moritur corpore non moritur morte aeterna quando moritur morte corporis Summum hominis bonum bonus ex hac vita exitus Nasci mori commune est Regi populo diviti paupero fortunato misero Fleres si scires unum tua tempora mensem Rides quum non sit forsitan una dies Ante senectutem curavi 〈◊〉 bene viverem in senectute ut bene moriar In mundo spes nulla boni spes nulla salutis Una salus servire Deo sunt caetera fraudes Pulvis umbra sumus pulvis nihil est nisi fumus Sed nihil est fumus nos nihil ergo sumus Dic homo quid speres qui mundo totus adhaeres Tecum nulla feres licet omnia solus haberes Heu fugiunt fraeno non remorante dies Mors tua mors Christi fraus mundi gloria coeli Et dolor inferni sint meditanda tibi II. A Prayer in health preparing for death Qui orat peccat non orat sed deludit O Most gracious Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh thou which hast the keyes of death and of Hell thou which hast prepared and rulest them both at thy good pleasure I humbly beseech thee be merciful to thy poor creature and preserve me from the terrors which are ready to seize upon me O Lord when I do seriously consider how I dwell in a house of clay the foundation being in the dust and how I must ere long make my bed in the dark my spirit doth seem to fail and my heart to faint especially being told out of thy blessed Word That the sting of death is sin and so mine own sin O raise me up from sad and unquiet thoughts teach me how to overcome all discouragements and help me to call to minde those truths As that the nature of death is to thy servants quite altered that the sting is plucked out and it self swallowed up in victory O help me to consider how by death thy poor servant shall be freed from sickness of body and anguish of minde from sinning against thy heavenly Majesty and from the society of the wicked Teach me truly to confess and humbly to bewail my manifold offences and then effectually to apply thy gracious promises to my everlasting comfort that so all fainting fears proceeding from the sence of my sins may turn to holy rejoycing with a cheerful expecting and even to an earnest longing for the time of my dissolution And yet that I may not beguile mine own soul in laying claim to that spiritual refreshing which belongs not to me make me to labour diligently for those assured evidences and undeceiving fore-runners of a happy departure I have been taught O Lord that if I live here without conscience I shall assuredly die without comfort that holiness here is the safe and certain way to happiness hereafter that I must seek to glorifie thee if I mean to be glorified with thee that I must fight the good fight of faith both against Satan against the world and against mine own corruptions that I must faithfully finish my course and conscionably perform the service to which thou hast appointed me that I must know thy Law and keep the faith in soundness and sincerity to the end otherwise it will be in vain to expect a crown of righteousness that I must come to the first resurrection that is from sin or else I shall never escape the second death O Lord grant me therefore of thy heavenly grace that henceforth I may more carefully serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of my life endeavouring alwayes and in all things to have and to keep a clear conscience towards thee and towards all men Lord kill my corruptions in me that I may be even dead to sin but alive to thee in Jesus Christ affect my soul with a sence and an assurance of those heavenly joyes which may work in my heart both fear and love also to thee the God of all consolation And because if I live after the flesh taking though for it to fulfil it I shall die therefore I beseech thee to mortifie in me the deeds of the body by thy Spirit that so I may have my fruit in holiness and that my end may be everlasting life Teach me and enable me to be alwayes numbring my dayes and to consider the uncertain certainty of my latter end that I may be dying every day still looking and still preparing for my change and making account that each day by one means or other may be the day of my dissolution Strengthen also good Lord my weak and fainting faith make me strong in thee and in the power of thy might seal me with the holy spirit of promise as with the earnest of my heavenly inheritance that so no tribulation in this world may disquiet me no anguish in sickness discourage me no assault of Satan over come me but that come life so long as thou pleasest or come death when or how it shall seem good unto thee I may cheerfully and through Christ commit my soul to thee as to a faithful Creator Grant me O Lord these fatherly blessings and what else thou in thine infinite wisdom knowest better what is needful for me and that for his sake who died to free me from death even Jesus Christ the righteous to whom with thee and the holy Spirit be given all honour praise and glory now and ever Amen III. Meditations of Gods mercies AMong all the infinite treasures wherewith the largeness of the Godhead aboundeth there is nothing that refresheth relieveth us miserable sinners worms of the earth that lye low at his footstool but the consideration of Gods mercy His Majesty astonisheth us his glory beateth us down his greatness striketh us dead we adore his omnipotence admire his wisdom stand in aw of his justice flie from his vengeance In mercy in mercy alone it is that we taste how gracious and how amiable the Lord is of all Gods attributes none is more eminent then his mercy Blessed be her womb that bare us and her paps that gave us suck we live and move and have our being by her she grew up with us from our youth and forsaketh us not when we be grey-headed she giveth us our daily bread and hourly breath she continueth us in life comforteth us in death and crowneth us with salvation O mercy the Lady and Empress of all the attributes of God! what shall we say of thee Heaven and earth are full of thy glory The glorious company of the Prophets praise thee the goodly fellowship of the Apostles praise thee the noble army of the Martyrs praise thee the holy Church throughout the world doth knowledge thee Thy mercy O Lord doth shine upon us every way There is 1. Thy preventing mercy from whence I may say that unless the Lord had preserved me by his grace and power my soul had launched out into the foulest sins 2.
Assurance We should be diligent to get assurance both of Gods favour and of our own calling and election for hereby will an entrance be given into the heavenly Kingdom Simeon could willingly die when his eyes had seen his salvation the full assurance of faith doth wonderfully establish the heart and guard it from the fear of death and also doth breed a longing desire to come to Christ St. Paul can be confident when he is able to say I know whom I have believed and I am assured that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him 4. The fourth Medicine is setting our house in Order A great part of the fear and trouble of mens mindes on their sick beds is over when with good deliberation and advice they have settled their Estates and disposed of their worldly affairs This is a matter not to be put off to a time of languishing sickness when the trouble of it breeds disquiet to their mindes when their memory and understanding is disabled when this necessary duty of preparing for death is thereby hindered if not wholly neglected 5. The fifth Medicine is 1. A frequent meditation of Death We must learn to die daily for this will lessen yea it will remove the fear of dying Oh this remembrance of our latter end and learning to number our days is an admirable rule for to practise 2. We should begin this exercise betimes In this lay the commendation of those wise Virgins and so of Job who resolved to be alwayes waiting till his change should come 6. The sixth Medicine against the fear of death is holy and hearty Prayer Because our natures are extreamly deceitful there is a necessity of frequent and faithful prayer to be used which will never fail us in whatsoever is fit for us It is that which God will not deny to those that ask it in sincerity in the Name of the Lord Jesus and that because it is a thing which Christ our blessed Saviour did especially aim at in his own death namely to deliver us from the power yea from the fear of death VIII Rules to make our Calling and Election sure 1. WE must be diligent hearers of Gods holy Word for faith cometh by hearing what is the reason that so many do waver and wander out of the way that is called Holy Is it not because they are idle hearers is it not because they will not be at the pains to hear so carefully as to finde what their case and condition is and what it doth require 2. Rule We must frequently receive the Lords Supper even every experienced Christian is able to tell us That this holy Ordinance hath by the mercy and blessing of God a very notable confirming and establishing power in it 3. Rule If we would have our Calling and our Election to be made sure then must we sue to God as the Apostles did that the Lord would increase our faith for unless Gods Spirit do testifie together with our spirit we can never come to any assurance of faith nor to any certainty of salvation Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God alone that must give the increase 4. Rule If we desire to make our Calling and Election sure we must be frequent in meditating of Gods promises as they are set forth in his holy Word and accordingly we must try our estate by the particular marks which are peculiar to Gods elect 5. Rule If we would make our Calling and Election sure we must be plentiful in good works for who are