sins is himself tempted by idleness Watch ye therefore Mat. 13.36 for you know not when the master of the house cometh at Even or at Mid-night or at the Cock-crowing or in the Morning Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping 37. Upon wandring wanton Eyes A Wicked eye is an evil thing Ecclus. 31.13 and what is created more wicked than an Eye and therefore it weepeth upon every occasion How dare I look up unto Heaven which is the throne of Gods Purity with those eyes that have been set upon vanity and iniquity A wise mans eyes are in his head Eccl. 2.14 but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth I have made a Covenant with mine eyes not to look upon a maid Job 31 1. For whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her Mat. 5.28 hath already committed adultery with her in his heart But mine eyes shall be ever looking unto the Lord Ps 25.15 for he shall pluck my feet out of the net my affections from being ensnared with unlawful objects When you are tempted to any Sin Meditat. I. Avoid Satan thou wicked and unclean spirit avoid Thou hast no part or lot in me I am solemnly devoted to the service of my God and my Jesus and thy sworn adversary I have solemnly abjured thee and all thy works and must not now yield to any of thine unclean suggestions Be merciful unto me Ps 57.1 O God be merciful unto me for my Soul trusteth in Thee and under the shadow of thy Wings shall be my refuge until this tyranny be overpast I will call unto the most high God 2. even to the God that shall perform the cause I have in hand He shall send from Heaven and save me 3. from the reproof of him that would eat me up God shall send forth his mercy and truth 4. my Soul is among Lyons the Devil and his Angels have too great a hank upon my Soul But my trust is in the tender mercy of my God therefore I shall not fall Meditat. II. When I am tempted to any evil I complain of the Devil but my self is the greatest Devil to my Soul whilst I do not deny my self the fulfilling of its irrational appetites All the forces wherewith the enemy fights against my Soul are within me 'T is from those warring members within they are both raised armed and maintained But whensoever I call upon God Ps 56.9 then shall mine enemies be put to flight this I know for God is on my side In Gods word will I rejoice 10. in the Lords word will I comfort me Yea in God have I put my trust 11. I will not fear what man or Devil can do unto me Meditat. III. Being Tempted Say 'T is the Lords cause I must now maintain 't is his quarrel I must fight for the grand enemy of God and Man would now rob God of his Honour and of that Obedience which is due to his most holy Laws and I being Tempted am thereby challenged to be the Lords Champion But I will not trust in my Bow Ps 44.7 't is not my Sword that shall save me But it is thou Lord 8. that savest us from our enemies and puttest them to confusion that hate us Arise Ps 74.23 O God maintain thine own cause remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee dayly Forget not the voice of thine enemies 24. the presumption of them that hate thee encreaseth ever more and more Meditat. IV. Vpon Temptations The victory over the Devil and all his temptations were easily obtained could I but once get the mastery over those lusts which war against the Soul In which spiritual warfare the banner under which I must fight is the Cross of my Redeemer by the vertue whereof all my intestine foes may be vanquisht in the Crucifixion of them and the old man with all his mutinous troops of deceivable lusts be subdued and led captive in the Chains of holy Mortification O blessed Jesus the Captain of my Salvation strengthen and encourage me manfully to fight under thy banner against all my ghostly adversaries And let thy Grace so prevent and follow me that I may follow thee by the Cross to the Crown through the School of Grace to the Throne of Glory Amen Upon the Prevailing of any Temptation I will say unto the God of my strength Ps 42.11 why hast thou forgotten me and why go I thus heavily while the enemy oppresseth me My bones are smitten asunder as with a Sword 12 while mine enemies that trouble me cast me in the teeth Namely 13. while they say daily unto me where is now thy God Have mercy upon me O God Ps 41.10 have mercy upon me raise thou me up again and I shall reward them being more careful to resist the Devil and all his suggestions Forsake me not O Lord my God Ps 38. ult be not thou far from me Haste thee to help me O Lord God of my Salvation Having escaped a Temptation The snares of death compassed me round about Ps 18.3 and the overflowings of ungodliness made me afraid The pains of hell came about me 4. the snares of death overtook me If the Lord himself had not been on my side I may well now say Ps 124.1 if the Lord himself had not been on my side The waters of Temptation had drowned me 3. and the stream had gone over my Soul Yea the deep waters of the proud had gone even over my Soul 4. But praised be the Lord who hath not given me over for a prey unto their teeth My Soul is escaped even as a Bird out of the snare of the Fowler 5. the snare is broken and I am delivered Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord 6. who hath made heaven and earth To whom be all Glory Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. When you Hunger or Thirst I. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness Mat. 5.6 for they shall be satisfied They shall receive such a satisfaction as the most delicious of bodily meats and drinks cannot give He that drinketh of this water shall thirst again Joh. 4.13 but whoso shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst But the water that I shall give him 14. shall be in him a Well of living water springing up to everlasting life Lord evermore give me this water that I thirst not 'T is the Graces of thy holy Spirit I humbly beg which alone can satisfie the vast desires of my Soul II. Labour not for the meat that perisheth Joh. 6.27 but labour for that meat which endureth to everlasting life which the son of man shall give unto you for him hath God the Father sealed sent into the world to be the incorruptible Food of our immortal
