in my diet c Prov. 23.1 2. vigilant in my calling d 1 Pet. 4.7 and evermore wary that by surfetting and drunkenness I lose not my time e Eph. 5.16 spend my wealth f Eccl. 13. impair my health bring infamy to my name and calling and offend thy heavenly Majesty Oh spare me and save me from this Enormity through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. XXV A true Motion A Violent motion is quick in the beginning but slow in the end For a stone cast upward is then most weak when it is most high But a naturall motion is slow in the beginning and quick in the end Therefore when a man in his first conversion is exceeding quick but afterward waxeth every day slower slower in the waye of the Lord his motion is not nâ—turall and kinde but forged and forced Otherwise the longer he liveth and the neerer he runneth to the mark the more swiftly would he run to gain the Crown of Glory Sparke 25 O dear Father most gracious and wise God which hast ordained all thy creatures to avoid idleness Gen. 1. and to be alwaies in continuall motion giving and infusing into me such a soule as is alwayes in motion Grant I g may ever endeavour towards that which is before and forget that which is behinde and follow hard towards the marke for the high calling of our Lord Jesus Christ And seeing thou hast promised h 2 Tim. 4.8 us a crown of life if we continue to the end grant that we faint not i Gal. 6.9 nor be weary of well-doing but that we may so run that we may obtain k 1 Cor. 9.24 through Jesus Christ our dear and onely Saviour Amen Sect. XXVI Of Covetousness THere be foure kinds of Creatures that live each one upon that element in which he had his breeding First The miser's hunger The Want on the Earth Secondly The Herring on the water Thirdly The Chamelion on the Aire And Fourthly The Salamander on the fire But man being but dust of the earth is not contented to live on the earth the water the aire and the fire For his desire and unsatiableness is such that all these elements cannot give him content nor all the creatures that live thereon but if it were possible he would either go above the fire or under the earth to see if he could finde another element more than God made And therefore the Lord did wisely consider of our greediness when he hid so many treasures in the bottome of the sea and the heart of the earth least had they been within our view and easy reach we should make our goods our God fixing our hearts unto our treasures Sparke 26. O deare God and mercifull Father seeing only with thee is all plenty and no want q Jam. 1.17 all fullness and no scarcity all wealth and no poverty all solace and no sorrow all pleasure and no discontent I beseech thee Lord to establish my heart with thy r Psal 51.12 free Spirit to accomplish my desire with thy t Psal 145.16 bountifull hand and to replenish my soul with goodness of thy grace that I count u 1 Tim. 6 7 godliness to be the onely gaine and so to be content with what thou hast given me through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. XXVII Of Gods especiall Grace The growth of Grace AS the children of the bodily barren have been excellent pillars in Gods Church as Isaac of Sarah Joseph of Rachel Samuel of Anna John Baptist of Elizabeth So also they which have been begotten from spiritual barrennesse that is converted from a sinfull life have proved most famous instruments of grace as Zacheus from the world St. Mathew from the receipt of custome St. Paul from a persecutor to become an Apostle and many heathen Infidells to become glorious Martyrs for the crosse of Christ Sparke 27. O heavenly Father I confess unfainedly that I have been hitherto barren bearing but green leaves of outward profession onely and no efectuall fruits of a true faith Therefore Lord I beseech thee to dig and dung about me with thy grace and to water me with the dew of thy blessing that I may be like a tree planted by the water side which in due season shall bring forth fruits of land and praise to thy name Amen Sect. XXVIII Comforts for Women Women's wellfare LOrd what though I be a weak vessell and subject to many Infirmities yet have no cause to distrust thy help or despair of thy mercy and especially considering how compassionate and pitifull thou hast been to the weak sex of silly women John 8.11 as first to the unclean woman that wâ—s taken in adultery Math. 15. Secondly to the poore afflicted Cananite granting her request and commending her faith Thirdly Math. 9. to the sick diseased with an issue of bloud for the space of twelve years healing her with the hem of thy garment Fourthly Luk. 4.39 to Peters wife's mother whom thou didst presently heal of a languishing feaver Fifthly to Mary Magdalen whom thou hast freed from seven devills And to the two sisters Marye and Martha at whose pitteous moane John 11 thou hast raised up their brother Lazarus that had been four days in the grave Sixthly to thine own distressed mother by committing her being succourlesse to the guard and tuition of John thy beloved disciple Seventhly John 19. to all the women that wept when thou wentest to be crucified saying John 19. weep not for me Eighthly to the sorrowfull women that came to anoint thy body to the grave saying be not afraid you seek Jesus of Nazareth he is risen he is not here Lastly to a poor widow weeping for the death of her onely son