they which lay up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come and so laying hold upon eternal life but such as are rich in good works We are not only to repent and to turn to God but to do works meet for repentance 6. Rule That we may make our Calling and our Election sure Let us always be making our desires known to the Lord in our humble supplications that he will establish us in the most holy faith that believing in him we may remain immoveable neither in prosperity to forget him or in adversity to despair of him And thus we see the way to a comfortable departure out of this life The Lord give us grace to chufe this way that so by our death we may both glorifie God bring comfort and good example to our friends and everlasting benefit to our own souls Amen IX Against doubtings of Gods mercy 1. LEt us confess even all our sins to God 2. Let us be careful to make satisfaction to whomsoever in this life we have wronged be it in goods or in good name without which there can be no true repentance and so no salvation 3. Call upon God for mercy and pardon in the Lord Jesus and labour for faith in him and then in the midst of pain and doubting remember that the way to Heaven is by the gates of Hell 4. Get a lively faith in Christ Jesus and so tarry the Lords leisure be strong and he shall comfort our hearts 5. In the sence of our greatest sins let us remember that Gods mercies do shine more in pardoning great offenders then small transgressors for where sin aboundeth there doth grace rejoyce to abound much more 6. God did never forsake any till they did first forsake him 7. God calleth all even sinners that are heavy laden to be refreshed the least drop of Christs blood is of more merit to procure Gods mercy for our salvation then all our sins whatsoever can be of force to procure his wrath to our condemnation 8. Let our sins be of never so long continuance or of never so heavy a weight let us but repent and believe and then the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all sins 9. Though our vows and promises of new obedience have not been exactly performed yet upon our tears of true repentance through faith in the Lord Jesus we shall be recovered as oft as we are wounded to death by sin for our salvation is grounded not upon the constancy of our obedience but upon the firmness of Gods gracious Covenant with us in Christ Jesus 10. No sin though never so great ought to drive any Christian into despair seeing if he believe and repent he hath the pardon of all his sins confirmed to him and that 1. By the Word of God At what time soever a sinner repenteth and turneth to the Lord he will blot out all his offences c. 2. By the Oath of God As I live saith he I desire not the death of the wicked No sin doth debar a man from God but only incredulity and impenitency Believe it O thou drooping soul our unfeigned desire to repent is as pleasing and as acceptable to God as our perfectest repentance can be X. Reading of Chapters or portions of Scripture REad carefully and considerately these Chapters following or part of them Mat. 26 27 and 28 Chapters being he History of our Saviours Passion
ever been warring against the Law of my minde and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin O who shall now deliver me from the body of this death Thou O Lord hast redeemed me with thy most precious blood all praise therefore and thanks be unto thee who hast given me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ My sins O Lord have been such as to deserve eternal death and destruction though I have heretofore too much doted on them I do now desire to abhor and to loath the remembrance of them all and to delight and to depend wholly on thy mercy O blessed Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me O sweet Saviour of the world receive my spirit thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of truth O Lord the devil is ever busie in taking advantage against our poor souls but most of all when we are most weak and most unable to encounter with him Be pleased good Lord in this my weakness to rebuke Satan and let thy holy Spirit comfort my distressed soul with assurance of thy love in Christ Jesus asswage my pain O Lord increase my faith and my patience and in thine own good time give a happy end to these my troubles O Lord for thy mercies sake give me full assurance that whatsoever in this my weakness and sickness thou shalt please to lay upon me it shall come from a blessed Father a faithful Creator and a blessed Redeemer II. A Prayer to be used by my Friends OH most blessed Lord God we are prostrating our selves before thy heavenly Majesty in the Name of Jesus Christ on the behalf of this thy sick servant thou only knowest what is fittest for him health or sickness life or death Good Lord sanctifie this thy visitation to him that by it he may be more more humble in the sight of his sins so be longing after Christ Oh enlighten his minde that he may know the hope of his calling and what is the exceeding riches of thy mercy in Christ Jesus toward all that believe in thee and so strengthen his faith that he may lay fast hold on the merits of our blessed Saviour Lord protect him from the malice of Satan allay the edge of his assaults that they may never make him to despair of thy compassion to him in this his low estate Remove from him a dull spirit with all manner of secure and hardned thoughts and all wordly desires and creature-comforts Lord give him patience with Christian courage and constancy to bear whatsoever thou shalt please to lay upon him Oh vouchsafe unto him comfort in his conscience joy in the Spirit and peace in believing together with a setled and a well-grounded expectation of eternal life and salvation through thine infinite love in Christ Jesus Impute not unto him his own unrighteousness but the righteousness of thy dear Son so as thy poor weak servant may appear righteous in thy sight Lord raise him up unto thy self with those heavenly sighs and groans which are not to be expressed Oh keep and save his soul command thy holy Angels to be about him for his everlasting comfort and chase far away from him all evil and malignant spirits that they annoy him not in this time of his distress let him more and more abandon the world and even long to be loosed so as to be with Christ Oh cause his last hour to be his joyfullest hour his last words to be his best words and his last thoughts to be his heavenliest thoughts And good Lord we beseech thee put thy word of Grace and godly Wisdom into our hearts and tongues so as upon all occasions to deliver thy minde holily soundly and cheerfully to the comfort and to the refreshing of his precious and immortal soul And now thou good and gracious God be pleased to teach us in him and in this house of mourning to consider our own end and so to lay it to heart that we being now in health may yet be labouring and preparing for our dissolution and for a holy a joyful and a comfortable leaving of this life this valley of tears Lord hear us for this thy poor sick servant and hear us for our selves but above all hear us for the sake of thy dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom with thy heavenly and blessed Spirit be given all honour and praise power and glory now and for ever Amen III. Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou believe That Almighty God the Trinity of persons in unity of Essence hath by his power made Heaven and Earth and all that is therein and that by his divine Providence he doth still govern the same so that nothing comes in the world nor to thy self but what his holy arm and counsel had fore-ordained to be done All this I do believe Lord help my unbelief Dost thou really confess That thou hast transgressed and broken the holy Commandments of God in thought word and deed and that for the same thou hast deserved the wrath of God even all the miseries of this life and hereafter even everlasting torments in Hell if God should deal with thee according to thy deserts All this I do acknowledge Lord Jesu pardon my transgressions Art thou not sorry in thine heart that thou hast so broken his Laws and so much neglected his service and so hotly pursued the world and so eagerly doated upon thy vain pleasures and wouldst thou not now lead a holier life if thou wert to begin thy dayes again Lord thou knowest I am heartily sorry for my misdoings and fain I would with more constancy have served thee Dost thou not from thy heart desire to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ thy only Mediator who is at the right hand of God and now appearing for thee and making intercession at the throne of grace for thy sorrowful soul Oh it is reconciliation to God in Christ that I above all things do most humbly desire Dost thou renounce all confidence in all other Mediators Saints or Angels believing that Jesus Christ alone is the Mediator of the New Testament perfectly able to save all such as come to God by him And canst thou with holy David say to Christ Whom have I in Heaven but thee there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee There is none but Christ my soul shall ever sing there is none but Christ that can intercede for the sins of the world IV. Portions of Scripture to be read PSal 103. or some part of them John 3. or some part of them Isa 53. or some part of them 1 Cor. 13. or some part of them V. More Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying DOst thou confidenly believe and assuredly hope to be saved by the only merit of the bitter death and Passion of Jesus Christ not placing the thought of salvation in thine own doings nor in any other means or creature whatsoever being
