GERARD'S Meditations, Written originally in the Latin tongue By JOHN GERARD Doctor in Divinity, and Superintendant of Heidelberg. Translated and revised By RALPH WINTERTON Fellow of King's College in CAMBRIDGE. The fifth edition. Printed by Thomas Buck, and Roger Daniel Printers to the University of Cambridge. MDCXXXVIII. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE the Reverend Father in God JOHN Lord Bishop of ROCHESTER. IT was the answer of Vespasian to Apollonius desiring entrance and access for Dion and Euphrates two Philosophers: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. My gates are always open to Philosophers: but my very breast is open unto thee. What Vespasian professed in word to Apollonius, the late Reverend Dean of SALISBURY hath performed indeed to me: The gates of his liberality and hospitality have never been barred against scholars and strangers: but the inward temple of his divine breast was unlocked unto me, and through that I saw his heart flaming with affection towards me. The experience of that his divine philanthropy moved me formerly to desire entertainment for a stranger, not doubting of his wont Philoxenie, not for Dion or Euphrates the Philosophers, but for Gerard the Divine, having then new put on an English man's habit. I obtained my desire. At SALISBURY he was welcome. In city and country afterwards he found good entertainment. After three years he came again to Cambridge. I furnished him with ink and paper. Then he resolved to take another progress. On New-year's day I left him on his way to Rochester. He promised not to divert to any place till he had seen your Lordship, and presented my most humble service. Happy Gerard, that may see your Lordship. O that I might but see once again those heavenly eyes whose first aspect and influence blessed me! O that I might but kiss those saving hands which raised me! O that I might but visit that temple, and worship that divine breast, where my soul found sanctuary! If Gerard may, in part I shall. That which I cannot see with mine eyes, my daily thoughts shall present unto me: Him whom I cannot reverence with cap and knee, I will always honour in heart and mind: whither with the feet of my body I cannot walk, I will travel with all dutiful affection. But what shall I do to express my thankfulness? He that hath scaped shipwreck will hang up his sails to Neptune for a monument: I have none other sails but such as are made of thin paper, and those scarce yet dry. He that hath passed through the pikes, and is come off safe and sound, will offer a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto Salus: I have no other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but myself: and that is but a poor scholars service. He that is recovered of a dangerous sickness, will do his devotions at Aesculapius his temple: My prayers shall always be directed to Almighty God, who hath the hearts of all men in his hands, who opened the good Dean of SALISBURIES' heart unto me: Unto him shall my prayers early and late be directed, to open unto the Bishop of ROCHESTER the treasury of all blessings temporal and eternal: And I hope the Reverend Father in God will accept this tribute of a devout soul. Servatus hath nothing else to give: But he shall always remain Your Lordship's most humbly devoted servant R. Winterton. To the ancient, religious, and learned Lady, the Lady COPPEN. THe earth is watered with drops from above, and in vapours sends them up again: The rivers come from the sea, and flow back again: The air will cleave the rock to get up to its place again: The fire came down from heaven, and thither it tends up again. From the mixture of these elements, all bodies have their temperaments: Those have in them a character of natural gratitude, and these should follow them. This character an illiterate man may see in creatures without sense; and he that is learned may read to the life in creatures that have sense. Man is the Epitome of all perfections in other creatures: But without this character he is like to none of them. He hath spent his time ill at the University that denies the first principles, and he would be sent back again to learn the first elements. In the soul of man, as Galen saith, there is an art of arts, and in the body of man an instrument of instruments: Reason is the art, and the hand is the instrument: I have both, and both are the Lady COPPENS. I have reason to acknowledge it, and an hand to subscribe to it. Your Ladyship's servant Ra●●h Winterton. To the Right Worshipful my most munificent friend and benefactor, Sr JOHN HANBURIE Lord of Kelmash in Northamptonshire. A Generous benefactor writes what he gives in running water; so doth Sr John Hanburie: A thankful receiver writes what he receives in a pillar of marble; so would Ralph Winterton. The one professeth the art of forgetfulness; so do you: The other practiseth the art of remembrance; so will I. Six years are passed since the golden streams of your bounty flowed down upon me: But the water of Lethe hath not yet washed them out of my memory. I hope I shall never be sick of a lethargy: But it is good to use a help for memory. A benefit once received aught always to be remembered: Man's always is not always: Come death, farewell memory. Letters after the death of them to whom they are sent, are usually burnt for waste papers. Therefore I durst neither trust the one nor the other with keeping the record of your bounty, and my thankfulness: knowing that death for certain will blot out memory, and fire may burn up the Registers office. It may be your bounty would have been well pleased with a private acknowledgement: But my duty could not be satisfied without a public monument. None more public than that which hath passed through the press: For that of one can make a thousand; so it did formerly. But now I have made fifteen hundred witnesses of my thankful remembrance: and more may hereafter. Gerard where he is known is in favour every where: But he is no where without Sr JOHN HANBURIE, At whose service GERARD is and his Translator RALPH WINTERTON. To the Worshipful my very worthy friends, Mr Nathanael Henshaw of Valence in Essex, Mr Benjamin Henshaw of Cheapside in London, and Mr Thomas Henshaw of Saffron-Walden in Essex. IT is reported by Tacitus, that Licinius grew so stupid, that if he had not been put in mind by others, he had forgot himself to be a Prince. If I should forget the HENSHAWES, I should forget myself to be a man: For an unthankful man is no man, but an enemy to God and man: so the Persians were wont to call him. Where bounty hath an hand to give, thankfulness should have an hand to write received. I have formerly recorded with mine own hand your names in the catalogue of my benefactors: And that hand should deserve to be cut off, if it should now expunge them. The old copy may decay: I thought good therefore now to renew it. Gerard's Meditations had never seen English light for me, if yours and others bounty had not set my head on work to find out some occasion to give public testimony of my thankfulness: If Gerard had not been, I might still have been to seek for an occasion. As often therefore as Gerard and I live together, at every impression you may challenge at my hands a new expression of my service. This debt I shall be always ready to pay, but not as men pay money: for that being once paid can be required no more: But this I shall be always paying, and still remain your debtor. Ità testor R. WINTERTON. SOme say that plants do better grow▪ When they're translated to and fro: I'm sure, when books translated be, They more and more do fructify. Gerard did bring forth fruit before, But now it is derived to more: What be beyond the sea did sow, Now Englishmen at home may mow. Come Countrymen, take what is yours, The crop's brought home unto your doors. John Boh●am. IF pleasure may or profit may thee move: Here's that which may deserve thy chiefest love. If thou desirest riches to enjoy: The door is open to the treasury. If beauty please: On this glass cast thine eye, Here's that will soul and body beautify. If honour please: The way's prepared for thee, To honour him whose service honours thee. If thou be'st hungry, thirsty: Taste and see Christ's flesh and blood presented unto thee. If thou be'st naked: To this wardrobe high, Where Christ his robe of righteousness doth lie. If sick thou art: For every malady Here is a very present remedy. If thou thyself defiled haste with sin: Here is a fountain for to bathe thee in. If thou delightst in flowers: Here do grow Such flowers as Art and Nature ne'er could show. Choose what thou wilt, here's what thou canst desire, Riches, and beauty, honours, and attire, Meat, drink, and medicine, and a living spring, A paradise of every pleasant thing. Here's heaven on earth, (if heaven on earth can be) And so I wish thee to go in and see. Francis Winterton. GErard of late was but in Latin read, But now he hath his language altered: Behold a change! see how Arts pencil can A Latin turn into an Englishman. Gerard in this ten thousand doth excel, In three months space to speak our tongue so well. Thomas Bonham. REader, if thou fain wouldst know, To whose labours thou dost owe These sacred lines, think whoed may be Seeks thy souls good, and that is he. Some say these writings Gerard's be: He wrote indeed, but not to thee. He was to those that learned were, To thee he was not though be were. Before, thou couldst not understand, He's now translated to thy hand. Read him, and use him as thy friend, And he'll be thine unto the end. William Norrice. THou that desir'st on earth a blessed end, And seekest the way to th'heavens to ascend, Resort to Gerard: he'll direct the way Whereby thou mayst ascend and live for ay. Thou needst no guide, 'tis easy to be gone, All lets removed are by Winterton. The way's made plain, which was before obscure, That thou thereby mayst heavenly bliss procure. Endeavour then this way to walk aright: And it will lead thee to eternal light. T. Gore. UPon a good the more communicate We always set a better estimate: The sun itself, though of itself most bright, None would admire, did not he see its light: Gerard himself, though of himself he's good, Had not been so to us, not understood. This moved my friend this Gerard to translate, God's glory and thy good to propagate. Edward Bonham. The table for direction to find out any Meditation contained in this book. Meditation 1 OF confession of sin. Page 1 Meditation 2 An exercise of repentance, from the cross of Christ. Page 7 Meditation 3 Of the fruit of true and serious repentance. Page 12 Meditation 4 A meditation upon the name of JESUS. Page 19 Meditation 5 An exercise of faith, from the love of Christ in the agony of death. Page 23 Meditation 6 Consolation for the penitent, from the cross of Christ. Page 28 Meditation 7 Of the fruit of the Lords passion. Page 34 Meditation 8 Of the certainty of our salvation. Page 39 Meditation 9 That God alone is to be loved. Page 44 Meditation 10 Of our reconciliation with God. Page 51 Meditation 11 Of the satisfaction made for our sins. Page 56 Meditation 12 Of the nature and properties of true faith. Page 61 Meditation 13 Of the spiritual marriage of Christ and the soul. Page 68 Meditation 14 Of the mystery of Christ's incarnation. Page 74 Meditation 15 Of the saving fruit of Christ's incarnation. Page 80 Meditation 16 Of the spiritual repast of the godly. Page 85 Meditation 17 Of the fruits of Baptism. Page 91 Meditation 18 Of the saving communion of the body and blood of Christ. Page 97 Meditation 19 Of the mystery of the Lords supper. Page 102 Meditation 20 Of due preparation before we come to the Lords supper. Page 107 Meditation 21 Of Christ's ascension. Page 112 Meditation 22 An homily of the holy Ghost. Page 118 Meditation 23 Of the Church's dignity. Page 125 Meditation 24 Of predestination. Page 132 Meditation 25 Of the saving efficacy of prayer. Page 139 Meditation 26 Of the holy angels guarding us. Page 146 Meditation 27 Of the devil's treacheries. Page 153 Meditation 28 General rules for the leading of a godly life. Page 159 Meditation 29 Of shaking off security. Page 166 Meditation 30 Of the imitation of the holy life of Christ. Page 174 Meditation 31 Of the denying of a man's self. Page 180 Meditation 32 Of the true rest of the soul. Page 187 Meditation 33 Of a pure conscience. Page 193 Meditation 34 Of the study of true humility. Page 201 Meditation 35 Of fleeing from covetousness. Page 206 Meditation 36 Of the properties of true love and charity. Page 214 Meditation 37 Of the study of chastity. Page 222 Meditation 38 Of the flitting swiftness of this present life. Page 229 Meditation 39 Of the world's vanity. Page 236 Meditation 40 Of the profit of tentations. Page 244 Meditation 41 Foundations of Christian patience. Page 250 Meditation 42 How we must overcome tentations by perseverance. Page 257 Meditation 43 Of the daily meditation of our death. Page 262 Meditation 44 Consolation at the death of friends. Page 268 Meditation 45 Of the last judgement. Page 277 Meditation 46 Of the desire of eternal life. Page 283 Meditation 47 Of the beatifical vision of God in heaven. Page 290 Meditation 48 Of our fellowship with the angels in heaven. Page 296 Meditation 49 Of the grievousness of hell-torments. Page 302 Meditation 50 Of the eternity of hell-torments. Page 309 Meditation 51 Of the spiritual resurrection of the godly. Page 316 Meditat. I. Of true confession and acknowledgement of sin. Confession is to cure sin A very present medicine. HOly God, just Judge, my sins are always in my sight, Levit. 1●. 45. Psal. 7.11. I have them always in my mind: every day I think of the judgement, because death hangs over my head every hour. Every day I think of the judgem●●●●ecause I must give an account for every day, 2. Co●▪ ●. 10▪ in the day of judgement. I examine my life, and behold, it is altogether vain or profane. Vain and unprofitable are many of my actions, my speeches much more, and my thoughts most of all. Neither is my life vain only, but profane also, and ungodly: I find in it nothing that is good: for though something in it may seem good, yet it is not truly good and perfect, because the contagion of original sin and my corrupt nature hath polluted it. Job 9.28. Holy Job said, I was afraid in regard of all my works. If the holy man so complain, what shall the ungodly do? Isa. 64.6. All our righteousness is as the cloth of a menstruous woman. If our righteousness be such, what then shall our unrighteousness be? If you shall do all things (saith our Saviour) which are commanded you, Luk. 17.10. yet say, We are unprofitable servants. If we are unprofitable when we obey, surely we shall become abominable when we transgress. Anselm. If I owe myself unto thee, and all that I can, yea though I should not sin: what shall I be able to give unto thee, holy God, to redeem me from sin? Gregory in his morals. Our seeming righteousness, if it be compared with the divine righteousness, is mere unrighteousness. A little light may shine in the darkness: but being set in the light of the sun, is darkened. The wood not brought to the rule may appear strait: but, if it be applied to the rule, is found, by some eminent excrescence, where it is crooked. The image of the seal may appear perfect in the eyes of the beholders, and yet it may be much imperfect in the eye of the artificer: Even so, that which glittereth in the estimation of the worker, is oftentimes base and sordid in the discretion of him that judgeth: Isa. 55.8. For the judgements of God are of one kind, and the judgements of men are of another. The memory of many sins doth affright me: and yet there are many more that I do not know of. Psal. 19.12. Who knows how oft he offendeth? cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults. I dare not lift up mine eyes unto heaven, because I have offended him which dwelleth in the heavens. In earth I find no refuge: for what favour can I expect of the creatures, when I have offended the Lord of the creatures? Austin. My adversary the devil accuseth me, and saith unto God, Thou most just Judge, judge him to be mine for his sin, that would not be thine by grace. He is thine by nature, but he is mine by delighting in his sins. He is thine by thy passion, but he is mine by persuasion. He is disobedient unto thee, and obedient unto me. He received of thee the robe of immortality, and innocence: He hath received from me the rags of unrighteousness. He hath cast off thy cloth, and put on mine. Adjudge him therefore to be mine, and to be damned with me. All the elements accuse me: The heaven saith, I have given thee light for thy comfort. Hugo. The air saith, I have given thee all manner of fowls to be at thy command. The water saith, I have given thee diverse kinds of fishes for thy meat. The earth saith, I have given thee bread and wine for thy nourishment. And yet thou hast abused all these to the contempt and dishonour of our creator: Therefore let all our benefits be turned to thy punishments. The fire saith, Let me burn him. The water saith, Let me drown him. The air saith, Let me fan and winnow him. The earth saith, Let me swallow him up. And hell saith, Let me devour him. Heb. 1▪ 14 The holy Angels, which were appointed by God to minister unto me in this life, and to be my consorts in the life to come, they accuse me: And by my sins I have deprived myself of their ministry in this life, and hope of their fellowship in the life to come. The voice of God, that is, his divine law accuseth me: either I must fulfil it, or perish. To fulfil it, it is impossible: To perish everlastingly, it is intolerable. God the most severe judge, and most powerful executor of his eternal law, accuseth me: Him I cannot deceive, for he is wisdom itself: From him I cannot fly, for he is power itself reigning every where. Psal. 139.7. Austin upon the 32 Psalm Whither then shall I fly? To thee O Christ my alone Redeemer and Saviour. My sins are great indeed: but thy satisfaction is greater. My unrighteousness is great, but thy righteousness is greater. I acknowledge: forgive thou. I set open: shut thou. I uncover: cover thou. In me there is nothing, but that which will condemn me: In thee there is nothing, but that which will save me. I have committed many things, for which most deservedly I might be condemned: Thou hast omitted nothing, whereby I might be saved. I hear a voice in the canticles, which bids me hide myself in the clefts of the rock. Cant. 2.14. Thou art that rock, thy wounds are those clefts of the rock: In them will I hide myself against the accusations of all the creatures. My sins cry aloud, even unto heaven: Heb. 12.24. but thy blood, which was poured forth for my sins, cries louder. My sins are strong to accuse me before God: but thy passion is of more force to defend me: The unrighteousness of my life is powerful to condemn me: but thy most perfect righteousness is more powerful to save me. I appeal therefore from the throne of thy justice to the throne of thy mercy: Neither dare I appear in judgement, unless thou interpose thy most holy merits betwixt me and thy judgement. Meditat. II. An exercise of repentance from the cross of Christ. Thy Saviour on the cross did choose, To save thy life, his own to lose. BEhold thou faithful soul the grief of him that suffered, Bernard. the wounds of him that hanged, the torments of him that died on the cross. That head, at which the angels tremble, is crowned with thorns. That face, which was most beautiful above the sons of men, is defiled by the spittings of the ungodly. Those eyes, which were more bright than the sun, are darkened in death. Those ears, which were wont to hear angelical praises, do ring now with the proud speeches, and the derision of sinners. That mouth, out of which did proceed most divine oracles; that mouth, which taught the angels, hath no other drink but gall and vinegar. Those feet, which are to be adored, are fastened with nails. Those hands, John 19▪ which stretched forth the heavens, are stretched forth on the cross, and nailed. That body, which was the most sacred temple of the deity, is whipped, and wounded with the spear: neither remains there any part in him save only a tongue, and that, to pray for them that crucified him. He that reigneth with the Father in the heavens, is by sinners grievously afflicted on the cross: God dies upon the cross: God suffers: God poureth forth his blood. Judge the greatness of the danger by the greatness of the prize. Judge the danger of the disease by the value of the remedy. Surely those wounds were great indeed, which could no otherwise be cured, but by the wounds of the living and quickening flesh. Surely that disease must needs be great, which could not be cured but by the death of the physician. Consider, thou faithful soul, God's most fierce anger against us. After the fall of our first father, the eternal, only begotten, and well beloved son of God becomes suitor unto his Father for us: And yet his anger was not turned away from us. He by whom the world was made, interceded for us, 1. John 2.2. became our advocate, and took the cause of us miserable sinners upon himself: And yet his anger was not turned away from us. Our Saviour took upon him our flesh, that by the glory of the divinity, communicated unto the humanity, he might expiate and purge our sinful flesh: that by the saving virtue of his most perfect righteousness communicated unto our nature, he might wipe away that venomous quality of sin which cleaveth to our nature, and in stead thereof confer grace upon us: And yet his anger was not turned away from us. Our sins and the punishment of our sins he taketh upon himself. His body is bound, whipped, wounded, pierced, crucified, buried. His blood, like a dew, distilled most copiously down all his members at his passion. His most holy soul is made sorrowful above measure, yea even unto death. Matt. 26.38. He feels the pains of hell. The eternal Son of God crieth out that he is forsaken of God. Matt. 27.46. So great was his bloody sweat, so great was his anguish, that he which comforteth the angels, stood in need of an angel to comfort him. Luke 22.43. He dies who is the author and giver of life to every living thing. Luke 23.31. If this comes to pa●se in the green tree, what shall become of the dry wood? If this comes to pass in the just and holy, what shall become of sinners? How shall God punish us for our own sins, who is so wrathfully displeased with his own son for other men's sins? If his son is so grievously punished, shall we his servants think to escape always unpunished? What shall the reprobate suffer, if such be the sufferings of his best beloved? If Christ departed not without a scourge, and yet came into the world without sin, what scourges do they deserve which come into the world in sin, live in sin, and depart in sin? The servant rejoiceth, whilst the son is in grievous dolour and pain; and that, for his sin. The servant heapeth up the anger of God, whilst the son doth thus labour to pacify and appease his Father's wrath. Oh the infinite anger of God oh his unspeakable fury! oh the inestimable rigour of his justice! He which is thus enraged against his only and best beloved son, the partaker of his own essence; and that, not for any sin of his own, but because he intercedeth for the servant: what will he do to the servant that persevereth and continueth still securely in his sins? Let the servant fear and tremble, and be sorrowful for his own merits, when the son is thus punished, and yet not for his own. Let the servant fear, who ceaseth not to sin, when the son of God is thus afflicted for sin. Let the creature fear, which hath crucified his Creator. Let the servant fear, which hath slain his Lord. Let the sinner and the ungodly fear, which hath thus tormented the pious and the godly. Beloved, let us hear his cries, let us behold his tears: he cries from the cross. Behold O man what I suffer for thee: Bernard i● his sermon of the pa●●sion. I cry unto thee, because I die for thee: behold the punishments that I suffer: behold the nails with which I am pierced, and see if any grief be like unto my grief. Although my outward grief be thus great, yet my inward grief is more grievous, because I find thee so unthankful. Have mercy, have mercy on us, thou whose property it is to have mercy, and convert our stony hearts unto thee. Meditat. III. Of the fruit of true and serious repentance. Our Saviour cried, Repent, repent, As John that 'fore our Saviour went. THe foundation and beginning of holy life is saving repentance. For where there is true repentance, there is remission of sins: And where there is remission of sins, there is the grace of God: And where there is the grace of God, there is Christ: And where Christ is, there is his merit: And where there is Christ's merit, there is satisfaction for sins: And where there is satisfaction for sins, there is righteousness: And where there is righteousness, there is joy and tranquillity of conscience: And where there is tranquillity of conscience, there is the holy Spirit: And where the holy Spirit is, there is the sacred and holy Trinity: And where the holy Trinity is, there is eternal life: Therefore where there is true repentance, there is eternal life. Where there is not true repentance, neither is there remission of sins, nor the grace of God, nor Christ, nor his merit, nor satisfaction for sins, nor righteousness, nor tranquillity of conscience, nor the holy Spirit, nor the holy Trinity, nor eternal life. Why therefore do we defer our repentance? and why do we procrastinate it from day to day? To morrow is not ours, and to repent truly is not in our power: And in the day of judgement we must give an account not only for to morrow, but also for the present day. To morrow is not so certain, as the destruction of the impenitent is certain. God hath promised remission to the repentant: Austin▪ but he hath not promised to morrow. There is no place for Christ his satisfaction, where there is not true contrition in the heart. Isa. 59.2. Our sins do separate betwixt God and us, so saith the Prophet Esay. And by repentance we return again unto him. Acknowledge and bewail thy sins: so shalt thou find God in Christ appeased towards thee. I blot out thine iniquities, Isa. 43.25 saith the Lord: Therefore our sins are enroled in the court of heaven. Psal. 51.9. Turn away thy face from my sins, begs the Prophet: Therefore our iniquities are set in the sight of God. Be converted unto us O God, prayeth Moses: Therefore our sins do separate us from God. Isa. 59.2. Vers. 12. Our sins have answered us, complaineth Esay: Therefore they accuse us before God's judgement-seat. Psal. 51.2. Cleanse me from my sins, prayeth David: Therefore our sins appear most foul and filthy in the sight of God. Psal. 41.4. Cure my soul, for I have sinned against thee, prayeth the same David: Therefore sin is the disease of the soul. Whosoever shall sin against me, I will blot him out of my book, Exod. 32.32. saith the Lord: Therefore for our sins are we blotted out of the book of life. Psal. 51.11. Cast me not away from thy face, prayeth the Psalmist: Therefore for our sins God casts us off. Take not thy holy Spirit from me: Therefore as bees are driven away with smoke, Basil upon the 33 Psal. and pigeons with ill savours: so by our sins is the holy Spirit driven out of the temples of our hearts. Restore me the joy of thy salvation: Psal. 52.12. Therefore sin doth torment the mind, and dry up the moisture of the heart. The earth is defiled by the inhabitants thereof, Isa. 24.5. which have transgressed the law, crieth Esay: Therefore sin is a contagious and infectious poison. Out of the deeps have I cried unto thee O Lord, saith the Psalmist: Psal. 130.1. Therefore our sins press us down unto hell. We were sometimes dead in our sins, saith the apostle: Ephes. 