to whom thou didst speake comfortably saying weep not and withall did'st restore her son to life Spark 28. O dear Saviour I am by nature in a more miserable case than all these were being but the unclean seed of my old seduced Grandmother Eve o Eph. 2.3 My condition is worse than hers having not onely d Psal 106. the seed of all sin staining the womb of my soul but also dayly polluting my whole body with all uncleanness and p 2 Chro. 6. actuall transgression Had the Adulteress Lord need of thy mercy so have I. For who f Prov. 20. can say my heart is clean Was the Cananite but as a Dogg before thee Alas good Lord without thy mercy I shall be more vile than a Toad in thine eyes Was her disease which the hem of thy garment did cure an unclean issue of twelve years continuance Alas sweet Saviour the issue of my sin did run upon me since I came from my Mothers k Psal 51. womb Ah! good Lord thou didst pitty the state of Peter's mother in Law having but a feaver and behold I consume away for fear of thy displeasure e Psal 6. my very
He that will be a Courtier here must often forsake his own Countrey where he lived at ease the place where he was known and beloved the neighbors of whom he was visited the goods wherewith he was maintained his wife and children of whom he was comforted yea often be â—ain to remove when the Court removeth trusse up his baggage and load his horses seek him a newlodging But he that will mind to be of the great King's Court shall not go out of his Country but come into his Country not go from his neighbors that loved him but to such neighbours as wil ever love him he shall not there forsake his parents but meet them not lose his goods but find them not misse his comfort but receive it not often remove but for ever be at rest and most sure of a pleasant lodging Secondly In following earthly Courts a man shall hear many discontented persons about the Court that if he be good shall offend him much such as are rejected and favourlesse Courtiers meeting together murmuring at their Prince backbyting his councelors and Officâ—rs câ—ntemning his Laws envyng his liberality grudging at others favours some perhaps blaspheming thâ— dâ—vine providence for ei h r placing or suff ring such to be in credit and themselves to be discarded But in the supream Court of heaven every one shall hear his King glorified and his maker praised not envying but all rejoycing at the preferment and glory of their fellowes as at their own Thirdly when perchance in these earthly Courts a mâ—n may be crept into his Prince's favour to day as Haman was he may be out to morrow and while he continueth in favour he feareth every hour to fall and if ever he be once out of favour and in disgrace he commonly despaireth of regaining his former credit But it is not so with such as wait upon the Lord For whom the Lord loveth he loveth him unto the end he writes him in his Book called Vade mecum and from thence he shall never be blotted out though the earth be moved and though the hills thereof be cast into the midst of the sea Psal 46.2 Fourthly In the Court of earthly Princes men must be fearfull to move their Prince and to speak unto him and most commonly use their means that be most in favour to speak for them But in the high Court of heaven every Saint and Subject of the great King may boldly approach to the throne of grace and speak to his Soveraigne as to his kind and loving Father Fifthly Men commonly to win the favour of earthly Princes must spend much time and indure much toyle and the least dislike will oftentimes put them out of favour again and if they forgive the fault yet he should want their favour But God upon our willingness to do him service presently accepts of us as he did of the prodigall child and if we do offend him he is the slowest to conceive displeasure and the readiest to forgive This made the good King of Israel to say that he had rather be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the Palaces of Princes Sparke 86. O most Mighty Magnificent and most Glorious King though we be unworthy to take the name of so high a Monarch in our mouthes or to lift up our sinful eyes unto the heavenly throne of thy glorious Majesty trusting in our own worth worthiness Yet having thy Word for our warrant thy Spirit for our guide and thy Son for our advocate we are imboldend to approach thy palace and through thâ— blood of thy Son and by his merits and obedience we see by the eye of Faith thy golden Scepter of favour and free access stretched out unto us Therefore we will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies Psal 84 2.84.10 65. for most amiable are thy dwâ—llings O Lord God of hosts my soul hath a desire and a longing to enter into thy Courts For one day in thy Court is better than a thousand O Lord blessâ—d is the man whom thou choosest and receivest unto thee he shall dwell in thy Court and shâ—ll be satâ—sfiâ—d with the plâ—asures of thy House Good Lord give me grace to love thee above all things and the place where thinâ— honour dwelleth O Lord gra t that I may dwel in thy house for â—ver and during the time of my pilgrimage here in thy House of Grace grant I may lead an uncorrupt life doe the thing that is right speak the truth from my heart neither doing evill to my neighbour nor slandering him nor setting by my self but to be lowly in mine