certainly perswaded that there is no salvation in any other nor any other name under Heaven by which thou canst be saved Jesus is the only Saviour of the world therefore let all creatures bow down before him and bless his holy Name Dost thou from thy heart forgive all injuries and offences done unto thee by any person whatsoever And dost thou as freely from thy heart ask forgiveness of all whom thou hast any way wronged in thought word or deed Dost thou cast out of thy heart all rancour and malice against any person so as to appear before the face of Jesus Christ the Prince of peace in perfect love and charity I do humbly pray for such true charity as to forgive all and I do from my heart ask forgiveness of all Doth thy conscience accuse thee of any thing that thou hast unjustly taken still with-holding the same for which without restitution there can be no true repentance and without such repentance there can be no salvation nor shalt thou be able to look Christ in the face when thou shalt appear before his judgement-seat I have been willing to satisfie all whom I have wronged but alas who is able to number all his errors Dost thou firmly believe That thy body shall be raised out of the grave at the sound of the last trumpet and that both thy body and thy soul shall be united together again in the Resurrection-day to appear before the Lord Jesus Christ and thence to go with him into the Kingdom of Heaven there to live in everlasting bliss and glory My faith alas is weak but thy grace O Lord is sufficient for me O Lord let thy holy Spirit assist me and lead me into the way of everlasting glory Amen VI. Short Prayers upon any lessening of Pain O Most blessed Saviour be pleased to place thy precious Passion thy Cross and thy Death between my soul thy displeasure and let the merits of thy obedience stand between thy heavenly Fathers justice and my disobedience and from these bodily pains receive my soul into thine everlasting peace and good Lord give ear unto this my cry O Jesu receive my spirit Or thus O Lord Jesus Christ forsake not him that in great distress doth flie to thee for succour and relief O sound that sweet and comfortable voice into my fainting soul which thou wert pleased to utter to the penitent Thief This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Or thus O Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I know and do believe that whosoever liveth and trusteth in thee who art the resurrection and the life shall never die Oh then vouchsafe favour to thy poor creature that I may hear that blessed voice of thine Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Or thus O most gracious God whose nature and property is ever to have mercy and to forgive receive my humble supplications and though I be so much bound with the chains of my sins yet Lord let the pitifulness of thy great mercy loose me and set me at liberty for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or thus O holy Lord fit and prepare me for my last conflict and by the support of thy blessed Spirit and the assistance of thy heavenly Angels vouchsafe to assist and strengthen me against the assaults of Satan that notwithstanding his mortal malice I may still hold me fast and keep my self close to thee in all holy believing so as humbly and stedfastly to resolve that though thou shouldst slay me yet to put my trust in thee and to place my whole confidence in thine everlasting mercies in Christ Jesus VII When weakness and faintness increase let friends help with these short ejaculations O Lord bear me thy poor sick servant in thy gracious arms to the land of the living Or thus Lord bring me I beseech thee by thy power and goodness to thy holy habitation Or thus Plant me O Lord in the mountain of thine inheritance the place which thou hast prepared to dwell in Or thus Lord make me to be one of the joyful Citizens of thy holy Jerusalem which is above Or thus Oh Lord as my weakness shall encrease so let my patience the hope of thy favour and assurance of thy mercy in Christ Jesus still increase more and more Or thus Oh Lord let thy grace and blessing be upon me that I may safely pass thorow this vale of misery and finish my course with joy Or thus O Lord lift up the light of thy countenance upon me and grant me peace in the Lord Jesus Or thus Oh holy Father if it be thy blessed will give an end to my labours and release me of my pains VIII More of Ejaculations when faintness increaseth SWeet Jesu receive my soul sweet Jesu receive my spirit Or thus Come Lord Jesu come for thy servant cometh I am willing Lord help my weakness Or thus O Lord let thy holy Angels stand round about my bed and guard me from that evil one Or thus O Lord lay not my sins to my charge but look upon him that maketh the atonement Thy Christ my Jesus Or thus O Lord to thee belongeth mercy and forgiveness have pity on my soul and pardon my sins Or thus O Lord say to my souls everlasting joy and comfort I am thy salvation Or thus O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me Or thus O Lord make clean my heart within me and take not thy holy Spirit from me Or thus O Lord Jesus Christ I do commend my spirit into thy hands thou hast redeemed me O God thou God of mercy of truth IX A Prayer by friends at leaving this Life OH most gracious Lord God and loving Father in Jesus Christ who art our portion our strong refuge a sure defence and a very present help in time of trouble Oh lift up thy merciful countenance at this instant upon thy weak servant who now is coming to appear in thy presence Oh thou which art the great preserver of men take pity and compassion upon him wash away all his natural and sinful pollutions by the all-sufficient merits of Christ Jesus his most precious blood that they may never be laid to his charge nor hinder his happy passage to everlasting blessedness O Lord increase his faith preserve his soul from the malice and danger of the devil and all his evil angels comfort him with thy holy Spirit cause him now to feel and finde that thou art his gracious Father and thou art reconciled unto him in thy dearly beloved save him O Lord O Lord Jesus Christ save the price of thine own blood and suffer not him to be lost whom thou hast so dearly purchased Oh receive his poor soul as thou didst the penitent thief into thy heavenly Paradise let thy blessed Angels conduct him thither as they carried the soul of thy beloved Lazarus and vouchsafe unto
There is thy forbearing mercy whereby thou dost wait for the conversion of foul offenders 3. There is thy altering mercy which from vanity and vice doth settle us in wayes of holiness 4. There is thy imbracing mercy whereby thou assurest us being now converted of thy favour in Christ Jesus 5. There is thy confirming mercy which strengthens us in the course of godliness 6. There is thy comforting mercy which sets us in the hope and expectation of future glory 7. There is thy crowning mercy which gives us assurance and full possession of eternal happiness in the Kingdom of Heaven Yea Lord thy boundless mercies do every where and every way and every day most graciously inlarge themselves towards us both in giving us all good things and in forgiving us all our offendings but yet it must be our care that we take heed never to presume upon this mercy but to have this sentence alwayes in our mindes and memories The Lord is merciful that he may be feared Amen So be it IV. Of the danger and evil of Sin 1. WHo would be so hardy as to commit any one sin if he did at all consider the examples of Gods judgements for sin and that first Upon the whole world which he had made 2. Upon his Church the quintessence of the world when they sinned in the wilderness 3. Upon his Saints the quintessence of his Church as David his beloved 4. On the Angels in Heaven offending 5. On his dear Son himself when he took our sins upon him and so felt the bitterness of Gods justice upon which one sayes well Magna taâ—â—â—â— amaritudo peccati quae tantam amaritudinem peperit Great was the sowrness in our sinning that produced so great sharpness in 〈◊〉 suffering 2. Alas what avails it for an impenitent sinner to seek for outward relief when our Executioner is within us If we could shift from our selves we might have some hope of ease but what if we could run from our selves Alas that 's nothing Our souls may flie from our bodies but our conscience will not flie from our souls nor our sins from our conscience Some indeed in the sharpness of these pangs of sins have leapt out of this private hell that is in themselves into that common pit of hell chusing rather to adventure on the future pains that they have feared then to endure the present horrors that they have felt gaining hereby nothing but to that hell which was within them a second hell to be without them The conscience leaves not where the fiends begin but both together joyn in torturing 3. What can we think of sin let the pleasure or the profit or the pretence thereof be what it may be yet before the execution of the least sin let us consider That either we must repent that sin and that with a sorrow equal to the pleasure that we had in it or else we shall for that one sin be condemned to everlasting torments Let this then O let this only one consideration sink deep and dwell upon our hearts and then it will prove a help to us during our life 4. Some obdurate foreheads there be that would seem to laugh their sins out of countenance but certainly their hearts must needs bleed when their faces do countenance a smile they do wear out many waking hours when they think they rest yea as their thoughts afford them no sleep no more does their sleep afford