2.1. Therefore sin is the spiritual death of the soul. By mortal sin man loseth God: God is the infinite and incomprehensible good: Therefore to lose God is an infinite and incomprehensible evil. As God is the chiefest good, so sin is the chiefest evil. Punishments and calamities are not absolutely evil: for many times there comes good of them. Yea rather it appears that they are good, because they come from God who is the chiefest good; from whom can proceed nothing but that which is good. They were in the chiefest good, to wit, in Christ: And the chiefest good cannot partake in that which is evil truly so called. And moreover they lead us unto the chiefest good, Luke 24.26. that is, to life everlasting. Christ by his passion entered into his glory: And so do Christians by tribulations enter into eternal life: Acts 14.22. Therefore sin is the chiefest evil, because it withdraws us from the chiefest good. The nearer thou comest unto God, the further thou departest from sin: The nearer thou comest unto sin, the further thou departest from God. How saving therefore is repentance, which withdraws us from sin, and brings us back again unto God Sin is measured by the greatness of him that is offended: But him the heavens & the earth cannot contain: In like manner such is our repentance as he unto whom we return by repentance. The sinner is accused by his conscience, which he hath defiled; by the Creator, whom he hath offended; by the sins, which he hath committed; by the creatures, which he hath abused; and by the devil, by whom he hath been seduced. How saving then is repentance, which frees us from such accusations! Let us make haste therefore, let us make haste to such a saving medicine for such a grievous disease. If thou repentest at thy death, Aust. of repentance. thou dost not leave thy sins, but thy sins leave thee. Thou shalt scarce find any one that repented truly at his death, unless it were the thief upon the cross. Fourteen years have I served thee, Gen. 31.41. said Jacob to Laban, it is time now that I should provide for mine own house: And if thou hast served the world and this life so many years, is it not fit that thou shouldest begin now to make provision for thy soul? Every day doth our flesh heap sin upon sin: Let the Spirit therefore every day wash them away by repentance. Christ died that sin might die in us: And shall we suffer that to live and reign in our hearts, for the destroying whereof the son of God himself died? Bernard. Christ enters not into the heart of man by grace, unless John Baptist prepare the way by repentance. God poureth not the oil of mercy, but into the vessel of a contrite heart. God doth first mortify us by contrition, 1 Sam. 2.6 that afterwards he may quicken us by the consolation of the Spirit. He first leads us into hell by serious grief, that afterwards he may bring us back again by the taste of grace. 1 King. 19 11. Elias first heard a great and strong wind, overturning mountains, and cleaving rocks; and after the wind an earthquake; and after the earthquake there appeared fire. At length there followed a small and still voice. Vers. 12. In like manner terror goes before the taste of God's love, and sorrow before comfort. God binds not up thy wounds, unless thou lay them open by confession, and bewail them. He covers not, unless thou first uncover. He pardons not, unless thou first acknowledge. He justifies not, unless thou first condemn thyself. He comforts not, unless thou first despair in thyself. This true repentance God by his holy Spirit work in us! Meditat. FOUR Of the name of JESUS. Blessed, blessed name of Jesus, Who tormented was to ease us. O Good Jesus be thou my Jesus: Bernard. for thy holy names sake have mercy on me. My life condemns me: but the name of Jesus shall save me: For this thy names s●ke, do unto me according to thy name: & seeing that thou art a true and a great Saviour, surely thou dost respect those that are sinners indeed, yea great sinners. Have mercy on me, O good Jesus, in the time of mercy, that I be not condemned in the time of judgement. If thou receive me into the bosom of thy mercy, Anselm. thou shalt have never the less room. If thou bestow upon me the crumbs of thy goodness, yet thou shalt want never the more: Isa. 9.6. For me thou wast born, for me thou wast circumcised, to me also thou art become a Jesus: How sweet and delightful is this name! For what is Jesus, but a Saviour? and what harm can happen to those that are saved? what else can we desire, or expect beyond salvation? Receive me, Lord Jesus, into the number of thy sons, that together with them I may land thy holy and saving name. Though I have lost my integrity: yet thou hast not forgotten thy mercy. Though I had power to lose and condemn myself: yet thou in thy mercy art more powerful to save me. Lord do not thou so look upon my sins, as to forget thy mercy: do not so ponder and weigh my offences, that they overpoise thy merit: do not so remember my wickedness, as therefore to forget thy goodness. Remember not thy anger against my guiltiness: but remember thy mercy towards my misery. Thou who hast given me a mind to desire thee, withdraw not thyself from my desire▪ Thou who hast showed unto me my unworthiness, and just damnation, hide not from me thy merit, and the promise of everlasting salvation. My cause is to be tried at the heavenly tribunal: but this is my comfort, that in the court of heaven thou hast assigned unto thee the name of a Saviour: for that name was brought down from heaven by an angel. O most merciful Jesus, Luke 2.21. to whom wilt thou be Jesus, if not to miserable sinners that seek thy grace and salvation? They that trust in their own righteousness and holiness, seek salvation in themselves: but I fly unto thee my Saviour; for I find nothing in myself worthy of eternal life: Save the condemned: show mercy to the sinner: justify the unrighteous: absolve the accused. Thou Lord art truth, John 14.6. thy name is holy and true. Let thy name also become true in respect of me, and become thou my Jesus and Saviour. Be thou unto me Jesus in this present life, be thou unto me Jesus in death, be thou unto me Jesus in the last judgement, be thou unto me Jesus in the life which is everlasting. I know thou wilt, sweet Jesus: for as thou art immutable in thy essence, so also thou art immutable in thy mercy. Thou wilt not change thy name, Lord Jesus, for my sake alone, who am a miserable sinner: Yea rather thou wilt become my Saviour; For thou dost not cast out him that cometh unto thee. Thou that hast given me a will to come unto thee, grant also unto me that coming I may be received: For thy words are truth and life. Let the propagation of original sin within me condemn me: John 14.6 yet thou art my Jesus. Let my conception in sin condemn me: yet thou art my Jesus. Let my forming in sin and under the curse condemn me: yet thou art my Saviour. Let the corruption of my nativity condemn me: yet thou art my Saviour. Let the sins of my youth condemn me: yet thou art my Jesus. Let the course of my whole life, defiled with most grievous sins, condemn me: yet thou art still my Jesus. Let de●th the just punishment of my many and grievous sins and offences condemn me: yet thou art my Saviour. Let the severe sentence in the last judgement condemn me: yet thou art my Jesus. In me is sin, reprobation, damnation: In thy name is righteousness, election, salvation. I was baptised in thy name: I believe in thy name: In thy name will I die: In thy name will I rise again: In thy name will I appear in judgement. In this name are all good things prepared for us, and shut up as it were a treasure: So much are they diminished, as my diffidence is increased: which that it may be far from me, I beseech thee by this thy name, good Jesus, that for my sin and unbelief I be not damned, whom by thy precious merit and saving name thou wouldst have saved. Meditat. V. An exercise of faith from the love of Christ in the agony of death. The grace of Jesus Christ to me Is th'only true felicity. SEe Lord Jesus, how injurious I am to thy passion: My heart is vexed, and my soul is very sorrowful; because I have no good works of mine own; because I have no merits: when as thy passion is my action, thy works my merits. I am injurious to thy passion, when as I seek for the supplement of my works, whereas it is in itself all-sufficient. If I should find righteousness in myself, thy righteousness would profit me nothing, or else I should not so much desire it. If I seek for the works of the law, by the law shall I be condemned: But I know that now I am no longer under the law, but under grace. I have lived wickedly, I have sinned, Luke 15.2 holy Father, against heaven and before thee, I am not worthy to be called thy son, yet thou wilt not refuse to call me thy servant. Deny me not, I pray thee, the fruit of thy passion: let not thy blood wax barren, but let it bring forth fruit, and deliver my soul. My sins have always lived in my flesh: but, I entreat thee, let them at length die with me. Hitherto the flesh hath always ruled over me, but let the Spirit at length triumph: Let the outward man be subject to corruption and worms, that the inward man may be glorified. Hitherto I have always given way to the suggestions of the devil; but grant hereafter, I beseech thee, Rom. 16.20. that I may trample them under my feet. Satan is ready at hand to accuse me; but he hath nothing in me. The sight of death affrighteth me; but death is the end of my sins, and the beginning of an holy life. Now at length shall I be able perfectly to please thee, O my God: Now at length shall I be confirmed in goodness and virtue. Satan terrifieth me with my sins, but let him accuse him which took upon him my infirmities, Isa. 53.4▪ whom the Lord hath smitten for my sins: The debt which I owe is great indeed, and I cannot pay any part thereof: but my trust is in the riches and bounty of him that hath undertaken the payment. Let him discharge me, who hath made himself surety for me: Let him pay for me, who took my debt upon himself. I have sinned, O Lord, and my sins are many and grievous: But this horrible sin I will not commit, to make thee a liar, who by thy words, works, and oath dost testify that satisfaction is made for my iniquities. I am not afraid by reason of my sins: for thou art my righteousness. I am not afraid by reason of my ignorance: for thou art my wisdom. I am not afraid of death: for thou art my life. I am not afraid of my errors: for thou art my truth. I am not afraid of corruption: for thou art my resurrection. I am not afraid of the sorrows of death: for thou art my joy. I am not afraid of the severity of judgement: 1. Cor. 1.30. for thou art my righteousness. Distil upon my withered soul the dew of thy grace and quickening consolation. My spirit waxeth dry: but it shall shortly rejoice in thee. My flesh doth languish, and is withered: but it shall shortly bud forth. I am subject to corruption: but thou shalt deliver me from corruption: for thou hast delivered me from all evils. Thou hast created me: How then can the workmanship of thy hands be dissolved? Thou hast redeemed me from all mine enemies: How then can death have rule over me? Thou hast bestowed thy body and blood and all that thou hadst, yea even thyself for my salvation: How then shall death withhold them, which thou hast redeemed with so precious a ransom? Thou, Lord Jesus, art righteousness itself: So than my sins cannot prevail against thee. Thou art life itself, and the resurrection: So than my death cannot prevail against thee. Thou art God: Therefore Satan cannot prevail against thee. 2. Cor. 1.22. Thou hast given me the earnest of thy Spirit: in that do I glory, in that do I triumph, and am fully persuaded, without doubting, that I shall be admitted to the marriage of the Lamb. Most dear bridegroom, Rev. 19.7. thou art my wedding-garment, which I put on in baptism: thou shalt cover my nakedness, Gal. 3.25▪ neither will I sow the supplement of my righteousness to this most precious and beautiful garment. What is man's righteousness, but the cloth of a menstruous woman? Isa. 64.6. How then can I dare to patch that most precious garment of Christ's righteousness with this abominable rag? In this garment will I appear before thy face in judgement, when thou shalt judge the world in righteousness and equity: Act. 17.31. In this garment will I appear before thy face in the kingdom of heaven: This garment shall cover my confusion and reproach, that no man remember it any more for ever: There shall I appear glorious and holy in thy sight: And this my flesh, this my body shall be arrayed with beatifical glory, which glory shall be everlasting, and without end. Rev. 22.20. Come Lord Jesus, and whosoever loveth thee let him say, Come. Meditat. VI Consolation for the penitent, from the cross of Christ, gathered chiefly out of Anselm. Christ's cross my crown I do esteem, What's ' ever heathen men do deem. ALl the glory of the godly consists in the ignominy of the Lords passion: Bernard. All the rest of the godly consists in the wounds of our Saviour, our life in his death, our glory in his exaltation. How great is thy mercy, O heavenly Father and Almighty God Of myself I could offend thee, but of myself I could not appease thee: Thou therefore in Christ dost reconcile me unto thee. Behold therefore, holy God, the holy pledge of his flesh, Anselm. and forgive the guiltiness of my flesh: Have respect unto what thy Son hath suffered for me, and forget what thy wicked servant hath done against thee: My flesh doth provoke thee to anger: Let the flesh of Christ I beseech thee, move thee to mercy. It is much that my wickedness hath deserved: but it is much more that the holiness of my redeemer hath merited. Great is my unrighteousness, but much more great is the righteousness of my redeemer. For as much as God is higher than man, so much is my wickedness lower than his goodness, both in quality and quantity. I am wholly thine by condition, grant also that by love I may be wholly thine. Thou that makest me to ask, make me also to receive; Matt. 7.7. Thou that grantest unto me to seek, grant unto me also to find; Thou that teachest me to knock, Matt. 7.7. open unto me when I knock. To desire, I have from thee: Let me have from thee also to obtain. Phil. 2.13. To will, I have from thee: Let me have from thee to do also. Holy God, just Judge! If my sins be concealed, they are uncurable: if they be seen, they are detestable: they do burn me with grief, and do much more terrify me with fear. Do not withhold, I pray thee, thy true mercy where thou findest so true misery. Great is the sin which thou findest here, but let thy grace be greater and more plentiful. Holy Father, pour not I beseech thee thy wrath upon me, seeing that thou hast smitten thy Son for me. O holy Jesus, deliver me from the wrath of God, thou that didst take it upon thyself for my sake upon the cross. O holy Spirit, protect me by thy consolation against the wrath of God, thou that in the gospel hast declared mercy to the contrite and penitent. O holy God and just Judge, I find no place to fly unto from the presence of thy wrath: If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: Psal. 139.8. If I descend into the deep, behold thou art there also: 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the utmost parts of the sea, 10. there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right h●nd lay hold on me: Unto Christ therefore will I fly, and hide myself in his wounds. O merciful God, behold the body of thy Son wounded in every part, and look not upon the wounds of my sins. Let the blood of thy Son wash me from all my spots. Hear his most ardent prayers offered unto thee for the salvation of the elect. O holy God and just Judge, my life affrights me: Anselm. for if it be exactly examined, it is either sin, or barrenness: And if there seem to be any fruit in it, it is either counterfeit, or imperfect, or some ways corrupted; so that it cannot please thee, yea it must needs displease thee. Truly, all my life is either sinful and damnable, or unfruitful and contemptible. But why should I separate unfruitful and damnable? Certainly, if it be unfruitful, it is damnable: for every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, Mat. 3.10. is hewn down and cast into the fire. Not only the tree that bringeth forth ill fruit, is cast into the fire: but that also which bringeth forth no fruit. The goats affright me, for they were set on the left hand of the judge, Mat. 25.41. not because they did any evil, but because they did no good. To the hungry they gave no meat: To the thirsty they gave no drink. Therefore thou withered and unfruitful tree, which hast deserved everlasting fire, what wilt thou answer in that day when thou shalt give account for all the time spent in this life even to the twinkling of an eye? An hair shall not perish from thy head, nor a moment from time. O the straits! On this side shall be thy sins accusing: On that side justice terrifying: Underneath thee the horrible pit of hell gaping: Above thee the angry judge condemning: Within thee thy conscience burning: Without thee the world flaming. Pet. 4.18 The just man shall scarce be saved: Whither then shall the sinner thus taken unawares betake himself? To lie hid, it is impossible: To appear it is intolerable. From whence then shall I seek for the salvation of my soul? Bernard. from whom shall I seek counsel? Who is he that is called the Angel of great counsel? It is Jesus: He is the judge between whose hands I tremble. Fear not then, O my soul, be comforted, despair not: Hope in him whom thou fearest, betake thyself unto him from whom thou hast fled. O Jesus Christ, for this thy names sake do unto me according to thy name. Look upon me miserable man, that call upon thy name: If thou receive me into the most ample bosom of thy mercy, thou shalt no whit be straited. It is true, O Lord, my conscience hath deserved damnation, and my repentance is not sufficient for satisfaction: But it is most certain, that thy mercy is greater than my offence. In thee, O Lord, Psal. 31.1. do I put my trust, let me never be confounded. Meditat. VII. Of the fruit of the Lords Passion. My hope on Christ is fixed sure, Who wounded was my wounds to cure. AS often as I think of the Lords passion, I presume much of the love of God and the forgiveness of my sins. He bows down his head to kiss me: Bernard upon the Passion. He stretcheth forth his arms to embrace me: He openeth his hands to give unto me: He openeth his side that I may see his heart flaming with love: He is lifted up from the earth that he may draw all unto him: his wounds are blue with grief, and shining with love: Therefore by the opening of his wounds we ought to enter into the secrets of his heart. With him there is most plenteous redemption, because his blood distilled not down drop by drop, but flowed down most plentifully from five parts of his body: As the grape cast into the winepress is squeezed, Bernard. and poureth forth liquor on every side: So the flesh of Christ being pressed with the weight of God's anger, and our sins, doth on every side pour forth the liquor of blood. When Abraham would have offered his son for a sacrifice, the Lord said, Gen. 22.12. Now I know of a truth that thou lovest me: Do thou likewise acknowledge the infinite love of the eternal Father, in that he would deliver his only begotten Son to death for us. John 3.16 He loved us when we were his enemies: Rom. 5.10 And can he forget us when we are reconciled unto him by the death of his Son? Can he forget the precious blood of his Son, when as he telleth the tears and the steps of the godly? Psal. 56.8. Can Christ in his life forget those, for whom he was willing to undergo death? Can he in the time of his glory forget those, for whom he suffered so great torments? Consider thou faithful soul, Luther. the manifold fruits of the Lords passion. Christ poured forth for us a bloody sweat, that in the agony of death a cold sweat might not oppress us. It was his pleasure to wrestle with death, that we might not faint in the agony of death. It was his will to suffer most grievous anxiety and sorrow even unto death, that he might make us partakers of everlasting joy in the heavens. He would be betrayed with a kiss, which is a sign of friendship and good will, that he might blot out the sin by the which Satan betrayed our first parents under the colour of friendship. He would be apprehended and bound by the Jews, that he might set us at liberty which were bound in the chain of our sins, and subject to be cast into everlasting damnation. He would begin his passion in the garden, that he might purge away sin which took its beginning in the garden of paradise. He would be comforted by an angel, that he might make us angels fellows in the heavens. He was forsaken of his own disciples, that he might glue unto himself us, who had most shamefully revolted from God. Before the Council he was accused by false witnesses, that Satan might not accuse us by the law of God. He was condemned on earth, that we might be absolved in heaven. He that committed no sin was speechless, that we might not in the day of judgement be strucken dumb by reason of our sins. He was willing to be buffeted, that we might be freed from the sting of conscience and buffet of Satan: He suffered himself to be mocked, that we might insult over Satan the insulter: His face was covered, that he might remove from us the vail of sin by which we were hindered that we could not behold the face of God, as being involved in damnable ignorance: He would be disrobed, that he might restore unto us the robe of innocence, which we had lost by sin: He was pricked with thorns, that he might cure the compunctions of our hearts: He underwent the burden of the cross, that he might take from us the burden of everlasting punishment: He cr●●d out that he was forsaken of God, Matt. 27.46. that he might purchase for us an everlasting habitation with God: He thirsted on the cross, that he might merit for us the dew of God's grace, and free us from everlasting thirst: He would be scorched in the fire of God's anger, that he might free us from the fire of hell. He stood as guilty, that he might absolve us. He was condemned, that we might be delivered from condemnation. He was scourged by the hands of the unrighteous, that he might free us from the scourges of the devil. He cried out for grief, that he might preserve us from everlasting exclamation. He poured forth tears, that he might wipe away tears from our eyes. He died, that we might live. He felt the pains of hell, that we might never feel them. He was humbled, that so he might cure our sinful tumour. He was crowned with thorns that he might merit for us a celestial crown. He suffered of all, that he might save all. His eyes were darkened in death, that we might live in the light of celestial glory. He suffered ignominy and reproaches, that we might hear the angels sing cheerfully in heaven. Despair not then, O faithful soul: An infinite good was offended by thy sins, and an infinite price is paid for them. Thou shouldest have been condemned for thy sins: But the Son of God took upon him the sins of the whole world, and was condemned for them. Thou deservedst to be punished for thy sins: But God hath punished them already in his Son. The wounds of thy sins are great: But the balsam of Christ's blood is more precious, and of virtue to cure them. Deut. 27.26. Moses pronounceth thee cursed, because thou hast not kept all that was wrote in the book of the law: But Christ was made the curse for thee. In the court of heaven there is an hand-writing against thee: But Christ hath canceled that with his blood. Col. 2.14. Let thy passion therefore, O Christ, be my last refuge! Meditat. VIII. Of the certainty of our salvation. My hope shall never be confounded, Because my hope on Christ is grounded. WHy art thou troubled, O my soul, and why d●st thou still doubt of the mercy of God? Remember thy Creator: Who created thee without thee? Psal. 139.15. Who form thy body in secret in the lower parts of the earth? Who took care of thee when thou wast not? will not he have care of thee, now he hath made thee after his own image? I am the creature of God, to the Creator do I convert myself: Though my nature be infected by the devil, though it be wounded by thiefs, that is, by my sins, Luke 10.30. yet my Creator liveth: He which made me, can also renew me: He which created me without any evil, can take all evil from me, whatsoever hath entered into me by the suggestion of the devil, by Adam's prevarication, by my own action, yea though it hath overrun my whole substance: Therefore my Creator can reform me, if so be that it stands with his good pleasure and will: and certainly he will, for who ever hated his own workmanship? Are we not before him like clay in the hands of the potter? If he had hated me, certainly he would never have created me, when I was nothing. 1. Tim. 3.10. He is the Saviour of all men, but especially of them that believe. He created me wonderfully, but he redeemed me more wonderfully: Bernard. It never appeared more plainly that he loved us, then in his wounds and passion. Surely he is truly beloved, Clem. Alex. for whose sake the only begotten Son of God is sent from the bosom of his Father: I● thou didst not desire my salvation, Lord Jesus, why didst thou descend from heaven? But thou didst descend upon earth, to die on the cross. God to redeem a servant, spared not his own Son. Rom. 8.32. Therefore assuredly, God loveth man with a wonderful love, seeing that he hath delivered up his Son to be afflicted, slain, and crucified for the redemption of man. Very dear, 1. Pet 1.18. and very great was the price of our redemption: Therefore great and dear is the mercy of our Redeemer. It might seem to some that God loves his adopted sons, as dearly as his only begotten Son: For that on which we bestow any thing, is dearer than that which we bestow: That he might make us his adopted sons▪ he spared not his natural and coessential Son: It is no wonder then if he hath prepared for us mansions in his heavenly house, Joh. 14.2. seeing that he hath given us his own Son, in whom is the fullness of the divinity. Certainly, where there is the fullness of the divinity, there is also the fullness of life and glory everlasting: But if he in Christ hath given unto us the fullness of life everlasting, how shall he deny unto us a little particle thereof? Assuredly our heavenly Father loveth us his adopted sons with exceeding great love, seeing he hath delivered up his only begotten Son for us. Assuredly the Son embraceth us with exceeding great love, seeing that he hath delivered up himself for us. To make us rich, he endured extreme poverty: for he had not where to lay his head. Matt. 8.20. To make us the sons of God, he is made man: neither doth he neglect us now, having finished the work of our redemption, but still intercedeth for us, Rom. 8.34 sitting at the right hand of the divine Majesty. What thing is there necessary for my salvation which he shall not obtain, seeing that he hath bestowed himself to merit salvation for me? What will the Father deny unto his Son who became obedient unto him unto death, even the death of the cross? Phil. 2.8. What will the Father deny unto his Son, seeing that long ago he hath accepted the price of our redemption paid by him? Let my sins accuse me, yet in this my Mediator do I trust: He which excuseth me, is greater than he that accuseth me: Let my weakness affright me, yet in his strength will I glory: Let Satan accuse me, if my Mediator excuse me: Let heaven and earth accuse me, and mine iniquities prove me guilty; it is sufficient for me that the Creator of heaven and earth, and righteousness itself doth intercede for me. The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient: Bernard. It shall be sufficient for me to have him propitious, against whom only I have sinned: Whatsoever he hath decreed not to impute, shall be as if it had not been: Neither doth it trouble me that my sins are both grievous and diverse, and often repeated: For if I were not burdened with sins, what need I desire his righteousness? Austin. If I had no disease, what need I implore the help of the physician? Mat. 9.12. Mat. 1 21. 