owne eyes making alwayes much of them that fear thee having alwayes a regard to keep both my oath and my promise with God man hating all oppression bribery and usury that when the time of my removing shall come I may be sure to be transl ted from thy Court of Grace into the Kingdom of Glory through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. LXXXVII The Sea-mans Card. DAvid said not without great reason that those that go downe to the Sea in Ships and occupy their business in great waters see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep For indeed those that be often at Sea behold so many wonders and such diverse godly observations that they never want there either a Sermon or a Preacher for every thing about them preacheth unto them First those Creatures that are in the Sea are great in quantity and innumerable exceeding farre the number of land-Creatures and yâ—t they all multiply without any lustfull copulation whereby we see that there is no encreâ—se like unto that which is void of sin and carnall lust such as the fruit of Zachariah and Elizabeth was or of Abraham and Sarah Again â—he condition of the Sea doth bâ—st describe unto us the condition of the world For as the Sea is in continuaâ—l motion and never quiet but somâ—times tossâ—d up to the heavens and suddenly falling down again to the terrour of the behoâ—ders So in this world some are one while like proud surging waves hoysed up unto the highest sphear of honour and in a moment again thrust down into the lowest Down Den of disgrace Secondly as the Sea is alwayes unquiet untill it cast up his dead So the world is ever roaring and uneasie untill it cast out of it such as are dead unto the world and live unto God such the world is ready to vomit up to surfeit upon Thirdly as in the Sea the greater fish do devour the lesser and small ones So do the potent in this world eat and swallow up the poor Fourthly as the Sea is full of dangers as Rocks Sands and Syrens c. So is the world full of triâ—lls and travells deceit and trouble perills without terrours within as the Apostle says casting Job into the Dunghill Daniell to the Den and Joseph to the Dungeon Fifthly as often
will of an Almighty power Therefore good Lord we are compell'd to believe and confesse that the holy Bible is thy Book and not the work of any creature First Because those things which are written in many places of the holy Bible are written in such a lofty stile with such an extraordinary phrase and with such supernatural matters as are above the capacity and nature of men wholly yea beyond all humane knowledge understanding or imagination So that it is impossible for men to conceive or imagine such words much lesse to know or to write them of themselves without the direction of an all-wise God For such words as are written in the Bible could never be understood thought upon or so much as once imagined by the wit of man much lesse laid down in writing For what man was able to write conceive or imagine of that inscrutable mystery in the Sacred Trinity namely that there be three Persons in one God-head really distinguished into Father Son and Holy Ghost and yet these three to be coequal in dignity consubstantiall in nature coeternall in being yea all three Persons to be one and the same simple and indivisible God without body parts or passion Secondly Who could imagine that power to be three distinct persons which is the same in substance in essence in number in power and Deity surely flesh and blood could never reveal these things to Moses to Daniel to Peter to Paul nor to any other man A man might conceive perhaps as some Philosophers have done That God is One Simple and Indivisible but that this one God should be three distinct persons equal in all things is above mans reach Therefore he that caused this to be revealed and written was no lesse than a God that knoweth all things Thirdly What man of himself durst once say or affirm yea or imagine that God was made man That the Word was made Flesh That the Deity assumed the humanity And the humanity unto the Deity in one person united So that both Deity and humanity are and remain in one and the same person without confusion of natures so that one Christ is both God and man And this mystery done in the Second person in Trinity and not in the First or the Third Could this be the invention of any man's braine Could any deep sighted Philosopher either produce the like example in Nature or invent the same in reason can any carping Atheist of the subtilest sharpest conceive or imagine of himself how this should be therefore the Bible is the wisedom writing of God and not of men For if we should admit that men might know that it was needfull that God should be united unto our man-hood though none of themselves could be so wise yet who was able to say that it shold be so when it should be how in what place and by what means surely no creature neither good nor bad could imagine of himselfe An evill creature especially could neither say nor imagine it of himself because it was a matter tending unto the chiefest good and to the highest exaltation and greatest dignity of mans nature For now our nature in the person of Christ is exalted above all the Angells in heaven and therefore an evill creature could never imagine or think of so good and so great a benefit Neither could any