing heauens are the place of our rest and the resting earth is the place of our restlesse motions The way of this life as wee may see is not adorned with Violets and Roses No not It is full of rubs and thornes and pricking whinnes of piercing griefe O with what paines hath his sillie Soule sought vp the sweete streames of Gods mercie 〈◊〉 to the Fountaine it selfe which is 〈◊〉 to the Heauens God in great mercie hath now 〈◊〉 last after manie dolours and bitter bickerings put his Spirit into the acâ—… tuall and full possession of his 〈◊〉 all joyes Through fyre and water 〈◊〉 Lord hath broght him out into a 〈◊〉 place Now he is free from the bodie of bondage which did hang so fast 〈◊〉 His Soule is set out of the reach of 〈◊〉 troubles and sublunary toyes Now blessed bee our God hee is no 〈◊〉 lyable to our sinfull mortalitie into this earth a gulfe of corruption God at last hath recompenced his light affliction with an euerlasting weight of glorie O but he hath had a painefull time in his sicknes with manie deepe sigh and heauie groane hath hee beene heard in his feares His face could neuer bee dryed for teares continuallie trickling ouer his cheekes Happie is hee now for all the cloudes of his sinnes haue bene dissolued by the raine of mournâ—…full teares where with all Soules must be baptised before that they can be members of the Church Triumphant Now blessed bee God all his teares and his trauels are turned into triumphes If men shedde not â—…eares on earth God cannot wypt them away in heauen All as wee must fight the good fight before â—…hey can catch the Crowne Let vs all learne in him and in â—…his House of mourning to see and conâ—…der the end of vs all that while wee are liuing wee may lay it to our hearts and make it a matter of our nights meditations Happie and thrise happie is hee that can practise that saying of Iob All the dayes of mine appointed time will I waite till changing come It is good that wee euer bee watchfull vpon our guarde well prepared for our last departure and finall accounts No man can â—…ll how soone hee shall bee arraigned in the great
sore from the Surgeon the greater will his danger bee It is an hard matter when the Patient playeth false with the Physition Lay open your wounds if yee would haue salue fitte for your sores The sicke Man I think shame Sir to tell you what aileth mee yet seeing I haue neede both of instruction of comfort I will be no stranger vnto you whom I know to bee a man of God that is not curious for to ripe vp secret sores for your owne curiositie but rather for to cure them I vvill not conceale the matter from you It is this I haue filled my Barnes and I desire to enjoye the fruites thereof There is no man but hee would desire after great paines ◅o r◅ape some fruites of his labours I vvish that Death would excuse mee for some yeares This is my griefe for I must bee plaine with you mine heart cannot well accord to forsake such comforts The Pastour That Sir is but a worldlie temptation What are Barnes of corne on Earth in comparison of Gods most pleasant Palace in Heauen vvherein are pleasures for euermore Fye vpon Barnes a nest for Myce and Rattons Would yee desire to liue for to enjoye the leauinges of vnbeastes They beginne and as it vvere sit at the first messe Thus after that the Fowles of the Aire haue gotten their share and the Rattons haue gotten their fill poore man as it vvere commeth after all and sitteth downe at the latter meate But vvhat are all these thinges though man should enjoye them all his alone What can hee get of them all but a bellie full of meate What is the Bellie to that spirituall Birth-right and blessing that is laide vp into the Heauens What is the Bellie but a thing ordained for destruction with all that is in it Meats for the Bellie and the Bellie for the meates But God shall destroy both it and them Cast out of your heart the care of your Bellie The Bellie in the Heart maketh a man a monster Let this bee your chiefe care that shortlie your Soule may sitte downe at Gods Table with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in Gods Kingdome What grieueth you now S◅ The sicke Man God hath blessed mee my Moneyes are increased and now my life is but comming to the best The Pastour The richest life is not euer the best life aboundance of Moneyes is no sure token of Gods mercies If it had beene otherwise Christ had neuer cast the Bagge vnto Iudas That churlish Carle in the Gospel that would not let Lazarus dyne with his dogges how soone was his Purple pulled from him and hee made a begger into Hell seeking a droppe of water from him whose scabs his dogges had licked on Earth Nabel like a foole is feasting to day and tomorrow he shall become sicke and die with an heart like a stone within him What fatter then shall hee be of his Feast Beware Sir to marrie your mind with your Money lest yee bee thereby diuorced from Christ S. Augustin said wiselie Matrimonium inter aurum arcam est inter Deum animam Divortium A marriage betweene our Minde and our Money is a diuorcement betweene the Soule and Christ its Spouse It is good for vs lest that wee should loue this world too well that like a curst Step-mother it misuse vs and rather strike vs than stroake vs as it doeth with these worldlie brats who neither liue nor loue a Life but this What thinke yee now Sir of this world The sicke Man I desire yet that God would grant mee some space to liue that I might make some better prouision for my little Children I wish that I might liue till they were better prouided within a few dayes if God would spare mee I hope that I should make a conquest Fye vpon that conquest that maketh a man to desire to tarie from God but one houre Solomon after all his conquests said that hee hated all his labour I said hee hated all my labour which I had taken vnder the Sunne The reason is subjoyned by himselfe Because I should leaue it vnto the man that should bee after mee And who knoweth whether hee shall bee a wise man or a foole Yea hee proued a foole indeed by forsaking the counsell of the old wise for to follow the folie of his young fooles What folie is this I play you for a man to desire to liue for to conquise sparinglie for one that will spend it all lauishlie crying among the drunkards Fill the pynt againe Many children will at one cast of the dyce cast more from them into a night than their fathers were able to win into a yeare What is great riches to the most part of Heires but fuell to their follie Is it not commonlie seene that after the Father hath pined himselfe with scraiping together this thick clay and pelfie dung in cōmeth a forelorne deboched Heire with his drunkē musick singing Veri vades Wee haue spent more than our fathers haue winne A little with GODS blessing is much worth Hardlie can men conquise much with a good Conscience From thence is the prophan prouerbe Well is the Heire whose fathers soule is in Hell The glose is this hardlie can the father inrich his children but by lossing his own Soule What a woefull bargaine is this Neither doeth it euer come to passe that the euill conquist come to the hands of them for whom it was appointed After that the Worldling by hook by crooke hath taken with the angle and hath catcht with the net gathered in his dragge all that is about him At last it commeth to passe that after he hath well ladned his Boate and is come neere the hauen there commeth a blast of judgement which ouer-turneth all into a moment Thus in the highest of his hopes in sight of the Shore ladned and fraughted with the fruite of all his labours of his lyes his guile and deceite he goeth downe to the bottome of the depths so that none is able to rescue him Thus after that first he hath made shipwrack of his conscience he also maketh shipwarcke of all his goods and so is he depriued of his imagined profite What though his shippe should come in What though all should prosper for a while Let Micah steale his mothers siluer and turne it into gods and get a Priest blesse himselfe when hee hath done thinking that all shall prosper now But ere it belong some of the race of the Adder by the way shall come and tak away his gods And if hee run out to follow for his owne they shall either scorne him with what aileth thee or shall boast him to keepe silence saying Let not thy voyce bee heard among vs lest angrie fellowes runne vpon thee and thou losse thy life with the liues of thine house-hold
shall hold your peace That is ye shall seale vp your thoughtes in silence and let God bee doing So doe yee bee silent for a space daine not Sathans temptations with an answere feare not stand still and see the Saluation of the LORD As Moses said of the Egyptians so will I say of all your temptations within a short space The Egyptians whom yee haue seene to day yee shall see them againe no more for euer The sicke Man Oh that with Iob I could lay mine hand vpon my mouth and with Iacob waite for Gods saluation But alas I am laden with iniquitie Sathan besiegeth mee so that I cannot keepe silence Sathan hath laide downe a bloodie libell before mee wherevnto hee vrgeth mee to make answere The Pastour If yee must needes make answere learne that notable speach of Bernard on his death bed * About an houre before his death hee beeing as hee thought presented before the great Tribunall of his Iudge where hee found himselfe seuirelie charged with the accusation of Sathan forsooke himselfe for to relye vpon Christ alone I freely confesse said he that as thou affirmest I am most vnworthie and that by no worthinesse of mine can I merite eternall life yet I am assured that my Lord Christ hath a double right to heauens glorie one by heritage and another by conquest The first is sufficient for himselfe the other is for mee ex cujus donojure illud mihi vendicans non confundor which by right of gift I claime and chalenge and shall not bee confounded Vpon this Rocke yee must cast the anchor of your soule The Lord is able to doe vnto vs aboue all that wee can aske or thinke Take courage Sir Let Sathan make out his processe your deare and louing Brother is both your Iudge and your Aduocat The sicke Man Oh that I could take that counsell and keepe silence waiting till the Captaine of Saluation bring mee thorow this red sea of bloodie temptations Oh that I could lay hold vpon that right of heauen which Christ hath conquered But alas I can find no ground or warrant in mine heart that such a conquest can belong to mee for I know that in mee dwelleth no good things The Pastour The greatest foe the faith of the godlie hath and the chiefest cause of their trembling troubled heart is that often they seeke in themselues grounds warraÌ„ts of Gods fauour as though the Lord could not loue them vnlesse there bee in them such vertues as in euerie point should be Because they want perfectioÌ„ they thinke they haue nothing By this meanes Sathan shaketh sillie Soules to and fro like Reedes with the winds of distrust Make the right vse of such temptations let them drawe you from your selfe for to rely onelie vpon the mercie of your Lord Bee earnest to finde Gods marke in your Soule euen Sanctification the Saluation mark whereof the marrow is Christs satisfaction From this marke presse toward the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus The sicke Man Faine would I haue grace so to doe But out vpon mee I haue taken such surfet of sinnes that I find my selfe voide of all grace O death death death doolefull is that separation of a Soule dead in sin from the bodie dead for sinne I am so defiled and deformed that while I remember judgement it maketh mee all to shake and to shiuer Fye on mee a gracelesse creature wallowing in a myre of miserie Oh but for a dramme of Gods grace Oh for the greatnesse of the pickle of mustarde seede thereof The Pastour He that desireth grace is not altother gracelesse It is Gods goodnesse that hath giuen you this small and weake desire of grace in this Gods good hand is vpon you Hee who giueth grace to desire grace shall giue also grace for grace God often giueth to a man aboue his hopes I sought but life saide Dauid yet the Lord gaue him to bee a King God who in sicknesse giueth you the desire of grace shall before yee die giue you grace for grace a grace which at last shall make you to sing I sought but grace yet God hath giuen mee glorie If yee feele and feare his wrath seek the more earnestlie for his mercie This was that good counsell which Zephaniah gaue to Israel before the decree of wrath come out Seeke righteousnesse seeke meeknesse it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger Christes cry is Seeke Aske Knocke. Seeing God desireth to be asked hee longeth to giue seeing hee desireth vs to seeke him hee desireth to bee found seeing hee desireth vs to knocke his desire is to open God is more rich and liberall than wee are poore His hand is wider for to giue giftes than our heart can bee for to receiue Hee who will not belieue that God can bee mercifull to him is twise in the wrong to God After that hee hath broken the law of his Iustice by offending hee is not content except that hee wrong his mercie by distrust Gods delight is to bee with the Children of men on earth as also to haue them with himselfe in heauen Now Sir beeing assured of thâ—… loue embrace this Lord with all 〈◊〉 armes of your affections Seeke earnestlie the Spirit of Grace for hee is powred on thirstie grounds I will powre water said the Lord vpon him that is thirstie and floods vpon the dry ground The sicke Man Oh but for one droppe of that water Oh that my Soule were watered with the dropping bowels of his mercie In the meane time my bones with sorrow are dryed vp like an hearth The terrours of the Almightie sticke within mine heart and my Spirit sucketh out the vennome thereof I thinke that I am in the verie gorge pipe of hell If this wrath continue doubtlesse it shall bee my bane The Pastour Gods wrath is fearefull I confesse but God will not bee long wroth with his Children I will not said the Lord contend for euer neither will I bee alwayes wroth For the Spirit should faile before mee and the Soules which I haue made So soone as man beginneth to be wearied of his sins God beginneth to be wearied of his wrath yea which is strange In all our afflictions he is afflicted There is but a moment in his wrath but his mercie endureth for euer There is such a mercie in God that in comparison thereof all the mercies of men are but scrofe and scumme a myte of his mercie shall remoue the mountaines of your miserie in Christ is a mine of mercie The sicke Man I know that it is so But I as yet haue no sense of such a mercie While I seeke and cry for helpe God either answereth not at all or when hee maketh answere it is like that which Elisha said
mans journey vnto Heauen Read into it That thorow manie tribulations wee must enter into the Kingdome of Heauen euen thorow burning Riuers of Brimstone The sicke Man But alas they come thorow all their troubles were at last deliuered But I see none appearance that God will doe the like to mee I haue beene prodigall of the peace of my Conscience my sinnes doubled doe daylie ripen Gods wrath against mee In all liklie-hood Gods decree is gone out that I should porish * My Faith faileth mee Hope is flowne away Oh for that peace in belieuing The Pastour As by bitter Succorie the burning blood is cooled and refreshed so by such bitter bloodie blowes the pride of life is subdued hemmed within a compasse By such to◅turing and tormenting feares The good Lord is working for your well that thereby hee may driue you from all selfeconceate◅nesse partiall ouervaluing of your own worth It is Gods custome by such means to doublem as zeale to blow at the smoaking flaxe till the weak reeking sparkle of grace bee kindled into a bright burning flam By such troubles and temptations the good Lord keepeth your Soule in watchfulnesse Many in this world sleepe soundlie in their sinnes beeing fullie stuft and swelled therewith and for all that neuer waken till they be wakened in ye◅re of Hell Others who are troubled with some inward checkes runne◅ to Tauerns for to drowne their sorrow for sinne by powring in of strong drinke Others thinke to smoke it out by the ◅eeke of Tabacca Some runne to the di◅ne of the vvorld among loud laughters As the Israelite◅ in Tophe◅ sounded their Drummes that they should not beare the squeeles of their Infants burning in the fire so so go some about by the noise of sports worldlie joyes to deafen so their Soules that they should not heare the shrighes of their troubled Conscience But all such comforts and companiourie are like that red wine giuing colour in the cuppe and mouing it selfe aright But what is the end of all Such things may seeme to coole refresh for a space lik as when a burnt finger is dipped into cold water vvhere one qualitie encirculoth another But shortlie after that little an◅iperistasis is past in come doubled dolours with all the anwels of the principall summe at last all such drunke comforts bite like a Serpent and sting like a Cockatrice as doeth the drunkards best claret wine Well is that Soule which God in mercie exerciseth daylie either vvith one crosse or other not suffering it to be rocked and lulled with Sathans balowes in the cradle of Securitie Rejoyce then in tribulation put all your trust in God yea though hee should slay you inwarpe your selfe in the Mantle of his mercies Relye vpon him with vvhō nothing is imposible He vvho can make the great Camell passe thorow the needle eye can open the narrow gate and let your Soule enter into his Rest. Learne of the Father of the faithfull to belieue in hope against hope God thinketh himselfe most glorified vvhen men belieue in him while there is least outward appearance His delight is to allure in the wildernesse vvhere is least appearance Forget neuer that couragious words of Iob Though he should slay mee yet will I trust in him Not to haue Faith except vvee feele and see is to be faithlesse vvith Thomas vvhile hee said that hee vvould not belieue till hee vvas assured by the tvvo vvitnesses of his senses viz. Sight and Feeling Christ out of pittie granted to him contentment of ◅enle but with a sore a nipping checke Because thou hast seene mee thou hast belieued blessed are they that haue not seene and yet belieued If yee would bee blessed belieue before yee either feele or see Hee who brought meate out of the de◅ourer and light out of darknesse can inlighten your mistie minde The sicke Man What then would yee me to doe Sir while within and without I can perceiue no token of comfort none appearance of fauour seeing hee hath hid his countenance from my Soule what thinke yee best that I should doe The Pastour Doe as Isaiah did I will said he waite vpon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Iakob and I will looke for him God is like a Mother that cannot forget her Child She may hide her selfe a little and let it get a knocke that it may feare and learne to beware of greater dangers Though God gloume in outward countenance at the faultes of his Children yet in his heart are euer thoughts of peace and of mercie Of this Dauid produced two witnesses Once I heard saide hee yea twise that mercie belongeth to God Once in all appearance hee heard this read or preached by the Prophets and another time by the Spirit the inward teacher of the Soule Behold how the Spirit and the Word once yea twise both outwardlie and inwardlie haue testified that mercie is with God yea as a thing which most properlie belongeth vnto him In your more sober moode and cold blood yee shall confesse this to bee true God for a space will seeme to bee vncouth Hee as Naomie bade Ruth returne home with her Sister ◅rpah will bidde a sinner goe seeke his comforts in his bypa◅t pleasures But if with Ruth hee see him stedfastlie minded he will incontinent leaue off such speaking The sicke Man I know that God is full of mercie Of this the Deuils did neuer doubt Within the compasse of his compassions is mercie for a thousand worlds but what is that to mee How shall I come by it The Pastour The Scripture is plaine Aske said Christ and yee shall receiue seeke and yee shall finde Sticke to him with a truely Christiā vnshakē resolutiō What euer yee shall seeke from the Father in my Name said Christ hee will giue it vnto you If yee beleeue Christ to bee true practise his precept Take once but a proofe of his promise seeke in the Name of Iesus whatsoeuer thing may doe you good and see whether or not God shall proue faithf◅ in his promise * Before that a man will distrust another hee will first at least bee beguiled once Vpon Christs words then with freedome of Spirit Aske seeke and knocke and see whether or not your Soule shall bee answered with these three viz receiuing finding and opening There is a worthie historie in the Gospel which pointeth at this that we should doe what Christ Commandeth though there be litle appearāce of any good successe After that Christ had teached the people out of Peters ship the Sermon beeing ended the Lord said vnto Simon Launch out into the deepe and let downe your nettes for a draught Simon answered said vnto him Master we haue toiled all the night and haue token nothing neuerthelesse at thy word
that God can loue you who is so vnworthie to bee loued I thinke it verilie and I am perswaded God I confesse cannot loue sinne in man but hee may loue man in sinne God inuiteth not these whom hee loueth not Come vnto mee saith hee all yee that are wearied Your wearinesse cryeth vnto you that which was said to the blind man Bee of good comfort arise the Master calleth thee an humble confession in the mouth is the speach of contrition in the heart God hath sworne that hee liketh not a sinners death Hee is more glad to finde vs for to helpe vs than we can rejoyce to find him for to be helped by him Who can thinke but hee is glad to finde vs that tooke such paines to seeke vs that not caring for the vnwholesome and noysome night aire came to our doore hauing his head full of dewe and his lockes full of the droppes of the night which is more such was his loue and liking of vs that for to saue our life hee would die a cursed death The last wordes of your complaint are that yee are one who is vnworthie to bee loued * I had rather heare a sinner calling himselfe wretched and vnworthie with the Publican than boasting of his worthinesse with the Pharisee The swelled hydropie words of thankesgiuing that we are not lik other mē are a sure toking of a deadlie incurable disease Man naturallie goeth about to lessen impaire his faultes yea oftē rather than he will cry guiltie hee will fasten his follie by consequent vpon his Maker Adam said The woman which thou gauest me gaue me of the tree made me to eate Many are caried down the muddie streame of ouerweening their owne worth Our greatest worthinesse is in the sense of our own vnworthinesse and in the seeking of Christs worthinesse That man is worthie before God who findeth himselfe vnable to doe that which is worthie and vnwilling to doe that which is vnworthie The verie strife and battell betweene grace and nature in theregenerat is a victorie in Gods eyes A broken imperfectiō if it be sincere without guile is put vp in his merciful count book for a perfectiō indeed such is the mercie of God while we mislike our selues These were the wisest words of Agur in Gods account when hee said I am more fool◅sh than any man S. Paul was neuer more dearelie beloued of God as when hee hating himselfe called himselfe the first of sinners Cast your eyes off your selfe and looke vnto God your strength your stay The Name of the Lord is a strong towre the righteous runneth into it is safe The sicke Man O that I could practise your precepts O that my God would inspire mee with such a blessed and liuelie vigour of his Spirite that might quicken my Soule to euerlasting life O that it would please my God stronglie to refresh mee with the comfort of his countenance But alas out of this most filthy puddle of my heart arise such filthie vapours which so ouer-cloud the Sunne of righteousnesse that I am not able to behold his face while he did shine vpon mee his most bright and vnspotted beames were fullie darkened The more the heate of his word did beate vpon mee the more my conuersation became stinking and loathsome like a carion cast out before the Sunne this I cannot denie at the rememberance thereof I finde my selfe charged afresh vpon the Conscience with terrours and vexations O the dead slubber of securitie wherein I haue sleept vnto this houre my custome euer was to post ouer my sinnes in the lump with a generall slumbert confession There is nothing within me but matter of feare I feele my faith fainting I feare my sinnes I feare the wrath of God I feare the force of Sathan the king of feare I may be well bee called that which Ieremie called Pashur viz. Magor-missabib that is Feare round about yea I not onelie feare but I feele a fearefull wrath My stubburnesse and stonie heart hath brought vpon my Soule Gods brasen hands Now is hee doing to mee that which of olde hee threatned against these that were like mee If yee walke stubbornlie against mee I will walke stubbornlie with you In my youth I was guided by the guise of times my delight was to goe with the droue now I am lost beeing cold dead frozen in the dregges of my vncleannesse The Pastour The force of temptation wringeth such words out of you as thogh yee had none hope at all Your Soule Sir is like the Moone into an ecclipse There bee darknesse and changing of collours for a time because your sinnes like an earth come betweene you and the beames of Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse I haue seene the Moone in her ecclipse for a space as though shee had not beene at all into the heauens but as shee darkened by little and little so after the greatest darknesse was past the light returned by degrees Despaire not Sir of an infinite mercie let not your heart be wasted with wearinesse Though the earth of your sinnes which in comparison of Gods mercie is but a point ouershadow the Soule for a space while it is in this low region the time shall come that God shall mount your Soule aboue the circle of the Starres wherevnto the shadow of such an earth is not able to attaine Thogh God for a space walke stubbornlie with you hee is not stubborn Whē yee shall beginne to walke humblie with your God God shall walke no more stubbornlie with you but shall deliuer you from all your feares Build your selfe vpon your holie Faith The sicke Man I may well say with Iob My stroke is heauier than my groning Whereon can my Faith lay hold God is armed with wrath and Sathan is armed with despight I see nothing for the present but blowes and bloody battels most dreadfull feares teare in pieces mine heart strings sucke out the inmost of mine heart blood The Pastour Though there be many aduersaries yet Christ is with you Make all your boast of him who is the Captaine of your Saluation Hee hath winne the field he hath tread vnder foote principalities and powers and hath ledde Captiuitie captiue Hee whose Faith is founded vpon him shall neuer bee confounded His fresh bleeding wounds are cuer filled with compassions * Though God by our sinnes bee moued to shew some wrath heere is our great comfort There is no condemnation to these that are in Christ Belieue yee not the Scriptures I know yee belieue If Christ bee with vs who shall bee against vs These who thinke that their sinnes ouer-reach Gods mercie make the Centre to compasse about the Circumference Though hee should receiue a world of sinners in the bosome of his mercie it will not for that
saued by the Light of Gods word dispell this mist of ignorance Make mee free of this shrewd temptation The Pastour That of Peter in the New-Testament is remarkable Christ himselfe called him A man of little Faith and yet who doubteth of his Saluation The other example in the Old-Testament was in type and figure when the Israelites were biten with the fierie Serpents their onelie remeed was to looke vp to the brasen Serpent All this was a type and figure of a Soule wounded with sinne looking vp vnto Christ with the eye of Faith Now it is certaine that some in Israel were bleared and some of a weaker sight than others but the weaknesse of their sight could not hinder the cure nay the olde man with his dimmed eyes beholding as thorow a mist that type of Christ was as soone and soundlie cured as hee whose eyes were in their greatest vigour The meate taken with a paralitick trembling hand will not refuse nourishment to the bodie no more than if it were taken with a strong and stable arme Faith is the eye of the Soule whereof the Israelites eyes were but a figure Christ is the trueth of the brasen Serpent Though this eye bee dimmer into some yet if it see that sight is Saluation Faith is the hand of the Soule Christ is the foode Though this Faith tremble Christ trembleth not the palsie is not in the foode Bee of good courage Sir feare not this trembling feare the work of Saluation cannot bee wrought but with feare and trembling Though ye feare yet despaire not there is meâ—…cie with God in a vnspeakable measure In one Psalme it is said againe and againe vnto sixe and twentie times that his mercie endureth for euer This mercie I confesse is whiles concealed from the godlie for ends best knowne vnto their heauenly Father Who is he that often shall not spie at diuerse times his minde to bee dulled or ouer-cast with some cloud of Milancholie While this humour domineeres Sathan maketh choise of it for therein to set a seate for grimme and grieuous temptations While he perceiueth the bodie to bee troubled and distempered hee quicklie afresh representeth vnto the veiw of our Soule the greatest most greiuous sins of our vnregeneration and that into their fullest and foulest shape By this meanes deepe gashes and wide gappes are made in mens Conscience Bee strong in God Sir saue his honour by putting your trust in him Shall Gods word cry to man sixe and twentie times that hee is a mercifull God shall man doubt of such a mercie If such mercies were but for some dayes â—…nners might thinke that in some dismall dayes of the yeare mercy by no meanes could bee found But behold the musicall twne of Gods mercie is vpon an euerlasting Note for his mercie endureth for euer Hee who doubteth of Gods fauour after so manie testimonies may prouoke the Lord against himselfe Moses by his doubting at Meribah made the Lords wrath to waxe hote against him While hee should haue spoken to the Rocke he scourged the Rocke more with these wordes of doubt shal we cause water come foorth than he did with the Rod That Rock was Christ Moses while by doubting hee scourged the Rocke hee scourged Christ for that Rocke was Christ Who would euer haue thought that Moses with his Law Rod would haue scourged Christ the substance both of Law and Gospel Who euer hee bee that doubteth thinking that God either cannot nor will not bee mercifull vnto him so farre as in him is hee scourgeth the Lord Iesus as these who by their euill life are said to crucifie to themselues the Sonne of God afresh and to put him to an open shame Beleeue be saued God is both mild and mercifull Is not his Command directeth vnto man that hee shew mercie with chearefulnesse Is he not called the Father of mercies Is it not written that hee is a God rich in mercie O these bleeding bowels of compassions What said hee at last while hee saw the great affliction of Ephraim How said hee shall I giue thee vp Ephraim How shall I deliuer the Israel How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim After these foure How how how how Mercie in a manner did turne about hâ—…s heart with such a force that hee cryed out Mine heart is turned within mee my repentinges are kindled together If mercie be not in his diuine breast where shall it be found The sicke Man All that yee haue said Sir concerning the mercy of God in Christ belongeth on lie to repenting sinners who haue bewailed the errours of their life but not to such a varnished hypocrit as I am who haue remained fast rooted in the rottenesse of must filthie corruptions which I had neuer care to curbe or controle My secret sinnes like a consuming canker haue freted out the verie heart of Grace From my Youth I haue wandered from the way of happinesse and haue beene like an idle Begger in the way readie to goe which way so euer the staffe fell My greatest feare now is that I haue too long delayed the day of my repentance what know I if God will forgiue a man so grieuous sinnes not repented of till hee come to his death-bed Hardlie can I think that in so short a time a man can bind vp friendshippe with his God with whom hee hath beene at feede his whole life time O mercifull God melt my marble heart Put into my breast the precious pearle of Faith O that with vnspeakable groanes of griefe for my By past euill spent life I might redeeme the time which I haue so lauishlie mispent Oh that the moisture of my body were all melted into teares if therby I culd be perswaded that my sillie Soule were alreadie vtterly out of the reach of all the powers of Hell I haue too long most vainelie sported my selfe in Mesech and ruffled in the tents of Kedar If I had not so long delayed to returne to my God my Soule alreadie in hope should be feasting vpon the joyes of eternitie The Pastour Indeede Sir it is a verie dangerous thing for to delay repentance to the last gaspe or to one Gods mercie as many doe who neuer lay downe the weapons of rebellion till they can sinne no more Oh that men would vnderstand their danger Are not our enemies both strong and neare Hannibal ad portas the Deuill is at the doore But such is the madnesse of many were their Soules neuer so soiled with sinne that if once they can get out but these few wordes God bee mercifull to mee they thinke that they shall be in heauen before their feete bee colde Such men thinke that in death it is easie to consure the Deuill with a word It is but folie to put Saluation vpon such hap-hazard as
blot or blow for secret blo◅s they will die also with some formall perfūctory appearance of repentance Others will die in a quiet drousinesse and so poore like Nabal Many a◅ye see may die without any seene sign◅ of Gods wrath But in the day of the Lord God shall pull that painted vizard off their face for the discouering of all their abominations and that before the face of all Sainctes and Angels who shall wonder to see all the filthinesse which they in their life could so cunninglie colour and couer with most painefull painting Then mens applause and the worlds praise which they did once vnder the colour of vnhallowed zeale moste eagerlie pursue shall by no meanes auaile them for the righteous Lord with a gloume of his justice shall banish them to the loathsome dungeon of the bottemlesse pit Thus after they haue carried the matter smoothlie for a time by jugling dissimulation at last all their abominations are set in open view The sicke Man I finde my selfe satisfied concerning that doubt of the inlightening of the Wicked who as I see are starke blind grossie and palpablie ignorant in the mysteries of Saluation Now teach mee what this is that he will taste of the heauenlie gift How can vnsanctified mortalitie bee capable of celestiall benefites The Pastour By the heauenlie gift I vnderstand the fauour of God and eternall life The wicked man whose portion is only in this life will taste these things that is betimes hee will finde a certaine sweetnesse in God The most wicked man that is will at one time or other lift vp his eyes to God yea and thinke himselfe much beholden vnto God But all this goodnesse is but lik the morning dew it hath none abiding a sound of feare is euer into the wicked mans eares * As a man may taste poyson and yet not bee the worse because incontinent he spitteth it out againe so a wicked man may taste good things and yet not be the better because that after he hath tasted them hee letteth them not ouer his throat but spitteth them out againe That which hee hath tasted with the one eare he spitteth out at the other care The good words may flow a litle into his braine and rinne into his memorie so that there of hee may prattle like a Paroquet but nothing goeth down to his heart which I may call the stomacke of the Soule If a man should but taste food were it neuer so fitte of it selfe for to feed he shuld not be able to liue thereby It is euen so of the wicked spiritualy They cannot liue by tasting of graces where God hath not opened the heart as hee opened the heart of Lydea there is nothing but a tasted grace Let me yet cleare the matter The wicked will get a taste of heauen as the godlie w◅ll get a taste of hell In this doing I obserue a secret Iustice and a secret mercie of God It is a mercie for the godlie that they taste the bitternesse of wrath heere that they may esteeme the more of heauens glorie heere after The baser our estate be before we he exalted we shal thinke the more of honour whē it commeth What am I said Dauid being but a shepheard that I should marrie a Kings Daughter Who am I said hee and what is my life or my fathers familie in Israel that I should bee Son in law to the King If Dauid had beene a Kings Sonne hee could haue well thought himselfe an equall match for a Kings Daughter But while hee considered his owne base estate and the basenes of his fathers family he thought himselfe so ouermatcht that hee wondered at such honour which made him say Who am I What am I said lamed Mephibosheth that I a d◅ad dogge should sitte at the Table of a King The greater aduersitie a man bee come out of the more sweete is his prosperitie when it cōmeth The tempestuous by past blasts of Winter commend the beautie of the Spring * Bring me a man who is daylie accustomed to good cheare to a Banquet and little shall hee thinke of it because such is his ordinarie fare But O if bread was not sweete to that hunger bitten forlorne when hee came home from his husks * I think that the godly in heauē shall remember of the bitter taste of wrath they felt on earth which shall so rauish them with joy of their chāged estate that no tongue shall bee able to expresse But againe heere is Iustice and wrath for the wicked God in this life giueth vnto them a taste of his sweete thing Some common spirituall confections he putteth into their mouth whereof they find some heauenlie relish I am of this opinion that while they shall be in hell the remembrance of that sweete taste shall neuer goe out of their heart which shall bee a most powerfull meanes for the increasing of their smart What a sting was this vnto the gl◅tton in hell when Abraham said to him Sonne remember that thou in thy life-time receiuedst thy good thinges Yee may see heere that the wicked haue remembrance in hell of what good thinges they haue receiued on earth which is an hell in hell Thus as ye see God in Iustice and and in wrath will let the Wicked heere on earth taste his good thinges for the increase of their woe thereafter By the sweete taste they had of God on earth while they liued they know now in Hell which is a part of their torment what joye the godlie haue in Heauen And againe the godly by that bitter taste of wrath which once they felt on earth shall know which shall wonderfullie increase their joye what torments the wicked suffer in hell from which the Lord in his vnspeakable mercie hath made them free By this as yee perceiue both the godlie the wicked taste here both of Hell of Heauen The godly taste of Hell that Heauen may be to them the sweeter The wicked taste of Heauen that Hell may be to them the sower God loueth not the wicked but hateth them as hee hated Esau For this cause while hee giueth them a taste of his good thinges it is that while they shall bee in easlesse and endlesse torments they may remember how sweete a God they haue despised and how sowre a Sathan they haue serued All these good things which are jointly in the wicked man are but lik faire attyre vpon a leperous bodie or like jewels about the necke of an hanged man Hee hath nothing but the dead portraiture of an Israelite indeede But in all this time while vnder the shewes of godlinesse he is drinking in iniquitie like water a dreadfull sound is in his eares for he knoweth that the day of darknesse is ready at his hand God at last in great wrath shall runne vpon him euen on