I have acknowledged my wayes and thou heardest me O teach me thy Statutes After confession of sin and prayer for pardon new obedience is required 3. Make me to understand the way of thy Commandments and so shall I talk of thy wondrous works To talk of Religion without a right Understanding is but vain babling 4. My soul melteth away for very heaviness Comfort thou me according to thy Word Godly sorrow is the inlet to divine Consolation 5. Take from me the way of lying and cause thou me to make much of thy Law Errors in judgment must be corrected and abandoned that we may obey God sincerely and cordially 6. I have chosen the way of truth and thy judgments have I laid before me What the Word of God doth judge to be true or false is to be ever chose or refused 7. I have stuck unto thy testimonies O Lord confound me not Stedfastly to cleave unto what God hath testified to be the way of truth and holiness is a sure way to avoid confusion 8. I will run the way of thy Commandments when thou hast set my heart at liberty While the heart is enfettered with sensual or worldly lusts we can neith run nor walk in the ways of God's Commandments we ought Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. The Prayer O Raise up my Soul blesse Lord out of the dust and rubbish of earthly desires quicken my dulness in thy service comfort me in all my sadnesses dispel all those mists of Ignorance and Error which cloud my Understanding enlarge my heart from the bondage of Sin and Satan and out of the fetters of all Temptations unto evil and so strengthen me to run in the ways which thou hast Commanded that I may obtain what thou hast promised through Jesus Christ Our Father which art in c. CHAP. II. Of Meditations for the Third Hour of Prayer or Nine a Clock in the Morning THis is called The holy hour in the Decrees of the Church and generally the hour of publick Assemblies in the Worship of God and not without very great reason For 1. Matth. 27.20 'T was at this hour my blessed Redeemer underwent the bitter sentence of death whilest Barabbas a Thief a Rebel and a Murderer was acquitted And I vile wretch am as guilty as Barabbas in many respects and justly obnoxious to the dreadful sentence of condemnation to death eternal but by the infinite Merits and Mysteries of thy Condemnation Good Lord deliver me 2. Matth. 27.26 'T was at this hour of the day my blessed Redeemer exposed his tender breasts and delicate back and shoulders to be rased rent and torn with forked whips by cruel blood-thirsty souldiers until his innocent Body was all over gore blood And my sins deserve the scourges and mine offences the rod of the Almighties just indignation but blessed Lord I humbly beg that I may so wash my polluted soul with the penitent tears of holy compunction through Faith in the blood of my Saviour and so chastise and keep under that body of sin which is and too much reigneth in my Members Eccles 39.28 that being delivered from the guilt and tyranny of sin in this life I may escape those fiery whips and scourgings of the spirits of vengeance which are the portion of the disobedient and impenitent in the other life 3. Act. 2.15 'T was at this hour of the day the Holy Ghost descended upon the holy Apostles and Disciples of Christ and by his celestial influences replenished them with extraordinary Gifts and Graces for the propagation of his holy Gospel and the plantation of his Church through the World And Vouchsafe holy God vouchsafe unto me also thy unworthy servant the guidance of the same spirit by whose Illumination and Sanctification I may both perceive and know what things I ought to do and also may have Grace faithfully to perform the same through Jesus Christ And the Earth was without form and void Gen. 1.2 darkness was upon the face of the deep And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the Waters Such was thy condition O my Soul in thy state of Nature without form or comeliness the image of God wherein thy beauty consists was defac'd by original corruption void both of Grace and Truth an Abyss of darkness and in the shadow of death till the all-quickning Spirit of God moving upon the hallowed waters of Baptism caused the light to appear But still the dregs of thy natural corruption remain and the darkness of ignorance ever hovers upon the face of the Deep But where the Spirit of God is there is liberty both rightly to understand and acceptably to perform his Will COme Holy Ghost eternal God Proceeding from above Both from the Father and the Son The God of Peace and Love Visit my Mind and into me Thy heavenly Grace inspire That in all Truth and Godliness I may have the desire Kindle my heart with fervent love To serve God day and night Strength and stablish all my weakness So feeble and so frail That neither flesh the world nor devil Against me do