good creature of himself or his own wisedome speak of these things Joh. 1. because no creature was able to know these things of himself Luke 1. If therefore neither a good nor a bad creature could write these of themselves then it must be that the Creator of all wrote them or if at least wise some good men wrote them yet they first received them of God Fourthly To adde more proof to this How could any man be ever able to write or to imagine that a young Virgin should conceive without a man and bring forth a man and yet remain a pure Virgin both before and after What man durst either say or affirm such a thing for a truth it being the contrary to nature and common experience Therefore good Lord as it was thy holy arm that wrought it so was it thy wisedom that revealed it and caused it to be written Fifthly To seal up all What man was able of himself to write of the begining of the world when it was made in how many dayes what were done in every severall day That man was made last For if he was made last of all creatures how could he have written either when himselfe was made or what things were made when he had no being except thou Lord hadst taught and instructed him how what to write Was Adam able of himselfe to know that that was the sixt day wherein he was created except thou Lord hadst taught him Who could affirm that the floods did overflow all the tops of all the Mountains in the world Gen. 7 20. and how many Cubits the waters did prevail above all Mountains seeing Noah and his family were in the Arke Could he measure it wh t height it was by Cubits if thou Lord hadst not instructed him Or who could be so bold so fond so foolish and so voyd of sense and reason as to write That so huge so firm and so faire a building as this world is shall be consumed with fire in a moment and that so suddenly the Elements should be dissolved and melt with heat and that the very same bodies of men that are now consumed to dust and ashes should rise again in the twinckling of an eye could any man know or imagine these things much less write of them but onely the Spirit and power that hath made and created them Seing therefore my Lord and maker the holy Scriptures have such Authority such threatnings such eternall promises such lofty style such extraordinary phrases such supernaturall matters so farre out of all creatures knowledge so strange unto all mens conceits and so far above their imagination Lastly seeing all other Books of the same subject are found to be erroneous the authors thereof disagreeing among themselves so many wayes And seeing the holy Scriptures could never be branded with errours or justly charged with enlargement in any line or leaf thereof though penned and translated with so many sundry instruments so farre asunder who then so blind or so blear-eyed that cannot see or acknowledge the Holy Bible to be thy Word or work alone Sparke 1. O gratious God and most wise Father seeing it is so manifest that the holy Bible is thy Book and of thy onely making a 2 Pet. 1.21 inspire into our hearts good motions that our delight may be in thy Lawes and that we may exercise our selves therein day and night b Psal 1.2 grant we may ever without doubt c Act. 28. â—4 or wavering believe it with all our heart and soul thâ—t it may be sweeter unto our mouthes than the honey or the honey-comb
bones do quake for fear yea my sins have taken such hold upon me that I cannot look q Psal 40. up If Mary Magdalen was possessed with seven Devills Lord thou knowest that many Devils do continually walk about not onely to seek to possess but to devour my p 1 Pet. 5.11 soul And though Mary and Martha had cause of grief for the death of their brother whom thou didst restore yet my grief is more John 11. being dead in sin my self desiring to be revived by the spirit of thy Grace Lord as thou didst commit thy Mother the blessed Virgin to the tuition of q Joh. 19. John So dear Father command thy holy a Psal 34.7 Angells to guide and guard me from all evill Grant also sweet Jesus that with the three Maries I may seek thee early in the morning and seeking thee finde thee and finding thee believe in thee and lodge thee in my heart for ever Amen Sect. XXIX To performe Promise needfull IT is an old saying An honest promise is due debt That an honest Promise is due debt I have often promised to serve thee my good God and yet never perform'd the same as I ought and therefore the more I promise except thy grace help me to performe the more I am indebted unto thee Sparke 29. O Lord grant that I may promise unto thee that which thou hast commanded me and after b Deut. 23.21 performe that which I have c Psal 66. promis'd that I may obtain thy promise through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. XXX Of Christ's vertues in healing and Satan's policie in hurting IT is no wonder that the Devill did so much prevail against the Jewes to have Christ tormented in every member A box of precious ointments as his Head with Thornes his Hands and Feet with Nailes his Sides with the Spear his Eyes with Spittings his Face with buffettings and his Taste and Mouth with Gall for the Devill well perceived that there issued out great vertue from every member of Christ For he healed the Leper by touching him with his hand he healed Peter by looking back upon him with his eye he healed Matthew with his