And therefore not to think it strange when any crosse or affliction befals vs But rather thereby to take occasion to call our selues daily to accompt what we haue done against the Commandements of God and to acknowledge that for those sins that we haue done God corrects vs. Let vs beware that we bee not found of the number of those whom neither Gods angrie countenance which appeareth in the seueritie of his punishments nor his fatherly chastisements and instructions contained in his word can reclaime from committing sinne nor from whom Gods gentle correction can draw hearty confession of them and true repentance for them We must also consider that it is not enough for vs to confesse our sinnes barely to God for hee knoweth them better then wee our selues but with our confession wee must acknoweledge that God may iustly condemne vs for them And therefore wee must ioyne with the confession of our sins true and sincere repentance for them which yet auaileth not without a liuely faith in taking hold of the blood and merites of Iesus Christ in whome and for whose sake our sins are pardoned And this faith must bee certaine it must be an assured confidence of the promises made in Christ in whom a sinner truely penitent and faithfully confident is iustified and neither by our bare confession or best workes but by the meere mercy of God in his Sonne As there is no man but sinneth daily So hee must daily confesse his sinnes to God and truely repent them not as Iudas Kayne Iudas confessed he had sinned betraying the innocent blood and repented but not in faith his repentance was a desperate sorrowe not for the sinne hee committed but for the horror of his reprobabation So did Kayne confesse his sinnes My sinnes are greater then I am able to beare but he tepented not to the obtaining of mercie Confession of sinnes and repentance without faith auaileth not It auailed not Pharaoh though hee confessed the righteousnesse of God and his owne and his peoples sinnes But Peter confessed his sinnes and repented with tears So did Marie Magdaline and their repentance is recorded by the holy Ghost to teach all posterities how to bewayle their sinnes a right They were great sinners yet through faith and repentance obtained pardon which to the comfort of greatest sinners sheweth that there is yet place of repentance and acceptation into Gods fauour for them vpon sincere repentance God himselfe affirmeth that He desireth not the condemnation of a sinner but rather that he repent and be saued And againe hee saith Haue I any desire that the wicked should dye or shall he not liue if he returne from his euill wayes And what is it to returne vnto God but true repentance for our sinnes And we are to consider that that repentance which is perfect indeed is ioyned with the keeping of Gods Commandements and none can say or assure himselfe that his confession of his sinnes and his repentance is accepted of God vnlesse he adde all his desires to fulfill the Lawe of God for the breach whereof God afflicteth his owne dearest children with sundrie crosses to preuent his cursses which hee inflicteth either here vpon the disobedient and vnrepentant to cause his owne to auoid sin by the example of his seuere iudgements whereby hee beginneth here to punish them or reserueth his punishments of them vntill his finall condemnation of them Markes of repentance are contrition and vnfained sorrow for sinne committed ioyned with a liuely faith in Christ for pardon of them and a setled desire and purpose euer hereafter to walke in a holy feare to displease God againe by our sinnes namely by the outward breach of Gods Commandements for the committing of things contrary to the Lawes of God is that sin we should repent vs of which by reason of our corrupt nature we cannot but coÌ„mit without the especiall grace of God which although it be the free guift of God it is not obtained without liuely faith and prayer in Christ by whose stripes we are healed and for whose sake we are heard and in whose blood we are washed from our sinnes But sorrow of heart may be great and yet auaile vs nothing as it did not Kayne Iudas Esau vnlesse true faith bee ioyned therewith Sorrow indeed may cast vs downe which if it bee not in an humble and faithfull acknowledgement of our vnworthinesse to be called or accepted as the children of God by reason of our sinnes it may proue desperate And therefore sorrow for sinne and faith in Christ to be pardoned ioyned together will assure vs that God is our God and that wee are his people that he is our Father and that wee are his sonnes and daughters If then we finde in our selues the burthen of our sinnes truely and plainely confesse them to God and heartely repent them we cannot but through faith in Christ assure our selues that our sinnes are pardoned and hauing an inward assurance thereof we must acknowledge that these graces proceede of no other thing then of the meere merites and mediation of our alone and onely Sauiour Iesus Christ who disdaineth not to call vs thus receiued into the Communion of the Saints of God brethren whom God knewe before the world was predestinated to be made like to the Image of Iesus Christ adopted in him and by whom we haue redemption in his blood euen the full forgiuenes of all our sinnes through his grace wherewith hee hath made vs freely accepted of God Now then we being through the grace of God made the Sonnes of God brethren and coheires with Christ shall wee thinke that he will not also furnish vs with the spirit of his Son which dwelling in vs we shall be able faithfully to cry Abba Father and what is that but to teach vs how to pray to God his heauenly Father in his owne name Therefore Whatsoeuer we shall aske the Father he will grant it vs for his sake so we aske according to his will in a liuely faith and waâ—â—â— not for he that wauereth is like a waue of the sea tost with the wind Though therefore our Tribulations be great and our afflictions many waies grieuous yet seeing they proceed from so louing a Father we may not thinke them to be inflicted vppon vs in displeasure but in a Fatherly regard of our soules health Which as sinne hath impaired so his gentle chastisements are as wholsome medicines to heale it And as no Physicke be it neuer so salutarie for the health of the body is sauorie to the Palat So Gods corrections howsoeuer they are sent as eyther Antidotes to preuent sinne or Medicines to cure it They are not pleasant to Flesh and Blood for the time But as corporall physicke though harsh in the tast hauing it working in an vnsound sound body begetteth health and is then much commended with many thanks to the
if thou were one whom Sathan had in his owne power hee would permit thee to rest quietly he would not disturbe thee but finding thee to be inwardly enclined to seeke the Lord praying for pardon in his Sonnes merites which hee cannot endure without roaring and raging against thee suspecting that he hath lost thee now altogether though thou were somtimes something seruiceable or rather according to naturall corruption slauâ—shly enclined to his workes of darknesse before the Lord in fauour visited thee with his fatherly corrections to reclayme thee from Sathan and sinne to make thee his obedient Sonne and the more thou declinest from him and his tentations and the more thou louest and enclinest to serue God with a pure heart the more will hee euer seeke to molest thee and if it were possible to driue thee to dispaire But feare not whatsoeuer he shall obiect against thee or lay vnto thy charge though when he seeth thee weakest hee will trie his strength against thee most Beleeue that when thou art weakest God is strongest for thee and Sathan though hee dare to tempt the dearest children of God as he did Christ himselfe yet he trembleth when he seeth Christ with his holy Spirit assisting thee and by his merites layd hold on by a liuely faith comforting thee feare him not therefore but encline thine heart vnto God and know that this thy sicknesse hath not fallen vpon thee by chance or by Sathans malice It came euen by Gods meere prouidence in loue to correct thee here in the flesh to call thee home vnto him that thou perish not with them whom Sathan hath subdued that haue not walked in the feare of the Lord whome Gods louing corrections could not reforme A greater mercy of God can not be obserued then to draw a sinner out of the power and slauery of sinne and Sathan by a gentle hand to make him hiâ— owne Coheire with Iesus Christ his Sonne and it is the end of this his correcting thee Repent thee therefore of thy former sinnes and beleeue sted fastly that in and through the bloud and merits of Christ thou shalt assuredly be saued and so shalt thou finde that this enemie of thine will giue ouer further to pursue thee As touching the forgiuenesse of thy sinnes how haynous so euer they be in quality or how many so euer in number they shall not be imputed vnto thee Thou hast beene already taught that all afflictions of whatsoeuer kinde doe proceed and are inflicted vpon vs for sinne and especially for the neglect of hearing the word of God and practising what it teacheth And yet not alwayes simply for sinne but sometimes that the glory of God may the more appeare especially in healing the sicke Lazarus dyed and yet Christ said that his sicknesse was not vnto death not so vnto death but that hee knew hee could and would raise him againe though hee were foure dayes dead and buried And therefore was his sicknesse and death onely that the glory of God might be seene by raising of him and the faith of his Disciples be the more confirmed but we must impute our sicknesses and all other crosses as layde vpon vs for our sinnes and learne by the example of good Hezekias to turne our selues vnto God and to mourn not so much for our sicknesse as for our sinnes Thou therefore that art thus afflicted in body and no doubt in minde also repayre vnto God in liuely faithfull and earnest prayer aboue all things for the pardon of thy sinnes for prayer if it be feruent is the most euident argument that thou art the childe of God and preuaileth much for where true saith is there necessarily followeth true repentance faith and repentance for sinne and offending God are inseperable And if thy repentance be serious it will either produce outward teares or inward griefe for your sinnes though teares be not alwayes ready not verball prayers powerfull especially in a sick man whose powres are commonly so shaken with the force of the disease as griefe of the heart can hardly wrest teares from the eyes or words from the lips yet with God it shall be accepted both sufficient prayers and preuailing teares if thou finde such griefe in thy heart for thy sinnes and such a desire to be reconciled vnto God in Christ as may but moue inward and silent sighes vnto God who respecteth more the holy disposition of the heart then any outward action or gesture of the body it shall bee sufficient though some outward showe of faith and repentance be necessary for the satisfaction of such as visite a sicke person if he can but showe it by the tongue in speaking though weakely confessing his sinnes lifting vp his hands or eyes it may argue the inward heart wel prepared and that hee wanteth not the spirit of God And therefore if your sicknesse be so violent as that you cannot showe verball tokens of the working of Gods spirit in you whereby they that come to visite you cannot witnesse for you your sorrow by your outward coÌ„fession It is enough that God knoweth it by your inward true sorrow of heart It was enough that God saw that good King Hezekiah in his sicknesse inwardly bewayling his sinnes though hee could not with plaine termes vocally and with fluent words as hee was wont but inwardly to mourne like a Doue and to chatter like a Crane very weakely and obscurely yet God vnderstoode him and accepted his weake vtterance as a most earnest and effectuall prayer So that if it come to passe that thy weakenesse become such as thou canst not vocally and verbally pray as by thy sicknesse it may come to passe though thou be in present perfect memory thy heart though neuer so faint may yet haue a feeling of Gods mercies and may shew it selfe powerfull to God though it seeme weake vnto men for God is absolute in vnderstanding can and doth conceiue the meaning of thy heart farre better then in thy best strength thou canst thy selfe vnderstand it As for thy present sick estate thou must not be carelesse of it but after prayer for pardoÌ„ of thy sinnes thou mayest craue restitution of thy bodily health if God who can restore it thinke it fitter for thee then death and thou art not only not forbidden but commaunded to seeke the lawfull helpe of the Physician prouided that thou depend not so vpon the Art of the Phisician as to exempt and neglect thy prayer to God for a blessing vpon it for if God giue not a Diuine working vnto the physick howsoeuer it may seeme to worke it may helpe one part and hurt another A cluster of Figges healed Hezekiah and the washing in Iordan the Leaper yet neither the Figges nor the water of their owne nature cured their diseases it was God gaue the vertue to both and therefore whether thine infirmitie be inward or outward with the meanes vse prayer that God may giue