prevail And grant O Lord that thou being My Leader and my Guide I may eschew the snares of sin And from thee never slide ALmighty God unto whom all hearts are open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit that we may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy holy Name through Jesus Christ Glory be to God on high on earth peace This Hymn is prescribed to be used in the Morning by the Apostolical Constit l. 7. c. 47. and at the Third Hour of the Morning because then the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles and replenished them with glory exultation and joy Dur. Rat. l. 4. c. 13. good will towards men We praise Thee we bless Thee we worship Thee we glorifie Thee we give thanks to Thee for thy great Glory heavenly King God the Father Almighty O Lord the only begotten Son Jesus Christ O Lord God Lamb of God Son of the Father that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon us Thou that takest away the sins of the world receive our prayers Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father have mercy upon us For Thou only art Holy Thou only art the Lord Thou only O Christ with the Holy Ghost art most High in the Glory of God the Father Amen PSALMS for the Third Hour Legem pone Psal 119. Part. 5. Horâ tertiâ Psalmus Legem pone dicitur quia tunc lex nova data est Apostolis Dur. Rat. l. 5. c. 6. Verses 1. TEach me O Lord the way of thy statutes and I shall keep it unto the end The Understanding must first be enlightned that the Affections of the Heart
is a thirst for God 2. even for the living God the fountain of living waters when shall I come to appear before the presence of God Oh my God when will that happy hour come wherein I shall be fatisfied with thy presence wherein I shall praise thee according to my duty and desire wherein thou wilt be all in all to my Soul When I awake up after thy likeness I shall be satisfied with it till then I must not hope to enjoy any real solid contentment For Whom have I in heaven but thee Ps 73.24 and there is none upon earth that I defire in comparison of thee There is none in heaven or earth that can satisfie the desires of my Soul which being stampt after the image of God and capable of her Creator cannot be filled with the greatest sufficiency of all created Beings My heart and my flesh faileth 25. my flesh will soon wither and fail to be the habit tion of my Soul and my heart will be also swallowed up of sorrow and despair but that God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever II. O God Psal 63.1 thou art my God my God and my All all that I am and all that I have and all that I hope to be and therefore early will I seek thee in the morning of the day in the morning of my life in the morning or light of divine Grace for 't is thereby I am excited both early and late to seek thee My Soul thirsteth for thee 2 my flesh also longeth after thee my flesh that being in subjection to the Spirit both Soul and Body may rejoyce in thee in whom alone true joy and satisfaction is attainable for I am here in a barren and dry land where no water is such is the wilderness of this world it affords no waters of refreshment to satisfie the desires of the immortal Soul Thus have I waited for thee in holiness 3 And O that I could wait for thee and wait upon thee with such separate affections from all sensuality and earthiness that I might behold thy power which is chiefly manifested in shewing mercy and pity and thy glory even the Glory of thy Grace and Favour For thy loving kindness is better than the life it self 4 without thy loving kindness O my God my life of nature is but a living death and my life of Grace with the hopes of the life of Glory are but the glimpses and scattered raies of thy loving kindness and therefore my lips shall praise thee and this also is an effect of thy loving kindness that my heart dictates to my lips to praise thy Name Blessed is the people Ps 89.16 O Lord that can rejoyce in thee they shall walk in the light of thy Countenance Their delight shall be daily in thy Name 17 and in thy righteousness shall they make their boast For thou art the glory of their strength 18 and in thy loving kindness thou shalt lift up our horns For the Lord is our defence 19. the holy one of Israel is our King Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and world without end and let all the people say Amen even so Amen Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. MEDITATIONS Of Fasting and Almsgiving to be practised with holy Prayer and Meditation THat my Prayers and Meditations may ascend into Heaven and be there treasur'd up to my comfort in the day of my account 't is necessary that the Christian duties of Fasting and Almsgiving be frequently intermixed for these are the Two Wings whereupon Holy Prayer is mounted into Heaven and graciously accepted in the presence of God These Three are those spiritual Sacrifices acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 2.5 whereby every sincerely devout Christian as a member of the holy mystical Priesthood sacrificeth all that he is and all that he has unto God from whom he hath received all Heb. 13.15.16 Ro. 12.1 Phil. 4.18 His Soul is poured forth by Prayer his Body is sacrificed by Fasting and his Goods are offered by Almsgiving We have no more to give and not in some considerable proportion to give them unto God is to rob him of that tribute which is due unto him as an acknowledgment that all we are and all we do possess is held from him in Capite as