reliefe refresh his Soule and coole it with thy comfortes Let thy Spirit come vnto him with glad tydinges that all his sinnes are forgiuen him Oh what sorrow of heart hath hee had since he hath felt the power of thy wrath His poore two eyes haue beene like two fountaines of teares trickling downe both day and night The apple of his eye hath euer beene droping downe the salt brimie and bitter teares of sorrow Oh how bitter lie hath he wept since this battell beganne Hath hee not powred out his heart like water before thee in bemoaning his transgrassions Now LORD for thy mercie sake make him free of all excessiue griefe Beholde him with the tendrest eye of thy compassions Ridde him of all gripping griefes of Conscience Settle in his heart a godlie sorrowwhich may cause repentance neuer to bee repented of Bee pleased toward him Turne thine angerie face from the bloodie colour of all his transgressions and looke vpon the perfect and vnspotted righteousnes of thy Lambe whose blood hath blanched the red Crimsin sinnes of the world No flesh O LORD is able to stand before thee when thou art angrie for what is man which is consumed before the moath He dwelleth into an house of clay and his foundation is in the dust When it shall please thee hee must lye downe into his growing bedde and there say to corruption Thou art my father and to the worme Thou art my mother and my sister O who shall stand when thou shall say Returne yee Children of men O gracious GOD pittie this creature that was once formed to thine owne image which once lost thou hast repaired with the Blood of thy Sonne Stampe his heart vvith thy liuelie Image and coine it with thy countenance Insinuate thy selfe into his Soule and compasse him with thy comfortes Let thy poore Seruant heere who hath beene most fearefullie tossed and scorched with fierie temptations find a spiritual cooling refreshing in thy mercifull bowels Temper so the Spirit of his minde bowe his will and incline his affections that his chiefest delight may bee in thee Couer his sillie Soule vnder the shadow of thy Winges vntill all these calamities bee ouerpast Refresh this paunting Soule braying after thy water brookes Giue him a newe hearte put within him a new Spirite take this stonie heart out of his breast and in the place thereof put an heart of flesh By thy word O LORD wee haue let him see what the vanitie of this world is how vnconstant are all things below and how they are turned vpon a whirling wheele O mak his heart consider that there is nothing heere on earth that can bring solide contentment vnto the heart What are the best of our dayes on earth but labour and sorrow Is not our life a vapour a breath are not our dayes consumed as a tale that is tolde Make the consideration of such naughtie thinges below moue him so much the more to minde the things that are aboue Let him know that in the surging waues of this worldlie Sea there is no permanent peace so no crosse shall come vpon him vnawares Teach him by practise and experimentall feeling of thy Graces that thy strength is made perfect in weakenesse Let him feele that it is a fruite of thy lone that thou suffereth him to be afflicted Sanctifie his sorrowes make them to lead him vnto the face and presence of his GOD. By the loathing of things earthlie worke in his heart a loue a liking of things heauenlie an ardent desire of thy celestiall dainties Let him know that so soone as he shall come to thee that with thy face thou shall fill the desires of his Soule for in thy face is fulnesse of joyes O thou to whom nothing is impossible lift vp his Soule to affect that happines so that earnestlie his Soule may desire to see that day when he shall be cloathed with the long white robe of Christes righteousnesse euen the innocencie of thy deare Sonne Iesus Couer him Lord couer him with the golden fleece of thy righteous Lambe Parsume him with the sweete sauour of Christes merites thy mercies Let the Blood of his Aduocate pl◅ade for his pardon Naile all his sinnes to the Crosse of thy Sonne Iesus Rid out of his heart all doubts and difficulties draw his eyes from looking vpon himselfe make thine own selfe the object of his sight in the mirrour of the Gospel wherein as with open face hee may behold as in a glasse the glorie of the Lord and bee changed into the same image from glorie to glorie euen as by the Spirit of the Lord. Seeing a good man is mercifull to his beast how much more wilt thou bee who are mercie it selfe Thou who art most plenteous in mercie vnlocke wee intreat thee the treasures of thy mercies and affoard vnto thy seruant such graces whereby hee may come to thy Glorie Send a Seraphin for to kindle hi◅ zeale and affection toward thee Publish proclaime vnto his Sou◅ that thou art pacified and that tho◅ hast receiued a ransome These days by past LORD thou ha◅ him trained vp with diuerse fearefu◅ temptations whereout of let it please thee now to giue him an out gate O put thy quickening Spirit within him that by the force of thy life he◅ dying vnto sin may liue vnto The◅ who art our life and lengthening of our dayes Thine eare hath heard the heauie groanes of his hearte which haue made thine heart to bee turned within thee O now let thy compassions bee so kindled together that hee may in all boldnesse come to the Throne of thy Grace permit him such familiaritie with thee whereby hee may cast his burden vpon thee Giue him LORD a full resolution to submitte himselfe alwayes to thine appointments that his heart neuer anie more repine nor grudge at thy proceedings By the finger of thy Grace frame fullie his heart for the following of thy will Gracious Father rouse vp his Soule and raise vp the good motions of thy Spirit within him Make him in mercie to growe in Grace which may worke a deepe detestation of all bygone slippes whether secret or knowne with an eager and earnest striuing to bee renewed in the Spirit of his minde O thou whose bowels rumble lowd with compassions pacifie and calme all the clamours of his Conscience Thy mercie is most magnified when it relieueth the extremest miserie Thy light is most precious when it shineth into the depth of discomfort and darknesse O pittie and pardon him besprinkle him with the Blood of vertue that beeing purged from all carnall and spiritual vncleanneste hee may grow vp vnto full holinesse in thy feare and so may end his life in thy fauour the surest Sāctuarie of a troubled Soule Pittie the distressed members of thy Church Many a time haue they afflicted her from her youth The plowers plowed vpon her backe making long furrowes let them
terrours shall most violentlie rush vpon their Soules standing in an heauie dumpe waiting on their dreadfull doome While they liue heere the stone of their heart is like an grauell stone so bedded in the bladder that it cannot be painefull Little dreame the wicked now that such fearefull and hellish horrours are preparing for them But O their euerlasting woe is presentlie in hatching and hammering It is neerest to the birth while the wicked are most secure Sudden destruction is neerest while the preaching of peace are doubled by crying Peace and saftie Happie is the man to whom the Lord doeth vouchsafe the grace in this world to waken out of the drousie slumber of sin for to repēt in time Woe to these in whose hearts the long forebearance of Gods wrath hath wrought a more frozen coldnesse presumptuous securitie wherein being lulled they are carried in a most sweete and sound sleepe to places where their eye-lids shall neuer bee refreshed with rest any more O how shall they fling and cry when they shall feele themselues stung galled vpon thesore After that the Lord hath brow-beaten them with the biggest lookes of his wrath and hath terrified them with his piercing eyes of fire and after that he hath disclaimed all interest that euer hee had into them hee shall cause take these Foxes that spoiled his vines That done he shall vnsheath the flamming sword of his vengeance with these most fearefull wordes of excommunication Depart from mee yee cursed into euerlasting fyre prepared for the Deuill and his Angels In that fire like dry chippie burne-wood they shall burne but in this they shall bee like Salamanders that they shall neuer bee consumed By that moste fearefull blast of wrath the LORD shall chase them all away from before his face as the chaffe of the mountaines before the winde and like a rolling thing before the whirle wind The mightie Lord lowring with a darke and cloudie countenance shall then in great furie lay about him with the heauie hammer of his judgements and that with full weight With one stroke without any iteration of strokes from the best strength of a diuine Arme Hee shall bring downe their hairie scalpes to the lowest dungeon of Death euen to euerlasting burning brimstone beames which no mercie shall be able to coole or quench There shall they drinke in cuppes of wrath for euer If these miserables could bee put out of paine vpon the sudden they should not be altogether comfortlesse But the mercilesse vengeance of Gods wrath shall adde leasure and lingring to their dying life and liuing death that sensiblie they may feel death in a life of vntollerable sufferings No mercie no pittie no regard shall bee had vnto them no not but the Lords justice shall charge the edge of his flamming sword vpon the heads and heartes of these doolefull creatures of infamous ranke These fearefull blowes of Iustice shall bee without any mixture of mercie He who created them without any labour shall destroy them without any losse Snaires fire and brimstone in that day shall raine downe vpon the hairie scalpe of euerie one which in their life-time did goe on in their sins without ◅emorse In this perplexitie anguish besieged with judgements both felt feared shall they slād before their Iudge all trembling and waiting vpon the sentence of that doolefull doome The sicke Man What shall become of the wicked after that the Lord hath dischairged them his presence any more by commanding them to depart The Pastour So soone as the Lord hath pronounced these words of euerlastingexcommunication they shall all incontinent goe downe to Hell in heapes for to bee scorcht parcht with the euerlasting burninges of a deuouring wrath They who haue bene intrapped in their sins shall be entombent in Gods plagues There shal be no more abiding for them in his presence they shal be chassed frō their God vnto euerlasting exile in dungeons of Deuils and of darknes where they shall bee pestered with vnspeakable doole in floods of fire wherin they shall waile and yele for euer Gods most heauie vengeance lik a Barley Loafe tumbling from aboue shall thrust them downe and crush them altogether like the Tents of the Midianites Sathan then with all the spight he can shall lay on load with milstones of miseries hung about their neckes Hee shall drawe them down with chaines of curses to the dungeons of darknesse Thus Hell with a gaping gulfe shall swallow them all at once They shall goe downe most fearefullie with grappling Deuils with squeeles roaring voyces which beeing heard by the blessed in whose eyes and sides they once were prickes and thornes shall rouse vp their hearts wonderfully to rejoyce and sing with such an high tune that shall mak the whole world to resound with a reboūding noise Mine heart trembleth to thinke vpon these torments which the wicked shall suffer into the fierie Lake after their departing from before their Iudge All wordes faile mee I finde my conceptions too weak in thinking vpon that infinite wrath O then these who enjoyed once all the pleasures which could bee purchased on Earth shall want all the good which they can desire and receiue all the euill which they can deserue They shall for euer be dying in a life which shall neuer end that they may dye continuallie and that in vtter darknesse where Sunne neuer shined where Day shall neuer dawne because that in the days of their flesh on earth they wold not so liue to die that they might die to liue they shall for euer in the Hell dye to liue that they may liuing to dye a liuing death a dying life a life death of woes These miserable creatures shal be so perplexed that they shall both grieue to liue and feare to dye They shall desire absolutelie neither death nor Life yet in a manner shall they wish for both but all in vaine The full bended Iustice of God shall giue no truce to their teares nor place to their plaints Vnto all these terrours of Gods wrath shal be joyned another feare euen Sathan the king of feare hee in most bitter spight shall besiege these trembling Soules with vnspekable terrours For he shall stare them in the face with most grizlie formes and terrible representations Hee in great furie shall hunt out vpon them most fearefull gnawing wormes which shall feast on their Consciences The thoughtes of such thinges should pierce as I thinke euen vnto the verie center of leared Consciences O but the assurance of happinesse in many is false and misgrounded Obstinate sinners whose hearts are hard paued with obstinate rebellion think now that they shall neuer see that day because God now keepeth silence they thinke that he is lik vnto them But the slower Gods hand be in comming on the fadder and ◅orer shall his stroake bee While the wicked most securelie snort in
yee vnto mee yee blessed of my Father and receiue a Kingdome Let this consideration beare out in the stormie houre of the last assaults Set a strong Guarde and a narrow watch ouer his heart lest he bee vnawares surprised by Sathans craftie plots Let the Sconce of thy mercie fence off the partching hea◅e of Sathans most fierie temptations kindled in a bone-fire Furnish him now with such grace whereby hee may possesse his Soule in patience looking for that blessed hope and appearing of thy glorie in the cloudes It was long since written by thy blessed Pen-men That the Iudge standeth before the doore and that the end of all things draweth neere Now seeing sin is come to such an hight that thy Iustice cannot much longer forbeare but that thou must come shortlie to put an end to this most corrupt world LORD cleanse quite away all our corruptiōs before thou come Grant that continuallie with the wise Virgines wee may haue our Lampes of oyle trimmed for the comming of our Lord the blessed Bridegroome of our Soules Graunt that in that day with gladnesse wee may lift vp our heades beeing assured of a gracious welcomming vnto our Masters joy Keepe this euer fast in our memorie as an aweband aboue our heades for to keepe vs from sinne that Christ the determined Iudge of the world shal come for to render to euery one according as he or she hath done in the days of their flesh grant therefore that whether we sleepe or we wak the shrill Trumpet of Gods voyce may be as if it were euer sounding to our Soules Arise for to compeare in judgement O LORD enlighten our mistie mindes that with an vndazeled eye euerie one of vs may try and descry clearelie our owne estate in this world In a more speciall manner let it please thee to regard thy poore prisoner heere in this bed of languishing whō Satan hath soght to sift that his Faith might faile Waken his Soule softlie with a mercifull motion of thy Spirit of comfort Let him not bee like these who in a dull dead and senslesse securitie not thinking on Death chop in the earth before that euer they bee awares neither suffer Sathan to quench his clearest comforts with the dampe of despare By this heauie sickenesse which daylie increaseth thou is now Summoning thy seruant here to a perticular and personall compearance before thy great Tribunall Let him finde thy Royall seate to be a mercie seate Proclaime vnto his Conscience in his inward partes that thou wilt neuer enter into judgement with him Assure his Soule that hee is one of thine and that there is no condemnation to these that are in Christ Iesus who vnto all his faithfull is like a little Sanctuarie Let the graces of thy Spirite bee all night like a bundle of Myrrhe into his bosome Seale vp in his heart this comfort that hee who shall bee his Iudge is hee euen hee who is now his Aduocat interceeding at the right hand of the Father for him Giue him strength couragiouslie to fight out this bloodie Battell that in the ende thou may set on his head that neuer fadding Crowne of righteousnesse Let Sathan be now chained vp that hee bee not able any more to set by the eares the corruptions of his nature with the motions of thy grace He confesseth LORD before thee that if presentlie thou should pronounce his doome and suddenlie plunge him in the deepest Hels that righteousnesse in so doing should belong to thee This from his heart would hee acknowledge being willing that thy Name may bee glorified to take to himselfe shame and confusion of face O LORD whose bowels euer rumble with cōpassions raine downe vpon thy seruāts heart here a showre of grace for it is parched and dryed with greiefe and sorrow Pittie him for he abhorreth himselfe as a stained sinner stript of all good things worthie to be crushed vnder the mountaines milstones of thy vengeance Neither dar he neither will he plead against thee for his innocencie Here hee is readie to subscribe all thy will were it with the best arteriall blood of his heart His confessiō is that thou art most just though from thy presence thou should banish him to the blacke lacke and woefull dungeon of darknesse where is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth Out of a sore sense aboundance of feeling hee powreth out this most plentifull sincere confession before thee Behold him here Lord opening the bosome of his confession and selfe condemnation before thee O thou whom his Soule loueth tell him where thou feedest and where thou makest thy flocke to rest at noone in the time of parching and most piercing heate of temptations O coole this fainting Soule with thy blessed breath comming from the foure windes Besprinkle it with the sauing and sacred Blood of Iesus Thou LORD who is the chiefe Paterne and examplar of all true Kindnes Pittie Loue Let his groanes and supplications get entrie into thine eares Send downe the Ladder of Iaacob the ministring Spirits for to waite vpon him who is one of thy Redeemed ones that when his Soule shall bee seuered from his bodie they may carrie it into the blessed bosome of Abraham the father of the Faithfull Giue him a sound a Sanctified heart say vnto his Soule as thou said of olde concerning thy beloued Children I will delight to doe him good Take away the trespasse of thy seruant and saue him for hee distrusting his owne worth is now fledde to the hornes of thine Altar euen to the crosse of Iesus the Sanctuarie of troubled Soules As Elishah was first inuested with a single Spirit and thereafter with a doubled Spirit so now in thy tender compassions double thy graces vpon him which were but single of before Let thy fauours falling downe vpon him bee like the raine which falleth first in small droppes and after powreth downe in grea◅ aboundance O quicken and enliuhis Soule with a supernaturall vi gour and life of grace that by no lowring tempest of temptation his holie Faith bee dashed out of countenance Let not his Hope bee like the Spiders webbe which is easilie sweept away with the least blast of winde The weaker his bodie grow increase so much the more his spirituall strength Verifie that Text in him To him that hath shall bee giuen Thou who giuest repentance to the sinner giue pardon to the repenter In the boisterous blasts of most fearfull temptations let his sillie Soule finde a shelter vnder the shadow of thy fauour There is no succour but vnder thy wings from the plagues of God and curses of the Law Thy Blood onelie is able to purge purifie him from the froth and filth of all his iniquities Seeing hee hath dealt vnpartialie with himselfe by condemning himselfe let thy mercie for the sake of thy Sonne his surtiship now absolue him draw out the keen
arrows of thy wrath which thou hast made to stick in his ribbes the poyson whereof hath drunken vp his Spirit O how fearefull haue thy terrours set themselues in aray against him Beginne Lord and continue to slacke thy wrath Be with him now in thy great mercy O LORD and conuoye him by the graces of thy Spirit thorow the snakie field wildernesse of this world wherein hee hath beene like a Pilgrime or a Traueller passing from Towne to Towne till hee come into his Inne where he hopeth by thy mercie to bee exempt from all mixture of miserie Hee is now in the heate of his journey Let some cooling droppes of thy comforts bee send vnto him for to coole and quench his drougth in the scorching heate of this spirituall skirmish Thou who made waters to rush out of the jaw bone for the refreshing of Samson after his fight with the Philistimes giue vnto this wearied soule a drink of that water whereof if a man drink hee shall neuer thirst any more And now seeing in all appearance he is not for to remaine manie dayes vpon this Earth make him to be still looking all the dayes of his appointed time till his changing come grant that when it shall come hee may change for the better and that for the glorie of thy great Name and for the euerlasting rest peace and joye of his sillie sorrow beaten Soule O crush the head and breake the heart of euerie sinne that lurketh within his breast left they choke the Soule of this thy Turtle Doue Bee no more sowre vnto him If thou should appeare grieslie with a sterne countenance vnto sinners how soone should they bee out-faced if thou straitlie m◅iniquitie who shall stand But O mercie is with thee Let that mercie that is with thee come to him wherby all his floating thoughts may bee made to sink soake into the Blood of the Lambe the softner and soupler of stiffe and hardened heartes In the darkest houre of death bee thou the comfort and darlling del◅ght of his heart O Pastour of Israel now put an end to all the cloudie and darke dayes of his distresse Tak in this silly Soule thy little Lambe within the compasse of thine heauenlie folde till it winne there refresh it with a baire in its journey let no meanes bee deficient til in it thou crowne thy graces with thy glorie LORD blesse thy Church vniuersall the deare Spouse of Iesus as they are all members of one Body make them all to bee of one heart that in an heauenlie harmonie they may all thinke one thing Stop the mouth of the red Dragon from spewing out the red bloodie floodes of persecution against Her if not giue Her the winges of Faith whereby Shee may flee to the wildernesse for Her escape O cloth her Priests with Saluation that all her Saints may shout a lowd for joye Giue them one mind and one mouth But alas Icabod where nowe is that glorie Preserue our gracious SOVERAIGNE with his Royall Match Send down a princelie Spirit vpon him Keepe them as the Apple of thine Eye As thou hast bund their bodies into the bond of wed locke so bind their Soules into the bandle of life Make the Heauens to rejoyce at her Majesties conuersion Loue Her LORD as thou loued Lidea by the opening of her heart Make both Crowne and Court seruiceable to thee the greatest Majestie aboue Sanctifie all our Nobles make them lik the men of Berea couragious for the Trueth Plants of renowne Guide vs all in the way of righteousnesse and weane vs from the loue of this Worlde Prepare vs for the last Battell of the Soule Suffer neuer Sathan with the mood of his temptations to trouble or distemper the cleare Riuers of thy comforts wherwith thou refresheth thy beloued Ones Suffer neuer that prince of darknesse to put out with his dampes the glorious Light of thy Gospel which now most orientlie shineth among vs. LORD perfume all our vnwhorthie prayers with the sweete smelling righteousnes of Iesus Christ our Lord Master in whose most blessed Name wee pray as hee hath pleased him to teach vs Our Father which art c. By Gods grace Sir I shall returne the Morrow earelie The Spirit of Iesus print into your heart the best comforts of his Treasures Remember Sir that all our goodnesse is of him for naturallie wee are hewen out of a sinfull rocke All our guises are but guile till we bee cast into another mould by the Spirit of regeneration Striue more and more to bee constant and couragious till this bitter Battell bee ended For euerie Battell of the Warriour is with confused noise and garments rolled in Blood Now the night is fallen downe while deepe sleepe falleth on mē strin◅ to bee acquainted with the Teacher of the reines in the night season If the paine of your sicknes rob your eyes of sleepe cause read vnto you this night Dan. 7. 1. Cor. 15. 1. Thess. 4. The LORD pul off your Soule al the filthie menstruous cloutes of your corruptions and cloath you with the most rich invaluable Robe of Christs righteousnesse The Lord fill your heart with the inspirations of the Almightie His Grace bee with you THE SIXT DAYES Conference of Heauens Glorie The Pastour ACcording to my promise Sir I am heere come againe for to see what it shall please God to doe with you at last waite constantlie on your God His mind is to doe you good in the latter end I earnestlie now desire to know what the meditation of the last judgement hath wrought into your heart this night bygone The sicke Man Except that a man bee well occupied in the day his heart in the night will swarme with worthlesse witlesse thoughts Sathan the lord of the night is euer busie by secret foisting in of corruptions into mans thoughts to justle out of his heart all holie and heauenlie meditations All this night it seemeth vnto me that I heard the shrill sound of the last Trumpet sounding most fearefullie the Alarum of the Resurrection at the second and sudden comming of our Lord All Saintes and Angels seemed to bee present at that great Iubile I thought in my sleepe that I saw the Sonne of man enuironed with innumberable Charets of fyre comming downe with vnspeakable pompe Glorie and Majestie I thought him more glistering than the Sun while he sbineth in his greatest force Mine eyes were dazeled with the brightnesse of his Beames All thrones made roome vnto his Throne Mine heart was neuer so rauished as it hath bene this last night by-past In the thoghts of mine heart in the night while deepe sleepe falleth on mā there came into my memorie some passages of Scripture concerning heauens glorie wherof most gladlie I desire now to heare The Apostle S. Paul speaketh of this with great power Wee faint not said hee but though our outward man perish
are boiling in it reigne and rage vnhallowed heate and passionate distempers which except they bee repressed with the strength of grace breake out into the thunders and tempestuous stormes of vncleannesse of ryot of drunkenesse and such like which make most fearefull breaches and deepe gashes into the Conscience Beware therefore at the first to sinne lest at last ye sinne by custome The hardening custome of sinne is in Scripture called An yron sinew in the necke and a brasen brow If custome of sinne make you impotent in well doing it shall at last mak you impudent in euill doing Hee who manteth or stammereth in his speach while hee is young will in all appearance speake so vntill his dying day Fooles dreame that man is like March if hee come in with an Adders head they thinke that hee shall goe out with a Peacoks taile as if an euill beginning were the way to an happie end Bee wise in time my deare hearts from your youth consecrat your selues Nazarites vnto the Lord that is Bee pure and holie touch no vncleane thing giue not prouocatiō to the flesh but rather abstaine from all fleshlie lustes which warre against the Soule What shame for Gods sons to bee sinnes slaues If ye wold liue long liue well The wicked saith Solomon shall not prolong his dayes which are as a shadow because hee feareth not before God For this cause it shall be your best to take the first handsell of time for well doing Resist the Deuill in the beginning of sinne Fight against iniquitie as against a foraine enemy at the borders of your heart euen at the first landing before it get fitting in fast and stable groūd While it is fleeting fight it off the shore Sinne is like a Cockatrice it must bee killed into the shell before it come out with piercing venemous lookes Satan in this last and most corrupt age hath with manie blots branded earelie holinesse As for you my counsell is that with great care yee striue to beginne well earely in the morning of your age and that thereafter yee constantlie goe on till like a Sunne yee come to the Noone of grace in glorie In three times of our age wee should striue to three degrees of holinesse In Child-hood wee must bee good in Youth head wee must grow better in olde Age wee must bee best Hee who is not best at last in mine opinion was neuer good at all In all Ages tak heed to all your ways be neuer wedded vnto any sin thogh it seeme like Zoar but a little one There is no sin so base that it wil goe alon without a Page at its back while yee heare of others faults practise Plato his Precept Numquid ego tale Haue I done any such lik thing my selfe Striue in all your affaires to be vpright before God and man Be euer of these that stand on the Lords side for the good cause Let no consideration of profite or preferment mak you to stiffle the voyce of your owne Conscience Shute not your eares at its cry like the Adder at the voyce of the charmer Bee not loth to know your selues trye and examine well your inward parts Doe neuer with great confidence that which yee can not doe with a good Conscience If yee sinne delight not in sinne such pleasures are too deare bought at too high a rate In your whole like reuerence your Pastour though subject to manie infirmities for wee faile all in many things Elias refused not his meate because a Rauen an vncleane fowle brought it vnto him Best men often are signes and wonders euen in Israel Oh that I had words of motion that might stirre you vp to all Christian dueties Beware I exhort you to follow anie euill example giuen by mee Striue by grace to bee better than the Rocke wherout of ye haue beene hewen Manie a time haue I started aside and stumbled in the way It is a rare mercie of God that hath brought mee thorow this world with honesty It is only Gods guarde euen his sauing grace which hath kept my life from scab scandale for in trueth I speake it to my shame that God may haue the glorie I haue beene like a foolish Flee that flutters about the Candle It is by the meere mercie of my God that the winges of my profession haue not beene scorched with the flammes of some one temptation or other which should haue beene to me the cause of some filthie downe-fall A scandalous sinne is like a dampe which quencheth the bright Candle of a glorious profession Let these that are forwarned striue to bee forearmed Happie is he who in time beateth downe his own corruptions and tameth his wild heart like an horse whom the Ridder breaketh that hee may trauell him the parts and the pace as he best desireth It it onelie Gods mercie which hath stopt the torrent of my corruptions Learne therefore of mee to passe the time of your sojourning heere in feare The euill which man least feareth he is nearest to fall into Take heede my deare Children and giue eare vnto my counsell * Where euer yee bee thinke shame to commit that which yee would think shame to confesse In all things striue to have a cleare Conscience toward God and man Respect more goodnesse than greatnesse and its sway Bee alway courtesse Cut not a man in the current of his speach bee not selfe conceited but bee little in your owne eyes Striue rather to bee good than to seeme to bee so Obey your betters hearken to the wise reuerence the gray haires found in the way of righteousnesse Suffer rebuke patientlie for it is better than secret loue faithfull are the wounds of a friend Haunt euer the companie of the godly In all affaires be like the Bee such out of all things the best and leaue the worst seeke out the honie leauing the venome to the Waspe Let euerie day bee to you as your last day Before you goe to bed at night make your score euen with your Iudge Be daylie carefull to fit your count so shall ye haue the lesse to account for at your finall reakoning In all things be vpright and doe well for as Iehosaphat said The Lord will bee with the good If ye would dye the death of the righteous striue first to liue the life of the righteous If ye would come to the end ye must not leape ouer the meanes While yee are young kill your sinnes in their youth euen in their first motions while they touch but the spirit of the minde before they bee hatched out from vnder the affections Breake betimes the Cockatrices egge lest at last it breake out into a Viper Beware to conceiue mischiefe lest ye bring forth iniquitie By the corruptiō of our corruptions is the generation of our regeneration Pamper not the Carion
bee thankfull vnto thy good and gracious Lord O what tribulations am I come thorow O with what balmie comfortes hath the Lord asswadged the dolours of my Soule O my Soule I charge thee by the Roes and by the Hynds that thou haste thee vnto thy God in thy strongest affections Keepe nowe tryst with the Spirit of thy God who is now here waiting till thou bee readie The Pastour My Soule and all that is within mee praise the Lord for the powerfull working of his Spirite within you whereby hee hath made such a change as is wonderfull This particula◅ remembereth mee of a certaine Martyre who beeing condemned to bee burnt could feele no working of the Spirit within his hearte till hee came neare to the stake But beeing once come there with a cry hee clapped his hands and crying out amaine said O Austen hee is come hee is come The Martyr was called Master Goner The sicke Man By the grace of God I hope shortlie to say as much My Soule is readie bent waiting for his comming O come Lord Iesus come Let this mine hungrie Soule win in now at the ports of thy Palace for to get a share of the mariage supper of the Lambe in hope already I feast vpon the joys of eternitie In my Soule is now the Charter of my Saluation sealed with that most pure and purifying Blood of the immaculate and spotlesse Lambe that came to take away the monstrous and menstrous sin◅es of the world In the vertue of his Blood is my strongest comfort and highest resolution By it alone all my blacke and bloodie sinnes are clensed from their crimsin colour The Pastour Indeede Sir it is onelie that Lambes Blood that can purge away sinne and iniquitie Though man should wash himselfe with nitre and take him much sope yet for all that shall his iniquitie bee marked before God except that hee bee bathed into this blood of sprinkling Seeing now your Charter is well sealed hold fast these writtings that nothing aboue or belowe no not principalities and powers bee able to wrest them out of your hands Happie is your heart now wherein is that white jewell of the Reuelation euen the white stone wherein is a new name which no man can knowe except the receiuer O the boundlesse bleeding bowels of Gods compassions O that infinite store-house of Christs merites and mercies which no sinne were they neuer so hainous can bee able to stint or restraine before the repenting sinner get a parte of that purchase Neither Death nor Life things present nor to come shall be able to with hold a mourning sinner from a share in our Lords dearest compassions Christ now Sir is readie to receiue ◅ou Make your selfe readie for him Lift vp your hea◅ for your Redemption draweth neare The ende of your time and toile is fast comming The Angels of God are here waiting vpon your Soule which is now looking out to Christ as the morning faire as the Moone cleare as the Sunne and terrible as an Armie with Banners Wherevpon is your minde nowe fixed The sicke Man All mine affections are bended toward God O what shall bee able to hold or hinder me from hastening to my Lord the repairer of life the destroyer of death the conquerour of Heauen the vanquisher of Hell O my Sauiour come neerer yet vnto mee let my Soule creepe in by thy wounds euen to the verie bowels of thy mercie Warme it like a Chicken vnder the vvinges of thy loue The Pastour In Christ alone is Saluation Out of his side did issue the water that hath quenched the vnquencheable fyre of Gods wrath with the Blood that taketh away the sinnes of the world His holie Heart was racked his Armes of compassiō were stretched out vpon the Crosse for to declare to all repenting sinners the infinite widenesse of his mercies His sacred Head hang down bowed for to giue eare vnto the gronings of his prisoners His blessed Bowels rumbling with compassions rolled together made him to proclaime that Oyas of mercie Come vnto mee all yee that are wearied and ladened with sinne and I will ease you Much hath hee suffered for our cause Like a painefull labourer hee powred out sweate not onely of water but of blood at the working the great worke of mans Saluation At last by laying downe that Life of loue hee achieued the victorie ouer Sathan flesh the world all the enemies of mans Saluation Them all hee hath crushed and trodde vnder foote Stand fast by Iesus In Faith and Hope thrust your heart vpon him What now Sir thinke ye vpon The sicke Man Christ hath bund vp all my woūds he hath perfectlie closed them with the blessed Balme of his comfortes Now at the end of mine appointed time I am waiting earnestlie till my changing come I hope ere it be long to bee translated from grace to glory The Pastour O Lord set this Soule as a seale vpon thine Hearte and as a seale vpon thine Arme Out of thy great loue make this Soule beautifull as Tirzah comelie as Ierusalem terrible as armie with banners Thou Lord who crownest the yeare with thy goodnesse tak in thine hand the crowne of immortalitie in this Soule crowne thy graces with thy glorie Now Sir yee are neare the borders of Canaan three or foure steppes more would set you in that Land of life and loue The sicke Man Mine heart like an Hart braying after waters panteth after God O when shall I come and appeare before him Now mine heart shiuers within mee I am so sicke that I feare to faint The Pastour O Lord now be mercifull shew fauour toward this thy seruant Distill thy graces into his heart vvith a blessed influence from the Spirit of thy loue pull in all his spirits to Thee and thrust out all distractions O Lord of Life and Loue breath into his soule the life of immortalitie Take heede now vnto him ye who are neere about him for death now approacheth with its last assaultes in all appearance Looke well to him for hee seemeth to bee fallen into a sowne THE SICKE MAN IN A SOVVNE A SOLILOQVEE Or a priuie conference betweene the Soule and the bodie of the sicke Man lying in a sowne The Bodie MY Soule desireth thou now to leaue mee that haue borne thee about mee so manie yeares If thou goe from mee I must no longer remaine among the inhabitants of the world but incontinent after thy departure I a vassell of death must bee hid vnder the dust among crawling wormes farre from the eyes of the liuing These who were once glad to kisse my mouth shall abhorre to see my face Is not the Graue a Babel a place of confusion Doe not Iim and Zim resort there Doe not the Satyres and the Fairies daunce there Mine haire startes all vp for feare while I