or heart to touch him to his hurt for such is the sacred Majestie of a King being in earth Vicegerent vnder God in the Kingdomes wherein the Lord hath placed him that he ought in all things to bee obeyed next vnto God aboue all other of all his subiects And whosoeuer goeth about by counsell conspiracie or consent to betray him is not onely worthy of imprisonment but of the most cruell tormenting death that can bee deuised by man and therefore if thou shouldest be guiltie but of the knowledge of such a practice and didst conceale it thou art not to be graced with one minute of life nor by the prayer of any good subiect for thy deliuery but to haue thy deseruing not as â—ad Baarah and Rechab who thinkiâ—g to pleasure Dauid slew the King their Master Ishbosheth whome Dauid caused to be slaine with the sword But the like or worse then Reualiacke had for killing that famous King of France whose torments were as horrible as the wit of man could deuise The Maiestie of God is so imprinted in the person of a King as when wicked men haue vndertaken any desperate enterprise vpon them they haue beene many times so daunted as they haue had no power to act their villanies or haue suddainely so discouered their wicked intention by countenance gesture or speech as hath bewrayd the guilt of their conscience and haue beene preuented of their intended mischiefe Among many other most memorable examples of Gods Prouidence the discouery of the many treasons and conspiracies intended and ready to haue beene executed euen vpon the person of our late most famous Queene Elizabeth by Parrie and others are so perspicuous and her deliueries so wonderfull as can neuer be forgotten And his late Maiesties admirable deliuery from the conspiracie of the Gowries is yet fresh in euery mans memory to Gods eternall glory and the ioy of all his Kingdomes When Quintinanus a villaine being solicited to kill the Emperour Commodus by the conspiracie of Lucilla the Emperours sister had taken vpon him the murther wayted the time and conuenient place to execute the Treason attending the Emperours comming when he saw his Maiestie hee began to tremble his countenance changed his gesture altred and his tongue could no longer conceale his guiltie conscience but before the Emperour came neere him held out his murthering dagger in his hand cryed out This the Senate sends thee whereupon he was preuented and apprehended If therefore thou be apprehended and imprisoned as guiltie of this most hainous and monster of all sinnes examine thine owne heart confesse and bewray thine intention to the satisfaction of men especially of thy Soueraigne and acknowledge thy sinnes to God repent them It may be the Lord may yet vpon thy sincere and serious repentance haue compassion on thy soule though no good subiect will pitie thy death or wish the prolonging of thy life but the seuearell death So hainous is Treason and so odious are Traitors For such as are imprisoned as guiltie or vehemently suspected of murther NExt vnto Treason Murther is the most crying sinne whereof if thou be guiltie especially if it were wilfull and imprisoned for the same remember that Who so sheddeth mans blood by man shall his blood be shed Though the Murther be neuer so secretly done neuer so closely kept neuer so long concealed so odious it is to God that he seldome or neuer suffers it to goe vnreuealed The very Barbarians helde Murther so hainous a sinne as they did thinke it could not escape the vengeance of God neither indeed can it for as the guiltlesse blood of Abel cryed against his murtherous brother Kayne so doth the blood of euery man guiltlesly slaine crye against the murtherer and huntes him from place to place whether soeuer he flye where soeuer he hides himselfe the murthered seemeth still to be in the eye of the murtherer whether he sleepe or wake hee is still tormented and the Deuill that inticeth a murtherer perswading him by many false perswasions which he conceiueth in his minde by this or that meanes he may escape when he hath committed the Murther he layes the murthered before the eyes of the guiltie conscience of the murtherer and telles him loe here is that innocent person thou hast wilfully murthered God will seuerely reuenge it hee will giue thee into the Magistrates hand to be here tormented in the flesh and take away thy life and then cast thee into eternall torments as thou deseruest If therefore thou be guiltie of any such grieuous crime and be derected and imprisoned thou maist thanke God who hath discouered thee and restrained thee in this place from whence thou canst not escape to the end thou shouldest no longer raunge the world with a tormenting conscience but rather casting off all vaine hope to be freed betake thee to repentance for all thine offences and especially for this thy most odious facte crye earnestly and faithfully to God for mercie that he will still the crye of the innocent murthered that soundeth so fearefully in the eare of thy guilty conscience crye for pardon in Christ for whose sake there is mercie with God if with a true and liuely faith thou craue it If thou be guiltie and yet but onely vpon suspicion committed the facte not fully reueiled if thou confesse it not to the Magistrate thy burthen will be for the more heauie though thou thinke it sufficient to confesse it in secret and silence to God who needs not thy confession of the facte for hee saw it done and knew thine intention before thou didst it he hath seene and obserued thee since how thou hast runne hether and thether for safetie and how thou hast sought all meanes to hide it and escape but all in vaine there is â—o hiding thee from his sight Thy sinne is grieuous thou hast laid violent and murtherous hands vpon and taken away the life of the Image of God though a humane creature and â—s the facte is done against God so thy repentance or hardnesse of heart are knowne to him alone not to man against whom also thou hast grieuously sinned therefore must thou openly acknowledge the facte before men that thou maist free the innocent that may be otherwise had in suspition to be actors of that which thou thy selfe hast done and so double thine offence in causing another to suffer for thy sinne and so heape as well his blood as the blood of the murthered vpon thine owne conscience Therfore as thou art discouered taken kepte from any hope of escape make of necessitie a vertue take that punishment with a godly patience that by all thy secret intentions inuentions and subtile practises thou canst not auoide craue forgiuenesse of thy sinnes of God vpon the knees of a most penitent and relenting heart and if it be possible wrest through bitter sighes and sorrowe euen teares of blood from thy bloody conscience in heartie and faithfull
and Iesus Christ and therefore must thou continually wrestle as long as thou liuest here in the flesh not onely with the infirmities of flesh and bloud but against principalities against powers and against spirituall wickednes against worldly gouernours the Princes of the darknesse of this world all inuisible And thinke not thy chiefest conflict to be with the visible men of this world but looke euery houre to be assayled by one spirituall enemie or another and when thou feelest any motion in thy heart to any kinde of sinne thinke thou presently now I must either fight or be foyled for there is no string away Sathan hath swift wings he will ouertake thee and finde thee out goe where thou wilt and that thou findest in thy selfe by the present horrour of thy conscience for thy sinnes which hee layes before thee as in an vgly glasse shewing them to be so monstrous as they be vnto thee as hell it selfe Be not yet dismayed take hold of Christ though not with thy hand as the woman in the Gospell yet with thy heart fasten vpon him with a liuely faith and hold him fast for nothing preuailes with him nor against Sathan and sinne but a strong and liuely faith in Iesus Christ. In this assurance stand fast be not afraide though thou be guilty of many and great sinnes so was Dauid and many worthy men of olde yet they obtayned pardon and were through the merites of Christ imputed righteous The mercy of GOD wrought vpon their sinnes for if all men were of them selues righteous needing no repentance how should the mercies of God appeare what auayled then the death and merites of Christ Why should he be reputed a Redeemer a Sauiour or wherefore should he be called a Mediatour if there were no sinne or sinners Hee came not to call the righteous such as feeling no sinne in themselues hold themselues iust but hee came in deede to call sinners to repentance and to saue through his bloud such as feele and acknowledge their sinnes Therefore be thou not afraid though thou feele thy sinnes burthensome vnto thee hee euen Christ came to ease them if thou faithfully beleeue in him And thinke not but faith and true repentance can and will turne Gods iustice into mercy his anger into fauour and his most heauie displeasure into loue euen into that loue wherewith God loueth his dearest children freely for he loueth none that loue not him and none can loue him but such as he loueth for to loue God and to be beloued of God are of God alone And they to whom he vouchsafeth this heauenly fauour to loue him are filled with all fulnesse of whatsoeuer may make them assured of their saluation quieting and pacifying their afflicted consciences and giuing them inward setled peace Therefore if thou haue and feele an inward godly sorrow that thou hast offended so louing a God and hast in thy selfe a desire to be reformed and to be reconciled to God Thou needest not feare for the loue of God towards thee is not absent neither are thou altogether destitute of thy loue towards him And therefore whatsoeuer Sathan doth suggest against thee beleeue him not beleeue thy Redeemer he is the truth he euen he doth assure thee that at what time so euer thou shalt repent thee of thy sinnes from the bottome of thy heart the Lord will put them out of his remembrance He is the truth that hath promised this and he will assuredly performe saluation euen to thee though thou be a grieuous sinner if thou truly repent and faithfully beleeue that thy sinnes are pardoned in his bloud who is also the way he hath traced out before thee and for thee a perfect example of righteousnesse patience and obedience walke in it then as he is also the life he shall be thy life and mauger sinne Sathan and death thou shalt liue and liue for euer Pray therefore vnto GOD faithfully and feruently and he will assuredly ease thee euen here of that heauie burthen wherewith thy conscience seemeth to be grieuously afflicted and oppressed And for thy further instruction and helpe if thou be so ignorant as not knowing how to pray to thy comfort thou mayst vse the Prayer following or according to the measure of that grace which God hath giuen thee sigh and groane inwardly to God who accepts euen inward desires to repent and to be reconciled to God as if they were prayers in deede so it be in faith from the heart or thou mayest vse any other godly prayer which may best expresse the sorrow of thy heart for thy sinnes the forgiuenesse of them and the assurance of thy saluation A Prayer for the forgiuenesse of sinnes that afflict the weake conscience of a sinner OEternall euerliuing and most louing Lord God in Iesus Christ towards them that feare thy name and walke vprightly before thee and a seuere Iudge vnto impenitent sinners who onely knowest the thoughts and secrets of all hearts from whose all-seeing eye no sinne or sinners can be hidden Consider Lord that I was originally made to thine owne Image in righteousnesse and holinesse and that I became corrupt and consequently sinfull by his transgression in whom I was first made holy and doe confesse my selfe O Lord one of and the worst of all the cursed seede of him in whom all posterities became accursed and I cannot conceale the corruption which I haue had receiued from them by whom I was begotten and borne and that this corruption now become mine hath begotten and brought forth so many and monstrous sins in me as I am not onely not worthy to be called thy Sonne but ashamed to be knowne to be the worke of the hands of so great so gracious and so righteous a God for my sinnes O Lord are so great so hainous so odious and so many in number as haue so farre ouergorged my corrupt heart so infected my wretched soule with the filthinesse of them that I feele euen the stink of them so loathsome vnto mine own guilty Conscience as I cannot but holde my selfe detestable in thy sight Mine Iniquities are gone euer mine head a burden too heauie for me to beare O wretch that I am how dare I come into thy presence such a trayne and troope of intollerable sins accompaning me Thou canst not Lord but obserue see and seeing and obseruing my hainous sinnes how can I but feare that thou in Iustice wilt not only put me back and reiect me and my praiers but worthily and deseruedly confound me I haue an accuser a Iudge and an executioner within me I am Arraigned and condemned euen by the accusation and witnesse of mine owne guilty Conscience the horror whereof hath beene and is such as hath made mee affraid to seeke to thee whome I haue so deeply offended for pardon lest that in thy fury and in the seueritie of thy Iustice thou shouldest leaue me to the will of him
of my corrupt heart that though they may begin to worke sin in me Lord suppresse them before they come to execution Disperse Lord and dispell all the clouds of ignorance and errors that darken mine vnderstanding and giue me wisedome rightly to know thee and thy Sonne Christ and what he hath done for my soule and through thy grace restraine me this day from that thou hast commanded me to shun and let me doe nothing but what may please thee then whatsoeuer I shall thinke speake or determine shall be to thine owne glorie profitable to my selfe and others Preserue me from the secret and hidden snares of Satan who is restles to allure me to sinne inticing me to imbrace the vanities of the world and to yeeld to the lusts of mine owne corrupt nature But Lord as I haue by thy prouidence past the darkenesse of this night doe now enioy the joyfull benefit of the light of this day so let me this day auoide all the workes of darkenesse and as the day doth administer light vnto my corporall eyes the better to doe the works offices of my calling so let the light of thy Spirit O Lord shine in my soule that I may walke in the light of thy truth in true obedience to the good example of others Thou hast allotted me a calling in this life giue me power wisedome rightly to performe it my best endeuours can little preuaile without thy blessing and direction and therefore I humbly pray thee to prosper whatsoeuer I take in hand this day Blesse mine vnderstanding O Lord that I may rightly know and be able truely faithfully to performe what belongeth vnto my place and calling Blesse the health of my body the strength and continuall vse of my limbes senses which of them selues are weake and may soone decay without thy blessing Increase O Lord and confirme my faith grace wisedome and obedience euerie day more and more that I may euerie day more and more dye vnto sinne and be made stronger and more perfect in righteousnesse Heale O Lord all my corporall and spirituall infirmities and dispose my heart that I may be euerie day more and more mindfull that this my life is short and that this day may be my last day and let me so walke this day as if it should be the last day of this my mortall life that I may be assured of the immediate entrance into that life which is eternall with Christ my Redeemer And vntill that last day shall come O Lord I intreate thee in the name of Iesus Christ that this day and all the rest of my daies and nights may be prosperous and blessed vnto me the day for the performance of my calling the night for my rest vntill I come to my finall and perpetuall rest with thee and thy Sonne to whom with thy blessed Spirit I ascribe all honour praise and glory Amen Lord◠euermore increase my faith A Prayer to be said before a man goes to his nightly rest O Gracious Lord God heauenly Father the keeper and preseruer of all that come vnto thee for succour I haue been through thy great mercie and prouidence kept preserued defended fed sustained and relieued this day now come to an end and now as the night succeedeth the day and the darkenes the light so I knowe O Lord that death will succeede my life and the graue my bed Lord thou madest in the