short breadth narrownesse heigth lownesse and depth shallownesse there light is found that shines not the Word an Infant thirsting for water hūgring after bread O Nativity honorable to the world in its unpolluted holinesse lovely to men by the greatnesse of the benefit bestowed inscrutable also to the Angels by the depth of the sacred Mystery and admirable in all these things by the speciall excellency of the newnesse thereof even so that there hath not bin seene the like before it nor can there be seen any such to follow it Ah what was the cause of Christs comming and Birth what but to save sinners Take away sicknesse take away wounds and there will bee no use for medicines Therefore the great Physitian came from heaven because men lay sicke in all places all the stocke of mankind was lost by the sinne of one in whom all were and therefore came one without sinne that might save all that were in their sinnes for not our merits but our sinnes drew him from heaven It is a thing becomming our faithfull soules Christian breasts beleeving minds that we celebrate the comming of our Lord with all devoutnesse and that we meditate of his Birth being delighted wirh so great a consolation and amased with so excellent a Dignity and enflamed with so great a love It is a worthy thing my brethren that we sing forth glory to the Trinity in unity and to God the Divine and begotten off-spring and also to the Spirit proceeding from them both O Jesu thou that wouldest be borne an Infant make mee become little in mine owne sight and that I may not too much desire high things Thou which diddest proceed from the wombe of a most chaste Virgin be thou also borne in my chaste heart which is purified by thee Thou who wert born in the town of Bethlehem that is the house of bread and wast sought and found by the Shepherds joyne mee often with thy Shepherds and furnish mee with the heavenly bread and so thy Nativity shall for ever satisfie me The heaven was opened when thou wast borne open heaven also unto me when the dayes of this my earthly birth and pilgrimage are ended that I may see and glorifie thee Angels accompanied the Shepherds that went to thee joyne them also to my company that I be not cast headlong into a by-way or desire any thing besides thee the brightnesse of the Lord did shine upon those that did desire to be neere thee I would that I might bee alwayes present with thee and be illuminated by thy Light that I rush not into darksome fens or be involved in filth and pernitious darknesse They granted thee no roome in the Inne O make choyce of a place in my heart let my heart be thy manger and thy swadling bands wherewith thou wert swathed that I may for ever remaine inclosed within thy wounds and within thy mercy and my soule shall magnifie thee O Lord and my spirit shall rejoyce in God my Saviour I will call out with those lowd crying and fiery inhabitants of heaven Glory bee to God on high on earth peace good will towards men now is wrought salvation and power and the Kingdome of our God and the power of his Christ Thou art worthy O Lord our God to receive Glory and Honour and Power Ah Lord when shall this come to passe when wilt thou bestow this upon mee CONTEMP c. 15. Of the name Jesus WHat sound is this that flies to mine eares it is a name that parents gave not neither did the circucising Priest bestow it but an Angell brought it from heaven and God that it should be brought and declared unto us commanded saying His name is Jesus how pleasant delightfull and forcible a name O how this name doth comfort my soule Jesus is a God of giving men salvation which is expounded a Saviour or saving for this reason of the name was given when before he was to be borne by the Virgin it was said Thou shalt call his name Jesus because hee shall save his people from their sinnes God hath now manifested his salvation all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God hee hath opened himselfe in the earth and salvation and righteousnesse have been fruitfull My God thou makest us safe in the Lord our God thou hast given us a light of the Gentiles which is our salvation even to the ends of the earth Let us therefore rejoyce in God our Saviour say to the Daughter of Sion behold salvation approacheth The other names of the Messiah are taken from the effects of his salvation and doe onely signifie either the beginning or middle or onely the end of salvation but this name Jesus the whole proceeding thereof for it doth sufficiently containe and expresse the beginning middle and end thereof and doth include all other things also within it The Angels adore and the devils doe tremble at this name and men receive it for their salvations This name is glorious in the preaching of it being thought upon doth nourish us called upon doth mollifie and anoint us not in the letters of it but by its spirit and life Whence could there have beene in all the world so great and so sodaine a light of faith but by the preaching of the name of Jesus Hath not God called us in the light of this name into his admirable light to such as are so enlightned and doe see light by his light Paul speaketh deservedly You were sometimes darknesse but now are you light in the Lord. And the name of Jesus is not onely a light but it is also food art not thou as often refreshed as thou dost think upon it What doth so much fatten the soule as the thought of that name What doth so much repaire the decayed senses It strengthens our vertues it quickens good and honest manners it cherisheth chaste affections all meat is dry that is not moistned with this oyle is unsavoury not seasoned with this salt If thou writest to mee I relish it not if thou leave out Jesus Jesus is honey in the mouth harmony in the eare gladnesse and physicke for the heart Is any of us sad let Jesus come into the heart and thence let him flow into our mouths and behold at the rising of the light of that name every cloud is expelled and the cleare light returnes Doth any slip into sinne doth he haste even to the halter of death by his despaire doth he not by invocation of this name of life forthwith respire to life Surely there have beene many others who have had the name of Jesus for the name of Ioshuah that led the Israelites through Jordan into the land of Canaan is the same name with Jesus The son of Syrach is called Iesus and Iesus is mentioned in Zachary but these men beare the name without the thing or if they wrought any safety they performed it by the power and helpe of this my Jesus There
Returne returne thou degenerate son nor will I set my face against thee so that thou wilt acknowledge the sinnes by which thou hast offended thy God How often hast thou called me unto thee by this most pleasing voice How often hast thou exhorted me by great feare by most terrible threats by the daily expectation of daily danger of perpetuall death and strict judgement how many preachers hast thou afforded me how many teachers hast thou set over me who partly by doctrine and partly by example should shew me the way I should walke in Thou hast allured me by most gentle compellations thou hast chastised me by dangerous sicknesses and other miseries and hast left out nothing that might induce me from the old way What shall I render unto thee O Lord for all thy blessings bestowed upon me I owe thee my selfe and all things I enjoy because thou hast created me for thou madest me and what ever I have Againe I owe thee my selfe and all things I possesse because thou hast preserved me besides Lord thou gavest thy selfe to be my great and plenteous reward What can I render unto thee If I had in my hand all the lives of all the Angels and all the soules of all mankinde and I should resolve to pay them to thee they could not stand in comparison with one drop of thy blood shed for me therefore I most worthily complaine and cry out who shall give water to my head and a fountaine of teares to my eyes and I will weepe night and day and deplore mine owne abominable ingratitude wherewith I thy creature O my best Creator have repayed thee for all thy so many and so great and so incomprehensible benefits bestowed upon me Helpe me O my God impart thy grace unto me that I may with inward contrition confesse unto thee my back-sliding from thee Ah! Lord I am thy creature though most unhappy and unworthy of thee my Creator Thou didst create me according to thine own image and similitude looke backe upon me O God take from me what ever I have brought in and then thou shalt finde nothing but good in me and that which thou hast bestowed upon me O thou most perfect worker of all goodnesse Alas I have resisted the powers of thy holy will and striven much to oppose thee Oh with what security have I given my self over to wrath my feet made haste to doe evill my hands prepared themselves to doe mischiefe to covetousnesse and all manner of impurities my eyes were turned to behold vanity my eares were open to receive lies filthy talking slandering and reproaching My soule that was a most noble soule and neare in nature to thy heavenly Ministers and ought to have contemplated to beheld and have reflected upon thee turnes backe from thy unspeakable beauty and turnes it selfe towards the flattering deceitfull beauty of the world and laboured this with care that it might abuse the fraile goods of this world to her owne lusts and knew not how grievous and hurtfull this would prove unto her This behold is the understanding part of my soule let us see what good may proceed from the will Thou hast enclined O Lord my will to heavenly riches but it hath declined to earthly things and hath wholly enthralled her selfe by a vaine love unto them this O Lord is that grace which I have repayed thee for thy most precious gifts What shall I answer thee ah Lord if thou shouldest call me before thy judgement seat and shouldest say I have planted thee for a noble vine and that thou shouldest wholly be a faithfull seed how then are you changed into degenerate branches of a wilde vine But if I stand in so foule a condition upon examination of the benefit of my Creation what will it prove if I should give an account of the benefits of my Preservation For thou hast preserved him so many dayes so many moneths so many yeares who hath dedicated all his senses to the contempt and despite of all thy Commandements who hath persecuted thy servants who hath beene a scandall to the communion of thy Saints who hath strengthened and enlarged the kingdome of sinners Thou hast preserved the tongue that hath blasphemed thee and taken thy Name in vaine thou hast preserved the members that have most vehemently offended thee thou hast given him meat and drinke that hath abused them both to thine owne reproach