vp nowe to the Heauens Thou hast alreadie past all toyle and turmoyle The way that rests vnto the Kingdome is both smooth euen without anie rubbe of opposition thou shalt enter into immortalitie O the showres of grace and mercie which raine downe vpon vs both Farewell till that desired day of the Resurrection come The Pastour His eyes stirre a little they are full of teares the tribute of Repentance He beginneth to shake he now seemeth to bee wakened out of his traunce I will inquire what his minde is set vpon What meditations are these Sir that yee are vpon Yee seeme to haue beene in some good motion The sicke Man My Soule Sir and my bodie after a blessed agreement haue beene taking their adewes one from another They haue bene blessing each other beâ—…ause they haue serued God together they looke to bee one day both glorified together A sea of comfortes hath rained downe vpon my Soule from the Heauens in most sweete and pleasant showers The Pastour Surelie that is a worthie exercise Such good motions are plants of God and impressions of his finger Happie are the Soule the bodie that can serue God together with one shoulder At that last day they shall haue a joyefull meeting they two shal be clasped together in loue with such contentmentes as tongues of Angels are not able to expresse But O when the vvicked soule shall returne from hell to take vp its bodie for to carie it to euerlasting torments then shall they curse each other with manie a woe for their Fornications Adulteries Lyes Deceits Ryot Drunkenesse Then would the bodie if it could haue intelligence of the soules comming wish that a rock or a mountaine would fall vpon it for to hide it from the Soule that beeing voyde of life it might bee free of feeling But the decree is come foorth of necessitie they must bee joyned together O but they then shall looke one to another like Lyons Their feede shall receiue none agreement no not They shall neuer agree in anie thing but in this to 〈◊〉 together that their comfortlesse dolours may bee doubled This is a deare pennie-warth so little pleasure for so much paine In that day all the wicked shal bitterlie repent such barganes Now happie is your Soule Sir and your bodie both that are so well resolued to depart Yee are certainelie blessed that euer yee were borne Behold nowe yee rest in hope of the resurrection which shall bee in that great day of Gods generall assemblie when all that euer tooke breath shall compeare before Christ the Iudge of the World for to receiue that which they did in the flesh bee it good bee it euill Now Sir seeing yee are an inrolled Citizen of Heauen and an adopted haire of God vp still with your heart towarde that heauenlie Heritage with sighes and grones beate on still at the doores of Gods mercie God giueth vnto prayer victory against himselfe Nowe the time draweth neere Sir your houre is come to a quarter fight out the good fight fixe the eyes of your Faith vpon the bloodie wounds of Iesus Lay hold on him listen to his voyce ere it bee long yee shall heare these words of joye Come faithfull seruant and enter into thyÌ„ Masters joye O Lord the giuer of grace and of glorie out of the blessed bowels of thy mercie bath and wash this Soule with that arteriall blood which sprang thorow the pierced filme of the heart of his Redeemer At the beginning of this Battell Lord thou did see howe his poore Soule was scorched with the flames of hellish temptations which did burne the verie marrow out of his bones this is thy ordinarie dealing with thine owne Hell on earth is for the heires of Heauen But heauen on earth is the portion of the heires of hell Now Lord from his hell bring him to thine Heauens Mak his Soule more clearelie to look vp toward the blessed bloodie wounds of his Sauiour wherein hee may perceiue the props of his protection Make his Soule now to be fullie possessed with an entire loue to the fairenesse of thy face wherein are pleasures for euermore The sicke Man Lord Iesus make clay againe with thy Spittle for to anointe my dimmed eyes that clearelie with Simeon my Soule may see thy Saluation We in our life receiue but the first impositioÌ„ of handes like the man that saw men walking like trees Now Lord at death giue mee the second imposition that I may see thee euen as thou art The Pastour Lord heare thou in Heauenâ—… Maintaine the life of his loue towards thee Now vvater the seede vvhich thou hast sowne Weede out the tares vvhich Sathan hath sowne Pittie and pardon Lay all his sinnes vpon the Sonne of thy loue Now let his feete be shod for the journey which hee is making to a better place Inspire his Soule with the spirit of grace till his life bee expired Saue him by thy blood which saued theÌ„ that spilt it The sicke Man I finde Death besieging my heart with seÌ„sible blowes O bring out my Soule out of this bricke of bondage of the bodie Mine heart stringes are so racked within mee that they are like to breake The hope that is deferred is the fainting of the Soule Lord helpe mee in this heauie houre The Pastour Lord heare thou in heauen and satisfie his hearts desire The sicke Man Pray pray that the Lord vphold mee in the throng of these throes wherewith mine heart is gripped lest I be whollie swallowed vp of despaire The Pastour O Sauiour of mankinde who out of thy meere mercie and loue came vnder the charge of his accounts Mak now answere for him as his Aduocat before that high Tribunall before which his poore Soule is now arraigned to coÌ„peare Turne all thy wrath in mercie and thy Iustice-seat in a Throne of grace Call home all his wandering thoughtes settle and them vpon thy selfe Maintaine the life of his loue Make death to him a Messenger of mercie and his paines a meane to bring him to thy pleasures O Captaine of his Saluation vnder whose bloodie banner hee hath in his life made warre against the enemies of thy glorie at death ouercome thou all the enemies of his Saluation With thy Trumpets and Lampes terrifie all these merciles Midianites Make them like a wheele as the stubble before the winde Graunt the victorie vnto thy weake Seruant heere that in the Heauens thou may crowne his Soule with glorious garlands of immortalitie Lord heare vs for the sake of thy Sonne vnto whom with thee and the Spirite of Grace bee all glorie and honour Amen Now Sir vp with your heart to the Father of mercies Fight out couragiouslie the fight of Faith Christ now is holding out the Crowne your Saluation is sealed yee neede not feare yee haue your warrant vnder the Broad Seale of the King of Heauen The sicke man O My deare
bagge and baggage of his couetousnesse Shall this man come where God is who neuer walked in his way In all his wayes he did euer goe awry lik a Childe that scribleth without a rule All his good intentions were but like false conceptions which are buried before their birth let me now tread him vnder foote that I may lay him dead straight like a worme O the infamous man whose name doeth goe with a brand vpon it like Cains marke Hee followed Christ for loaues But O when the corne was spent the Rate left the Barne His whole life was but a myre of mischiefe All men can tell that hee was but an vntrustie Pilferer a foole hardie fellon rushing in rebellion against God man If so bee that he was exalted he cared not that God was dishonoured In the pride of life he walked like Nebuchadnezar strouting in his Palace with bragging words boasting of his Babel Gods patience hath long suffered In his sufferings hee hath comforted himselfe in this When I see a conuenient time then will I execute judgement Nowe is the time of execution come Either now or neuer for his sinne is now ripe and readie for the sickle I am wearied with accusing what shall I say His heart was euer swelled with pride By costlie apparell he gaue euill example With his pleasures hee was tyed like a dog in a leach He could neither suffer a Superiour nor comport with à Companion The blue enuie in his heart made him hate to see others thriue besides him The praise of other mens vertues was as who had dispraised himselfe in his face Hee was euer malcontent at Gods graces into others He was like a Swine vnder an Oake feeding and foiling Gods benefites lik Acorns But who euer saw his face lifted vp with thankes to the shaker of the tree Hee was full of peppered sausinesse sporting himselfe with checkes and taunts As hee had a babling tongue to speake euill so had hee a bibulous eare thirstie after false reportes O what filthy dung hilles heapes of sinnes were hoodred in his heart If hee did not any euill it was not for lacke of will like the frozen serpent hee hissed when hee could not hurt but so soone as hee beganne hee lustilie lashed on All his meditations were mould in malice As for his Religion hee vsed his libertie as a cloake of maliciousnesse While hee come to the Church it was but for the faÌ„shion for to shew the frindges of his hypocrisie Hee thought a long Sermon a surfet as Iudas thought the oyle spent that was powred vpon Christ so thought hee all the time alloted to Gods seruice Hee was euer cold in well doing as one of the frozen generation A proude man was he in his own conceit while he found himselfe inlightned with some caÌ„fused glimmerings of light glauncing vpon his heart thorow the deceiuing glasse of a temporarie faith His necke was an yron sinew and his brow brasse In a word all his affections were out of order as bones beside the joynt It were more easie to count the sand than his sinnes of omission and of commission with excesse of riot I seeke but Iustice now his life is neere an ende let Gods vengeance take him at the rebound The Angel Michael That is a bloodie Lybell if all be true that is said by the father of lyes Though his sinnes were thus bloody as thou accuses there is a redeeming Blood in Iesus for his ransome his wounds are the holes of the Rocke of refuge All that accusation is but founded vpon surmise But though hee were guiltie as thou affirmes is there anie sinne so great that God cannot forgiue There is no sinne so red but Christs Blood can make it white Gods word is true sinne dyed in Scarlet-red lik crimsin may by God be made white lik the wooll snow Thou cryeth for Iustice Christs Blood cryeth for mercy which of you two shall best bee heard Sathan But can Gods mercie bee against his justice shall mercie against justice plead for the whitnesse of a Rauen shall a most vile sinner escape damnation shall not Iustice bee his bane Let mee now giue him a knocke with the barre of judgement While hee had strength to walke hee left the narrow path for to goe croude with the wicked in the broad waye Now let him suffer for all his riotes let the doors of heaueÌ„ be bared in his teeth Gods mercies must not bee against his justice Let mee now giue him a yercke with my whippe The Angel Michael Auoide there is no breach in justice while his sinnes are pardoned for Christ his Lord hath suffered for him he hath satisfied for all his debts at the bâ—…rre of justice and that to the vtmost farthing When all was payed Christ cryed with a loud voice that heauen and earth might heare Consummatum est that is Aâ—…l is payed the whole worke of mans Redemption is finishâ—…d This was hâ—…ard by the deuils themselues not one durst stand vp to say the contrarie Thou câ—…yeth for Iustice 〈◊〉 is Iustice heere is Iustice Christ his Cautioner hath payed all his dâ—…bts It is against Iustice to require one debt to bee twise payed By Iustice then hee must be saued because Christ in great mercie towards him hath made full satisfaction to the Iustice of God His Lords passion is his pardon for the droppes of his Blood his Father hath giuen him in exchange life euerlasting for all repenting sinners what needes him to feare who hath Christ for his Cautioner Sathan Christ would neuer be Cautioner for such a Reprobate goate as hee In wickednesse he hath out-stripped all others he put on Christ like an Hat which goeth off to euery one that wee meete The wine pynt and Tobacca Pype with sneesing pouder prouoking sneuell were his heartes delight His life hath beene a stumbling blocke vnto manie His best vertues were but splendida peccata glistering sinnes His most precious pearles are but of pewter Away with this Child of Belial out vpon him with all his faire wordes all his Religion was but scroofe and scumme Would Christ euer bee Cautioner for such a Banquerupt as hee who all his dayes hath beene a boisterous reueller the chiefe of a knot of knaues The Angel Michael Hee who is not in debt needeth not a Cautioner I came said Christ to call sinners to repentance Though his sins were manie as thou objectes no miserie in man can ouer-reach the mercie of his God Christ in all will bee answerable for him Sathan What hath Christ to doe with this stubburne and steele-necked Bebell who was in his whole conuersation both hote hardie The voyce of his Conscience within was out-cryed all honestie out-faced by his corruptions After yâ— euill turne was done he had his excuse readie at his fingers ends Thinke ye that Christ will bee Cationer for all men or that all men shall bee saued The
mans life is but a winde in a worme * O happie is that man in whose heart Christ hath grauen deepe the shape of himselfe in this world when Death shall come then shall he know what blessed treasures of contentment God hath stored vp for his beloued When the Soules of the faithfull which on earth haue beene endued with a matchlesse concurrence of diuine graces shall come out of their bodies Christ the Father of mercies shall cast the armes of his cōpassions about their necks At their first entrie into Heauen hee shall giue them the comfortable kisses of peace Lord soften our stonie hearts enlighten our mistie minds that all our joye may bee in enjoying thee in whom is fulnesse without dislike O satisfie vs yearely with thy mercie the fairest flower of the Garland of thy Majestie While wee remember the death of others make vs carefullie to studie vnto newnesse of life that in this life wee dying vnto sinne may after death liue vnto Thee and with Thee vnto the vtmost bound of the euerlasting Hills AMEN FINIS A. H. THE LAST BATTELL OF THE SOVLE IN DEATH 2. Volume Carefullie digested for the comfort of the Sicke By Mr. ZACHARIE BOYD Preacher of Gods Word at Glasgow Bernard in Serm. Novissima sunt quatuor MORS IVDICIVM GEHENNA GLORIA Quid horribilius morte Quid terribilius judicio Quid intolerabilius gehenna Et quid incundius gloria Idem Senibus mors est in ianuis Iuvenibus vero in insidijs Printed at Edinburgh by the Heires of ANDRO HART 1629. TEMPVS TO THE MOST EXCELLENT PRINCESSE ELIZABETH Queene of Bohemia c. MADAME IN corporall troubles let vs seeke for spirituall Comfortes Dayes of sorrow are dayes of drousinesse For the remeede of such sorrowes heere followeth a Discourse of heauens Happinesse with diuerse other Christian comforts which I must humblie and heartilie dedicate to your Majestie If MADAME I were more able to present your Majestie with some matter◅ of greater worth my will should not bee deficient to mine Abilitie Thus presuming out of your Royall bountie that this little Offer from One of SCOTLAND your Majesties natiue Soyle shall bee graciouslie accepted I most humblie present it to your Majestie for to bee receiued and shrouded vnder your Royall safe-gard and louing protection After manie feruent and vnfained prayers made to God for the esta blishment of the Crowne vpon your Majesties Royall Heads and also for spirituall Graces to bee aboundantlie powred vpon you and vpon the rest of these Royall Plants which by the great mercie of God haue branched from You both I humblie take my leaue Your Majesties most humble and most obedient Oratour and Seruant M. ZACHARIE BOYD Preacher of GODS word at Glasgow From Glasgow the 12. day of Februrie 1629. THE QVEENES Lamentations for the death of her Son O But GOD is most terrible when hee is angrie He hath called as in a solemne day my terrors round about surelie against mee is he turned hee turneth his hand against mee all the day My flesh and my skinne hath he made olde hee hath broken my bones Hee hath builded against mee and compassed mee with gall and trauell He hath set mee in dark places as they that bee dead of olde Hee hath hedged mee about that I cannot get out Hee hath made my chaine heauie Hee hath turned aside my wayes and pulled me in pieces He hath made me desolate He hath bent his Bow set me as a marke for his arrowes He hath caused the Arrowes of his Quiuer to enter into my reines Hee hath filled mee with bitternesse Hee hath made mee drunke with worme-wood The verie Sea monsters are carefull for their young ones They drawe out the breast to giue them sucke How should I bee like the vnnaturall Ostrich which leaueth her egges in the earth and forgetteth that the foote may orush them or that the wild beast may breake them Shee is hardened against her young ones as though they vvere not hers God hath depriued her of wisedome neither hath hee imparted to her vnderstanding Alas alas the joye of our heart is ceased our dance is turned into mourning The crowne is fallen from our head Woe vnto vs that wee haue sinned for this our heart is faint for these thinges our eyes are dimme Wherefore Lord doest thou forget vs for euer forsake vs so long time Thou hast vtterlie rejected vs Thou art verie vvroth against vs O that mine eyes were a liuelie Spring of teares which day and night might trickle downe for the lamenting of my losse O yee Daughters of Britaine my natiue Soile Conueene your selues together Come all and joyne your sorrowes with mine Come contribute teares in aboundance that wee may deplore our domage Come come and helpe mee to mourne for my first Borne It is Gods will it is Gods commandement that yee mourne with these that mourne With whom will yee mourne if yee refuse to mourne with mee O noble Ladies of Britaine think vpon my sorrows My griefe is great mine heart is broken mine eyes doe faile with teares Come yee all and condole with mee Cast off your Rayments of joye And thou BOHEMIA with the PALATINAT mak to your selues new Robes of doole Fill al the Lāds with mourning like that mourning in Zacharie The mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon for the death of good Iosiah Mine heart is sore gripped with griefe Iam lik the Pelican in the vvildernesse Mine eyes doe faile with teares my bowels are troubled my Liuer is powred vpon the earth I was at ease but hee hath broken mee asunder Hee hath also taken mee by the necke and shaken mee to pieces and set mee vp for his marke His Archers compasse mee round about Hee cleaueth my reines asunder and doeth not spare Hee powreth out my gall vpon the ground Hee breaketh mee with breach vpon breach Hee runneth vpō me lik a Gyant My face is foule with weeping and on mine eye-lids is the shadow of death My Friendes scorne mee but mine eye powreth out teares vnto God When a few yeares are come then I shall goe the way whence I shall not returne The Lord hath made me as a by-word of the people Mine eyes are dimme by reason of sorrow and all my members are as a shadow Know now yee all that God hath compassed mee with his net Hee hath fenced vp my way that I cannot passe and hee hath set darknesse in my pathes Hee hath stript mee of my Glorie and taken the Crowne from mine head Hee hath destroyed mee on euerie side and I am gone and mine hope hath hee remoued like a tree His troupes come together and raise vp their way against mee and encampe round about my Tabernacle He hath put my brethrene far from mee My Kins-folke haue failed and my familiare friendes haue forgotten mee Haue pittie vpon mee O yee my Friendes for the hand of God hath troubled mee
DAVID spoken vnto SOLOMON Thinke that King IAMES hath said them to King CHARLES These bee the words * And Thou CHARLES my Son know Thou the GOD of thy Father and serue him with a perfect heart and with a willing minde for the Lord searcheth all hearts and vnderstandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts If Thou seeke Him he will bee found of Thee but if Thou forsake Him hee will cast Thee off for euer Now I intreat the Lord so to ingraffe these words into your Royall Heart that the practise thereof may appeare in the outward swaying of your Scepter Let this little Manuell of the Last Battell of the Soule bee like a Page at your Maiesties Chamber-doore with his morning memento mori Yee Kings are Gods because God hath so called you I haue called you goddes said God but yee shall die like men Crownes haue their compasse and Thrones haue their Tombes Prince People great and small all must goe to Golgotha for to make their beddes in that place which Iob calleth the Slimie valley The French prouerbe is true La mort mord les Rois aussi bien que les conducteurs des charrois So most humblie intreating the most high to grant to your Maiestie to reigne both well and long ouer vs I remiane Your Majesties most humble most obedient Seruant and Subject both borne sworne M. Zacharie Boyd Preacher of Gods word at Glasgow Ad Carolum Regem Maxime magnorum longo sate sanguine Regum Accipe nunc tenues quos fert tua Scotia fructus Et si arbusta juvant fragiles ne temne myricas Another This Life O Prince is like an raging Sea Where froathy mounts are heaued vp on hie Our painted Ioys in blinks that are ful warme Are like Raine-bowes forerunners of a storme All flesh with griefe is prickt within without Crownes carie cares and compasse them about Your State is great your place is high What then God calls you gods but ye shall die like men Your Majesties most humble and most obedient Subject Seruant M. Z. B. TEMPVS A LA RYÖNE MADAME DIEV par lagrace duquel les Rois reignent vous a esté favorable Il vous a fait naistre de plus Grand pere qui ait onques reigné en la FRANCE voire de ce Grand HENRY vn vray fouldre de guerre Il vous aussi a fait estre la belle fille de plus sage Prince qui ait onques reigné en la Grand BRETAGNE lequel ponuoit bien estre nommé IA QVES LE SAGE Le Roy nostre Sire estant fils de plus SAGE vous estant la fille d'vn PRINCE si courageux nous faites esperer que quand il plaira a dieu de vous donner des enfans ils seront sages valeureux Ce que la nature ne peut pas dieu le face par sa grace Receuez d'vn bon oeil MADAME ce petit oeuure Vous y avâ—…z LADERNIERE BATAILLE de l'ame contre tous les enemis de nostre salut vous y verrez comment il se faut porter en telles rencontres pensez a ces choses es iours de vostre ieunesse C'est le Conseil d'vn ROY Aye Souuenance dit il de ton Createur es iours de ta ieunesse auant que les iours mauuais vienent que les ans arriuent des quels tu dies iâ—… n'y pren point plaisir Lâ—…s ROYS ROYNES Sont mortels comme les autres La voix dit Crie on a respondu que crieray ie Toute chair est comme l'herbe toute sagrace est comme la fleur d'vn champ L'herbe est sechee la fleur est cheute d'autant que le vent de l'Eternel a soufflé dessus Solomon qui cognoissoit les femn es mieux qú aucun autre nous monstre que ce n'est pas la plus belle qui Soit digne de louange La grace trompe dit il la beauté S'esuanouit mais la femme qui craint l'Eternel ce sera celle qui Sera louee Cest'est la fille du ROY toute pleine de gloire en dedans Dieu de sa grace vous face telle Ie supplie treshumblement vostre Maiesté vouloir prendre en bon ne part ce petit oeuure lequel ie vous dedie comme vn tesmoignage d'vn coeur affectioné enuers vostre Maiesté Cependant ie prie le Tout puissant qu il vous augmente de iour en iour ses graces spirituelles vous face la mere des enfans qui soyent Roys apres vous tant que le soleil durera C'est celuy qui de meurera toute sa vie MADAME Vostre tres-humble tres-obeissant Seruiteur Subiect M. Zacharie Boyd A Glasgove le 6. de May. 1629. A LA ROYNE Fille de France de Royale race Perle de prix dieu vous face grace DIEV le vuelle que ceste nation Sans fin vous loue en benediction Portezl ' absence de pere mere Car pour eux mariage prospere Voux produira bonne succession * Si vous reuerez La RELIGION M. Z. B. To the READER AFter sixteene yeares abseÌ„ce into France where it pleased God to mak me a preacher of his word the space of foure yeares It pleased the same LORD to visite his Church there with bloodie warres whereby manie Churches and mine also were discipated by this occasion it was the Lords will to bring me backe to my natiue Countrie In that troublous time I remained a space a priuate man at Edinburgh with Doctor Sibbald the glory honour of al the Physicians of our Land But againe within a short space I was sought out by that most worthie Man our Scots Onesiphorus euen Sir William Scot of Eli Hee sought mee out diligentlie and found mee The Lord giue mercie vnto his House for hee most louing lie refreshed mee and was not ashamed of mine affliction The Lord grant vnto him that hee may finde mercie of the Lord in that day After my remouing from him vnto this Citie it pleased the Lord to visite mee with sore sicknesse yea so that in September Anno. 1626. I was like Epaphroditus sicke nigh vnto death For when I arose out of that I euer I found in my studie my winding sheete among my Bookes This gaue mee occasion painefullie to search describe vnto the world this Last Battell of the Soule I pray God to make it profitable for thine vse if thou reape aâ—…e comfort thereby I intreate thee to pray for mee that the lord would grant vnto mee that I may finde mercie of the Lord in that day As for escapes in printing they are marked at the end of the Booke Excuse them in thy fauour because I remaine farre from the â—…resse Vox morientis ad animam suam O
A man brought from age of yeeres vnto eternitie is like Dauid a shepheard brought from the Ewes for to bee made a King What regret should a man haue for to change a little Lodge for a London What is this life but a daylie dyeing The sicke Man But alas I haue cut off like a weauer my life Hee will cut mee off with pinning sicknesse from day euen to night hee will make an end of mee The Pastour Take heede Sir what yee say Your meaning is that by your sins yee haue abridged and cutte short your dayes or that yee haue prouocked God by your sinnes to take away your Life from you If it be so that like a weauer yee haue cut your dayes by your sinnes breake off now these sinnes by repentance If by your sinnes yee haue cut like a weauer the threeds of this mortall life beginne now by repentance to spinne the webbe of a new life some threeds of life eternall Let now the rotten thrummes of the vices of your life fall downe to the ground While yee haue time weaue into your life graces thorow graces as warpe and woft Weaue on still till from grace yee worke in into the eternitie of glorie The sicke Man But alas Hee will cut mee off with pynning sicknesse I feare greatlie that the paines of Death put mee out of all patience The Pastour Take courage Sir The paine shall not bee so great as yee feare God will lay no more on you than yee shall bee able to beare He shall weigh all your paines in his mercifull Ballance before that hee laye them vpon you Hee knoweth that your strength is not like the strength of a Whale hee breaketh not the bruised ◅eede God is so bent vnto mercie that while he scourgeth sinners for their faults hee is said to bring to passe his strange worke and his strange act The sicke Man But I feare his cutting Gods cuts are verie sensible I feare to bee◅ cut off with pyning sicknesse The Pastour Feare not God is cunning in his cutting Hee will not cut into the quicke like an ignorant Surgeon The mercifull God taketh no pleasure to cut you off with pyning sicknesse but hee will cut off your corruptions with such paines In such paines should bee pleasure The bluenesse of the wound purgeth away euill Pleasant should be that paine which is Gods Raser for cutting off mans ◅ptions Away with the pleas◅es of this ◅otten flesh Such in the beginning though lawfull ◅re burning and bloodie pleasures vnlawfull end into hellish torments feare not pyning sicknesse The sicke Man But alas from day euen to night he will make an end of mee The Pastour I know Sir that the night is wearisome and that sicknesse some what light in the day waxeth heauy in the night From day to night the sicknesse increaseth The remeede is this bee strong in God whose strength is made perfect in weaknesse If dolours increase in the night heere is a comfort The night time is a most fitte time for prayer The time of silence is most conuenient for speaking vnto God The night time is a speciall time whereof God hath made choise for in it to speake secretlie vnto men It was in the night that Eliphaz saw the vision and heard the voyce of instruction In thoughts said hee From the visions of the night wh◅ deepe sleepe falleth on men feare came vpon mee and trembling which made all my bones to shake Then a Spirit passed before my face the haire of my flesh stood vp it stood still but I could not discerne the forme thereof An Image was before mine eyes there was silence and I heard a voyce c. See how in ◅e visions of the night while there was silence Eliphaz heard the voyce of God Let no sicke man be afraid for the night it is the time of silence the chiefe time of cōference with God Whē Creatures are most silent then is a time for man to speake to God and for God to speake to man The din of the day marreth our meditatiōs The sicke Man But alas from day to night he will make an end of mee The Pastour It is better that hee make an end of you than that any other should doe it If hee make an end of you pray earnestlie for a good end If the end be well all is well Your complaint is that from day to night hee will make an end of you Bee thankefull to God for his mercie toward you in that he hath giuen you so long a time to repent as from day to night Hee might haue made you sinke downe thorow the Earth vnto hell in a moment with Dathan and Abiram Hee might haue burnt you with fire from Heauen in a thunder clappe with Corah Hee might haue drowned you into the Sea with Pharaoh Hee might haue slaine you vnder a Tower with these eighteene at Siloe Hee might haue sent a winde for to smite the foure corners of your house while yee had beene at a banket with Iobs Children What if the goodnesse of God had deserted you and taken his free Spirit frō you What if hee should doe so to the best of vs Certainelie we◅ should either make away our selu◅ with Saule by the sword or with Iudas and Ahitophel by the cord o◅ with Zi◅rie by the fire Many others haue in an instant beene snatched away in the verie swea◅e of their sinnes First then I say That is a grea◅ mercie of God vnto man that God himselfe maketh an end of him and not suffereth him to fall into the hands of his mercielesse creatures Secondlie in that from day to night hee delayeth it is a mercyfull patience Take heede Sir what I say Count this a great mercie of your God though yee should die this night thanke God for his patience that it was from day to night before that hee would make an end of you It is a great benefite of God to get but so much time wherein wee may once cry Lord haue mercie vpon mee No man can sufficientlie esteeme the high price of a dayes laiser vnto night Heere is the patience and the long suffering of God Now Sir consider and weigh well what hath beene said Is it not now your desire that yee bee dissolued Are yee not as yet resolued It would seeme that there bee some thing that yet troubleth you As for the wordes of Hezekiahs chattering which hath beene the wordes of your mourning I hope that in some measure ye haue beene cleared with some contentment The sicke Man I confesse Sir that yee haue pertinentlie made answere to all these difficulties But alas what shall I say The Pastour What aileth you Bee plaine with mee I pray you Sir thinke no shame to tell mee what is into your minde If the Patient couer his
bee shortlie deliuered Hee who is tyred with sin is tyred not to bee a drudge of sin Sinne is not heauie to the Wicked because it is in them as water in its owne element though it bee of weight yet it weigheth not Well is the wearied Soule it hath Christs promise of ease But woe to them who with Laodicea haue neede of no thing For the most part men are drowned in drowsinesse Securitie is farre more dangerous than despaire As was sung of Saul and of Dauid so may bee heere Despaire hath slaine her thousand but Securitie her ten thousand Manie are not wakened till they bee so wakened that their judgement and senses are lost It is a fearefull curse for a man to blesse himselfe while hee should mourne for his sinnes Such as blesse themselues while the Lord pronounceth the wordes of the curse The Lord will not bee mercifull to that man Securitie hath shaken hands with Hell and Death But well is him who feareth alwayes Hee is greatest in Gods sight who is least in his owne eyes The sicke Man But alas Sir my conscience speaketh home that I haue beene a stranger from my God O but I am wearied how shall I bee deliuered from this burden of bondage The Pastour These who are ladened and wearied may heare Christ in his Gospel crying vnto them Come vnto me Goe to him who cryeth so louingly Come Striue aboue all things to get a sight of your Sauiour by the eye of Faith Vrge vpon your heart a deepe meditation of his mercie his merits are able to cure our maladies The sicke Man There is such a mist betweene me and the Messias that it is not possible for me to see him Oh that my eyes were cleared with Gods Eye-salue that I might clearelie be hold him The Pastour The great desire ye haue to see him is a sort of sight All men see not Christ alike All goe not vp to the mount with Peter Iames and Iohn All see not God face to face with Moses All men lay not their head in Christs bosome with his best beloued Disciple Be not discouraged thogh ye cannot winne so neare to Christ as ye would If ye cannot winne to him for to embrace him as Simeon did striue to touch the border of his garmēt behind with the finger of faith and it shall stay the bloody fluxe of your Sinnes Ye sigh for a sight of Christ * A sigh for a sight of him is a sight of him indeed He who wold be found of these that sought him not will bee much more found of these that seeke him and sigh for him Bee of good heart Though for a space your spirituall day be mistie yet at last your drumly sky shal be cleared Christ is not euer absent while hee is not seene The Sunne as we see will be couered with a cloud the Moone will bee vnder wake but incontinent thereafter the cloudes beeing ouer-blowen wee enjoye their brightnesse and their beames What shall bee able to separate a Christian from the Loue of his Christ What then shall be able to mak a Christian soule despaire Shall Damnation No For Christ Gods Saluatiō is ours Shall Hell No For our Christ hath the keyes both of Heauen of Hell Shall the World No For Christ hath ouercome the World Shall the Law No For our Christ hath fulfilled the Law Shall Death No For our Christ is the Way and the Life Shall the Fathers wrath No For Hee hath troden the wine-presse of his wrath for you and for all repenting sinners All Scripture pointeth at him saying This is the way walk ye in it Run Sir to him he shall deliuer you from all your sinnes and from all your feares Striue to curbe your owne corruptions which are so broodie within you The sicke Man I cannot alas bee quite of my sinnes I striue to runne away from them but the faster they follow mee like curre Dogges that are so accustomed to follow their Master they will not bee boasted home againe Where euer I goe with my thoughts aboue or below my sinnes follow hard after mee Though I threaten them thogh I boast them yea betimes intreate them to depart their answere is Wee are thy vvorkes wee will goe with thee This putteth my Soule out of peace and order and thrusteth mee away from the Lord my God I haue beene long seeking and sighing for comforts But as yet I can espye none appearance The Pastour Comforts sought sought and sighed for are not aye seene at the first Elijahs seruant went vp the hill Carmell eight seuerall times to espye some appearance of raine The first seuen times hee could see nothing at the eight hee saw but a little cloud of comfort Behold said hee there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like a mans hand A little after that the heauens were blake with cloudes and winde and there was a great raine Hold your face Sir a little space with Elijah betweene your knees and cast your selfe downe vpon the Earth as hee did that is fall downe in all humilitie of Soule before your God in prayer That done send vp your prayer the spirituall spye vnto the top of the hill Send it againe and againe euer till it espye some little cloud of comfort If your Soule take paines in prayer till ye perceiue but an hand breadth of mercie at last Gods comfortes shall raine downe in great aboundance vpon your wearied Spirit What shall I say if yee will not bee informed yee cannot bee reformed The sicke Man Indeede that is a pleasant and fit comparison worthie to bee printed with a Note on the margent It hath beene well adapted by you Oh that it could bee as well applyed by mee Oh that the Lord whose loue expelleth feare would strengthen my weake Faith with an hand-breath of his mercie O for such a little cloud of comfort it would lif◅ vp mine hands which hang downe and strengthen my weake knees But in steede of such a comfortable cloude I see nothing but cloudes of w◅ath readie to fall and become a deludge of vengeance from my birth I must not dissemble I haue dallied with my God and haue dispised the gratious day of his visitations And now all my comforts resemble to the Eagle that taketh her to her wings and flyeth aloft high into the Skye from my sinfull reach O feare O horrour O the multitude of my transgressions how shall I be quiet The Pastour The best way to be quite of sin that it reigne not in vs is to bend vp our hearts to Christ who is Emmanuel God with vs Thogh all be worthie to bee damned yet there is no condamnation to these that are in Christ Hee is that heaue-offering which wee must euer