mouth by saying come and follow me he healed the deaf and dumb with his fingers by putting them into his ears he healed Mary Magdalen with the vertue that went from his feet when she washed them wiâ—h her tears he healed the woman diseased with the twelve years issue with the hem of his garment he healed raised up Lazarus out of his grave with his voice sayinâ— Lazarus come forth he heâ—lâ—d all the souls of his children with the blood and water that ran out of his blessed side Spark 30. Heal us O Lord for our bones are b Psal 6. vexed send out thy curing Word and heal our wounded soules that refuse all manner of comforts c Psal 107.19 20. say unto my soul I am thy salvation d Psal 35. O thou pittifull Saviour and sweet Samaritan e Luke 10. leave me not thus wounded and half dead in the high-way of perdition but bind up my wounds and poure therein the oyle of thy everlasting grace through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. XXXI Of Avarice and Oppression The Worldliings Woe ALbeit every sin calls for eternall vengeance yet we read in Scripture but of four crying sins The First is Murther and Bloodshed f Gen. 4.10 The Second is Gluttony and Idleness or the sin of Sodom g Gen. 18.21 The Third is the sin of Wrong and Oppression h Exod. 3.9 The Fourth is the detaining of the Labourers hire i Jam. 5.4 Now three of these cry with open mouth against the Covetous wretch as against an open Oppressor a secret Defrauder both an open and secret Murtherer Therefore the clamours of many poore Debters in the Dungeon of many poor Labourers in the Field and of many poore Neighbours crying and dying in the street enters into the ears of the Lord of hosts Nay the cry of his owne soul and body will come against him for though he keepeth his pelf with many locks from others yet from none doth he keep them so fast as from himself For though he possesseth them yet hath he no power to use them as holy Records doe shew Eccles 6.1 where the Spirit of God sayeth That there is an evill under the Sun which is much used among men A man to whom God hath given Riches and Treasure and Honour wanteth nothing for his soul of all that it desireth but God giveth him not power to eat thereof but a strange man shall eat it up This is an evill sickness Consider this then thou Worldling that sayest in thy heart I shall never have enough Spark 31. O blessed Trinity that fillest every living thing with thy l Psal 104. blessing Lord blesse us and thy blessings that in using them we abuse not thee O Sacred All sufficient Trinity fill thou our hearts so full that we may desire r Ezech. 36. nothing but thee thy glory our hearts good Lord are made Triangle-wise a fit seat for the blessed Trinity They are made narrow below and shut close to keep out worldly desires and wide and open above to receive all heavenly blessings O Lord as they are thy vessels so let them be of thy filling yea fitted with nothing but with thy self and thy love Psal 10.17 through Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen Sect. XXXII Nothing can satisfie God for our sins but his Son VVHat is that which man can off r unto his Maker The Acceptable Sacrifice to pacifie his wrath ' gainst sins If he cold give the whole world unto God what doth he offer but what he hath received of God and lost by his disobedience If man could offer himself what offereth he but unâ—hankfulness dust and ashes blasphemy and wickednes which provokes Gods wrath more more If the Angells would offer themselves and their service to satisfie the wrath of the everlasting God what were that but a thing finite in goodness to seek to cover an infiâ—it evill Therefore God himself was fain to step between his Justice and Mercy to reconcile us again unto him by his own merits Spark 32. O Lord from whence then cometh our help Surely our help cometh of thee f Psal 121. which hast made heaven and earth There was no other water to waâ—h away Naaman's leprosie but Jordan's p 2 Kings 5 No ladder that reached up to Heaven but Jacob's q Gen. 28.12 No serpent that healed the Israelites but the brasen k Numb 21 9. So there is no other Name under heaven whereby we may be saved f Acts 4. but only by thy name and merits sweet Jesus O Lord it was not our own arm that helped us b Psal 44.3 4. but thy right hand and thy arm and the light of thy countenance because thou
Sparke 99. O dear Father that art one God true and constant in all thy wayes and unchangeable yea a jealous God and a consuming fire grant that I may be true and constant in all my wayes not having a shew of godliness and denying the power thereof let me not become half a christian like Agrippa but grant unto me the love of thy servant John the heart and constancy of David the zeal of Phineas the boldnesse of Peter the resolution of Paul the patience of Job the perseverance of Joseph the courage of Joshua the earnestness of Moses and the constancy and integrity of my Saviour That so I may run the way of thy commandments and count it my meat and drink to do thy will Good Lord make me every day more fervent of thy glory more faithfull in thy service more fearfull of thy judgements and more sorrowful for my sins through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. C. The death of his Saints is dear in the Lords sight IT is not without great reason that murther is so hatefull unto God that