the chief Lord of all To pretend that all these Christian duties are implied and may be supplied through the fulness of Faith in Christ is a false and mistaken notion of the holy and true Christian Faith which both Commends and Commands not the aiery empty notions but the real performance of all these Religious duties Our blessed Lord in his heavenly Sermon on the Mount joyns these together and we may not without danger to our Souls presume to part them or vainly conceive that any one without the other will be accepted of God but being all sincerely practised as our Lord directs Mat. 6.1 5.16 we shall then as he Commands lay up for our selves treasure in Heaven where are neither moth nor rust ver 20. Thus devout Cornelius sent up such a plentiful treasure into Heaven Act. 10.2 3. v. 30. as brought down thence one of those Celestial Spirits for his guidance and direction in the ways of life Holy Prayer is that whip which drives the Devil and all his Temptations out of the Temple of the heart leaving it to the possession of the Holy Jesus and Fasting is as that Scope or Besom which sweeps and keeps clean this spiritual Temple of the Lord Mar. 9.29 by both conjoyned the strongest Devil is master'd and ejected Prayer is as the Chain which tyes up Satan and by Fasting the Chain is strengthned and made to hold But a Three-fold Cord is not easily broken if with your Prayers and Fastings you conjoyn the Christian acts of holy Charity also a Chain of these several links composed will not only tye up the Devil that his temptations shall not reach to hurt your Soul but also secretly bind the hands of the Almighty that they be not stretched out for the punishment of your by-past Transgressions for Charity shall cover a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4.8 Let not the lust of the flesh or the lust of thine eyes so bewitch thee O my Soul as to rob thy God of what is due unto Him both from thy Body and Estate Whilst thou courtest thy God with Prayers alone thou servest him with what doth cost thee nothing nothing but the labour of thy lips 'T is my self my whole self the Lord requires with my Prayers my Soul in its devoutest affections my Body in the mortification of all its exorbitant Lusts my Goods in the relief of my wanting Brethren otherwise my Prayers will flag and grovel here below when they want these spiritual Wings whereupon to mount to the Throne of Grace to find
put thy self on manfully to resist the Devil and all his works of temptation unto sin Thou needest not to be afraid of all his fiery darts for these cannot pierce but when enflamed by the fire of thine own concupiscence Covetousness and Pride or the Pomps and vanities of this wicked world with Luxury and Voluptuousness or the sinful lusts of the flesh these are the weapons wherewithal the enemy wars against the Soul By the stedfast belief of all the Articles of the holy Christian Faith and a constant obedience to God's holy will and Commandments they are renounced resisted beaten back and overcome This thou hast solemnly vowed in the open face of Christs Church whosoever thou be that art rightly called Christian and though thy Christendome was not thus right Orthodox and Legal yet this must be performed if thou wilt be or being continue within the Covenant of Grace to the eternal Salvation of thy Soul Raise up O Lord we pray thee thy power and come amongst us and with great might succour us that whereas through our sins and wickedness we are sore let and hindred in running the race that is set before us by thy bountiful grace and mercy we may be enabled to withstand the temptations of the Devil the world and the flesh and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God through Jesus Christ our Lord MEDITATION Of the Cure of the Soul before that of the Body THere is a vast difference betwixt the Soul and Body in the dignity of their nature the Soul is of a heavenly descent and original but the body is of earthly mould and making the Soul is framed by the hands of the Almighty after his own Image but the Body is begotten of earthly parents after the likeness of sinful flesh the Soul is of the same nature with the Angels of Heaven but the Body is of kind and constitution with the beasts of the earth the Soul being the infusion of Heaven represents the beauties and perfections of the most high and holy God but the Body being the result of carnal copulation assimilates only the fading shadows of beauty in irrational beings Lastly whatever beauty strength motion or Life it self the Body enjoys is by the vertue vigor and actuation of the Soul which manifests its immortality and separate subsistence from the dying Body Very pertinent then is that question of S. Augustine to fond senseless man Laboras ut non moriatur homo meriturus non laboras nè peccet in aeternum victurus Why art thou so solicitous to preserve the body from death which must dye and dost not endeavour rather to preserve from sin thy Soul which will live for ever If but a finger of the Body ach 't is bemoaned and lapt and every petty sore is salv'd and carefully kept from the least touch that may annoy it and to cure the diseases of the Body no cost or pains is spar'd the most bitter drugs are swallowed lancing burning fasting any trouble or torture is willingly endur'd but the sores of sin are suffered to fester and the diseases of the Soul are slighted without any regard had to the devout use of those holy means which the great Physician of Souls hath prescribed for their recovery