I have not beene onely unthankfull but I armed my selfe with thine owne blessings against thee Thou createdst all thy creatures for me even for my profit and to draw me to love thee and I have used thy creatures to the inexcusable hatred of thee Those things which ought to have brought me to thy most beautifull wisdome did make me blinde and made me not only not to looke up but did even close mine eyes that I should not behold how much the Creator did excell those his so many faire and comely creatures for the most rare Artist of all beauty and comelinesse was He that that created them Thou gavest me all things that I should yeeld and consecrate my selfe unto thee thou wouldest have all things serve me that I might serve thee even I that have so little thought upon thee Thy creatures according to thy command are ready at thy becke but I alas have stoutly refused thy commandements Thou hast given me health of body and I have granted the use thereof to the devill thou hast given me strength understanding and a will and I have bestowed them upon the service of iniquity And what shall I say as many dangers and losses of other men as I have beheld so many of thy blessings towards my selfe have I seene that thou didst not overwhelme me in the same dangers and losses If thou shouldest send me what I deserve thou mightest finde me more worthy so many miseries than others are but it is thy mercy O Lord that I am not consumed Beasts are tamed by courtesies are made gentle and familiar for the service and obedience of man and yet thy benefits have not tamed me have not moved me that I might say in my heart Let us feare the Lord our God that giveth us raine the early and the later raine it its season preserving for us the fulnesse of the yearly harvest that enricheth us with his blessings that preserveth us from our birth even to our death Ought not these things to set before mine eyes and minde thy favour and mercy towards me But if I am so much bound unto thee for these benefits which thou hast produced for me by the bare power of thy Word what shall I be indebted to thee for redeeming me from eternall death and damnation by the precious blood of thine only begotten son Oh how much have I neglected thy most wise counsell how have I despised thy incarnation which I ought to adore Thou my God art made man that thou mightest make me partaker of the divine nature and I a
but feare God and examine exactly what may be truly profitable for thee Doe good to the poore with all thy power that thou mayest gather for thy selfe a treasure in heaven Doe all that God bids thee for thou art bound to doe good with thy will and spirit but he that knowes to doe well and doth it not he is guilty of sinne but he that doth good doth it not from himselfe but for that cause that it is bestowed on him of God and that he belongeth unto God Love not O man the world or the things of the world as the lusts of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life but feare God and meditate with thy selfe of heavenly things strive to fulfill Gods will in all vertuousnesse shun worldly minds set upon the earth that thou be not defiled with other mens sins seeke Gods kingdome and so use the mirth is permitted to thee that thou mayest alwayes tremble stand in awe and shew thy selfe thankfull that thou fall into no secret sin or be delighted with the tree of good and evill and with the sight of a momentany pleasure thou remove like Eve the law of God out of thine eyes and heart which should be neverthelesse the summe and highest pitch of all thy delights It should be thy delight night and day that it may be to thee the right way the truth and the life if thou wilt lead a a living life conducting to life eternall not to everlasting death Next O man keepe these three things faith charity and stedfastnesse of hope What ever thou dost see thou doe it in faith in simplicity of heart in confidence of the fatherly will of God and give God thanks to whom they are due and his blessings shall be alwayes thy handmaid let charity spring from the ground of thy heart nor be carefull to give thy selfe content but labour with feare and humility to please God Be pleasing unto men in truth mercy and justice without flattery for that is perfect charity Charity bids us look to the things that concerne God our neighbour not only those things which concern my selfe Let thy hope be without feare and doubting let him that desires divine heavenly and eternall things rest upon the wil of God and not upon slippery fraile and brittle things No man shall make thee lose thy hold of that hope which thou hast placed upon God thou mayest hope upon him even in the pangs of death for he is omnipotent Never let humility slip out of thy mind for he preserveth thy life by simplicitie strengthens it by patience and feeds it by truth Commit all thy waies unto God and hee shall bring it to passe he knowes what is for thy profit and what not Thinkest thou that he knowes not thy condition behold God sees and knowes all things and nothing is hid from his eyes He regards also the poore and contrite spirit and him that trembleth at his Word Search not therefore after high things when thou art commended feare because thou art an unprofitable servant and canst doe nothing except thou be assisted by the power favour and Spirit of God Thinke not better of thy selfe than of thy neighbour for thou art a man of nought remember God is only to be honoured and thou shalt be the greater if thou cast down thy selfe Be alwayes ruminating of these things first let no vain idle scurrilous words break from thy lips but godly pleasing profitable which tend to life and lead not to death therefore bridle thy tongue and restraine it for it can kill and give life Secondly to keepe thy soule and conscience free from wickednesse exclude thou malice and impious thoughts and never shun the light O thrice happie and more is hee whose heart condemnes him not Thou belongest to God O man walke upright with God remove from thee darknesse lyes and injustice for he is a Judge and a revenger of such things Trie and prove thy selfe in all things that thou mayst know what vice sticks to thee what vertue thou wantest that thou mayst shake off that and purchase this for thou canst never bee so perfect that something will not still be wanting Whatsoever thou dost thou dost it by Gods indulgence and helpe if it be acceptable to him for of thy selfe thou art very nothing and by the assistance of Gods holy Spirit canst thou onely proceed in goodnesse stay not therefore or hinder the operations thereof work out thy salvation with feare and trembling in continuall repentance humility and simplicitie of heart and think that thou art neither worthy of the blessings of this life or of that which is to come Lastly pray without ceasing in all thy labours pray reverently devoutly and humbly with faith in all thy wayes with a most fervent desire of thy neighbours salvation Thou must pray in thy chamber in solitarinesse in most humble devotion in fastings in teares in anguish in weeping in contrition upon thy knees night and day with a full hope and not doubting according to the will of God for all the true professors of the Christian faith study in all things to please God and not men whosoever honours God God will also honour him whosoever contemnes God God shall also contemne him Grant me thy grace most mercifull God that it may bee with me that it may labour with me and may continue with me even unto the end Grant I may alwayes will and desire that which is most acceptable unto thee and most dearly pleaseth thee let thy will be my will and let my will alwayes follow thine and agree best with it let me will and will the same thing that thou dost and grant I may not have power otherwise to will or not to will them as thou dost O my God thou unspeakable sweetnesse turne all carnal comforts into bitternesse unto me which doe draw me from the love of things eternall and evilly allure mee under colour of some present delectable good Let not flesh and blood O my God overcome me let not the world and its short glory deceive me let not the devill and his subtilty supplant mee Give mee strength to resist patience to endure constancie to performe give mee in stead of all the comforts of the world the most sweet unction of thy Spirit and infuse into mee the love of thy Name in stead of carnall love Confirme me my God by the grace of thy holy Spirit give mee power to bee strengthned in the inward man and to emptie my heart of all unprofitable care and vexation nor to be distracted with the various desires of any thing whether it be vile or precious but that I looke upon all things as if they passed but by me and that I did also passe away as they doe because nothing under the Sun is of any continuance but all things are vanity and vexation of spirit O how wise is he that thus considers with himselfe Give me my God heavenly wisdome
which the Prophet said A new name shall be given thee which the mouth of the Lord shall bestow on thee We have changed our accursed name because God hath given us a new name Take heed to your selves take heed who ever you be that you despise none of the faithfull that you disesteeme or reproach them not though he seeme most miserable most abject and most afflicted for let his misery or affliction be as great as may be yet is he the Almighty Gods Anointed the Prophet of the most holy the Priest of the most High yea he is himselfe a king of most great Majesty Yee are Prophets O Christians therefore let the Word of God dwell plentifully in you with all wisdome teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymnes and spirituall songs singing unto the Lord with grace in your hearts Ye are Priests ye Christians therefore I beseech you my brethren by the mercies of God that you give up your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice and acceptable to God by your reasonable service of him and be not fashioned like this world but be yee changed through the renewing of your mindes that ye may discerne what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God Ye are Kings O Christians be not therefore servants of sin or be subject to the boyling affections of the flesh but mortifie your sinnes tame your lusts nor prostitute your dignity to a most base and impure servitude Extoll your Christ because all your eminencie all your worth all your grace and all your glory proceedeth from him As the rivers do flow from the sea and flow back againe into the same so let your eminency dignity grace and glory be directed disposed of and referred to the authour and giver thereof Call upon Christ O ye Christians because though you be anointed