beginning light and darknes night day morning euening and all to thine own glorie to the vse of wretched man who in the beginning turned his light into darkenesse that darkenesse hath ouershadowed al that haue proceeded of his corrupt seed among whom O Lord I am so bemisted and blinded with that originall darkenes as I cannot see nor truely conceiue the light of thy most sacred word without that spirituall light shining from thine illuminating Spirit Thou madest two lights O Lord to endure for euer the Sun to gouerne the day and the Moone to giue light in the night yet doe not these lights O Lord direct our feete in the wayes of righteousnesse nor our pathes in obedience but rather lead vs to the occasions to sin but it is the supernaturall light O Lord that proceedeth from the brightnesse of thy louing countenance that directeth aright those that are thy children of the light By this light O Lord guide me that the night of ignorance ouer shadowe me not from beholding thy louing countenance which is more pretious more sweete vnto me then all earthly delights The day-light wherein I should onely followe with godly diligence in my calling to serue thee turneth into the darkenes of my minde without thy spirituall light how much more will the darkenesse of the night miscarrie my corrupt hart into idle and vngodly thoughts especially by the temptations of the Prince of darkenes when thy light faileth me For such O Lord is the nature of my polluted heart that it neuer resteth to infuse euill imaginations into my mind especially in my night wakings and in my sleepe to trouble me with sundrie euil vngodly dreames wicked phantasies showing thereby the fruites of my sinfull nature Therefore gracious Father I finding in my selfe thou knowing mine imperfections better then my selfe I come in all humblenesse praying thee to assist me with thy grace that I may conuert my heart from the euils whereunto it is enclined and onely incline and frame it to the sincere seruice of obedience to thee and to dedicate my mind will and affections in my night wakings either to meditate of thy word or in making my faithfull prayers vnto thee I cannot O Lord through the weakenesse of my corrupte nature subsist without cōpetent rest sleep yet I know thou slumbrest not nor sleepest but with thee the day and night are alike light and in thy prouidence and loue hast an eye ouer all that are thine whether they sleep or wake Giue therefore command O Lord vnto thy heauenly watchmen to keepe me and all that I haue from danger this night so will I lay mee downe vnder the shadowe of thy protecting winges to take my rest this night faithfully cōmending my soule and body and all that belong vnto me into thy most powerfull and fatherly tuition so shall I not feare what Satan or any malicious instrument of his shall practise or plot against me And in this assurance O Lord confirme my faith from night to day and from day to night that all the dayes and nights of my life may be rightly spent in a holy and sanctified conuersation to thy glorie and mine own comfort vnto the end of all my nights and dayes through Iesus Christ my Sauiour and Redeemer Amen Lord encrease and confirme my faith this night and euermore A PATH-VVAY TO GODLY PATIENCE IN all manner of Afflictions AFliction heere in this life is vnto the Godly as it were a Schoole to learne them Patience A most
patience Blessed is the man whom the Lord correcteth refuse not therefore the chastisements of the Almightie Though therefore we be compassed about on all sides with many miseries let vs not fainte but in patience possesse our soules As Christ himselfe teacheth for Whom the Lord loueth he chasteneth and scourgeth euery sonne that hee receiueth Then are chastisements testimonies of Gods loue towards vs and therefore they that cannot abide to bee corrected showe themselues bastards and not the sonnes of God As many as I loue I rebuke and chasten Reuel 3. 19. Doth a father correct his sonne without a faulte it were iniurious and doth God correct his children that sinne not there is none but sinneth therefore none but deserue correction seeing then that sinne is the cause of Gods corrections let euery man examine himselfe and take with thankeful patience his Fatherly chastisements in what manner soeuer they befall him Touching sinne the cause of all afflictions the confession and repentance thereof and patience in troubles FOr asmuch as sinne is the cause of all our afflictions and that there is neither crosse or any kinde of trouble that befall vs but sinne causeth it In vaine it is to hope for remedie reliefe or ease vntill wee haue in some measure vnburthened vs of our sinnes for as an old house pulled downe to bee rebuilt must be rid of all rotten materials and rubbish before any good and sound foundation can be laid so before wee can receiue any inward comfort or outward release of our troubles we must cast out of our hearts and clense our soules of all the filthy loathsome dregs of sinne that lurke in them that can we not doe but by a strict and serious examination of our hearts and to call to minde how wee haue spent the time past and then shall euery man finde cause enough why God in his Iustice might inflict vpon vs in steeede of our light afflictions which are but his Fatherly corrections his most heauie iudgements seuearest punishments and in steed of our temporall and momentanie miseries cast vs into perpetuall torments Knowing then that the cause of our calamities to bee our sinnes and hauing vpon due search found out our long hidden iniquities can we but acknowledge that God hath not dealt with vs nor afflicted vs according to the measure and multitude of our wicked deseruings But as a louing father hee hath by his gentle chastisements as it were onely wincked at and beckened vnto vs to put vs in minde onely of our faults least by continuing in them and multiplying of them he should haue cause in steed of gentle corrections to vse his Iustice therefore hauing found in our corrupte hearts our vngodly and impious inclinations which haue begotten in vs infinite actuall sinnes we may not any longer couet to conceale them but heartily plainely and faithfully acknowledge them vnto God though we cannot call all our antient sinnes and the faults we haue committed long agoe to our remembrance for Who can vnderstand all his faults saith Dauid yet Dauid him selfe confessed his sinnes to God sometimes in generall sometimes in particular he did not hide his iniquities but confessed them against himselfe and was not ashamed to set them down in many of his Psalmes to teach vs if occasion be to discouer our sins for the satisfaction of men but especially vnto God as Dauid did who forgaue the punishment of his sinne Yet had he afflictions still not as punishments but as fatherly physicke to keepe his heart and affections in more due obedience and though Dauid said he did not hide his sinnes from God it is not therefore to bee collected that he could or any man can hide his sinnes from him howsoeuer couertly and secretly they commit them But who so confesseth them not he intendeth to hide them as much as lyeth in him from God that seeth them and thereby doubleth his offence But who so acknowledgeth his sinnes vnto him he is faithfull and Iust to forgiue them and to cleanse him from all his vnrighteousnesse To acknowledge our sinnes then is the very entrance into Gods fauour which being obtained not by the confession of our sinnes but in and through a firme faith in Iesus Christ through whose merites we may freely aske and assure our selues of the remission of our sinnes for he hath promised to doe it who is most faithfull and iust in his word and that doth Dauid approoue saying I confessed against my selfe my sinnes vnto the Lord and hee forgaue the punishment of my sinne He forgaue him as not to punish him in the seueritie of his Iustice though he remembred him with his gentle corrections often as hee doth his deerest children yet not all a like some hee chastiseth after a most milde manner some more sharpely yet fatherly as he findeth men docible and tractable or refractarie and hard to bee reformed for some are more and sooner reformed with a sharpe looke of the Lords countenance then some with many stripes As Peter when he had thrice denyed his Master Christ Christ but turned his face towards him at the crowing of the Cocke it was rebuke enough he went suddenly forth and wept bitterly in token of his repentance Some againe will hardly remember their sinnes vntill it be said vnto them Thou art the man as Nathan tolde Dauid who before that had slept in his sinne of adultrie and murder a whole yeare neuer thinking of it But when he was admonished from God by a parable then he confessed his sinnes and repented them saying I haue sinned against the Lord Ioyning with his confession sorrow and repentance for his sinnes And the same mouth that reproued him for his sinne and that he should dye for the same pronounced the forgiuenesse and pardon of them The Lord hath put away thy sinnes Whereby we may learne that the Lord seeketh no seueâ—râ— reuenge against a sinner confessing and repenting his sinnes though he leaue some token of his displeasure against sinne and of his loue to the sinner in keeping him in future obedience by his fatherlie discipline least he should too much presume of pardon of second sinning by the mercie of God declared by the remission of the former And therefore although he had pardoned Dauid his sinne and had forgiuen him the punishment of it yet Dauid went not without a token that he should remember that he had offended and giuen the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme God pronounced the death of the child God sees it necessarie and we cannot but thinke it expedient euen for vs That although God doe assure vs that our sinnes sincerely acknowledged be forgiuen vs yet that he beare a kinde and fatherly hand ouer vs to retaine vs in future obedience by some daily vnsauory potion to cure and to keepe our carnall apetite in order that we returne not to our former iniquities
Physitian So if we can well digest our troubles afflictions here for a little while and by vertue of them seasoned with Faith and perfect Patience euacuate our grosse and filthy corruptions that suffocate our hearts with sin wee shall feele a most wished renouation of the health of our mindes and finde our affections changed euen as a body distempred with a Feuer distasteth the most sauorie thinges as long as it possesseth the Body and afterwards becomes to it perfect taste So although as long as we be holden with the corrupt infirmitie of our naturall wills no good dutie or heauenly grace can be so toothsome vnto vs as pleasure and the sinnes wee delight in But being purged and dieted by the afflictions that our louing Physitian doth compound for vs we shall finde sin and pleasures and all carnall delights to become bitter and harsh vnto our hearts God many times sends vs troubles and afflictions that by easing vs of them againe we may knowe that as he can correcte vs so he can comforte vs He neuer maketh a wound but hee healeth it nay such is his mercie power and prouidence as hee cures the most deadly wounds that our selues doe make vpon our selues through our sinnes by his owne free mercie in his Sonne and the medicines he vseth are his fatherly chastisements Should we not therefore take his salutarie and gentle stripes with patience that doe not onely not hurt vs but heale vs If wee were indeed the first of Gods children that haue beene afflicted and troubled in this life we might stagger at our crosses and calamities that are so infinite But if we set before vs the worthy examples for our imitation which Saint Iames sets before vs euen our brethren the Prophets Apostles and such as were the most beloued of God for an example of suffering and their patience such as haue spoken and taught in the name of the Lord and his Christ who indured most ignominious tortors and most cruell afflictions for his sake of whom the world was not worthie being the Ambassadours of the eternall God wee could not but beare our light and momentanie afflictions with most resolute and godly patience and as we haue heard so if we beleeue the patience of Iob and what end the Lord made with him namely in not onely remouing his miseries but in restoring him to greater glorie euen here then he had before and which was greatest of all and the end of all the Crowne of life we should acknowledge with holy Saint Iames That we are blessed that endure here the chastisements of the Lord. If then it be a blessed thing to endure troubles he must needs be the childe of God that is here corrected and doth suffer it with patience though the fault be in our selues for which we are afflicted and therefore to impute it to no other cause but to our sinnes There is a kinde of suffering indeed couered with a kinde of counterfeit patience As when men are inforced to vndergoe the ineuitable torments of death for capitall crimes committed against the Lawes of Nations or suffering things they cannot auoide as there 〈…〉 to showe their impious and vaine-glorious valour and vngodly resolution at their vnauoidable executions vndergoe them as if they were nothing daunted therewith yet were their inward hearts seene they would appeare fraught and full of horrour But we are to learne of Saint Paul who had his tribulations and reioyced in them affirming that tribulation bringeth forth patience and patience experience and experience hope which hope maketh not ashamed for through the loue of God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost patience becoÌ„meth an assured testimonie that they that thus suffer are beloued of God We need not therefore thinke or conceiue that our afflictions here to be any disgrace vnto vs fâ—r they are the liuery and badge of Gods dearest children It is a glorious thing to be adorned with the note of the honour of any great mans seruice and shall wee thinke it a base thing to weare the cognisance of the King of Kings and which our Sauiour Iesus Christ himselfe hath worne before vs yet without sinne in himselfe but bare the curse for ours we suffer for our owne sinnes he endured all and more and more heauie crosses for vs then wee are able to beare for him What tormeÌ„ts endured he not he was poor though all the world were his hee had not a house to hide his head in hee had enemies more then wee all he was slaundered railed on buffered spet on crowned with thornes besides infinite and vnspeakable iniuries and finally put to a most cruell shamefull and ignominious death a death inuented for theeues and murtherers and hanged as so capitall a malefactor being altogether in himselfe innocent Lord and Creator of heauen and earth and shall we most wretched sinners guiltie of ten thousand impieties worthie for the least of them to be vtterly confounded repine at the good will of God in sending vs so fauourable tokens of his displeasure for our sinnes and loue of our saluation God forbid knowing and being so sufficiently instructed that nothing doth or can befall vs but by the meere prouidence of our most louing Father neither sicknesse nor pouertie nor enemies nor any whatsoeuer crosse which hee doth also so graciously temper in his mercie as they are neuer more heauy then he maketh vs able to beare them with his owne guifte of setled patience through the free guift of faith Wherefore let vs apply our hearts to wisedome and learne to know and to acknowledge that all the troubles and afflictions that fell so heauily vpon innocent Christ were not for sinne in him but for ours and were most heauily layde vpon him to make ours light And that whatsoeuer crosse affliction or trouble befalleth vs our sins procure them and yet there is no more required of vs for the mittigation of them or remouing them from vs but a full acknowledgement of our sinnes vnfained repentance for them faith in and obedience to God and patience for a little space to beare our corrections If these things be not in vs how can we thinke our selues or be thought in the least measure to haue our troubles remoued or mittigated but rather to acknowledge our selues worthie to be more seuerely punished in his Iustice Let vs therefore afore all thinges make our peace with God which by no other means can be but onely by the merits and mediation of Iesus Christ which we must apply vnto our selues through a liuely saith praying in the same with a godly feare and feeling of our sinnes for remission and pardon of them and that hee will so arme vs with his heauenly graces as wee may bee able to beat downe all impatience and to giue vs power to resist that armed enemy Sathan who endeauoureth to make vs to think that our crosses are the curses of