O remember and wisely consider that by how much thy Soul transcends thy Body in purity of nature and dignity of condition by so much thy spiritual diseases are more mischievous and destructive than any bodily distempers can be The ilness of the Body tends only to the disanimation of the corruptible flesh but the maladies of the Soul render her both loathsome in the eyes of God and all good men and also obnoxious to the Second death the unsupportable torments of the nether hell O that the blessed Spirit of God would vouchsafe to anoint the eyes of my mind with the eye-salve of celestial grace Rev. 3.18 that mine eyes may be opened to see mine own vileness and nakedness and to discover all the sad distempers of my Soul to see them in their stain guilt and pollution in the loathsome and destructive nature of them that seeing I may wash them with my tears lance them with the knife of holy Mortification rip them up by Confession and lay them open to the view of the great lover of Souls and pray Arise blessed Jesus Mal. 4.2 Arise thou Sun of righteousness upon my darkned diseased Soul with healing in thy wings whither shall I fly for spiritual health but to the God of the spirits of all flesh Num. 16.22 1 Sam. 2.6 Ps 147 3. who killeth and maketh alive who bringeth down to the gates of death and bringeth up again who healeth those that are broken in heart and giveth medicine to heal their sickness Whither shall I go for health and salvation but to the Saviour of the world who came to visit the sons of men when sick in sin and sick unto death the wages of sin who is both our Physician and our physick both our Doctor and healing medicine who after a wonderful manner has made a salve for the sores of sin of his own stripes and wounds and bloud Through Faith in this bloud intermixt with my penitent tears will I bathe my diseased Soul and ever pray by these stripes to be healed 1 Pet. 2.24 I said and I will ever say it whilst I have a day to live Ps 41.4 Lord be merciful unto me and heal my Soul for I have sinned against thee MEDITATION Upon the Tears of the devout Soul MY Tears have been my meat day and night Ps 84.6 this present life is to the truly devout Christian a valley of Tears whose broken heart is the Well from whence the Pools are filled with water the eyes with Tears wherewithal the religious soul is fed and fatned as is the body with meats and drinks These Soul-saving waters are of two sorts 1. Such as flow from the heart wounded with the love of Christ and enflamed with desires of a nearer and more immediate union and communion with the Triune God saying Ps 42.2 My Soul is a thirst for God even the living God when shall I come to appear before the presence of God when shall I be so happy as to see my God not as now in a glass darkly but face to face to the ravishing of my Soul with joy unspeakable and glorious Or 2. Such Tears as do flow from the heart pierced with godly sorrow for sin which separates and exiles the Soul from God whilst the Devil and his Angels insulting dayly say unto me Where is now thy God ver 3. Both these sorts of Tears S. Augustine humbly beg'd of God under the notion of the upper and lower springs Jos 15 19. both Tears of divine Love and Devotion to Heaven above and Tears of godly sorrow for sin upon earth below Blessed are they that thus sow in tears Ps 126.6 for they shall reap
do I lift up my soul At your Vp-rising Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection for on such the second death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years Rev. 20.6 O holy Jesu who early in the morning didst raise up thy self from death to life for me raise me up I meekly beseech thee from the death of sin unto the life of Righteousness Grant me by the power of thy Death and vertue of thy Resurrection early and betimes even to day while it is called to day to arise out of the mire of sensuality and out of the dust and rubbish of worldly vanities unto newness and all holiness of life that when that long day of Eternity shall dawn I may be raised up out of the grave of death to live and reign with thee for ever Amen I laid me down and slept Psal 3.5 and rose again for the Lord sustained me Blessed be the name of the Lord Psal 113.2 3. from this time forth and for evermore The Lords name is praised from the rising of the Sun unto the going down of the same A Morning Hymn NOw that the day light doth arise Breaking through the azure skies To heaven I lift my heart and eyes Begging of God with humble cries All hurtful things to turn away Whilst I duly spend the day And from his Laws go not astray But of true vertue keep the way To turn away my wandring eyes From the beholding vanities To guard my lips from speaking lies To keep my heart both pure and clean From all desires wicked or vain And my unruly Passions rein To tame proud flesh whilst I deny it A full cup and wanton diet Avoiding all excess and riot That when the day light shall go out And darkness clouds the earth throughout Time bringing on the night about The Light of thy bright face may shine Vpon my Soul and Beams divine Display into this heart of mine Whilst leaving wicked worldly ways I in silence sing thy praise Chanting forth these following Laies All glory to the Trinity Which I adore in Vnity The Father Son and Holy Ghost One Lord which is of mighties most As it hath e're been heretofore Is now and shall be evermore At your Apparrelling I Put on Righteousness and it cloathed me my judgment was a robe and a diadem Job 29.14 And to the Spouse of Christ it was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linnen clean and white for the fine linnen is the righteousness of the Saints Blessed Jesus cloath my soul with thy spotless Robes of Righteousness and beautifie me with the celestial ornaments of the graces of thy Spirit Let it be my constant desire and endeavour to appear more amiable in thy sight than in the censorious eyes of men II. ANd why take ye thought for raiment Matth. 