them rest but while their sences are tyed up their sin is let loose frighting them with horrible dreams Therefore sin no more lest a worse thing come unto you 5. See the tongue of a sinner begins first to dissemble next to lye next to swear next to blaspheme and the next thing that the sinner takes in hand is the practise of evil actions And here as in other cases the devil useth his old method he first teaches the man the art of fraud and cosening after that the practise of extortion and oppression then the trade of open theft and violence so as by this time the man is grown a perfect artist and proficient being shewn the way to swallow any bait and to scruple at nothing at all V. Health the fittest time for Repentance 1. LEt us not delay our Repentance from day to day but even in our youth begin so necessary so profitable a work Can we think it fit to undertake by the serious exercises of Repentance which is the work of works to turn our sinful souls towards God when sickness has seized upon us and when we are not able to turn our tyred limbs upon our softest bed If we finde it so hard a matter to turn to heavenward now we shall finde it far harder then for our sin will wax stronger every day but our strength for resistance will become weaker our conscience will frighten us pain will distract us fear of death will amaze us visiting of friends will disturb us so as if we be not before-hand furnished with a competency of faith and patience and holy consolation we shall not on our sick beds be able to meditate our selves nor to observe the words of counsel or of comfort from others we shall not be able to pray alone nor to joyn with others that would pray with us therefore let us beware and begin Repentance betimes He shall be sure to forget God at his death that did not daily remember him in his life let us then prepare our selves betimes for sickness and death let us pull out the sting of death by early bewailing of sins past by timely cleaving to God for the future with purposing and practising sincerity of life and conversation 2. We are the Israel of God our sins are the Egyptians that keep us in bondage let us pray that these Egyptians may be drowned in that red Sea and washed away by that precious blood of Jesus Christ 3. In our health let us take heed of all sins for sins are the only enemies to Christ they be those souldiers that apprehended him those tormentors that scourged him those thorns that gored his head those nails that pierced his feet that spear that spilt his blood that Cross that took away his life 4. Take heed for he that doth not repent to day hath a day more to repent of and yet a day less to repent in It was the saying of a holy man when he heard a clock to strike Hark here is one hour more that I have to answer for 5. Defer not repentance till sickness come it may presently be violent and then if our reason continue which is oftentimes otherwise it will be most necessary to imploy that reason and our best thoughts on the highest concernments on the world that we are going to and not on the world that we are about to leave let terrene things always give place to celestial things that so we may be in Heaven here VI. Holy resolutions in time of Health 1. I Will alwayes remember
my sins but thou O Lord besides the dictates of thy heavenly Word and boly Spirit dost now visit me in mercy giving me by this sickness not only warning to consider and time to repent me of all my manifold transgressions but also opportunity to sue to the throne of grace for pardon so as I do not apprehend this visitation as a sign of thy heavy displeasure against me but rather as an assured pledge and token of thy fatherly kindness by this temporal chastisement to draw me to the judging of my self to be humbled for all my offendings to abhor my self in dust and ashes so as not to be condemned with the world for thy holy Word hath taught us That thou scourgest every son that thou receivest and that if I do patiently and believingly endure thy chastising hand thou dost offer thy self as a tender father to relieve me O Lord how full of mercy and compassion is thy nature that hast dealt so graciously with me in affording to me a long time of health and prosperity such as few have received more I do confess O Lord that thou most justly dost afflict my body with sickness for my soul before was sick of long prosperity and even surfeited with health ease peace and plenty and fulness of bread A wretched sinner I have been void of all goodness by nature and full of evil works by custom but seeing thy mercy is above all I beseech thee heavenly father in Jesus Christ for his sake and for his meritorious suffering and according to the multitude of thy mercies cast me not out of thy gracious presence neither reward me after my iniquities As thou art the helper of the helpless and the God of all consolation to such as trust in thee as thou art pleased to lay this sickness upon me so let it work that good effect which thou in thy great mercy dost intend And good Lord send thy holy Spirit into my heart by which this and all other thy dispensations may be sanctified to me that I may use the same as a lesson in thy School whereby to be taught both the greatness of my misery and wants and also the fulness of thy riches and mercy in the Lord Christ to be so humbled at the one as not to despair of the other Grant that I may renounce all confidence in my self and in every other creature or means so as only to put the whole trust of my preservation and salvation in thy boundless mercy And for as much O Lord as thou knowest how weak a vessel I am full of frailty impotence and imperfection and how by nature I am froward and impatient under the least cross and under the lightest affliction Do thou O Lord who art the giver of all good gifts indue me with heavenly grace with holy patience and with godly fortitude so as quietly to resign up my self even body and soul to what thou shalt appoint for me And of thy tender mercy lay no more upon me then thou shalt please to enable me comfortably to bear Strengthen me by thy healy grace that during this sickness and in all other times of affliction I may behave my self in all humility and meekness and faith and quiet repose in the sight and presence of those friends or assistants that shall come or be about me and also that I may both thankfully receive and readily improve all such seasonable counsel and heavenly consolation and holy direction as shall proceed from them And likewise that I may shew such Christianly example of childe-like patience and withal may give forth such godly lessons of heavenly comfort as may be both apparent arguments and sure testimonies of my holy profession and also of use and instruction to them how they are to behave themselves in the day of their visitation I do confess O Lord that in regard of my great provocations I have deserved both sickness and death it self and I do now desire no longer to live then to reform my evil life and in some better measure to set forth thy glory but if thou hast according to thy eternal decree appointed by this sickness to call for me out of this transitory life Lord help me willingly to resign my self into thy hands saying Thy blessed will be done only I do most humbly beseech thee even for Jesus Christ his sake who is the Son of thy love to pardon all my sins and in him to be reconciled to me and so to prepare my poor soul that by a lively faith and unfeigned repentance she may be ready to yield up her self when thou shalt be pleased to call for her O holy Father thou art the hearer of prayers hear thou in heaven these my weak supplications and in this my sickness which is like to increase upon me be pleased to shew thy Almighty power and goodness Teach my heart in holy believing to say Whether I live or whether I die I am Christs and Christ is mine and he shall be advantage to me both here and hereafter and for ever To him with the Father and the holy Ghost be ascribed all honour and glory and power and dominion for ever and ever Amen The Lord will be a refuge Psa 9.9 in time of trouble Hear me O Lord my God Psal 13.3 5. that I sleep not in death for my trust is in thy mercy and my heart is joyful in thy salvation II. Concerning Prayer CHrist and God and all is laid out for the good of the godly they may go to God with holy boldness and tell him wherein they are troubled pained afflicted oppressed If we ask great things from God he is well pleased with it but if we ask riches and honour and worldly preferment these are the low things of the footstool and they are often in mercy denyed let us therefore of God ask peace of conscience pardon of sin let us crave power to overcome our lusts strength to withstand temptations joy in the holy Ghost and grace to glorifie our dear Redeemer both in doing and in suffering God hath most assuredly all good things lying ready by him only he looks that Prayer should fetch them from him Now observe When our great Master Christ would give us a perfect pattern of Prayer both for matter and for manner he there windes up and wraps up all with a conclusion which consists of certain reasons to perswade our heavenly Father to hear our prayers or at least to assure our souls that he doth and that he will hear them and these reasons have a certain influence into all and every one of the petitions Thine is the Kingdom for this reason we do expect that as a good King thou wilt receive us and answer our petitions It is thy concernment as a King to have thine honour advanced for this reason Hallow thine own Name glorifie it in the Church advance thy Will in it sustain us thy Subjects pardon our Offences keep and defend us from