God and that our afflictions proceed from his finall anger neuer to bee appeased but these his sugiestions are false let vs not beleeue them let vs beleeue that whom God doth chasten he loueth and therefore we may assure our selues so much the more that we are the children of God by how much we finde these tentations in vs for if we were his as he would sugiest vnto vs that God is angry with vs and wee not his he needed not to trouble vs but he knowing that wee are the Lords hee worketh by all meanes to drawe vs to distrust in God and that the merits of Christ cannot auaile vs. But let vs be strong in the Lord let vs trust constantly and confidently in the merits of his sonne armed with the shield of faith and buckle vnto our selues the sword of the spirit which is the word of God which doth containe most sure promises that he will neuer leaue vs nor forsake vs let vs pray alwayes with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watch thereunto in a holy patience with all perseuerance So shall wee see the saluation of God his power and prouidence in deliuering vs out of all our troubles of whatsoeuer kinde or such inward comforte as shall make our most bitter and sharpest afflictions sweet and easie And for asmuch as sinne is the greatest and most heauy burthen of misery that any poore childe of God can be afflicted with It is the principall part of a Christian to seeke to be vnburthened of the same not as to bee carelesse in the search of his sinnes and so to feele no burthen for he is like a man sicke vnto death and yet will acknowledge he feeleth no sickenesse at all but he that findeth his sinnes most grieuous vnto him and most deiected for them is nearest vnto pardon so he acknowledge them and in a liuely faith in Christ repent them Comforte for a man afflicted in conscience by reason of his sinnes COnsider first whosoeuer thou art that art troubled in minde 〈◊〉 thy conscience afflicted by 〈◊〉 â—f thy great sins 〈…〉 not thy case alone to be a sinner it is a common disease and sickenesse of the soule originally deriued from the transgression of Adam and remaining in the nature of all his posteritie outwardly shewing it selfe in vngodly wordes and deeds spoken or done against the Law and honor of God and inwardly by the thoughts desires of the heart conceiued against the Law of the spirit And happie is hee that can consider his owne wayes and that can and doth examine and finde out the sinnes which are hidden in his owne heart which to all other men are concealed but not from God The heart is an vnfadomable depth of sinne and rebellion against God and the best man by nature is guiltie of many secret and hidden as well as open and known sinnes for The imaginations of mans heart are onely euill from his youth And many odious sinnes proceede from that corrupte fountaine Such as men are ashamed to reueale and were it possible they would conceile them from God him selfe and therefore they often striue to keepe them in their priuate bosomes vntill they become so heauy burthensome as they can no longer beare them without vnspeakable horror and vnquietuesse of minde vntill they become as a worme so venemous in the Conscience as eateth and deuoureth all peace and comfort of the heart which the Deuill seeketh continually to feed and agrauates the sinnes grieuously in the minde of a poore sinner that he begins to fainte and as it were to sincke vnder the burthen of his afflicted conscience which is the most heauy crosse of all crosses a burrhen importable where it lighteth and it seemeth to bee in some measure thine owne case and is indeed dangerous for that soule that sinneth and perseuereth therein shall dye and it seemeth thou feelest the weight of grieuous sins which makes thee sad melancholicke and heauy which is yet a token that thou art not so dead in sin as that there is no feeling of sinne in thee which may be an argument that there is some life of grace yet in thee and that the spirit of God is not altogether dead in thee for if thy conscience were so feared vp and hardned that there were no sinne felt of thee thy case were farre more dangerous and though thou groanest and grieuest vnder the burthen of thy sinnes it may be onely for feare of the Iudgement of God and his punishments due for thy sinnes which is in it selfe but a seruile and slauish feare But if thou grieue that thou hast offended God by thy sinnes and dishonoured him by thy transgressions this proceedeth of a godly sorrow and so a signe that there is yet place and time for thee to repent turne vnto God therfore despaire not of the mercies of God in Christ who through thy faith if it be liuely and stedfast will be thine Aduocate by whom and by none other or other meanes thou shalt be reconciled to God and not dye in thy sinnes Thy sins are great great and fearefull the iudgements of God for sinne yet greater then both is the mercy of God towards a truly penitent sinner he is much displeased for sinne yet retayneth not he his anger long against a sinner if he returne vnto him for mercy is more pleasing vnto him then Iustice And though he seeme to turne away his louing fauour from thee being a notorious sinner and suffer thee to lye plunged and as it were wallowing in the bloud of thy sinnes and leaue thee destitute of all inward feeling of comfort yet if thou were the most haynous sinner and haue but an inclination an inward true desire to regaine his fauor and be truly sorie that thou hast offended him hee will turne againe and haue compassion vpon thee he will put away thine iniquities and cast thy sinnes into the botome of the Sea for as high as the heauen is aboue the earth so great is his mercie towards them that truly feare him God is iust in deede But if it may be so said he is more mercifull then iust but to none but to such as doe not onely feare and grieue for their sinnes as did Iudas and Esau But to such alone as in a liuely Faith take hold of the merites of Christ who in deede died for sinners but not for such as die in their sinnes as they did There must a reconciliation be made betweene God a sinner before he can assure himselfe of pardon and remission of his sinnes and that must not be delayed it must be to day before to morrow for as life is short and vncertaine and repentance requireth some time to be perfected though there be one example as of the Thiefe vpon the Crosse of suddaine repentance it is not so easie or speedy a worke to be well done there be many
lets which you shall finde in your selfe and many blockes Sathan will lay in your way therefore what you purpose to doe doe it speedily willingly faithfully and fully There is no meanes for you to be eased of the burthen of your sinnes but to cleaue vnto God in the merites of his Christ whome God the Father hath sent into the world to saue all those be they neuer so great and grieuous sinners as doe truly confesse hartily repent and faithfully beleeue the pardon of their sinnes and that they shall be saued through him If therefore thou truly beleeuest in Iesus Christ and appliest his death and merites vnto thy selfe in a full assurance and a setled perswasion that he dyed euen for thee then were thy sinnes neuer so great and haynous in quality neuer so many in number were they as red as scarlet or coloured as purple his bloud euen the bloud of that Lambe shall make them as white as snowe And therefore did Dauid crie wash mee O Lord wash mee and make mee cleane And what should hee wash but his sinnes And wherewith but with the meritorious bloud of Iesus Christ And before you can be thus washed and cleansed before you can haue the terror of your conscience eased and appeased You must confesse and lay open your sinnes before the Lord and say with a feeling and faithfull heart Against thee against thee O Lord onely haue I sinned and done euill in thy sight It must not be a lip confession as to acknowledge thy sinnes with thy mouth and to retaine them in thy heart Such a confession is hypocriticall and encreaseth thy sinnes were thy sinnes neuer so small in thine owne opinion yet oughtest thou to thinke them great and grieuous and so they are for the least sinne that a man commits is the breach of the Law and he that breaketh the least is guilty of the greatest It seemeth thou dost in deede feele already the grieuousnesse of thy sinnes by thy heauinesse and mourning which is a good beginning of repentance but vnlesse thou doe therewith conioyne Faith in the merites and bloud of Iesus Christ and dost truly purpose and endeuour to leade a new life thy repentance will be still imperfect Thou mayest also feare God and yet little profit thee except thou beleeue in the mercies of God in Christ for the deuils themselues feare and tremble at their finall sentence of vtter condemnation To feare God as a Sonne is in deede a most heauenly vertue and is found in none but in the very sonnes and daughters of God for their feare is not so much of the punishment for sinne as for that they haue offended so louing a God by their sinnes But to feare God for the first is to feare him as a Slaue that feares more the whip then to abuse his Maister And this feare proceedeth of the suggestion of Sathan who tempts and allures thee to sinne perswading thee that thy greatest sinnes are but veniall and easily pardoned by saying onely Lord haue mercie vpon me or by some superficiall and light confession And when the sinne is committed he tells thee that thy sinnes are so great and haynous as they can not be forgiuen Agrauating that seruile feare which often drawes silly weake soules to dispaire of Gods mercies Thou grieuest that thou hast sinned because thou hearest that euery sinner shall die And yet thou thinkest it sufficient to thinke yea and to confesse thou art a sinner and Sathan would haue thee goe no further And so farre he will permit thee to goe without hindering thee as he did Kayne and Iudas but when hee sees thee begin to leade a life contrary to that he hath led thee and lulled thee in when he obserueth thee to shew any fruites of true repentance hee will then tell thee it is a needlesse labour for thy sinnes are so great as God will neuer forgiue them though thou repent neuer so mâ—ch Beleeue not this auncient lyer though hee doe perswade thee that thy sinnes are so great as the bloud of Iesus Christ can not preuaile to heale thee of them beleeue him not I say for he himselfe knoweth though to the agrauation and â—ncrease of his owne torments 〈◊〉 Iesus Christ came into the world to saue greatest sinners that repent and beleeue in the merites of Christ of which number because hee knoweth he cannot be he laboureth and vseth his infinite infernall Ministers to draw as many as hee can to his disobedience and condemnation Beleeue him not nor feare him not hee is a lyer in his suggestions and weak in his power and though he doe perswade thee that thy sinnes are so great as cannot be pardoned in the bloud and by the merites of Iesus Christ beleeue the contrary for he himselfe knoweth and hath confessed Christ to be the Sauiour of the faithfull and he that shall finally condemne him and all vnbeleeuers Art thou come to torment vs before the time saith he foreshowing that there is a time appointed for his vtter condemnation at the last day Hee knoweth that Christ came to saue sinners and that without exception of any sinne the sinne against the holy Ghost excepted of which sinne hee is highly guilty and therefore neuer to be forgiuen Take vnto thy selfe therefore a spirituall courage and defie this reprobate lyer this malignant aduersary to his face and tell him in a liuely feeling of the spirit of God in a true and firme faith that thou beleeuest in Christ thy assured Redeemer and hee shall not onely not preuaile against thee but he shall flie from thee And for thy more strength put on the whole armour of God and he will buckle it vnto thee that armed Christ against this common and mortall aduersary who ouercame him and triumphed ouer him hee will arme thee so on all parts that thou shalt not feare to encounter him hand to hand as Christ did Thou shalt combate with him and conquer him as Dauid did Goliah and therefore yeeld not to his tentations feare not his suggestions Looke vp vnto Christ thy Sauiour though hee be in the heauens glorified and hath his Throne of glory there hee will yet be thy safe second here hee will be euer on thy side therefore if through frailty thou shouldest be in some measure foyled as it seemeth thou art be not discouraged he will enter the List for thee and in thy behalfe And as soone as that infernall Champion doth but obserue that thou art seconded by him that hath alreadie conquered him he will not abide the field he will flye and forsake any further pursuit of thee Yet remember that this enemie will seeke and spie all occasions to take thee at any aduantage and will marke whereunto thou art still enclined and according to thy coÌ„mon course of siuning hee will feede thee with occasions to moue thee to offend thy louing God