1. Cor. 1.30. He is the Physician, he is the Saviour, he is righteousness itself, he cannot deny himself: I am sick, I am condemned, I am a sinner, I cannot deny myself. Have mercy on me, O thou my Physician, my Saviour, and my righteousness! Amen. Meditat. IX. That God alone is to be loved. By love cleave fast to God above: For nought on earth deserves thy love. Anselm. RAise up thyself, O faithful soul, and love that chief good in whom are all goods, without whom there is no other true good. No creature can satisfy our desire, because no creature is perfectly good, but only good by participation. Some current of good doth descend upon the creature from the Creator, but the fountain is still in God: Why therefore should we forsake the fountain, and follow the current? All good in the creatures, is but the image of that perfect good which is in God, yea, which is God: Why therefore should we lay hold on the image, and let go the thing itself? Noah's dove could not find on the movable waters where her foot might rest: Gen. 8.9. Even so our soul amongst all sublunary things cannot find out which can fully satisfy her desire, by reason of their inconstancy and frailty. Doth not he wrong himself which loveth any thing unworthy of his love? Now the soul of man is more noble than all the creatures, because it was redeemed by the passion and death of God: Why therefore should it love the creatures? Is it not contrary to that majesty unto which God hath exalted the Saints? Whatsoever we love, we love either for power, or wisdom, or beauty: And what is more powerful than God? what is more wise than God? what is more beautiful than God? All the power of earthly kingdoms is from him, and under him: All the wisdom of men compared with the wisdom of God is foolishness: All the beauty of the creatures compared with the beauty of God, is deformity. If some powerful king should treat by messengers with a virgin of mean rank and condition concerning marriage: should she not do foolishly in neglecting the king, and settling her affection upon the messengers the king's servants? So God by the beauty of all the creatures desires to call us unto him, & invite us to love him: why therefore should our soul, which Christ would have to be his spouse, cleave unto the creatures the messengers of this spiritual marriage? The creatures themselves cry, Why do ye cleave unto us? why do ye place the end of your desire in us? We cannot satiate your appetite: Come ye rather to the Creator of us both. From the creatures we can expect no reciprocal love: The creatures did not begin first to love us: But God who is love itself, 1. John 4.16. cannot but love those that love him: Yea he prevents our desires and our love, by loving us first: How greatly then is God to be loved, who in the first place hath loved us so greatly! He loved us when as yet we were not: For it was the love of God that we came into this world. Rom. 5.10 He loved us when we were his enemies: For it was his mercy and his love that he sent his son to be our redeemer. 8. He loved us when we were fallen into sin: For it is his love that he doth not presently deliver us to death in our sins, but still expects our conversion. It is his love that beyond our merits, yea contrary to our merits, he translateth us to the celestial palaces. Without the love of God thou canst never come to the saving knowledge of God: without the love of God all knowledge is unprofitable, yea hurtful: Wherefore love exceedeth the knowledge of all mysteries, because this may be in the devils, but that cannot be but in the godly. Why is the devil most unhappy? Because he cannot love the chiefest good. Contrariwise, why is God most happy and blessed? Wisd. 11.24▪ Because he loveth all things, because he is delighted in all his works. Why is not our love of God perfect in this life? Because the measure of our love is according to the measure of our knowledge. 1. Cor. 13.12. Now in this life we know but in part, and in a glass: In the life to come we shall be perfectly blessed, because we shall perfectly love God: We shall perfectly love God, because we shall perfectly know him. No man can hope to have the perfect love of God in the world to come, which beginneth not to love God in this world. The kingdom of God must begin in the heart of man in this life, or else it cannot be consummated in the life to come. Without the love of God there is no desire of eternal life: How then can any one be partaker of the chiefest good, which loveth not, which seeketh not, Savanar. which desireth not? Such as thy love is, such art thou; because thy love transformeth thee into itself. Love is the chiefest couple, because the lover and the thing loved become one. What hath conjoined the most just God and wretched sinners? What hath conjoined them being infinitely distant one from the other? Infinite love. And yet that the infinite justice of God might not be weakened, the infinite price of Christ interceded. Again, what hath conjoined together God the Creator and the faithful soul created, things infinitely distant? Love. In the life which is eternal, we shall be joined to God in the chiefest degree. Why? Because we shall love him in the chiefest degree. Love uniteth and transformeth: if thou lovest carnal things, thou art carnal. If thou lovest the world, thou shalt become worldly: 1. Cor. 15▪ 50. Kempis. But flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom of God. If thou lovest God and celestial things, thou shalt become celestial. The love of God is the chariot of Elias ascending up into heaven. The love of God is the joy of the mind, the paradise of the soul, it excludeth the world, it overcometh the devil, it shutteth hell, it openeth heaven. The love of God is that seal by which God sealeth the elect and believers: Rev. 7.3. God at the last judgement will acknowledge none to be his, but those that are sealed with this seal. For faith itself, the only instrument of our justification and salvation, is not true, unless it doth demonstrate itself by love. There is no true faith, unless there be a firm confidence; and there is no confidence without the love of God. That benefit is not acknowledged, for which we do not give thanks; and we do not give thanks to him whom we do not love: If therefore thy faith be true, it will acknowledge the benefit of our redemption wrought by Christ; it will acknowledge, and give thanks; it will give thanks, and love. The love of God is the life and rest of the soul: When the soul departs from the body by death, than the life of the body departeth: When God departs out of the soul by reason of sins, than the life of the soul departeth. Again, God dwells in our hearts by faith, Eph. 3.17. God dwells in the soul by love, because the love of God is diffused in the hearts of the elect by the holy Spirit: Rom. 5.5. There is no tranquillity to the soul without the love of God: The world and Satan do much disquiet it: But God is the chief rest of the soul: There is no peace of conscience but to those that are justified by faith: there is no true love of God but in them that have a filial confidence in God: Therefore let the love of ourselves, the love of the world, the love of the creatures die in us, that the love of God may live in us: Which God begin in us in this world, and perfect in the world to come! Meditat. X. Of our reconciliation with God. Fear not my soul, be not dismayed: For jesus Christ thy debts hath paid. CHrist truly took our infirmities, Isa. 53.4. Mat. 8.17▪ and bore our griefs and sicknesses. O Lord Jesus! That which in us merited eternal punishment, thou tookest upon thyself: That burden which would have pressed us down into hell, thou hast undergone: Thou wast wounded for our iniquities, thou wast broken for our sins: Isa. 53.5. By the blueness of thy wounds are we healed: 6. The Lord hath laid upon thee the iniquities of us all. Surely wonderful indeed is this change. Thou takest our sins upon thyself, and bestowest thy righteousness upon us: Death due unto us thou undergoest thyself, and conferrest life upon us: I cannot therefore by any means doubt of thy grace, or despair by reason of my sins. The worst thing that was in us, thou tookest upon thyself: How then canst thou despise that which is the best in us and thine own work, to wit, our soul and body? Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, Psal. 16. ●0. neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption: For he is truly sanctified whose sins are abolished and taken away: Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, and to whom the Lord imputeth not his sins: Psal. 32.1. How can God impute our sins to us, when he hath already imputed them to another? For the wickedness of his people he hath smitten his best beloved Son: Isa. 53.8. By the knowledge of him therefore he shall justify many, and shall bear their iniquities. How shall he justify those that are his? Hear and attend, O my soul: He shall save them by the knowledge of him, that is, by the saving acknowledgement and firm apprehension by faith of the mercy and grace of God in Christ. This is life eternal, Joh. 17.3▪ to know and acknowledge thee the only true God, and jesus Christ whom thou hast sent: Rom. 10. ●▪ And therefore if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord jesus, and believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Faith apprehendeth Christ's satisfaction: He bore the iniquities of those that are his, he suffered for the sins of many, he interceded for the transgressors: For he should have had very few just, unless in mercy he had received sinners. Thou shouldst have had few just, O Jesus, unless thou hadst remitted the sins of the unjust. How then shall Christ judge according to severity, the sins of the penitent, which he hath taken upon himself? How shall he condemn him that is guilty of sin, seeing that he himself was made sin for us? Will he condemn those, 2. Cor. 5.21. whom he calleth his friends? Joh. 15.14▪ Will he condemn those, for whom he hath entreated? Will he condemn those, for whom he died? Lift up thyself therefore, O my soul, and forget thy sins, Ezek. 18.22. for the Lord hath forgotten them. Whom dost thou fear as the punisher of thy sins but the Lord, who himself made satisfaction for thy sins? If any other had paid the price of my redemption, I might have doubted whether the just Judge would accept of that satisfaction: If a man or an angel had satisfied for my sins, yet still there might be a doubt, whether the price of redemption were sufficient: But now there is no place for doubt. How can it be that he will not accept of that price which he hath paid himself? How can that choose but be sufficient, which is from God himself? Psal. 42.5. Psal. 25.10 Psal. 119.137. Psal. 42.5. Why art thou troubled O my soul? All the ways of God are mercy and truth: Just is the Lord, and just are his judgements: Why art thou troubled O my soul? Let the mercy of God raise thee up, let the justice of God also raise thee up. For if God be just, for one offence he will not exact double satisfaction. For our sins he hath smitten his Son: How then can he smite us his servants for them? How can he punish our sins in us, which he hath already punished in his Son? The truth of the Lord endureth for ever: As I live, saith the Lord, Psal. 117.2. Ezek. 33.11. I will not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live. Matt. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you, saith our Saviour. Shall we make God a liar, and labour by the weight of our sins to bear down his mercy? To make God a liar, and to deny his mercy, Austin●. is a greater sin than all the sins of the whole world: and therefore Judas sinned more in despairing, than the Jews in crucifying Christ. But rather where sin hath abounded, Rom. 5.20. there also grace hath abounded much more, and overweigheth our sins by infinite degrees. For sins are but the sins of men; but grace is the grace of God: Sins are temporal; but the grace of our Lord is from eternity to eternity. Satisfaction hath been made for our sins, and the grace of God is repaired by the death of Christ, and is established for ever: unto which I betake myself as a devout suppliant. Meditat. XI. Of the satisfaction made for our sins. The death of Christ is life to thee, If thou a Christian truly be. Mat. 11.28 COme unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you: they are the words of our Saviour. It is true indeed, Lord Jesus, I am burdened overmuch, and I sigh under the weight of my sin: But I make haste unto thee the fountain of living water. Come unto me, Lord Jesus, that so I may come unto thee: I come unto thee, Lord, because thou first camest unto me: I come unto thee, Lord Jesus, and with anxiety I desire thee, for I find no goodness in myself. But if I found any goodness in myself, I should not with such anxiety desire thee. True, Lord Jesus! I labour and am heavy laden; neither can I compare myself with any of the saints, or penitent sinners, unless it be with the thief upon the cross. Lord have mercy upon me, thou which hadst mercy on the thief upon the cross. I have lived wickedly, I have lived i● sin, but I desire to die the death of the holy and righteous: But holiness and righteousness are far from my heart: Therefore to thy holiness and righteousness do I fly. Let thy soul, Lord Jesus, secure me, let it succour me, seeing that thou layedst it down for a price of redemption for many! Let thy most sacred body which was afflicted with rods, Mat. 20. 2●▪ spittings, buffet, and thorns, and fastened to the cross for me, let that succour me! Let thy sacred and holy blood, O Jesus, let that blood secure me, Joh. 19.34 which ran out of thy side at thy death and passion, which cleanseth us from all our sins! Let thy most holy divinity succour me, 1. Joh. 1. 9● Iren. thy divinity which upheld thy humanity at thy passion, which also resting and not showing itself, the great mystery of our redemption was finished, which added infinite strength and weight unto thy passion, Act. 20.28 Insomuch that God by his own blood hath purchased unto himself me miserable man. Let thy wounds secure me, in which all my cure consisteth! Let thy most holy passion succour me! Let thy merit succour me, as being my last refuge, and a remedy against my sins! For in that thou suffered'st, thou suffered'st for me: Therefore in that thou meritedst, thou meritedst for me and for mine unworthiness: Rom. 5.8. Therefore God commendeth his love towards us, and proveth it by a testimony surpassing the understanding of all men, yea of the angels themselves, in that Christ died for us when as yet we were sinners and the enemies of God. ●0. Who can choose but admire this? Who can choose but be astonished at it? The Son of God entreated by no man, yea hated of all men, in great mercy entreated for us who were sinners, and his enemies: Neither entreated he only, but also satisfied God's justice for us, by his most poor nativity, by his most holy life, by his most bitter passion, by his most cruel death. O Lord Jesus! Thou that intreatedst for me, suffered'st for me, and diedst for me, before I could desire thy merit and passion, or move thee by my prayers to pay the ransom for me, how canst thou cast me away from thy face? How canst thou deny unto me the fruit of thy most holy passion, Psal. 130.1. when as now out of the deeps I cry unto thee, and beg the fruit of thy merit with tears and sighs? I was an enemy by nature when thou diedst for me: but I am made by grace thy friend, thy brother, and thy son. Thou heardst an enemy before he prayed unto thee, and how canst thou despise thy friend which comes unto thee with prayers and tears? Thou wilt not cast out him that cometh unto thee, Joh. 6.37. because thy word is truth. Thou hast spoken unto us in spirit and truth, and we have received from thee the words o● eternal life. 68 Attend and raise up thyself, O my soul: Before, we were sinners by nature; but now, we are just by grace: Before, we were enemies; but now, we are friends and kinsfolks: Before, our help was in the death of Christ; but now, it is in Christ his life: Before, we were dead in sins; but now, we are quickened in Christ: Oh the exceeding love of God, Eph. 2.4. wherewith he loved us! Oh the superabundant riches of his grace, whereby he hath in heaven provided a place for us! Oh the tender mercy of our God, whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us! Luk. 1.78. But if the death of Christ hath brought unto us righteousness and life, what shall his life do? If our Saviour dying paid the price unto his Father, what shall he do now being alive and interceding for us? For Christ liveth and dwells in our heart, if the remembrance of his most holy merit live and flourish in it. Draw me, Lord Jesus, that I may possess in the truth of the thing, that which here I expect by the firmness of hope! Let thy servant, I pray thee, be with thee, and let him behold the glory which the Father hath given to thee, Joh. 17.24 and let him inhabit the mansion which thou hast prepared in thy Father's house! Joh. 14.2. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord! They shall praise thee for ever and ever. Psal. 84. 4●▪ Meditat. XII. Of the nature and properties of true faith. Faith is not faith, or if it be, Faith is but dead, wants charity. O Thou beloved soul consider the power of faith, and give thanks unto God who is the only giver thereof: It is faith alone that doth in such manner engraft us into Christ, that as vine-branches do draw their sap from the vine, Joh. 15.4▪ so we also from him do draw life, righteousness, and salvation. Adam fell from the grace of God, and lost the divine image by his incredulity: But we are again received to grace; and the image of God begins to be renewed in us by faith. By faith Christ becomes ours, and dwells in us: And where Christ is, there is the grace of God: And where the grace of God is, Eph 2.8. there is the inheritance of eternal life. By faith Abel offered unto God a greater sacrifice than Cain: Heb. 11.4 So by faith we offer unto God spiritual sacrifices, Heb. 13.15. Heb. 11.5 that is, the fruit of our lips▪ By faith Enoch was translated: So faith takes us from the society of men, and makes us have our conversation in heaven, Philip. 3.20. yea whiles we are here upon earth. Christ even now dwells in us, we have already eternal life in us, Heb. 11.7 but it is hid. By faith Noah prepared the ark: So we by faith do enter into the Church, in which our souls are preserved, when all other perish in the vast sea of this world. By faith Abraham left the idolatrous land: 8. So by faith we go out of this world, leaving our parents, brethren, and kinsfolks, and cleave unto Christ, who calleth us by his word. By faith Abraham went into a strange country in expectation of the promised land: 9 So we by faith do look for the celestial Jerusalem which God hath prepared in the heavens. Rev. 21.2. We are strangers and pilgrims in this world, Psal. 39.12 and travel by faith unto a celestial country. Heb. 11.11. By faith Sarah conceived her son Isaac in her old age: So we being spiritually dead, have received by faith strength to conceive Christ spiritually. For as Christ was once conceived in the sanctified womb of the virgin Mary: So in the faithful soul, which hath kept itself pure from the contagion of the world, he is every day spiritually born. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac: 17. So also we by faith do spiritually mortify and sacrifice our own will, which is the beloved son of our soul: Mat. 16.24 For he which will follow Christ must deny himself, that is, renounce his own will, his own honour, and the love of himself. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob: Heb 11.20 So we by faith are made partakers of all divine benedictions: For in the ●eed of Abraham, that is, in Christ, Gen. 2●. 18. all nations shall be blessed. Heb. 11.22 By faith Joseph prophesied of the Israelites going out of Egypt, and gave commandment concerning his bones: So we by faith expect an egress out of ●he spiritual Egypt of this world, ●nd a blessed resurrection of the bo●ie. By faith Moses was preserved ●or three months: 23. So faith hideth us from the tyranny of Satan, until at length we be brought into God● royal palace, and be adopted spiritual kings. By faith Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, 25. then to live in the glory of Egypt: So faith begets in us the contempt of glory, honour, riches, and the pleasures of this world, and excites in us the desire of the kingdom of heaven. By faith we choose rather the ignominy of Christ, than the treasures of this world. By faith Moses left Egypt, and feared not the king's anger: 27. So faith doth animate and confirm us, that we are not terrified by the threats of the tyrants of this world, but rather obey the call of God with a courageous and constant mind. By faith Israel celebrated the Passeover: 28. So also we by faith do celebrate a Passeover. Chris● was sacrificed for our Paschal lamb whose flesh is meat indeed, an● whose blood is drink indeed. Joh. 6.55. B● faith the Israelites passed through the red sea: Heb. 11.29. So we by faith do pass● through the sea of this world. B● faith the walls of Jericho fell: Josh. 6. ●0. So w● by faith destroy all the munitions of Satan. By faith Rahab was saved▪ Heb. 11. 3● So in the universal destruction of this world, by faith we shall be saved from destruction. By faith the Fathers overcame kingdoms, 33. stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the force of fire: So we by faith destroy the kingdom of Satan, escape the treacheries and rage of the infernal lion, and are delivered from the scorching of hell fire. But faith is not a naked opinion, and profession, but a true and lively apprehension of Christ propounded to us in the gospel, a full persuasion of the grace of God, the confident rest of our soul, and peace which relies only upon the merit of Christ. This faith is begotten of the seed of God's word: For faith and the Spirit are one, and the word is the coach by which the holy Spirit is brought unto us. The fruit doth follow the nature of the seed: Faith is a divine fruit: Therefore the seed must be divine, and that is, The word. As in the creation light was made by the word of God; for God said, Let there be light, Gen. 1.14 and there was light▪ So the light of faith ariseth from the light of the word of God: In thy light shall we see light, Psal. 36.9. saith the Psalmist. Seeing faith doth join us unto Christ, seeing it makes us one with him, therefore it is the mother of all virtues in us. Where there is faith, there is Christ; where Christ is, there is an holy life; to wit, true humility, true gentleness, true love. Christ and the holy Spirit are not severed: where the holy Spirit is, there is true holiness: Therefore where there is not an holy life, there is not the sanctifying Spirit. And where there is not the Spirit, neither is there Christ; where there is not Christ, neither is there faith. Whatsoever branch doth not suck its life and nourishment from the vine, Joh. 15.4. is not to be judged a part of the vine: So neither are we yet joined to Christ by faith, unless we suck our life and nourishment from him. Faith is a kind of spiritual light: For our hearts are enlightened by faith: Therefore it spreads abroad the rays of good works: But where the rays of spiritual life are not, there is not yet the true light of faith. Bad works are the works of darkness: But faith is light: 2. Cor. 6.14. And what communion is there between light and darkness? Bad works are the seed of Satan: But faith is the seed of Christ: And what communion is there between Christ and Satan? 2. Cor. 6.15. By faith our hearts are purified: But how can there be any inward purity in the heart, when the words are impure, and the outward works appear impure? Faith is the victory which overcometh the world: 1. Joh. 5.4 And how can there be true faith there, where the flesh overcometh the Spirit, and leadeth it as it were captive? By faith we have Christ, and in Christ eternal life: But no impenitent sinner that persevereth in his sins, can be partaker of eternal life: How then can he be partaker of Christ? How can he be partaker of faith? Kindle in us, O Christ, the light of true faith, that by faith we may obtain eternal salvation. Meditat. XIII. Of the spiritual wedlock of Christ and the Soul. Christ is by marriage knit to thee, If thou to him by sanctity. Host 2.19. I Will betrothe thee unto me for ever, saith Christ unto the faithful soul: Christ therefore would be present at the marriage which was celebrated in Cana of Galilee, John 2.1. to show that he came into the world to spiritual marriages. ●sa. 61.10. Rejoice in the Lord with gladness, and leap thou faithful soul, for joy in thy God, who hath clothed thee with the garments of salvation, and compassed thee about with the robes of righteousness, like a spouse adorned with jewels and bracelets. Rejoice for the honour of the bridegroom: Austin. Rejoice for the beauty of the bridegroom: Rejoice for the love of the bridegroom. His honour is the greatest that can be: For he is true God blessed for ever. Rom. 9 5. How great then is the dignity of this creature, I mean the faithful soul, seeing the Creator himself is willing to betrothe her unto himself! His beauty is the greatest that can be: For he is beautiful above the sons of men, for they saw the glory of him, John 1.14 Mat. 17.2. as the glory of the only begotten of the Father: his face shined like the sun, and his garments were white as snow. Psal. 45.2 Psal. 8.5. His lips were full of grace, and he was crowned with glory and honour. How great then is his mercy, that he being the chiefest beauty, doth vouchsafe to choose the soul of man to be his spouse, whereas it is defiled with the stains of sin▪ On the bridegrooms part there is the greatest majesty: On the spouses' part there is the greatest infirmity. On the bridegrooms part there is the greatest beauty: On the spouses' part there is the greatest deformity. And yet far greater is the love of the bridegroom towards the spouse, then of the spouse towards the bridegroom, whose honour and whose beauty doth so far excel. Ansel● Behold thou faithful soul, behold the infinite love of the bridegroom! It was his love that drew him down from heaven unto the earth: It was his love that bound him to a pillar: It was his love that fastened him to the cross: It was his love that enclosed him up in the grave: It was his love that he descended into hell. What could make him to do all these things? Surely, it was his love towards his spouse. But our hearts are stony, and heavier than lead, if the bond of so great love cannot draw us unto God, whereas it hath drawn God unto us. Naked was his spouse, Ezek. 16.22. and being naked could not be admitted into the royal palace of the heavenly King: Isa. 61.10 And he hath clothed her with the garments of righteousness and salvation, whereas she lay enwrapped and involved in the foul coat of her sins, and the most filthy rags of iniquity: He hath granted unto her to be arrayed in fine linen, Rev. 19.8. clean and white: the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints: That garment is the righteousness which was obtained by the death and passion of the bridegroom himself. Jacob laboured fourteen years to obtain Rachel to be his wife: Gen. 29.27. But Christ for thirty four years almost endured hunger, thirst, cold, poverty, ignominy, reproaches, bonds, whips, the bitterness of gall, and death upon the cross, to purchase unto himself the faithful soul to be his spouse. Samson went down and chose out of the Philistines, Judg. 14.1 which were adjudged to destruction, a wife unto himself: The Son of God came down and choose unto himself a spouse out of men that were condemned, and subject to eternal death. The whole stock of the spouse was at enmity with the heavenly Father, and he by his most bitter passion hath reconciled it unto his Father. The spouse was prostrate upon the face of the earth, Ezek. 16.22. and polluted in her own blood: But he hath washed her with the water of baptism, and cleansed her with a most holy laver: He hath cleansed the blood of his spouse with his own blood: For the blood of the Son of God doth cleanse us from all our sins. 1. Joh. 1.7▪ The spouse was deformed: But he hath anointed her with the oil of grace and mercy. Ezek. 16.9 The spouse was not honourably apparelled, but he hath put bracelets and earrings upon her: He hath adorned her with virtues and diverse gifts of the holy Spirit. 11. The spouse was very poor and had no pledge to give unto him: Tertull. Therefore hath he left unto her the pledge of his Spirit, & received from her the pledge of his flesh, and hath carried it up into heaven. The spouse was hungry: But he hath given unto her fine floury and honey and oil to eat: Ezek. 16.19. He doth feed her with his flesh and blood unto eternal life. The spouse is disobedient, and often breaketh her marriage faith; she committeth fornication with the world and with the devil, and yet the bridegroom out of his infinite love doth receive her again into favour, as often as she returneth unto him by true repentance. Acknowledge and confess, thou faithful soul, these so many and so great arguments of his infinite love. Love, Austin. thou faithful soul, the love of him that for love of thee descended into the womb of the virgin: We must love him that delivered up himself for us, Anselm. so much more than our selves, by how much he is greater than us: Let us make our whole life conformable unto him, who for the love of us made himself wholly conformable unto us. He is justly to be accounted most unthankful, who loveth not again him of whom he was first beloved. How greatly therefore ought we to love him, who for the love of us, did as it were forget his own majesty! Happy soul, which by the bond of this spiritual marriage is joined unto Christ! She doth safely and confidently apply unto herself all the benefits of Christ: even as in another case, by wedlock the wife doth shine glorious by the reflection of the husband's rays upon her. Now by faith alone are we made partakers of this blessed and spiritual marriage, as it is written, Host 2.19. I will betrothe thee unto me in faith: Faith doth engraft us into Christ, Joh. 15.5. as a branch into the spiritual vine, that we may suck our life and nourishment from him. And as they which are joined in marriage, Mat. 19 6. are no more two but one flesh: So they which by faith are joined unto the Lord, 1. Cor. 6.17. become one spirit with him, because Christ by faith dwelleth in our hearts: Eph. 3.17. Gal. 5.6. And this faith if it be true, it worketh by love. As in the old Testament the priests were compelled to marry virgins: Leu. 21.13 So the celestial priest doth spiritually couple unto himself such a virgin as doth keep herself pure and undefiled from the embracements of the devil, the world, and her own flesh. Vouchsafe, O Christ, at length to admit us unto the marriage of the Lamb. Rev. 19.7. Amen. Meditat. XIIII. Of the mystery of Christ's incarnation. Admire, my soul, the mystery Of Jesus Christ's nativity. LEt us withdraw our minds a while from these temporal things, and let us contemplate the mystery of the Lords nativity. The Son of God came down from heaven unto us, that we might obtain the adoption of sons. Gal. 4.5. God is made man▪ that man may be made partaker of divine grace and nature. 