6.28 consider the Lilies of the field they toil not neither do they spin And yet I say unto you 29. that Solomon in all his glory was not arayed like one of these How then fond Soul canst thou be proud of thy bodily apparrel wherein the grass of the field excels thy utmost bravery To be proud of thy gay clothing is to glory in thy shame to cover which shame and nakedness as the issue of sin and disobedience the use of Garments was given by God The true ornaments of a Christian consist in that which is not corruptible even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price At your Washing I. BLessed be the Lord God my Heavenly Father who hath washed me from my Original pollution in the sacred waters of Baptism and hath therein called me to the state of Salvation through Jesus Christ And I pray God to give me his Grace that I may continue in the same unto my lifes end This I promised by my Undertakers when I was Baptized 1 Pet. 3.21 Ch. Cat. but I have not been so careful as I ought to make good my promise O wash me throughly from my wickedness as in the Laver of Baptism and cleanse me from my sin Psal 51.2 whereby I have unhallowed those saving Waters Thou shalt purge me with Hysop through the bitter sorrows and sufferings of my dearest Saviour and I shall be clean 7. Thou shalt wash me in the fountain of thy inexhaustible mercy and I shall be whiter than Snow II. 'T is the clean hands and pure heart wherewith God is well pleased even the heart that is pure from all evil affections and the hands that be clean from all sinful actions Blessed are the pure in heart Matt. 5.8 for they shall see God see him in Grace and Mercy here and in Glory hereafter Make me a clean heart Psa 51.10 O God and renew a right spirit within me A Spirit cleaving stedfastly unto thee my God and to thy Covenant with me in holy Baptism Water the dry barren ground of my Heart with the dew of Heaven the celestial influences of thy holy Spirit that I may bring forth the fruits of good works to the glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ Amen Upon the Use of the Creed I Have many Enemies to encounter and such as are not corruptible flesh and bloud but spiritual and invisible quick and powerful active and vigilant to insnare me in all my thoughts and desires words and actions And therefore 't is necessary O my Soul before thou go forth to enter upon any worldly affairs that thou be well armed as with fervent Prayers and the Sword of the Spirit so with the shield of faith Eph. 6.12 13. to quench all the fiery darts of the Devil Confess then the holy Christian Faith with Understanding and affectionate Devotion I. I Believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth II. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord III. Who was conceived by the holy Ghost Born of the Virgin Mary IV. Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried V. He descended into Hell the third day he rose again from the dead VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father VII From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead VIII I believe in the Holy Ghost IX The holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints X. The forgiveness of Sins XI The Resurrection of the Body XII The Life everlasting Amen I believe Lord help my unbelief And grant a right and a full understanding of all these Articles of the most holy Faith and Grace to square all the actions of my life according thereunto Let this Faith be my shield from all errors in Judgment and miscarriages in Conversation and from the Devil and all his Instruments that would seduce me to either Before you go forth of your Chamber or undertake any imployment first in all holy Humility
subdued to the spirit rejoyce in the living God there 's no joy like the joy of his presence who giveth life and a heart to pant and breath after the joys of life eternal verse 3 The sparrow hath found her a house and the swallow a nest where to lay her young even thy Altars And O that my Soul could mount as doth the Sparrow upon her wings with inflamed affections after the pleasures of thy house and that my flesh might be instrumental to my Soul in bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit to be sacrific'd upon the Altar of Praise and Thanksgiving unto thee O Lord of hosts my King and my God whom alone I desire to adore worship and obey verse 4 Blessed are they here in hope hereafter in fruition who dwell in thy house of Grace below of Glory above They will alwayes be praising thee 'T is our principal errand to the house of God upon earth and shall be our only employment in his house of Heaven always to praise the Lord. But we of thy house and family here below like the young birds near thine Altar are unfledged and empent in the nest of this corruptible body which weigheth down the Soul so that mount to Heavenward we cannot without the divine assistance therefore verse 5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee who derives strength of Grace from thee to praise and glorifie thee and