that hath bene the principall instigator of me to sin and now the chiefe accuser of me for sinne and thinketh that he had and hath such a share in me throgh my former often consenting vnto his inticements that thou my God were not able to take me out of his hands But now holy heauenly and mercifull Father in Iesus Christ through thy grace vndeseruedly working in me I haue found him a deceiuer an imposter an enemye who hath done what lyeth in him to worke my ruyne by my rebelliō against thee throgh his continuall tentations vsing all his impious Instruments to deceiue me the pleasures of the world the lust of mine own flesh which hath bin euer prone to be allured by him And I wretched creature blind in all good thinges neuer obserued what a dangerous course of life I haue to this day walked in vntill now Now deere Father as it hath pleased thee of thine owne free mercie to open the eyes of my sinning soule to see that I haue lōg erred and that all that I haue hetherto done hath bene euill So now seeing mine owne wicked deseruings giue me power to repent me for all my sinns Reforme me O gracious Father reforme mee and by thy grace ease and comfort my grieued hart through the powerfull and effectuall working of thy spirit henceforth in mee that now at the last I may taste of thy goodnesse and rich mercy in Iesus Christ Though I haue nothing in my selfe to moue thee to haue compassion vpon me yet remember that I haue a deseruing and a preuailing Aduocate with thee whose merites may moue thee and his mediation preuaile with thee for me And therfore I haue hope that I shall be pertaker of his all sufficient satisfaction made for all sinners among whome I cannot but acknowledge my selfe the greatest and least deseruing thy fauour O my God I feele my miserable estate I acknowledge the grieuousnesse of my sinnes and that for them thou mayest iustly condemne me but that I haue learned by thine own promises that there is mercie with thee that thou delightest not in the condemnation of a sinner but rather that hee should repent and turne vnto thee and liue Lord haue mercie vpon me haue mercy vpon me for I am weake I feele a burthen of my sinnes that presseth me downe and nothing can raise me but thy mercies in Iesus Christ. O giue me a liuely faith that I may apply the preuailing merites of that sacred Lambe crucified for all beleeuers to the washing away of all my sinnes and to the ease of my guilty conscience heauily burthened therewith so shall my poore afflicted and distressed soule be refreshed my heart now grosly defiled shall be made cleane mine affections now altogether ranging after vnholy things shall be changed into perfect obedience vnto thee and Sathan that hath long and maliciously pursued me with his most violent tentations shal◠flye at the presence of thy holy spirit in me and all my thoughts imaginations desires words and workes shall be sanctified and made holy by the same Spirit O hide not therefore gracious Father hide not from me thy louing countenance but turne away thy face from my sinnes blot out all mine offences out of thy remembrance create in me a cleane heart restore to mee the ioy of thy saluation and stablish me with thy free spirit and let me neuer returne again to my former slauery of sinne and I shall offer vnto thee the vnfayned sacrifice of praise for thine vnspeakeable mercies All honour glory to Christ my Redeemer and to the holy Ghost the obedience of mine vnfayned heart for that he assureth mee of all these incomprehensible blessings Amen Lord euer more and more encrease my faith Comfort for the sicke THe miserable estate of a man perplexed in conscience for his sinnes is the greatest affliction that can befall a man in this life which is the sicknesse of the soule for a wounded conscience who can beare And next to it there is not a greater then is the extremitie of the sicknesse of the body and therefore neede these two sicknesses aboue all other crosses to be especially sought to be eased the first with spirituall the next both with spirituall and corporall comfort They are Twinns borne together and liue together though the one by inspiration the other by propagation And therefore if the soule be diseased the body can not though it may seeme contrary be in perfect health It will shew apparent tokens of the sicknesse of the minde and if the body be ouermuch tormented with the grieuousnesse of sicknesse the soule cannot but feele through a mutuall loue which is between the soule and the body a kinde of griefe and sorrow I will therefore apply vnto thee whome I see to be cast downe by thy bodies infirmity the counsell comforts which may first ease thee of thy inward feares and troubles for it can not be but that Sathan that auncient enemie of al mankinde hath beene busie in the time of thy health to draw thee to sin that by sinne thou mightest offend God that by offending God thou mightest be reiected of him and now finding thee visited by the hand of God with grieuous sicknesse fore-showing either the speedie approaching of death or a gentle forewarning thereof hee cannot be lesse watchfull and diligent in this thine extremity nay farre more then hee was in thy most healthfull estate to trouble thee for when thou wert healthfull and strong thou couldest nor but be by the corruption of thy owne nature proane to sinne And this common enemie of mans saluation worketh vpon our corruption and our ablenesse to sinne And when hee findeth vs most weake in our bodies and our sences and powres labouring against the violence of our infirmities then he commeth and presenteth vnto our guilty consciences the sinnes which he before prouoked vs to commit In the sicknesse of the body hee findeth fit oportunity to trouble vs for although hee knoweth not the time which God reserueth in his owne wisedome and power when any man shall dye yet when sicknesse comes he knowes it is the fore-runner of death and therefore hee knoweth that then or neuer hee must imploy all his Engines and batteries or else for euer rest frustrate of any hope to preuaile And therefore he will solicite thee now to distrust in the mercies of God in Christ and will suggest vnto thee that now thou seest and feelest that GOD is displeased with thee and that hee hath no delight in thee as if thou were his he would haue hee would not torment thee as hee doth and that thou were as good to cast off all thy hope in him as to deceiue thy selfe vainely trusting that hee will yet shew thee any mercy or louing countenance These fearefull assaults it cannot be but thou dost or mayest endure at this thy capitall enemies hands if thou be in deede the true childe of God for
and determined for him And graunt that we may all in all humblenesse faith constancie and obedience wayte when thy pleasure shall be to visite any of vs with thy finall fatherly visitation O Lord encrease his ours and the faith of all that belong vnto thee that wee all may looke and long for the time of our dissolution with patience in assurance in the end to liue eternally with thee through Christ our Lord and Sauiour Amen For such as are oppressed with pouerty and want not impertinent for the rich to read and consider POuertie and want of things necessary for the maintenance of this present life is not the least affliction that can fall vpon man And that lighteth many times as well vpon the knowne poore as vpon them that thinke themselues rich for riches and pouerty haue wings for as the poore man hauing his wings clipt that he cannot mount or soare to the pitch of other men So the rich are often so deplumed as they fall into the poore estate of meanest men and therefore as the rich may fall so the poore may rise Let neither then the rich presume nor the poore despaire for the Almighty God that gouerneth all things hath two hands with the one hee doth cast downe the proud and with the other he exalts the humble In the rich is required thankfulnesse and obedience In the poore lowlinesse and patience and in both godly diligence and faithfull prayer otherwise the rich cannot prosper nor the poore be relieued If the rich man fall into pouerty it is his blemish if a poore man become rich it is his glory yet let not him that riseth disdaine him that falleth for both are from the Lord. To fall there are manie meanes in a man himselfe but to rise being fallen is not in man and therefore the meanes both of mens risings and fallings are duly to be considered art thou fallen from riches to pouertie examine thy life conuersation art thou risen from pouerty to riches consider well in thine owne heart whether by right or wrong Many may prosper and wax rich by diligence in a lawfull calling many become poore through idlenesse many are borne rich and dye poore and many borne poore waxe rich when the rich become poore it may be either in Gods iustice or in his mercy for if the rich become proud presume vpon their wealth despising the poore it is iust with God to take that from him that he abuseth yet also in mercie to humble him for there is not a more preuailing means to make a man know himselfe then pouerty And there is not a more acceptable thing to God then a man to abase himselfe in his sight nor a thing more offensiue then a man to exalt himselfe by reason of the greatnes of his wealth which he arrogateth to himselfe as if it were his owne when in deede it is but lent him And therefore God often times takes it from one and giues it to others And in steed of his wealth giues him want that hee may know that it is neither in the wisedome nor by the diligence of man either to get or to retaine his wealth gotten without the meere mercie and blessing of God But where true faith in God is ioyned with godly care and diligence in a lawfull calling there wanteth not prayer And where faith and faithfull prayers are there is true prosperity And to that man a little meanes sufficeth to sustaine his estate and to nourish his life for A small thing that the righteous hath is better then the great riches of the wicked Therefore in thy case of pouerty and want thou must consider and duly examine the cause whereby thou art become poore and to be in this miserable estate whether by thine owne idlenesse corruption of thy life in wasting either thy patrimonie receiued from thy Parents or thy riotous expending of that thou hast lawfully gotten by thine owne industry To receiue meanes for which thou neuer trauailedst as many doe from carefull Parents and friends or to get by thine owne labours and to consume it wastfully in euill company keeping by gaming ryot is worse then Idlenes it selfe which yet in him selfe is a capitall sin one of those for which Sodom Gomorah c. were burned to ashes for Idlenesse was in that Citie as it is wheresoeuer it raigneth the cause of many other sinnes as of luxurie drunkennesse whoredome and all other most monstrous and most abhominable vices yet doe all these commonly accompany wealth easily gotten As when a man finds he hath meanes comming daily in lightly without labour hee measures it not by the vncertainty of the continuance as appeareth by his wanton and needlesse expence but by a vaine hope it will last euer But if thou become poore and thus cast downe by the louing hand of God to call thee from thy sinnes as by losse of goods by sicknesse fire shipwracke or the like ineuitable crosses Thou mayest account them fatherly corrections and mayest rather reioyce in then to repine at them for he inflicts this want of thy former fulnes as Physick to purge thy corrupt heart of thy carnall delights and from abusing of thy liberty as thou hast done which bred in thee security and security sin and forgetfulnesse of thy dutie to God as in that rich glutton in the Gospel who hauing plentie of all things delightfull to his carnall part became so delicious as he fared daintily euery day richly roabed in fine linnen and yet so hard hearted as although he saw poore miserable Lazarus hungrie and naked lye at his gate full of sores crying for some crummes of the broken meate that fell from his Table had yet no remorce or commiseration on the lamentable estate of that poore man who was more refreshed by the rich mans dogges licking away the filth of his sores then by any comfort receiued from the glutton or his gluttonous feasts There was great difference betweene this rich man and this miserable begger The one was had in greatest reuerence admired and honored for his wealth the other held in great contempt generally despised by reason of his basenesse and pouertie But neither did the rich man continue long in his pomp nor the poore in his penurie Both died and both caried to their places appointed by God the rich man to hell the begger into Paradise the first to perpetuall torments the other to a most blessed and glorious Being Consider this duly with thy selfe therefore thou that complainest of pouertie and want whether wouldest thou enioy here the pleasures of this life for a season with this man wealthie and glorious and in fine to haue his reward or to endure a little want pouertie and worldlie basenesse for a little time and be with Lazarus pertaker of eternall glorie I know if thou wisely consider both thou wilt not onely not grudge nor repine at thy poore estate