mine owne Conscience This is my greatest feare that I haue done despite vnto the Spirit of Grace This striketh widest wounds into my Soule and maketh all the bowels of my bellie to wamble O fye fye what a filthinesse is within this heart of mine The small moats moue not thicker in the Sunne than sinnes of all sortes haue reeled to and froe in this wicked heart of mine which is nothing but a nest of Spiders and a cage of corruptions O what a shamefull discouerie should this bee if mine heart were as well seene as my face If all the monsters of my meditations were set in open view if the eyes of men could spie out what thoughts haue beene within my breast since I was borne If all the men of Africke a place most fertile of Monsters were taken to bee witnesse they would plainlie declare that the Earth cannot bring foorth such Monsters as are bredde into the heart of man O the great mercie of God who to the ende that man may liue with man hath hidde the heart of man from men O my God though thou hast sieled the eyes of man that hee cannot see within my breast thine eyes which see our thoughts a far off perceiue most clearlie all my bygone abominations To Thee alone belongeth the discouerie of a closed heart Would I bee dashed if the eye of a sinner tooke mee at an euill turne and shall I not bee ashamed when I remember how the eye of my God hath followed me in all mine euill wayes Alas my deare Pastour yee speake much to mee of Christ and of his death but what portion can such a vile stinking creature as I haue with Christ I haue delayed all to the after-noone and now my Sun is readie for to set The blacke night of darknes is posting vpon my soule My Soule refuseth all sortes of comforts I thinke that it shall die in the verie grippes of such bloodie temptations Behold and consider if there bee anie sorrow like vnto my sorrow The Pastour I know Sir that no sort of men are sooner or sorer touched for their sinnes than are the best children of God Sathan is most busie to blow at the coale of their corruptions And againe there bee no sort of men more readie to appropriate to themselues the comforts of God than they to whom they least belong But yet Sir seeing yee are sicke in Soule yee must not refuse spirituall Physicke Christ is the onelie comfort against the guilt of sinne His blood is the onelie trayacle against the poyson of this pest But can any comfort auaile to him that will not receiue it As meate set vpon the Table cannot nourish except that it bee put into the mouth and from thence bee sent downe to the stomacke So neither can the wordes of comfort feede the heart Nitraijciantur in viscera nostrae animae transeant in affectiones nostras except that they enter into the bowels of our Soule and passe thorow vnto our affections Your Spirit is so knappish and way-ward that it will not admit the most solide comforts The marke of Christs Lambes is an eare-marke My sheepe heare my voyce The sicke Man But thinke yee Sir that I can bee one of Gods who haue beene so great a sinner My Soule is sicke to the death with surfets of sinne Can Gods Spirit abide where there is so great corruption Can two Guestes of so contrarie nature dwell together in one man The Pastour They may indeede though they cannot agree Grace and corruptions may be into the heart of a mā as Israel was with the Iebusites Hiuites and Perezites into Canaan But as Israel wasted these Nations by litle litle so the Spirit of God with grace by little and litle rooteth out wasteth and foileth these nations of sinne that are within vs But not all at once Lest wee should grow idle and roust for want of such spirituall exercise The heart of a godlie man is like the house of Abraham where Isaac and Ismael lodge together Though for a space they tarie together at death the olde scorning Ismael shall bee cast out Hee shall not inherite the promise with Isaac the laughing man If Sir yee finde a wresling within your heart some newe working which once yee did not perceiue it is a token that grace is conceiued in your soule After that a womā hath conceiued she wil find some times a working about the heart prouoking to vomite It is so with the heart of a regenerat mā so soone as grace is conceiued into it it wil ouercast til it cast and vomite out many filthy corruptions Though Iacob be little and weake at the first seeme not to be a peregall vnto the rugh man who is full of strength yet at last hee shall catch him by the heele and ouerturne him in a moment Waite but a litle and yee shall bee vtterlie out of the reach of all the powers of Hell The sicke Man I tremble all with feare that the Lord cast mee off and banish out of the Land of the liuing this filthie festered Soule The Pastour God is more mercifull than man can conceiue him to bee Can a mother forget her Childe that shee haue no compassion saith the Lord A louing Father will bee loth to cast his Childe out of doores in a deadly disease If these who are euill can giue good things vnto their Children how much more will that Father who is goodnesse it selfe giue the holie Spirit with all other good thinges to these who will seeke then cry to God in prayer The sicke Man Alas the sorrow of mine heart lameth the liberty of my tongue my wordes cannot expresse the groanes of my griefe The Pastour Though yee bee not able to vtter words sigh with your hearte vnto God God heard Moses his sighs like cryes Why cryest thou to mee said God to the sighing man A sigh out of a soft melting heart is a powerfull prayer before God The sicke Man I am both sinfull and senslesse Though I haue sinned most hainouslie yet I finde no melting in mine heart All the teares of my repentance within mee are become like a frozen moisture I cannot so much as wring out one drop thereof Oh that they were so melted that they might rush out at the flood-gates of mine eyes that thereof I might with the sinfull woman make a bath for the feete of my Lord Oh that mine heart were formed into another mould Oh that I could in his presence drench my Soule in a showre of teares O how precious is the sense of a reuealed and a reconcealed God! I find my selfe so ycie and colde yea so benummed and blockish as though I were voide of all sense of grace What can this bee The Pastour He who findeth himselfe benummed is not altogether senslesse
In such a man there must bee some stirring of the pulse of a spirituall life A dead man knoweth not that hee is dead no more doeth a dead soule A seared conscience feeleth not defertions That man hath the beginning of grace who can say from his heart I haue no grace in my selfe but onelie to finde that I haue no grace This wee must all know that the best of Gods Sainctes will bee troubled with temporall desertions as Ionah was while hee was wrapt with waues and with weedes in the bottome of the sea Out of this bellie of hell they will cry to God Why hast thou made vs to erre from thy wayes and hardned our heart from thy feare Most godlie Soules may swarfe in sinne but they cannot die in their sins A spirituall man may be do◅ked in a sea of sin or sorrow but can neuer be drowned At last God shall make him sing with Ionah Yet hast thou brought vp my life from corruptions O Lord my God The spirituall life and light which God hath once put into the Soule of man can neuer be totallie extinguished Gods graces and his giftes are without repentance Iudas from horrour may rin to the halter but Peter cannot perish The Sicke Man Thinke yee then Sir that a man cannot fall from the grace of God if once hee hath beene receiued in Grace may not Grace like some plants for a space take roote and thereafter wither May not God begin a good worke into a man and after leaue it imperfect The Pastour Gods working in the godlie is not like the doing of him that beginneth to build an house before hee count his cost but is not able to finish it I am confident of this verie thing said S. Paul that hee which hath begunne a good worke in you will performe it vntill the day of Iesus Christ Gods spirituall gifts and graces which are without repentance come neuer within the compasse of Gods Reuocation * God will make Saul a King and againe repent that euer hee was crowned and thereafter will put him frō his kingdome Hee will lend out a Talent and after take it backe againe Hee will giue to man a tongue and thereafter make him dumbe Hee will giue Health Wealth Riches and after take all backe againe The Lord hath giuen and the Lord hath taken may be said of al things except of his spirituall and speciall graces These hee giueth once but neuer taketh them backe againe Sinne indeed will waken and diminish the sense and feeling of their operation but can neuer take them quite away Grace in a godlie Soule will bee betimes like flaxe smoking without a flamme or like embers vnder an heape of ashes Though all seeme to bee dead out yet there is some little secret spunke within which shall neuer bee quenched New sinnes I confesse are verie dangerous they will wonderfullie impaire the sense of mercie into faithfull Soules yea so that to their judgement the Spirit of God will seeme altogether to haue forsaken them But yet into their most desperate-like-cry there is a My of Faith in their prayer My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee Grace in a godlie Soule will be like sappe into an Oake or Elme in the frostie dayes of December hidde close within the barke While Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse remoueth his hote beames from the faithfull Soule the Soule drouppeth like an Herbe into a winter day Grace like sappe runneth in to the heart and there lurketh for a spake But againe so soone as this Sunne beginneth to returne with the heat health of his countenance in a new Spring-time then will appeare againe first bude then blossomes then flourishes and after fruites That which was hid of before is incontinent perceiued As seede now cast into the ground seemeth to bee a dead thing and yet hath life in it so is Gods grace aliue and quickening when it seemeth farre otherwise In a sowne a man liueth though hee seeme to bee dead The life of God in a man can neuer altogether bee choaked with sinne Our miserie is not able to ouer-reach his mercie A sparkle of fire should be more able to burne vp the sea than mans sinnes for to dry vp the blood of his mercie Where grace is begunne a man may fall but hee can neuer fall away If Sir ye haue found once the life of God within your Soule yee haue receiued a sure pledge pawne of immortalitie say to your Soule And now my Soule returne vnto thy rest The sicke Man There is no rest within mee I am alas as a man vpon a raging Sea tumbled and tossed with such fearefull temptations which make all the bowels of my bellie to wamble The Pastour Sea sicknesse Sir is sore while it lasteth But many seeke this sicknesse for to cure them of a worse Take courage God hath imbarked you into this temptation for to cause you caste out some corruptions which lye lurke about your heart Bee content to tarie a little space vpon the Firth till the filth of you stomacke bee cleane purged away Assure your selfe that all this sore sicknesse shall worke your health in the latter end which shall cause your to sing For his mercie endureth for euer In the shadow of Gods wings mak your refuge vntill these calamities passe ouer The sicke Man I am euer in great doubt of my selfe The Pastour Though ye doubt of your selfe yee must not doubt of Gods kindnesse and compassions If ◅e doubt that God can bee mercifull to your sinnes yee deny your Creede wherein yee see forgiuennesse of sinne to bee an expresse Article of Faith Though for some space yee be troubled with doubts at last ye shall knowe by his Spirite within that Christ was no more willing to suffer for sinners than hee shall proue both willing and able to saue you Gods custome is to choose the hardest way for the best end partlie for to proue his power partlie for to try our trust The sicke Man I wish it be so But for the present I finde a feare within mee which maketh my Soule to tremble I euer thinke that hardlie can it bee that the Spirit of God would dwell into mine heart which is a very cage of corruption If the men of God when they see bordels abhor them and goe by them shall not the Spirit of God much more passe by mee yea abhor me who of mine heart haue made a most filthy stew Moreouer Satan is busie with his Bellowes blowing at the juniper coales of Gods wrath that against mee may be kindled a consuming fire The frowne of a Prince may bee the fauour of God But when God frowneth who shall shew fauour O what a cry is
to Ioram seeking comfort vpon extremitie What haue I to doe with thee get thee to tâ—… Prophets of thy father and mother aâ—… desire them to helpe thee get thee 〈◊〉 thy pleasures and profits and preferments which in forsaking mee thou didst so eagerlie pursue This maketh all the wounds of my remorse to blead afresh The Pastour As Samuel tooke the voyce of God to bee the voyce of Eli so manie take the voyce of a temptation to bee the voyce of God Wee must try the Spirits Sathan is craftie He can winde himselfe wonderfullie into the heart of men some times by sleepie securitie some time by fearfull despaire While hee entiseth vnto sinne he maketh God to speak nothing but mercie to a sinner Thou may sinne will hee say and repent againe But while hee accuseth for sin hee maketh all Gods words to bee words of wrath that the sinner may be swallowed vp with dispaire * Tak heed Sir who it is that answereth to your cry Though God should draw you thorow Hell bee yee still assured of Heauen His wrath is but for a moment but his mercie endureth for euer Settle your heart in the secret of God lest it bee carried away with euerie light wind and gale of temptation Seeke out of your selfe in Christ the grounds and warrands of your Saluation The sicke man I feare greatlie to be ouer-blowen and that I make shipwracke of the faith vpon most fearfull bankes and dangers such a boisterous gale did â—… neuer feele The Pastour While temptations are most terrible to our feeling they are often least dangerous Shallow feas are full of broken waters while deeper though more terrible are of a softer swelling carrying the burden more safelie aboue Tak courage the most godlie heart must encounter with manie thorters The Lord humbleth the hearts of his Sainctes lest that in a vaine conceit of their owne worth they should ouer-weene themselues Thinke well vpon that which I say a red-warre in the Soule is better than a sleepie laish Securitie Away with Labans mirth his songs and his Tabrets Flat opposition is not so dangerous as a couered agreement Take to heart this my counsell Though the Lord should sâ—…ay you yet put your trust into him God is not euer gotten at the first verilie said Isaiah thou art a God that hiddest thy selfe O God of Israel the Sauiour The sicke Man I vnderstand not what such hidding meaneth O the fearefull Tribunall of God whose eyes of fire see all the wayes of man In his Ballance hee pondereth all his goinges Gods mercie I know is a good staffe to stay vpon but it is farre from mine heart and hand I am not like these sinners which but trip and stumble and rise againe after a snapper my fall iâ—… with my full weight the milstons oâ—… his wrath are hung about my necke which beare my Soule downe to the bottome of Hell I finde now the trueth of that saying of the wise His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe and hee shall bee holden with the cords of his sinnes The Pastour What shall I say as truelie said the wise By sorrow of the heart thâ—… spirit is broken Seeing yee are acquaint with the speaches of the wise remember that counsell of the wise Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and leane not to thine own vnderstanding I pray you to be plaine with me What is this that maketh you liâ—… a reede shaken with the wind wherein lyeth the strength of your temptations The sicke Man I will not conceale the matter from you This is it mine own heart absolueth me not while I put mine hand into mine owne bosome Oh how liprous pull I it out againe My Conscience giueth mee a terrible twetch * Incessantlie it cryeth out guiltie against mee What shall I say then to that of the Apostle If our heart condemne vs God is greater than our heart Is not this the true sense of these wordes If our owne heart condemne vs much more will God condemne vs who is more mightie than our heart In this I finde my selfe amidst the thickest throng of fearefull temptations wrapped in the wrath of God This temptation is like a fresh post-horse for to carrie mee to damnation it is of Sathans saddling The Pastour * Indeede Sir the judgement of a mans conscience is a liuelie image of the judgement of God It is certaine that whom the conscience condemneth into this world him shall God condemne in the world to come And againe whom the conscience shall absolue into this world him shal God absolue into the world to come The Conscience is Gods Iudge within But this ye must know that it is not time for a Iudge to giue out sentence while his wits are troubled or while he is in a moode or passion A wise Iudge will not bee sudden but will take time to consider well the cause before hee pronounce A Conscience that is troubled should not sit downe in judgement As one appealed from drunkeâ—… King Philip to sober King Philip so must a sinner appeale from his Conscience in a qualme to his Conscience in a calme Moreouer euerie voyce that is within a man is not the voyce of his Conscience but of some temptation shrouded vnder the coat of the Conscience like Iacob cloathed with Esâ—…us garment While Ionah was but in the bellie of a fish his heart cryed that hee was in the bellie of hell Sathan hath a deceiuing Prospect or dioptre for sinne At the one end sin and judgement appeare to bee farre off little like Midges But while the instrument is turned these midges appeare like mountaines Sinne in the doing is like Zoar a little one but in repenting it is like Nineueh hudge and great It seemeth before the doore of mercie like a Camell at a needels eye The sicke Man But thinke yee Sir that the Conscience of a man which God hath sette within him as an Iudge as a Watch and a Witnesse yea as a thousand witnesses can faile at any time The Pastour It is certaine that while the Consciences of men are well wakened and not troubled with terrours of temptations they are into the breastes of men verilie Gods voyce declaring to the Soule what God hath concerning it ratified into the Heauen But yee know that manie a mans Conscience will bee mightilie troubled Sometimes it will bee darkened with Ignorance so that as Samuel tooke Eliab for Dauid it will also take him to bee appointed to bee a King whom the Lord hath rejected Some times it will not know what ailleth the Soule no more than Elisha knew what ailed the Shunamite while shee fell downe at his feete Some times it will be fast asleepe like Ionah while hee snorted in the hatches I compare the Consciences
of the godlie and of the wicked to men in a dreame One man that is lyen downe in his bed hungrie without his supper will dreame that hee is at a feast making good cheare But while hee awaketh his Soule is emptie his dishes flee away with his dreame It is so that it fareth with a wicked man whose Conscience is in a dreame Hee will imagine that assuredlie there is nothing but Heauen for him Hee will thinke with the hungrie dreamer that hee is readie presentlie to sit downe at table euen at that Table with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdome of God Now while hee is euen at the sitting downe which is at the houre of his death his Conscience wakeneth and hee is found emptie Thus all his dishes fl◅eth away with his dreame Againe another man shall dreame of fearefull thinges viz. that hee is in the midst of his enemies readie to bee slaine If any be waking in the bedde with him hee will heare him into his sleepe sighing and sobbing with a sore mone But so soone as hee is wakened he findeth himselfe in suretie lying vpon a bed of downe It is euen so that it will often fare with a godlie man whose Conscience is in a dreame His heart will bee burdened with griefe as with a night mare Hee will imagine that God is become his enemie and that assuredlie he will cast him into hell Now while hee thinketh that hee is euen at the fall and while for feare thereof in his sleepe hee is making his mone God in mercie wakeneth him softlie and loe hee is lying into the armes of his God At last it fareth with the godlie the wicked as it fareth with Pharaohs Butler and his Baker after their dreames the one was restored to his office but the other was hanged The Sicke Man I wish at God that my Conscience were in such a Dreame and that all my troubles were but some spirituall night Mare a disease that is cured by wakening the Soule that sleepeth I know that the spirituall senses of the Soule may bee some times couered with a vaile of grosse dulnesse But I cannot suspect or surmise that this can be a dreame Behold I speake I heare I see I sauour Howe then can this bee a dreame The Pastour He who dreameth will thinke all that He will think that he speaketh that hee heareth seeth and walketh and runneth leapeth ouer brinkes or ditches vvhile indeede he is snorting vpon his bed Yea in his dreame he will think that his dreame cannot bee a dreame but that surely hee is broad awake This cannot bee a dreame hee will thinke euen while as hee dreameth I know Sir that your bodie is surelie awake and not dreaming But in all appearance your Soule is in a slumber The Lord waken you softlie in his mercie The sicke Man If I dreame the Lord vvaken mee soone out of this dreadfull dreame I am filled with a world of woes euerie thought is as it were a thorne thrust into mine heart My feares are like the feuers they goe by fits A litle since I thought that my blood was calmed and that I had some respit Of my sinnes I had but a shallow sense but now behold a new fit of greater force vvhich maketh all the powers of my Soule to shiuer All my sinnes are in Gods quarrell vp in armes against me Gods vvrath followeth mee with a full faile and chargeth mee a fresh with bloodie blowes * While I was but breeding this feuer I was but chained with vvorldlie enchantments All my trouble vvas but for Bairnes Lands Children Houses and other perishing pleasures triffling troubles vvhich I could not for a long space resolue to forsake But now is paine in stead of pleasure a sowre and bitter sauce prepared for Adams sweete Apple feare shame and remorse What recks to vvant pleasure if so be there were no paine I vvould not giue a flee for the vvorld and all the pleasures or profite that therein is if I could once bee reconciled to my God Mine heart is like an Anuile wherevpon the Lord striketh most fiercelie with the hammer of his wrath There is not a power of my Soule which is not loaden with blowes All my distresses hitherto haue beene but light skirmishes now I am come to the maine Battell My Soule is hunted to and fro like a Partridge on the mountaines Who is on my side Who The Pastour The Lord is vvith you though ye perceiue him not This is incident to the faithfull not euer to knovv vvhen God is with them Gideon was a man renouned for his Faith he vvas one of the Catologue of the faithfull yet while the Angel said vnto him The Lord is with thee thou mightie mā of valour hee answered Oh my Lord if the Lord be with vs why then is all this befallen vs See hovv the man of God knew not that God vvas vvith him Take courage Sir seeing the skirmishes are past and that yee are come to the maine Battell God shall bee your maine helpe Come out against all your enemies as Dauid came out against Goliah in the Name of the God of Battels and Lord of Armies There is no Corslet of proofe against a stone cast out of a sling in the Name of the great IEHOVAH Resist the Deuill and hee shall flee from you The sicke Man Gods vvrath hath heate the fierie Fornace on seuen times more thā it was of before I am so dashed with the sense of my sins so pierced with stinging feares that thereby all the powers of my Soule are shaken Hithereto I haue beene crossed with care for my life and for my Children What care I now for my dearest Children Would to God that I might giue my first borne for my transgression and the fruite of my wombe for the sinnes of my Soule Behold heere a poore distressed and distracted sinner who knoweth not to what hād to turne him All the enemies of my Saluation pursue mee with hue and with cry The great God of Iustice hath set vp a Gibbet into my Soule All the terrours of the Lord muster against me I am galled and goared with sinfull feares as Egypt was plagued with Flies Frogges Mine heart is filled with dismaiednesse my bellie trembleth rottennesse is entered into my bones While I had time to repent I willinglie wallowed into the myre of sinne wherin now I necessarilie stick Feare driueth Hope draweth I am tossed like a Tenice ball O the straitnesse of that account which I am shortlie to bee called vnto O that terrible Tribunall O these chaines of darknesse in which sinners shall be reserued vnto Gods last Sessions Who can stand in such a tempest where the creature hath a combat with God and with his wrath hand
in his heart Thou vvho made a Cake of Barley bread to tumble vpon the tents of Midian ouer turne them thou can easilie worke great vvorkes by weak meanes It is thy custome to make thy strength perfect in weakenesse Let this poore sicke Patient heere haue the proofe of the practise of thy custome Let his Soule like a Doue enter in at the cliftes of the Rock let it creepe in by the wounds of Christ vnto his blessed bowels there to bee warmed with Gods most feruent loue Whether shall hee goe LORD to whom shall hee make his mone but to thee Whom hath he in heauen but thee O LORD now the day is farre spent and the wearisome night approacheth Before wee goe let vs obtaine our sute that thou would make thy vvrath to relent a little Let not our prayers bee powred out in vaine wee will not admit a refusall therefore set vs not off till another time abandon not this troubled Soule Thou who hast said vnto man Say not vnto thy neighbour Goe and come againe and to morrow I will giue thee if thou now haue it O LORD practise thine owne precept wee are heere come not for to buy but to begge thy mercie for thy distressed Seruant Thou cannot denye but thou hast mercie for this is euer true Mercie is with thee Seeing then LORD now thou hast it wee vrge thee with thine owne directions say not Goe and come againe to morrow I will giue thee By such a delay thou should but enhance his griefe Alas LORD what rest shall his wearied Soule get all this night if thou delay and drift him vntill morrow O come come and powre into his heart the comfortable bowels of thy compassions Powre into his Soule the powers of thy Spirit wherby hee may bee reuiued and goe softlie the rest of his time in the bitternesse of his Soule Refresh his parched Conscience with the dew of thy grace Deare Father for Christs sake let not hardnesse of heart creepe any more vpon him Receiue him softlie into thine Armes this night and cause his spirit to rest into thy bosome Whether hee sleepe or hee wake make all his thoughts to run vpon thee In the darknesse of the night make thy loue like light to breake in vpon his Conscience as the shining light that shineth more and more vnto the perfect day Seeing Satan the lord of the night the prince of darknesse is most combersome in the night we intreat thee that thou would shield and preserue him by thy mercifull and powerfull protection Make his Soule to stand vpon a continuall watch that it may bee readie with a well furnished Lampe for the comming of his Lord Make the day of thy mercie to breake and all the shadowes of temptations to flee away O Father heare helpe for the sake of the dearest blood of thy Sonne the alone purger of the Soule and the chiefe softner of hardened heartes bee thou a Sanctuarie vnto this troubled Soule Create vpon him a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night joyne the direction of thy fire with the protection of thy cloud O giue now thy blessing vnto this halting man Souple and loosen his stiffe and stupefied joyntes that beeing drawne by thee hee may runne after thee Fence and garde his soule by thy grace till thou bring him vnto glorie O Iesus pray thou for him whom Sathan hath sought to winnow let him bee found as good corne vpon thy barne floore vnto the praise of thy heauenly glory of thy diuine grace Blesse thy beloued Church vniuersall purge her from all Shifmes diuisions which breed great thoughts of heart Decke and decore her with puritie vnitie the two most precious spirituall jewels of thy Spouse make her fertile like a broodie Vine Direct our gracious Soueraigne in all his ways Guide him by thy Counsell and afterward bring him vnto glorie Blesse his Royal Match the Queenes Majestie make her a Nuâ—…se mother in Israel a blessed Mother of blessed Children Blesse all the Estates of thiâ—… Land blesse thy Ministerie adornâ—… their breastes with thy Vrin and thy Thummim thy light of doctrine and perfection of life Blesse vs all who are heere humbled before thy face this night while our bodies shall goe to bed for to rest grant that our Soules may goe rest in the armes of thee our most louing GOD and Father To thee with thy Sonne and the Spirit of Grace wee giue all praise and glorie for euer Amen Cause read vnto you this night whâ—… ye awak Psal. 6 Ps. 49. Ps. 102 ps 130 The grace of God and the peace oâ—… his Spirit bee with you The sicke Man The Lord direct you Sir in all your wayes I looke ye shall returne the morrow earelie Thinke vpon that where we left at last I look that yee shall cleare that matter more aâ—… large at our next meeting My God bee with you THE THIRD DAYES Conference Of spirituall temptations The Pastour THE Lord blesse you Sir according to yourâ—…d sire I am come againe to visite you in your bedde of languishing The sicke Man I was looking for you for since yee left mee yesternight I may say with Iacob Sleepe departed from mine eyes My conscience all this night hath beene like a boiling pot O but weake man is borne to manie sorrowes his dayes are few and euill The best of them is builabour and sorrow But let vs now begin where wee left The Pastour Our last conference as yee may remember was concerning Christ in whose wings I said was health for healing of your woundes I declared vnto you that he is so tenderlie touched with the feeling of our sores that hee hath declared that these that touch vs touch the apple of his eye Hath this beene the matter of your nights meditation The sicke man That which ye haue said of Christ Sir is true There is indeed health in his wings and helpe in his hands But alas Christ will not bee helpefull but to these that are of a strong Faith My Faith is both faint and fectlesse nothing but a smoke of Faith The Pastour Christ hath said plainlie that hee will not quench the smoking flaxe S. Peter was not a man of strong Faith when in his voyage to Christ vpon the sea hee beganne to sinke Said not Christ vnto him Thou man of little Faith why hast thou doubted The Lord reproued him for the weakenesse of his Faith but neuer coost him off for the littlenesse thereof The sicke Man That was another matter Christ was with his Apostle There was vertue into that hand wherewith he gripped the sinking man as was vertue in his garment while the hemme thereof was but touched Such a weake Faith as mine cannot reach vp so farre as to touch him into the Heauens The Pastour Though your faith bee weake that Christ also be bodily
absent yet be not for that disquieted his Godhead is present Hee himselfe hath said concerning his bodily presence that it was expedient for vs that hee should goe away As for the weaknes of your Fa◅th pray God to strengthen it Faith though it bee little yet it is of great force a graine of it will cast a mountaine into the sea The Sicke Man Let mee see I pray you Sir anie particular example of a weake Faith sauing anie man The Pastour Of this in Scripture wee haue a cloud of witnesses I shall let you see two one in substance the other in type or figure That of Peter in the New-Testamēt is substantiall Christ called him a man of little Faith and yet by that Faith though little hee was saued The other is in the old Testament in the type and figure When the Israelites were bitten with the fierie Serpents their onely refuge and remeede was to looke vp to the brasen Serpent This was the verie type of a Soule stung with sinne beholding Christ with the eye of Faith Of these who behelde that Serpent of brasse some were bleared and other some had weake eyes But the weaknesse of their sight could not hinder the cure Nay the old man with his dimmed eyes beholding as through a mist that type of Christ was as soundlie cured as hee whose eyes were in their greatest vigour The meate taken with a paralitique and trembling hand will not refuse nourishment to the bodie no more than if it were taken with a stable hand Obserue Sir what I say Faith is the eye of the soule wherof the Israelites eyes were but a figure Christ is the trueth of the brasen Serpent Though this eye bee dimmer in some yet if it see the Soule shall bee saued Faith is the hand of the Soule Christ is the foode Though this Faith tremble Christ trembleth not The palsie is not into the foode Bee of good courage Sir feare not this trembling feare the worke of Saluation cannot bee wrought out but with feare and trembling When the worke shall bee ended all trembling shall cease and Faith shall bee stable then the Soule shall be made free from all palsie paine The sicke Man Oh that I were but sicke of such a palsie paine Oh that I were assured to haue anie graine of true Faith Alas I am vndone This wretched heart of mine is so wrung with wrath that there remaineth not within it so much as a droppe of grace All my spirituall moisture is spent all the faculties of my Soule are so racked that my tongue cannot vtter my griefe and smart Is there no Balme in Gilead for a sorrow beaten sinner Oh through excessiue paine my Liuer is rolled within mee If I finde no remeede my Soule shall shortlie bleade to death my paines exceed my sorrow is extreme thorow the tortours thereof my Soule is compelled to roare Oh Lord turne thy wrath in mercie and thy Iustice seat in a Throne of grace and pardon the sins which more and more ripen thy wrath against mee Mine heart is rent and harrowed with griefe what salue can I finde fit for such sinfull sores The more I thrust griefe out the more it throngeth in The Pastour The soueraigne salue for such sores is to get a sight of Christ who bare all our sinnes vpon his battered backe which was torne with mercilesse strippes Christ in that plight is the most fit object for the eye of a troubled Soule There is no salue for the sore of sin but the sight of him who is the trueth of that brasen Serpent the object of the faithfull eye This remeede among all others is like the master Bee the best of all the hyue * Though yee bee like Zacheus a man of little stature so that yee cannot see Christ ouer the multitude of your sins yet run before climbe the tree of the Crosse and behold him No rather behold him now vpon the Crosse fixed vpon a mount high aboue that all may see him euen vpon mount Caluarie Behold him there treading death vnder his feete * Though there be a mount of dead mens scules there is no dead scule so high but Christ may bee seene aboue it Christ is euer nearest in the hotest skirmish He is the sea the seate of mercie If yee can seeke yee shall finde no scant of mercie into him ye shall wonder at his loue when yee shall relish his kindnesse To Christ then yea to Christ alone must ye runne and forsake all as the Mariner while all his cunning is gone runneth to God in the tempest In him is Balme for all wounded spirits there is no gash so deepe but his blood can cure it As all riuers lead to the sea so should all comfortes guide vs vnto Christ While hee was in the dayes of his flesh there was no miserie that could with-hold sinners from him neither lamenesse nor blindnesse nor deafenesse nor deuils could stay any from him nor stay him to doe them good hee healed them all Neuer a man came backe from him saying I haue sought to this God in vaine I came to him but he could not helpe me Or as the father of the lunaticke said I brought him to thy Disciples and they could not cure him To him may all heart broken sinners say with the Prophet My flesh and mine heart faileth but thou art the strength of mine heart and my portion Flesh and friends health and wealth and all will faile vs but Iesus will neuer faile vs Mans extremitie is his opportunitie By him alone the Soule of man hath light libertie and life All other helpes and hopes are but vaine As no water could wash cleanse the leprosie but one lie Iordan so nothing can wash away the leprosie of sinne but the Blood of Christ the Lambe of God which is a spirituall Iordan for washing of leper Soules In a word in all our stormy troubles Christ Iesus is a firme Rocke of refuge which repelleth and turneth into froth all the waues of most tēpesttuous temptations By his Blood alone our Soules are both healed hallowed vpon the right of your redemption sute the remission of your sinnes Bee not abashed hee who hath Christ needeth not to feare The sicke Man If I were one of Christs would he leaue mee thus wise comfortlesse He is the Sunne of Righteousnesse in whose beames as in a spring time I was wont to rejoyce But now hee is gone downe My Soule is benighted and I am affrighted with grudginges of despaire Oh that mine eyes of flint were melted into teares O smite my flintie heart with the rod of thy mercie that it may make teares the water of repentance to gush out at the Conduite pypes of my mourning eyes O what