this not only with their mouths but in whose heart are thy ways cordially resolving and uprightly walking in the wayes of thy service and of their own salvation verse 6 Who going through the vale of misery in their pilgrimage through the miseries of this sinful life below use it for a Well even the deep fountain of a broken heart from whence the Pools are filled with water the eyes flow with tears of that godly sorrow which worketh Repentance unto Salvation not to be repented verse 7 They will go from strength to strength from one degree of grace to another adding to Faith Vertue to Vertue Knowledge to Knowledge Temperance to Temperance Patience to Patience Godliness to Godliness Brotherly kindness and to Brotherly kindness Charity 2 Pet. 1.5 Vnto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Sion each person thus qualified shall appear in the presence of the supreme Majesty of Heaven which being the felicity whereunto I am created and earnestly long for I therefore humbly beg verse 8 O Lord God of hosts hear my prayer thou art the Donor of all those powerful Graces which mount up our Souls to Heaven and the Lord of all those hosts of Heaven amongst whom my Soul longeth to be enroll'd Hearken O God of Jacob assist me in all my wrestlings with my ghostly enemies that I may prevail and obtain thy blessing which is to be call'd Israel Seeing God the felicity of Heaven verse 9 Behold O God our Defender against all the crafts and assaults of the Devil the world and the flesh Look upon the face of thine anointed our blessed Redeemer sitting on thy right hand and interceeding for us and may the sacred beams of his celestial light shine in our hearts and appear in the holiness and righteousness of our lives that going from strength to strength we may appear before the Lord in Sion verse 10 For one day in thy Courts amongst the Quires of Heaven where the day is but one as knowing no morrow day is better than a thousand of the fliting transitory dayes of this mortal life verse 11 I had rather be a door-keeper lye at the threshold submit to the lowest condition in the house of my God the place where his Honor dwelleth who is the God of my worship and joy than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness be conversant amongst the ungodly of this world in the most splendid condition with all the delights of the sons of men for 't is not all the pomp and glory all the pleasures and treasures of this life can give any solid satisfaction to the vast desires of my immortal Soul verse 12 For the Lord is a light and defence a light for direction in the way of peace and a defence for perfection against all whomsoever or whatsoever might disturb the innocence and peace of my Soul He will give grace and worship Grace to serve him truly here and Worship or Glory to crown our services hereafter and no good thing will he withhold from them that lead as godly life who truly love and fear God and wait for his promises in the obedience of his precepts shall enjoy all that is truly good or conducible to their eternal happiness in heaven And therefore verse 13 O Lord God of hosts blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee not roving in his hopes and desires after the exterior empty transitory consolations of the creature but among the sundry and manifold changes of the world hath his heart surely fixed there where true joyes are to be found which is alone in the presence of the God of Heaven where all do rejoyce together and sing for ever Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. AS an Earnest of this everlasting joy and felicity One thing have I desired of the Lord which I will require Ps 27.4 even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit his Temple A MEDITATION Upon the VOW in BAPTISM Out of S. Chrysostome de Martyribus SERM. II. REmember the Covenant Attend the Condition Acknowledge the Warfare The Covenant thou hast made with God the Condition whereby thou wast received into this Covenant the Warfare unto which thou art hereby engaged The Covenant is to be a member of Christ a child of God and an heir of Heaven or the Covenant of Grace and Salvation the Condition is to renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps the Warfare thou hast undertaken is manfully to fight under the banner of Christ against these ghostly enemies to this end thy Christian name is enroll'd amongst the musters of the Church Militant wherein thou hast promised to continue Christs faithful servant and souldier unto thy lifes end Thou art too delicate a Christian to dream of a Victory without fighting for it of a Conquest without exercise of armes of a Triumph without tryal of strength Phil. 3.14 The price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus is not to be obtained but by contest with and mastery over all our ghostly adversaries Rev. 2.7 17 26. ch 3.5 To him that overcometh only is the promise made Rowse up then thy self thou secure and slothful Christian stir up the Grace of God within thee and which was communicated unto thee when first by holy Baptism thou wast enlisted a Christian soldier under the Captain of our Salvation draw not back thy foot from the combate but take courage and