the bloud of the slain crieth in his ears for revenge For if we respect the majesty of Goh himself what can be more odious to him than to see his own image defaced in his own presence or what can be more contemptuous than to kill one in his view which he loved so dear that he gave his onely son to dy for him Nay what more wicked than willfully to deprive him of life of whose life and safety God was so carefull that he numbred the haires of his head least one of them should perish Sparke 100. O Lord keep mee from bloud thirsty men give me grace to love thy image for thy sake and not to destroy that which thy hands have made and for whom thy son died Sect. CI. The beastly Man IT was not for nothing that the Poets did faine men to be transformed into the shape of some beasts for indeed we are worse in some things than beasts The drunkard is more filthy than the swine the murtherer more cruell than the tiger the wordling more subtile than the Serpent the cholerick more angry than the Wasp the covetous more greedy than the Wolf the adulterer more leacherous than the Goat Yea many beasts have exceeded us in vertue but we exceed all in vice Sparke 101. O Lord renew thy image in us and repaire our defects let us not any more with the Swine wallow in the mire of our filthiness Instruct thou us Lord and let us not be like horse and mule that have no understanding but keep us in thy wayes that we walk in thy wisedom through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen Sect. CII The Foolish Worldling and the wise Christian BOth will yield honour to man but diversely the one honoureth him that hath the richest garment and other externall ornaments glorious to the eye the other honours him most who is richly adorned within with wisedom and good qualities For as the world respects the outward man so do the chil of the world And as God respects the inward man so do the children of God For if a man be vain outwardly he is like unto the world and therefore the worldlings will honour him but if he be good inwardly he is like God and therefore the godly will reverence him Spark 102. O Lord grant I may give tribute to whom tribute honour to whom honour worship to whom worship and fear to whom fear is due through Jesus Christ Amen Sect. CIII Faith's feeding Some Creatures by the providence of God are said to live in the air as the Chamaeleon some in the water as Fishes c. some in the earth as Wants and Wormes c. some in the fire as Salamanders c but hope is such a creature that is not tied to any one Element but hath free liberty to comfort and refresh her self upon all these As first upon the aire and light of heaven For how can we see the sun and the rest of those glorious Planets to set and rise every day and not be confirmed in our hope of our own resurrection Secondly upon the fire which we see covered and buried at night in the ashes like our bodies in the dust and in the morning to be kindled with a little dry straw which may assure us that â—hough now the dust doth cover our bodies as it were for a night yet the joyfull morning of our resurrection will come when our bodies shall be quickened and lightened again with the candle of our soul through the power of our Saviour and the fiery force of the holy spirit that we may shine as bright lamps in his house for ever Thirdly is not our hope much sustained by the water which now we see to decrease and ebbe within few hours after to flow and fill again all those empty chinkes and channels which of late were dried up and so to revive them with a new floud and fresh current and shall not those empty veynes of our bodies and those holy arteries of our flesh at the spring-tide of the resurrection by the powerfull blowing of the Southern wind of Gods spirit be filled again with bloud and the spirit of life Fourthly shall we observe the earth to bring forth all things committed unto her and not hope without doubt that she will one day likewise deliver up our bodies committed to their trust and that much more glorious than she doth any corne or seeds which she keep but for lesse than a year Let us not think it therefore unlikely for our vile bodies to be made glorious seeing that fine paper is made of foul rags and pure glasse of the ashes of ferne yea of a heap of dry bones faire and stronge bodies and life given unto them with a blast of winde Ezek. 37 For could God create all things of nothing and can he not work his own will in his own creatures could he fetch light out of darkness as it were out of a grave can he in the womb of a woman of a little bloud frame a body distinguished with so many and sundry instruments as that it may go for a little world and within the space of some few dayes add lifâ— unto it And can he not restore the body that hath been so to what it was Can he quicken us in the womb of our mother and can he not receive us in the womb of the earth Can we fetch fire out of the flint and cannot he fetch us out of the earth 1 King 17.23 2 King 4 32 Acts 9.40 23.10 Could Eliah and Elisha raise the widow of Zareptha the Shunamites children Could Peter raise Tabitha and Paul Eutychus and cannot God their Lord and ours raise both them and us Sparke 103. O dear Father 1 Pet. 1. which by thy great mercy hast regenerated us to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Chrst from the dead 1 Tim. 3. Rom.