yet may that ointment be overwhelmed defiled and wiped off by the filth of your sinnes and the durt of your corruptions ye carry heavenly gifts in brittle vessels pray that they be not broken and your graces spilt pray that no wind may extinguish your flame that your oyle faile you not and yee be left in darknesse with the foolish virgins Love your Christ yee Christians because he is anointed that you might be anointed because he is a King that hath all the inhabitants of the earth for his subjects because he is a Priest that hath expiated all the sinnes of the whole world because he is a Prophet that doth instruct all the ignorant doth enforme them and teacheth them the right way to life Love Christ you Christians because the most apparant manifestation of a thankfull mind consisteth not in words but works not in promises but in obedience But to the end you may more fully consider your dignity the birth of a Christian is to be weighed God is his Father in heaven the Church is his mother upon the earth The Word of God to be heard and seene is the seed that is the Word preached this is the administration of the Sacraments Yee are borne againe not of corruptible seed but incorruptible by the Word of God that lives and abideth for evermore The Father of lights hath begotten you by the Word of his truth The Churches are the wombe where the seed of the heavenly Word is scattered and in which the eternall Father and our mother the Church doe meet together The heart of man is the matter of this generation the privation is the mortification of the old Adam the forme is the vivification it selfe whence doth arise the assent of the understanding and confidence of the will that the sonne of wrath may become the sonne of grace the blinde may see the deafe may heare the dumbe may speake the lame walke the leaper be cleansed and life may be restored to the dead The time of this formation is when a Christian doth more and more profit in knowledge of the understanding and holinesse in the heart the carrying in the wombe is when in our whole life by meanes of the vessels of the wombe and navell that is by the ministers of the Word he attracteth to himselfe the milke of saving knowledge from the two breasts of the Church the Law and the Gospell and as an Embrion lives in the wombe so he lives in the Word Hee is a brute creature and more silly than a beast that doth not admire that a childe in the wombe should be preserved alive in so darke a prison in so uncleane streights among so many filths corruptions excrements wrapped in filmes and crowded by the bowels but it is farre more to be wondred at that any Christian should be supported amidst so many griefes paines torments snares and calamities For about the wombe wherein we are carried the World cries I will slay him the Flesh cries I will infect him the Devill cries I will deceive him Wee must there lie hid where there is much malice where is little wisdome where all things are viscous and slimie all things hid in darknesse and beset with snares where the soules are in danger the bodies are afflicted where all things are vanity and vexation of Spirit and yet for all this we live and are preserved we live and are not killed we are nourished and not in want we are carried in the wombe and are not abortive we are sustained and are in want of nothing The Embrion in the mothers wombe lives a hidden life he lives indeed in the world but is not seene with the eyes of any he sends forth his breath but scarce draws any in we also Embrions of regeneration lead a hidden life For though we live in the kingdome of heaven yet our glory and desireable life doth not as yet make any great shew we yet behold not the light of eternall blessednesse we yet draw not the aire of the region of Paradise we yet eat not the Angelicall Manna we yet drinke not of the heavenly liquour but have as it were but a light taste of al these things and we have scarce any sensible breathing of these things But the houre is at hand and the time will come that it shall be made manifest what we shall be wherein we shall beginne and never end this glorious light this life not of hope but of the things hoped for even the life of vision We shal begin this life when we die for then begin we to be borne to the true light when we first put off our mortality For the true birth day of Christians is their day of death In death they do begin to live through death they enter into life as the infant lies sighing at the port of the wombe expecting his passage and though he be even at deaths threshold yet is he conveyed into the haven of life O living death of Christians O Christian sonne of God brother of Christ companion of the Angels Lord of the world partaker of the divine nature O Christian exalted above sin and the law
downe from heaven thy holy Spirit the teacher of truth and worke in my tough and hard heart inward and divine repentance that I may never repent me of And now thou love of that heavenly power thou holy communication of the omnipotent Father and the blessed issue thou Spirit the Omnipotent Comforter slide within the most secret places of my heart by thy powerfull operation and enlighten every darke lurking place of this my neglected habitation by the brightnesse of thy glorious light Come come now thou most courteous Comforter of the languishing soul that defendst it in its necessities art its helper in tribulation Come thou cleanser of my filthinesse thou curer of my wounds Come thou Strength of the weake thou Sustainer of those that slide Come thou Instructer of the humble and Confounder of the haughty Come thou holy Father of the orphans thou milde Judge of the widowes Come thou Hope of the poore thou Refresher of those that faint Come thou sea-mans Starre thou Haven against shipwracke Come thou singular Beauty of all that live thou only Safety of those that die Come most holy Spirit come and take pity upon me Fit me for thy selfe and mercifully condescend to my weaknesse that according to the multitude of thy mercies my meannesse may be acceptable to thy Majestie and my weaknesse to thy power There was a time my God when I had no being which I cannot remember and then thou madest me to have a being thou formedst me of the clay of the earth and madest me according to thine owne image and representation Thou broughtest me out of my mothers wombe thou wast my hope when I hung upon my mothers breasts from the wombe was I cast upon thy providence for from the very time that I first drew my vitall breath and entred this tabernacle of the world and my soule tooke possession of her earthly house thou art my Father thou art my Redeemer thou art my Saviour thou art my Helper Thou didst create my body and all the members thereof thou gavest me my soule and all the faculties thereof and hast most mercifully preserved my life even to this present houre Thou hast added another blessing farre more pretious than the rest that thou mightest tie me the nearer unto thee Thou descendedst O God from heaven to finde me out thou soughtest for me being lost of all hands By thy incarnation didst thou rid my weake and miserable flesh out of the ignominy and basenesse which by the devils seducing suggestions it was fallen into Thou sanctifiedst my sinfull nativity by thy most holy birth by thy bonds and captivity thou hast freed me from the bonds of my enthralling sinnes Whilst thou deliveredst thy selfe into the hands of sinners thou hast snatched me out of the power of sinne in the forme of sinfull flesh thou hast abolished my sinfull life which is the worke of Satan by this thy great mercy thou hast most straightly tied me unto thy selfe thou hast enticed me unto thee with those benefits thou hast confirmed and strengthned my hope with those great merits thou wouldest stirre up in me a hatred and detestation of my sins in that thou hast wrought and endured so many and so great things that thou mightest reconcile me to thy heavenly Father and overthrow the kingdome of sinne so thou hast kindled bright coales over my head that thou mightest thereby set my heart on fire that overwhelmed as it were with the works of thy mercy which are included in this thy worke of Redemption I might love him with all my heart who hath wholly loved me and imparted himselfe wholly unto mee Thou hast redeemed me O Lord my God but what good had it beene unto me except thou hadst permitted me to be baptized amongst so great a multitude therefore of Infidels thou wast pleased I should be borne of faithfull parents and hast blessed me so farre above all unbeleeving Ethnicks Turks and Jewes that I might be regenerated by the lavacre in thy word and according to thy Word and might put on my Christ with all his benefits There thou hast adopted me for thy sonne and made me thy heire there make I that wonderfull covenant with thee that I should be thine and that thou shouldest be mine that thou shouldest be my Lord and I should be thy servant that thou shouldest be my father and I should be thy sonne there is it so so covenanted betwixt us that thou shouldest manifest thy fatherly affection to me and that I should with a filiall obedience hearken unto thee What need I rehearse the other use of this Sacrament namely that thou hast made it the curing physicke of our sins that by thine own blood thou mightest heal my unhappy and festring wounds and mightest thereby more and more adde perfection unto me But though I have received so many blessings of thee and have in a readinesse so many antidotes against sinne yet have I not continued in obedience but have often broken that covenant and yet hast thou bin so mercifull and so milde a God that thou didst endure my disobedience O God my salvation and hope how can I recount thy mercy and clemency without shedding of teares for how often O just judge mightest thou kill and bring me to nothing and yet none of these things is befallen me how many thousands of soules are already thrust into hell to be punished with eternall plagues and fire that never came neare my sinnes either in number or weight and yet am not I burned what had become of me if thou hadst cut me off together with them How ought I to feare thy terrible and fearfull judgement if thou shouldest punish me in thy immutable and severe judgement according to the foulnesse of my iniquities O my God who tied thy hands who was my Intercessor when I most securely slept the sleep of sin who held the scourge of thy wrath when as day by day I provoked urged thy vengeance what was there in me to please thee what was there in me so worthy of thy acceptation that thou shouldest spare me when thou didst root out others who wallowing in the mud of their sinnes thou didst summon to thy most righteous judgement seat in the midst of their dayes My sins did cry to heaven and thou didst stop thine eares my wickednesses were daily multiplied and thy mercy was likewise encreased to me I did sinne and thou didst expect my repentance I fled from thee and thou didst draw neare to me I provoked thee so often to wrath that I might weary thee by my provocations yet wast not thou weary of taking pity upon me as if my transgressions against thee being abominable ingratitude in me were pleasing in thy sight Thou hast suggested unto me many good thoughts and given me many profitable admonitions to turne me from my transgressions even in my full speed of sinning How many times standing before the doore of my heart hast thou knocked and called saying