in joy He that now goeth on his way of holy Religion 7. weeping and beareth good seed such tears of godly sorrow as bring forth fruits meet for Repentance shall doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him being treasured up in the granary of heaven Such devout penitents go from strength to strength adding to their Faith vertue 2 Pet. 1.5 6. and to vertue knowledge to knowledge temperance to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness Charity Thus they ascend as by steps and to the God of gods appear every one in Sion Blessed Lord who fashionest the hearts of all the sons of men and turnest them as the rivers of water vouchsafe by the celestial influences of thy holy spirit to turn the stream of my corrupt affections from all the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and from the sinful lusts of the flesh Strike the rock of my hard heart with the rod of thy fatherly correction that both the upper and the lower springs may issue thence and the graces of thy holy Spirit may there spring up to everlasting life Joh. 4.14 I am a great sinner I confess and O that my heart were so deeply wounded with the sense of my sins as to lament them with that godly sorrow for sin as worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 Ps 39.12 I am a sojourner upon earth as all my fathers were O pierce my soul with the dart of divine love to bewail the deadness of my affections towards thee to lament that I am so much a stranger to my native home of Heaven that my heart is not surely fixed there where true joys are to be found but grovels in the dust of worldly vanities to grieve that I walk in the midst of manifold temptations and my ghostly enemies do dayly prevail against me and dayly cast in my teeth my dayly backslidings from the love and service of my God But be thou merciful unto me O Lord Ps 41.10 Raise thou me up again and I shall reward them by my future conquests over all their temptations MEDITATION Of the dwelling of God in the hearts of his People WHosoever desires that the Lord would vouchsafe to come unto him must himself first prepare his heart to come unto God And this not by Faith alone but by divine love and obedience to his most holy Laws If any man love me he will keep my Sayings Joh. 14.23 and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him How and when the Lord comes and abides with us must be known by the influences and operations of his presence as the tree by its fruits or the cause by its effects 1. God is light and in him is no darkness at all 1 Joh. 5.7 and such are the blessed Souls in whom he abides 1 Thess 5.5 they are all children of the light and of the day not of night and of darkness Their understandings are enlightned to know God both in himself and in the ways of his service and of their own Salvation and this light of their Faith shines before men in all the good works of Soberness Righteousness and Godliness to the glory of God the father of lights 2. God is a consuming fire Heb. 12.29 and accordingly the Souls possessed by him are purged as with fire from all the sordid lusts of the flesh and of the world their affections are purified the rust of sloth and negligence in the ways of life is scowred off their hearts as with fire are inflamed with the sacred ardors of divine Love of a holy and discreet Zeal of a fervent Devotion in their Prayers unto God and praises of him and with earnest defires of a nearer and a more immediate Communion with his divine Majesty 3. God is the fountain of living waters and accordingly where he dwells Jer. 2.13 he does allay the heat of carnal concupiscence subdue the inordinate love of riches quench the fire of strife and contention of blind Zeal and Faction and of every exorbitant lust being in himself a full satisfaction to all the vast desires of the immortal Soul As water he satisfieth the desires of all who hunger and thirst after righteousness and by the influence of his divine grace makes the barren ground of the heart to be fruitful unto every good word and work 4. God is all purity and holiness goodness and mercy justice and truth and in a word the summary of all perfection and felicity and therefore all those happy Souls where he dwells are holy as he is holy pure as he is pure merciful as he is merciful just and good gracious and long-suffering and in a word perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect 'T is such divinely enspirited persons and only such can say with the heavenly inspired Psalmist I will love thee O Lord my strength the Lord is my stony rock and my defence my Saviour my God and my might in whom I will trust my buckler and the horn of my salvation and my refuge Psal 18.1 and Psal 27.1 The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shall I fear The Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shall I be afraid and Psal 28.8 The Lord is my strength and my shield my heart hath trusted in him and I am helped therefore my heart danceth for joy and in my song will I praise him The Lord is my strength and he is the wholsom defence of his anointed O save thy people and give thy blessing to thine inheritance feed them and set them up for ever Our Father which art in c. THE END ERRATA PAge 3. Line 12. read shew thou me the way p. 5. after line 7. adde From this vain world my affections wein p. 10. l. 9. r. grant me p. 14. l. 15. for unto r. out off p. 24. after l. 8. adde O holy ghost into my mind send down thy heavenly light p. 27. l. ult dele And. p. 52. l. 2. for hearest r. teachest p. 63. l. 19. for Love r. Have p. 66. l. 5. r. should engage p. 93. l. 26. for love r. lone p. 131. l. ult r. made them p. 181. l. 18. dele Holy p. 188. l. 3. for them r. each of these p. 201. l. penult for the r. these p. 317. l. 24. for joy r. so p. 330. for perfection r. protection