to Simon Magus seemeth to set before him a certaine possibilitie to be saued a perhaps that the thought of his heart might bee forgiuen him The sicke Man Now it appeareth by all your discourse that the sinne against the holie Ghost is a reuolting from the Trueth with a most wilfull persecuting I thanke God my Soule is free of that But tell mee I pray you may not a man bee free of that most hainous sinne and yet be damned It would appeare that many Reprobates are free of that sinne The Pastour It is most certaine for it is onely the sinne of these who haue knowne the Trueth of Gods word and hath made a fearefull reuolt from it with a persecuting hatred against the same Many who haue liued in a true profession haue denyed God in their life There bee but too manie whose hollow heartes are couered with outwardnesse like a potte-shard ouer laid with siluer drosse The sicke Man Alas that putteth my Soule in terrible feare for this is my conscience in a qualme I haue professed with great shew and that without substance I haue beene one of Satans reuellers hauing a smilling countenance but a bleeding Conscience Gods judgementes haue stayed till my sinnes was rype When the fire is kindled woe to the stubble There is no place now for to escape In Heauen in Earth and in the Sea Gods hand will finde mee out Fye now on all my greatest pleasures the Darlings of account Though I haue not sinned that sinne against the holie Ghost which God cannot forgiue I am guiltie of sinnes which God will neuer forgiue O these eyes of fire ten thousand times brighter than the Sunne what sinne is able to escape them what glistring golden shewes of outwardnesse shall mak you to dazle ye euerlasting eyes The Pastour Man had great neede to bee ware that his tongue walke not without a bit There is no sinne but God can forgiue it if the sinner could repent the Sea of his mercie is bottomles As for that that God will or will not it is too great presumption for mā to define Yee continuallie flit from one temptation to another whereon yee feede like a Flee happing from scab to scab Yee often seeme desirous to shift the comforts of the Spirit for to goe seeke a knot in a rush a difficultie where none is Bee earnest in prayer sigh to God for the assistance of his Spirit that yee may bee capable of comfortes which the Tempter most enuyeth vnto you When the sillie Soule would fainest heare the words of spirituall peace then cryeth he red-warre stirring vp temptations like the fowles that cumbered Abraham when hee should offer sacrifice Take heede to your selfe Sir The Serpent now is more craftie than when hee pointed Adam to another tree for to depriue him of the Tree of life Resigne vp your selfe in all holie obedience to the wil of your God I can neuer perswade you to tak heede to that which I say Betweene a good tongue and a bored holy eare is an happie harmonie such musicke is melodious but a deafe eare maketh a dumbe tongue Beware of the Spirit of giddinesse which maketh the Soule to runne round as it were in a Circle of needlesse doubts The sicke Man I intreat you Sir for patience for I am one of a sorrowfull spirit as Hannah said to Eli a fierie wrath lurketh in my breast which maketh mine heart to grone Pittie mee Sir I pray you for now I am come to the arraignment and am called to the barre like a Crane or a Swallow so doe I chatter The voyce of the Preacher did often glide by my faults But now Gods Spirit speaketh home and setteth all my sinnes in order before mee Now must I end my yeares in the bitternes of my Soule Well may I say with that godlie Matron Call mee not Nahomi that is pleasant But call mee Marah that is bitter for the Almightie hath dealt verie bitter lie with mee The Pastour That which is most bitter is often most holesome Gods course with the godlie is from the bitter to the Sweete When Israel in their progresse had remoued from Mara they came to Elim from a place of bitternesse they came to refreshing fountaines of waters and to pleasant palme trees All this worlde is but a Mara a place of bitternesse Let vs haue patience but for a space till wee ariue in Elim vp into the Heauens where wee shall dwell among most pleasant palmes and drinke of the holesome springes of the well of Life euen pleasures for euermore The Amen the faithfull and true witnes hath promised The sicke Man My troubles are farre from such pleasures I feare that such troubles bee but the fore-runners of a greater tempest This maketh all the bowels of my bellie to wamble The Pastour Nay by the contrarie take them as I haue alreadie said to bee messengers posting before the calme It is good as yee knowe to see euerie season like it selfe The Christian life in this world must bee like the Winter season subject to frosts and to snowes for killing of weedes and of wormes If the earth and mens bodies bee not nipped with cold great are the euil which ensue The earth becommeth barren and mans bodie become sickelie and subject to many diseases It is euen so with the Soule if it remaine not heere in a wintrous estate laide open to the tempests nipping colds of temptations profitable for to mellowe and to rot the fellow ground of the heart there is no great appearance of anie good spirituall haruest But if the winter tempests of afflictions come whereby the weeds and wormes of the conscience are killed then may we looke for a pleantifull haruest of the quiet fruite of righteousnesse God in mercie shall step with his mercifull feete thorow the fieldes of our heart and his steps shall drop fainesse Let such hopes comfort you in this wearisome winter of your afflictions All Gods gloumes are but like winter cloudes or like the louring of the Skye faire weather will bee nixt let such tempests fall but in there owne season Happie is hee whose heart with such boistrous blastes is not swaide awry The Sicke Man O what a longsome winter is this wherein I can not once see the Sun of righteousnesse neither feele the heat of his beames the comforter that should relieue my Soule is farre from mee The Pastour Let not that discourage you Sir heare what Christ himselfe the bottomelesse fountaine of all comforts saith I goe away for a while and yee shall bee sorrowfull but I will come againe and your joye shall none bee able to take away If yee finde Christ to bee absent comfort your selfe with the hope of his returne His absence is but for a little While the day is at
the Apostle wee are chastened of the Lord that wee should not bee condemned with the world Many will suffer legs and armes to bee cut from them into a feaster for to saue the rest What reck what the body suffer if so be the Soule bee saued what euer affliction ye suffer in bodie or mind it is for the saluatiō of your sillie Soule by such pangues your God will preuent the paines of hell In your greatest griefes God is but practising his owne precept of sauing Soules by feare vvhereby they are pulled out of the fire The Sorrowes of the godlie end in joye But as for the wicked they are like the Sea whiles tossed whiles tumbled but euer inwardlie disquieted The sicke Man Is this then the estate of the godlie heere to be betimes crossed with most fearefull temptations whereby as vvith an Ocean sea they will seeme to bee ouer-vvhelmed The Pastour It is certaine for many are the troubles of the righteous Christ deerest here are lik Lillies among the thornes This life are the Winter of their affliction They are a groning genaration Turtles crouding with sighes and grones vvhich their tongues cannot expresse vvhile Abraham began to sleepe loe an horrour of great darknesse fell vpon him The sicke Man But in such anguish of heart will they not haue some bosome comforts salt Sea vvater strained thorow the earth becōmeth sweete At the greatest sense of vvrath will they not aye haue some hope of mercy though for a space they haue swimmed downe the current of the times shifting their sailes to the turning of euerie wind The Pastour They will bee in great distresse Their Soule vvill be shaken like a sea full of surges tossed with contrarie Tydes As for their comfort it vvill be lik the smoke of flaxe without a flamme In their deepest temptations they vvill haue some bosome secret graces into the heart as cmbers vnder an heape of ashes Some times in all outward appearance they vvill bee so douked that they vvill seeme to be drowned While they are all vnder the vvater vvith Ionah as it vvere at the rootes of the mountaines they vvill thinke and so also vvill others thinke that they are in the bellie of hell This is their estate vvhile for a space they are borne downe vvith the vveight of vvrath and vvith the burden of their sinnes they are as it vvere many fathome deepe vnder the vvater But so soone as it pleaseth God for to remoue that weight incontinent they come vp to the brimme of the vvater because there is breath and life vvithin them So long as there is life in a man hee may vvell at the first plunge goe downe to the bottome of a Poole but incontinent hee mounteth vp againe because there is a Spirit and breath vvithin him But if hee bee once deade hee sinketh downe like Leade vnto the ground It is euen so vvith the vvicked and the godlie the wicked are dead in the vvaters of affliction and therefore vvith Pharaoh and his armie they sinke downe like Lead into the mightie waters But as for the godlie though heauie vveights of sin for a space hang fast on yet because the Spirit of God a Spirit of life and of breath is vvithin them they may vvell at one plunge or other douke downe because of the vveight of their corruptions but incontinent they come vp againe By vertue of the Spirit as by Corke they are caried aboue so at last swimme thorow all the waues of their troubles and temptations till they come to the shallow where they may set their feete vpon a Rocke euen the Rocke Christ. When Ionah was cast into the Sea who euer thought that hee should come out againe yet heare how the drouked man sang at last Yet hast thou brought vp my life from corruption my Lord my God So litle was his hope once that hee said beeing in the bellie of hell The earth with her barres was about me for euer What hope of change can wee haue of that which we call For euer * See what little hope that Prophet had for a certaine space before that God would bring his life from corruption What out-gate could the poore man see into such a darke dungeon into the bellie of the Fish downe at the rootes of the mountaines into the bottome of the deepe That which the sillie man could not see God saw Hee whom the Shippe could not saue was saued in the bellie of hell He who could saue Ionah in the water could saue his seruant Sadrach and his fellowes in she fire While these three poore men were bound in their coats their hosen and their hattes and cast into that fearfull Furnace there came in One that afraide them all a fourth man euen the Sonne of God which by an absolute soueraignetie loosed the other three so that they all foure in the Kings sight walked vp down together without any hurt All the miracles of the olde Testament were but types and figures of Gods mercie and spirituall blessings vnder the New The passage of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan was a type of our walking in this world vnto that Canaan that is aboue The Egyptians behind the Sea before the Mauniaines on euerie side were but types of our spirituall enemies Some like Egyptians behind are chaissing vs some like Mountaines on euerie side hedge vs in to keepe vs from escape Some before like a Sea are before vs betweene vs and Canaan Christ is a cloudy Pillar which in the day time is darknesse commeth betweene vs and the rage of the Egyptians of this world so that for mist they cannot see vs In the darke night of our tribulations hee goeth before vs in a pillar of fire for to be a light vnto our steps At last after we haue passed by many mountaines of miseries and are come to the red sea of temptations euen to the last temptations on our death bed where all our sins red like scarlet stand like a red sea betweene vs and the place of promise God by the rod of his mercifull power giueth that sea such a blow that all its billowes make roome to let his people passe thorow Then all mourning is turned into musicke Moses singeth with the men Mi◅ian with the women Nothing is heard there but songs sounding Timbrels Manie a ◅ore sigh had they before they came to this Song Many a pittifull looke gaue they backe to Pharaoh breathing out rage behind them they q◅aked lik an Haire that heareth the barke of the Dog breathing to bee at it But while at last they saw thēselues bounded with an enemy that boasted them with drowning then God in their greatest feares sent a powerfull deliuerance Behold here as in a Cart the draughts of the Christian
workes may easilie ouertoppe all your sins iniquities God will haue man with his narrow bowels of mercie to forgiue his brother seuen times in a day if hee shall returne seuen times in a day saying It repenteth mee If God requireth such mercie of man whose bowels in the widest are not of a span breadth what shall hee doe whose compassions are rouled together into bowels broader than the Sea yea wider than the heauens If ye can repent Sir God can forgiue When man ceaseth to spurne God beginneth to spare The sicke Man I take God to witnesse that I am sorie for my sinnes and so ashamed that with the Publicane I cannot lift vp mine eyes to the heauens I would be content to kisse the ground a thousand times for to get but one kisse of the feete of him who is the on◅ lie helpe of the conscience and the health of the countenance I finde myselfe deepe to the Chine in a gulfe of miserie Tell mee truelie Sir I pray you Thinkeyee that if with a mourning heart I confesse my sinnes to God that hee will haue pittie of me I am sore perplexed the deepe thoughts of mine owne guiltinesse strike men with such a set silence that I am not able to vtter my griefe My feare is that I bee of the familie of hell an haire of horrour and vtter woe Be free with mee I pray you Thinkeyee th◅t such an hord of miserie as mine can euer meete with his mercie The Pastour It is great ignorance Sir to thinke that anie miserie of man can ouer reach the infinite power of his pitie and boundlesse compasse of his compassions It were more easie to turne the Sunne from his course than God from shewing mercie to repenting sinners both his Name and Nature is mercie See wee not out of what myres of miserie Gods mercie hath deliuered repenting sinners In Scripture wee may read long Catologes of pardoning sinnes Consider well I pray you thinke deepelie vpon the mercies of your God Look well what hee hath done to others Could the adulterie of Dauid the incest of Lot the drunkennesse of Noah the murther of Simeon Leui the persecutions of Paul the perjurie of Peter or any other like sinne hinder God to be mercifull to the◅ so soone as they repented * Wherefore wereall these pardons printed into God Booke but for to tell all ages that no man were hee neuer so sinfull should despaire of the mercie of his God As I liue saith the Lord take no delight into the death of sinners but rather that they should repent and liue These bee his owne words If words beare no weight behold effects God hath so loued the world that hee hath giuen his onelie Sonne that whosoeuer belieueth in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life This is not a verball loue when a man giueth his best beloued for to die for another God hath not spared his onelie Sonne that by his satisfying sufferings his Iustice beeing payed hee might shew mercie to man his poore vnworthie creature not onelie the Father hath loued the world but also the Sonne out of vnspeakable loue was as desirous to die for man as the Father was to send him This out of his owne mouth hee declared that no loue could ouer-reach his loue No man said hee hath greater loue than this than when a man layeth downe his life for his friend The highest of mans loue is to die for his friend But Christs loue was greater hee died for vs euen when wee were his enemies In another point behold the loue of Christ scarselie saith the Apostle for a righteous mā wil one die yet per aduenture for a good man some would euen dare to die But God commendeth his loue towardes vs in that while wee were yet sinners Christ died for vs Who shall doubt of this loue which the Lord hath registred on earth with the dearest blood of his onelie begotten Sonne There is such a loue in the Father and such a loue in the Sonne and such a loue in the holie Ghost toward the Saluation of man that all the heauens are filled with loue of our well so that at the conuersion of one sinner on earth there is more joy among the Saints and Angels than for fourescore and ninteene righteous who neede not repentance * If Sir yee would haue the heauens to rejoyce cast your selfe into the armes of your God with these words Lord doe with mee what thou wilt though thou shuld slay me yet will I true in thee If yee would see the picture of Gods mercy ye must draw aside the curtaine of all carnall surmises The sicke Man Oh that I might cast my Soule into his Armes But how can I doe this The Lord hath turned his backe on mee shall I cast my selfe into a consuming fire At the first sight of his angry face my Soule will die for feare The Pastour Men often are deceiued So soone as Manoah had seene the Angel hee said to his wife Wee shall surelie die because wee haue seene God But his wife answered more wiselie If the Lord were pleased to kill vs hee would not haue receiued a sacrifice from vs As shee said to him so say I to you If the Lord were pleased to kill you hee would not haue giuen his Sonne in a Sacrifice for you * I is a greater loue token that God hath giuen his Sonne in a Sacrifice for you than that hee should receiue any sacrifice from you It is the Apostles argument that since God hath giuen vnto vs his owne Sonne hee will not refuse vs any other thing that may doe vs good Christ alone is the sinners refuge hee is a Rocke of comfort which cannot bee shaken a Rocke which commandeth all seas of sorrows the pole of our peace Be earnest in prayer with God cry till he hea◅e The sicke Man I am wearied with crying to God my prayers may be called The voyce of my roaring But what shall I say I cry but there is none that maketh answere God hath couered himselfe with a cloude that my prayers should not passe thorow hee hath stopped his eares that my prayer should not bee heard This is a most fearefull blast and blow in his bloo die battell The Pastour Deceiue not your selfe often our prayer framed and followed by the Spirit of grace is heard though the fense of grant bee not yet brought to vs God for causes will let a time goe betweene seeking and finding After this the Angel spake vnto Daniel At the beginning of thy prayer God heard thee and now I am come to tell thee See how a space will interceede betweene Gods hearing of mans prayer and mans knowledge that God hath heard him Though yee as yet know not whither God hath heard you or not yee must not
â—…aging yet the Soule hauing peace with God is at last after a litle space made free of all its fearâ—… is made sensible of that truce atonement euen of that Peace which passeth all vnderstanding The sicke Man I would earnestlie learne of you how a man whose Conscience is troubled may recouer that Peace which once hee had The Pastour The best methode I know is that a man ripe first vp his Conscience and spy what mot of sinne is fallen into his Conscience which is the eye of the Soule The eye beeing hurt will water powre out teares so must the Conscience bee sore grieued for offending of God Secondlie out of this griefe it must sigh before the Lord in feruant prayer first for forgiuenesse chieflie of that sinne which lyeth heauiest vpon the heart Thirdlie and last of all the Soule must sute earnestly for the restoring of that joye After this manner Dauid did proceede in that penetentiall Psalme First of all he was exceedinglie grieued which griefe did burst out in wordes watered with teares Haue mercie vpon mee O God according to thy louing kindnesse c. Thus after hee had cryed for to bee washen purged with Hysope hee cryed that God would restore vnto him the joys of his Saluation Aboue all thinges let such a person bee often groaning to God in prayer for to catch some blinke of Gods reconcealed face in Iesus his bloodie woundes That blood of sprinkling is the onelie Salue for the sores of the Soule To all this let not these helpes bee neglected viz. that such troubled Soules make vse of good Bookes by whose helpe their deuotion may bee roused vp for to remember the dayes of olde My chiefe counsell is that such persons fixe stedfastlie the eye of their Faith vpon Iesus bleeding on the Crosse wherevpon hee payed our ransome and triumphed ouer all the enemies of our Saluation This is the trueth whereof Israel had the typ in the brasen Serpent which healed al the be holders My counsell also is that such troubled persons frequent the Sermons of powerfull Preachers and seeke conference with them whom God hath stamped with a powerfull gift of Teaching and integritie of life men who haue had great experience in the wayes of God and who haue smarted themselues at other times by such fearefull nipping checks men who are not ignorant of the Deuils deuices It is said of Christ himselfe the Orient and Day-spring That in all things it behoued him to bee made like vnto his Brethren that hee might bee a mercifull and faithfull high Priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sinnes of the people For in that he himselfe hath suffered being tempted hee is able to succour them that are tempted See how it behoued Christ himselfe for to suffer temptation that hee might bee able to succour vs in our temptations While the troubled sinner is in doing all these dueties he must carefullie watch ouer all his wayes that by no sin either in thought word or deede hee grieue the Spirit of God againe For a new sinne thrust vpon the hearte will make all the closed woundes of the Conscience to gap and to bleed afresh A Soule that is become relaps shall finde God harder to bee intreated than of before not without much adoe shall it get peace that after by any knowne sin it hath quarrelled againe the Spirit of comfort But indeede hee or shee whose Conscience hath beene once well lashed with Gods whip and battered with his blowes had rather run throw a fire than anger the Lord againe At the first appearance of a temptation they will start for feare and with a sigh will cry to God with a trembling voyce O my God how should I thinke this wickednesse let bee to doe it Who knoweth the power of thy wrath According to thy feare so is thine anger Too too many in this Nation affect this sicknesse of Conscience as beeing onelie the disease of the holiest This they will vtter as ye would thinke with bleeding groanes before men while indeede they are but scorning the world sporting wantons laughing vnder a painted maske of miserie Their teares are praeficarum lachrymae teares without trouble water sold for the wind of mans praise They are spots in the Church which make the wayes of God to bee euill spoken of such open a wide doore vnto Atheisme The sicke Man Fye vpon hypocrisie God will not bee scorned there is nothing so secret but at last it shall bee made manifest I am assured that who for to caâ—…ch mens applauses faine a mourning for their sinnes the Lord shall suffer them to fall either in some scandalous sinne or other fearefull inconuenient whereby they shal be forced in earnest to mourne to their shame In my judgment there is no such bitter and comfortlesse mourning as is that of these for their manifested sinnes who once did most faine deepe groanes for catching of applauses The Pastour To such may well bee applyed that of the Prophet Thine owne wickednesse shall correct thee thy back-slydings shall reproue thee know therefore and see that it is an euill thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my feare is not in thee saith the Lord God of Hostes. Let no man sport in secret sinnes were it in a thought for that which hath wings will declare the matter The sicke Man I haue often beene seeking out the reason wherefore the wicked in the world for the most part know not what trouble of Conscience meaneth What thinke yee The Pastour Their heauen is on earth Dauid seeing their peace and prosperitie did beare them at enuie yea so that his feete were almost gone They are not in trouble said hee in trouble like other men neither are they plagued like other men c. Euen at their death he could perceiue no bands of any vehement paines after that the whole space of their life they had enjoyed morethan their heart could wish How euer it bee that they prosper in this world yet certainlie if a man will goe and seeke God in his Sanctuarie there hee shall tell him that hee hath sette them in slipperie places and that when hee awaketh hee shall despise their image There is a hell for them after the heauen of this earth The sicke Man I would gladlie bee instructed of you that I might discerne betweene the true solide Peace of conscience which the godlie enjoye and that senslesse benummednes of the wicked wherein they beeing deceiued cry Peace peace euen while God is putting the fierie lunt vnto the mosine of their sudden destruction Let mee heare of the peace both of the one and other I thinke all men should studie to marke the difference The Pastour The Reprobates who haue their portion in this life will seeme indeede to haue that true Peace of Conscience because
anguish of his Spirit Behold LORD how hee renounceth himselfe desparing of his owne worth Giue him grace to flee to thy promises that as in the fearefull and perelous path of this val◅y of death he looketh for nothing but hell torments and paine for his owne sake so he may assuredlie look for heauens glorie euen pleasures for euermore and that for thy promise sake for thy Names sake for thy Christs sake in whom thy Soule is best pleased Mak the bones which thou hast brused to rejoyce Leaue him neuer to himselfe LORD till thou hast made thy graces now blooming in his heart to become type for thy glorie LORD blesse thy beloued Church which is hated of the world Shee is now pricked with persecutions as a Lillie among the thornes Let this comfort Her in all Her distresses that thou shalt neuer forsake Her But that thorow many tribulations thou shall bring Her vnto Glorie Lord pitie pardon the vnthankful Church of this Land Bind Her vnto Thee by the vnion of Faith and fasten euerie one of our heartes to another by the bond of loue left at last by our misdemeanour thou bee forced to roote vs out of thy good Land as a fruitlesse Nation GOD bee gracious to our dread SOVERAIGNE the Kings Majestie gard His Royall Person from the rage of His enemies Infatuate their plots Mak giddy their braines discouer their enterprises mak Him the Man of thy right Hand Anoint His Head with the blessed drops of the Oyle of thy Grace gladnesse Make Him an humble Homager to IESVS who hath written on His thigh the King of kings LORD giue Him Grace according to His Place Say vnto His Queene Hearken O Daughter cōsider incline thy eare Mak her to forget her own people Fathers House In stead of Her old acquaintance giue her Children whom thou mayest make Princes on the Earth Aboue all thinges we intreate Thee to discharge vpon Her Soule the beames and brightnesse of sauing Knowledge Blesse all the Nobilitie of this Land Make them truelie Noble like the men of Berea who were couragious for the Trueth Make euerie one of vs faithfull in our place calling keep our Soules euer waking waiting for thycomming Preserue vs from slumber of Conscience deadnesse of heart that liuing according to thy law we may be in this wicked world godlie professours like burning shining Lampes for to shew light vnto others We all heere O gracious Father relying vpon thy promised readines to helpe thy little Ones and to listen to their cryes haue powred out our Soules in thy presence wee intreate The from the sinceritie of our inward partes that of thy Fatherlie indulgence it would please Thee to vouchsaf a fauourable audiēce both to these and to all other our most humble and godlie desires and that for IESVS thy deare Sonnes sake To whom with Thee and the Spirit of Grace bee all glorie and honour world without end AMEN Cause read vnto you this Night Psalme 38. Psal. 39. Psal 40 Psal. 41. Psal. 42. Psal. 130. Isa. 38. Isa. 53. Iohn 16. Let the end of euerie day remember you of the ende of your life Thogh euerie day of ourage should be as long as that day of Ioshuah whē at his word the Sunne stood still in Gibeon yet it would be night at last The Lord teach vs to number our dayes that wee may apply our hearts to wisedome and to well doing The grace of Iesus and the peace of his Spirit rest with you and comfort you in all the groanes of your griefe The Lord turne your smoking flax into a burning fire of zeale The God of all mercie and compassion refresh your weake and wounded heart with the softest o◅le of his sauing grace Nothing Sir is vnpossible to your God who of a brui sed Reede can make a pillar of Brasse which the prince of the powers of darknesse shall not be able to shake I intreat the Lord to giue you such Grace that may leade you vnto the face and presence of your GOD Bee more and more earnest with your GOD that hee would inspire your heart with Life Spirite and motion that thereby yee may bee made fitte for that blessed associatiō with Sainctes and Angels far from the crossing checkes of Conscience THE FOVRTH DAYES Conference The Pastour ACcording to your desire Sir I am come againe this morning for to visite you and for also to reape the fruites of yesterdayes conference This is the sweete fruits of a godlie life It hath saith Solomon hope in the end I pray God to blesse you with such an hope whereby in hope against hope yee may cleaue fast vnto your God finde yee the storme of your temptations alayed hath the Spirit of God giuen edge and vigour to these comfortes which yee heard yesterday Haue yee put on a Christian courage with a resolute and contented patience to abid the blessed will of your God The sicke Man Well is the man and blessed yea thrise blessed is hee whose transgressions is forgiuen whose sinne is couered for hee is free from that sting of Conscience that will for euer torment the Soule of the vngodlie All this night I haue beene sore cumbered with manie spirituall temptations as yee haue heard My Soule for a space hath beene wonderfully perplexed The spirit of mā alas is but too ingenious to debar it selfe from glorie It is a wonder how this shuld be in such a glorious Noonetyde of the Gospel hitherto Glorie bee to God yee haue comforted mee much ye haue handled my sores with the soft and smooth hand of a most wise and charitable discretion wiselie haue yee singled out comfortes most expedient for the cure of my Soule Now seeing by your former discourse I haue reaped comfort let mee bee so bold as to intreate you to declare breaflie how a man may know by the workings of the Spirit within whether he be a Reprobate or one of Gods chosen Ones It is no time for me now to bee beguiled Men which looke to die haue neede to looke well what they doe I desire earnestlie to be instructed touching the diuerse workinges of the Spirit into the wicked and the godlie My chiefe desire is to make my Saluation sure The Pastour I shall doe what I can to giue you contentment in that point The matter indeede is not without difficultie But yet the Lord God will doe nothing which hee will not reueale vnto his seruants the Prophets so farre as is needfull for his glorie the well of his People Mine helpe is in the Name of the Lord that made Heauen and Earth The Spirit of God in man hath two sortes of operations One generall another speciall As for the generall common to all men by the Spirit the wicked will say Iesus is the Lord I know Iesus said the Deuill to the sonnes of Sceuah * By this Spirite also the
vices masked with the appearance of vertues Such formal holie persons come farre short of being in Christ Iesus in whom all true goodnesse is most liuelie incorporate The sicke Man I haue heard you Sir discusse verie pertinentlie foure difficulties the fift and last and greatest is behind Often haue I wondered what could bee the true sense meaning thereof the words are these Hee will taste of the powers of the world to come What can a Reprobate haue to doe with the world to come I vnderstand not well these words The Pastour Indeed Sir they want not difficulty Some of the Learned thinke with S. Chrysostome That by the powers of the world to come are to bee vnderstood the powerfull working and miracles vnder the Gospel which in respect of the Lawe vvas called The world to come as if the dayes of the Gospel were the dayes of a new world since Christ that Day spring from on high and most glorious Sunne of Righteousnesse did appeare for to inlighten euerie man that commeth into this world But in my judgement that bee more subtile than solide I had rather thinke that Reprobats are said to taste of the powers of the world to come when they finde some sort of sweetnesse in God with a kind of desire to bee out of this world for to bee with God into the Heauens Such a desire betimes will make their heartes flutter vp toward these heauenlie Mansions But such fluttering desires wanting the feathers of Faith incontinent come short and fall downe againe with a jumpe Hee hath not a settled constancie nor well grounded resolution God at some times will let the Wicked see some glimpse of his glorie as it were a lightning that passeth most swiftlie avvay vvhich for a little space in the darke night letteth a man see that vvhich is before him But so soone as it is past his eyes become more dazeled and darkened thā they were of before such powers are but painted powers They are indeede like the liuing powers as an Image is like a man but they want the heart of godlinesse Thus according to my knowledge in a serious and impartiall search is all the vvicked mans progresse toward the kingdome of glorie All the best graces that hee hath are but glances of graces and dreames of glorie euen extreme pouertie glorious sinnes beautifull abominations These be Gods limets who hath said to him as hee said to the proud vvaues Hitherto shall yee come and no further Such a man in his best estate and conceit is but an Hypocrite lurking vnder the Canopie of a counterfeit profession His best estate is both broken and bankerupt in spirituall thinges For a space such a man may goe pleasantlie like a Shippe before the vvind but at last downe commeth a blast of judgment and sinketh him downe irrecouerablie into the bottome of hell The sicke Man I am glad to haue heard the solutions of these fiue difficulties which often did trouble my minde By all your discourse I perceiue that the Reprobates at their best feele but some generall good motions and that all their perswasions that they shall at last come to heauē are nothing but imaginations and vaine dreames of glorie Many in mine opinion are deceiued in this world who like these that dreame thinke they awake while they indeede are fast asleepe Many in this world as I see thinke to bee saued whose thoghts shal proue to be but dreames Some obscure printes of vnsound joyes though for a space they may be of good acceptance with the most godlie and clappe their owne hands as if they were in the passage to Paradise They are in end disappointed because they want true inward holinesse without which no man shall see Gods face The Pastour It is most true Sir for◅s men for the most part desire to bee flattered by others so tak they delight to flatter themselues feeding vpon fond fancies and phantasies lik Hypochondriackes or braine sicke who cannot bee perswaded but that they are Kings while indeede they are but Beggers The sicke Man This is a terrible disease But to leaue the Reprobates and come to the Elect I desire now to know of you what bee that speciall spirituall working which is onelie peculiar to the Elect and chosen Ones of God I vvish to heare of the proceedings of Gods Spirite working into the hearts of the godlie vnto their Saluation The godlie I am assured are of a more noble and heauenlie temper full of the Spirit of Grace The Pastour In my judgement where the Spirit of God worketh to the Saluation of the Soule of a sinner before it come to a full perswasion hight of assurance there is first a tempest of wrath against sinne going before the comming of God in his mercie viz. A shaking wind a trembling earthquake a burning fire vvhich lik three grimme posts come running before to tell that God is comming into the calme Before that God shew his presence into the still voyce hee proceedeth by steps and degrees First hee rebuketh the sinner of sinne and wakeneth his Conscience with some sight of his iniquities vvith some sense of that vvrath which sin hath deserued From this ariseth a great heauinesse into the heart vvhich breaketh forth both in speach countenance so that the vvorlde which know him of before will vvonder at his change as if he vvere a creature cast into another mould After that God hath thus prepared the Soule of men with thundering tempests and tremblings with blasts and vvith burnings and thereby hath made them more afraid of sin than they were of before of sinne it selfe At last he commeth vnto them into the calme of his mercie first giueth vnto them grace to flee all occasions of sinne and after that to hate the verie garment spotted with the flesh Hee vvho in despight can gnash his teeth against that vvherein once hee tooke pleasure to displease his God is not a sholler of flesh and blood not a naturall man that is content vvith ciuell outwardnesse After that the Spirit hath vvrought a detestation and hatered of sinne into the heart he putteth a cry into the heart for mercie with sighes and sobbes which cannot bee expressed Some times these sighes vvill breake out into such vvords that both speaker and hearer will vvonder vvherefrae they come After that the Spirit in his motions by a sweete and silent inspiration goeth forward in his progresse into the heart by little little with Life Light Libertie and peace of Conscience euen that peace vvhich passeth all vnderstanding and so cannot be expressed in humane words Now am I come Sir as yee heare ad metam non loquendi that I can say no more It were but folie for mee to dyue so deepe in Gods vvorkings as for to take vnto mee to declare vnto you that vvhich passeth all vnderstanding The new