inheritance yet O my Father thou hast not lost the heart of a Father though I have fallen from thee my Father yet wilt not thou fall from me or cease to be my Father that word never failed As I live I will not the death of a sinner but that hee may bee converted and live And although my sins be innumerable and my wounds may seeme incurable yet art not thou ignorant of a way to cure me confirme therefore and fulfill thy promises wash me effectually with the blood of thy Son that as to me his death prove not in vaine I am as well a part of his flesh and he a part of mine as Peter David or Paul he is as well to me an Emmanuel as to any other Hee bare the sins of the whole world and therefore hee bore mine also Looke back therefore look back therefore O Lord upon this lost sheepe regard thy creature nor contend with him in thy fury whom thou hast made with thy hands take care O Lord of the soule which thou hast redeemed I come creeping to thee wounded with many wounds but thou most experienced Physitian of soules and Maâ—â—er of the diseased canst heale them all I come being blinded but thou canst enlighten me I come dead unto thee but thou canst give me life I come full of leprosie but thou canst cleanse me Sprinkle me with Hysop and I shall be cleane wash me and I shall be whiter than snow O my God the God of my life thy mercy is greater than my sins thy clemencie exceeds all my iniquities Thou canst forgiue more O Lord than I can offend thy mercies are bottomlesse and numberlesse but as many as my sins are and as great as they are they are neither bottomlesse nor numberlesse Take me out therefore and deliver mee forgive mee my great injustice take away my stony and hard heart and create in me a soft and a cleane heart that even in this life I may give thee thanks let me by my faith and good example bring sinners to thee and let me glorifie thee and celebrate thee for these and other thy innumerable blessings for evermore Amen my God be it so even so be it my Lord Jesus Christ CONTEMP c. 38. Of the greatnesse and foulnesse of our sinnes and of the Confession of them I Am affraid of my rashnesse when I consider with my selfe what a Majestie I have offended with my sins when I consider how benigne and wonderfull a Father I have forsaken I detest mine owne ingratitude when I consider from how happie a libertie of spirit into how miserable servitude I have cast my selfe I condemne mine owne madnesse and am wholly displeasing to my selfe nor have any other object before my eyes but hell and desperation namely that doth terrifie my conscience by Gods inevitable Justice I am to be consumed like rottennesse sin is rottennesse indeed for it destroyes the beauty of the soule the sweet savour of a good name the worth of grace the relish of glory it is truly durt being wallowed therein we become abominable to honest men the good Angels and the just God It is truely smoak that foretels us that hell-fire is not farre from it and doth drive away the heavenly Dove It is indeed the Devils taverne in which for the price of soules hee sels the world the wine of pleasure it is the dart with which our soule is pierced thorow and is deprived of all vigour and life It is true sicknesse because it leaves us no health in our flesh nor from the presence of Gods wrath grants us any quietnesse in our bones It is truly a Sea for it swels over our head and easily swalloweth up our whole body It is truly a burden because a sinner is most burdened therewith and is even pressed downe unto hell it selfe But whither shall I goe where shall I withdraw my selfe Ah! be mercifull unto me O take pitie upon mee according to thy great mercy and according to the multitude of thy compassions wash away mine iniquities Against thee against thee onely have I sinned and done this evill in thy sight behold I am begotten in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceived me I have gone astray like a sheepe that perisheth seeke out thy lost sheep O Lord remember not the faults and transgressions of my youth O Lord who understands his owne sins Cleanse me from my secret offences Enter not into judgement with thy servant because no man living can be justified before thee Remember O Lord thy mercies and compassions which have been of old Remember me according to thy mercies even for thy goodnesse sake O Lord. O Lord be mercifull unto mine offences make thy mercies wonderfull thou who savest those that trust in thee Turne not thy face from me nor cast away thy servant in displeasure for in death no man remembreth thee nor shall any praise thee in the grave What profit is in my bloud when I descend into corruption Shall dust give praise unto thee or set forth thy truth Regard and heare me O God lighten mine eyes that I sleepe not in death Set not thy mercies farre from me for thy mercy and truth doe alwayes preserve in thee O Lord have I trusted let me never be confounded Amen CONTEMP c. 39. Of Gods readinesse to forgive sinnes and our thankesgiving for the forgivenesse of them WHo can despaire of pardon from him who doth so often in the writings of the Prophets of his owne accord invite sinners to repentance crying out That he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should bee converted and live How ready is also his pardon to them that repent he hath inculcated unto us by his only begotten Son in many of his Parables as of the groat that was lost and found againe the strayed sheepe brought back upon the shoulders but more plainly by that of the prodigall sonne whose very image I am No man O God is so ready to sinne but thou art far more ready in thy good time to pardon our sinnes O pitifull and mercifull Lord slow to anger and very pitifull He strives not with us for ever neither is he alwayes wrath with us Because as the heaven is higher than the earth so hath he made his mercies to prevaile over me As farre as the East is distant from the West so far hath he set my sins from me As a father taketh pity upon his sonne so hath the Lord taken pity upon me he hath washed me from my iniquity he hath clensed me from my sins he knows whereof we be made he remembers we are but dust Why art thou sad ô my soule and why art thou troubled returne ô my soule into thy rest for the Lord hath done thee good He hath delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from falling Blessed are they whose sins are forgiven and whose offences are covered Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not sin Rejoyce in the Lord ô ye righteous for praise becommeth the Just taste and see for the Lord is sweet Blessed is the man that hopeth in him Blesse the Lord ô my soule and all that is within me praise his holy Name who is mercifull to all thy iniquities and healeth all thy infirmities who hath redeemed thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with mercy and pity His goodnesse and mercy shall follow me all the dayes of my life and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for evermore I desire and beseech thee ô God by the death of thine owne son give me thy Spirit to purifie my heart and with his grace to strengthen me that by mine own unadvisednesse I fall not thither whence by thy mercy I have been called Create in me ô God a new heart and renew a firme spirit within me restore unto me the joy of thy Salvation and uphold me by thy free spirit Wash mee daily by pardoning my daily offences translate me from the fennes of this age and the mud of this present life to the excellent kingdome of thy glory where is neither scab nor blindnesse nor doth any one suffer any uncleane issue of blood nor is any one uncleane where is no farther need of a lavacre thy glorious body being joyned unto our body Thou must needs fulfill thy promise made and both finish and confirme the good worke thou hast begun in me through Christ our only Lord and Saviour Amen CONTEMP c. 40. Of the worthy preparation to the holy Sacrament I Will make an entrance unto the Altar of God even to the God that maketh my youth rejoyce Laying aside the garments of my inveterate iniquity I will renew my youth like an Eagle and hasten to approach that heavenly banquet A plentifull and delicate banquet is prepared which is a medicine to the sicke a way to those that wander a banquet that comforteth the weake delights those that are in health cures sicknesse preserves health a banquet that makes a man more pliant to reproofe more patient to labour more zealous to love more wise to warinesse more ready to obedience more devout to thanksgiving a banquet by which our daily sinnes are forgiven the powers of Satan expelled strength given to undertake even martyrdome it selfe finally a banquet by which all good things are brought unto thee because a man partaking of it doth even become the same thing he receives This banquet compared with Ahasuerus his banquet relisheth farre above it compare it with the table spread in the Wildernesse for the children of Israel and it refresheth thee far more For though that Table contained in it the figure of this our Eucharist when God rained downe Manna for our Fathers in the Wildernesse and they were daily fed with food from heaven and men did eat Angels bread yet they that did eat that bread did die but this living bread that is set before thee in this costly banquet did come from heaven and hath given life to the world That Manna came from heaven this from above the heavens That being reserved to the next day was full of worms this is free from all corruption whosoever shall religiously taste thereof shall not see corruption That was given the Fathers after their passage over the red sea where the Egyptians were drowned and the Israelites were delivered so this heavenly Manna can profit none but the regenerate That corporall bread sustained the ancient people in their passage thorow the Wildernesse to the Land of promise this heavenly food sustaines the faithfull of these times in their passage to heaven Moses was