and bewailed of all 5. As a Christian and a dutiful Son of the Church wherein he was not only commendable but admirable both in life and in death In the communion of this Church as he had received his Baptism so he often professed he was ready to lay down his life for it As for the other Sacrament he would have every man to be highly and also habitually prepared so as if he should come into a Church where it was to be celebrated he should be ready to joyn in it he and his wife receiving it constantly every month He was devout and frequent in Prayer and sometimes would say If he should want an opportunity he would be praying as he stood behinde his Lord. When he observed that God by this last sickness gave him an effectual call out of this life his zeal and devotion were doubled so as to inflame the holy affections of all that stood about him Having received the Sacrament on the Sunday a pious scruple did seize his thoughts not to signe his Will on that day till by the Minister he was satisfied He propounded the place of his burial which shewed much of humility duty and affection There was at Malden in Bedfordshire a stately Monument erected by his Lord the Earle of Elgin in memory of his deceased Lady At the entrance into this place he said himself and his wife if she dyed presaging her sickness to be also mortal might conveniently be laid together that such as should come to view that Monument might tread upon her servants yet adding That if it were not convenient he was not scrupulous but requested to be interred in the open Church-yard and that to cross the received superstition on the North-side He was in some trouble that he had his accounts in no more readiness for such a surprize till his noble Lord advised him by no means to disorder his thoughts about any business of his Though he was alwayes confident of mercy yet was he ever humble also acknowledging himself the chief of sinners and declaring still that this his boldness sprang not from his own works but from Christs merits When the Minister was to pray with him he desired him not to intreat further continuance in this life his heart was in Heaven Finding himself almost spent with speaking he desired to have matter of devotion to be administred to him thereupon the Minister suggested to him divers seasonable expressions as I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Lord Jesu receive my spirit which with great alacrity he repeated after him So great was his patience as to desire God to lay his hand more heavy upon him He was nothing startled in his assurance of the fruition of Christ but cryed out every moment almost I go to my Christ I go to my God He thought he should have died on Sunday though 't was Munday and pleased himself that he should go from a temporal to an eternal Sabbath When his voice failed him still his hands held up shewed that his heart was aloft and that his God sustained him and so he breathed out his pious soul into the hands of his blessed redeemer He sickned July 24. 1657. and departed the 3 of Aug. VI. Mrs. Anne Rhodes SHe also was chief servant to the Countess of Oxford and to her husband the Earle of Elgin She was descended of the Glovers even of that pious Glover in Queen Maries days who ennobled his lineage not only in receiving the blood of others but by spending his own for the testimony of the truth She did diligently attend upon her husband in the time of his sickness so long as her strength continued but at the last she was forced to yield to the violence of her own sore distemper where she soon perceived that except some remedy were speedily found out she could not long continue Growing weak she sent several times for the Earl's Chaplen and he as willingly came and spake and prayed oftentimes with her and hath professed to receive no small support and comfort by those holy expressions that came from her Her husband was high in his assurance of enjoying of Christ but it was not so with her she was sadly tormented and brought down almost to the gates of hell with the sence and terror of her sins so much that those precious Cordials administred to her out of the Gospel were sometimes scarce able to keep her from fainting But the Chaplen who was much with her doth affirm that he had good ground and great reason to judge that the Lord did hearken to the voice of her weeping for her deep humiliation her earnest invocation her strong crying for mercy her humble request that her sins might be made known more fully to her her justifying of God in all his dealings with her her full resolution if God shall recover her to walk more strictly her holy resignation to the will of the Lord to do what he pleased with her These are he said infallible evidences that God though he chastised her and that very sore yet he gave her not over to death the second death As she drew nearer to the time of her departure so did she grow better acquainted with the slights of Satan and delusions of her own heart so she complained to a religious Gentlewoman in the Family O the craft and subtilty of the devil to make us believe that this sin is nothing and that sin is nothing but now said she I finde it to be something She was not only contented to live here or to be gone from hence as God should please but ready also to entertain all other occurrences of divine providence with a submissive heart There was care had and some tenderness used about the acquainting her with her husbands death she apprehending them did quickly make the question Is my Husband dead Said the Chaplen I hope if he be you are willing to submit to the will of God Yes said she with all my heart and added That should she hear of the death of her two Sons that then were sent for she could willingly submit to Gods good pleasure When a Gentlewoman a friend did spirt some vinegar out of her mouth to clear the air in the Chamber Spit some upon me said she for I deserve to be spit upon I but said the Chaplen think upon him that for our sakes was spit upon These and such like expressions of hers did argue in her both an humble and a contrite heart which the Lord will not despise and also a quiet submitting to Gods correcting hand and then a holy resignation and a ready acceptation of such punishment as God should think meet to lay upon her Further to shew that God was gracious to her notwithstanding the terrors that had been upon her when the Chaplen wished her to lift up her heart to God she presently replied I do and the Lord hears me which came certainly from the comfortable testimony of the
to the Sacrament That is well said she but I cannot go Childe be sure to go in the strength of Christ and do all your duties in his strength and the Lord go with you She would often say That she did never put on her best attire but she had thoughts of cloathing her self with the rich robe of Christs righteousness and decking her self with the jewels of his heavenly graces When her Steward came to ask her any domestick question she would say Oh do not trouble me with these things on the Sabbath day Such was her happy mistake she thought all the time of her sickness was a Sabbath and indeed so it was the Law of the Sabbath was written upon her heart every day was more and more a Sabbath with her as she drew neerer her end as she drew neerer to that rest which remains for ever into which she expired and in which she now triumpheth with him whom her soul loved and with the spirits of just men made perfect and with the Angels of God to all eternity Dec. 1658. Thanks be to God for his mercy The Preacher at her Funeral from Prov. 31.29 speaking of her unparalleld goodness did number up 10 several excellencies that did shine in her 1. Was her knowledge as being eminently verst in the methods of grace and in the mysteries of godliness 2. Was her wisdom by which she brought down all her heavenly principles into practice 3. Was her humility her knowledge did not puff her up her head was not so high but her heart lay as low 4. Was her meekness she would not provoke any nor easily be provoked by any she was most fearful to give offence most free to forgive it 5. Was her mercy the love of Christ to her had melted her all into compassion compassion to the bodies of poor creatures and compassion to the souls of all 6. Was her conscientious attending on the Ordinances the Word the Sacraments Fasts Prayer c. 7. Was her stability in judgement being a well-bottomed Christian 8. She was not a censorious Christian 9. She was of a sweet and cheerful spirit among crosses and tryals 10. She was very good in her relations never Mother had a better childe never child had a better Mother never servants had a better governour never friends a better friend she did fill all her relations with wisdom and fidelity So with gladness and rejoycing was she carried to enter into the Kings Palace into the joy of her Lord where there is fulness of that joy and pleasures for evermore Amen IX Monsieur du Moulins Life and Death HE was Minister of Gods Word and Professor of Divinity at Sedan in France and being 90 years old died there March 10. 1658. During his whole life he was much given to devotion but about 3 years and an half since he had a fall from a horse after which he had no health and yet performed his charge constantly in the Church and in the Schools or else privately in Meditation or in Prayer Feb. 26. 