their sinnes dreaming of saftie and suretie euen then their judgement lingreth not and their damnation is not in a slumber This shall they know by sense and feeling when Gods most fierie jealousie shall breake foorth vpon them like the sorrowes of a woman in trauell No sorrow can be heere like vnto their sorrowes Fire chaines rackes and lashing whips cannot expresse the shadow of one infernall tor tour All the woes that euer were heard on earth are nothing to the least of these vnpittied plaints The sicke Man I haue one question for to propound to you It is concerning the order of Christes proceeding into Iudgement What reason is there thinke ye that the Iudge in that day shall first absolue the godlie by bidding them Come with his Fathers bl◅ssing before that he speake a word vnto the wicked whose hearts in their life-time for the most parte were sealed vp by the spirit of slumber The Pastour I finde two probable reasons first because the great God of mercie is more bent to shew mercie toward his creatures than to powre vengeance vpon them and that for to teach all Iudges to execute Iustice with Grauitie and griefe Beholde heere howe our God while hee is euen come vnto the last periode giueth vnto the wicked who in their life with Whoorish fore-heads out faced the Sunne behold I say how hee giueth them a certaine respite and a delay from Hell in that space while hee is speaking vnto the Godlie And yet the more slowlie hee striketh the surer shall hee sette his blow which shall shake euerie sinew of their bodie and each power of their Soule The other reason wherefore he speaketh first to the Godlie such words of comfort and of comming is that the wicked who in the dayes of their vanitie combined sport with spight against him may see how good a God hee shall bee to all these which haue serued him heere in Faith and trueth O what shall the trembling Soules of these vvorldlre brates that would not serue Christ in their life thinke when they shall heare that Lord so sweetlie in so sweete heauenly honey vvords say vnto al his Saints his dearest Darlings whom they as out-casts despised on Earth Come yee blessed of my Father come and be all Kings with mee for euer more Come from the ◅awes of Death to the joyes of an euer blessed Life Such wordes shall make the heartes of the Godlie to daunce and leape within them for joye but shall make the heartes of the wicked to droope and to bleede for sorrow O what would Diues in the fyre boyling Lacke then giue for to bee in the place of Lazarus Manie Kings of Princelie but prophane blood which haue borne the Crowne and swayed the Scepter aboue the heades of many thousāds being drunke with idolatric Secret murther of their Parents for to sit vpō their Throne shal thē spue and fall but shall neuer rise againe They all drenched in a poole of vvrath shall wish in that day that they had vvept and vvypt the feete of Le◅s with the haires of their head yea that they had beene borne Beggers hauing the Faith and feare of Iesus My heart trembleth to think how so many thousands who deemed dreamed once to bee saued shall with damned Deuils rush downe to the snakie poole of perdition because like Swyne in their life they trampled vnder feete the precious pearle of mercie purchased by the Blood of Iesus The sicke Man After that the sentence shal be pronounced whether thinke yee that the wicked shall first goe to paine or the Godlie vnto pleasure The Pastour It would seeme by the words of the Gospel that the wicked that base brood of corruption to whome Christ hath spokē last shal first goe to torment After that the doome is giuen out with a roaring thūder it is said these shal goe away to euerlasting punishmēt but the righteous vnto life eternal After that the wicked are like chaffe chaissed away to brimstone beames the Armes of Christ and the Gates of Glorie shall stād wide open for to giue entrance to the righteous whō the Father Christ of Iesus shall receiue with most cordiall embracements vnto their euerlasting comfort Blessed are they who nowe cast their bread vpon the vvaters looking neither for thankes nor recompence from men for then they shall bee richlie rewarded by God The sicke Man What reason thinke yee can bee of that order that before the Godlie goe to Glorie the vvicked all in a r◅ue shall bee hurled away to euerlasting punishment beeing thrust downe into the dominions of darknes most fearfull spectacles of amazement O how these so mi◅ie men shal then bee pensiue and perplexed The Pastour This would seeme to be the maine reason viz. For thereby to kindle vp so much the more the loue of the Godlie toward their God The bitter bickering and fearefull squeeles of the Reprobate hurling downe to hell beeing heard and seene by the Godlie shall make the joyes of heauen to relish the sweeter vnto them If while a people were in a Church the Church should fall downe and smother the one halfe not doing any harme vnto the other these who should escape should by beholding the crushed and bloodie bones of others much more be rauished with the joy of such a deliuerance than if the house had not fallen at all When Dathan and Abiram with their companies sanke down to Hell in the sight of all Israel what joye thinke ye had these whom the earth did beare aboue Manie who neuer in their life gaue God thankes for that the sward of the earth hath borne them aboue if they should see such a sight as of Dathan and of Abiram they would regard the benefite the more and would giue God moe thankes for that one mercie than for all by-gane fauours shewed vnto them since they beganne to vvalke vpon the ground Wee thanke God little that the earth beareth vs aboue because wee see it not swallow vp sinners with a gaping gulfe while men see the miserie of others it wakens into them the sense of Gods mercie toward them O how glad shall the Godlie bee then that they haue serued God when they shall see the Deuil his Darnell the wicked seede cast into a fierie Lake when these blessed soules shal see the hels opē the black deuils flashing fire into the faces of the wicked hurling away these damned spirits with fearfull cryes shrikes downe to the dungeons of distresse to most vile Vaults of darknesse entrinched among gnawing wormes stinking Scorpions and hissing Serpents then they who were wont to weepe for the sins of the wicked in this life shal haue no cōpassion on them but shall laugh to see them lashed rejoycing in the justice of their God powred out vpon these that in a selfe liking of their owne estate despised the sweetenes of his mercie O happie
they who gather themselues before the decree come foorth Behold and consider what a change is this These who mourned of before for their sinnes shall then solace themselues in their sorrowes The shriks squoakes of these damned soules falling down to hel which shal be to the wicked a song of judgement shal be to the Godlie in that day quite otherwise euen a song of mercie full of mirth and of Musicke O how sweete then shall mercie bee to the Godlie when they shall see what Gods fearefull vengeance shall work on the wicked whom their life by an accursed Alchymie turned the grace of their God into wantonnesse O how rejoyced shall their heartes bee when that great IEHOVAH shall begin to sway with his Almightie Arme that mace of yron for to dash these fore-lorne limmes with paine both of sense and of losse Then shall the Theefe wish that both his hands had beene maimed and mutilate Then shall the vncleane person whose eyes are filled with adulterie and filthinesse wish that he had beene borne blind Then shall the Drunkard wish that he had beene borne without a mouth Then shall the Blasphemer a man of bloody oathes wish that his tongue with a Turkesse had beene torne out of his throat This also for a surplus shall bee joyned to their anguish none shall bee for to wish them well or for to condole their miserie The decree beeing once come foorth and the doome of damnation beeing once pronounced with these wordes of command Depart from mee c. All the vngodlie in scarlet abominations who in their excessiue pride rousted on high as in Eagles nests shall in that day fall down with Deuils into that Dungeon and ward house of Hel wher ther is no light but for to let these which are tormented see their miserie no darknesse but that which may hid from their eyes all sortes of comfort Then all their by-past burning pleasures shall bee quenched into the fire of Hell lik◅ed hote yrō quenched into water with an extinguishing noise Nothing shal be then but shouting gnashing of teeth sighing sobbing and fearfull groanes Fewell of fire and garments rolled in blood All wicked Soules shall that daye bee drencht into an Occan of desperat displeasure and shall bee carried away with an invnding spaite of spitefull wrath O what joye shall bee kindled into the heartes of the Godlie when on the one hand they shall behold the miseries of the Theiues Drunkards Adulterers Fornicators and Blasphemers who were wont wantonlie to stretch out their throates into high blastes of blasphemie whē on the other part they shall consider how God in mercie hath fastened them as nailes into a sure place which cannot bee shaken O what gladnesse of heart shall the Saintes haue after that they haue seene the wicked tumbled downe into Hell to see what companie they shall be into among Angels of light loue with Christ himselfe in whose face is fulnesse of joye at whose right hand are pleasures for ouermore These pleasures vnspeakable for the greatnesse of themselues shal bee commended vnto the Godlie by two by-respects First by the consideration of that infinite woe and hellish virulencie without anie mixture of mercie whereinto they shall see the wicked to be plunged wherof they shall bee free Secondlie by the rememberance of the miserie whereinto they liued while they did dwell on earth during the dayes of their vanitie their estate changed to the better shall become the sweeter Are they not these who are called Lillies among the thornes doeth Scripture call them These that are come out of the great tribulations Their by-past tribulations shall wonderfullie commend their present felicitie This wee see to be of great force by daylie experience The considerations first of other mens woes of the calamities wherewith at other times vvee haue beene perplexed are like Hunger which like good sauce giueth rellish and taste to course things which at other times wee thinke to bee no dainties To the hungrie Soule euerie bitter thing is sweete How sweete thē shall the sweetnesse of Gods face be to the Godlie after all their terrours are past after they haue seene the wicked these fearfull mis-chappen brats tumbled down the steepe precipes of eternall destruction What pleasures I pray you shall these bee when pleasures for euermore shall be joyned with the rememberance of all these tribulations wherin wee were enwrapped while our feete stackefast in the myre All these considerations joyned together with vnspeakable pleasures shall make the Harpes of God sound Halleluiah Halleluiah for euer and euer Such meditations ouerflow my Soule dyuing in such depths Now Sir yee haue heard of the last thinges which shall bee done in this world heere is the conclusion of the last judgement The wicked as S. Matthew saith shall goe away to euerlasting punishment but the Righteous to Life eternall The sicke Man O but mine heart is sore moued within mee while I thinke of that deepe Gulfe whereinto all wretched Soules shall bee plunged O yee who in the dayes of your vanitie drink vp the very Creame flower of the earth al your pleasures now thē must be gone Oh that euer anone we culd applie this vnto our hearts My soule is look one liking down from an high and steepie place The meditations of these woes of the wicked makal my senses to be troubled al my spirits to be confusedlie shuffled together my heart within me is so tossed to fro that it is come like a squissed egge whose yolke is mingled with its white All my thoughtes are confounded as one that is into an hurlie burlie Good Lord let thy visions bee vnto my Soule visions of peace The blessed God preserue vs from all these woes Lord make vs all to cleaue to thee with full purpose of Soule Now to come to the purpose In your discourse ye haue powerfullie let mee see the wicked swallowed vp in a fearefull gulfe Let mee heare now what becommeth of the godly The Pastour After that Christ hath giuen them his Blessing saying vnto them Come yee blessed of my Father c. They all beeing crowned and clothed in royall apparell shall all in good order goe triumphantlie in Charets vp to the Heauen of heauens with such shoutes of triumph and of Ioye of Loue and of Laud as was neuer heard since the world was founded Then shall that prophecie bee fulfilled God is gone vp with a shout the Lord with the sound of a Trumpet Sing praises to God sing praises That shal be the Lambes marriage day a day that shall neuer bee darkened with a night a Feast that shall neuer bee followed with a Fast. The day of the bringing of a Queene to the King of the Land is a day of great joye What pleasure can bee had of Mirth or Musicke shall not bee away that
yet the inward man is renewed day by day There bee some other good words following but my memorie faileth mee The Pastour I shall helpe you Sir in that matter The verse following is For our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for vs a farre more exceeding and eternall weight of glorie The sicke Man These bee the words indeede I finde great difficultie in these words I pray you to make them cleare What is that to say Though the outward man perish yet the inward man is renewed day by day The Pastour The interpretation of these words is that the corruption and decaying of the outward man by diuerse crosses and calamities Servit renovando homini interno is a meanes for the renewing of the inward man that we may grow in godlinesse By the outward man is vnderstood the bodie By the inward the Spirit the mind By the weakening of the bodie the Spirit is made strong The sicke Man But what say yee of these words that our light affliction which is but for a moment is said to worke for vs or to cause vnto vs an exceeding and eternall weight of glorie Is that the merite and worth of affliction The Pastour The Romane Church expounds it so that by such afflictions men merit euerlasting glory Indeed the words in the original seeme much to fauour that exposition The wordes are these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cauficit parie operatur nobis that is Causeth or worketh that glorie But it is certaine that affliction yâ— is light for a moment both light short cannot be properlie a cause of an euerlasting and infinite â—…ight of glorie A moment cannot be the mother of eternitie That which is so light can neuer bring out an infinite weight But God who is infinite in poâ—…er maketh affliction a meanes for to bring vs vntâ—… glorie as good works are via regâ—… causa regâ—…di the way to the Kingdome but not the cause of reigning so through the way of manie tribulations wee must enter into Gods Kingdome The Scripture is the best interpreter of it selfe Abraham who was the Father of the Faithfull was not justified either by his doinges or his sufferings If Abraham were justified by workes hee â—…th whereof to glorie but not before God Shame shall come vpon him who glorieth of that whereof hee may not glorie before God I darre boldly glorie before God of his mercie and of my Lords merits but to glorie of mans righteousnesse a monstrous cloth is an abomination before GOD If sufferinges and calamities could efficientlie cause merit that infinite weight of Glorie how did S. Paul reckon when hee said I reckon that the sufferings of thâ—… present time are not worthy to be coÌ„pared with the glorie which shall bee reuealed in vs This maketh the matter cleare that our light afflictions of a moment cannot efficientlie and meritoriouslie purchase vnto vs an exceeding and eternall weight of glorie they are indeed good meanes wherby our Soules are fitted and furthered in the way to Glorie The sicke Man I euer hold that the surest ground that a man be little in his own eyes Sinfull flesh cannot bee too humble before God That Religion which giueth greatest glorie vnto God casteth mans own worth most down hath the clearest marke of trueth Daniel pointeth at this while hee saith O Lord righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee but vnto vs confusion of faces I am now satisfied in the exposition of these wordes wherein I did euer finde much difficultie Now Sir if your memorie serueth you can yee tell what is said by the Apostle in the Chapter following I remember that some notable thinges there be spoken of immortall Glorie The Pastour Indeede in the beginning of that Chapter there bee notable wordes For wee know saith the Apostle that if the earthlie house of this Tabernacle were dissolued wee haue a building of God an house not made with sand eternall in the heauens For in this wee groane earnestlie desiring to be clothiâ—… vpon with our house which is from heauen If so bee that beeing cloathed wee shall not bee found naked For we that are in this Tabernacle doe grone being burdened not that wee would bee vâ—…cloathed but cloathed vpon that mortalitie might bee swallowed vp of life c. While wee are at home in the bodie wee are absent from the Lord c. Wee are confident and willing rather to bee absent from the bodie and to bee present with the Lord. The sicke Man These indeede bee the words I could neuer well vnderstand them doubtles they be words full of comforts for these that are looking for a better Life I pray you Sir to giue mee the exposition thereof The Pastour Indeede Sir they want not great difficultie neither doeth that which I say make for the doctrine of papists who affirme that the Scriptures are obscure and therefore must not bee reade by the common people It is by reading that men purchase vnderstanding The Doctors themselues before they read are ignorant neither was it euer heard that Scriptures was abused so much by the common people as by these who are most Learned Where heare wee that the Merchand the Artifan or rurall men beginne Heresies Are not they forged in the vnsanctified braines of these in who are lodged the oppositions of science falsely so called It is oftest seene that throgh Philosophie and vaine deceit The Soule of man are spoiled not by ignorance of the simplest sort There is none obscuritie in Gods Word that should debarre the people young or olde from the reading of it The Letter which my God hath written vnto me I may open it and read it and see what my Fathers will is The Spirite of God in S. Iohn leading his haÌ„d hath set down these wordes I write vnto you Fathers c. I write vnto young men c. I write vnto you little Children c. Who hath power to forbid any man to read the Missiue Letter which his God hath written vnto him Moreouer there is such a Light in Gods word that will make a blind man to see The light of the Sun will shew and discouer hid things in darknesse unto him who hath eyes but cannot make a blind man to sâ—… But the light of Gods word Meiraâ—… Henaâ—…m facit ut oculi videant it maketh the eyes for to see In that Psalme also it is said That the Law of the Lord maketh wise the simple It is a great ignorance for Papist Doctors to close claspe their Bibles from the hands of the ignorant simple ones seeing by this word the simple are made wise It is written to the euerlasting praise of the men of Berea that after Paul had preached they searched the Scriptures for trying of his Doctrine These be the words of their praise These were more noble than these
fire and Candles in the night time as in any other Citie But to Ierusalem aboue God hath said The Sun shall no more bee thy light by day neither for brightnesse shall the Moone giue light vnto thee But the Lord shall bee vnto thee an euerlasting light and thy God thy Glorie Thy Sunne shall no more goe down neither shall thy Moone with-draw it selfe for the Lord shall bee thine euerlasting Light 5 In the earthly Ierusalem often in place of Iustice was a seat of malice But in the new Ierusalem euill judges shall haue no sitting but the Throne of God and of the Lambe shall bee in it an appointed seat for the righteous Lord who shall lay judgment to the line and righteousnesse to the plummet The sicke Man O but my Soule is going to a pleasant Palace O thou my Soule rejoyce within mee that God hath prepared such pleasures for thee O how ami◅ble are thy Tabernacles O Lord of hostes Mine heart is in heauen Glorious things are spoken of the◅ O thou Citie of our God The Pastour It is certaine that mans heart can not conceiue the beautie of these buildings within If the house of God on earth seemed so pleasant to King Dauid that hee counted this the one thing hee would seeke that hee might dwell into it what shall wee thinke or say concerning Gods Palace in the Heauens One thing said hee haue I desired of the Lord that I will seeke after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life to behold the BEAVTIE of the Lord. Lords mercie what dulnesse and deadnesse of heart is this that wee seeke not after the same should not this be our one thing euen our onelie hearts desire to dwell with God aboue for to behold that BEAVTIE of the Lord these euer g◅eene pleasures in his celestiall arbours There is nothing heere below which can bee sufficient for to expresse the image nay not the shadowe of these things that are aboue In the most glorious creatures which are below as Gold Glasse Crystall Pearles and precious Stones we may see some thinges like shadowes of these glorious thinges aboue But there is no creature heere which can carrie to our imagination the shadow let bee the image of the glorie that is vp into that Holie of holies O but God is wonderfull in counsell and excellent in working But our Soules are so sleepie and sluggish that they cannot consider The fancies and folies of the earth bring vs quite out of conceite with celestiall pleasures Alas in the best of vs the seedes of grace lye buried vnder the thornes shamefullie ouertopped by them The little dramme of goodnesse in our hearts is waighed down with weightie talents of wickednes a mighty streame of earth◅y thoghts and worldlie desires lik a Torrent carieth our Soules down the hill from all heauenlie contemplations The clawing flatterers of our worldly affections whisper vnto vs that it is good for vs to bee heere The sicke Man The Lord subdue the master sinne which like a Ring-leader and head of all wickednesse maketh all our purest conceptions of heauen to be come moodie and drumlie O Lord let thy graces in mee bee presentlie vp in armes for to remoue all such earthlie mindednesse from mine heart by the power of thy diuine Armerouse vp this drousie soule that it may seeke thee afresh by a renewed act of Faith and Repentance Make mine heart to detaste all earthlie pleasures which are but rotten at the heart Kindle in mine heart a loue of thy Palace aboue stirre vp all my desires with a foretaste of the pleasures that are there that finding the comfortable relish thereof I may most willingly desire to be dissolued and to bee with Christ in the heauens for euer O Lord in stead of all meanes both outward inward supplie mee aboundantlie with the presence of thy Spirit Waine my Soule from the loue of the earth that thou may winne it to the loue of the Heauens O happie they who studie to pietie and puritie for no vncleane thing shall bee able to enter into these mansions O Lord let vs not bee like these who after that they haue seemed to disgorge their stomackes most filthilie with the Dogge swallow vp their owne vomit againe O shelter mee and saue me from the vnsoundnesse and vnsettlednesse of a deceitfull heart that I lash not out into the excesse of supperfluitie of wickednesse now while wee are speaking of the heauens make all the loue of the earth hencefoorth to bee cryed downe into my Soule The Pastour Lord heare thou in Heauen I am rejoyced that while we are speaking of the heauens the Spirite of grace furnisheth you with such heauenlie prayers which would hearten any man to runne thorow hell to Heauen except that hee bee of the number of these who thinke it but a tricke to goe to hell The sicke Man I pray you now Sir to continue into that purpose concerning the glorie of Heauen for it affecteth much my Soule Your powerfull speach maketh my minde to stay in a feeling meditation vpon these beauties that are aboue If I heard not such good purpose my mind would either feede vpon dull and fruitlesse melancholie or else should gade and runne ryot in reuellings and in a world of foolish and fond imaginations The thoughts of man cannot runne long without rubor interruption in Spirituall things except that God in mercie both support them outwardlie and sinew them inwardlie by the finger of his Spirit The hearts of men are so light in their gading that moste easilie are they moued to glide ouer the best things and either swinishlie to wallow infilthinesse or furiouslie to follow these whose whole pregnancie of witte is spended vpon trifles Thus mirrilie they passe away that tyme wherein they should redeeme the time that is past I wish that mine heart by your discourse were confined to celestiall meditations Proceede now I pray you where yee left at last The Pastour My speach was that all the most glorious creatures that wee can either see aboue or below are lesse thā shadowes types or figures of things that are within the Heauens In them as in a Glasse we see weaklie the invisible things of God As a man not beeing able to face the Sun beholdeth him in a Basen full of water and yet not without some dazeling of his sight That weakened light will mak his eyes to water and teares to trickle downe If the glory of one of Gods seruants be so glistering in robes of light that no man can behold him but into the glasse of another creature and that also with great paine It is certaine that God must put many moe creatures betweene himselfe and vs that the glorie of his beames beeing weakened by diuerse reflexes from one creature to another man with his weake tender eyes may looke
her Consider well I pray you If the beholding of the glorie of an earthlie Prince so rauished the heart not of a rusticke that will easilie wonder at any thing but of a Queene yea and so that no more spirit remained in her what should it bee if we should get but as through the graâ—… one sight thorow the heauens of that great God of Solomon sitting vpon his Throne If but for the quarter of an houre wee might see the meate of his Tablâ—… and the standing of his seruants the attendance of his Ministers Saincts Angels casting downe their Crownes at his feete if I say wee could see these things as they are this our Spirit shuld be caried toward him witâ—… such a strong bent affection thaâ—… 〈◊〉 should not tarie within vs but being rauished should runne out of this body of clay for to goe abide with him that made it among pleasures perfectlie abstracted from paine If God as hee is should appeare vnto vs were it neuer so little the bonds of our bodies should not be able for to fetter so our Soules but at the first sight of God they with a most flagrant desire should flutter out of sinfull clay for to enjoye his most amiable presence wherein are pleasures exempted from all hazard of surprysall That which I say giueth some light to these wordes which God said to Moses No man can see my face and liue As for the wicked I giue this interpretation that the sight of Gods face shuld kil them as light killeth darknes or as the day is the slaughter of the night But God who killeth not but quickeneth the killed of his owne chosen if by them hee were seene in the face on earth they shuld dye not a violent death but they should die for loue to bee at him At the first sight of his Face their Soules would not remaine any more in clay but loathing their bodies they should make haste for to flie to their God So soone as Steuen saw the Heauens opened the Son of man standing at the right hand of God his Soule tooke post to the heauens Albeit the Burrios thought that they chaised it out with stroakes and with stones yet it is certaine that fra once hee got that sight his Soule was more desirous to bee out of his bodie for loue of Heauen than the Soule of the most wicked man can bee desirous to abide still within for feare of Hell There is such an attractiue loue in Gods countenance that if the Soule in flesh could once see it the bodie should not bee able to keepe it any more within no not for the space of a moment As the load stone draweth vnto it the yron by a secret and vnspeakable draught so in the face of God there is such an attractiue force that of neede force the godlie Soule at the first sight of it must flie vp vnto it As the Sun by the force of his beames raised vp the vapours towardes heauen euen so if God would but turne his face to anie Soule with the least blinke thereof hee should draw vp that Soule vnto himselfe like a vapour raised vp by the force of the Sunne Consider how the sight but of his backe partes maketh many a well resolued Christian to cry vp vnto him Cupio dissolvi I desire to bee dissolued What is that but the faithfull Soule haling like an Hawke for to flie from the mortall heart as from the hand of a stranger for to come home to her Lord in eternitie O thrise happie hee whose name is in the Booke and whose Soule is in the bundle of life O the gaine that wee haue by the mercie of God in the fall of Adam In Paradise man might liue or die On earth hee now liueth and must die But in Heauen wee shall so liue that wee can no more die O blessed life of eternitie neuer to haue an end into that other world Oh that wee could spend this life in a sacred violence in pursute of that celestiall crowne of immortalitie Happie is hee who keepeth a narrow watch ouer all the stirringes and imaginations of his heart in consideration of that day Happie is hee who maketh all his joys pleasures and all his best beloued thinges below to bee by standers waiting on the seruice of that one thing which onelie is necessarie The sicke Man My Soule is so rauished with youâ—… speach that it flutters within mee â—… haleth to bee away from this mortalitie for to goe dwell into these heauenlie Mansions with the God of glorie Our best thinges below in their verie quintessence are defiled with the moode of home bred corruption All haue neede to be renewed in the verie spirit of their minde Let it please you Sir yet to continue in describing the beautie of Paradise The Pastour If man oâ—… Earth could belieue the beautie of the Heauens to be in any measure such as it is hee would bee glad at his heart to forsake the moulding cottages of clay Seeing the out-sid of heauen is so glorious what must bee the in side Solomons Temple was a type of Heauen The further a man went in he saw the greater beautie In the out most Couâ—… was but an Altar of brasse for the sâ—…crificing of beastes Into the inward Court stood an Altar of Gold for offering of incense of sweet persumâ—…s But that which was in most viz Sanctum Sanctorum the Holie of holies was all full of Glorie There God himselfe was heard in a voyce beetweene the Cherubins There was the Ark called The Glorie wherin were the Tables of Gods word Aarons flourished Rod the Manna There was the Word for the instruction of the Soule There were the Almond floorishes like a pleasant Spring for rejoycing of the eye There also was Mannah for meate the type of that euerlasting Soule feast in the Heauens Behold a compend of the three most pleasaÌ„t seasons of the yeare First there was the seed of the word after that the Summer flowers of pleasure in the flowrishing Rod And last there was the fruitfull haruish of Manna for meat In a word in that Holie of holies the figure of Heauen was the Mercieseaâ—… the speciall place of Gods residence But all the beautie of that Temple were not sufficient to expresse the shadowe of these that are aboue the starres S. Paul after that hee had beene rauished vp to the third heauens got a charge from God that hee should not tell what hee had heard or seene there Onelie this hee declared after that hee was come downe that vp into Paradise hee had heard vnspeakable words which no tongue of flesh could bee able to pronounce But though such words had beene speakable the Apostle declareth that it was not lawfull for a man to vtter them Alas what can the earthlie low creeping worâ—…s of our highest eloquence expresse of these
drawe the desires of his heart to abide into that P◅lace of pleasures where there is Light without Darknesse Mirth without Sadnesse Health without Sicknesse Wealth without want Beautie without blemish For the sake of thy dea◅e Selfe seale vp into his Soule the assurance of thy loue that in all bol◅nesse through the bleeding bowels of Christes compassions hee may come to the Throne of thy grace frō thence he may enter into glory O LORD the comfort the joye and the glorie of Israel Bee fauourable to thy distressed Sainctes dispersed vpon the Earth Thy Church here below is like a shippe on the sea Though it floate aloft it is fore tossed to and f◅o with wind and with waue thou therin seemeth whiles to sleep Now LORD at last awake in these boisterous blastes Master Master saue vs for wee perish Awake O LORD and rebuke the winds Alas O LORD thou seemeth now to lowre in thy wrath by driuing all our petitions from Thee with a darke and cloudie countenance so that these that trust in Thee are cleane dashed out of countenance while they heare the scorninges of the aduersaries who nowe waste and hauocke thy Vine Arise O LORD as a man of war Awake as one out of sleepe and like a mightie man that shouteth by reason of Wine Smite thou all the enemies in the hinder partes and put them to a perpetuall reproach Take the Cudgell into thine hand and stricke a way these Dogges which follow Thee but for crustes Let vs neuer bee colde or carelesse in the distresse of others but for to assure vs that wee are all members of one Bodie giue vs this pledge of mourning with these that mourne Make vs all to bee grieued for the affliction of Ioseph Blesse our gracious SOVERAIGNE with the Spirit of Wisedome and of Grace Rescue Him from all dangers both bodilie ghostlie Thogh Hee bee a Prince among men yet Hee is thy Subject Thou who by Grace hast made Him to reigne ouer thy people on earth at the end of his appointed time when the dayes of His Reigne shall bee happilie finished exalt Him highlie in the heanens among thy Sainctes and Angels So long as Hee is heere let Him know that it standeth Him fast in hand to bee an Hornager vnto Thee Direct him so in all His cariage that His whole life may bee to all His Subjects an holy patronage of good example Let Him neuer retract nor repeale that vow which Hee made at His Coronation for to maintaine the puritie of thy Gospel and for to bee a louing Father vnto thy people Cloth his enemies with shame but vpon Himselfe make His Crowne to flourish Blesse His Royall Match Make Her to striue stretch all the powers of Her Soule by prayer in searching the sincere knowledge of thy truth LORD in Her carefull search make Her to say at last with the Spouse I haue found him whom my Soule loueth I will not let him goe Thou LORD louest Trueth in the inward partes and therefore so sanctifie Her Hearte that She may day lie thriue in the power of Godlinesse Though all outward meanes should faile Her bee Thou to Her in stead of all meanes aboundantlie supplying Her with the power and presence of thy Spirit Leuell LORD Her Heart directlie to the loue of Christ of him crucified that by a true liuelie Faith in him Shee may shine among the Sainctes in Heauen like one who in a great measure hath beene receiued in Grace on earth Let thy Preastes bee cloathed with righteousnesse Blesse all our Nobles mak them truelie noble not like Ephraim whose righteousnesse was like the morning dew Let them neuer for feede or fauour slinke or shrinke back from the puritie of thy Gospel established in this Land Giue vnto vs all courage for the Trueth that wee may bee bold to resist euen vnto the blood not beeing like these who at the first in an hote and hastie zeale promise faire with Peter but anone at the first womanlie temptation start aside like deceitfull bowes Suffer no sinne to goe current with vs without check Let vs neuer follow the sway of tymes with sewed Cushions vnder our Elbowes LORD abide with vs this night As thou hast drawne the night Curtaine of darknesse vpon the face of the earth so bee thou a pillar of the cloude betweene vs and our enemies Hide our soules from Sathans temptations as by the cloudie pillar thou hid the Israelites from the Egyptians Make vs this night to sleepe softlie and soundlie in thine Armes that our bodies beeing refreshed with sleepe may bee the better enabled to morrow for to sette foorth thy Glorie in the work of our Vocation LORD let these our weake prayers come vp before Thee like Pillars of smoke perfumed with the liuelie sauoure of thy Son To whom with Thee and the Spirit of Grace bee endlesse Glorie and Dominion for euer Now Sir wee haue recommended you God to who is stretching out the Armes of his mercie readie for to receiue your Soule into the bosome of his Loue Make you nowe readie for him for in all appearance ye are not farre from the doores of death Bee vigilant in prayer lest Satan yet put in his leauen into the Spirites dough and so by sowring it make it distastfull to the Lord By a little droppe of filth the pure webbe of the Spirit will become a menstruous cloath The sicke Man The lost Sheepe is found I giue you most heartie thankes for that feruent prayer I pray God that it be heard in the Heauen as Solomon prayed for these that prayed in the Temple which he had builded saying Then heare thou in Heauen Lord graunt that these comforts and contentments bee not deceiuable feelinges and flashings of joye O Lord let not the Spirit of Grace in this new birth recoyle as once Zarah in Thamars wombe Seeing God hath furnished me with a new spirituall strength I wish that I culd imploy it well for the short space that I haue to liue among mortall wightes in this region of corruption O Lord stirre all the streames of mine affections toward thy selfe Wound ward weaken wasle all my delightfull and darling sinnes that my whole joye may rest on Thee command confine all my thoghts to thy selfe that by Faith my Soule may seaze and lay hold on the merits of Christ the celestiall Pearles of price Disburthen my soule of euerie weight that hangeth so fast on lest that thereby it should bee swayed away from Thee I finde mine hearte stirred with a feruent desire to powre out it selfe in prayer before God I pray you all that sit by to joyne your affections with mine into this worke The sicke mans Prayer for himselfe O LORD the Father of mercies and GOD of all Consolation bee present in thy great mercie with mee thy vnworthie seruant into this time of trouble suffer mee earth and ashes to speake