Master of their Table and here Christ is ready at hand who hath furnished this Table and blessed it For it is not man that makes the bread and wine set on this Table to be the body and blood of Christ but Christ himselfe that is crucified for us words are uttered by the Priests mouth but the things set before thee are consecrated by the power of Christ who used these words unto his Disciples This is my Bodie this is the Cup of the New Testament in my Blood which is shed for you It is Christ in whom doth dwell all the fulnesse of the God-head bodily who is the power of God unto whom is given all power in heaven and earth Hee when hee was to put an end to the Ceremonies of the Law would prepare for himselfe the Passeover and before he would be condemned to death and be nailed to the Crosse he was pleased according to the solemnitie to celebrate the Passeover the roasted lambe unleavened bread and sowre herbs When this Supper was so prepared amidst these sacramentall dainties both the old and also the new institutions offered themselves to him and having eaten the Lambe that the old tradition did set before them This great Master sets before his Disciples a meat not to be consumed nor are here the people invited to a banquet made exquisite both by cost and paines but the nourishment of immortality is given them differing from common food keeping the forme of a corporeall substance but by the invisible efficacie of the divine power working in us and proving Gods especiall presence accompanying it Come hither yee faithfull soules refresh and recollect your selves cheere and fill your selves joyne in one by your faith your remembrance of Christ with the application of his merits with hearty thanksgiving for your deliverance made through his blood receive the pledge testimony and assurance of your holy communion and fellowship with Christ your Head and by him with the Father and the Holy Ghost also encrease cherish comfort and hold fast the faith of the remission of your sins your faith is imperfect perfect it not only by the hearing of the Word preached but by using this holy Supper the Word offers but this Supper applies Christ unto us Encourage your selves to the studie of good works How too often are we hindred stopt and grow stupid in performing this work Here Christ keepes us company in exhibiting unto us his bodie and blood hee doth daily more and more mortifie in us the body of sinne and beginne in us the newnesse of a spirituall life performe each to other the offices of concord peace and love for we eat the same flesh we drink the same blood we are nourished with the same food we are refreshed with the same drink we are made one body under the same head but who hath ever seene the members of one and the same body to disagree to strive jarre or contend Cast out rancour pluck up hatred purge out the old leaven The faithfull under the Gospell must not be made of leaven The holy Banquet requires pure and sincere mindes The sweet savour that comes from Christs scorching upon the Crosse doth concoct all crudities of our carnall senses and doth harden and settle the affections of the minde nor let there bee any spot in the Sacrament of
all ennoble the Garden that Tree of life and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evill When thy faithfull servant calls it the Tree of life doth he doe it because it had received this power from thee that he which should eat of its fruit should have his body confirmed in a setled state of health and a perpetuall strength that it should not decline to worse or to death by sicknesse or infirmity of age Thy very Word doth intimate thus much unto me Our first Parents were nourished with the fruits of the other trees that their living bodies should not suffer hunger or thirst but therefore they were to taste of the tree of life that death might not creepe upon them from any side nor that they should in continuance of time perish by reason of old age the other trees were for nourishment that for a Sacrament How great was thy care my God how great thy providence thou gavest me not a momentany pleasure nor a yearely but an everlasting Now I am weakned by diseases I am tormented with cares I am tortured with griefe but this is besides thy will though not contrary unto it for what could happen to me against thy Will could one haire have fallen from my head if thou hadst not willed it should be so what was now my first habitation the narrow and dark part of the womb where I was environed with the ill sented sides of the belly I come crying into this life I depart out of it with sweat and I passe through it with labour nor is there any one that can boast himselfe free from this condition being borne and brought into this light I cannot move my selfe from one place to another in my first infancy I am void of all pleasure I am a burden both to my selfe and unto others and exposed to innumerable dangers even till I attaine to these yeares wherein reason and judgement begin to florish in me happier in that one thing than in the other part of my life that I understand not my unhappy condition What shall I say O my God my yeares are multiplyed and my cares increase but I was not even worthy of these things Thou canst not doe otherwise than lead me and support me with thy hand although I did not deserve life but hell and destruction when I had opened my impious mouth and devoured the forbidden fruit thou didst ordeine the tree of the knowledge of good and evill for my Altar and Temple that I should yeeld thee due obedience in abstaining from the fruit thereof I would be made wiser and did become most unwise before the Fall I had the knowledge and experience of a present good I had only the knowledge but not the experience of an absent evil but after the Fall there was in me a certaine knowledge of a lost good but no experience of it and I had a knowledge an experience of an adherent evill Woe is mee when shall I returne thither whence I am expelled I desire not a garden but a house not a figure but the thing figured I desire not to rule but to become a servant I aske not to sit but to stand and observe thy Commandements Looke on mee O my Father looke on me and approve me and be pleased in thy mercy that I may finde favour in thy sight that the dores of thy palace may bee opened unto mee when I knock I beseech thee by my Lord thy Sonne the man of thy right hand the Sonne of man whom thou hast established for a Mediatour betweene thy selfe and me by whom thou soughtest me when I sought thee not that I might seeke thy Word by which thou hast made all things and mee amongst the rest thy onely Sonne by whom thou hast called thy beleeving people unto thy adoption and amongst them me also I beseech thee by him that sits at thy right hand and doth intercede unto thee for me in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge open quickly unto me and grant me passage O my God that I may enter into the joy which cannot enter into mee because it is farre greater than I am CONTEMP c. 6. Of the Serpent the Deceiver THe devill is wicked foule and terrible hee doth therefore as much as he is able hide his own face and puts on a strange countenance yet all his thoughts all his endevours and all his actions are to deceive when hee perswades to good hee deceives for a greater mischiefe that is to arise from that good in perswading unto evill under the shew of goodnesse in diswading from good as if it were evill in diswading from evill that he may bring in a worse evill The deceiver invades the Serpent that wee might not discover the hidden fraud that hee might with more ease and profit bring to passe that which hee had wickedly and most cunningly projected The Serpent was a beautifull and subtile creature therefore not unfit to entice to move to perswade and to seduce O thou deceiver O thou turne-coate O thou ensnarer and deceiver most lying spirit thou transformest thy selfe into an Angel of light that thy subtilty and slights of darknes should not be discerned thou dissemblest the night of thy malice that wee might promise to our selves goodnesse from that which is most vile and wicked thou mouldest and paintest deckest and fashionst thy instruments that they may finde some time for acceptance with us if thou shouldest rransforme thy selfe into an enraged lyon or wert so bold to change thy selfe into a cruell Beare who would not tremble take heed and flie from thee thou goest amongst us therefore most comely and most courteously that thou mayest without being perceived finde admittance of those that are heedlesse yea and oftentimes also of those that are most wary What are those vile teachers whose consciences are feared that glitter in so many ceremonies so many formes of worship and so many commentaries or expositions of things but serpents but broods of vipers that cunningly bite us they put on sheeps cloathing that they may cover their wolvish clawes Thou old Serpent thou usest the subtill wits of men which are the fittest of all for thy desires the simple humble and abject doe seldome broach Heresies He that hath profited much in knowledge for the most part attributes much to himselfe he avoides the beaten way wherein the credulous common sort of Christians doe walke and is wise apart and departs to fall headlong into the gulph of errors Give me my God moderate wisedome but that I may profit exceedingly in a holy life and in saving faith thou wilt not aske mee hereafter what I have scene but what I have beleeved not what I have read but what I have done Grant that I may receive with an humble heart what thou offerest mee and settest forth in thy Word not regarding what either superstitious reason or the mischievously obtuse pitch of wit and foolish subtilties of Doctors doe argue