1. Pet. 1.20. About the evening of this world would Christ be born; to show that the benefits of his incarnation concern not this life, but that which is everlasting. In the time of Augustus the peacemaker would he be born; Luk. 2.1. because he made peace between God and man. In the time of Israel's servitude would he be born; because he is the redeemer and deliverer of his people. Under the reign of a foreign king would he be born; Joh▪ 18. ●6 because his kingdom was not of this world. He is born of a virgin, to signify that he is not conceived or born, but in the hearts of those that are spiritual virgins, that is, whose minds adhere not unto the world and the devil, but unto God in one spirit. His birth was pure and holy, to sanctify our impure and polluted nativity. Tertull. He is born of a virgin betrothed to an husband, to honour matrimony, which was God's institution. He is born in the darkness of the night; because he was the true light which illuminateth the darkness of the world. He is laid in a manger, because he is the true food of our souls. Luke 2 7. He is born betwixt an ox and an ass, that men which were become like unto the beasts, might be restored to their former dignity. He is born in Bethlehem, that is, in the house of bread, Mat. 2.1. because he brought with him most plentiful food of divine benefits. He is the first and only begotten of his mother upon earth, because he was according to his divine nature the first and only begotten of his Father in heaven. He is born poor and needy, to purchase for us celestial riches. 2. Cor. 8.9 He is born in a stable, to bring us to his royal palace which is in heaven. From heaven is sent the messenger of this so great a benefit, Luke 2.9. because no man on earth understood the greatness thereof: And further it was meet that the messenger of celestial gifts should be celestial. The armies of the angels rejoice, 13. because we are by the incarnation of the Son made partakers of their happiness. To the shepherds first is declared this so great a miracle, 8. because the tru● shepherd of our souls came to bring back the lost sheep into the way. To the ignoble and those that were despised is the matter of so great joy declared, because no man can partake thereof, unless he become vile in his own eyes. To them that watch over their flocks is his nativity declared, because they only whose hearts do watch unto God, and not they that lie snorting in their sins, are made partakers of so great a gift. The choir of heaven, which was made sorrowful for the sin of our first father, 13. doth now sing and rejoice. The brightness and glory of that Lord and King appeareth now in the heavens, whose lowliness men despised here on earth. The angel says unto them, Fear not, because he was born, 10. who would quite take away all cause of fear. Joy was declared from heaven, because the author and giver of joy was born. Joy is commanded, because enmity between God and man, the cause of all sorrow, is removed. Glory in the highest is rendered unto God, 14. which our first father, by his unlawful transgression of the commandment, would have taken away. True peace is obtained by his nativity, because before, men were enemies unto God; before, their own conscience was their adversary; before, they were at dissension one with another. True peace is restored to the earth, because he is overcome which held us captive. 14. Let us go with the shepherds to Christ's manger, 15. that is, to the church, and in his swadling-clothes, that is, in the sacred scriptures, shall we find the infant enwrapped. Let us with Mary the holy mother of our Lord, 19 keep the words of so great a mystery, and let us every day recall them to our memory. Let us follow with our voice the angels which sing before us, 13. and let us render unto God due thanks for so great a benefit. Let us rejoice and be glad with all the heavenly army. For if the angels do so greatly rejoice for our sake: How much more ought we to rejoice, seeing unto us he is born and given? Isa. 9.6. If the Israelites did lift up their voices with jubilee when the ark of the covenant was brought unto them, 2. Sam. 6.15. which was but a figure and shadow of the Lords incarnation: How much more ought we to rejoice, unto whom the Lord himself is come, and hath taken our flesh upon him? Joh. 8.56. If Abraham rejoiced when he saw the day of the Lord; when the Lord, Gen. 18. ●▪ in an humane shape assumed for a time, appeared unto him: What should we do now Christ hath coupled unto himself our nature by an everlasting and inviolable covenant? Let us admire here the infinite goodness of God, who himself would descend unto us, seeing that we could not ascend unto him. Let us admire the infinite power of God, who of two things most distant, I mean the divine and humane nature, could make one, so nearly, that one and the same should be God and man. Let us admire the infinite wisdom of God, who could find out means to work our salvation, when men and angels saw no means. An infinite good was offended; and an infinite satisfaction was required: Man had offended God; of man was satisfaction required: But by man neither could an infinite satisfaction be made, neither could God's justice be satisfied without an infinite price: Therefore God was made man, Anselm. that both he which had sinned might satisfy, and he which was infinite might pay an infinite price. Let us admire this wonderful temper of God's justice and mercy, which no creature could find before God did manifest it, and none could fully perceive after it was made manifest. Let us admire these things, and not curiously pry into them: Let us desire to look in, though we cannot conceive all: Let us rather confess our ignorance, then deny God's omnipotence. Meditat. XV. Of the saving fruit of the Incarnation. Christ was conceived in Virgin's womb, That thou mightst son of God become. I Bring you tidings of great joy, saith the angel at our Saviour's nativity: Luk. 2.10. Of great joy indeed, that is, such as passeth man's understanding. It was a very great evil, that we were held captive under the wrath of God, under the power of the devil, and under eternal damnation: But it was yet greater, because men either knew it not, or else did neglect it. But now, great joy is declared unto us, because he that delivereth us from all evils, is come into the world: He is come, a physician to the sick, Hugo▪ a redeemer to the captives, the way to the wanderers, life to them that were dead, & salvation to them that were condemned. Exod. 3.10. As Moses was sent from the Lord to deliver the people of Israel from the servitude of Egypt: So Christ was sent from his Father to redeem all mankind from the devil's slavery. As the dove after the drying up of the waters of the deluge, Gen. 8.11 brought an olive-branch into the ark of Noah: So Christ came into the world, to preach peace and the reconciliation of man with God. Therefore we have cause to rejoice, and conceive great things of the mercy of God. Rom. 5.10 He which loved us so, being his enemies, that he did vouchsafe to assume our nature to be united to his divinity, what will he deny unto us being joined unto him by participation of our flesh? Who ever hated his own flesh? Eph. 5.29. How then can that chief and infinite mercy repel us from him, being now made partakers of his nature? Who can in words express, or in thought conceive the greatness of this mystery? Here is the greatest sublimity, and the greatest humility; the greatest power, and the greatest infirmity; the greatest majesty, and the greatest frailty: What is higher than God, and lower than man? What is more powerful than God, and weaker than man? What is more glorious than God, and more frail than man? But that chief power found out a means to conjoin these, seeing that the chief justice did necessarily require such a conjunction. Who also can conceive the greatness of this mystery? An equivalent and infinite price was required for the sin of man, Anselm. because man had turned himself away from the infinite good, which is God. But what could be equivalent to the infinite God? Therefore infinite justice itself takes as it were of himself an equivalent price: and God the Creator suffers in the flesh, that the flesh of the creature should not suffer for ever. An infinite goodness was offended, and none could intercede but a mediator of infinite power: And what is infinite, but God? Therefore God himself reconciled the world unto himself, 2. Cor. 5.19. God himself became mediator, God himself redeemed mankind by his own blood. Act. 20.28 Who can conceive the greatness of this mystery? The chief Creator was offended, and the creature sought not with care to appease him, and to be reconciled unto him: So he which was offended, assumes the flesh of the creature, and becomes Reconciliatour. Man had forsaken God, and turned away himself unto the devil the enemy of God: and he that was forsaken makes diligent inquisition after the forsaker, and invites him most bountifully to come again unto him. Man had departed from that infinite good, and fallen into an infinite evil: And that same infinite good, by giving an infinite price of redemption, delivered the creature from that infinite evil. Is not this infinite mercy far exceeding all the finite understanding and thought of man? Our nature is become more glorious by Christ, than it was dishonoured by Adam's sin. We have received more in Christ, than we lost in Adam: Where sin did abound, God's grace did superabound. Rom. 5.20 In Adam we lost our innocency, in Christ we have received perfect righteousness. Let others admire God's power: But his divine mercy is yet more to be admired; although power and mercy in God are equal, for both are infinite. Let others admire our creation: But I had rather admire our redemption; although creation and redemption are both acts of infinite power. It was a great thing to create man, having deserved nothing; for as yet he had no being: But it seems yet to be greater, to take upon him to satisfy for the debt of man, and to redeem him when he deserved evil. It was a wonderful thing that our fl●sh and our bones were form by God, Gen. 2.23. but yet it is more wonderful that God would become flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones. Be thankful, Eph. 5.30. O my soul, unto God, who created thee when thou wast not, who redeemed thee when for sin thou wast condemned, and who hath prepared for thee, if by faith thou adhere unto Christ, the joys of heaven Meditat. XVI. Of the spiritual refection of the godly. Christ unto thee, if thou art his, Both light, and food, and medicine is▪ OUr most bountiful God hath prepared a great feast: but hearts that be hungry must be brought unto it. He that tasteth not, Mat. 22.4▪ feeleth not the sweetness of the heavenly feast: and he which hungreth not, tasteth not. To believe on Christ, is to come to his heavenly feast: But no man can believe unless he confess his sins with contrition, and repent him of the same. Contrition is the spiritual hunger of the soul, and faith is the spiritual feeding. To the Israelites God gave Manna in the wilderness, being the bread of angels: Exod. 16.15. Psal. 78.24, 25. In this feast of the new Testament God giveth unto us the heavenly ●anna, that is, his grace and forgiveness of sins, yea his Son, the Lord of the angels: Christ is that spiritual bread which came down from heaven to give life unto the world. Joh. 6.51. Luk. 15.16. He that is full with the husks of the swine, that is, with the delights of this world, desires not that sweetness. The outward man perceiveth not what is sweet unto the inward. God gives his Manna in the wilderness, that is, where all earthly meat, and all earthly consolation is taken from the soul. He which had married a wife, Luk. 14.20. refused to come: But the chaste virgins, that is, those souls which neither cleave unto the devil by sins, nor to the world by delights, do come unto this feast. 2. Cor. 11.2. I have espoused you, as a chaste virgin, to one husband, saith the Apostle. Our soul must not commit spiritual adultery, that so God may contract spiritual marriage with her. Luk. 14.18. He which had a desire to go see his field, refused to come: They which love the pleasures of this world, come not unto the sweetness of the heavenly feast. The desire is the foot of the soul: Our soul comes not to this mystical feast, unless it desires; and it cannot desire the heavenly sweetness, if it be full with this worldly comfort. When the rich young man heard that for Christ he should forsake his riches, unto which his soul did cleave, he went away sorrowful. Mat. 19.22▪ Christ the celestial Elisha poureth not the oil of celestial sweetness but into vessels which are empty. 2. Kings 4.4. The love of God enters not into the soul, unless self-love and the love of the world first go forth Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also: Mat. 6. 2●. If thou makest the world thy treasure, thy heart will be on the world. Savana●. Love hath force to unite: If thou lovest earth, thou art united to earth. Love hath force to alter and change: If thou lovest the world, thou shalt become worldly. Luk. 14.19 They which buy oxen, and are negotiating, come not unto Christ: Psal. ●2. 20▪ They which set their hearts upon riches, desire not the heavenly riches. Earthly riches by a kind of false show of sufficiency satisfy the desire of the soul, that she may not seek after her true sufficiency in God, which only doth fully satiate the appetite. All earthly riches consist in the creatures, in silver, gold, building, ground, cattle: but no creature doth fully satisfy the soul, because she is more excellent than all the creatures; for they were all made for her use. How insufficient the creatures are to satiate and fulfil our desires, it appeareth at death, when all creatures forsake us. It is wonderful that we should so firmly stick unto the creatures, when as they stick unto us so weakly and unconstantly. Gen. 3.6. Adam, when he turned away from the consolation of God, and sought delight in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was driven out of Paradise: Our soul, if it turn away from God unto the creatures▪ is deprived of celestial comfort, and is quite driven away from the tree of life. But what remains unto them that neglect this feast? The world passeth away, and so do all they that cleave unto it: 1. Joh. 2.17. The creatures pass away, and all they that put their trust in them. Our heavenly Father sweareth, that they which prefer oxen, fields, wives, that is, any earthly things whatsoever, before the sweetness of the heavenly feast, Luk 14.24 shall never taste of his supper. After supper there is no further provision of meat made: and, if we neglect Christ, there is no other remedy left for us. Those contemners shall be punished with eternal famine, and live in eternal darkness. They which would not hear Christ thus inviting them, Mat. 11.28 Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, shall hear him at length denouncing, Mat. 25.41 Go ye cursed into everlasting fire. The Sodomites were consumed with fire, Gen. 19.14. because being called to this feast by the preaching of Lot, they would not come. The fire of God's wrath, which lasteth for ever, shall consume them who being called by the gospel, have despised this feast. At the coming of the bridegroom, Mat. 25.8. the virgins that had no oil in their lamps, 10. Granat. staying too long, were shut out: So they whose hearts in this world are not filled with the oil of the holy Spirit, shall not be admitted by Christ to the participation of joy, but they shall have the gate of indulgence, the gate of mercy, the gate of consolation, the gate of hope, the gate of grace, & the gate of good works shut against them. Christ hath yet an inward kind of calling: and happy is he that hears it! Rev. 3.20. Christ often knocks ●t the gate of our hearts by holy desires, devout sighs, and pious cogitations; and happy is he that openeth unto him! As soon as thou feelest in thy heart any holy desire of heavenly grace, assure thyself that Christ knocks at thy heart: Let him in, lest he pass by, and afterwards shut the gate of his mercy against thee. As soon as thou feelest in thy heart any spark of godly meditations, persuade thyself that it was kindled by the heat of divine love, that is, of the holy Spirit; cherish and nourish it, that it may grow to be a fire of love: 1. Thess. 5.19. Take heed that thou quench not the Spirit, and hinder the work of the lord He that destroyeth the temple of the Lord, 1. Cor. 3▪ 17. shall feel his severe judgement: Our heart is the temple of the Lord: And he destroyeth it, whosoever refuseth to give place to the holy Spirit inwardly calling by the word. In the old Testament the prophets could hear the Lord speaking inwardly: In the new Testament all the true godly do feel those inward motions of the holy Spirit drawing them. Blessed are they which hear and follow! Meditat. XVII. Of the fruits of Baptism. If thou polluted art with sin, The fountain's open, enter in. REmember, thou faithful soul, the grace of God conferred upon thee in the saving laver of baptism. Baptism is the laver of regeneration: Tit. 3.5. Therefore he that is dipped in the laver of baptism, is no longer altogether carnal as before: John 3.5. But because he is born of God by water and the Spirit, therefore, he is also the son of God; Rom. 8.14 and because a son, therefore an heir also of eternal happiness. As the eternal Father at the baptism of Christ uttered this voice, Mat. 3.17. This is my beloved Son: So all those that believe and are baptised, he adopteth to be his sons. As at the baptism of Christ the holy Ghost appeared in the shape of a dove: So also is he present at our baptism, and gives force unto it: yea, he is conferred by baptism upon the believers, and effects in them new motions, that they become wise as serpent's, Mat. 10.16 Ravan. and innocent as doves. As it was at the creation, so is it also at our regeneration: At the first creation of things the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the waters, Gen. 1.2. and gave a vital force unto them: So also in the water of baptism the holy Ghost is present, and makes it a saving means of our regeneration. Christ himself our Saviour would be baptised, that he might leave a testimony, that by baptism we are made his members. Oftentimes medicines are applied to the head to heal some other parts of the body: Christ is our spiritual head; He received the medicine of baptism for to heal his mystical body. God in the old Testament made a covenant with his people by circumcision: Gen. 17.11. So by baptism in the new Testament we are received into the covenant of God. Baptism succeeded in the place of circumcision: He therefore that is in the covenant of God, need not be afraid of the devil's accusation. In baptism we put on Christ: Gal. 3.27. And from hence it is that the Saints are said to have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 7.14. Christ's perfect righteousness is that beautiful robe: whosoever therefore hath put on this robe, let him not fear the stains of sin. There was a pool in Jerusalem about the sheep-market, into which at a certain time the angel of the Lord descended and troubled it, John 5.4. and he that first descended into it after the troubling of the water, was cured of what disease soever: The water of baptism is that pool, which healeth us of every disease of sin, when the holy Spirit descends into it, and troubles it with the blood of Christ, who was made a sacrifice for us: In like manner in time past the sacrifices were washed in that pool at Jerusalem. As at the baptism of Christ the heavens were opened: Mat. 3.16. So also at our baptism the gate of heaven is opened unto us. Luther. At the baptism of Christ all the holy and sacred Trinity was present: And so likewise at our baptism: And so by the word of promise, which is annexed unto the element of water, faith receiveth the grace of the Father adopting, the merit of the Son cleansing, and the efficacy of the holy Ghost regenerating. Pharaoh and all his host was drowned in the red sea; Exod. 14.27. The Israelites passed through safe and sound: So in baptism all the host of vices is drowned; and the faithful safely attain to the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. Therefore also is baptism that sea of glass which John saw: Rev. 4.6. Through it, as through a kind of glass, the brightness of the sun of righteousness enters into our minds. And that sea was before the throne of the Lamb: The church is the throne of the Lamb, in which only the grace of holy baptism is to be had. The prophet Ezekiel saw waters going out of the temple, Ezek. 47.1 which did quicken and heal all: In the spiritual temple of God, that is, in the church, the saving waters of baptism do yet spring forth, into the profundity whereof our sins are thrown: Mic. 7.19 Whosoever come unto it, shall be healed and live. Baptism is the spiritual flood in which all flesh of sin is drowned. The impure crow goes forth like the Devil: But the dove like the holy Ghost flies and brings the olive-branch, that is, peace and tranquillity unto our minds. Remember therefore, thou faithful soul, the greatness of the grace of God conferred upon thee in baptism, and render due thanks unto him. The more plentiful grace is conferred upon us in baptism, the more diligent must we be in the custody of the gifts conferred. Rom. 6.4. We are buried with Christ by baptism: Therefore as Christ was raised up from the dead unto the glory of his Father: So let us walk in newness of life. Joh. 5.14. We are made whole, let us sin no more, lest a worse thing happen unto us. We have put on the most precious robe of Christ's righteousness: Therefore let us not defile it with the stains of sin. Our old man is crucified and dead in baptism: Let the new man therefore live in us. We are regenerated and renewed in the spirit of our minds by baptism: Eph. 4.23. Therefore let not the flesh domineer over the spirit. 2. Cor. 5.17. Old things are past: Behold a● things are become new: Let not therefore the oldness of the flesh, prevail against the newness of the spirit. We are made the sons of God by spiritual regeneration: Let us therefore live as it becometh the sons of such a Father. We are made the temple of the holy Ghost: Let us therefore prepare a thankful seat for such a guest. We are received into God's covenant: Let us take heed therefore that we do not serve under the devil, and so fall from the covenant of grace. Effect in us all these things, O blessed Trinity in Unity! Thou that hast given us such grace in baptism, give us also the grace to persevere in it. Meditat. XVIII. Of the saving participation of the body and blood of Christ. He that doth eat and drink by faith Christ's flesh and blood, salvation hath. HE that eateth my flesh, John 6.54. and drinketh my blood, shall live for ever, saith Christ. Exceeding great was the bounty and goodness of our Saviour, in that he did not only assume our flesh, and exalt it to the throne of celestial glory, but also feedeth us with his body and blood unto eternal life. Oh the saving delicates of the soul! Oh the heavenly and angelical food to be desired! 1. Pet. 1.12. Heb. 2.16 Although the angels did desire to look into this mystery, yet he did not assume the nature of the angels, but the seed of Abraham. Our Saviour is nearer unto us, then unto the angels: for we have knowledge of his love by this, 1. John 4.13. in that he hath given us of his own Spirit; neither of his Spirit only, but of his body and blood: For so saith Truth itself, of the bread and wine in the Eucharist: Matt. 26.26, 28. This is my body; This is my blood. How can the Lord forget those whom he hath redeemed with his body and blood, and whom he hath nourished with his body and blood? Joh. 6.54. He that eateth the flesh, and drinketh the blood of Christ, remaineth in Christ, and Christ in him. I do not much marvel therefore that the hairs of our head are numbered, Matt. 10.30. Luke 10.20. Isa. 49.16. Isa. 46.3. that our names are registered in heaven, that we are described in the hands of the Lord, and that we are carried in his bosom, seeing that we are fed with the body and blood of Christ. Without doubt great is the dignity of our souls, seeing that they are fed with a price of redemption of such value. Great also is the dignity of our bodies, which being redeemed, and fed by the body of Christ, become the habitacles and temples of the holy Ghost, and the dwelling places of the whole and most holy Trinity. It cannot be that they should remain in the grave, being fed with the body and blood of our Lord. This is meat indeed. We eat it: But we change it not into the nature of our body, but are changed into it. We are the members of Christ, and are animated by his Spirit, and fed with his body and blood. This is the bread which came down from heaven, Joh. 6.51. and giveth life unto the world: He that eateth thereof, shall never hunger. This is the bread of grace and mercy; Of this whosoever eateth, Psal. 34.8. Joh. 1.16. he shall taste and see how sweet the Lord is, and receive of his fullness grace for grace. Joh. 6.50. This is the bread of life, not only the living bread, but the quickening bread: Whosoever eateth thereof, he shall live for ever. Joh. 6.58. This is the bread which came down from heaven; neither is it only heavenly, but it makes those that eat thereof heavenly: They which eat it savingly in the spirit, shall become heavenly, because they shall not die, but shall be raised again at the last day. Joh. 6.54. They shall be raised again, but not to judgement; because he that eateth of this bread cometh not into judgement, nor into condemnation; Rom. 8.1. because there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus: but they shall be raised to life and salvation. For he that eateth the flesh of the Son of man, John 6.56 and drinketh his blood, hath life in himself, and shall live through Christ. 55. His flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed. Let us be filled therefore with the meat, Isa. 55.2. not of our works, but of the lord Psal. 36.8. Let us be abundantly satisfied with the fatness, not of our house, but of the Lord. This is the true fountain of life; He that shall drink of this water shall never thirst; John 4.14 but it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life. All ye that thirst come unto these waters, Isa. 55.1. and ye that have no silver, make haste, buy without money. Let them that thirst come, and come thou my soul that art vexed with the raging heat of sin. But if thou be'st destitute of the silver of thy merits, make haste the rather: If thou hast no merits of thine own, make haste the more ardently to the merits of Christ: Make haste therefore, and buy without silver. Here is the chamber of Christ and the soul, from which let not thy sins deter thee, and into which let not thy merits enter. For what can be our merits? Isa. 55.2. They lay out their silver, and not for bread; they labour, and not for fullness. Our labours do not satiate, neither is the grace of God bought with the silver of our merits: Therefore hear O my soul, and eat that which is good, and thou shalt be delighted with fatness. These words are spirit and life, John 6.63 and the words of eternal life. The cup of benediction is the communion of the blood of Christ, 1. Cor. 10.15. and the bread which we break is the participation of the Lords body. 1. Cor. 6.17. We cleave unto the Lord: Therefore we are one Spirit with him. We are united unto him, not only by the communion of nature, but also by the participation of his body and blood. I do not therefore say with the Jews, John 6.5▪ How can this man give us his flesh to eat? But rather cry out, How doth the Lord distribute unto us his flesh to eat, and his blood to drink! I do not pry into his power, but do admire his benevolence: I do not examine his majesty, but I reverence his goodness: His presence I believe, the manner of his presence I know not: I am certainly assured that it is most near and inward. Ephes. 