good therefore that yee summon your hearte and your glorie to giue praise vnto your God Let not a thought of your heart absent it selfe from this point of seruice God must not bee serued by halfes As for mee I am but the Lordes weak Instrument for your well Giue God the glorie The sicke Man Blesse the Lord O my Soule all that is within mee blesse his holie Name I desire now to come with Dauid to my last words A speach of the sicke Man to his Pastour First of all I addresse my speach to you my worthie Pastour Gods mercie in you toward mee hath beene great for yee haue soundlie vnfolded all the intricate difficulties wherwith my Soule hath beene fearefullie entangled Yee are one of these that may well say Wee haue the mind of Christ God by his Grace haue made you that one of a thousand you haue I found to bee like Ionah the sonne of Amittai that is the sonne of trueth Happie is that Preacher who is ledde in all trueth O the Majestie of that message O the wisedome of these that gaine Soules vnto Christ Wisedome hath said That hee that winneth soules is wise O but my Soule loueth you My loue toward you assureth mee of Gods loue toward mee for by this wee know that wee are translated from death to life because wee loue the Brethren I loue you Sir in the dearest blood I haue for yee haue beene the good instrument of God for my conuersion ye in all my troubles while mine heart was toucht to the quicke and my Conscience ransackt to the bottome haue beene to mee a Barnab as a sonne of consolations where with as with splents ye haue bound mine heart God in great mercie hath giuen vnto you the tongue of the Learned with lippes touched with a coale from his Altar for the relieuing of my wounded Conscience with words of comfort O but that is true a whole some tong is a tree of life By the sword of the Word ye haue cut the twisted bonds of my greatest temptations wherein my Soule lay fast fettered Mine heart hath beene greatlie rejoyced to heare you resoluing al my doubts and difficulties O howe beautiful are the feete of these that bring goâ—… tydings Now I finde that of Solomon to bee true The word of the wiâ—… are as goads and as nailes fastened by the Masters of assemblies which are giuen from one Shepheard Christ that great Shepheard of the flocke 〈◊〉 with your words as with goades â—… nailes so fastened me to himselfe that Death it selfe shall not bee able to seuer vs Yee haue wonderfullâ—… restored my sicke Soule with flagonâ—… of the most sweete juice of the cluster of wine Ye haue bound vp my broâ—… ken joynts with the spirituall splenâ—… of diuine comforts O in what woefull plight O in what seas of gall was I plunged when yee came first vnto mee there was nothing sound into my Souleâ—… All was full of botches boiles and puâ—…trifying sores But yee like a cunning Surgeon in curing tumours haue broght the matter to an â—…ead and at last with great skill ye haue launced the boiles of my corruptions whereof nowe God in mercie hath made mee free I tremble to remember these fearefull temptations wherewith yee found mee at the first beset and besieged These were indeede such temptations as Bernard called Terribilia de fide horribilia de divinitate Sathan hath assaulted mee both in a blacke shape and into an Angel of light By your sweete comforts my Soule hath beene reuiued like that dead man that liued by touching the bones of Elisha Yee haue fed my Soule with the doctrine of your breastes bigge as Towers Yee haue strengthened and sinewed my weake Soule with comfortable words wouen and wrought out of a feeling heart by the strength of holy meditations And now happie are yee who haue beene the instrument of my conuersion I hope to bee one day one of these that shall stand at your backe when yee shall say to your Master Christ Behold heere I am and the children that God hath giuen mee Account me Sir one of these Talents that yee haue gained with the Talent of your gift Your wordes haue stricken home vnto mine heart with powerfull and particular applications of comforts whereby my disaffected Soule hath beene wooed and wone vnto the loue of my Sauiour Iesus account me therefore a seale of your Ministerie Ye know better than I what God hath promised to these that with a readie minde shal conuert a sinner from his euill ways such as God himselfe hath promised shall bee like the starres in the Firmament for euer From your lips is come the sweetest balme that euer dropt from the penne of God vpon the leaues of the Booke of life Blessed bee my God who by his good Spirit into your mouth hath breathed most sweete comfortes into my Soule Woe to all Doctours of dispaire Blessed bee your lips wherein God hath placed the preseruation of knowledge Your tongue to mee hath beene like a siluer watch bell to rouse and waken vp the gifts of God within my Soule God by his words in your mouth declaring vnto man his righteousnesse hath blowne vp his Graces which were weake into mine heart like a smoking flaxe or a sparkle of fire vnder greene wood Blessed bee my God who by your diuine instructions hath made mee to bee acquainted with himselfe Your comforts hath beene cordials and lenitifes to the ranking and festered sores of my Soule To God bee glorie who hath made you moste cunning of that great Arte of sauing sinners O my deare Pastor by the refreshing Balme of your consolations ye haue infinitly indeered my soule you to gâ—…s one of a thousand I am assured that God hath made you faithfull with Ieremie for to take foorth the preciouâ—… from the vile Nowe my God with whom I thinke to bee shortlie bee with you in your Ministerie make you his faithfull seruant vnto death that ye may bee a worthie wooer for Christ for to bring home manie straggling sinners vnto him the blessed Bridegroome of our Soules Farewell now my faithfull Pastour My Soule now is glad to flitte from this house of clay As for my bodie it must goe to the graue where for a space it shall bee confined but not confounded for I looke assuredlie for the day of the Resurrection O Lord seale vp in my Conscience the discharge of all my sinnes that I may gladlie lay downe this Tabernacle The Pastour Mine heart rejoyceth with an exceeding great joy to reape such fruits of my labours But this know that what good yee haue by mee it is not from mee but from him that sent me * It is God that giueth life Soule vnto the Word that is powerfull to Saluation Paul may plant and Apollos may
water but it is God who giueth the increase The best of all Preachers are but like Iohn the Baptist the voyce of a Cryer who could not make all the crooked straight nor the rough plaine If any good bee conuoyed vnto your Soule by mee I am but the Instrument or Channell wherethorow the Spirit of Iesus hath made his Graces to flow vnto you To Him alone belongeth the Glorie and the Thankes It is not humane eloquence which conuerceth Soules One word quickened and enliued with his Spirit is more fruitfull than all the glorious eare-pleasing pompe of mans wordes which like Agrippa and Bernice are full of phantasie All the good that man can doe either by word or worke is like the honie in the combe gathered out of many flowers But the euill is lik the Spidders webbe drawne out of our owne bowels The griefes of your heart Sir haue bene very great but now ye are mercifullie comforted Manie in this world plod on from sin to sin marching merrilie feareleslie towards the plagues of Hell But O how much are yee beholden vnto your GOD who in all your wearisome mazes hath supported and sinewed your Soule by his sauing Grace Because Sir there be here diuerse of your Friendes and other acquaintance vnto whom it may be ye wold desire to speake I giue place to them that now they may learne something of you The last words of a godlie man are verie forcible vnto the liuing And therefore Sir while ye haue breath spend your short time vpon this that by your good counsell yee may doe good to these that are for to liue after you That once done commit your Soule to God as a faithful Creator He himselfe hath said I will not leaue thee neither will I forsake thee A speach of the sicke Man to his Friendes And now yee my trustie Friends whose age God hath crowned with ripenesse of judgement I turne my selfe to you But first of all let mee speak vnto you my spiritual special Friend who in my deepest plunge while I was fast sticking into the myrie clay did vphold me with your comforts Your counsell to sende for my Pastour hath prouen a speciall salue for my sore God by that man of whom yee spake hath now healed my Soule of all its harmes O blessed be that vnspeakable mercy of my God Though Sathan had bereaued mee of my puritie he could not bereaue my God of his pittie The Lord of light hath brought my Soule out of that long and loathsome night which is in the valley of the shadow of death in comparison whereof the most palpable darknesse of Egypt might haue beene esteemed to bee day O that pleasant Sunne-shine wherewith my Soule is nowe inlightned O my God breath more more into my Soule the life of grace The spirituall Friend Glorie bee to God for his wonderfull mercies towardes you The Lord now set your Soule on wing that swiftlie like an Eagle it may flie vp to its God Many a sore assault haue yee suffered since I spake with you at the first Satan his temptations with the world the corruption of Nature had gathered themselues against you like Gebal Amon and Amaleck against Israel Of them may yee well say nowe They compassed mee about like Bees they are quenched as the fyre of thornes To Sathan may yee now say Thou hast thrust sore at mee that I might fall but the Lord hath helped mee When I mette with you first yee were compassed with a chaine of calamities one linked into another To mee yee appeared to bee hanging ouer Hell by the slender twined threed of a lifelesse hope Yee were plunged deeper downe than Ionaâ—… was when hee went downe to the bottome of the mountaines where the weedes were wrapt about his head Now let your Soule say with Ionah I will sacrifice vnto thee with the voyce of thankesgiuing I will pay that that I haue vowed Saluation is of the Lord. The sicke Man Blesse the Lord O my Soule and all that is within mee blesse his holie Name Blesse the Lord O my Soule and forget not all his benefites Farewell my trustie Friend Now as for you mine other friends I turne my selfe to you Hee that is conuerted with Peter should labour the conuersion of others Hee whose weaknesse the Lord hath helped should strengthen his brethren It is nowe time to take our last good night Heere in your presence I say Farewell O world wherein I haue liued which I haue too much loued Learneye in time to set your affections vpon God None of you can tell if God shall giue you such laiser to repent as he hath granted vntome If yee forsake not in time the sweete pleasures of your sins feare lest at last that that be found true which Abner said to Ioah Knowest thou not that it will bee bitternesse in the latter end There is no sinne so sweete to man in his life but before his death it shall bee dissweetned and turned into gall and wormewoode within the bellie of the Conscience I speake by experience as one who hath knowne the terrours of the Lord O my deare friendes looke ouer your shulder back to your bygone life and consider how grieued yee shall bee for the sinnes of your pleasures when yee shall bee warded into your death beddes readie to compeare before the great Iudge of the world As yee see mee this day so shall others see you ere it bee long I haue often beene glad among you Yee see now by mee what it is of all worldlie â—…oye With a little blast of sickenesse such comfort like chaffe are chassed away Your time is fast comming Your Glasse is running my sicknesse cryeth vnto you Learne of the estate of this your olde Friend to make your selues readie for another world To mee to day to you to morrow Where the tree falleth there shall it lye Whether the Glutton and the Begger are gone thither must wee all that is either to 〈◊〉 hams bosome or to the Deuils 〈◊〉 The death of one is like a 〈◊〉 charging all others to bee readie 〈◊〉 flitte and remoue Happie yea thrise happie is that man who in these 〈◊〉 and desperate dayes is not dulde with securitie Blessâ—…d is hee who is forâ—… warned striue to bee forewarned Blessed is that man who is eueâ—… vpon his watch hauing his loineâ—… girded and his Candle in his hand waiting for the comming of his Lord. A dew my louing Friendes Seeke in time the friendship of your God Striue to be worthie the stile of Abraham that was called The friend of God O my deare Friends let mee now tell you what the Lord hath done to my Soule Hee hath at last beene sensiblie gracious to my poore Soule which Sathan hath long hunted vp downe like a Patridge on
who in this sinfull time is least known of the world so that shee truelie striue to know God and her selfe Wise Solomon who in his wisedome excelleth all as also in number of wiues spake by experience that wandering Women were not chast by this special marke hee brandeth the whoore That her feete abide not in her house but nowe shee is without and now in the streetes By Solomons record shee that gadeth abroad cannot bee well thought of With Wisedome shee hath cracked her credit If Dinah had taried at home while shee went abroad shee had not beene deflored which was the cause of great blood-shed which made her brethren Simeon and 〈◊〉 afterward to bee diuided in Iaakob dispersed in Israel The occasion of all that euill was from the vanitie of the Damosell her folie is registred in Gods Chronicles for all Ages to come that women chieflie may read it and bee wise by her example The wordes are these And Dinah the daughter of Leah which shee bare vnto Iaakob went out to see the daughters of the Land Remember well I pray thee these few pâ—…ecepts Bee carefull sincere at the seruice of thy God Serue him not by halfes Hee who is onelie holie must bee serued wholie Take good heed to thy self beware of clawing flatterers who for gaine wil varnish thy vices for to make them seeme vertues Labour for a good name perrell it not for trifflles If for light matters it bee mainelie hazarded it shall bee easilie cut off where euer thou bee bee content with thy lot See that in anie wise thou neuer harbour in thine heart a discontented mind Beware of an euill tongue which is an vnruelie euill within the compasse of the mouth wherein it is is a vvorld of vvickednesse Bee carefull both for the inward and the outward of thy conuersation for many eyes will looke and spye what shall be thy life after me Bee therefore euer vpon thy guard sinne neuer in hope of secrecie for none can sinne without a witnesse Sequester thy selfe from all occasions of euil if thou wold haue grace to bee dearelie and deepelie rooted in thine heart Where euer thou art thinke God thereto be present Tak him at all times to bee an eye-witnes of thy thoughts Thogh ali be barred out the Lord is within Feare God liue in peace with thy neighbours Let the good thoughts of thine heart put the ouer in the handes of practise first know theÌ„ doe which is compleate Christianitie Grow in grace grone for sins past escape relapses haunt the godlie flie these that are of a prostitute Conscience Sinne is like a Ring-worme of a contagious and spreading nature from lesse to more ouer Shooes ouer Bootes like Hezekiels waters from the Ankles to the Knees and so higher and higher from scabbe to scandale Shune all appearance of euill so shall thy conuersation sauour like oyntment and most sweete perfume Now the Lord bee with thee Kisse mee and so farewell The Pastour Heere Sir are your little Children waiting for your blessing it is good that yee say some-thing to them for their instruction The last words of a Friend or of a Father are often of greatest weight and beare most into the rememberance of these to whom they are spoken I feare that ye faint in your weaknesse and therefore bee as summar and short as yee can The sicke Man I thanke God though the strength of my bodie decayeth my Spirit is become stronger like Samson after that his haire beganne to grow My force courage within is renewed like the youth of the Eagle by casting of its bill Blessed be he who giueth power to the faint and increaseth strength to them that haue no might O Lord mould mine heart after the heauenlie modell of thy Law Emptie mine head and disburden mine heart of all earthlie cares that my thoughts may be whollie and entirelie spent vpon thy selfe without any turning awry from holie and heauenlie meditations The Pastour Seeing God is with you in such a spirituall power spend your short time the best yee may for his glorie and for the well of these whom yee desire to bee best in this world after you That new strength which appeareth in you at the sight of your Children remembereth me of old Iaakob lying on his death-bedde when it was tolde him that Ioseph whom he loued was come to see him it is said That Israel strengthen himselfe and satte vpon the bed The sicke Man I finde the like mercie though not in such a measure O my God fit and furnish my Soule with the sanctifying grace of thy spirit Rouse vp my Spirit whet vp my minde to feeke the thinges which are aboue Lord put a liuing Soule within this dying bodie A speach to his Children And now yee my Children gather your selues together and hearken vnto your louing Father that ye may remember well his last words Come neare mee I pray you and receiue your old Fathers blessing Let mee lay both mine handes vpon your heads that I may make my last prayer for you The Angel which redeemed mee from all euill blesse the Lads and lette them grow in multitude as fishes God make you as Ephraim and as Manasses Behold now my deare ChildreÌ„ I goe the way of all the earth keepe the charge of the Lord your God to walke in his wayes that yee may prosper in all that yee doe and whther soeuer yee turne your selues By instant prayers to God hemme in the folies of your youth In this wicked euill world striue to bee like fishes which keepe their fresh taste while they liue in saltest waters Bee carefull to consecrate the first yeeres euen the flower and pryme of your life vnto the Lord which shall bee a meanes for sanctifying the rest of your age The first borne and the first fruites vnder the Law of ceremonies were the Lords The substance thereof in the Gospel is that wee giue the Lord the best of our yeeres and the flower and strength of our age Most men in the prime of youth are both hote and headie Happie is hee who in a sober moode and colde blood passeth the time of his sojourning heere chieflie while hee is in the strength of youth By carefull culture manurance the fiercenesse of Beares and Lyons will be mitigated and tamed It is a great slight of Sathan to make young men sport in their sinnes vnder hope they may repent when they are olde But alas who is so young that can say that he shall liue vntill morrow Is it not seene that there bee as manie little as great skuls in Golgotha As soone say wee commeth the Lambe skin to the market as the olde Sheepes But thogh they who are yong were assured to become old they could not be assured of repentance which is the gift of God which hee giueth to whom and
Beasts fed on the bare commons are not so neere the slaughter as these that goe into fatter pastures B◅ware of all vncleannes Make a couenant with your eys not to behold wine women keepe carefullie your vessels cleane in sanctification and honour If yee slippe in anie sinne beware to sleepe in it for that is death Vita in vigilia est Godlie men in olde age regretting their former haunts are lessons from God to teach Youth not to plot the pleasures wherewith God is displeased Manie sinnes of Youth be called tricks but it is a terrible tricke to goe to Hell People foolishlie cloake Fornication with a tricke of youth but the Spirit of GOD giueth it a scarlet cloake dyed in red with the blood of three and twentie thousand Bee yee wise in time let the rememberance of the shrill sound of the last trumpet euer hold your heart in a stirre so soone as yee see the least appearance of euill Thinke no sin litle seeing it is against so great a Majestie For eating of a tree Ada◅ was banished out of Paradise For touching the Arke shaken with the Oxen Vzzah lost his life For looking into it fiftie thousand three score and tenne men were slaine at Bethshemeth For gathering sticks vpon the Sabbath God declared that the man should bee stoned vnto death without the Campe Such thinges are written for our learning As for you stand in awe to sinne in a thought To clippe the Kings Coyne were it neuer so little is an high ◅reason Be affraide at the first gloumes of your GOD Crouch so soone as hee beginneth to shake his rod at you In all companies be constantlie godlie like the Sunne in his light Too manie like the Moone now glister with reflexes of light and anone are darkened Now and then they appeare with diuerse faces now with Saul they are Prophets among the Prophets and anone as reuoking all former godlinesse they runne rȳot with gluttons and reuellers O my beloued thinke neuer shame to be godlie among scorners Care not that by your conscio◅able cariage the wicked bee gauld and grieued in their madde moode they will call all godlinesse but outwardnesse and formalitie Tak good he◅d to all your ways set a guarde about your thoughts and a watch before your mouth Seeing the tongue is mans glorie let it not bee abused with rotien words Let not your eares bee open for to receiue the scowring of other mens filthie mouthes Bee calme and quiet in all your wayes Bee not rash or hastie looke before yee leape bee not selfe-willed proude contemners of your betters Aspire not aboue your pitch Care not so much for mans d◅spight as for Gods displeasure Let God be the caruer of all your car◅s Abhorre to be idle like these who sitting in the Chire of sloth passe their time at handie dandie Loyter not while yee should labour The first word that Pharaoh said to Iaakob his sonnes was What is your treade or occupation Be painefull and faithfull in your calling liue not litherlie as these that are giuen to sleepe the sluggardes lingring sicknesse Hee is of a base spirit who sluggishlie gaping and stretching himselfe lyeth lusking on the downe Vp vp from the feathers earelie in the morning striue with the Cocke in watchfulnesse and rise with the chirping of the birdes Ioyne watching against euill with wishing and prayers for that which is good It is good that the bodie bee moistned with the morning dew earelie rising bringeth health to the bodie and increaseth the number of mans dayes I remember of a verse which while I was young serued for a wakener for to rouse mee from my morning sleepe Sanctificat sanat dit at quoque surgere mane That is it maketh holie whole and rich to rise earelie in the morning for this cause earlie buckle your selues to your businesse Bee wise and watchfull In all your enterprisses haue an eye vpō your God doe all as into his sight bee not too cast down in aduersitie nor too puft vp in prosperitie If mans applause make you to ouerweene your selues at anie time chasten your loftinesse with the memorie of manie infirmit es which are nested within you in all thinges feare the worst and hope the best That which seemeth to man vnliklie is not with God impossible Let your life in a godlie sober ciuill cariage shine before men that they seeing it may glorifie your heauenlie Father Striue not to bee called Doctours and Rabbies though ye bee men of letters but aboue all striue to bee teachers of others by good example and not by word onlie lest yee bee like the Fyle which smootheth all other thinges but it selfe remaineth rough Beware of all sinfull pleasures which like faire Ladies come with alluring propines to woo and catch the vnstable soule In the verie throng of all your adoes draw your selues to a set dyet of priuate deuotion Mine heart beginneth to faint of force I must make a pause After that I am refreshed with a little rest I shall declare to you all that is in my minde and memorie O my Soule seek sigh for grace Be carefull for a neerer acquaintance with the Lord of Heauen Shortlie thou shalt embrace him whom the Fathers by faith saluted but a farre off The Pastour Lord heare thou in Heauen the groanes of thine humble supplicant mak him fullie freelie to taste and partake of the pleasures of thy graces til he come to glory Roll his wearied Soule within these compassions which in thy mercie are rouled together O deare Iesus besprinkle thou his heart with thy precious Soule-sauing blood which is euer louelie to the mercifull eye of the Father Take breath a little Sir that yee may continue in such precepts such heauenlie sentences were neuer bred nor brewed vpon the earth The Lord himselfe hath put the Roll of these things into your mouth which yee haue eaten and which make your breath to haue the sauour of life vnto life Certainelie in some measure the Lord Iesus hath breathed vpon you as hee did vpon his Apostles when hee said vnto them Receiue the holie Ghost The sicke Man Lord imprint thine Image into my Soule afresh My Spirit is reuiued a new power is entered into mee Blessed be hee who giueth power to the faint and who increaseth strength to them that haue no might Giue eare now againe vnto my speach O yee my deare Children Incline your eares vnto the wordes of my mouth See that yee liue in loue a rent is the forerunner of a ruine If yee would liue die in honestie practise all Christian dueties Feare God loue the Church honour your King bee faithfull to your Countrie reuerence your Mother Bee pitifull bee courteous liue in loue together Your strength is in vnitie like a sheafe of arrowes A
who hath the fauour of his God In good life is long life Nequities vitae non sinit esse senem The wickednesse of life abbridgeth the life Bee more desirous to liue well than to liue long Too too manie liue to spend their grace-right with their Birth right Such like wanton Widowes are dead while they liue If yee fall in sinne vp vp make haste to returne vnto your God Repentance delayed in youth is a strengthening of sinne against the olde and weaker age The least sin entertained maketh a way for more The least drop of the juice of euill is lik leauen that sowreth the whole lumpe If in this world yee prosper bee not taken vp with selfe foolish conceit Take not outward prosperitie to bee the ell and measure of Gods loue Whether yee wither or yee flourish in worldlie thinges thinke vpon this that your miserie or happinesse can be in nothing but in that which is eternall Goe where ye please the justice of God one day shall try the foote-steppes which ye haue troden The chiefe Legacie which I leaue to you all is the Charter of Gods promise which I haue receiued by the hand of Faith In it is an Heritage of lines fallen in pleasant places VIZ. That not onelie hee should bee my God but that he should be a God to my Childrē vnto thousand generations keepe fast this promise into the Charter Chists of your heartes In confidence of this promise depend vpon your God in well and in ◅oe in wealth and in want Though hee should slay you yet say with Iob that yee will trust in him Nowe for to drawe to an ende for my breath faileth and mine heart fainteth I desire you aboue all things to bee earnest in prayer with God By prayer morning euening dresse your Soules like the Lampes of Gods Tabernacle Fill them of the pure oyle-oliue of his grace that alwayes they may shine Eliphaz charged Iob chieflie with this as beeing the chiefe cause of all his woe that hee restrained prayer before God With this the Psalmest hath branded the wicked They call not vpon God and againe They call not vpon God It is obserued by the most cunning Physitions that paine in speaking and loathing of meate be two symptoms of a diseased distempered bodie A Soule while it prayeth it speaketh while it heareth it eateth If there be paine in the one and loathing in the other that Soule cannot bee well Thrise a day Dauid was wont to pray at morning euening and at noone This zeale also wakened him while others were sleeping At mid-night he arole for to pray vnto his God Happie is that mā who shal so spend the short time of his life in this valey of mortalitie Let this in all things bee an awband aboue your heades that the eye of the Almightie God is euer vpon you and that hee is acquainted with all your wayes Where euer yee bee thinke your selues euer to be in that most awefull presence make Conscience of all your thoughts for the verie thought of foolishnesse is euill Beware of the lustes of youth Striue with God in prayer that hee would so ingage you in his grace loue that your corruption proue not strongest while your wittes are weakest Intreate earnestlie the Lord that hee woulde make perfect his strength in your weaknesse When yee finde anie good beginnings of Grace within your selues waite stedfastlie vpon the due accomplishment thereof in Glorie Whom the Lord loueth hee loueth to the end his calling and gifts are without repentance If this yee doe carefullie ye shall bee like twigges which hauing a vigorous life sprout and flourish till they come to trees And now at last for to conclude and summe vp the whole brieflie If ye would haue God to dwell into you bee yee an holie Sanctuarie for his Spirit If yee would haue God to rest in you as hee did into his holie Temple there must bee in you as was in his Temple an Holie of holies As were within Gods Arke so must yee haue within your heartes the Tables of Gods Law the summe of the Olde Testament and with them the potte of Manna euen Christ the bread of life the substance of the New Testament Loue this word honour this word bleed for this word yea die for it Manie in this world be like these Pultrons and base spirited men of Thessalonica who had no courage for the t◅ueth As for you striue to bee like these of Berea who were better borne of a more manlie breeding in that they were couragious for the Trueth Striue to the keeping of Gods Commandments for like friends they are so linked together that if one bee offended all the rest will interest themselues in its quarrell faile in one and faile in all Pray feruentlie that ye may practise all these my precepts This doing ye shal neuer find your selues fatherles The great God shal be your Father To this Father now I giue you irtreating him to bee a Father vnto you in all times to ensue The Father of mercies the Sonne of his loue and the Spirit of c◅mfortes so guide you in all your cariage that ye may carie an incorrupt Conscience to the Graue The God of all grace mak you perfect stablish strengthen settle you leade you in the Land of vprightnes The Lord blesse you all with his best blessings My blessing I leaue you Kisse mee and so fare well Now the day is fatre spent and my strength beginneth to faile mee seeing all things as the Apostle saith are sanctified by the word of God and prayer let vs conclude this dayes conference with our humble supplications vnto our God My deare Pastour offer yee vp this Euening Sacrifice The Lord perfume it with the spirituall incense of Christs merites that thereby our Soules being perfumed the Lord may finde a smell as the smell of a fielde which the Lord hath blessed Pray earnestlie for me that the Lord giue me both strēgth and courage for the fighting out of this Battell that in the ende I may bee crowned with the Laurels of an euerlasting victorie The Pastour My Soule rejoyceth to haue heard so manie good wordes from your mouth Solomon said verie well and wiselie A word spoken in due season how good is it According to your desire wee shall conceiue a Prayer to GOD for you The Lord powre vpon all our Soules that promised Spirit of grace and of supplications A Prayer for the sicke Man Sore weakned with sicknesse MOst gracious GOD most deare louing Father Let the word of our mouth the meditations of our hearts bee acceptable in thy sight O LORD our strength and our Redeemer By thy Spirit banish all stragling thoughts and keepe our mindes steddie and attentiue in this chiefest worke of deuotion Beholde LORD and consider heere thy poore
shall ye bee Mans life at the longest may bee measured with a spanne Behold said the Psalmest thou hast made my dayes of an hand-breadth Mine age is as nothing before thee Our life is but a vapour and a wind which once passeth away returneth not againe It should therefore bee your best in time to prepare your selues for a better life and not with many to relye securelie vpon a possibilitie of pardon If yee bee wise venter not vpon such broken staues which faile in greatest neede The carnall Friend Thinke not the worse of mee Sir if I desire you to be honoured with the best in Buriall bee not too precise I hope that wee all shall come to heauen at last wee are all sinners I hope before I die to repent mee of all my sins The sicke Man S. Augustins wordes are of great power Metuendum est ne te occidat spes cum multum speres de misericordia incidas in judicium It is to be feared that while men hope for nothing so much as mercy euen then they fall into damnation I pray God that such hopes deceiue you not Many foolishlie make a packe horse of Christs merites and Gods mercies not caring what burdens they lay on A broken heart is onelie an heart qualified for the pardons of heauen If Christ Iesus his wordes bee of anie credit among men this wee must hold that none shall come to heauen but by the narrow way Sathan with his temptations hath bored out the eyes of many as the Philistins did to Samson But alas who hath the courage of Samson to seeke to be ledde to the chiefe pillars that he may pull them down for to bee reuenged vpon his foes Alas this is the fashion of this world men like the sluggard liue in delayes in steepe and in sloth Yet a little while and yet a little while No man will build an Arke vntill the floode come Lot himselfe did linger to saue himselfe from a brime stone fyre Men haue no leasure to bee saued so hard is it for the most part to pluke their feete out of the clouches of this world If wee could ouercome the loue of this worlde which is the great Goliah of our enemies then shuld we easilie ouercome the pride of the Philislins and the feare of Israel But carnall men know not what it is to mortifie olde Adam with his corrupt lustes Fooles feede on folies and tickle their fond fancies with imagined contentments not knowing the strick narrow course of sanctification Such mens speach is often both vnseemelie and vnseasonable Blessed bee my God who hath giuen mee the staffe in the hand and the stone in the scrippe wherewith I haue stricken all my strongest corruptions in the temples Sathan is tread vnder foote my flesh is subdued mine heart is in Heauen I care for the worlde no more neither desire I to speake anie longer of clay or of anie thing below My minde is aboue farre from the dirt drosse of all earthlie thoughts O my heauenlie Father wrap my Soule wrappe it vp in the righteousnesse of thy Sonne Let that bee the white long robe of my Soule while my body wrapt in its winding sheete shal lye rotting into the graue O my God fill my fainting heart with a joyfull confluence of the precious sufferings of Iesus of the promises of life of the joyes of heauen mak mine ende with that of the vpright man to bee peace Bee not cast downe my Soule neither bee thou disquieted within mee Hope in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Oh but mine heart is sicke Oh where is my deare and louing Pastour His conference is most comfortable vnto my Soule The Pastour I am heere Sir waiting till I see the end of your Battell I haue heard all your wordes with great contentment I haue plainelie perceiued that Gods Angels these noble Spirits attend both to guide to guarde you God by the arme of his power hath brought you out of the thicket of thornes and pricking thistles of monie temptations He who hath made all things in number weight and measure hath not surcharge your Soule aboue that which he hath made you able to beare God in great grace hath made you first to know your selfe in your offences and miserie and after that to know him in his Majestie and mercie The Lord God in great kindnesse hath furnished you with firme Faith constant Hope and sincere Loue He hath led you thorow many trauerses and perplexities Now haue ye passed the most dreadfull darkest houre of all your temptations Now the dawning of a new day approacheth now labour might maine to be prepared for you God within a short space Christ the Sun of Righteousnesse that day spring from on high shall arise vpon your Soule neuer for to goe downe Continue in your prayers to God that he wold possesse your Soule with true hearted holinesse without which no Soule shall see Gods face What now Sir are yee doing The sicke Man My sillie Soule is heere waiting till Death come and open the prison doore that she may flee to her God to her Contrie from whence she came Fogs mists arise before mine eys O my God from the Throne of thy Grace râ—…ine downe vpon my wearied Soule the refreshing showrs of thy most iender mercies Vouchsafe vpon mee some crummes of thy comforts Oh that I had the wings of a doâ—…e for to flee to the woundes of Iesus as to the holes of the Rock My poore Soule in this bodie is like a Bird in a Cage looking through the wyres Faine would it bee free of this sinfull captiuitie O but my Soule panteth fast after my Sauiour What now shall stay mee from my God from my Christ from my Father my brother and my Comforter my dearest Darling of delight I long to bee in Heauen the place of my rest My desire is to goe to Goshen the Land of light of Life and of Libertie Mine heart is fast linked vnto Christ in loue O Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him O man what is God that thou art so forgetfull of him O my GOD prepare mee to meete thee with a bruised Spirit Melt my sinnes into sighes and my troubles into teares Let thy good Spirit leade mee into the Land of vp rightnesse Lord let neuer this clay returne to clay till my Spirit be readie to goe to him that gaue it O quicken sharpen my care of heauen dulled and blunted with earthlie thoughts Make sound wisedome and discretion to bee life vnto my Soule and grace to my necke Make my Soule trimme with that costly wedding Garment bought with thy Blood O Iesus the blessed Bridegroome who hast by thy Gospel of Grace betrothed my Soule vnto