but wilt rather be thankfull vnto God that he so louingly dealeth with thee in keeping thee from the meanes to make thee proud to forget thy selfe and him As I thinke thou canst not be ignorant that riches health and earthly happinesse commonly carie men not hauing faith and the feare of God into many noysome lusts and vngodly and wanton desires And that pouertie and want sicknesse and other like crosses are the good gracious means that God vseth to with-hold his dearest children from running astray although it cannot be denied also but that a faithlesse poore man may haue his heart infected and poysoned with as haynous sinnes as the rich for it is not wealth that alwayes makes a wicked man though it be a great temptation and prouocation to many and grieuous sinnes It is not the money but the minde wherein the error lies and it is not pouertie of it selfe or anie other crosse that maketh an euill man good but it is a meanes which God in his wisedome vseth to preuent the danger that wealth often worketh A knife in a childes hand hurteth not but he is a silly Father and she a simple Nurse that will not takâ— it from the childe for feare of the hurt it might do the childe So riches of themselues hurt not but the abuse of them may peruert the reputed owner for no man is the true owner of the wealth he possesseth hee is but a disposer of it and it is the well vsing or abusing of it that draweth vpon the Steward a blessing or a curse If thou that art become poore and doest acknowledge it iustly layde vpon thee it is the entrance into assurance that God hath layde it vpon thee in mercie if in mercie then no doubt but in loue be assured that thy pouerty is better for thee then riches for hee knoweth better then thou what is best for thee Take it therefore with patience in faith and embrace it so much the more by how much thou mayest assure thy selfe it is a token of the loue and fauour of God towards thee to humble thee and to make thee so much the more like vnto thy Redeemer who became poore to make thee rich hee abased himselfe to bring thee to honour hee was here in worldly want to furnish thee with all spirituall aboundance he hath chosen the poore of the world to make them rich in God hee keepeth his owne dearest children lowe here that he may exalt them hereafter for it is not possible that any man shall liue here in pompe and pleasure and all earnall delights and yet assure himselfe of the glory to come prepared onely for his Elect Saints that suffer heere And if Christ our Master and Redeemer suffered heere pouerty ignominie rebuke and shame before he in his humane nature ascended into glory shall any man perswade himselfe that hee shall attaine the glory to come by a delicate loose carnally delightfull and worldly glorious estate here How then are many carnally minded men deceiued that measure the loue and fauour of God and his displeasure towards men according to their worldly prosperity and aduersity censuring Gods dearest children seasoned with any kind of affliction to be the very out-casts of the world forsaken of God and the rich wealthy and glorious in the world to be his choyse darlings and fauourites then which nothing is more contrary although their estates in deede seene with a carnall eye and iudged by outward appearance may be censured as they seeme but not as they are in deede for the outward most glorious are not commonly gracious within though they may be neither are the outward poore commonly inwardly and spiritually rich But the godly faithfull poore man were his case as hard as was that of poore Lazarus yet is he the beloued of God who iudgeth not as man doth partially by the outward show but according to equity He doth not iustifie the poore before the rich if the Rich be rich in grace and the poore a wicked man God in deede by promise regardeth the poore and careth for them namely for such as in a liuely faith depend vpon his prouidence liuing iustly and in an holy diligence in his lawfull calling If thou thus behauest thy selfe in thy pouerty the promise of God is a promise made euen to thee that hee will neuer faile thee nor forsake thee Thou mayst then safely cast thy care vpon him for he will take care of thee Thou shalt not want foode and rayment and hauing that content thee with it it is a plentifull portion for what more hath he that hath his Table spread with diuers dishes and sundry varieties but onely feedeth his body with fewe And hee that hath diuers and sundry sutes and sorts of garments one sute sufficeth to couer him at once If then thou bee fed and cloathed giue the glory to God that giues it It may be thou wilt say thou hast a great charge wife and children to maintaine a great burthen vnto thee who require greater supply then thou by thy best industrie canst prouide for them Thou must allow and allot vnto thy selfe and them according to thy meanes Thou mayst not feede or cloath thee or them as peraduenture thine and their haughty hearts may require But feede them moderately and cloathe them modestly for in the superfluity of these two necessaries many haue not onely exceeded and vndone themselues but haue turned thereby many times the blessings of God into wantonnesse And so in steede of the continuance of Gods blessings they haue caused him to punish them with pouerty and want As who so obserueth cannot but see infinite numbers that haue receiued great portions and patrimonies from their Parents and friends that through the excesse of these together with their lewde lasciuious and wicked liues haue drawne vpon them such a heauie weight of pouerty and want as they haue either beene depriued of their libertie for the debt they ranne into to maintaine their vanities or haue beene enforced to begge their bread and like the prodigall Sonne haue beene constrayned through commaunding hunger to eate the scraps that they before scorned to touch with their fingers and that in a iust recompence of their former nicenesse and vanities who yet if this gentle correction may reclaime them and cause them to reforme their wicked liues to seek after God through a liuely faith and faithfull prayer may be receiued into the fauour of God who is ready to receiue a sinner repenting be he neuer so poore neuer so base neuer so loathsome in the eyes of men as were Lazarus and the lost Sonne As thou therefore art grieued vnder the burthen of thy miserable and poore estate so grieue aboue it that thou hast offended God who correcteth thee for thy sinnes Crye for pardon pray for spirituall graces seeke the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof haue a liuely faith repent and be patient
vse the meanes hearing and reading of the word of God practise abstinence from the fulfilling of thy corrupt will which thou canst not obtaine but by repentance and that repentance cannot be but by faithfull prayer which will produce perfect patience wherein if thou wayte the Lords leasure for the time and his pleasure for the meanes assure thy selfe thou shalt be competently and timely relieued for he hath promised neuer to faile those that faithfullyâ— call vpon him and truly obay him And he is most faithfull to performe what hee hath promised As for his power to doe it thou needest not doubt for his power is so absolute that he is able and his loue to his such as he can and will so augment thy least portion that a little oyle in thy Cruse and a small quantity of meale in thy vessell shall not diminish vntill more supply come And as for the feeding of thy chargeable Family he can doe it with the smallest showe of meanes he had but seauen loaues and a few fishes and yet with that little in showe and quantity hee replenished foure thousand men besides women and little children And with fiue loaues and two fishes he fed fiue thousand and that that remained when all were satisfied was more meat then in show then was â—efore they began to eate And can he not feede thee and thine if thou be faithfull seeme thy store neuer so small nothing shall hinder in but sinne infidelity and impatience If thou beleeue faithfully pray feruently and wayte patiently he will doe it Though it may seome vnto thee that they store doth not onely not encrease by prayer but diminish by spending yet beleeue in him that made all things and yet maketh things to supply his childrens wants And although hee doe not with thee and thine as he did for the children of Israell who trauailing forty yeares in the Wildernesse he so preserued their garments and euen the shooes on their feete that they decayed not yet if thou distrust not his power and prouidence as the one decayes hee will supply it with other Thou wilt peraduenture say that these were the extraordinarie workes of God his miracles of olde and no such things are seene in our dayes It is true why are they not seene onely because wee want liuely faith our hearts are dull in beleeuing the eyes of our vnderstandings are darkened and cast to the earth we looke not so into the power nor so beleeue the promises of the Almightie as hee hath made them in his meere loue towards vs. Wee cannot glorifie God more then to trust his word and nothing dishonoreth him more then to thinke that he either cannot or will not performe what he hath promised But wee may not thinke that we shall haue any thing only for the asking for wee cannot so presume vpon an ordinarie friend but before wee presume to aske the supply of corporall things we must be well furnished with spirituall graces which must first and before all things be sought for at the hands of God for he and none but hee can giue them It is the righteousnes of that Kingdome which wee are commaunded aboue all things to seeke And hauing obtained this wee may assure vs that all inferiour and carnall things shall bee administred vnto vs And although carnall men thinke that GOD worketh not myracles now in prouiding for preseruing his children as in the first ages which in deede is a great derogation of the good will the power and prouidence of God as if he were lesse louing or lesse able or of lesse vnderstanding then he was in our Fathers dayes to helpe his children he is Alpha and Omega As hee was yesterday he is to day and will continue the same for euer and therefore if faith faile thee not if thou refraine from euill and doe good if thou seeke helpe at the hands of God in whatsoeuer danger supply is whatsoeuer necessitie and comfort and ease in whatsoeuer crosse or misery rather then God will denie that which he knoweth most necessary for thee he will worke beyond the ordinary course to help thee beleeue in him serue him call vpon him wauer not be constant faint not and thou shalt see assuredly the saluation of the Lord. A Prayer to be vsed of such as are oppressed with necessity and want of things necessarie O Lord my GOD who hast bin euermore mercifull louing and a ready helping Father to all those that haue serued thee with a pure and called vpon thee with a faithfull heart and a patient God euen to greatest sinners among whom and aboue others I acknowledge my selfe to haue deserued the least mercie at thy hands by reason that I haue not only too much neglected my duty in seruing thee but haue in steed thereof too much yeelded my selfe to many vnprofitable forbidden wayes and I know and acknowledge that thou dost most iustly correct me for my sinnes and I thanke thee gracious Father that thou hast remembred me for before I felt thy fatherly rod of pouerty and want I went astray but now Lord I desire to turne me to the keeping of thy commaundements As long as I prospered in the world the vanities of my minde estranged my heart from thee and if I should haue still enioyed what my sinfull heart defired I should still haue gone astray But now Lord I am vnfainedly sorie from my heart that I haue so long followed mine owne corrupt will and in spending so many dayes and yeares in vanities Lord I now returne vnto thee receiue me though as the prodigall Sonne who haue sinned against heauen and against thee and doe acknowledge my selfe vnworthy to be called thy Sonne I am worthily become poore in misery and want and know not to whom to repaire for succour being despised of men and scorned of mine acquaintance by reason of my pouerty which I doe confesse hath not befallen me by chance it is by mine owne wretched deseruings which thou hast obserued and now in loue by this thy fatherly correcting mee put me in minde to consider what I haue beene and I doe confesse that I haue beene vnseruiceable vnto thee and vnprofitable to my selfe and others Therfore dost thou iustly in punishing me and yet thou dealest louingly in correcting me I embrace this fatherly chastisement of thine as an argument that thou wouldest preuent a more seuere iudgement incident to those that run on in their disobedience Lord thou hast iustly depriued mee of the superfluous things of this world which though I cannot but confesse they were deare vnto me yet not so deare as danâ—geros for I now finde that howsoeuer sweet they seemed vnto my carnall minde they bred in my heart many fearefull sinnes which now I feele as pricks in my soule and thy correction seemeth to encrease my feare seeing and feeling it in my minde as it is corrupt heauie and burthensome but when I doe
pursued the Lawe lawfully against thee and by them iustly and in the Iudgement of God thou be committed to this place of restraint thou hast that thou deseruest for to borrow other mens goods to wast them ryotously vpon thine vngodly and wanton delights is most wicked it is too much so to consume thine owne substance but so to consume other mens when thine owne is spent prodigally thou art not fit to haue thy libertie for by thy lewde course of life others are induced by thine example into the same excesse of ryot and fitter it is that the prison should keepe thee in and in order then to corrupt others abroad to the breach of the diuine Lawes of God who in Iustice doth punish thee for thy sinne and yet if this thy restraint may worke reformation in thee it sauours of the loue of God towards thee If therefore thou canst and doest repent thee of the ill spent life and canst and doest faithfully seeke the fauour of God for pardon of thy sinnes in his Christ thou maist imbrace thine imprisonment and not impute it to the seueritie of thy Creditors though they were the meanes vnder God for thy good they nothing lesse intending then to doe 〈◊〉 good but to come by their owne thereby but if thou be one whome God hath a purpose to reclaime from euill to make thee good thy restraint is the beginning of thy happinesse for Happie is the man whome God correcteth They are not strangers from his Couenant of grace but sonnes and daughters whome he doth chasten therefore though thou haue plaide the part of that Prodigall sonne in consuming thy patrimony and thy goods in wantonnesse this thy restraint may call thee home againe to thy louing fathers house and will make thee not a seruant but imbrace thee as a sonne by thy repentance in a true faith What haue all thy pleasures yeilded thee which thou hast so eagerly followed when thou wert at libertie but huske for swyne durt and draffe wherewith Satan feedeth them that followe him hee seasons them with sweetnesse to the fleshly minde yet is that sweetnesse but to fleshly mindes and is meere poyson to the soule wherewith if thou feele thy selfe at any time to be infected thou hast now time to take Physicke to cure thee thou art here in the place where thy heauenly Father hath appointed thee not to destroye thee but to dyet thee and to prepare thee to receiue some bitter Pilles to purge thee from the contagious humours of thy sinnes which the corrupte ayre of wicked companions of thine hath inspired into thee and it may be if thou hadst had thy libertie stil in the open fields of this corrupt worlds delights where thou art restrained for a Peny in comparison it might haue beene a pound so the procuring of thy freedome would haue beene the more hard to be obtained if at all But thou art in prison be thy debte much or little if thou cannot paye it and thy Creditors will exacte the vttermost Farthing what is thy last and safest refuge thou maist appeale vnto the Magistrate but hee cannot but maintaine his Lawes some mittigation by mediation may bee obtayned yet thou must endure the will of thy Creditor whose seuerity may in part against his will be moderated but his heart is in the hands disposing of the Almightie and therefore make thy petitions vnto God confesse thy euill and prophane life acknowledge thy sinnes that haue caused thy trouble repent thee heartily of them bee patient in them and thou shalt see that God who made the heart of thy