1658. he awaked in the morning very ill but being helped into the Pulpit he from Psal 16.9 preached as it were his own Funeral Sermon and giving an account to his Hearers of his faith and hope he took his leave of them as if he knew that to be the last time as it was that he should preach to them 28. It being also a Sermon-day he desired his Colleagues to remember him in the Prayers of the Church After the Sermon much company came to him to bid him farewel and to receive his blessing some had encouragement from him and some had admonition Taking his leave of his Colleagues for he was thought to be near his end he said Fare ye well my Masters I do not doubt but ye will carefully look to the conduct of the Flock that is committed to you One of them said The Lord grant that we may imitate you you have done good service and your labours will live when you are gone He replied Ah Sir you know not how much you grieve me by saying so I am conscious to my self that I have neglected my duty in many things that I have many wayes offended my God yet I must say that I have loved his holy truth and do hope in his mercy he is my Father and my God and Jesus Christ is my Saviour whosoever believes on him shall not perish Then he added Thou hast led me and taught me from my youth O Lord forsake me not in the last period of my life have mercy upon me O God O my Father have mercy upon me O Lord hear me help me and save me O my God He said I have been grieved for the afflictions of the Church O Lord purge and purifie her from all kinde of scandal let her be blessed and let not the adversaries of the truth triumph over her for ever Once coming out of a strong and sore fit being a burning Feaver he said O my God how weary how tyred am I When shall I rest in thy bosome in thy everlasting arms when shall I be filled with thy hid treasures when shall I drink of the rivers of thy pleasures I am unworthy of it I confess O Lord but thou art glorified by doing good to the unworthy It is not for them that are whole but for them that are sick that thy beloved Son the great Physician of souls was sent into the world whosoever believe in him are passed from death to life Being asked by one of the many friends that were about him Whether he did not perfectly hope in the grace of God that was presented to him he said I do hope not perfectly yet as much as I am able The first four dayes of his sickness he was both day and night with little intermission either in good discourse or in praying but the six last dayes he was much in a deep slumber though he did strive earnestly against it and sometimes would say Stir me prick me for I should now watch it is not a time now to sleep but to die O great God abandon me not to my infirmities but so preserve and keep up my spirit that I may glorifie thee even when I am dying For a whole day he was ever and anon saying The Word was made flesh Being well awake a friend asked if he did lift up his heart to God O yes said he I do it incessantly and God is gracious to me Sometimes he feeling of his pulse would say O what a grief is this I cannot die O good God have mercy upon me set my soul free shorten the dayes of my combat if it be thy blessed will The two last dayes did add to his burning Feaver and to his deadly slumber contracting of the sinews and convulsions every hour was thought to be his last but about midnight he opened his eyes saying I shall soon be eased I am going to my Father and to my God he hath heard me
THE King of Terrors SILENCED BY Meditations Examples OF HOLY LIVING AND HEAVENLY DYING As the same was Recollected and Recommended By Sir John Thorowgood of Kensington Knight To be distributed among his Kindred and his Friends at his Funeral Contra vim mortis Non est medicamen in hortis LONDON Printed in the Year MDCLXV To such Friends as shall be invited to accompany my CORPSE to the Earth THere be many useful Treatises set forth upon this subject the Lord be blessed concerning Mans mortality and for the Preparation and the Consolation of all such as do minde their frail condition and their souls salvation This that I do here offer to you as it hath been for many years in my thoughts and for the most part prepared so now upon daily expectation of leaving this evil world do I intend it only for the use of some particular Friends who I presume will prize it before the best Marchpane and prefer it before those frequent entertainments by Gloves or Rings or Ribbons In our Health we have profitable Sermons and godly Ministers and Christian Company and holy mens Books to repair unto for soul-refreshment but in a retired languishing painful sickness we may perhaps be deprived of most of these For this cause I have here gathered into as small a Volume as may be much of it from other mens heavenly Meditations that which takes in the four several seasons of decaying man relating 1. To the time of his present health 2. To his first sickning 3. To the keeping his Chamber 4. To certain signes of approaching Death 5. To these is added for the welcoming of it some remarkable Examples of holy mens cheerful deportment in their Christianly departing out of this mortal Life To hold you too long in an Epistle is not proper for such an occasion as this and therefore I shall draw to a conclusion and only recommend it and all you my good Friends to the great Lord and Master of us all the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Propitiation for our sins and by whom we are reconciled to the Father in humble assurance whereof I remain Your supported Friend JOHN THOROWGOOD Kensington May 1. 1664. A Friendly CAUTION TO you my Friends that I shall leave behinde Do I bequeath this Gift where you may finde Some helps to use when you most helpless are So to make it hath been my earnest care Peruse it then in Health that so ye may Be ready and preparing every day To welcome him that 's call'd the King of Fears That with him endless pain or comfort bears Then take it in good part and read and pray That it may profit till your dying day Take heed betimes of customary sin If ever ye intend Heavens joys to win Let not your bosome-sin have any rest Let it not lodge one night within your brest Take heed I say no evil do prevail If 't do be sure that it you do bewail With sighs and tears with sorrow and with care Of thoughts and words and actions to beware Here pray again with faith and godly fear That God your suit most graciously will hear That you may conquer self and live and die And fix the safety of your soul on high Thus do I pray thus will I pray so long So long as I have breath or life or tongue Now farewel Friends good Lord I come to thee Who ever wert a Saviour unto me Receive me to thy self and let me bring A soul full ser Halleluja's to sing In that blest Quire and with that heavenly Host Glory to Father Son and holy Ghost Amen Your revived Friend J. T. The CONTENTS PART I. Meditations in time of Health I. SHort Sentences to minde us of our Mortality Page 1 II. A Prayer in Health preparing for Death Page 2 III. Meditations of Gods mercies Page 5 IV. Of the danger and evil of Sin Page 8 V. Health the fittest time for Repentance Page 11 VI. Holy resolutions in time of Health Page 14 VII Meditations concerning Sickness Page 16 VIII Remedies against Sin Page 20 IX Meditations of Death Page 21 X. Resolutions against the vexations and the vanities of the World Page 25 PART II. Meditations at first Sickning I. A Prayer in time of Sickness Page 28 II. Concerning Prayer Page 33 III. Meditations at first sickning Page 36 IV. Directions and consolations in time of Sickness and Death Page 39 V. A Prayer before taking of Physick Page 42 VI. A Prayer before Physick is working Page 44 VII Six Meditations to cure the fear of Death Page 45 VIII Rules to make our Calling and Election sure Page 50 IX Against doubtings of Gods mercy Page 52 X. Reading of Chapters or portions of Scripture Page 55 PART III. Meditations at growing Weak I. A Prayer upon danger of Death Page 56 II. Consolations concerning death Page 60 III. Against impatience in Sickness Page 63 IV. Consolations in the Lord Christ c. Page 67 V. Reading of Scripture or part of Chap. Page 69 VI. A Prayer where friends are to joyn ibid. VII Meditations upon the dayes of Death and of Doom Page 72 VIII Short Prayers upon any release of pain Page 75 IX Consolations against pain and fear of dying Page 77 X. Ejaculations to Father Son and holy Ghost Page 79 PART IV. Meditations upon certain signes of Death I. SHort Prayers upon any intermission of Pain Page 81 II. A Prayer to be used by Friends Page 82 III. Questions with Answers upon any signe of Dying Page 85 IV. Portions of Scripture to be read Page 87 V. More Questions and Answers ibid. VI. Short Prayers upon any abating of pain Page 90 VII Friends to help with short Ejaculations Page 91 VIII More of these short Ejaculations Page 92 IX A Prayer by Friends at leaving this Life Page 93 X. Another by Friends at yielding up the Ghost Page 95 PART V. Being ten blessed Examples of holy Persons relating to a happy passage out of this Life to a better I. THe Sickness and Death of the Earle of Hanaw Page 97 II. The last words of Mr. John Meautys Page 113 III. Mrs. Juxons Life and Death Page 114 IV. Archbishop of Armagh's Life and Death Page 118 V. Mr. Rhodes his Life and Death Page 123 VI. Mrs. Rhodes her Life and Death Page 128 VII Dr. Harris his Life and Death Page 133 VIII Mrs. Scot's Life and Death Page 141 IX Monsieur du Moulins Life and Death Page 149 X. Mr. Crook's Life and Death Page 156 PART I. Meditations in time of Health I. Short sentences to minde us of our Mortality NUllum momentum sine motu ad mortem Quotidie morimur quotidie enim demitur pars vitae tunc quoque cum crescimus vita decrescit Mille modis morimur mortales nascimur uno Sunt hominum morbi mille sed una salus Non est malum in morte nisi post mortem Ossa arida sepulchra sunt praeceprores nostri Qui moritur vitiis antequam