brought me out of an horrible pitte out of the myrrie clay and set my feete vpon a Rocke and established my goings He hath put a new song into my mouth euen praise vnto our God many shall see it and feare and shall trust in the Lord. O that I had breath for the setting foorth of his praise Happie is he who while he may vtter words praiseth God continuallie Blessed is that man who may call his tongue his Glorie O my Soule I charge thee by the Roes and by the Hindes of the fielde that thou cease not to praise his Might his Mercie and his Majestie O my Soule take heede and listen vnto his voyce O Iesus the great Deputie of mercie sent by the Father forsake mee not in this heauie houre Now I sore sicken so that all naturall force faileth me My words now so weaâ—…ie mee that I thinke ere it be long this bodie shall bee lodged in the place of silence But let mee intreate you Sir so long as ye shall perceiue life to bee in mee let it please you to continue in some good purpose concerning the world to come By some holie discourse rouse vp my drousie Spirit hold mine heart vpon an edge Let me not die like a senselesse Nabal of whom it is written that his heart died within him so that hee became like a stone Manie blindlie and boldlie rush into hell I beseech you Sir to waite well vpon mee till yee see the ende I thinke that ere it bee long my Soule shall bee at the farthest tryst O Lord warme my frozen Soule with the sense of the kindled compassions of the bowels of thy loue Inlighten my mistie minde cleare it with thy countenance Bee thou the comforter of my Conscience vntil the day break and the shadows flie away Take now Sir my Soule into the armes of your prayers lift it vp and lay it into that blessed bosome of my Lordes mercies Bend yet againe your knees before God in prayer that hee for his mercies sake would receiue mee into my Masters joye O but my Soule fluttereth fast within mee for to bee at my God Let it please you to bee feruent in prayer for mee that I may foile vnder my feete the Deuill Death and all the powers of hell The Deuill in death will not faile to giue mee a furious assault at the chiefest fortresse of my Saluation for to batter it downe to the ground Intreate the Lord that his mercie may bee a strong rempart and a blessed Bul-wark against all the Engines of hell which are readie bent to waste and hauock all Gods graces within mee O Lord campe thine Angels about mee Place thy Pauilions of war betweene mee and mine enemies Refresh mee more and more with thy comforts Giue mee the earnest of these joyes which passe all vnderstanding Possesse mee with the Spirit of gladnesse for that thou in mercie hast forgiuen mee my sinnes Continue so vnto the end that in the heauens for euer this may be the burden of my song For his mercie indureth for euer Let it please you Sir on whome God hath vouchsafed the Spirit of Prayer in a good and great measure to assist mee with your comforts and prayers lest by temptations I should beginne to slacke off my care and watchfulnesse The Pastour Hold fast your eye vpon Christ your Redeemer Follow him thorow the valey of death for hee hath not onelie pointed out our path but as Captaine of our Saluation hath troden euery steppe before vs Yee may well sticke a little in the narrow throate of Death but that one steppe being past yee enter into Rehoboth a place of roome farre from the reekie smoke vaine shadowes and dreames of earthlie vanitie and perishing pleasures Bee glad Sir to flit from this barren moorish ground and muddie mortalitie for to goe to a paradise a Palace a place of pleasures for euermore According to your desire wee shall returne to God by prayer A Prayer for the sicke man drawing neare to the doores of death O Father of mercies and God of all comforts in whom all goodnesse and graces are treasured let it please thee fauourablie to regard the soule of this thy seruant here whose heart panteth after thee as the wearied Hart panteth after the water brookes Refresh his Soule with the diuine dew of thy grace till it bee entered in at the gates of Glorie Powre into his hearte the sweete streames of thy loue Settle his soule in a right and vpright course so long as it remaineth in this mistie muddie mortalitie send out thy light and guide it by thy Grace till it hath passed the straites of Death for to enter into the Land of vprightnes O Father of mercies perswade him by thy Spirit that the comming of Death shall bee to him a time of discharge a time of freedome from sicknes of bodie anguish of Spirit trouble of Conscience and from all possibilitie of sinning anie more Let him know that while hee is going to the Graue hee is going to a bedde of ease where most quietlie he shall rest from all his toylesome labours Turne all feare of Death into a chearefull expectation and longing for the houre of dissolution Make quiet his Conscience that he may die with comfort O thou Sauiour of mankind whose boweles are filled with mercifull compassions spreade the wing of thy righteous garment ouer this Soule of thy seruant Thou hast shaken him with thy terrours in diuerse assaults Thou hast broght him low for to make him a fitte passenger for the little doore which leadeth vnto Glorie Leaue him not now Lord in his greatest neede Make thine Angels camped about him powerfully to assist him against al the last assaults of that euill one Thou who hast heard all his groanes registrat thou his sighs and put all his teares into thy bottels suffer not thy kindled zeale to coole in him In an holie despaire of his owne worth make him whollie to relye vpon thy meere mercies in Christe the onelie salue for sicke Soules and remeed for broken bones While hee is weakest work with thy Spirit feelinglie and powerfullie into his hearte Subdue euerie euill motion that may arise therein for the troubling of his soule Draw vp his desire aboue the pitch of all natural knowledge Banish all earthlie thinges cleane out of his minde and make all his thoughts to attend vpon thee In thy diuine might rebuke Sathan that hee interrupt not thy comforts Let him not bee able by his secret craft and vyles to steale from him the pledges of thy loue O Sonne of GOD O Sunne of Righteousnes send a quickning heate with a shining light into his sillie Soule Make thy blessed Beames to strik on his heart for to warme it with thy loue Set all his desires a floate from the moode of sinful mortalitie Thou at diuerse times hast affrighted him fearefullie with
thinke vpon these solitudes and mansions of silence I faint at the verie thought thereof Oh my deare Soule wilt thou abide with mee no longer If thou depart my Beautie my Colour my Conference my Companie and all is gone Oh shall all my senses now bee closed vp shall I speake no more heare no more see no more than if I were a stone Must I nowe goe remaine into the myre of mortalitie the place of silence Must I abide the long nights among the Graues places fearfull to the liuing where men make no resort O wretched weakling that I am by Death as I see I shall bee grapled to the ground where I shall bee forced to make my bedde in the da◅ke The Soule My Bodie bee not thou disquieted I am but for a little space going before thee for to take seasin of Heauen for thee and for mee Though I bee absent for a space I shall neuer forget thee In Gods appointed time I shall come againe and fetch thee out of the muddie moulde of mortalitie At the first blast of the last Trumpet I shall come downe shall enter into thee and quicken thee againe At that time God shal cleanse thee from all thy corruptions and shall mak thee like an Angel of God My sillie Bodie wee haue taken much pains together for to get a rest which we haue looked long for but culd not find now goe to thy rest till come againe for to bring thee to eternall repose If thou were cōmanded to goe to labour to pains thou should haue some cause indeede to whine and to shrinke as one hampered in a snare But the Lord is now desiring thee like a wearied man to goe to thy rest for to sleepe soundlie into a bedde wherein thou shalt no more bee disquieted with dreames or with visions When thou shalt once awake thou shalt bee still with Iesus If in mercie hee hath made mee to preuent thee in the possession of eternitie let not his fauour toward mee worke in thee anie heart rising against that Majestie who as the Potter doth with his clay may doe with all his creatures what hee pleaseth The Bodie But O my Soule the Graue is fearefull It is a retired solitude and a place of silence a place of filthie stinke I abhorre to thinke of it how that in that dungeon of darknesse and denne of corruption I must lye downe naked implunged in myrie slime among wormes a lumpe of most vile and lifelesse clay Alas my Soule The Soule My Bodie bee not discouraged The Graue is a place where the bodie must lye till with the Eagle there it cast its Bill a meanes for to renew its youth So soone as once there it hath cast the old slugh of Nature incontinent thereafter it shall become a new creature Except saide Christ that the corne of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone Haue patience but a little New corne will come at the day of the resurrection The dayes of mans mortalitie are the Lords seede time The bodies of the Saincts are his seede the Church yard is his fielde Suffer now the Lord to sowe his owne ground Bee not disquieted nor cast down with griefe It shall bee thy gaine to goe downe to the graue There shalt thou be sowne in corruption but thou shalt bee raised in incorruption Thou shalt be sowne in dishonour but thou shalt bee raised in glorie Thou shalt bee sowne in weaknesse but thou shalt bee raised in power Thou shalt bee sowne a naturall bodie but thou shalt bee raised a spirituall bodie See what by Gods mercie shall bee the great gaine of the Graue After that the Graues of the godlie shall bee ripe the Lord by an infinite power shall make all their bodies to bee taken vp for like fine wheate to bee laide vp within his heauenlie Girnals When thou shalt arise it shall bee to an immortall happie life Haue patience for a little space and bee not crabbed Yet a little while and I shall not see thee and againe a little while after the resurrection I shall see thee when thou shalt bee transchanged into the blessed estate of glorious immortalitie Then shall I dwell in thee without anie spot or wrinkle Let the hope of this temper thy present griefe Let not the Graue afray thee my deare Body for it is the last bed which euerie man must sleepe in Lye downe into it gladlie Bee content with the silke worme an argument of the resurrection to bee enwrapped for a space in thy Winding sheete till the chill colde winter-tide of this mortalitie bee pas◅ At the glorious spring of eternitie at the returne of the Sun of righteousnes so soone as the heat of the beating beames of Gods loue shall pierce in vnto thy Graue in a moment in the twinkling of an eye thou shall be quickened and raised vp yea renewed and refined from the sinfull dust of corruption and after that carried aboue the brightest azured skies vnto the place of immortalitie among pleasures for euermore The Bodie I cannot but lament and waile to bee depriued of thy companie My dearest Soule full deare art thou to mee If two strangers had beene but some fewe dayes in their journey together they will haue a certaine regret for to leaue one another What wonder is it then that wee two who haue beene of such olde acquaintance mourne at this last and long adew The Soule As thy loue is great toward mee so is mine also great toward thee my Bodie But seeing it is the will of him who married vs together that nowe wee bee put asunder wee must submit our selues vnto his good pleasure This separation shall be but or a little space and that for the well of vs both The husband will saile the seas and goe farre from home in hope to returne with aduantage The same hope encourageth his wife to liue lik a vvidow for a space At last the husbāds returne with expected profite is welcomed with greater joyes thā was his former presence It shall bee so with vs my deare Bodie At my returne in the day of the Resurrection there shall enter such a joy into thee as eye neuer saw eare neuer heard yea which neuer could enter into the heart of man As the long dark night maketh the morning seeme sweete to the wearied watch who hath long looked for it so shall our little absence be a certaine commendation of that presence which after the great day shall bee for euer Cease in time I pray thee to stick at such earthlie conceits I may no longer tarrie with thee the Crowne of immortalitie is alreadie in sight The Bodie But alas howe is this that thou should goe to glorie before mee and leaue mee in the dust of death a peace of moulding clay Haue I done anie wrong but by thy counsell and direction What haue I beeene but the instrument of thy
sinne All the action is from thee Of all that is done amisse thou hast beene the inuenter the contriuer and arch-plotter God is no accepter of persons or of parties What then is my guilt that I shuld be behind thee left into the Graue a fearefull denne of death and pite of corruption What a miserie is this for me that I should lye vnder the power and bonds of Death a Carion vnder a Turfe warded in deaths most loathsome denne and abhorred jayle There must I lye chill with cold stinking and rotting with my mouth full of earth and my bellie full of wormes closed in a Coffine O what matter of melancholie is this that within a few dayes where are my two beautifull twinkling eyes shal be nothing but fearefull eye-holes in a rotten skull which shall bee nothing but a nect of clockes and abominable creeping thinges Within a few yeares this head which nowe lyeth softlie vpon this Pillow shall bee rolled and trinnelled vp and downe by the feete of the posteritie Heere a bone and there a bone and not a bone together all shall lye scattered heere and there the dogges shall play with some and Children shall playe with others some shall lye drying before the Sunne and others shall be bruised into pieces and grund into powder O what a change is in this our mortalitie Behold presentlie what a starueling I am beeing nothing but skinne and bone Behold and anone all shall be turned into stinke The Soule All such thoughtes are all but worldlie heauie dull and formall Suffer the Lord to sow his owne seede Thou art afraid for the Turfe of the Graue Care not for the Turfe for vnder it shalt thou bee as a pickle of Corne vnder a clod The Spring time of the Resurrection is not farre froe when thou shalt rise vp more beautifullie in honour power and glorie than euer thou was before Shall anie thing bee impossible vnto God Hee who in his death reuiued manie Sainctes vvhose bodies Death had fast vnder the key of its power shall with a blast of his voyce make open Gâ—…aues to let out all these who were prisoners of death from Adam vntill that day Let this comfort cheare vp thine heart my Bodie The Graue shall not bee able to keepe thee long As Ionah was vomited out of the Bellie of Hell so shalt thou bee deliuered from that Monsters mawe The Bodie But in the meane time what reason is it that I a carrionlie carkase shuld bee bund â—…oth hand and foote and committed close prisoner to the graue a cold and chillie house while thou art set at libertie Behold how alreadie I am both withered and wanzed The Soule The Graue to the Godlie is no prison but a resting bedde from their labours where God reâ—…resheth with sleepe the wearied bones of his beloued The Prophet saith That they rest in their beddes and that they enter in peace While the moulds are cast on them in the Graue it is but the drawing of their Bedde curtaine The buried bodies of the Saincts are in their graue lik Babs lapped in swadling clothes in their Cradles As a tyred man will not bee offended if hee bee sent to his bedde for to sleepe neither should the wearied bodie bee grieued to goe to the Graue the place of rest and quietnesse Bee not peeuish nor peruerse my Bodie enuie not mine happie estat Though the Graue should bee to thee a prison why should thou complaine because I am set at libertie If it hath pleased God in mercy to bee good to mee why art thou offended May not the Lord say vnto thee Is thine eye euill because I am good What happier should thine estat bee though God should command mee to bee buried besides thee May not God doe with his owne as hee pleaseth Hee might haue taken thee to Heauen and haue shute mee a prisoner in the Graue In his justice hee might haue cast vs both into Hell Thinke it then a mercie that hee is so good vnto mee who shall neuer count my glorie full till wee bee both crowned vvith immortalitie in the heauens Bee not offended at the Lords good will towards mee but rather thank him that he hath made death to bee temporall in his mercie which was eternall in his threatning Of a corrasiue hee hath made a cordiall Haue patience O distressed Body Suffer a little that God may be true Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou returne Dust beeing once deliuered from the power of the Graue shall reigne with God in glorie The Bodie is like gold which cannot bee rid of its drosse till it bee molten and dissolued Againe as this death is not total neither shal â—…t be perpetuall for at that first sound of the last trumpet all the beried bodies of that faithfull shall lik the Eagle cast the bill of their mortalitie Now mine olde companion and yoke-fellow art thou not content to goe to bedde and there to sleepe till the morning of theresurrection come That day shall mak an amends for all that we haue suffered in this valey of teares Then shall all thy confusion bee turned into comforts Let vs nowe bee content that the Lord loose the pines and slacke the cordes of this our Tabernacle of clay The Bodie Now glad am I my deare Soule that euer I had such a Soule as thee now my deare Turtle goe with my blessing to the seruice of our God Goe from the Crosse to the Crowne from a prison to a Palace from the mourning-weede to the wedding-garment Goe dwell with the Lord and the Lambe waite well vpon him Goe nowe from the blacke and dismall dayes of drooping distresse and dirtie distractions to joye to peace to pleasure to light to life to libertie Goe heare that happie harmonie of heauenlie Musitians in heauenlie Mansions where mercies blesse without judgments blasts Goe heare the voice of all the Menistrels of that celestiall Quire Bee thou aboue the Starres while I am vnder a Turfe All my comfort is in this that wee shall meete againe in Blisse Now blessed Soule prepare thy Lampe powre out thine oyle the heauenlie wooer the Bridegroome is come for to take thee to his Chambers of Charitie wherein are pleasures for euermore In hope of the Resurrection I goe gladlie to my Graue whereout of I am assured to arise for to meete my Redeemer in the clouds This Candle of my comfort shall neuer bee put out Nowe before wee shedde let vs shedde some teares The last raine of our afflictions wherewith we may bath the bruises of our Lord which he in loue did suffer for our glorie Now I goe to rest in the dust a prisoner of hope Goe thou to thy God attend well his seruice and court his Countenance for euer in his most pleasant Yuorie Palaces I am nowe refreshed with a cooling taste to immortalitie to come Farewell my deare Soule and truest Turtle mount
while he is neere the ende of his race His sillie soule hath beene sore weather-driuen with many temptations now let his battell take an end Receiue his soule in thy Rest. and lull it in the bosome of thy pleasures Bee a shield and a shelter vnto him for to hidde and couer him from the last blowes and painefull thrusts of his enemie the Deuill Disapoint that euill one while hee looketh for the greatest victorie Let him receiue the foulest foile Loose now sweetlie these two which thou hast joyned together that after his eyes with olde Simeon haue seene thy Saluation he may depart in peace Seeing the Battell is nowe come to the laâ—…f stroke make thy Spirit O Lord in him to fight it out that hauing ouercome thou may put the palme of victorie into his hand after that the dayes of dangers are past O draw this soule now vnto thee with the strongest cordes of thy loue Proclaime vnto his Conscience a full a finall remission of his sinnes whether Originall or actuall whether of Commission or of Omission Subscribe his paâ—…don with the arteriall blood of thy blessed Sonne O Father of mercies the Spouse of all faithfull Soules receiue this Spirit into thy wed locke-bedde It was betrothed vnto thee by thy faire promises in the Gospel now according to thy promise accomplish and fulfill that blessed Band in the presence of thine Angels Long Lord hath hee thought on it and earnestlie longed for it Seale thou it now with the sense of thy loue Fulfull it Lord and this day be thou the Bridegroome of his Soule Heere hee hath seene but the Copie of thy countenance let him now come where he may see thee euen as thou art As thou gaue him his measure of grace in the world so nowe giue him his portion of glorie bâ—…sides thy selfe Let nothing sway his thoughts from thee in this last agâ—…nie Season so his heart with thy loue that there bee no roome in his heart for any thing by thy selfe Now loose the pinnes of the Tabernacle while his soule shall bee out of the bodie let it enter into the Palace of pleasures Say vnto it as Laban said to Abrahams seruant Come in thou blessed of the Lord Thou who hast clasped his name within the Booke of life Bind now his soule into the bundle of life Drawe it out of this myrie mortalitie place it among the Angels and spirites of just men who are alwayes in thy presence courting thy countenance wherein iâ—… fulnesse of joye Vnto the end and in the end keepe his heart vnblameable in holinesse that Sathan that roaring Lyon bee neuer able to catch him within the reach of his paw Preserue the true rellish and sound joyes of thy Spirit of grace within him till from grace thou bring him vnto glorie where thou shalt crowne thy giftes and graces with thy goodnesse O now open the euerlasting doores let in this Soule decked with the lawrels of victorie Let all the Heauens welcome this conuerted sinner with songes and shoutes of joye O Spirit of Comfort thou hast guided him thorow many seas of sorrowes sit still at the Helme till thou haue brought him to his Hauen O now crowne thy graces with thy glorie Lord Iesus receiue my spirit To the Father Sonne and holie Ghost be euerlasting praise and dominion for euer AMEN Michael and the Deuils dispute for the ' Soule of the sicke Man alittle before its departure out of the Body Sathan I Haue many things to lay to this mans charge I am the Lordes Proctor and Acturney appointed to plead for his justice I haue alreadie sifted his life Of force this Soule must bee damned None Assise can cleanse it It is now taken red hand in the path and passage of sinne The Angel Michael I will not vse against thee a railing accusation neither darre I for my Master the God of mercie and of meekenesse It hath pleased his royall Majestie to license thee to accuse the soules of men Thine accusations are euer most bitter and most bloodie I am heere standing on my Masters side for to defend this Soule which hee hath bought with his blood But what can thou say against this man whose Soule is committed to me for to be carried vnto Paradise I know thee of olde to bee the accuser of the brethren I remember well how once I contended grappled with thee for the bodie of Moses which was buried sore against thy will It is likelie that of it thou thought to make an idole Loose now thy leach and let all thy hell-hounds come forward Come come with thy most foule mouthed objections what caÌ„ thou now alledge against the soule of this man before that it come out of this bodie Thou art heere a Lyon against a Lambe Declare now what thou can in this Assise Thou can say no more than he hath alreadie said against himselfe But come on fâ—…aime thine inditement against him Discharge thy fieâ—…ie dartes with the outmost of thy force Sathan Knowest thou not that there is a large haruest for Hell manie called but few chosen Hee is my Vassall I require but Iustice Let him receiue but according to his deseruinges Heere is a Bill of inditement able to conuinee him In his wickednes he turned to his course as the horse rusheth into the battell Both fiercelie and feareleslie marching vnder my collours in the pursute of his pleasures hee ranne ryote in the way of wickednesse The Angel Michael Is not God a God of mercie able to forgiue But what hath hee done Sathan Beholde the pieces of Euidence which I produce against him Let all the actions of his life bee brought to a true touch and it shall appeare what a monster hee hath beene In his youth hee scorned at the Thunder of Gods word counting it but Paper shot His soule was neuer grieued to grieue the Spirit of grace seldome came hee to the Church hee was of the kinred of Noahs Raùen delighting to flie about the Arke not willing to enter into it Gods hony word of vnspeakable sweetnesse was vineger to his teeth The pure commandement of the Lord which inlightened the eys was lik smok vnto his eyes the cause of blearednesse In all pointes he was disloyall vnto his God Hee misregarded his Parents He burned with lust like an Ouen heated by the baker Hee so loued his lust that it was his law His hands were full of pickerie his eyes were full of adulterie and his heart was full of guile and his tongue full of lyes euer gaggling like a Goose. He was a cunning clawbacke a paunchpike thanke His custome was to defile the aire with most filthie belghs of blasphemie Hee sported at all reproofes O the noble jugling There there this geare goeth trimme By hooke by crooke he sought for gaine Howe hee wanne it hee cared not if men perceiued not his fraude With Iudas hee was whollie giuen to the
her bellie to swell None but humble and godlie grieuances shall bee noted in Gods Register for to be asswaged and allayed with comforts By all that which wee haue saide M. yee see that yee haue licence to mourne like these that haue hope Ye haue indeede nowe to mourne but first for your sins which might haue beene some occasion of his remoue from you What is the best of our hearts but a filthie sinke-hole and stinking dung-hill That done first ye may mourne thereafter for 〈◊〉 losse If the first yee doe sincerelie God in his appointed time shall bee the repairer of your losse with doubled contentmentes as hee did to Iacob who mourning sore for Benjâ—…mine in a clap recouered both Iâ—…seph Benjamin But how can that bee will yee say For him whom I haue lossed can I neuer in this world recouer Know yee not what Elkanah said to his Wife Hannah weeping for want of Children Why weepest thou said hee and why eatest thou not and why is thine heart grieued am not I better to thee than ten Sonnes Shee is not worthie to bee comforted who thinketh not God to bee better to her than ten thousand Husbands Hath not the Lord who sitteth at the Sterne ruling all thinges aboue and below proclaimed himselfe to the worlde to bee that great IAH The Father of the fatherlesse a Iudge of the Widowes Dauid was confident in this 〈◊〉 my father and my mother for sake me â—…aid â—…e then the Lord will take mee vp As for your childreÌ„ lay fast hold vpon the promises of your God who hath oblished himselfe in a Precept of his Law to shew mercie vnto the posteritie of the godlie and that vnto thousands There is Gods Obligation whose word is faster than all the writs of men subscribed with a thousand Noters Such is his loue to the posteritie of the godlie that though the Mother shuld forget the fruit of her womb yet can hee not forget them whom hee hath printed vpon the palmes of hiâ—… hands Hee who hath made the Egyptian to fauour his people and caused the fiâ—…rie flint to yeelde water for the thiâ—…stie moued the deuourer to affoord foode Though he suffer the Lyons to lack and suffer hunger They that seeke the Lord shall not want any good thing All worldlie comforts may deceiue vs as a Brooâ—… as the rising of the Riuers they passe away But God whose bowels are euer earning ouer vs is euer fast and sure With him is no shadowe of change This comforted the Psalmest in the failinges of his flesh and heart God said hee is the strength of mine heart and my portion for euer This may vvell content vs except that wee bee heartlesse cowards I know and am fullie perswaded that yee would gladlie haue still enjoyed your Iewell for some number of yeares euen vnto the last date of mans dayes euen vnto his threescore and tenth yeare or to four score the vtmost feare of sinfull life set for these in whoÌ„ is the reason of strength This I know would haue bene your desire But bee yee thankefull to God for the blessed time yee haue enjoyed him alreadie How many bee Widowes before that their first yeare bee ended And yet though so should haue beene done with you or with all these that liue godlie A good marriage were it but for a day it is in Gods Count Book reckoned to bee of long continuance Many dayes make not the long life but well spent dayes A Childe of God though an Infant of dayes dieth an hundreth yeares olde but the sinner an hundreth yeares olde shall bee accursed hee is but as of yesterday As for your Husband M there is no neede now of lamentations for him for he is well He is now among these ransomed of the Lord obtaining joye and gladnesse where sorrowe and sighing haue none abode God in great mercie hath taken him away that hee should not see the euill to come This was a fauour granted to good Iosiah that he should be remoued in peace before the breake of weather Behold said the Lord I will gather thee vnto thy fathers thou shalt be gathered into thy graue in peace thine eyes shall not see all the euill which I will bring vpon this place In these last Dreggie dayes of the world the dead could speake to the liuing they might well say to them as Christ said to the weeping women of Ierusalem Weepe not for vs but weepe for your selues for behold the dayes are comming c. In all appearance behold in this Age the dayes are comming fast on wherein that of Ieremiah shal be said to the liuing Weepe yee not for him that is dead neither bemone him but weâ—…pe for him that goeth away for hee shall returne no more nor see his natiue Countrie There bee such fearefull calamities now brewing for this Land that by all liklie-hood when yee shall drinke the cup of wrath our griefes shall so goe beyond all such sorrow lik that of Ezekiel that neither shall the Husband mourne for his Wife nor shall the Wife waile for the Husband at their buriall Beholde a Paterne Sonne of man said the Lord Behold I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroake Consider well the sodainnesse the increaser of griefe yet neither shalt thou mourne nor weepe nor teares runne downe Forbeare to cry make no mourning for the dead Bind the tyre of thine head vpon thee and put on thy shooes vpon thy feete and couer not thy lippes and eate not the bread of men All this was to declare that such calamities shulâ—… ouer-take that people that all such mourninges for the death of Husbands Wâ—…ues Children c. should be swallowed vp by a greater griefe This is plaine by the wordes following Yee shall not mourne nor weepe but yee shall pyne away for your iniquities and mourne one towardes another Let vs speake in Conscience May not the Lord most justlie as he did threaten there take from vs our strength the joy of our glorie the desire of our eyes that whervpon we set our minds euen the Gospel the Arke of his couenant O let vs die before that euer that Glorie depart from this Israel This consideration may sufficientlie teach you and vs all moderat mourning in so mercifull a visitation It shall therefore bee your best in your deepest doole to Behaue and quiet your self lik a child that is wained of his mother The choisest argument of comfort which the Apostle could finde concerning the dead is founded vpon the Resurrection the day of the generall meeting of all Saints I would not said hee haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe that yee sorrow not euen as these which haue none hope For if wee belieue that Iesus died rose againe euen so them also which sleepe in Iesus
will God bring with him For this wee say v◅to you by the word of the Lord that wee which are aliue and remaine vnto the comming of the Lord shall not preuent them which are asleepe For the Lord himselfe shall d◅scend from heauen with a shout with the voyce of the Arch Angel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first Then wee which are aliue and remaine shall bee caught vp together with them in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the Aire And so shall wee bee euer with the Lord. VVherefore comfort one another with these words Consider well and weigh these words which that great Pen-man of God hath set downe with a precept that with them wee should comfort one another while wee are in doole for the dead Finallie this M. yee must know that all earthlie sorrowes were they neuer so sharpe will at last growe blunt and will bee meekened and skinned ouer by time Nowe that which Time can doe to a Pagane let Grace doe it to a Christian. I intreate the Lord of all Grace and kindnesse to cast downe his compassionate eye vpon your afflicted grieued case that your mourning beeing tempered with mercie ye may in your greatest griefe rejoyce in your God Amen A compendious Epitaphe fit for a godlie Man deceased To long Eternitie from toylesome Time His Soule is past his Body sleepes in Slime A COMFORT for the fatherlesse MY deare heartes bee not dismayed in this grieuous affliction But take it in patience seeing it is from the Lord who maketh all thinges to worke to the best of th◅se that loue him As Father Iob said while hee was made Childlesse so muste yee say while yee are made fatherlesse The Lord hath giuen the Lord hath taken away and blessed bee the Name of the Lord. If yee can blesse him for the remouing of his blessinges hee shall double his blessinges vpon you and shall make them to meete you at euerie turne The fatherlesse Children of the faithfull whether their Fathers haue beene poore or rich haue a rich Legacie left vnto them ◅or to them belong that promise of shewing mercie vnto thousands Such as bee blessed of him saith the Psalmist mist shall inherite the earth In another place hee saith The generation of the righteous shall bee blessed Wee knowe nothing on Earth more tender than a mother toward the fruit of her wombe This made the Lord to say Cā a mother forget her sucking Childe that she should not haue compassion of the fruite of her nombe But what answered the Lord to that question Yea said hee they ◅ay forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I haue grauen thee vpon the palmes of mine hands This was Dauids greatest comfort that though his Father and his Mother should for sake him yet the Lord would take him vp If yee would heare of sensible Experience My flesh said hee and mine hearte faileth But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer Thus as yee see Father and Mother Sister and Brother flesh and Friendes Heart Health and Wealth and all will faile vs but our God is onelie and euer fast hee is the strength of our heart and our portion for euer Seeing it is so let your hearts relye vpon your God alone What euer your distresses bee as Abraham said to his Sonne The Lord will prouide Will yee heare Experience I haue bene yong said Dauid and now am old yet haue I not seene the righteous forsaken nor his seede begging their bread Though the children of the godlie bee but Children of poore fathers yet heere is their comfort their godlie fathers before they die treasure vp for them many prayers in Heauen and leaue vnto them the rich Legacie of Gods fauour Yee knowe certainlie that your Father was one that feared the LORD from his heart whereof to all our comforts hee hath giuen a good proofe And ther◅fore yee may boldlie by the hand of faith laye holde on the promises of God which belong to all the faithfull and to their Children vnto many generations Ye may know by the writen word howe God feedeth the Rauens and clotheth the Lillies Though they neither toile nor spinne and though they neither sowe nor reape and though they neither haue store-house nor Barne yet are they sufficiently prouided How much more are ye better than Fowles or flowers Christs precept is of profitable practise Seeke first the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse therof and all other things shall bee cast vnto you Pray the Lord not coldlie and careleslie but most earnestlie that hee would cleanse scoure your hearts from all these worldlie cares of what yee shall eate and vvhat ye shall drink and vvhat yee shall put on Learne in time to cast your burden vpon the Lord who desireth you so to doe and that with a promise that hee shall sustaine you A little with Gods blessing is enough It is like that Widowes handfull of meale and little oyle which failed not The vessels of Gods grace are like that other VVidowes pot of oyle which yeelded out oyle continuallie so long as there were vessels to receiue If yee bee earnest with God in prayer hee will not repell your prayers with a deafe eare The Lord himselfe hath taken vpon him to bee your Iudge and defender If anie goe about for to molest you by a violent boisterous course he will certainelie bee their bane like dung hee sh◅ll swee◅e them away from the face of the Earth Seeing then yee haue such faire promises of GOD made both to your faithfull Father and to you also in the day of your Baptisme beware by a lewde life to forfeite such Bandes and Obligations Beware to followe the euill examples of this Worlde in following the droue which either by secret hypocrisie or publicke prophaning biddeth Battells to all the Preceptes of Gods Lawe Sharpe is that sauce which commeth after the sweet◅st worldlie pleasures Let them bee as pleasant as yee please there is an Hooke in the Bate The most part of this world is but a rabble of Reprobates an hoste of damned sinners rushing vpon their owne destruction Their cleanest Garments are spotted with the flesh They are more clammie than pitch None can touch them and not bee defiled Bee euer earnest to doe well Though ye come faire short of that you should and also would doe yet bee not discouraged Gods strength at last shall bee made perfect in your weaknesse It cannot bee auoided but manie will trouble you by fraud by cusenage and by other diuerse afflictions Though such things bee tedious to the flesh and goe against the streame of your affections yet in the latter end all shall worke both to your well contentment Let not sorrow ouerwhelme your hearts Mourne not as these that haue none hope