5.30. We are members of his body: flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bones. Joh. 6.56. He dwelleth in us, and we in him. My soul desireth to dive by cogitation into this most profound abyss, but cannot find with what words to set forth and declare that goodness; and therefore is altogether amazed at the sight of the greatness of the grace of the Lord, and the glory of the blessed. Meditat. XIX. Of the mystery of the Lords Supper. Be wise: Do not to far inquire to that thou rather shouldst admire. IN the Lords holy Supper there is set before us a mystery to be trembled at, and to be adored of us by all means: There is the treasure and treasury of divine grace. We know that there was a tree of life planted by God, Gen. 2.9. whose fruit might have conserved our first parents and their posterity by the fertility and felicity thereof. There was also placed in paradise a tree of the knowledge of good and evil: 9 But even that which was appointed by God for their salvation and life, and for an exercise of their obedience, became unto them an occasion of death and condemnation, whilst they, poor wretches, obeyed the devil's allurements, and their own desires. Here also is prepared a tree of life, that sweet wood, whose leaves are for medicine, and whose fruit for meat: Ezek. 47.12. The sweetness thereof doth take away the bitterness of all evils, yea of death itself. Unto the Israelites was given Manna, Exod. 16.15. that they might be fed with heavenly food: Here is that true Manna, which came down from heaven to give life unto the world. Joh. 6.51. This is the heavenly bread, and the angelical meat, 35. of which whosoever eateth, shall never hunger. The Israelites had the ark of the covenant, Exod. 28.43. and the mercy-seat, where they might hear the Lord speak face to face: Exod. 33.11. Here is the true ark of the covenant, that is, the most sacred body of Christ, Col. 2.3. wherein the treasures of all science, knowledge, and wisdom are laid up. Here is the true mercy-seat in the blood of Christ, Rom. 3.25 which makes us to be beloved in the beloved: Ephes. 1.6. neither doth he speak unto us only by his inward consolation, but also dwelleth in us: neither doth he feed us only with heavenly Manna, but with himself. Isa. 66.1. Here is the gate of heaven indeed, here is the angels ladder: Gen. 28.12. For can heaven be greater than he that is in heaven? Can heaven be more nearly united unto God, than the flesh and humane nature which he hath assumed? Heaven indeed is the throne of God: Isa. 11.2. But in the humane nature assumed by Christ resteth the holy Spirit. Col. 2.9. God is in heaven: But in Christ dwelleth the fullness of the divinity. Ambrose. Certainly, this is a great and infallible pledge of our salvation. He had no greater thing to give unto us: For what is greater than himself? What is so closely united unto him as his humane nature, which is assumed into the fellowship of the most blessed Trinity, and made the treasury of all heavenly goods? What is so nearly conjoined unto him as flesh and blood? And yet with these most heavenly nourishments doth he refresh us miserable worms, and make us partakers of his nature: And shall not he then make us partakers of his grace? Who ever hated his own flesh? Eph. 5.29. How can the Lord than despise us whom he feedeth with his own flesh and blood? How can he forget those, unto whom he hath given the pledge of his own body? How can Satan be able to overcome us, seeing that we are fed with heavenly food, that we faint not in battle? We are dear unto Christ; because he bought us at so dear a price: We are dear unto Christ; because he feeds us with such dear and precious things: We are dear unto Christ; because we are his flesh and members. Eph. 5.30 This is the only Panacea of all spiritual diseases, Ignatius. this is the medicine of immortality: For what sin is there so great, Bernard. that the sacred flesh of God cannot expiate? What sin is so great, that the quickening flesh of Christ cannot heal? What sin so mortal, that is not taken away by the death of the Son of God? What fiery darts of the devil can be so deadly, that they cannot be quenched in this fountain of divine grace? What so great stain of the conscience, that this blood cannot purge? The Lord was present to the Israelites in a cloud, and in fire: Exod. 13.21. Mal. 4.2. But here is no cloud, but the sun of righteousness, the present light of our souls: Here is not felt the fire of God's fury, but the heat of his love; neither doth he depart from us, but makes his mansion with us. Our first parents were brought into paradise, John. 14.23. Gen. 2.8. that most sweet and fragrant garden, the type of eternal beatitude, that being put in mind of God's bounty, they might perform due obedience unto their Creator. Behold! Here is more than paradise in this place. For the creature is filled with the flesh of the Creator: The penitent conscience is cleansed by the blood of the Son of God. By the body of Christ are nourished the members of Christ the head. The faithful soul is fed with divine and heavenly dainties. The sacred flesh of God, which the angels adore in the unity of person, which the archangel's reverence, at which the Powers do tremble, and which the Virtues admire, is our spiritual food. Let the heavens rejoice, Psal. 96.11. and let the earth be glad, but much more the faithful soul, upon whom such and so great benefits are bestowed. Meditat. XX. Of serious preparation before we come to the Lords Supper. A wedding garment put thou on, Or keep from this communion. HEre is no common cheer, nor the feast of some ordinary king; but here is the holy mystery of the body and blood of Christ to be handled of us: Therefore a due preparation is required, lest we find death in stead of life, and receive condemnation in stead of mercy. How did that most holy Patriarch so famous for the strength of his faith, Gen. 18.2. how did he fear and tremble when the Son of God appeared unto him in the shape of man, and threatened that he would destroy Sodom? Here the Lamb of God is not set before us to look upon, but to be tasted and eaten. 2. Chr. 26.16.19. Vzziah coming inconsiderately unto the ark of the covenant, was by the Lord suddenly smitten with a leprosy: What wonder is it then, 1. Cor. 11.27.29. if he that eats of this bread, and drinks of this wine unworthily, eateth and drinketh his own condemnation? For here is the true ark of the new covenant, which was prefigured by the old. Now the apostle teacheth true preparation in one word: 1. Cor. 11.28. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread. Now as all divine examination is to be squared according to the rule of divine scripture, so also is this, which Paul requires. Let us therefore consider in the first place our own infirmity: For what is man? Gen. 18.27. Dust and ashes. We were made of the earth, we live of the earth, and we return to the earth. What is man? Stinking seed, Bernard a sack of dung, and meat for worms. Man was born to labour, and not to honour. Man is born of a woman, and therefore with guiltiness: He liveth but a short time, and therefore in fear: he is full of many miseries, and therefore of weeping: many indeed, because both of body and soul. Man knoweth neither his beginning nor his end. We have our being for a while like a fading flower: But this short life hath long sorrows and labours. Let us consider in the second place our unworthiness: Verily, every creature in respect of the Creator, is a shadow, a dream, nothing: Therefore man also. But man is unworthy in a greater and more grievous manner: For he offended his Creator by his sin. God is just by nature and by essence: Therefore by his nature and by his essence he is offended and displeased with sin. What are we stubble to that consuming fire? Deut. 4.24 How shall our most filthy deeds appear? How shall our iniquities which thou settest before thee, Psal. 90.8 and our errors which thou placest in the light of thy countenance? God is infinite, and always like himself, of infinite justice and infinite anger: And if in all his works, then certainly in his anger, justice, and revenge, God is altogether great and wonderful. He that spared not his own Son, Rom. 8.32 will he spare his own workmanship? He that spared not the most holy one, will he spare the wicked servant? God so hateth sin, that he doth punish it even in the best beloved; as it appears by Lucifer the prince of the angels. But let not this examination respect us only, but the blessed bread also, which is the communication of the Lords body: Then shall the true fountain of grace, and the inexhaustible spring of mercy appear. God cannot altogether neglect us, seeing that he maketh us partakers of his own flesh: Ephes. 5.29. For who ever hated his own flesh? Therefore this holy banquet shall transform our souls: This most divine banquet shall make us divine men; until at length we be made partakers of future happiness, Nazian. being made capable of God wholly and only, and wholly like unto God. What we have here by faith, and in a mystery, there we shall have in deed, and openly: Yea our bodies have attained to this dignity, that in them we shall see God face to face: I say our bodies, 1. Cor. 13.12. which are now the temples of the holy Ghost, and are sanctified and quickened by the body and blood of Christ dwelling in us. This most holy medicine cures all the wounds of sin: This quickening flesh overcometh all mortal sin: This is the most holy seal of divine promises, which we may show before God's judgement. Having this pledge we may glory, and be secure of eternal life. If Christ his body and blood be exhibited unto us, assuredly all other benefits by that most holy body and most blessed blood are prepared for us: How can he that hath given us the greater things, deny us the less? He that hath given his Son to us, John 3.16 how shall he not give all other things with him? Rom. 8.32 Rev. 19.7. Let the spouse therefore be glad and rejoice; for the time is at hand when she shall be called to the marriage of the Lamb: Let her put on precious apparel, let her put on her wedding garment, Matth. 22.12. that she be not found naked. This garment is the bridegrooms righteousness, which we put on in baptism: But our righteousness is so far from being a wedding garment,, that it is as the cloth of a menstruous woman. Isa. 64.6. Let us be afraid therefore to bring the most filthy and stinking rags of our works to this nuptial solemnity. Let the Lord cover us, 2. Cor. 5.3 that we be not found naked. Meditat. XXI. Of Christ's ascension. Christ is ascended up on high: And we must up like eagles fly. MEditate upon thy bridegrooms ascension, thou faithful soul: For Christ withdrew his visible presence from the faithful, to exercise their faith: And blessed are they that see not, and yet believe. John. 20.29. Mat. 6.21. Where our treasure is, there let our heart be also: Christ our treasure is in heaven: Let our hearts therefore be set upon those things that are heavenly, Col. 3.2. and meditate upon the things that be above. The spouse desires with most earnest sighs the return of her beloved: So let the faithful soul desire the coming of that day, when she shall be admitted to the marriage of the Lamb: Rev. 10.7. Let her put her confidence in the pledge of the holy Spirit, which the Lord left unto her at his departure: Let her put her confidence in the body and blood of the Lord, which she receives in the mystery of the supper: And let her believe that our bodies which are filled with this incorruptible food, shall at length be raised up again. That which we now believe, we shall then see: Our hope shall then be real fruition: The Lord is present unto us here, while we are on the way, in a strange shape: But in the mansion of our heavenly country we shall behold him and know him as he is. It was our Saviour's will, Acts 1.12. to ascend up from the mount ● Olives. The olive is a sign of peac● and joy: Therefore not without cause did he ascend up from the mount of Olives; because by his passion he hath purchased peace and tranquillity for terrified and amazed consciences. Not without cause did he ascend up from the mount of Olives: For the court of heaven did exceedingly joy to receive him. The mount doth call and invite us to heavenly things: seeing therefore we cannot follow him with our bodily feet, let us follow him with the fee● of our holy desires. Moses also in like manner ascended up unto the Lord in the mount. Exod. 19.3. Joh. 4.20. Gen. 13.11, 12. The holy patriarches worshipped in the mount. Abraham made choice of the mount, and Lot of the plain: Let the faithful soul leave the plain of this world, and by holy devotion go up to the heavenly mount: So shall she feel God speaking unto her inwardly, and that most sweetly: So in her prayers may she worship in spirit: Joh. 4.24. So shall she be able with Abraham to escape the everlasting fire prepared For the plain of this world. Bethanie signifieth a village of humility and affliction, by which we must pass to the kingdom of heaven, even as Christ himself passed from the place of affliction to the joys of heaven. Till this time heaven was shut, and paradise, which is above, was kept by a flaming sword: Gen. 3.24. But now Christ being conqueror doth set open heaven unto us, to show us the way into our heavenly country, from which we had fallen away. The disciples stood lifting up their eyes, and looking up towards heaven: Acts 1.11. So let the true disciples of Christ lift up the eyes of their heart to behold heavenly things. Granat. Lord Jesus what a glorious clause followed thy passion! How happy and sudden a change is this! How did I see thee suffering on mount Calvarie, and how do I behold thee now in the mount of Olives! There thou wast alone; here thou art accompanied with many thousands of angels: There thou didst ascend up to the cross; here thou dost ascend up into heaven in a cloud: There thou wast crucified between thiefs; here, thou rejoiced among the companies of angel●▪ There, thou wast nailed to the cross as a condemned man; here, thou a●● at liberty, and dost deliver those tha● were condemned: There, dying and suffering; here, rejoicing and triumphing. Eph. 5.23.30. Christ is our head, we are his members: Rejoice therefore and be glad thou faithful soul for the ascension of thy head. Max. of the resurrection. The glory of the head is the glory also of the members. Where our flesh doth reign, there let us believe that we shall also reign: Where our blood doth rule, let us hope that we shall also obtain glory: Though our sins do hinder us, yet the communion of nature doth not repel us: Where the head is, there shall the other members be also: Our head is entered into heaven: Therefore the members have just cause to hope for entrance, not only so, but that they have possession there already. Eusebius. Christ descended from heaven to redeem us; and again he ascended up into heaven to glorify us. Unto us was he born, for us did he suffer: For us therefore did he ascend. Bernard. Our charity is confirmed by Christ's passion, our faith by Christ's resurrection, our hope by Christ's ascension. We must follow Christ our bridegroom not only with our ardent desires, but also with our good works. Into that city which is above, nothing shall enter that is defiled: Rev. 21.27. In token of this the angels that came from the heavenly Jerusalem appeared in white apparel; Acts 1.10 by which purity and innocence is figured. Eusebius. With the Doctor of humility there ascended no pride; with the Author of goodness there ascended no malice; with the Lover of peace there ascended no discord; and with the Son of the Virgin there ascended no lust. After the Parent of virtues there ascend no vices; after the Just there ascend no sins; and after the Physician there can ascend no infirmities. He that desires to see God hereafter face to face, let him here so live as in his sight. He that hopes for celestial things, let him contemn terrestrial. O draw our hearts thee, good Jesus! Meditat. XXII. An Homily of the holy Ghost. God sealeth by his holy Spirit As many as shall life inherit. OUr Lord ascending up into the heavens, and entering into his glory, Acts 2.4. sent the holy Ghost unto the disciples upon the day of Pentecost. As in the old Testament God when he proclaimed the law in mount Sinai, Exod. 19.11. came down unto Moses: So when the gospel was by the apostles to be propagated throughout all the world, the holy Ghost came down upon them. There, was thundering and lightning, and the loud sound of the trumpet; because the law doth thunder against our disobedience, and makes us subject to God's indignation: But here, is the sound of a gentle wind; for the preaching of the gospel doth lift up the souls that are cast down: There, was the fear and trembling of all the people; because the law worketh wrath: Rom. 4.15 But here, the whole multitude doth flock together to hear the wonderful things of God; for by the gospel we have access unto God: There, the Lord descended in fire, but it was in the fire of his wrath and fury; therefore was the mountain moved, and did smoke: But here, the holy Ghost descendeth in the fire of love, so that all the house is not shaken by the wrath of God, but is rather replenished with the glory of the holy Ghost. What wonder is it if the holy Ghost be sent from the court of heaven to sanctify us, seeing that the Son was sent to redeem us? The passion of Christ had not profited us, unless by the gospel it had been preached unto us; For what use is there of a treasure that is hid? Therefore our most merciful Father did not only prepare a great benefit by the passion of his Son, but also would have it offered to all the world by sending the holy Ghost. The faithful mother giveth unto her tender infant both her dugs. God who is faithful doth send unto us both the Son and the holy Ghost. But the holy Ghost came upon the apostles, when they were assembled together at prayer with one accord: Acts 2.1. Zech. 12.10. For he is the Spirit of prayer, he i● obtained by prayer, and he moveth us to pray. Wherefore? Because he is that bond by which our hearts are united with God, as he doth unite the Father with the Son, and the Son with the Father: For he is the mutual substantial love of the Father and the Son. This our spiritual conjunction with God is wrought by faith: But faith is the gift of the Spirit. It is obtained by prayer: But true prayer is made in the Spirit. In the temple of Solomon, when incense was offered unto God, 1. King▪ 8.11. the temple was filled with the glory of the Lord: So if thou offerest unto God the sweet odours of prayers, the holy Ghost shall fill the temple of thy heart with glory. Let us here admire the mercy and grace of God: The Father promiseth to hear our prayers, Psal. 50.15. Rom. 8.34 Gal. 4.6. Austin. the Son maketh intercession for us, and the holy Ghost prayeth in us. The angels carry our prayers unto God, and the court of heaven is open to receive our prayers. God of his mercy doth give unto us the affect of prayer; because he giveth unto us the spirit of grace and prayer: He giveth unto us also the effect of prayer; because he doth always hear our prayers, if not according to our will, yet according to that which is most profitable for us. The holy Ghost came when they were all met together with one accord in the same place. Acts 2.1. For he is the Spirit of love and concord that joineth us unto Christ by faith, unto God by love, and unto our neighbour by charity. The devil is the author of discord and separation: by our sins he separates us from God; by hatred, contention, and brawling, he separates men one from another: But the holy Ghost as in Christ he hath conjoined the divine and humane nature, by his wonderful overshadowing: Luk. 1.35. So doth he by his gifts poured upon us, conjoin men with God, and God with men. As long as the holy Ghost remaineth in man by his grace and gifts, so long doth man remain united to God. As soon as man by sin falleth from faith and love, and shaketh off the holy Ghost, he is separated from God, and is deprived of that most blessed union. He that hath the holy Ghost hateth not his brother. Why? Because by the Spirit he is made partaker of the mystical body of Christ, whose members all the godly are: Eph. 5.29. And who ever hated his own members? Yea more, He that is governed by the Spirit of the Lord, loveth even his enemies. Why? 1. Cor. 6.17. Because he that cleaveth unto the Lord, becomes one spirit with him: And God causeth his sun to rise upon the good and bad: Mat. 5.45. Wisd. 11. 2●▪ And hateth nothing which he hath made: He that hath the Spirit of God is ready to be servant unto all, he to his power doth good unto all, he is ready for all to make use of, because God is the fountain of all mercy and grace to all. Now the Spirit of God effects in man such motions as he himself is: As the soul gives unto the body life, sense, and motion: So the Spirit makes man spiritual, seasons his mind with divine saltness, and directs all his members to the performance of all duties towards God, and towards his neighbour. From heaven came that sound which was the sign of the coming of the holy Ghost: Because the holy Ghost is of an heavenly nature, to wit, of the same nature with the Father and the Son; from whom, that is, the Father and the Son, he proceedeth from all eternity. Moreover, he maketh men to think upon heavenly things, and to seek those things which are above. He which cleaveth unto earthly things, and is by his love united unto the world, is not yet made partaker of the heavenly Spirit. He came in the type of breath: Ambrose. Because he affordeth unto the afflicted quickening consolation; and because we live according to the flesh by the reciprocal breathing out and sucking in of the aerial spirit. He came under the type of spirit and breath: For he giveth unto us, To live according to our better part. The wind bloweth where it listeth, John 3.8. and thou hearest the sound thereof, but thou knowest not whence it comes, or whither it goes: So is every one that is begotten of the Spirit. And it was meet that he should come in the type of breath: Because he proceedeth from the Father and the Son by one breathing from eternity. It was a powerful breath: Because the grace of the holy Ghost comes with power. The holy Ghost moveth the godly, in whom he dwelleth, to all that is good; and so moveth them, that they regard neither the threats of tyrants, nor the treacheries of Satan, nor the hatred of the world: He conferreth upon the apostles the gift of tongues: Psal. 19.24. Because their sound was to go into all lands: And so the confusion of tongues (which was the punishment of pride and rashness in the building of the tower of Babel) was taken away; Gen. 11. 7· and the dispersed nations, by the gift of the holy Ghost, through divers tongues were gathered together into the unity of faith. It was meet that he should come in the figure of tongues: Because the holy men of God did speak as they were inspired by him; 2. Pet. 1.21 Because he spoke by the apostles; and because he putteth the words of God into the mouths of the ministers of the church. For these so great gifts blessed and praised be the holy Ghost together with the Father and the Son for ever and ever! Meditat. XXIII. Of the church's dignity. Great is the church's dignity, Which chosen is Christ's spouse to be. COnsider, thou devout soul, what a great benefit God hath bestowed upon thee, in calling thee to the communion of the church. Can. 6.9. One is my beloved, saith the bridegroom in the Canticles: One indeed; because there is but one true and orthodox church, the beloved spouse of Christ. Without the body of Christ there is not the Spirit of Christ, Rom. 8.9. and he that hath not the Spirit of Christ is not his; and he that is not Christ's, cannot be made partaker of life everlasting. All that were without the ark of Noah did perish in the flood: Gen. 7.21. And they that are without the spiritual ark of the church, must needs be overwhelmed in everlasting destruction. Austi●e. He shall never have God to be his Father in heaven, that hath not the church for his mother upon earth. Consider, thou devout soul, that every day many thousands of souls descend into hell for this cause, because they are without the bosom of the church. Nature hath not separated thee from them, but only the grace of God that showeth mercy. When Egypt was involved in palpable darkness, Exod. 10.21. the Israelites only had light: So in the church only is the light of divine knowledge. They that are without the church, do pass from the darkness of ignorance in this present life, to the darkness of eternal damnation in the life to come. Chem. He that is not a part of the militant church, shall never be a part of the church triumphant: For these things following have a near conjunction together, that is to say, God, the word, faith, Christ, the church, and life everlasting. The holy church of God is a mother, a virgin, and a spouse. She is a mother: Because she brings forth spiritual sons unto God every day. She is a virgin: Because she doth keep herself chaste from the embracements of the devil and the world. She is a spouse: Because Christ hath betrothed her unto himself by an everlasting covenant, and hath given unto her the pledge of the Spirit. Mat. 8.23. Chrysost. upon Mat. The church is that ship that carries Christ and his disciples, and brings them at length to the haven of everlasting felicity: The church sails through the sea of this world with a prosperous course, having the stern of faith, God for her pilot, and the angels for her rowers, and carrying the companies of all the saints: In the midst thereof there is erected the saving tree of the cross, upon which do hang the sails of evangelical faith, by which she is carried to the security of eternal rest, by the breathing of the holy Ghost. Mat. 21 33 The church is that vineyard that God hath planted in the field of this world, which he hath watered with his blood, about which he hath set an hedge of angelical guard, Isa. 5.2. in which he hath made the winepress of his passion, and gathered out the stones and impediments thereof▪ The church is that woman clothe● with the sun: Rev. 12.1. Because she is arrayed with the righteousness of Christ. She treadeth the moon under he● feet: Because she despiseth earthly things that are subject to sundry changes. Consider, thou devout soul, the exceeding great dignity of the church, and render due thanks unto God. Great are the benefits which are in the church of God, but all do not meet with them. It is a garden enclosed, Can. 4.12. and a fountain sealed up: No man sees the beauty of this enclosed garden, but he that is in it: Neither doth any one know the benefits that are in the church, but he that is himself in it. This spouse of Christ is black without, Can. 1.5. Psal. 45.13 but beautiful within. For the king's daughter is all glorious within. This ship is tossed with many tempests of persecutions: Matt. 8.24 This vineyard being bound doth rise up, and being cut down groweth up. For this woman the infernal Dragon lieth in wait after divers manners. Rev. 12. ●3. The church is a fair lily: Cant. 2.2. Ambrose. But yet among thorns. The church is a most beautiful garden: But when the Northwind of tribulations doth blow upon it, the spices thereof fall. The church is God's daughter: But she is exceedingly hated of the world: She looks for an heavenly inheritance: and therefore she is compelled to be a pilgrim in this world. In this pilgrimage she is oppressed, in her pressure she is silent, in her silence she is strong, in her strength she overcometh. The church is a spiritual mother: But she is compelled to stand under the cross with Mary the mother of Christ. John. 19.25. The church is a palmtree: Because under the weight of tribulations and tentations she grows most. Consider, thou devout soul, the dignity of the church: And beware thou commit nothing to her dishonour. The church is thy mother: Take heed therefore that thou contemn not her voice. She is thy mother: Therefore thou must always hang upon her breasts. The breasts of the church are the Word and the Sacraments. The church is a virgin: If therefore thou art her true son, abstain from the world's embracements. Thou art a member of the virgin the church: See therefore that thou prostitute not the virgin's members, and so commit fornication with the devil, by sin. The church is the spouse of Christ, and so is every devout soul: Let her beware therefore that she cleave not unto Satan. Thou art the spouse of Christ: See thou lose not the earnest of the holy Spirit which he hath given thee. Thou art the spouse of Christ: Pray continually that the bridegroom would make haste, and lead thee in unto the celestial marriage. But the bridegroom will come in the night of security: Matt. 25.13. Watch therefore, lest when he cometh he find thee sleeping, and so shut thee out of the gate of eternal salvation. Let the oil of thy faith shine, lest at the coming of the bridegroom thou be'st constrained to desire it in vain. Thou art carried in the ship: See therefore that thou dost not throw thyself headlong into the sea of the world before thou comest to the haven: Thou art carried in the ship: pray that thou be'st not swallowed up by the tempests of afflictions, and waves of tentations. Thou art called into the Lord's vineyard: Matt. 20.1 See that thou labourest stoutly: Think upon the penny, and not upon the day's labour. Thou art the Lord's vineyard: Cast away all unprofitable branches, that is, the unfruitful works of the flesh, and think the whole time of thy life to be the time of pruning. Thou art a vine-branch in Christ the true vine: See that thou dost remain in him, and bring forth much fruit: Because the heavenly husbandman will take away every branch that bringeth not forth fruit, John 15.2 and purge that which bringeth forth fruit, that it may bring forth more fruit. Thou hast put on Christ by faith, Gal. 3.27. and art clothed with this sun of righteousness: See then that thou treadest the moon, that is, Mal. 4.2. Rev. 12.1. all earthly things under thy feet: And esteem all other things little worth in respect of eternal goods. O good Jesus, thou that hast brought us into the church militant, bring us at length also into the church triumphant▪ Meditat. XXIIII. Of Predestination. In Christ we are by God elect, Without Christ God doth all reject. O Devout soul, as often as thou wilt meditate upon thy predestination, behold Christ hanging upon the cross, Rom. 4.25 dying for the sins of the whole world, and rising again for our justification. Austin. Begin from Christ lying in the manger, and so thy disputation of predestination shall proceed orderly. Eph. 1.4. God elected us before the foundations of the world were laid; but yet he elected us in Christ: If therefore thou art in Christ by faith, do not doubt but that election belongeth unto thee: If with a firm confidence of heart thou adherest unto Christ, do not doubt but that thou art in the number of the elect. But if thou goest further beyond the limits of the word, and wilt search into the profundity of predestination, it is greatly to be feared that thou wilt fall into the profundity of desperation. Without Christ God is a consuming fire: Deut. 4.24 Take heed therefore of coming too near this fire, lest thou be'st consumed. Without Christ's satisfaction, God by the voice of his law accuseth all, and condemneth all: Take heed therefore that thou drawest not the mystery of predestination out of the law. Search not into the reasons of God's counsels, lest thy cogitations do much seduce thee. God dwelleth in light that no man can attain unto: 1. Tim. ●. 