God he saw his owne nakednesse His first nakednesse was nothing else than tokens of chiefe happinesse and of the greatest riches but the nakednesse that this man saw after he had sinned was meere ruine a testimony of everlasting woe and want That first man saw his body naked but his soule was more naked spoyled and disrobed of knowledge wisdome integrity and originall innocency hee covered his nakednesse being enwrapped with shame but this was a wretched garment he sowed together figg leaves and made aprons to cover himselfe and his seducing wife O vaine mantles O lamentable coverings And what are all mens cloathings that seeme so sumptuous and glittering but figge leafes that quickly vanish to nothing and gald those that weare them O would to God that as often as we cloath our selves wee were urged with the sharp and stinging point of repentance for they are tokens of our wants signes of our shame arguments of our misery and comforts for our extreme infirmities Thou sinfull and fallen man why art thou proud in setting forth thy impieties thou thiefe why braggest thou of a halter why dost thou vauntingly boast of anothers fleece what carriest thou under it but a sack full of dung the rotten bag of thy soule thy skin is not enough to cover thee nor except thou beest most impudent dost thou let any one see it but gettest some other thing to supply the want of thine owne I behold mine owne clothes I see a hell of evills yet I consider the depth of thy care providence and mercy for thou helpest mee thus naked before I can understand mine owne want and nakednesse and commandest all the creatures to haste unto me that they might cover my nakednesse and supply my wants Thou thy selfe most mercifull God as I remember didst clothe sinnefull man in a Lambs skinne not in Lyons Beares Foxes or Wolves skins that thou mightest teach him thy hatred to cruelty greedinesse deceit and wrath and thy love to unspotted simplicity thou madest his garment of the skins of dead cattell that thou mightest shew us how we were fallen from life to death how of immortall we were become mortall that we were from the earth and must returne to the earth againe Thou tookest a skin of a Lamb slaine that thou mightest witnesse unto us that our Fall was only to bee healed by a Lambe to be slaine O thou garment of the golden age thou unspotted Lamb slaine to the beleevers before the beginning of the world O thou Messias that wast promised and food appointed from all eternity thou who wast made the seed of the Woman and hast bruised the Serpents head cloath me with thy merits and mine owne deserts shall nothing hurt mee cloath mee with thy righteousnesse and mine owne unrighteousnesse shall not condemne mee cloath me with thy holinesse and mine owne iniquity shall not accuse mee cloath me with faith in thee and I shall one day receive the robe of happinesse Nothing can cover the filthy nakednesse of a sinner nothing can hide me from Gods judgement but thy coat O heavenly Lambe but the holes of thy wounds but the yawning scarres of thy body I will put thee on by a steadfast faith and with the Church of old I will triumph before thee CONTEMP c. 9. Of Noahs Ark Crow and Dove THou art my God very long suffering and thy wrath grants sinners a very large time nor dost thou root out sinners on a suddaine Mans malice was great and every thought of his heart was continually bent to mischief they neglected thy Word nor did they obey thy Spirit that was to lead them thou therefore didst repent thee of thy Creation and didst resolve to destroy this Inne of the World with all the guests thereof yet did not thy justice haste very much to execute judgement but thy mercy interposed a hundred and twenty yeares that thou mightst see whether by often preaching any could be moved to worke repentance Ah my God thou goest with two feet one of justice the other of mercy but mercy alwayes makes the first step and justice the later nor dost thou delight in the death or destruction of a sinner but thou wilt and commandest that he bee converted and live But all thy expectation was in vaine and thy mercies were entertained with scorne the wrath therfore of thy justice was kindled and the waters of the Flood broke in upon the earth the fountaines of the great deepe were broken up and the Cataracts of heaven were opened and it rained upon the earth for many dayes and almost all thy creatures perished and among men none but thy Noah and his family were preserved in the Ark. Thou forsakest not my God thou most just and most bountifull God those that worship adore thee but dost preserve them in fire and water and amidst the storme of growing miseries thou dost nor despise or reject any thou dost not affright any one except he who is so mad as to abhorr thee My God the horne of my salvation thou that takest me up thou Father of mercies God of all Consolation O Lord my Strength my Fortresse my Refuge my Deliverer Canst thou draw the sword of justice and not annoynt the point with the oile of mercy He lyes therefore hid in safety in that wonderfull ship out of which not life but present death was to bee found What shall I say that that ship did represent but thy Church which is tossed to and fro with sundry Stormes of persecution and waves of adversitie and hath no fixed station yet the true and eternall safety is contained there which out of it is offered to none Noah was the Steere-man hereof but thou O God art the Governour both of Noah and it and thou wast Noahs true and heavenly Comforter who dost not suffer it to sinke The waters of the Flood overwhelmed the palaces of Kings but did every day better than other beare aloft the Ark of Noah so doe persecutions destroy earthly kingdomes but thou sufferest not thine owne Kingdome to be overthrowne but dost even encrease and enlarge it by stormes of temptations Noah sent a Raven and a Dove out of the Ark the Raven pursued his prey and did never returne to the Arke of Noah the Dove did returne and was received in againe of this Steeres-man O Christ let mee abandon the Raven-like gluttony the lovelinesse of pleasures for it is very rare that any one seated amongst the delights of the age should remaine free from a smatch of vice in which although hee bee not forthwith inthralled yet is hee sometimes drawne away by them nor can he be long safe who stands next to danger let me remember that I am to play the Souldier in such a kind of warfare wherein there is no rest given I will resolve to overcome pleasures which have destroyed many good ingenuities The Dove finding no seat to rest upon returned to the Ark and was admitted into it O Christ my repose my
sharpe nailes which pierced and fastned thy feet and hooked them to the Crosse O Iesus have mercy upon me and intercede for mee to thy heavenly Father intercede for me to day this houre this moment that he may pardon me my sins In the second place he said Verily I say unto thee to day shalt thou be with me in Paradise How milde O Lord how courteous art thou to sinners thy delight is amongst the sonnes of men even in thy strongest and most unutterable torments Thou wast hanged betweene a most wicked paire of theeves thou stretchest forth thy hand that one of them might take hold of it and that thou mightest draw him to thee with it and gather him to thee as a hen gathereth her young ones under her wings How pleasing is the society to thee when a sinner joynes himselfe to thee and if they will with what affection dost thou receive and heale them The Theefe on the left-hand thinking reproachfully of thee doth revile and blaspheme thee most virulently therefore thy sorrowes sweat labour drops of blood streams of blood prayers and intercession could nothing profit him the Theefe on the right-hand having a zealous opinion of thee acknowledgeth thee and though he cannot with his hands yet doth hee embrace thee with a contrite and devout heart he begges a great thing of thee and obtaines the greatest he begges for a favourable remembrance of him and he obtains eternall gladnesse O example of true and wonderful repentance For what is true repentance what but that which is sorrowfull for offences confesseth them and hath recourse to Christ their Deliverer by a stedfaâ—â— faith but it is miraculous because then at length Christ is acknowledged the expiation of his sin when his most sick soule doth meditate the forsaking of the habitation of his body and the Redeemer himselfe is in suffering the last and most horrid punishment O Christ my Lord and my God grant that I also may bewaile and confesse my sinnes and aske thee pardon for them and alwayes weigh with my selfe thy merits grant that I may doe this with the Theefe but that I may not put off my desire of thee to the last period of my life as many doe who naughtily excuse their most wicked procrastination by the example of the Theefe Let me not come to that hardnesse of heart that the late gained salvation of the converted Theefe should make me more carelesse nor let me say my conscience tortures me not my life shall not trouble me because I see the Theefe had all his sinnes pardoned in a moment Consider ô my soule thou guest and companion of my body not so much the concise confession and faith of the Theefe but the earnest devotion and mournfull time wherein the Apostles themselves did wander and forsake their Master then imitate the faith and zeale of the Theefe and at last promise to thy selfe his salvation Now that unplacable enemie of our soules tries to leade thee into this security that in the fatall houre of death he may thrust thee head-long into infernall destruction It is impossible to be spoken how many are circumvented and damned by the shadow of this deceitfull hope he deceives himselfe and makes a sport of his damnation whosoever seekes not for the mercie of God but at the houre of his death they are abominable to God that sinne with a hope that it will be time enough to be converted to God in their old age The Theefe that at this time did so miraculously apply Christs death to himselfe had not formerly put off his repentance for he had never before heard of the doctrine of Christ therefore in this minute of an houre in this twinckling of an eye make mee pray unto thee and convert thee unto me lest securely promising my selfe salvation I fall from my salvation Grant that being converted I may be charitable to my neighbour and take care for his conversion and salvation as the penitent Theefe did admonish the impenitent Theefe and did labour to bring him unto thee Ah my Lord remember me also in thy Kingdome if thou wilt at least think me worthy to be remembred and cast a gratious eye upon mee and I shall have enough because I am sure of thy power and wisdome and I am confident of thy pitie and charitie Ah suffer me to be with thee in Paradise where is the soules happinesse and the beautifull vision of God I cannot be well without thee nor can any ill be with thee CONTEMP c. 19. Of the third and fourth word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse WHo are they O Lord Jesus Christ who not onely followed thee to the Crosse but doe also abide under thy Crosse Who are they not only spectators of thy most cruell punishment but exposed also to the cruell torment of their eyes and soules It is Christs Mother the crowne of Virgins it is Mary thy Mother it is John thy kinsman it is thy most loving Disciple who leaned upon his Masters brest when he was at supper him whom thy soule loved a sword doth pierce their soules thornes and needles doe pricke their eyes whilst they see thee stretched upon the Crosse with all thy sinewes torne all bloody even springing forth with blood