That the greatest task that I have to finish in this world it is to die well and to make a happy departure out of this life for they which die well die not to die but to live for ever 2. When I would do any good or receive any good I will offer up mine endeavours in a sacrifice to thee O Lord in Christ beseeching thee to give thine holy Spirit to sanctifie this thine own sacrifice 3. In all mine actions I will seek to redeem the time of my life that is past with sad and serious repentance I will regard and consider the time present with care and diligence and be watchful for the time to come with providence 4. Among other my daily business I wil be sure to exercise my self in reading of something out of the Word of God and also to be careful not only to serve God my self but to see that all under my charge shall do the same 5. I will account of every day as of the day of my death and will endeavour to live now as though I were even now to die I will do those duties every day which I would be doing if it were my last day 6. Whatsoever I shall undertake in this life I will enjoy that and all things in God and so God in all things nothing in it self so shall my joyes neither change nor perish for howsoever the things themselves may alter or fade yet he in whom they are mine is not alterable but ever like himself faithful permanent and everlasting 7. Passions are said to be either irascible as sorrow hatred anger or else concupiscible as love desire joy hope In both of them I will be careful to use a great deal of moderation I may love the creature but I will not adore it I will not love the creature more then the Creator I may desire but not all things equally not earth in comparison of Heaven I may rejoyce but that joy shall be sober and spiritual I may hope but not for impossibilities I may be angry but not to sin I may weep but chiefly for sin 8. In pleasures and recreations I will not be so much given up to jocundum as to forget utile honestum pleasures may blaze for a while like crackling thorns but they presently vanish and quickly come to nothing O Lord let these resolutions turn to prayers and let those prayers obtain a blessing through thine infinite mercy in Jesus Christ Amen VII Meditations concerning sickness 1. SIckness is sent either 1. To try our patience for the confirming of others or 2. That our faith may be found in the day of the Lord glorious and laudable to the honour of God or 3. To correct or amend whatsoever is amiss in us or any way offensive to our heavenly Father 2. Sickness shall turn to our profit and help us forward in the way that leads to everlasting life 1. If we can truly repent us of our sins 2. If we can bear our sickness patiently 3. If we can trust in Gods mercies assuredly 4. If we can render him humble thanks for his fatherly visitation 5. If we can and do submit our selves wholly to his good will and pleasure 3. There is no greater comfort to tender Christians then to be made like to Christ by patient suffering sickness trouble or death it self for even he went not up to endless joy but he endudured first extremity of pain he entred not into glory before he suffered and was crucified so our way to eternal happiness is to suffer with Christ and our door to everlasting life is chearfully to die with and for Christ that we may rise again from death and dwell with him to all eternity 4. Sickness or other afflictions are not signes either of Gods hatred or of mans reprobation but rather tokens and pledges of his fatherly love therefore Christians in the primitive Church were wont to praise and bless the Lord for afflicting them in this life so did the Apostles rejoyce that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the name and for the sake of Christ 5. In the beginning of sickness and indeed at all times we are to search deeply into our own hearts as for all so chiefly for some secret bosom-sin 2. To confess our offences to God and acknowledge our selves guilty even of hell and of eternal death 3. We are to remember that the God of Israel is a merciful God and to cry to him from a faithful and a penitent heart even as a condemned person would do for pardon vowing amendment of life in case that health be restored 6. In our strongest health and before any approach or appearance of death or sickness we should manifest our real and sincere conversion 1. In a strict examination what our hearts are and so what our wayes and courses are 2. In confessing of all our sins and offences both open and secret of older time and of later years then what duties we have omitted 3. In seeking and begging with sighs unfeigned and groans of the Spirit that God will pardon them all and be reconciled unto us in the face of Jesus Christ Then will sickness and death it self be most welcome to us If sickness have seized upon us it is high time to consider That a man cannot presently carry his lusts his corruptions his hardned heart his unbelief with him into Heaven no it cannot be hoped for let us repent ere it be too late let us turn wholly to the Lord and believe in him with all our hearts Amen VIII Remedies against Sin 1. LEt us not forget That our particular sins and corruptions are to be thought upon with grief and to be inquired into whether they be weakned in us or still remaining in their full strength and whether we do now resist them every day with more and more force faithfulness and constancy 2. Whensoever we be about the committing of sin and finde the grace of God forbidding us and calling us from it and yet do run on headlong into it take heed for this is no better then crucifying of Christ afresh and we do no other then as the Jews refuse a gracious Saviour and take Barabbas 3. With our eyes let us alwayes behold God present with our ears let us be ever hearing the sound of that memorable voice Arise and come to Judgement with our hands let us be ever working and exercising that which is good in our hearts let us ever lodge the Word of God and with our feet let us be constantly standing in the courts of the Lords house whensoever his Word is there preached 4. The vows which in Baptism I did make by others that is To forsake the devil the world and the flesh so as not to follow them nor be led by them the same for the everlasting peace of our precious souls we must be careful dayly and hourly to renew in our selves 5. We must with diligence avoid all kinde of enticements to that
which is evil as wanton discourse wandring thoughts and wicked company and indeed all the vanities of the world 6. We must be frequent in humble faithful and devout prayer for none is overcome by a temptation till he give over holy constant and zealous praying 7. From the bottom of our hearts let us resolve constantly to embrace and to observe whatsoever is found to be the will of God yea though all the world should repine and persecute us for it so shall our duties and our services be regulated by precept and winged by promises 8. A soveraign remedy it will prove to be meditating at all hours on the hour of death Observe carefully and do what hath been said diligently Et in aeternum non peccabis IX Meditations of death THe highest delights and the greatest confidence that is in man cannot shift off the importunate and the violent troubles of this adversary That example in Dan. 5. may serve for all That Chaldean Tyrant was carousing with his Concubines singing triumphant Carols to the praise of his carved gods yet how was his courage abated when death writ him a letter of summons Now no musick no pleasant moving jest could remove his deep-struck melancholy O death how imperious art thou to carnal mindes Some do fear not so much to be dead as to die and some do fear not so much to die as to be dead whereas the true Christian armed only with humble confidence and holy believing in his future happiness can comfortably encounter him and in triumph can sing as 1 Cor. 15.55 O death where is thy sting c. Looking chearfully towards Heaven he can unfeignedly say I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ That dissolution is happy which parting the soul from the body doth unite both body and soul to God He that sees the glory of the end cannot but contemn the hardness of the way Of all sleeps death may be said to be the sweetest children begin it to us strong men seek it and Kings themselves fall to this centre The pace of death may be soft but iâ— is sure and every man live he never so long is a dying man till he be dead We should labour to get a particular knowledge and assurance both of our happiness in death and of our salvation after death And here remember that it is of excellent use and comfort to be frequent in receiving of the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper On purpose and in mercy hath the Lord left both our last day and the last day uncertain to us that we might alwayes meditate on them and be every day preparing for them It is the negligent forgetfulness of death that makes our life sinful and our death terrible He that lives holily cannot die unhappily He is most certainly blessed that dyeth in the Lord what kind of death soever it be He only is fearless of death that can say upon good ground Whether I live or die I am the Lords He that is the true child of God will never repine or murmur at his rod though it be accompanied with death We may well fear a storm is coming when the father doth call his children so hastily home Let us then say with Jobs heart Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come So be it X. Resolutions against the vexations and vanities of the world THe danger of this world is seen in the paucity of such as do pass well thorow