16. Presume not therefore to come unto it rashly: But God hath revealed unto us the light of his gospel; and in this thou mayest safely inquire into the doctrine of this secret; and in this light thou shalt see true light. Psal. 36.9. Leave the profundity of this eternal decree made from eternity, and convert thyself to the clearness of the manifestation which was made in time. Justification made in time is the glass of election made without time. Luther. Out of the law take notice of the wrath of God for sin; and repent: out of the gospel take notice of the mercy of God through Christ his merit, and apply that unto thyself by faith: Take notice of the nature of faith, and show it by thy godly conversation: Take notice of God's fatherly castigation in crosses, and endure through patience: And then at length begin to handle the doctrine of predestination: This method the apostle teacheth: This method let him that is the apostles disciple, follow. There are three things always to be observed in this mystery: The mercy of God loving us, the merit of Christ suffering for us, and the grace of the holy Ghost by the gospel sanctifying us. God's mercy is universal; because he loved the whole world. The earth is full of the Lords mercy; Psal. 33.5. yea his mercy is greater than heaven and earth: For it is as great as God is: For God is love. He hath witnessed by his word, that he will not the death of a sinner: Ezek. 33.11. And if this be too little, he hath confirmed it with an oath: If thou canst not believe him for his promise, jerome. believe him for his oath. He is called the Father of mercies; 2. Cor. 1.3 because it is his property to spare and to have mercy. Bernard. The cause and original of showing mercy, he hath from himself; of condemning and punishing, from another: Insomuch that it may appear, that mercy and punishment proceed from him after a far different manner. The merit of Christ also is universal; because he died for the sins of the whole world. What can then more plainly prove his mercy, then that he loved us, when as yet we were not? For it was his love that he created us. Moreover he loved us when we were turned away from him; For he sent his Son to be our redeemer. To the sinner adjudged to eternal torments, and not having wherewithal to redeem himself, the Father saith, Take my only begotten Son, and give him for thee. The Son himself saith, Take away me, and redeem thyself. Cant. 2.1. Christ was a flower of the field, not a flower of the garden; because the odour of his grace is not shut up to some few, but laid open to all. Doubt not of the universality of Christ's merit: Christ suffering, prayed for them that crucified him; and poured forth his blood for them, by whom it was poured forth. The promises of the gospel are universal; because Christ saith unto all, Come unto me all ye that labour. Matt. 11.28. That which was performed for all, is also offered to all: As far as thou travelest amongst these goods by the foot of trust and confidence, so much also shalt thou obtain. God denies his grace unto no man, Bernard upon the Cant. but unto him that thinks himself unworthy of it. Consider therefore, thou faithful soul, these three props of predestination, and rest upon them with the firm confidence of thy heart: Consider the benefits of God's mercy that are past; and thou wilt not doubt of final perseverance. Bernard upon the 116 Psal. When as yet thou wast not, God created thee: When by the fall of Adam thou wast condemned, he redeemed thee: When thou livedst in the world out of the church, he called thee: When thou wast ignorant, he instructed thee: When thou went'st astray, he redeemed thee: When thou sinnedst, he corrected thee, When thou stoodst, he upheld thee: When thou wast fallen, he lifted thee up: When thou went'st, he led thee: When thou camest unto him, he received thee. His long-suffering appeared, in that he expected thee; and his mercy, in that he pardoned thee. Psal. 23.6. God's mercy prevented thee: Hope firmly that it will also follow thee. Austin▪ God's mercy prevented thee, that thou mightest be healed; and it shall also follow thee, that thou mayest be glorified: Savanar. It prevented thee, that thou mightest live godly; it shall also follow thee, that thou mayest live with him for ever. How came it to pass that in thy fall thou wast not ground to pieces? Who put his hand under thee? Was it not the Lord? Be confident therefore hereafter in God's mercy, and hope assuredly for the end of perfect faith, that is, eternal salvation. Bernard upon the 31 Psal. In whose hands doth thy salvation consist more safe and certain, then in those which made both heaven and earth, Isa. 66.2. those hands that are never shortened, Isa. 59.1. those hands that do abound with the bowels of mercy, and those hands that have holes in them by which mercy may flow forth? But consider O devout soul, that we were elected of God, Eph. 1.4. that we might be holy and blameless: Whosoever therefore study not to live an holy life, to them belongs not the benefit of election. We were elected in Christ: In Christ we are by faith: Faith shows itself by love. Therefore where there is not love, neither is there faith; where there is not faith, neither is there Christ; where there is not Christ, neither is there election: 2. Tim. 2.19. The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth who are his; But let him depart from unrighteousness, whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord: The sheep of Christ shall no man take out of his hand, John 10.28. but yet let the sheep of Christ hear his voice. 27. We are God's house; Heb. 3.6. But let us retain our confidence and the glory of hope firm, even unto the end. O Lord, thou that hast given us to will, Phil. 2.13. give us also to perfect. Meditat. XXV. Of the saving efficacy of prayer. Our prayers do pierce the starry sky, And fetch down blessings from on high. IT is an exceeding great benefit of God towards us, Austin. in that he requires us to confer with him familiarly by pious prayer: He bestoweth upon us the gift of prayer, and the fruit of prayer. Great is the force of prayer which is poured forth on earth, but hath its operation in heaven. The prayer of the righteous is the key of heaven: Prayer ascendeth, and deliverance descendeth from God: Prayer is a saving buckler, by which we repel all our adversaries darts. Ephes. 6.16. Exod. 17.11. Ambrose. When Moses stretched forth his hands, Israel prevailed against the Amalekites: If thou stretchest forth thy hands towards heaven, Satan shall not prevail against thee. As the enemy is kept off by the wall: Hierome upon Ezek. So the anger of God is repelled by the prayers of the saints. Our Saviour himself prayed, not that he had any need, but to commend unto us the dignity thereof. Prayer is the tribute of our subjection: Because God hath commanded that we should every day offer unto him our prayers, as a spiritual tribute. It is the ladder of our ascension unto God: For prayer is nothing else but the souls travelling unto God. Nazian. It is the buckler of our defence: For the soul of him that continueth in prayer, is secure and safe from the assaults of the devil. It is our faithful messenger unto God: Bernard. For it goeth up unto his throne, and solicits him to aid us. This messenger never returns in vain: For God always hears our prayers, if not according to our will, yet to our profit and salvation. We may assuredly hope for one of these two: Either he will give us that we ask, or else that which he knoweth to be more profitable for us. God gave his own Son that most excellent gift, being not entreated: What will he do then if he be entreated? We cannot doubt of the Father's hearing, Num. 7.89. or the Sons interceding: Upon all occasions thou mayest with Moses by prayer enter into the tabernacle, Kempis. and consult with God the Lord: And thou shalt speedily hear his divine answer. Christ was transfigured when he prayed: Luke 9.29 So in the time of prayer there are many changes wrought in the soul: For prayer is the light of the soul, Bernard upon the Cant. and oftentimes leaves him in joy, whom she found in despair. Chrysost. With what face canst thou behold the sun, unless thou dost first worship him, who sends that most pleasant light for thee to look upon? How canst thou at thy table fall to thy meat, unless thou dost first worship him, who in his bounty bestows it upon thee? With what hope darest thou commit thyself unto the darkness of the night, unless thou dost first arm thyself by prayer? What fruit canst thou expect of thy labours, unless thou dost first worship him, without whose blessing all labour is unprofitable? If therefore thou wantest spiritual, or temporal blessings, ask and receive. If thou desirest Christ, Matt. 7.7. seek him by prayer, and thou shalt find: If thou desirest that the gate of divine grace, & eternal salvation should be opened unto thee, Knock and it shall be opened unto thee. ●erth●r. If in the desert of this world the thirst of tentations, and the penury of spiritual goods afflict thee: 1. Cor. 10.4. Come unto the spiritual rock, which is Christ, come with devotion, and strike it with the rod of prayer, & thou shalt feel the streams of divine grace cool the thirst of thy penury. Exod. 17.6. wouldst thou offer an acceptable sacrifice unto God? Offer thy prayers: so shall God smell a sweet odour, Gen. 8.21 Cyprian. and his wrath shall cease. wouldst thou every day converse with God? Love prayer, which is the spiritual conference between God and the devout soul. Psal. 34.8. Wouldst thou taste how sweet the Lord is? Invite the Lord to the house of thy heart by prayer. Anselm. Prayer pleaseth God, if it be made in a due manner: Whosoever therefore desireth to be heard, let him pray with wisdom, with fervency, with humility, with faith, with perseverance, & with confidence: Let him pray with wisdom, that is, for such things as tend to the glory of God, and the salvation of his neighbour. God is omnipotent: Therefore do not thou in thy prayers tie him to means. God is most wise: Therefore do not thou in thy prayers prescribe him an order. Let not thy prayers break forth rashly, but let them follow the conduct of faith: Now faith hath respect unto the word: Therefore such things as God hath promised in his word absolutely, pray for absolutely: and such things as he hath promised with a condition, as temporal things, pray for with a condition: and such things as he hath in no wise promised, in no wise pray for. Bernard. God oftentimes gives in his wrath, that which in his mercy he doth deny: Therefore follow Christ who resigned his will wholly unto God. Pray with fervency: For how canst thou desire that God should hear thee, when thou hearest not thyself? wouldst thou have God mindful of thee, when thou art not mindful of thyself? When thou wilt pray, Mat. 6.6. go into thy closet, and shut thy door. Thy heart is the closet, Austin. thou must enter into it: If thou wilt pray as thou oughtest, thou must shut the door, that the cogitations of worldly business may not trouble thee. Thy words come not unto God's ears without the affection of the heart: The mind must be so inflamed with the heat of cogitation, that it may far surpass what the tongue expresseth: And this is to worship in spirit and in truth, Joh. 4.23. as the Lord requireth: Christ prayed in the mount, Luk. 6.12. and lifted up his eyes unto heaven: Joh. 17.1. So we must turn away our minds from all the creatures, and turn them unto God. Thou dost injury unto God, if thou prayest unto him to attend unto thee, when thou dost not attend unto thyself. ●. Thes. 5.17. We may pray without ceasing, if we pray in the spirit,, that is, if our minds do always by holy desires watch unto God. There is not always need of clamour; because God heareth even the sighs of our hearts, seeing that he dwelleth in the hearts of the godly. There is not always need of words; because he is present even with the thoughts. Oftentimes one sigh moved by the holy Ghost, and offered to God in the spirit, is more acceptable to God then long repetitions of prayers, where the tongue prayeth, and the heart is plainly d●mbe. Luther. Let him pray with humility, and place no confidence in his own merit, but in the grace of God only. If our prayers rely upon our own worth, they are condemned, yea though the heart for very devotion should sweat drops of blood. No man pleaseth God but in Christ: Therefore no man prayeth aright but through Christ and in Christ. The sacrifices did not please God, which were not offered on the only altar of the tabernacle: So prayer pleaseth not God, unless it be offered upon the only altar, which is Christ. God promised to hear the Israelites prayers, if they prayed with their faces turned toward Jerusalem: 1. King. 8. So we in our prayers must convert ourselves unto Christ, who is the temple of the divinity. Christ at his passion being about to pray, cast himself to the ground: Behold how that most holy soul humbled itself before the divine majesty! Mar. 14.35 Let him pray with faith, Anselm. let him offer himself to want all joy, and to suffer all punishment. The sooner one prayeth, the more profitably; the oftener, the better; the more fervently, the more acceptably with God. Kempis. Let him pray with perseverance: For if God delay his benefits, he commends them, and doth not deny them: The longer things are desired, the sweeter they are being obtained. Let him pray with confidence, Austnie. that is, ask with faith, without doubting. O most merciful God, who hast commanded us to pray, give us grace to pray aright! Meditat. XXVI. Of the holy angels appointed by God to be our keepers. The angels of the Lord protect All those that are the Lords elect. COnsider, thou devout soul, how great the goodness of the Lord is, who hath made his angels thy keepers. Our heavenly Father sends his own Son to redeem us: The Son of God is made flesh to save us: The holy Ghost is sent to sanctify us: The angels are sent to protect us: So than all the court of heaven doth as it were serve us, & convey their benefits unto us. I do not wonder now that all the inferior creatures were made for man, Psal. 34.7. seeing that the angels themselves, creatures far more excellent, do not deny their ministry unto us. What wonder is it that the heaven ministers light unto us by day, that we may labour, and darkness by night, that we may rest, seeing that those that dwell in heaven do minister unto us? What wonder is it that the air affordeth us vital breath, and all kinds of fowls to our service, seeing that the celestial spirits watch over us for our safety? What wonder is it that the water affordeth us drink, purgeth away our filth, watereth things that are dried, and brings forth sundry kinds of fishes, when as the angels themselves are present with us, and do refresh us, when we are weary with the heat of calamities and tentations? What wonder that the earth beareth us, and nourisheth us with bread and wine, and furnisheth our tables with all kinds of fruits, and living creatures, when as he hath given his angels charge to keep us in all our ways, Psal. 91.11. and to bear us up in their hands, 12. that we dash not our foot against a stone. The angels were solicitous concerning Christ. Luk. 1.31 Luk. 2.10. For an angel foretells his conception: An angel declares his nativity: An angel bids him flee into Egypt: Mat. 2.13. Mat. 4.11. Luk. 22.43. The angels minister unto him in the desert: The angels minister unto him in the whole ministry of his preaching: An angel is present with him at the agony of death: An angel appears at his resurrection: 44. Mat. 28.2. Act. 1.10. The angels are present at his ascension: The angels shall be with him when he returns to judgement. Mat. 24.31. So then, as the angels waited upon Christ in the days of his flesh, so also are they solicitous for all them that are incorporated into Christ by faith. As they served the head, so do they also serve the members: They rejoice to serve them on earth, whom they shall have their companions in heaven. They do not deny their ministry unto them, whose most sweet fellowship they hope for hereafter. Gen. 32.1. The angels of God appeared to Jacob in the way to his country: So in this life, which is the way to our heavenly country, the angels are the keepers of the godly. The angels defended Daniel in the midst of the lions: Dan. 6.22. So likewise they defend all the godly from the treacheries of the infernal Lion. The angels preserved Lot from the fire of Sodom: Gen. 19.16. So by holy inspirations and protections against the devil's tentations they often preserve us from the fire of hell: Luk 16.22. The angels carry the soul of Lazarus into Abraham's bosom: And so they translate the souls of the elect unto the palace of the heavenly kingdom. The angel leads Peter out of prison: Act. 12.7 And so he doth often deliver the godly out of most apparent dangers. Great is the power of our adversary the devil: But let the guard of the angels lift us up. Hierome. Doubt not but these will be present to aid thee in all dangers; because the Scripture describeth them with wings, Exod. 25.20. Isa. 6.2. under the figure of Cherubin and Seraphim, that thou mayst know assuredly, that they will come with incredible celerity to bring aid and succour. Bernard. Do not doubt but these will be thy protectors in all places; because they are most subtle spirits which no body can resist: All visible things give way unto them, and all bodies alike, though they be solid and thick, by them are penetrable and passable. Do not doubt but these spirits know thy dangers and afflictions; M●t. 18.10. because they always behold the face of thy heavenly Father, and are always ready pressed for his service. Know also, thou devout soul, that these angels are holy: Therefore study for holiness, if thou wouldst enjoy their fellowship. Likeness of conditions doth most beget friendship: Accustom thyself therefore to holy actions, if thou desirest to have the angels to be thy keepers. In every place and angle stand in awe and reverence of thy angel, and do nothing in his presence which thou wouldst be ashamed to do in the sight of man. These angels are chaste: Basil. Therefore they are driven away by filthy actions: Smoak drives away bees, and an ill savour drives away doves: So, lamentable and stinking sin drives away the angels the keepers of our life. If by sin thou deprivest thyself of their tuition: How canst thou be safe from the devil's treacheries? If thou be'st destitute of the angels protection: How canst thou be safe from the invasion of many dangers? If thy soul be not fenced by the wall of the angels defence: the devil will easily overcome it by his deceitful persuasion. Heb. 1.14. The holy angels are sent by God as his messengers to us: Luther. Therefore thou must be reconciled unto God by faith, if thou wilt have an angel to be thy keeper. Where the grace of God is not, neither is there the guard of angels: Let us behold the angels as Gods saving hands, which are moved to no work without his direction. There is joy in heaven before the angels over one sinner that repenteth. The tears of the penitent are as it were the wine of the angels: But an impenitent heart puts to flight the angels our keepers. Let us therefore repent, that we may cause the angels to rejoice. The angels are of an heavenly and spiritual nature: Let us therefore think upon heavenly and spiritual things that they may take pleasure to be with us. The angels are humble and hate pride altogether; because they are not ashamed to tend little children: Why then is earth and ashes proud, Ecclus. 10.9. when the heavenly spirits so humble themselves? At death especially the devil's subtlety is to be feared, because it is written that the serpent lieth in wait for the heel. Gen. 3.15 The heel, which is the extreme part of the body, is the last term of our life. In that last agony of death, the angel's guard is most necessary; that they may deliver us from the fiery darts of the devil, and carry our soul when it is gone out of the prison of our body, into the heavenly paradise. When Zacharie was in the temple busy about his holy function, the angel of the Lord came unto him: Luk. 1.11. So likewise if thou delightest in the exercise of the word and prayer, thou mayst rejoice to have the angels thy protectors. O most merciful God, thou that leadest us through the desert of this world by the conduct of the holy angels, grant that we may at length be carried by them into the kingdom of heaven! Meditat. XXVII. Of the devil's treacheries. The devil's treacheries who knows? A thousand ways he seeks our woes. COnsider, thou devout soul, in what danger thou art, because the devil thine adversary is always lying in wait for thee. He is an enemy, for boldness, most ready; Lactant. for strength, most powerful; for subtlety, most cunning; for engines, well stored; in fight indefatigable; into all shapes changeable: He enticeth us into many sins, and having enticed us he accuseth us before God's judgement seat. He accuseth God to men, Chrysost. and men to God, and men one to another. Came●. He exactly considers every ones natural inclination; and then he lays for them the snares of tentations. As in the besieging of cities the besiegers come not against the strong and fortified places, but where they find the walls weak, the ditches plain, and the turrets without guard: So the devil when he assaults the soul of man, first sets upon that part which he finds softest, and best affected for him the easier to work upon: If he be once overcome, he doth not presently remove, but comes again to tempt with greater force; that so he may by tediousness and neglect overcome those whom by violence of tentations he could not overcome. Against whom will he not use his subtle tricks, when he was so bold as to set upon the Lord of majesty himself with his craft and subtlety? Matt. 4.3. What Christian will he spare, Luk. 22.31. when he sought to winnow Christ's apostles themselves like wheat? He deceived Adam in his nature instructed: Gen. 3.4. Whom cannot he deceive in his nature corrupted? He deceived judas in the school of our Saviour: And whom will he not deceive in the world the school of error? In all states the devils treacheries are much to be feared. In prosperity he lifts us up with pride: In adversity he drives us to despair: If he sees a man delighted with frugality, he entangleth him in the fetters of unsatiable covetousness: If he sees a man of an heroical spirit, he sets him on fire with flaming anger: If he sees a man somewhat merrier than ordinary, he incites him to burn with lust: Those whom he sees to be zealous in religion, he labours to entangle in vain superstition: Those whom he sees exalted to dignities, he pricks them forward with the spurs of ambition. When he allureth a man to sin, he amplifies God's mercy; and when he hath cast him headlong into sin, he amplifies God's justice: First he will lead a man to presumption▪ and afterwards he labours to bring him to desperation. Bernard. Sometimes he assaults outwardly by persecutions; sometimes he assaults inwardly by fiery tentations: Sometimes he sets upon us openly, and by force; sometimes secretly, and by fraud. In eating he sets before us gluttony; in generating, Austin. luxury; in exercising, sluggishness; in conversing, envy; in governing, covetousness; in correcting, anger; in dignity, pride: In the heart he sets evil cogitations; In the mouth, false speakings; In the other members wicked actions: When we are awake, he moves us to ill works; when we are asleep, he moves us to filthy dreams. So then in every place and in every thing we must beware of the devils treacheries. We sleep, but he watcheth: We are secure, and he goes about like a roaring lion. 1. Pet. 5.8. If thou shouldest see a lion ready to assault thee; how wouldst thou fear and tremble! When thou hearest that the infernal lion lies in wait for thee; dost thou sleep sound on both ears? Consider therefore, thou faithful soul, the treacheries of this most potent enemy, and seek the aid of spiritual arms: Eph. 6.14. Let thy loins be girt with the girdle of truth, and covered with the breastplate of righteousness: Put on Christ's perfect righteousness; and thou shalt then be safe from the devil's tentations. Hide thyself in the holes of Christ's wounds, Can. 2.14. as often as thou art terrified by the darts of this malignant serpent. The true believer is in Christ: as therefore Satan hath no power over Christ, Joh. 14.30 so hath he no power over the true believer. Let thy feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Eph. 6.15. Let our confession of Christ be always heard in our mouths: So no tentations of the devil shall hurt us. The words of the enchanter do not so drive away the corporal serpent, as the voice of constant confession doth put to flight this spiritual serpent. Take the shield of faith, to quench all the fiery darts of this most wicked enemy. Eph. 6.16. Faith removes mountains; Mat. 17.20 understand the mountains of doubts, persecutions and tentations. The Israelites whose doore-posts were signed with the blood of the paschal Lamb, Ex. 12.13. were not smitten by the destroying angel: So likewise those whose hearts are by faith sprinkled with the blood of Christ, shall not be hurt by this destroyer. Faith relies upon God's promises: Now Satan cannot overthrow Gods promises: Therefore Satan cannot prevail against faith. Faith is the light of the soul, and the tentations of the malignant spirit do soon appear through this light. By faith our sins are thrown into the profound Mic. 7.19. sea of God● mercy; and in that the fiery darts of the devil shall be easily quenched. We must put on likewise the helmet of salvation, that is, holy hope. Eph. 6.17. Gregor. Endure tentation, and expect an issue out of the tentation: For God is the moderator of them that contend, and the crown of them that overcome. If there be no enemy, than no fight; Savanar. if no fight, no victory; if no victory, no crown. Better is that fight that brings us nearer to God, than that peace which alienateth us from God. We must also take the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God. N●zianz. Let the consolations in Scripture prevail more with thee, than the contradictions of the devil. Christ overcame all Satan's tentations by the word: Matt. 4.4. and still by the word Christians overcome all Satan's tentations. To conclude, In prayer thou hast great aid against tentations. Austin. As often as the little ship of the soul is ready to be overwhelmed with the waves of tentations, awake Christ by thy prayers. We overcome visible enemies by striking, but we overcome our invisible enemy by pouring forth prayers. Fight thou, O Christ, both in us, and for us, that so through thee we also may overcome! Meditat. XXVIII. General rules of a godly life. He's only wise who God doth know, And doth by life his knowledge show. EVery day thou drawest nearer to thy death, judgement, and eternity: Therefore think every day how thou mayst be able to stand in that most strict and severe judgement, and so live for ever. Look diligently unto thy thoughts, words, Eccles. 