Creditor can molifie it and insteed of his vttermost seueritie turne it into charitie and bee thou of a meeke spirit and of an humble heart towards thy Creditor and settle thine affections vpon heauen and heauenly things praye faithfully and feruently to God it may please him to worke the meanes to free thee but in his good time Innocent Ioseph lay two yeares in miserable imprisonment falsly accused yet highly beloued of God therefore thinke it not long for God seeth the time fit to deliuer thee better then thou thy selfe But when thou art sufficiently humbled and brought to the true feare of God and obedient to his will thou maist be assured he will let thee goe free A Prayer to be often said of a man imprisoned for debte O Lord my God in Iesus Christ I doe acknowledge that I haue grieuously offended thee by my sinnes which haue so deeply deserued thy displeasure as that thou either thinkest me vnworthy of the libertie and freedome which other men enioy in the world or in thy wisedome that restraint and imprisonment are more profitable for me then libertie I doe confesse indeed that my libertie hath wrought in me many occasions to offend thee and my restraint through thy grace may worke some reformation in me When I was free of this my trouble I did not so walke as I ought to haue done but many wayes abused that freedome which thou affordest me by committing many vnseemely and vngodly actions which thou hast forbidden and by omitting many good and godly duties which thou hast commanded which brought me to necessitie necessitie inforced mee to borrow to supply my wants and borrowing and not repaying procured the dislike of my Creditors and their seueritie in thy Iustice haue brought me into this place of vnsauourie restraint from whence I haue no meanes to bee freed but by thy meere mercy and prouidence onely wherein I know thou art able to deliuer me if thou thinke libertie more profitable for mee I cannot but confesse O Lord that I haue not onely deserued this but a farre sharper punishment for my sinnes yet as thou art a most gracious and louing Father so art thou euer ready to forgiue sinners vpon their hearty repentance and their sinnâ—â— being forgiuen thy propertie is either to remoue altogether or to mittigate their punishment Lord my debtes are out of measure greater to thee then my greatest can bee vnto man and my debtes to thee are encreased by the cause whereby I am become debter in this kinde vnto man But if thou Lord maist be pleased to pardon my debtes whereby I stand indangered to thee my debtes due vnto men shall bee the more easily satisfied and I shall be the sooner deliuered from this my captiuitie for he that is freely forgiuen of thee though he be in bands at the pleasure of men yet is he free in thee and he that is thy free-man hee cannot bee restrained according to the will of man further then thou shalt permit Therefore most gracious Lord God rich in mercie and goodnesse while thy will and pleasure is to permit mee in this place of restraint to remaine graunt that I may euen here enioy the libertie of a godly minde faith in thee obedience to thee and patience in thee with necessary meanes from thee for my reliefe and sustinance for thou seest my
wheresoeuer thou shalt be pleased to dispose of mee meanes to sustaine mee Thou art euery where Lord and raignest and rulest ouer all people thou possessest and disposest all things for all men The whole earth is thine the whole masse of gold and siluer is thine the Cattell vpon all the mountaines and in all the valleyes vpon the earth are thine and thine to giue Thou gauest Abraham and Lot portions of lands and Heards of Cattell in aboundance in a land wherein they were strangers Thou blessedst Iacob constrained to flee a poore man only with a Scrip and a Staffe and thou broughtest him againe to the place from whence he was constrained to flee with mighty Droues Lord how mercifully diddest thou worke for Ioseph abandoned from father mother and friends solde as a Slaue falsly accused guiltlesse imprisoned yet at last made the chiefe vnder a strange King of a mighty people When Eliah was enforced to flee from Ahab the King such was thy fatherly care of him that rather then hee should want his necessary foode thou appointedst the very Rauens to bring him foode morning and euening And cōmandedst a poore Widow to feede him in Sareptha And because she was poore thou through thy power and loue of thy seruant vouchsafedst to encrease her little oyle and meale neere totally consumed into so great a quantity as shee had not onely sufficient aboundantly to releeue her selfe and her family in the extreame dearth and famine But to pay her debts with the remainder When Dauid was enforced to flee from the fearefull fury malice of Saul thou diddest not leaue him destitute of necessaries euen in the very mountaines and desert places O my God how can I but assure my selfe of thy like power ouer mee thy loue towards me and thy prouidence for me hauing receiued so many sweet testimonies of thy helping so many whom in their banishments thou hast sustained and relieued in former times Thou art the same God and of the same power and prouidence therfore Lord forsake not mee in this place where I am a stranger where I haue no friend no meanes of any constant assurance to be relieued Lord let not my sinnes hinder the worke of thy mercies towards me but pardon all my sinnes and blot out all mine offences through the bloud of my Sauiour Iesus Christ whose merites extendeth to the saluation of all beleeuers through the whole earth O embrace mee Lord with the armes of thy mercies euen here where I am a stranger keepe me vnder the shadowe of thy winges teach mee wisedome that euen here I may seeke thee and finde thee and may receiue here such reliefe and comfort as I here giue glory to thy holy name for thine vndeserued fauor towards me Amen Lord encrease my faith Comfort and encouragement for Parents that are crossed and grieued at the vngodlines and disobedience of their children fit for all Parents to reade AMong the Iewes it was a reproach and a kinde of shame for a woman to be barren and now in this our age many men and women that haue begotten and borne children become grieued and ashamed that euer they begat or bare them by reason of their disobedience and vicious liues Children are the gift of God and a great blessing and comfort to godly Parents if they be good and vertuous if they feare God and walke in his wayes and then can they not but obay their Parents A wise and a godly sonne maketh a glad father but a foolish and wicked sonne is a heauines to his mother When children proue wicked disobedient rebellious and refractarie it is the greatest griefe vnto godly and religious Parents that any earthly crosse or affliction can yeeld for as the comfort is great vnto a man to beget sonnes and daughters whom God hath chosen to encrease the Kingdome of Christ So contrarily a greater griefe there cannot be vnto him then to obserue his children enclined to be members of Sathan or Antichrist Especially when a godly Father hath endeuoured through a godly and religious care to educate a sonne in the true feare and knowledge of God yet to see him to proue wicked and vngodly But thou that art thus afflicted through the wicked and irreligious course of a rebellious sonne after all the good meanes thou hast vsed to reduce him to obedience the feare of God Consider with patience that although God haue giuen thee power to be his Father in begetting him and to his Mother to beare him yet neither thou in begetting nor shee though she nourished him in her womb did giue him either forme or life How much lesse canst thon or she forme or frame his minde to vertue and godlinesse thou mayest giue good wholsome counsell vnto his eares but thou canst not infuse grace and goodnesse into his heart yet it is thy duty to doe thy best endeuour to giue him good and godly counsell with faithfull prayer to God that hee will so water the seede as it may bring forth good fruit and more the most godly Parents cannot doe It is with Parents in their desires to make their children fruitfull in godlinesse as it is with the husbandman that couets a fruitfull haruest who manures his ground soyles it ploughes it sowes it harrowes it and as neere as he can keepes and preuents the vermine from deuouring the seede sowne yet it is not his labour skill and diligence that can make it spring vp he cannot forme the blade nor infuse the graine into the eare Nor so preuent the vermine but that they will deuoure some of the seede neither can the most godly Father by his best counsell make good an vngodly Sonne Hee may sowe the good seede of the feare of God vpon the ground of his heart hee may harrow it with sharpest and seuerest threates and may endeuour to preuent venemous vices that offer to choke the good seede that hee hath sowne But if his heart be stonie thornie or neere the high way of the common sinnes of this world All his labour care and diligence will proue in vaine he must leaue the infusion of grace into his heart vnto God and to worke the practice of godlinesse in him to whom a godly Father becomes a daily and faithfull petitioner that he will driue away Sathan and the swarme of his wicked instruments from deuouring the good seede and from sowing the tares of sinne and the weedes of vngodlines in him This corrupt world is so full and fraught with wicked and ly centious youth that as soone as a young man or Mayde hath liberty to enter into the companie and societie of wantons and vngodly youth they become commonly so infected with their manners as they drinke in all kindes of vices as it were wine making them many times so drunken with vanities by examples and lewd enticements as the best counsell of wisest Parents cannot make them truly sober againe And to
wherein as we haue both come short of our duties through our frailties so we both feele the bitternesse of the breach of our duties eche to other which thou hast commanded O take from mee Lord whatsoeuer iust cause shee may obiect against me in defence of her pretended discontentments and season her heart O Lord with meekenesse humblenesse patience peace and loue Let neither of our naturall infirmities O Lord nor Satans practise and malice moue or make any more contentions quarels or debates betwixt vs but as thou hast made vs by thine holy ordinance one so let our loues mindes and affections be one that wee may henceforth liue louingly peaceably and religiously in thy faith feare and obedience and truely seruing of thee as long as we both shall liue Amen Lord encrese my faith and send vs quietnesse peace and loue for euer more How the wife ought to behaue her selfe towards her husband though he be faultie and hard to be pleased THe complaintes of husbands of their discontents proceeding from the supposed euill of their wiues are not seene so common as are the clamours of wiues against their vnthriftie and vnkind husbands yet it may be if they were equally ballanced there would be no great difference in the weight but that commonly husbands haue more priuiledges ouer their wiues being become wise in thee and righteous before thee not trusting in a seeming and outward and verball holinesse but neuer to rest satisfied vntill I finde the effectuall working thereof in my soule through thy holy Spirit and an assurance through faith that my sinnes and my former neglect through the merits and mediation of my Sauiour Christ according to thy promises in him be freely pardoned and forgiuen me Thou hast taught mee O Lord to praye that I may doe thy will here in earth as thy will is done in heauen and yet such is the corruption of my will that it seemeth to striue to preferre it selfe before thy will by this vntamed and peruerse will of mine I haue done all that I haue hetherunto done as it were to crosse thy will although I haue verbally prayde as thou likewise hast taught mee Not to be led in temptation I haue not onely yeelded to euery temptation offered to moue me to sinne but haue sought many and many times occasions and opportunities to sinne in so much as I haue turned those blessed Petitions which thou hast taught me to make vnto thee for my reformation and consolation into meere wantonesse sinne O heauy is thy wrath and seuere are thy iudgements due vnto me for these my transgressions and wicked deseruings I could not auoyde thy seuere sentence of vtter condemnation were there not mercie with thee aboue thy displeasure and had I not a Mediator with thee and such a powerfull and preuailing Aduocate as can worke peace with thee for me when thou art angrie what should become of me In him therefore O my God worthily offended with me I fall downe before thy foot-stoole in his name for whose sake thou hast promised to heare most grieuous sinners and to pardon greatest offenders and the greater the sinnes are which thou forgiuest the greater appeareth thy mercie my sinnes are great yet farre greater are thy mercies yet Lord I haue not therefore the more presumed vpon thy mercie to commit sinne or to omit my dutie in walking more religiously and vprightly before thee then I haue done Consider Lord that corruption hath seduced me and Satan deluded me and now I finde that I haue gone astray and gladly would I now returne vnto thee neuer to fall backe againe assisted by thy grace and therefore Lord extend the Scepter of thy louing fauour towards me in token of thy reconciliation with me so shall my heart within me now cast down for feare of thy iudgements reioyce and be glad in thee my soule shall cleaue vnto thee and therefore Lord cast the cancelled Bill of my sins out of thy hands into my heart as an acquittance for all my sinnes purged through the blood of that immaculate Lambe Christ Iesus to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be all honor and prayse for euer Lord euermore increase my faith A comfortable conclusion showing the benefit of afflictions to the end wee may beare them in what nature or kinde soeuer they befall vs with the more resolute and godly patience IT is before obserued that God exerciseth all his children with one crosse or affliction or another not all and euerie one alike neither in weight measure or number which to expresse in perticular is impossible for they are without number yet the greatest and most principall are before remembred as a preparatiue for euerie child of God to looke for them and to settle them selues to vndergoe them with patience when they come for euerie child of God may be assured sooner or later to taste of some of them and that when one trouble is past to prepare himselfe for another for commonly when one crosse is gone another comes God will not leaue his children idle and to liue in carnall securitie here lest they should forget him and so turne his fauour into wantonnesse Therefore saith Dauid As one deepe calleth another deepe by the noyse of the waters so one affliction calles for another Sinne calles for sicknesse sickenesse for pouertie pouertie for enemies enemies for contempt vexation and slaunder If thou haue neither sickenesse pouertie enemies nor contempt yet sinne thou hast which calles also for disobedience in thy children disquietnes in thy wife falsehood in thy seruants losse of goods death of thy vertuous children or thy louing wife these are commonly reputed crosses and who is free from them all Be assured if thou be the true child of God one or some or all these will visite thee by turnes Innumerable troubles saith Dauid haue compassed me about on all sides and that is the condition of Gods deerest Saints here to suffer affliction on all sides and to be exercised with temptations of diuers sortes The seruant is not aboue his Lord if they haue persecuted me saith Christ they will also persecute you if Christ had trouble here so must we As Christ through many troubles and persecutions came to glorie so must euery of his Elect drinke of the same cup Through many troubles they must enter into the Kingdome of heauen Hee that will liue religiously and in the feare of God must looke for tryals and troubles in the world and continuall temptations of Satan to drawe him to sinne that by his sinnes he may offend God that if it were possible God might forsake him The most godly haue many sinnes and sinne is the cause of all troubles as appeareth by that which is said before and if we sinne shall we thinke we shall not be punished though not as the meerely wicked in Gods hote dipleasure but in loue and the punishments may seeme alike with