thou hast taught me by those thy distressed beholders made wet with showres of teares that thy most deare children are most neare to the Crosse those whom thou dost most fervently love they are most grievously and most often made subject to the Crosse There cannot bee a true Church that cannot bee miserable thou thy selfe dost drinke to her in the cup of affliction which if she refuse or loath it she is a bastard We ought to be like thee let us be contented that we may be as our Master whosoever desires to be above his Master is proud and not worthy of his Master we are a burning bush which is burnt but not consumed we are a citie besieged but not taken we are the Moone labouring under an eclipse but not perpetually losing her light wee are the Arke of Noah exposed to the Flood yet not over whelmed with it we are the woman in travell whom the dragon pursues but yet kills her not we are the lilly amongst the thornes and yet wee wither not thy most cruell torments O Lord could not so farre afflict and torture thee but that thou haddest a care of thine but that thou wouldest speak to thy mother and to thy disciple for thy third word upon the crosse was uttered to them behold thy Sonne behold thy Mother Me thinks O Lord I see into thy bowells into the depth of thy thoughts thou complainest the sorrowes of death have compassed mee about but yet that sword doth no lesse break and wound my heart which hath with unspeakable torment peirced thy soule most sweet mother I behold also thee most loving yong man the most inimate of my friends most sweet desciple I behold thy groanes and sighes for the losse
shall Sun or heat fall on us because thou dost governe us and leadest us to the fountaines of waters and shalt wipe away all teares from our eyes thou shalt make us drunk with the plenteousnesse of thy house and refresh us with the streames of thy pleasure O Lord as the hart desireth the fountaines of water so longeth my soule after thee O Lord my soule hath thirsted after God the living fountaine when shall I come and appeare before the face of God O Lord when shall I worthily call to mind thy mercyes thy praises which are farre above all things which thou hast given me and exceeding the multitude of the goods of my house which thou hast bestowed upon mee according to the multitude of thy mercyes CONTEMP 21. c. Of Christs sixt word uttered upon the Crosse THou hast performed all and every of those things which thou knewest necessary to recover our salvation most willingly and with all thy heart And therefore thy sixt word was not it shall be finished as thou diddest say in thy journey to Jerusalem behold we goe up to Jerusalem and all things shall be fulfilled which are written by the Prophets concerning the Son of man for hee shall be delivered up to the Gentiles shall bee mocked shall be scourged and spitt upon and after they have scourged him they shall put him to death But hee saies it is finished whatsoever the wicked nation could invent to exasperate thy torments is finished thou truly diddest foretell the houre and power of darkenesse and the time of thy crucifying I have finished sayest thou the work which thou gavest me to doe but that was another work namely the work of Preaching the Gospell as thou thy selfe doest intimate unto mee when thou addest I have manifested thy name unto men this work which thou sayest is finished is the work of suffering for mankind the work of drinking off the cup of the passion which thy father hath given thee thou hast now drunk it all off so that there remaines nothing but that thou give up the ghost the power which was given the apostate Angels and the filthy rabble of wicked men is finished thy pilgrimage wherein thou wentest out from thy father and diddest come into the world is finished wherein thou wast upon the earth like a husbandman and a travailer the mortality of thy humanity is at an end every prophecy which the prophets had foretold concerning thy life or death is finished the greatest sacrifice of all sacrifices is finished that upon which all the sacrifices of the old covenant as types and shaddows did reflect for by one oblation thou hast for ever made perfect those that are sanctified and art become the end of the Law to every one that beleeveth Now the variety of carnall sacrifices ceasing thou fulfillest all those distinctions of beasts by once offering up of thy body and blood thou hast O Lord drawne all things unto thy selfe for by rending the vaile of the temple the Sanctum Sanctorum departed from the unworthy high Preists that the figure might bee turned into a truth the prophecy into a manifestation and the Law into a Gospell O cleane O unspotted sacrifice whose Altar was the Crosse which the viler it was before Christ overcame it so much the more famous and noble did it afterwards become the fire thereof that consumes the burnt offering and perfecteth the sacrifice is this immeasurable charity which like a furnace exceedingly heated did burne in thy heart O Jesus which the many waters of thy sufferings could not extinguish O Jesus my redeemer my mercy my Saviour I praise thee I give thanks unto thee though farre unproportionable to thy benefits though very voyd of devotion though leane in comparison of that fatnesse which thy most sweet affection towards us doth require in them yet my soule doth pay unto thee what thanks shee is able not such as shee knowes are due unto thee from mee Thou hope of my heart thou vertue of my soule let thy most powerfull worth perfect that which my most chill weaknesse doth endeavour my life thou end of my intention though I have not loved thee so much as I ought to love thee yet doe I at least desire to love thee as much as I ought O Jesus let this word alwayes stick in my memory It is finished When sinne and damnation shall band themselves against mee wrastling with the pangs of death and shall present unto mee my ugly life made deformed by my sinnes let me be able then to say the sacrifice for my sinnes is finished For thou art the Lambe of God that takest away the sinnes of the world Thou hast not redeemed me with corruptible silver and gold but with thy most precious blood as it were of an unspotted undefiled lamb When the law shall accuse me and shall exact punishment let me say each tittle of it is accomplished For when the fulnes of time was come God sent his Son made under the Law that he might redeem those which were under the Law and that we also might receive the adoption of children When death shall infest and terrifie me let me say thy power is determined thou art conquered by my Lord who hath spoiled thee of thy power hath taken out thy sting and purged out thy poyson that death may be to me a sweet repose great gaine a dismission in peace a recalling from evils a momentary hiding me till wrath is past and till heaven gates be opned for me When kindred friends and acquaintance shall at the time of my departure bewaile my going hence and compasse my bed with groanes and teares let me say my course is finished the appointed time is past the period is fixed which we cannot passe the glasse is runne the houre of freedome drawes neare here my misery makes a stand and the haven I make to is neare where all teares shall be wiped away behold I leave unto you a Fulfiller of all good and an asswager and ender of all evill hee shall comfort you if you flie unto him hee shall keepe and defend you to whom I recommend my soule and to whom I recommend you the beloved of my soule for evermore Amen CONTEMP c. 22. Of the seventh and last word of Christ uttered upon the Crosse ALthough Lord Jesus Christ great is thy humility great thy abasement and great is thy affliction that thou seemest scarce a man but a worm yet in thy seventh and last word before thou gavest up the ghost tho-shewedst thy selfe not a man only but even set above the reach of mans power for when thou wast about to breathe out thy most holy Spirit thou criedst out Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit Ah what a mournfull lamentable sad and miserable silence is there when mournfull lamentable sad and miserable man is commanded to breathe forth his soule how silent faint and how dead as it were are all things before death our death-bed takes
salvation is left for him that turnes repentance it selfe into sinne which is the meanes of salvation O miserable soule that desires to see holy things and lives a heathenish life Observe in what a manner the wicked end their dayes so that thou mayest detest their lives See how the godly end their lives that thou mayest run the same course as they doe Obey thy Superiours honour those that are wise keepe company with those that be honest and religiously given And seeing mans corrupt nature doth much love hypocrisie touch not nor use the Sacrament before thou have founded the depth of thine owne heart most accurately Rule over those that are subject to thy command more by courtesie than severity courtesie is full of hope and tyranny of feare Gods justice will not suffer a tyrant to continue long for though subjects both by Gods laws and also by mans ought to yeeld obedience to Magistrates yet the Magistrates themselves are but Gods Ministers and if wee consider them as they are Christians they are not only servants but our brethren also in Christ Christians therefore must rule like Christians in charity and mercie as Christ hath taught us by his own example Art thou made a Judge give right judgement remembring that thy selfe must appeare before Gods Judgement Seat he is cursed that blesseth the wicked but blessed that blesseth the blessed O man how dangerous is mans life what a great account hath he to give what a short space is it but thou must appeare at Gods Tribunall What then must thou doe What deed hast thou committed How wouldest thou appeare if thou wert this houre to depart If thou wert to appeare this moment before thy Examiner It would quickly be determined concerning thee Thou art to day a man shalt thou appeare to morrow O dulnesse and hardnesse of mans heart that only meditates upon things present and foresees nothing what shall be hereafter Thou oughtest so to behave thy selfe in every action as if thou wert this day to dye in the morning think thou mayst not live to the evening and in the evening dare not promise thy selfe the next ensuing morning be alwayes prepared and so live that death may never take thee unprovided How happie and wise is he that labours to be such whilst he lives as he wisheth to be found at his death O Jesu give me the perfect contempt of the world give me a fervent desire to profit in vertue give me the love of instruction the labour of repentance the readinesse of obedience O my God grant