12.14. and deeds, because hereafter thou must give an exact account for all thy thoughts, words, and deeds. Every evening think that thou shalt die that night: Every morning think that thou shalt die that day. Do not defer thy conversion and good works till to morrow; because to morrow is uncertain, but death is certain, and hangs over thy head every day. Nothing is more contrary to godliness then delay: If thou contemnest the inward calling of the holy Spirit, thou shalt never attain to true conversion. Ecclus 18.22. Defer not thy conversion and good works till thy old age; but offer unto God the flower of thy youth. It is uncertain whether the young man shall live till he be old: But it is certain that destruction is prepared for the young man which is impenitent. No age is fitter for God's service, than youth which flourisheth in strength both of body and mind. For no man's sake undertake an evil cause; for it is not that man but God that shall hereafter judge thee. Do not therefore prefer the favour of men before the grace of God. In the way of the Lord either we go forwards, or else we go backwards: Therefore examine thy life every day whether thou goest forwards or backwards in the study of piety. To stand in the way of the Lord, is to go back: Do not delight then to stand still in the course of godliness; but study always to walk in the way of the lord Bernard. In thy conversation be courteous towards all, grievous to none, familiar with few. To God live piously▪ to thyself chastely, to thy neighbour justly. Show favour to thy friend, show patience towards thy enemy, show thy good will towards all, and thy bounty to whom thou art able. In thy life die daily unto thyself and unto thy vices: So in death thou shalt live unto God. Let mercy appear in thy affection, courtesy in thy countenance, Hug●. humility in thy attire, modesty in thy neighbourhood, and patience in tribulation. Always think upon three things past, the evil committed, the good omitted, and the time pretermitted. Always think upon three things present, the brevity of this present life, the difficulty of being saved, and the paucity of them that shall be saved. Always think upon three things to come: Death, than which nothing is more horrible; judgement, than which nothing is more terrible; the pains of hell, than which nothing is more intolerable. Let thy evening prayers amend the sins of the day past. Let the last day of the week amend the faults of the days past. In the evening think how many are plunged that day into hell; and give thanks unto God for granting thee time to repent. There are three things above thee, which never let slip out of thy memory: The eye that sees all, the ear that hears all, and the book wherein all things are written. Bernard. God hath communicated himself wholly unto thee; Communicate thou thyself wholly unto thy neighbour. That is the best life which is busied in the service of others: Show obedience and reverence to thy superior, give counsel and aid to thy equal, defend and instruct thy inferior. Let thy body be subject to thy mind, and thy mind to God. Bewail thy evils passed, and esteem not the goods that are present, and desire with all thy heart the goods which are future. Petrarch. Remember thy sin, to grieve for it: Remember death, that thou mayst cease from sin: Remember God's justice, that thou mayst be kept in fear: Remember God's mercy, that thou mayst not despair. Bernard. As much as thou canst, withdraw thyself from the world, and addict thyself wholly unto the service of the Lord. Always in delights think that thy chastity is in danger; in riches think that thy humility is in danger; in many businesses think that thy godliness is in danger. Study to please none but Christ: Fear to displease none but Christ. Always pray thou unto God to command what he will, and to give what he commands. Pray unto him to cover what is past, and to govern what is to come. As thou desirest to seem, so also thou must be. For God judgeth not according to the show, but according to the truth. In thy words take heed of much babbling: Matt. 6.7. Matt. 12.36. because for every idle word thou must give an account in the day of judgement. Thy works, be they what they will, do not pass away; but are cast as certain seeds of eternity: If thou sowest in the flesh, Gal. 6.8. of the flesh thou shalt reap corruption: If thou sowest in the spirit, of the spirit thou shalt reap life everlasting. The honours of the world shall not follow thee after death; neither shall thy heaps of riches follow thee; neither shall thy pleasures follow thee▪ neither shall the vanities of the world follow thee: But, after all, thy works shall follow thee: Rev. 14.13. As therefore thou desirest to be at the day of judgement, to day appear to be such in the sight of God. Cyprian. Do not esteem those things that thou hast; but rather esteem those that thou wantest. Be not proud for what is given thee, but be humbled rather for that which is denied thee. Learn to live whiles thou mayst live: In this life is eternal life either obtained or lost: After death there is no time to work, but the time of recompense begins. In the life to come working is not expected, but the reward of working. Let holy meditation bring forth in thee knowledge, and knowledge compunction, and compunction devotion, and let devotion make prayer. Kempis. The silence of the mouth is a great good for the peace of the heart. The more thou art separated from the world, the more acceptable thou art unto God. Whatsoever thou desirest to have, ask of God; whatsoever thou hast, give unto God. He that is not thankful for that which is given already, is unworthy to receive more. God's graces cease to descend, when our thanks cease to ascend. Bernard. Whatsoever happeneth unto thee, make use of it for good: When thou art in prosperity, think that thou hast then an occasion to bless and praise God: When thou art in adversity, think that thou art then put in mind of thy repentance and conversion. Show the strength of thy power in helping, Lud. Vives the strength of thy wisdom in instructing, and the strength of thy riches in doing good. Let not adversity cast thee down, neither let prosperity lift thee up. Let all thy life be directed unto Christ as unto the mark; Follow him in the way, that thou mayst overtake him in thy country. In all things have a special care of profound humility, and ardent charity. Let charity lift up thy heart unto God, that thou mayest cleave unto him: And let humility keep thy heart down, that thou be'st not proud. Judge God to be a Father, Tertull. for his clemency; a Lord, for his discipline; a Father, for his power and gentleness; a Lord, for his severity and justice: Love him as a Father, piously; fear him as a Lord, necessarily: Love him, because he willeth mercy; fear him, because he willeth not sin: Psal. 37.5. Fear the Lord and trust in him: acknowledge thy misery, and proclaim his mercy. O God, thou that hast given us to will, Philip. 2.13. give us also grace to perfect. Meditat. XXIX. Of the shaking off security. To live it is not, but to die, To live in all security. COnsider, thou devout soul, what an hard matter it is to be saved; and thou shalt easily shake off all security. Bernard. At no time, and in no place is there security: Neither in heaven, nor in paradise; and then much less in the world. An angel fell in the presence of the divinity; and Adam fell in the place of pleasure: Adam was created after the image of God, Gen. 2.27 and yet notwithstanding he was deceived by the treacheries of the devil: Solomon was the wisest of men, 1. Kin. 3.12. 1. Kin. 11.3. and yet his wives turned away his heart from the Lord. Judas was in the school of our Saviour, and did every day hear the saving word of that chief Doctor; and yet was not he safe from the snares of Satan: Luk. 22.3. He was plunged headlong into the pit of covetousness, and so into the pit of eternal punishment. 1. Sam. 1●. 14. David was a man after Gods own heart, and he was unto the Lord as a most dear son; and yet by murder and adultery he became the son of death. 2. Sam. 12.6. Where then is there security in this life? Rely with an assured confidence of heart upon the promises of God; and thou shalt be safe from the invasions of the devil. There is no security in this life, but that which is infallibly promised to those that believe, and walk in the way of the Lord: But when we come unto future happ●nesse, then at length we shall have full security. Gers●●. In this life fear and religion are coupled together; neither must one be without the other: Be not secure in adversity, but whatsoever adversity happeneth unto thee in this life, think that it i● the reward of thy sins. God often punisheth secret offences by open corrections: Think upon the grievous stains of thy sins, and fear him that shall judge thee for thy sins according to his justice. Be not secure in prosperity: For God is angry with him that is not punished in this life. Nazian. What are the afflictions of the godly? Bitter arrows sent from the sweet hand of God. God esteems many in this life unworthy to be punished, whom notwithstanding he reprobateth for ever. Outward felicity is oftentimes a sign of eternal damnation: Nothing is more unhappy than the happiness of sinners, and nothing more miserable than he that knows no misery. Austin. Whithersoever thou turnest thine eyes, thou seest cause of grief, and findest remedies against security: Think upon God above, whom we have offended: Think upon hell beneath, which we have deserved: Think upon the sin behind, which we have committed: Think upon the judgement before, which we stand in fear of: Think upon the conscience within, which we have defiled: And think upon the world without, which we have loved. Bernard. Consider whence thou camest; and be ashamed: Consider where thou art; and be sorrowful: Consider whither thou goest; and tremble. The gate of salvation is narrow; Mat. 7.14. but the way of salvation is yet narrower. God hath given unto thee the treasure of faith, but thou carriest it about thee in vessels of clay: He gave thee the angels to be thy keepers: But the devil is not far off; 2. Cor. 4.7 Psal. 91.11 and he is ready to seduce thee. Thou art renewed in the spirit of thy mind: But yet thou hast much of the oldness of the flesh. Eph. 4.23 Thou art set in the state of the grace of God: But yet thou art not set in eternal glory. There is a mansion prepared for thee in heaven: But yet thou must endure first the afflictions and assaults of the world. God hath promised forgiveness to him that repenteth: Anselm▪ But he hath not promised will to repent to him that sinneth. The consolations of eternal life expect thee: But yet thou must expect to enter in through many tribulations. Act. 14.22 The crown of eternal reward is promised unto thee: But first thou must fight the great fight, and be conqueror. God doth not change his promise: Neither must thou change the study of holy life. Cyprian. If the servant doth not what the Lord commandeth, than the Lord will do what he hath threatened. Isidor. Let a man therefore lament & grieve, shaking off all security, lest in the just and secret judgement of God he be forsaken, and left in the power of the devils to be destroyed. If thou hast the grace of God, Bernard. so delight thyself in it, as knowing that it is the gift of God, and that thou dost not possess it by any hereditary right: Yet be thou so secure concerning it, that thou canst not lose it, lest on a sudden when God shall withhold his gift, and withdraw his hand, thou be'st discouraged, and become more sorrowful than is fit: But happy shalt thou be if thou labourest with all care and diligence to avoid security the mother of all evil. God will not forsake thee: But take heed that thou dost not forsake God. God hath given thee his grace: But pray thou unto him that he would also give thee perseverance. God bids thee be certain of thy salvation: but he bids thee not be secure. 2. Tim. 4.7. Thou must fight valiantly, that thou mayest at length triumph gloriously. Thy flesh within thee fighteth against thee: And the enemy the nearer he is, the more he is to be feared. The world about thee fighteth against thee: And the greater the enemy is, the more to be feared. The devil above thee fighteth against thee: And the more potent the enemy is, the more to be feared. Through the power of God fear not to encounter with these enemies: Through the power of God thou shalt be enabled to obtain the victory. But thou canst not overcome these so great enemies by security, but by assiduity in fight: The time of life is the time of fight: Then thou art most assaulted, when thou knowest not that thou art assaulted: Then do thy enemies most gather their forces together, when they seem to grant truce. They are vigilant: And dost thou sleep? They make themselves ready to hurt: And dost not thou make thyself ready to resist? Many faint by the way, & never come home into their country: How many of the Israelites died in the wilderness, and never came to see the promised land! How many spiritual sons of Abraham do perish in the wilderness of this world, Deut. 1.35 & never come to enjoy the promised inheritance of the kingdom of heaven! Nothing is more powerful to make us shake off security, then to think of the paucity of them that endure to the last. Let it therefore be our only desire, to attain to the glory which is in heaven: Let it be our only love to come thither: Let it be our only grief that we are not already come thither: And let it be our only fear that we come not thither: That so we may have no joy but in those things that either further us in the way thither, or give us hope of coming thither. What profiteth it thee to rejoice for a moment, & to lament for ever? Anselm. What joy can there be in this life, when that which delighteth passeth away, and that never passeth away which tormenteth? We live in security, as if we were past the snare of death & day of judgement. Christ saith, that he will come to judgement at such an hour as we think not of. Matt. 24.24. This saith Truth itself, and again he repeats it: Hear this and fear. If the Lord will come at such an hour as we think not of, we have great cause to fear; that so we come not unto judgement unprovided. If we come unprovided; How shall we be able to endure the strict examination in judgement? Notwithstanding, that which is lost in this one moment cannot be recovered again for ever. In the shortness of one moment, judgement shall pass what we shall be for all eternity. In this one moment life or death, damnation or salvation, punishment or eternal glory shall be appointed to every one. Lord, thou that hast given us grace to that which is good, give us also perseverance in that which is good! Meditat. XXX. Of the holy imitation of Christ his life. Christ's life must be a rule to thee, If Christ's disciple thou wilt be. THe holy life of Christ is the most perfect pattern of all virtues: Gregor. Every action of Christ serves for our instruction. Many would come to Christ; Bernard. but they will not follow him: They would enjoy Christ; but they will not imitate him. Learn of me, Mat. 11.29 for I am meek and lowly in heart, saith our Saviour: Unless thou wilt be Christ's disciple, thou canst never be a true Christian: Let not Christ's passion only be thy merit, but let his action also be thy example to live after: Thy beloved is white and ruddy: Can. 5.10. Be thou also ruddy, by the sprinkling of his blood; and white, by the imitation of his life. For how dost thou love Christ, if thou lovest not his holy life? If ye love me, Joh. 14.15 keep my commandments, saith our Saviour: Therefore he that keepeth not his commandments, loveth him not. Christ's holy life is the perfect rule of our life: And this one rule of Christ's life, is to be preferred before all the rules of Francis or Benedict. If thou wilt be the adopted son of God, consider what was the life of his only begotten Son. If thou wilt be a coheir with Christ, thou must be a follower of Christ. He that liveth in vices, hath given himself to the service of the devil: And he that will be with the devil, how can he be with Christ? To love sin, is to love the devil; 1. Joh. 3.8. because all sin is from the devil: How then can he that is a lover of the devil, be a lover of Christ? To love God, is to love holy life; because all holy life is from God: How then can he that is not a lover of holy life be a lover of God▪ Gregor. The doing of the work is the trial of love: It is the property of love to follow and to obey him that is beloved, to will the same that he willeth, and to be affected as he is: If then thou lovest Christ truly, thou wilt obey his commandments, thou wilt with him love holy life, and being renewed in the spirit of thy mind, Eph. 4.23. thou wilt think upon heavenly things. Joh. 17.3. Eternal life consists in the knowledge of Christ: And he that loves not Christ, knows him not. He that loves not humility, chastity, gentleness, temperance, and charity, loves not Christ: Because the love of Christ was nothing else but humility, chastity, gentleness, temperance, and charity. Christ saith that he knows not them, Mat. 7.23. that fulfil not the will of his Father: Therefore they also know not Christ, that fulfil not the will of their heavenly Father. But what is the will of our heavenly Father? It is, according to the Apostle, 1. Thess. 4 3. Rom. 8.14 our sanctification. He is not of Christ that hath not the Spirit of Christ: Now where the Spirit of Christ is, he is present with his gifts and fruits. But what are the fruits of the Spirit? Gal. 5.22. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. As the holy Ghost rested upon Christ; 23. Isa. 11.2. Mat. 3.16. So doth he also rest on all those that are in Christ, by true faith: Because the spouse of Christ doth run in the odour of Christ's ointments. Cant. 1.3. 1. Cor. 6.17. Mat. 19.5. He that cleaveth unto the Lord, is one spirit with him: As the carnal copulation of the man and the woman maketh of them one flesh: So the spiritual conjunction of Christ & the faithful soul maketh of them one spirit. And where there is one spirit, there is one will; and where there is the same will, there are the same actions. Therefore he that doth not conform his life to the life of Christ, is convinced that he neither doth cleave unto God, neither hath his Spirit. Grana●. Is it not meet that we should conform all our life to the life of Christ, who in love conformed himself wholly unto us▪ God manifesting himself in the flesh, 1. Tim. 3.16. set before us an example of holy life; that whosoever doth not live an holy life, might be without excuse as concerning the flesh. No life is more pleasant or quiet then the life of Christ; because Christ is true God: And what can enjoy more pleasure or tranquillity than God, who is the chiefest good? This life bringeth forth short joy, but draws with it eternal sorrow. To whomsoever thou conformest thyself in this life, to him also shalt thou be conformed in the resurrection: If thou beginnest here to conform thyself unto the life of Christ; thou shalt in the resurrection be more fully conformed unto him. If thou conformest thyself unto the devil by sin; thou shalt in the resurrection be conformed unto him by torment. He that will follow me, Mat. 16.24. let him deny himself, saith our Saviour, and take up his cross daily. If in this life thou deniest thyself; at the day of judgement Christ shall acknowledge thee for his. If for Christ here in this life thou renouncest thine own honour, the love of thyself, and thine own will; in the life to come Christ will make thee partaker of his honour, of his love, and of his will. If in this life thou partakest of the cross; in the life to come thou shalt partake of eternal light: If in this life thou partakest of tribulation; in the life to come thou shalt partake of consolation: If in this life thou partakest of persecution; in the life to come thou shalt partake of a most large retribution. He that shall confess me before men, saith our Saviour, Mat. 10.22▪ him also will I confess before my Father which is in heaven: But we must confess Christ not only by the profession of doctrine, but also by conformity of life; So shall he at length at the day of judgement acknowledge us for his. Whosoever shall deny me before men, 33. him also will I deny before my Father which is in heaven. Christ is not only denied by words, but also, and that much more, by wicked life: Whosoever therefore doth in this life deny Christ by his deeds, shall in deed be denied by Christ at the day of judgement. He is not a Christian that hath not the true faith of Christ: But true faith ingrafts us into Christ as vine-branches into the spiritual vine. Every branch that is in Christ, Joh. 15.2. and bringeth not forth fruit, the heavenly husbandman taketh away: But he that remaineth in Christ, and in whom Christ dwelleth by faith, Eph. 3.17. bringeth forth much fruit. That branch is not in the vine, which draweth not from the vine its sap & nourishment: So neither is that soul in Christ by faith, which draweth not from Christ the sap of love by faith. Conform us, good Jesus, unto thy life in this world; that in the world to come we may be fully conformed unto it! Meditat. XXXI. Of the denial of a man's own self. Thou from thyself must first depart, Before thou canst in Christ have part. Mat. 16.24 WHosoever will follow me, let him deny himself, saith our Saviour: To deny one's self, is to renounce the love of ones self: For the love of ones self doth exclude the love of God. If thou wilt be Christ's disciple, it is necessary that self-love should altogether die in thee. No man loveth Christ, unless he hateth himself. Joh. 12.24 Unless the grain of wheat which is cast into the earth do die, it doth not bring forth fruit: So thou canst not reap the fruits of the holy Spirit, unless self-love do die in thy heart. The Lord said unto Abraham, Go out from thine own land, Gen. 12.1 and from thine own kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land which I shall show thee: Thou canst not be the true disciple of Christ, and a true spiritual man, unless thou goest forth from the love of thyself. Gen. 32.24, 31. Jacob in his wrestling with the Angel was lamed in one foot, the other being sound and whole: Granat. By the two feet is understood a double love; the love of ones self, and the love of God. Then shall a man be partaker of God's blessing, when he halts upon the foot of self-love, the other foot, that is, of the love of God, remaining sound and whole. Joh. Clim. It is impossible for thee with one eye to behold heaven and earth: So it cannot be that with one and the same will a man should love himself inordinately, & love God also. Love is the chiefest good of our soul: Therefore we must give the chief good of our soul to the chiefest good, that is, to God. Thy love is thy God, that is, whatsoever thou lovest chiefly thou settest in the place of God: But God is truly the chief being. Whosoever therefore loveth himself, judgeth himself to be God, and setteth himself in the place of God, which is the greatest idolatry that can be. Whatsoever thou lovest chiefly, thou makest it to be the end of all other things, and thou judgest it to be the last compliment of all thy desires: But it is God only who is the beginning and the end of the creatures, Rev. 1.8. he is the first and the last, he only filleth the desire of our hearts, and there is no created thing that can satisfy thy desires: Therefore thou must prefer the love of God before the love of thyself. God is the beginning and the end: In him therefore must our love begin, and in him also must it end. The essence of God is without all the creatures, as God was in himself from all eternity: So withdraw thou thy love from all the creatures. Such as thy love is, such are thy works: If thy works proceed from true faith and love of God; they are acceptable unto God, and appear great in his eyes, though in the eyes of all men they seem but small: If they proceed from self-love, they cannot please God. Self-love defileth the most excellent works. When Christ was in the house of Simon a certain woman broke a vessel of precious ointment, Mat. 26.6 7. Joh. Arn. and anointed the head of Christ: The work seemed to be small, and yet notwithstanding it was acceptable unto Christ; because it proceeded from true faith, pure love and serious contrition. Sacrifice in the old Testament was a work acceptable unto God; and yet God was not well pleased that Saul set apart the spoils of the Amalekites to offer sacrifice unto God. Why? 1. Sam. 15.15. Because this did not proceed from the love of God: For if he had loved God truly, he would not have contemned the commandment of God about the burning of all the spoils: He loved himself, and his own devotion. Love is a kind of fire: For so the Church prayeth; Come, O holy Ghost, and kindle in the faithful the fire of thy love. Fire doth not cleave fast unto the earth, but always tends upwards: So thy love must not rest in thee, but it must be lifted up unto the Lord. Again, to deny one's self, is to renounce his own honour: Unto the chief good alone is due the chiefest honour: And God is the chiefest good. He that seeketh his own glory, cannot seek God's glory, as our Saviour said unto the Pharisees, Joh. 5.44. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another? Behold the example of Christ, and follow it: He often witnesseth of himself, that he seeks not his own glory, Joh. 5.41. that he receiveth not honour from men, and that he is humble in heart. Mat. 11.29. All thy gifts thou receivest from God: Therefore render them again unto God. The rivers of all goods do flow from this fountain of God's goodness: Therefore let them all flow back again into the sea. The herb which is called Tornsol, or Heliotropium, doth always turn itself unto the sun, by virtue whereof it draws its life and nourishment: So do thou with all thy gifts and honour turn thyself towards God, and attribute nothing unto thyself. If thou hast any thing of thine own, thou mayest seek thine own honour, and attribute thy gifts unto thyself: But seeing that thou hast nothing of thine own, but all from God, therefore thou must seek, not thine own honour, but the honour of God. The seeking his own honour doth turn a man away from God: We have an example in Nabuchadnezzar, who said, Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the strength of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? But what follows? 