whereunto thou knowest my weake nature is enclined And thou Lord well knowest what a malicious and subtill aduersarie I haue Sathan that endeuoureth to draw me to rebell and to kick against thy fatherly corrections suggesting vnto me that they proceede of thy finall hatred towards me and coueteth to feede my carnall enclination with the vaine pleasures and delights of the world and the lusts of my corrupt heart and to reiect the yoke of thy gentle chastisements But Lord thou hast taught me to know and I haue found him as in deede he is a lyer an enemie a tempter O giue mee wisedome to obserue and strength to withstand all his tentations and aâ—lurements that I may onlâ—â—elie vpon thy prouidence mercie and goodnes wherein I know that all the troubles and afflictions which I now endure and that thou shalt hereafter impose vpon me are the true and infallible tokens of thy loue towards me And therefore shall neither my hope nor my patience in suffering be weakened notwithstanding his malice Though I should walke through the valley of death yea if Death were instant before me I will not feare for thou art with me in all my dangers to succour mee Thy rod thy staffe they comfort me Affliction and sorrow may endure for a little time and then coÌ„meth ioy Thy dearest children O Lord endure troubles but as they come of thee so are they eased againe by thee Thou hast sent me great troubles O Lord and many aduersities haue befalne me but not without thy prouidence and thou hast hether-vnto sustained me in them all I will therefore goe forward in thy strength who hast hether-vnto vpholden me by thy power And therefore my trust and sure confidence is that I shall neuer perish in whatsoeuer troubles Though sorrow and heauinesse vnder mine afflictions may seeme to oppresse me and to presse mee downe yet taking perfect holde through a liuely faith of thy neuer-fayling promises I am assured in thy good time to be finally relieued comforted In the meane time O Lord giue mee perfect patience and let my faith neuer faile mee But as thou hast willed me I cast my burthen euen the burthen of my sinnes for which thou correctest me and the troubles which thou inflictest vpon me for my sinnes vpon thee my Christ who hast suffered both for my sinnes and for the punishment of them And hast promised to nourish me to sustaine maintaine and vphold me in all my tryals Lord I haue had experience of thy goodnesse mercie and fauour towards me euer since I was borne by thee I haue beene stayed from the wombe Thou tookest me out of my mothers bowels I haue euer since tasted of thy goodnes thy power hath held me vp thy prouidence hath euermore found out meanes to relieue mee in my greatest necessity to defend me in my greatest dangers to ease mee in my greatest griefe O my God grant that I now may not distrust thine accustomed mercies but may still assure my selfe that when greatest danger shall befall mee that rather then thou wilt leaue me helplesse thou wilt giue thine Angels charge ouer me that I shall not be vtterly out of hope of helpe and that thou wilt send from heauen and saue me Thou hast promised to couer the faithfull euen with the wings of thy protection I beleeue Lord therefore I pray that thou wilâ— sustaine me and deliuer me out of some of my troubles I embrace thy chastisements O Lord with a thankfull heart knowing that that man is blessed whom thou correctest Be not therefore far from me O my God though I be compassed about with many troubles Though feare possesse my soule confirme my faith I shal not faint Thou hast promised not to be farre from them that call vpon thee faithfully let not therefore faith faile me O Lord and then lay what thou wilt vpon me for I know thee to be my Lord that hast made me my strength that hast hether-vnto sustayned mee my Redeemer that hast saued me and he that will for euer preserue me Amen Lord encrease my faith FINIS Patience beareth all things Patience brooketh not a repining heart Patience is neuer idle Patience a marke of the Childe of God Psal. 38. 15 Where no triall is Patience cannot appear Rom. 5. 3 4 Afflictions make not a Patient maÌ„ miserable but rather honorable Carnall men think Patience sottishnes Patience findes comfort in the end 2. Kin 18. 〈◊〉 2. Sa. 16. 〈◊〉 Why God sendeth his children troubles Heb. 12. 11 God limiteth our afflictions Iob 5. 6. Seuerall kindes of afflictions Luc 21. 1. We ought to imbrace whatsoeuer God layeth vpon vs. Afflictions Medicines for sinnes Good thinges become euill to the wicked Afflictions the crowne of the godly Gods children haue least rest in the world Iob 5. 17. Luk. 21. 19. Heb. 12. 6. Reu. 3. 19. God correcteth none but for sinne Sinne causeth afflictions No man is here punished according to the merit of sin Psa. 19. 12. Psal. 32. 5. No man can hide his sinnes from God 1. Io. 1. 9. The entrance into Gods fauour is to confesse our sinnes God doth not punish euery man a like Mat. 26. 75. 2. Sam. 12. 13. Though God forgiue our sinnes hee keepes vs in awe by some crosse Ver. 14. Beware of hardnes of heart We must with confession of our sinnes ioyne repentance in faith Math. 27. 34. We must daily confesse our sinnes because wee daily sinne but not stay vpon confession as Kaine and Iudas did Pro. 9. 27. Io. 11. 2. Ezec. 18. 32. Ver. 23. What true repentance is Markes of true repentance Sorrow for sinne and faith in Christ must goe together It is onely the grace of God that worketh repentance Rom. 8. 29. Eph. 1. 5. 6. 7. Wee bee made the sonnes of God in Christ in by whom wee haue power to pray vnto the Father 1. Io. 5. 14. Iam. 1. 6. We ought to take our afflictions patiently because they are sent of God God sendeth sometimes afflictions to make vs to acknoweledge his power with thankefulnesse in remoouing them Gods stripes hurt vs not but heale vs. Iam. 5. 10. They are blessed that suffer with Patience Counterfeit Patience Afflictions here the liuery and badge of Gods children Christ afflictions here in the world Nothing befalleth vs but by the prouidence of God Christ suffered not for himself but for vs. What is required of vs for the release of our sinnes How wee ought to make peace with God Sinne the greatest affliction that can befall a man Sinne a common disease and sickenesse of the soule of euery man Gen. 8. 21. All sinne proceedeth from the corruption of the heart A seruile feare 1. Io. 2. 1. 2. Gods mercies greater then our sinnes Micah 7. 18. 19. Psal. 103. 11. God died for sinners but not for such as dye in their sinnes The means to be eased of sinne 1 Ioh. 4. 14. The bloud of Christ is able to clense the greatest sinner
prayor to God in his Sonne Christ who shed his blood for thee and thereby able to wash thee from thy bloody sinne if thou truely repent and doest faithfully and feruently praye for pardon and if thou be destitute of the power to pray of thy selfe thou maist vse the former prayer made for a man grieued in conscience for the hainousnesse of his sinnes or this short confession and prayer following and that often vntill thy conscience become at peace with God and then howsoeuer both the Lawe of God and men condemne thee for the facte and that thou suffer death for the same take it with godly patience for better it is for thee to suffer here a temporall death for thy sinne then to carrie the burthen of a tormenting conscience not suspected to thy graue which though man doe not shall accuse thee when it will be too late to crye for mercie A Prayer for a man imprisoned guiltie of murther O Lord God whose mercies are aboue all thy workes and yet I wretched creature haue not deserued the least part of the same but rather vtter confusion both of body and soule not onely for my manifold and grieuous sinnes committed euen from my youth but aboue all other of my grieuous sinnes I feele the heauy burthen of this one sinne this capitall and crying sinne in thy seuere Iustice impardonable the wilfull taking away of the life of thine innocent creature whose blood cryeth against mee as did that guiltlesse blood of Abel crye against his murtherous brother Kayne who was reiected by thee by reason of his impenitency deale not so with mee deare father I praye thee I am heartely forty for my wicked facte and doe acknowledge it to be most hainous yet not exceeding thy mercy which as farre as the heauen is aboue the earth so is thy mercie aboue thy Iustice and as farre as the East is from the West so farre canst thou put this my grieuous sinne from mee which though it be as red as blood yea blood it selfe yet is the blood of that Lambe Iesus Christ of more then sufficient efficacie and vertue to make it white as snowe O cast mee not vtterly out of thy fauour though I be a most grieuous sinner for my soule is heauy within mee my heart is cast downe I dare not looke vp vnto heauen where thou sittest a seueate Iudge and I tremble to thinke how grieuously I haue offended thee I am fallen O Lord I am fallen into the hands of my most deadly enemie Satan that pursues mee with deadly hatred he he O God prouoked mee to this vngodly deede and now he seekes to draw me to dispayre of thy mercie into whose hands O Lord I cast my selfe knowing that there is yet mercie with thee and in Iesus Christ perfect Redemption I am also fallen into the hands of men whose Lawes I haue by this mine vngodly facte wilfully broken by whose Lawes I am condemned and that worthily and there is none to comfort me but thou alone against whom especially I haue committed this bloody sinne for which as I doe acknowledge to haue deserued the death not onely of my wretched body but also of my most sinfull soule so I beleeue that the death of my body shall be a sufficient satisfaction to the Lawe of man and the griefe and sorrowe of my truely repenting heart through the preuayling death of my Sauiour Iesus Christ shall bee a satisfaction to thy Iustice. And as I doe acknowledge that I haue deserued to dye so I beseech thee Lord to prepare me therevnto with Patience faith firme and constant assurance of thy mercy that I fainte not at my approaching death but may bee assured that as thou forgauest the Theef vpon the Crosse receiuedst him into Paradice so thou wilt receiue my soule in the merites of Christ my Sauiour when through death it shall leaue my sinfull body which graunt gracious Lord God for his sake that dyed for penitent sinners among whome I cannot but confesse I am the greatest and the greater shall thy mercy appeare Lord confirme my faith in thee to the end and in my end Amen For such as are imprisoned for committing any offence against the Lawes of the Kingdome deseruing death AS the Lawes and Ordinances of Kingdomes are many to meete with the sinnes and transgressions of men which are infinite so the causes of mens restraynts imprisonments and punishments are not to bee named or numbred yet euery man commonly knowes the offences that deserue the same and haue not yet the grace or power to auoide the committing of them Thou art in prison knowne or vehemently suspected of some grieuous facte committed against the Lawes deseruing the executing sword of the Magistrate vpon life or member thy case is hard and dangerous deserued death or some other seueare punishment hangeth ouer thy head at the pleasure of the Iudge It behoueth thee therefore to looke into thine owne heart and to examine thine owne conscience strictely whether thou be guiltie or not of the cryme laid vnto thy charge or of any other grieuous cryme which thou hast long concealed for God many times doth punish an offender for some wicked facte formerly committed and neuer discouered by the suspition of a cryme and punisheth it as the acte done and therefore if thou feele thy selfe guiltie of any grieuous offence commited against God by the breach of the Lawes of man which thou hadst cleane forgotten if thou be after vniustly accused or suspected of another which if thou were guiltie of it deserued as seueare punishment as the former and thou receiue it though in that thou be innocent yet in Gods Iustice this thy punishment is for thy former offence iust He that wittingly or wilfully disobeyeth the Lawes of man is guiltie of the breach of the Lawe of God by whom Magistrates that establishe Lawes for ciuile gouernment of their subiects are set and appointed and haue their authoritie and power to punish offendors from God and therefore should euery soule submit it selfe to the powers ordained by God And seeing thou hast highly offended these Lawes fit it is that thou shouldst be apprehended restrained of thy raunging libertie whereby thou maist not onely offend others but bee a meane to intice others to thy example of sinning Receiue therefore thine imprisonment and punishment with patience murmure not against the Magistaate that thus in Gods steed and as his Minister correcteth thee who if hee had let thee runne on further in thine impieties the greater had beene thy sinne and the greater would haue beene thy finall punishment whereas now thou mayst haue time to examine thy life past and to repent thee of thy sinnes and to seeke to God in Christ for pardon and therefore hast thou rather cause to thanke God for thine imprisonment then to grudge that hee correcteth thee so shalt thou make profit of thy restraint in redeeming thy former ill spent time and learne