that I may desire thee in my heart to seeke thee in my desires to find thee in my search and love thee being found Give me my Lord and God repentance for my heart contrition to my spirit a flood of teares to my eyes and a liberall distribution of almes to my hands O my King extinguish in me the desire of the flesh and kindle in mee the fire of thy love O my Redeemer drive out of me the spirit of pride and favourably grant me the treasure of thy humilitie O my Saviour remove from mee the madnesse of anger and indulgently afford me the shield of patience O my Creator pluck out all rancour out of my mind and bestow on me the sweetnesse of a milde spirit give mee most mercifull Father a firme faith a congruous hope and continuall charitie my Governour doe thou divert all vanity from mee all inconstancie of mind wandring of the heart scurrility of the tongue pride of the eyes gluttony of the belly reproaching of my neighbours the sins of detraction the itch of curiosity the desire of riches the extortion of great men the desire of vain-glory the evill of hypocrisie the poyson of flattery the contempt of the poore the oppression of the weak the thirst of covetousnesse the rust of envie and the death of blasphemie O my Maker cut off from me rashnesse iniquity lewdnesse disquietnesse idlenesse drowsinesse sloth dulnesse of mind blindnesse of heart obstinacie of sense bloodinesse of conditions disobedience to goodnesse resistance of good counsell unbridlenesse of my tongue preying upon the poore wronging the weak slandering the innocent neglecting my inferiours cruelty in my family impiety towards my familiars and hardnesse of heart to my neighbours O God my mercy I beseech thee by thy beloved Son give mee the works of mercy the study of godlinesse to suffer with those in affliction to counsell those that erre to helpe the miserable to succor the needy to comfort the sad to releeve the oppressed to refresh the poore to cheare those that weepe to forgive our debtors to spare them that sin against me to love those that hate me to render good for evill to despise no man but to honour all to imitate the good to beware of the wicked to embrace vertue to reject vice to be patient in adversity to be moderate in prosperity to set a watch over my mouth and a doore before my lips give mee uprightnesse in my dealings and a true testimony of my faith to trample upon earthly things to thirst after heavenly things that thou mayst one day say to me Well done good and faithfull servant thou hast been faithfull in a little I will set thee over much enter into the joy of thy Master Amen CONTEMP c. 37. Of the exceeding number of Gods benefits and of mans contempt of them by the multitude of his sinnes WHo will give water to my head and a fountaine of tears to mine eyes and I will weepe both night and day Let my eyes drop tears and my eye-lids flow with waters I will convey my selfe into the place of weeping and of teares I will take paines in my groaning I will every night wash my bed and water my couch with my teares My teares shall be my meat day and night and I will not hide my mourning I will prostrate my selfe and let the reines loose to my teares and rivers shall gush from mine eyes I will weepe in the bitternesse of my soule I will continue in weeping and the teares shall trickle downe my cheeks wherewith I will deplore my most grievous sinnes and will detest my impious ingratitude wherewith I have repayed my God and Lord. O that I could weepe out my eyes with teares that my bowels might be disturbed and my liver might be powred forth upon the earth for my great enormities The causes are great and many O God why my eyes should streame forth wates yea blood it selfe But I will now contemplate of nothing but the greatnesse multitude of thy blessings that thou hast bestowed upon me when I was yet thine enemy That therefore my soule may be astonished my cheeks blush my eyes cast downe and that I may eternally hate my malicious and most polluted life I will begin to reckon up thy blessings and my cursed deeds that I may see what thou art and what I am what thou hast done for me and how I have requited thee Send
the holy Church but pure simplicity and innocencie of life in one house the holy Catholique Church Christ is offered to the faithfull departing out of Aegypt being cleansed in their affections by his blood in their passage in the red Sea O Jesu Christ our omnipotent Lord God thou Fountaine of life and immortalitie thou Creator of every visible and invisible thing that art the eternall Son of the everlasting Father who of thy abundant goodnesse in the last times didst take our flesh upon thee and wast delivered and crucified for us sinfull and unthankful creatures thou by thine owne blood hast restored our nature corrupted by sin and givest me thy flesh for my food But thou art a fire and consumest those that be unworthy destroy me not my Maker rather come into the union of my members into all my sinewes into my reines into my heart burne up the sting of my sinnes cleanse my soule sanctifie my minde enlighten my five senses glew me firmely to thy selfe in love alwayes protect and defend mee preserve mee from every word and work that may hurt my soule purge cleanse and direct me adorne instruct and make mee famous make mee the temple of thy Spirit only and not the habitation of sinne that being made thy house by the entrance of thy holy Communion all impiety and all evill may fly from mee Let thy holy body be made everlasting Bread unto mee Mercifull Lord let thy precious blood become a remedy of sundry diseases unto me fearfull and wicked wretch that I am defiled with absurd works I am unworthy of thy pure body and heavenly blood O Christ doe thou make me worthy to be partaker of thee give me O Christ the drops of teares to wash my filthy heart that having a pure conscience I may come in faith and feare to receive thy heavenly gifts O most mercifull Saviour let thy unspotted body and divine blood be made unto mee the participation of thy holy Spirit eternall life and a change of my sufferings and miseries Heale the wounds of my soule O Lord and sanctifie me through-out and make mee unworthy wretch worthy to be partaker of thy mysticall divine Supper be it unto thy most vile servant as thou hast promised and remaine in mee as thou hast said For behold I eat thy divine body and doe drink thy blood Thou Word of God and God him selfe let the flame of thy body enlighten me that am all obscurity and let thy blood be also a purgation to my corrupted soule Sanctifie my understanding soule heart and body O my Saviour and make it worthy O Lord to come to these fearfull mysteries without being condemned I shall obtaine new effects and will receive the increase of thy grace and preservation of my life by the participation of thy mysteries O Christ O holy Word of God God himselfe sanctifie mee throughly that am comming to thy divine mysteries Despise mee not O Christ when I receive the bread which is thy body and whilst wretch that I am I am made partaker of thy most pure and fearfull mysteries that they prove not condemnation unto me But let them be unto me O Christ eternall and everlasting life O Christ thou Fountaine of goodnesse let the receiving of thy immortall mysteries become light and life unto me and cause the avoyding of vitious affections and the encrease of heavenly vertues in me O thou only Goodnesse that I may glorifie thee Amen CONTEMP c. 41. Of those things which are to be meditated upon after the receiving of the Sacrament of the Supper LEt thy servant speak thine owne Word in thy eares that thou be not angry with thy servant O Lord my King Thou hast slaine thy Sacrifices thou hast mingled thy wine and prepared thy Table thou hast sent forth thy maydens that they might invite to thy tower of defence that if there were any little one he might come unto thee Thou hast said Goe forth yee daughters of Sion and behold your King crowned with the Crowne wherewith his mother begirt his head in the day of his betrothing in the day of the gladnesse of his heart Thou hast said O Lord unto thy servant Go out quickly into the wayes and streets of the citie and bring in hither both the poore and the weak both the lame and the blind and compell them to come in that my house may bee full I being called came and saw was led in and tasted thou turnedst not thy selfe away from thy servant nor saidst thou Thou shalt not see my face Thou hast shewed thy selfe unto me my Comforter I beheld thee thou Light of mine eyes I felt the joy of spirit and was touched with gladnesse of heart Thou didst prepare great things for me O my Delight and sweet content O Lord my God my Life and sole Glory of my soule I have found thee out O thou Desire of my heart I have held thee fast O thou Love of my soule O let me retaine thee thou Life of my soule I will love thee O Lord my Strength my Castle my Refuge and my Deliverer Let me love thee my God the Tower of my might and my pleasing hope in all my tribulations I will enbrace thee who art that Good without which nothing can be good I will enjoy thee the Best without whom nothing is best I will exalt thee my God and King and will blesse thy Name for ever and ever every day will I praise thee and blesse thy Name for ever and ever The Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised and of his greatnesse there is no end Generation from generation shall praise thy works and shall declare thy power shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holinesse and shall tell of thy wonderfull works They shal break forth in remembrance of thy abundant sweetnesse and shall exult in thy righteousnesse O mercifull and pitifull Lord patient and full of compassion the Lord is sweet to all and his mercies are over all his works All thy works O Lord do praise thee and thy Saints doe blesse thee they speak of the glory of thy Kingdome and tell of thy power for thou art my true and living God my great King my guide to my Countrey my true light my holy sweetnesse my true life my excellent wisdome my pure simplicity my peacefull concord my safe protection my good portion my everlasting safety my great mercy my strongest patience my unspotted Sacrifice my holy Redemption my firme hope my perfect Charity my true Resurrection my life eternall my most happie ever enduring exultation and most blessed vision Thou my God wast pleased for no merits of mine but onely by vouchsafing me thy mercies to satisfie thy unworthy servant with the precious body and blood of thy Sonne our Lord Jesus Christ What manner of food What drink was this O the memoriall of the Lords death What shall I repay unto the Lord for all that he hath bestowed upon me O know