it and also in the multitude of them that perish in it All things therein are but extream vanity purchasing to the owner nothing but anguish and vexation of spirit therefore will I bid this vain world adieu and that I may loath it and love God the better I will be continually meditating on what he hath prepared for me in Heaven and especially on the means of attaining it which is 1. The mercy of God who giveth it 2. The merit of Christ that bought it 3. The holy Gospel that offereth it 4. On faith that receiveth it 5. On the blessed Spirit that sealeth it to my poor soul I will with Christ and by his gracious assistance resolve to endure all for him all the contempts and persecutions of the world all the troubles of the body all the tortures of death all the torments of Satan so as I may enjoy my Lord Jesus Christ and his Kingdom I will renounce and contemn all sorts of vanities here below that I may enjoy the presence of the Lamb and with him be singing Hallelujahs everlastingly in the highest Heavens I am weak but this do I resolve in the strength of him who is the Almighty Lord God I will be neither a fool nor a rebel not ignorant from whence my crosses come neither will I be impatient in them knowing that they come from my most gracious God that he hath stinted all my miseries he hath weighed out every dram of my sorrows so as all the powers of hell shall not be able to cast in one scruple more then God hath allotted for me We know that even savage creatures will endure to be smitten by their Masters and yet be ready to tear strangers in pieces shall I then struggle with him that made me and framed and moderated the whole world when he is pleased to smite me No we should learn and remember that our extremities in misery are Gods best oportunities to shew mercy I will have no plot but against hells policy I will have no designe but against sins stratagems I will learn how I am to act in this life to my God fidelity to my Prince loyalty to my friends amity to my self humility so shall I be kept from future falls and also be guarded from present fears for this we are assured of that God hath either the Castle of a providence or the Ark of a promise or the faithfulness of his power or the all-sufficiency of his own grace for a retirement to his people in times of greatest storms and tempests PART II. Meditations at the first Sickning I. A Prayer in time of Sickness In their affliction saith the Lord Hos 54 6. they will seek me early So Egypt's burden made Israel cry to God so David's troubles made him to pray so Hezekiah's sickness caused him to weep so misery drove the Prodigal home and so let me in this my trouble sincerely and believingly hasten to my God in humble supplication OH most righteous Judge and yet in Jesus Christ my gracious Father I a poor wretched sinner do here return unto thee with the Prodigal that was annoyed with want and hunger and do humbly acknowledge that this pain and sickness is none other then the just stroke of thine own hand but though my sins have been many and great yet in wrath thou dost remember mercy for thy corrections have been easie and few I have deserved to be smitten with some fearful death so as to have perished in
what excellent truths are these lay them up charily ye will have need of them Being asked where his comfort lay he said In Christ and in the free-grace of God and then added Work work apace dear friends assure your selves nothing will more trouble you when ye come to die then that ye have done no more for God who hath done so much for you Being again asked what they should do for him he said Do not only pray for me but praise God also for his unspeakable mercy to me especially that in this my weakness he hath kept Satan from me and that I see the worth of a Christ and do taste of the sweetness of Gods love more then ever Again O how good is God! entertain good thoughts of him So he concluded all prayers for him with a loud Amen Upon Saturday-evening he began to set himself to die forbad all Cordials gave his dying-blessing to his Son that was present and calling for the 8th to the Romans he entertained no more disdiscourse with the sons of men Herein God was exceeding good to him as a return of prayer his breathings were easie and even and his soul without the least motion or resistance of the body did enter into rest while we below were entring upon the day of rest for then did he begin a perpetual Sabbath in Heaven when we begin ours on earth that is before one a clock on Sunday morning 12 of Decem. 1658. In all the Wills that he made this Legacy was ever renewed Item I bequeath to all my children and my childrens children to each of them a Bible with this Inscription None but Christ VIII Mrs. Scots Life and Death SHe was Daughter and Heir to Sir Matthew Howland also Heir to her Uncle Sir John Howland She was first married to the Son and Heir of Sir Walter Roberts of Kent when she was not 17 years old and afterwards to Mr. Scot a worthy Justice of Peace in the same County She had Sir Howland Roberts and two other Sons with two Daughters she was one of a choice spirit of a marvellous sweet temper and disposition of an amiable and a winning carriage and of a religious and charitable conversation About 19 years of age as she was riding on Hunting she had a fall from her horse and put her leg out of joynt which was the happy occasion of her conversion after this time she never hunted scarce ever came on horse-back and she writ it down in a book among other experiences of Gods goodness especially to her soul resolving for the time to come to walk constantly in Gods ways which she made good Once going to the Sacrament she had grievous temptations as if she might live without Ordinances and as if there were no necessity of them but her faith fought against it and she found sweet comfort and strength in the Sacrament she received Christ and gave her self up to him She writ in the foresaid book the comforts she found in frequent Fasts and Sacraments concluding with such words as these My God doth give me sweet experiences of the growth of grace in my soul and all from the vertue of Christ's blood Again This day I was at a Fast and God came graciously in and melted my heart and made good his promise to me They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength Again she writ thus This day I did receive Jesus Christ in the Sacrament and so came home rejoycing and fully assured that all my sins are pardoned and that Christ may as well be pulled out of Heaven as I be pulled from Christ Again out of the same book I kept a Fast by my self to seek help from God in a great straight that I was in for no power but his could help me out and deliver me the Lord did in great mercy assist me Afterward I kept a Fast in private with others about the same thing my heart at first was out of frame very heavy and perplexed but God at length came in and melted it and made the duty very sweet to me Now she thought the Ordinances could not be too often enjoyed and when in Winter-time she could not use the Coach to her Country-Church she would usually walk on foot in all the rainy and tempestuous weather that long and tedious up-hill and down-hill way In London she would be often by seven of the clock in the morning at the Lecture at Christ-Church from High-Holborn and there stay till the second Sermon was ended She had the grace as well as the gift of Praying which was both to admiration and to satisfaction Every day she had constantly in the Family morning and evening Prayer with something also of the Word and part of a Psalm sung on the Lords day morning-duties after dinner singing and praying and at evening repeating singing and praying She was indeed a true sanctifier and a spiritual observer of the Lords day even to a thought and would often bewail the liberty which too many Professors did take on those dayes to talk of civil and sometimes of worldly things without any remorse She never went abroad but she first withdrew her self into her Closet for some time to prayer and the like when she returned home Such exceeding in-comes she had at the Table of the Lord the Lord so blessing that Ordinance to her that she would often say She could there fetch from the Lord any mercy that she wanted as direction in straights support in troubles power against sin conquest over self and grace to carry her on in the wayes of God Whilst her Father Sir Matthew Howland and her Uncle Sir John Howland lived she would often say foreseeing the same as being their only Heir She was afraid of too much of the world to come upon her and to be an incumbrance to her As her life so her death was full of grace and comfort The Lord did graciously strengthen her upon her bed of languishing though she was walking thorow the valley of death she feared no evil her God was with her the Lord sustained her Though her pains and tortures were very great there being applied to her Cupping-glasses with lancings yet did the Lord put gladness in her heart so as she would say God hath been very good to me Oh how good is God! there hath not the least cloud interposed between God and my soul all this sickness so as I shall go to my gracious God triumphing She would often say O friends how sweet and precious is Jesus Christ And again O friends get an interest in Christ and try your faith To the servants and keepers that helped to turn her in her bed for in a few dayes from Wednesday to Munday she was by much pain become helpless she said I am very weak but my God is very strong and there is my comfort he will lift me up Oh praise the Lord for his goodness Her eldest Daughter saying Mother I am going to Church and