31. Whiles the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 32. To thee, O Nabuchadnezzar, is it spoken: Thy kingdom is departed from thee, thou shalt be cast out from the company of men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: Even so if thou out of vainglory and pride dost boast of thy Babylon, that is, the building of thy good works, and take the glory thereof unto thyself, and not give it unto God; thou shalt be cast away from the sight of God. Last of all, To deny ones own self, is to renounce his own will: We must always obey the best will: And Gods will is always the best: We must obey his will, 1. Cor. 4.7▪ from whom we have all that we have: And from God comes all that we have. We must obey his will, who leadeth us always unto life and that which is good: Delight in the Lord, Psal. 37.4. and he shall give thee thy hearts desire. Our own will leads us unto death, and unto damnation. By what did our first father fall from the grace of God, and state of salvation, into eternal damnation? By leaving the will of God, and following his own will. He neglected the commandment of God, and gave ear unto the persuasion of the devil: Therefore the true disciple of Christ renounceth his own will, and desires to follow the will of God. Behold Christ! Mat. 26.39. He being in the agony of his passion, offered his own will as a most acceptable sacrifice unto God: Offer thou also unto God thine own will, and so shalt thou perfect that denial of thyself, which Christ requireth. Mat. 6.10. Let thy holy will, O Lord, be done in earth, as it is in heaven! Meditat. XXXII. Of the true rest of the soul. Thy soul can nothing satiate But God who did thy soul create. IN the transitory things of this world the soul often seeks for rest, but finds it not: Why? Because the soul is more worthy than all the creatures, and therefore she cannot find peace & quietness in them as being more vile. All worldly things are flitting and transitory; but the soul is immortal: How should she then find true rest in them? All those are terrestrial, but our soul hath a celestial original: How should she then satiate and fulfil her desire in them? In Christ she finds rest, Mat. 11.29 he can satisfy and fulfil her desire. Against the wrath of God she rests in the wounds of Christ: Against the accusations of Satan she rests in the power of Christ: Against the terror of the law she rests in the gospel of Christ: Against the sins which accuse her she rests in the blood of Christ which speaketh better things, Heb. 12.24. before God, than the blood of Abel: Against the terror of death she rests with confidence in the session of Christ at the right hand of the Father: And thus our faith findeth rest in Christ, and our love findeth great rest also. He that by his love cleaveth unto earthly things, hath no true rest; because earthly things themselves have it not in them: They cannot fully satiate the souls appetite; because they are all finite: But our soul being created after the image of God, doth desire that infinite good in which is all good. As therefore our faith ought not to rely upon any of the creatures, but upon the merit of Christ only: So also our love should not be settled upon any of the creatures, nor upon ourselves. For self-love hindereth the love of God: We must prefer the love of God before all. Our soul is the spouse of Christ: To him alone therefore must she adhere. Our soul is the temple of God: Therefore she must give entertainment to none but him. 1. Cor. 3.16. Many seek for rest in riches: But without Christ there is no rest to the soul. Mat. 8.20. Where Christ is, there is poverty, if not in act, yet in affect. He being the Lord of heaven and earth, had not where to rest his head: And so would he commend and sanctify poverty unto us. Riches are without us: But that which will quiet the soul must be within. To what shall our soul cleave unto at death, when we must leave all worldly things? Either our riches forsake us, or we them: often in our life, but always at our death. Where then shall our soul find peace and rest? Many seek for rest in pleasures: But pleasures can bring no rest or delight unto the soul; although they may unto the body, for a time: At length grief and sorrow follow as companions. Pleasures belong unto this life: But the soul was not created for this life, because she is by death compelled to depart. How then should she find rest in pleasures? Without Christ there is no rest to the soul: But what was the life of Christ? Extreme grief from the first moment of his nativity, even unto his death. By this means he the true prizer of things would teach us what to think concerning pleasure. Many seek for rest in honours: But miserable are they that at every change of popular breath are compelled to want their rest. Honour is without, and a flitting good: But that which will give rest unto the soul must be within. L. Vives. What canst thou say more of the praise and glory given by men, then of Apelles his commended picture? Consider the corner wherein thou keepest: What is the proportion thereof to a whole province, to all Europe, and to all the habitable world? That is true honour indeed which God shall hereafter give unto the elect. The rest of a thing is in its end: neither doth a thing rest naturally, until it hath attained to its end and place. God is the end whereunto the soul was created: For it was made after the image of God. Therefore it cannot be quiet and at rest but in its end, that is, in God. As the soul is the life of the body: Austin. So is God the life of the soul. As therefore that soul doth truly live in which God dwelleth by spiritual grace: So likewise that soul is dead, which hath not God dwelling in it. And what rest can there be to the soul that is dead? That first death in sin doth necessarily draw with it the second death of damnation. Rev. 20.15. Whosoever therefore doth firmly cleave unto God with his love, and inwardly enjoyeth divine consolation, his rest can no outward things disquiet. In the midst of sorrows, he is joyful; in poverty, rich; in the tribulations of this world, secure; in troubles, quiet; in the reproaches and contumelies of men, still; and in death itself, living. He regards not the threats of tyrants: Because he feels within, the riches of divine consolation. In adversity, he is not made sorrowful: Because the holy Spirit within, doth comfort him effectually. In poverty, he is not vexed: Because he is rich in the goodness of God. The reproaches of men do not trouble him: Because he enjoyeth the delights of divine honour. He regards not the pleasure of the flesh: Because the sweetness of the Spirit is more acceptable unto him. He seeketh not after the friendship of the world: Because he seeketh the love of God, who is merciful, and a friend unto him. He gapeth not after earthly treasures: Because his chief treasure is hidden in the heavens. He feareth not death: Because in God he always liveth. He doth not much desire the wisdom of the world: Because he hath the Spirit within to be his teacher. That which is perfect taketh away that which is imperfect. He feareth neither lightning, nor tempests, nor fire, nor water, nor floods, nor the sorrowful aspects of the planets, nor the obscuration of the lights of heaven: Because he is carried up above the sphere of nature, and by faith resteth and liveth in Christ. He is not drawn away by the allurements of the world: Because he hears within him the voice of Christ which is sweeter. He fears not the power of the devil: Because he feels God's indulgence. He that lives and overcomes in him, is stronger than the devil, that in vain labours to overcome him. He follows not the enticements of the flesh: Because living in the Spirit, he feels the riches of the Spirit; and by the vivification of the Spirit mortifies and crucifies the flesh. Gal. 5.24. He fears not the devil his accuser: Because he knows Christ to be his Advocate. 1. Joh. 2.1 This true rest of the soul he grant unto us, who is the only author and giver thereof, our Lord God blessed for ever! Meditat. XXXIII. Of the purity of conscience. Labour to have a conscience pure: When all things fail, that will endure. IN every thing thou takest in hand have a great care of thy conscience. If the devil incites thee to any sin, stand in fear of the inward check of thy conscience. If thou art afraid to sin in the presence of men, let thine own conscience much more deter thee from sin. The inward testimony is of more efficacy than the outward: Therefore, although thy sins could escape the accusations of all men, yet they can never escape the inward witness of thy conscience. Thy conscience shall be in the number of those books, Rev. 20.12. that shall be opened at the judgement to come, as is testified in the Revelation. The first is the book of God's omniscience; in which the thoughts, words, and deeds of all men shall manifestly appear. The second book is Christ, Rev. 13.8. which is the book of life; in this book whosoever shall be found written by true faith, shall be carried by the angels into the court of heaven. The third is the book of the Scripture, according to the prescript rule whereof our faith and good works shall be judged: The word that I have spoken, Joh. 12.48. saith our Saviour, shall judge them at the last day. The fourth book containeth in it the testimonies of the poor, which in the day of judgement shall receive us into an everlasting habitation. Luk. 16.9. The fifth book contains the inward testimony of the conscience: For the conscience is the book in which all sins are written: Bernard. The conscience is a great volume in which all things are written by the finger of truth. The damned cannot deny their sins at the day of judgement; because they shall be convinced by the testimony of their own consciences: They cannot fly from the accusation of their sins; because the tribunal of the conscience is within, and at home. Nazianzen. A pure conscience is the most clear glass of the soul, in which she beholds God and herself. A filthy eye cannot behold the splendour of true light: Hereupon saith our Saviour, Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. Mat. 5.8. Camer. As a beautiful and fair face is pleasing to the eye of man: So a pure and clear conscience is acceptable in the sight of God: But the putrified conscience begets neverdying worms. Let us therefore in the present have a sense and feeling of the worm of conscience, and labour to destroy it▪ But let us not foster it, lest it live with us for ever. All other books were invented to mend this book: Bernard. What doth much science profit, if there be a foul conscience? Thou shalt be judged hereafter before the throne of God, not by the book of thy science, but by the book of thy conscience. If thou wilt write this book right indeed, write it according to the copy of the book of life: Rev. 13.8. Christ is the book of life: Let the profession of thy faith be conformed to the rule of Christ's doctrine, and let the course of thy life be conformed to the rule of Christ's life. Thy conscience shall be good, if there be purity in thy heart, truth in thy tongue, and honesty in thy actions. Use thy conscience for a lantern in all thy actions: Nil. Bish· For that will plainly show unto thee what actions in thy life be good, and what be evil. Avoid that judgement of thy conscience in which one and the same shall be both defendant, Cyprian. and plaintiff, witness, judge, tormentor, prison, scourge, executioner, and slaughterer. What escape can there be there, where it is the witness that accuseth, and where nothing can be hid from him that judgeth? Gregor. What doth it profit thee, if all men commend the●● and thy conscience accuse thee? What shall it hurt thee, if all men detract from thee, and thy conscience defend thee? This judge is enough to accuse, judge, and condemn every man. This judge is uncorrupt, and cannot be moved with prayers, or corrupted with rewards. Bernard. Whithersoever thou goest, and wheresoever thou art, thy conscience is always with thee, and carrieth about her whatsoever thou hast laid up in her, whether it be good or evil. She keeps for the living, and restoreth to the dead that which was committed to her keeping. So it is true that a man's enemies are they of his own household: Mat. 10.36. So in thine own house and amongst thine own family, thou hast those that do observe, accuse, and torment thee. Lud. Vives What doth it profit thee to live in all abundance and plenty, and to be tormented with the whip of conscience? The fountain of man's felicity and misery is in his mind: What doth it profit a man in a burning fever to lie upon a bed of gold? What doth it profit a man tormented with the firebrands of an ●●conscience, to enjoy all outward felicity? As much as we regard everlasting salvation, so much let us regard our conscience. For if a good conscience be lost, faith is lost; and if faith be lost, the grace of God is lost; and if the grace of God be lost, how can we hope for everlasting life? As the testimony of thy conscience is, such judgement mayest thou expect from Christ. Sinners shall become their own accusers, though none accuse them, or bring aught against them. Chrysost. As the drunkard, while he is overwhelmed with wine, hath no sense of the hurt which he receiveth by the wine; but when he hath slept out his drunken fit, than he feels the hurt: So sin, whiles it is in action, doth blind the mind, and like a thick cloud doth obscure the brightness of true judgement: But at length the conscience is roused, and gnaweth more grievously than any accuser. There are three judgements; The judgement of the world, the judgement of thyself, and the judgement of God: And as thou canst not escape the judgement of God: So neither canst thou escape the judgement of thyself; although sometimes thou mayest escape the judgement of the world. No walls can hinder this witness from seeing all thy actions: What excuse can save thee, when thy conscience within doth accuse thee? The peace of conscience is the beginning of everlasting life. Thou mayest more truly and heartily rejoice in the midst of troubles, having a good conscience, than thou canst in the midst of thy delights, having an evil conscience. Against the backbiting of all that bear thee ill will, thou mayest confidently oppose the defence and excuse of thy conscience. Inquire of thyself concerning thyself; Bernard. because thou knowest thyself far better than any other man doth. At the last judgement what will the false praises of others profit thee, or the backbitings of others without a cause, hurt thee? By Gods and thine own judgement shalt thou either stand or fall: Thou shalt not stand or fall by the testimony of others. The conscience is immortal, as the soul is immortal: And the punishments of hell shall torment the damned as long as the accusation of conscience shall endure. No external fire doth so afflict the body, as this inward fire doth inflame the conscience. The soul which is burned, is eternal; and the fire of the conscience is eternal. No outward scourges are so grievous unto the body, as these inward whips of conscience are unto the soul. Avoid therefore the guilt of sin; that so thou mayest avoid the torment of conscience. By true repentance blot thy sins out of the book of thy conscience; that they may not be read at the judgement, and that thou mayest not be afraid of the voice of God's sentence. Mortify the worm of conscience by the heat of devotion; that it do not bite thee, and so beget eternal horror. Extinguish this inward fire by thy tears; that so thou mayest attain to the joys of an heavenly cooler. Grant, O Lord, that we may fight the good fight, 2. Tim. 4.7. keeping faith and a good conscience; that at length we may come safe and sound into our heavenly country! Meditat. XXXIIII. Of the study of true humility. What is a bubble? Such is man, Whose l●fe in length is but a span. COnsider, thou faithful soul, the miserable condition of man, and thou shalt easily avoid all tentations of pride. Man is vile in his ingress, Bernard. miserable in his progress, and lamentable in his egress. He is assaulted by devils, provoked by tentations, alured by delights, cast down by tribulations, entangled by accusations, bestripped of virtues, and ensnared in evil customs. Wherefore then art thou proud, Ecclus 10 9 O earth and ashes? What wast thou before thou wast brought forth? Stinking seed. What is thy life? A sack of dung. What after death? Meat for worms. If there be any thing good in thee; it is not thine, but Gods: Nothing is thine, but sin. Challenge therefore unto thyself nothing that is within thee, but thy sins. Kempis. He is a fool & an unfaithful servant that will be proud of his master's goods. Bernard. Behold, O man, the example of Christ! All the glory of heaven serveth him; yea he himself alone is the true glory: And yet he rejected all worldly glory. And still he cries, Mat. 11.29 Learn of me, for I am meek and humble in heart. He is the true lover of Christ, that is the follower of Christ. He that loveth Christ, loveth also humility. Let the servant that is proud blush and be ashamed, seeing that the Lord of heaven is so humble. Our Saviour saith of himself that he is the Lily of the valleys; Cant. ●. 1. because he, the most noble amongst flowers, is born and bred, not in the mountains, that is, in proud and lofty hearts, but in the low valleys, that is, in the contrite and humble minds of the godly. For the soul that is truly humble, Austin. is a seat and delectable bed for Christ, as a godly man saith. True grace doth not lift a man up, but doth rather humble him: Therefore he is not yet partaker of grace, who walketh not in humbleness of heart. The fluents of God's grace flow downwards, Bernard. not upwards. As water by nature doth not seek high places: So the grace of God doth not flow upwards, but downwards upon the hearts that are humble. The Psalmist saith, God dwelleth on high, Psal. 113.5. and yet beholdeth he the things that are humble in heaven and in earth. Surely, this is a marvellous thing, that we cannot draw nigh unto God, who is the highest of all, unless we walk in the path of humility. Bernard. He that is vile in his own eyes, is great in the eyes of God. He that displeaseth himself, pleaseth God. Heb. 11.3. Of nothing did God create the heaven and the earth: And as it was in the creation, so also is it in the reparation of man. God creates of nothing, and repairs of nothing. Therefore that thou mayest be made partaker of regeneration and reparation, seem nothing in thine own eyes, that is, arrogate and attribute nothing unto thyself. We are all weak and frail: And think thou no man more frail than thyself. It hurts not to make thyself inferior to all, Kempis. and by humility to put thyself under all: But it hurts very much, to prefer thyself before any one. The twenty four elders, ●ev. 4.4. that is, all the church triumphant, cast down their crowns before the throne, 10 and give unto God all righteousness and glory: And what then should the vile sinner do? Isa. 6.2. The holy angels the Seraphims cover their faces before the face of God's majesty: And what then should man do, who is so vile a creature, and so unthankful to his Creator? Christ the true and only begotten Son of God in wonderful humility descended from heaven, and took our weak nature upon him, and condescended to take upon him our flesh, to die, and to be crucified: And what should man do, who by his sins is gone so far astray from God? Behold, O faithful soul, with what wonderful humility Christ hath cured our pride! And dost thou still desire to be proud? By the way of humility and his passion Christ entered into glory: Luke 24.26. And dost thou think ever to come to the glory of heaven walking in the way of pride? The devil for his pride was banished out of the kingdom of heaven: And dost thou having not yet the fruition of celestial glory think to come thither by the way of pride? Gen. 3.24 Adam for his pride was cast out of paradise: And dost thou think to come to the celestial paradise by the way of pride? Let us rather wish to serve, Granat. and to wash the feet of others with Christ, then to seek ambitiously with the devil for an higher place. Let us be humbled in this life; that we may be exalted in the life to come. Beda. Think not, O faithful soul, what thou hast, but what thou wantest. Grieve for the virtues which thou hast not, rather than glory for the virtues which thou hast. Bernard. Cover thy virtues; but lay open thy sins: For thou hast great cause to fear, that if thou showest the treasure of thy good works by glorying in them, the devil will steal them away by making thee proud of them. Fire is best kept, if it be covered with ashes: So the fire of charity is never more securely kept, then when it is covered with the ashes of humility. Pride is the seed of all sin: Take heed therefore of being lifted up, lest it happen that thou be'st cast headlong into the abyss of sin. Pride is a pleasing bed for the devil: Take heed therefore of being lifted up, lest it happen that thy miserable soul be made subject to the devil's yoke. Pride is a wind that burneth and drieth up the fountain of God's grace: Take heed therefore of being lifted up, lest it happen that thou be'st separated from the grace of God. Cure, O Christ, the tumour of our pride! Let thy holy humility be our only merit in this life, and let it be the pattern of our life! Let our faith firmly embrace thy humility, and let our life constantly follow after it! Meditat. XXXV. Of fleeing from covetousness. The man that covets, is but poor, Although he riches have great store. AS thou dost tender the salvation of thy soul, see that thou dost hate the sin of covetousness. The covetous man is the poorest amongst men; because he wanteth as well that which he hath, as that which he hath not. The covetous man is the most miserable of all men; because he is good to no man, and worst to himself. Pride is the beginning of all sin; 1. Tim. 6.10. and covetousness the root of all evil: That, by turning us away from God; and this, by turning us unto the creatures. Riches bring forth sweat in the getting, create fear in the possessing, Savanar. and bring grief in the losing: And, which is worse, the labour of the covetous shall not only perish, but shall also cause them to perish. Riches do either forsake thee, Bernard. or thou dost forsake them: If therefore thou puttest thy trust in riches, what will be thy hope at the hour of death? How wilt thou commend thy soul unto God, if thou dost not commend the care of thy body unto him? Lud Vives. God which is Almighty hath a care of thee: Wherefore then dost thou doubt whether he can sustain thee or no? God who is most wise hath a care of thee: Wherefore then dost thou doubt how he will sustain thee? God who is most bountiful hath a care of thee: Wherefore then dost thou doubt how he will sustain thee? God who is most bountiful hath a care of thee: Wherefore then dost thou doubt whether he will sustain thee or no? Thou hast the word and bond of Christ, who is the Lord of all that is in heaven and earth, Mat. 6.33. that they which seek the kingdom of God, shall want nothing that is necessary for man. Trust in this promise of Christ, he will not deceive thee: For he is truth itself. Covetousness is the greatest Idolatry: Colos. 3.5. Because it sets the creatures in the place of God. The covetous man putteth his trust in the creatures, whereas he should put his trust in God. Whatsoever we love more than God, we prefer before God; and whatsoever we prefer before God, we set up in the place of God. Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage: Gen. 25.33. So many sell the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, which was purchased by Christ, to get things temporal. Judas sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver: Mat. 26.15. And covetous men sell Christ for temporal riches. How can he ever come to the kingdom of heaven, who is filled daily with the husks of the swine? How can he ever come unto God by lifting up his heart unto him, who studies to seek rest for his soul in riches? Riches are thorns, Mat. 13.22 so saith truth itself: He therefore that loveth riches, doth indeed love thorns. O ye thorns, how many souls do ye choke! Thorns do hinder the increase of the seed: And even so doth the solicitude and care about riches hinder the spiritual fruit of the word. Thorns do afflict the body with punctures: And even so do riches torment the soul with cares. Thou shalt be sure to perish, Austin. if thou gatherest only such treasures as do perish. They which lay up treasures here on earth, are like unto them that lay up their fruits in low and moist places, not considering that there they will soon come to rottenness. What fools are they that place the end of their desires in riches! Billius. How can that which is corporal satisfy the soul which is spiritual? when as that rather doth so comprehend corporal things by the virtue of its spiritual nature, that it cannot be distended and filled by any quantity. The soul was created for eternity: Thou dost wrong unto her therefore if thou placest the end of thy desires in temporal and momentany things. The soul the more it is lifted up unto God, the more it is withdrawn from the love of riches. All things the nearer they are unto heaven, the less they ●o●et and hoard up: As the fowls of the air, which neither sow nor reap. Mat. 6.26. It is a great sign that the soul is busied about heavenly things, if it do undervalue and contemn earthly things. Mice and creeping things hoard up in the holes of the earth: for they are of a worse condition and of a base nature than the fowls. It is a great sign that the soul is turned away from God, and fastened unto the creatures, if it cleave unto riches with an inordinate love. God gave a soul unto thee: And wilt thou not commit thy body to his care? God feedeth the fowls of the air: And dost thou, which art created after his image, doubt whether he will sustain thee or no? God clotheth the lilies of the field: And dost thou doubt whether he will provide clothes for thee or no? Be ashamed, that faith and reason should not effect as much in thee, as a natural instinct doth effect in the fowls. The fowls neither sow nor reap, but commit the care of their bodies unto God. The covetous men do not believe the words of God, before they make provision for their own sustenance. The covetous man is a most unjust man: Wherefore? 1. Tim. 6.7. Because he brought nothing with him into this world, and yet he is so troubled about these earthly things, as if he meant to carry much with him out of this world. The covetous man is a most unthankful man: Wherefore? Because he enjoyeth many gifts which come from God, and yet is never lifted up unto the giver thereof by the confidence of heart. The covetous man is a most foolish man: Wherefore? Because he leaveth the true good, without which nothing is good indeed, and cleaveth unto that which is not good without the grace of God. He that is held bound by the love of earthly things, doth not possess them, but is possessed of them. Covetousness is neither diminished by plenty, nor want: By want it is not diminished; because his desire of having doth still increase, when he cannot attain what he hath long desired: And by plenty it is not diminished; because the covetous man, the more he getteth, the more he desires: And when he hath got what he covetously desired, he hath still a new occasion ministered unto him to desire more: Like unto fire; which, as more wood is still laid on, the more it increaseth. Gregor. Covetousness is a torrent at first small, but afterwards increasing infinitely: Set a term therefore to the desire of riches, lest thy covetousness at length draw thee into everlasting destruction. Many devour in this life that which they must afterwards digest in hell: Austin. And many whilst they thirst after gain, Leo. run unto most certain death. Think upon these things, O devout soul, and as much as thou canst, flee from covetousness. Thou shalt carry to judgement none of thy riches, but those which thou hast given to the poor. Dost thou refuse to give thy temporal and fading riches to the poor, for whom Christ refused not to give his life? Give unto the poor, that thou mayest give unto thyself: That which thou dost not give unto the poor, another shall have. He is too too covetous, Bernard. to whom the Lord is not sufficient. He doth not yet truly hope for heavenly things, who overprizeth earthly things. 1. John 3.16. How would he lay down his life for his brother, who denieth his temporal substance to his brother that asketh? The hand of the poor is the treasury of heaven: That which it receiveth it layeth up in heaven, that upon earth it may not perish. wouldst thou perform an acceptable office unto Christ? Show thy bounty to the poor: That which is done unto his members, the head takes as done to himself. Mat. 25.40 Austin. Christ saith unto thee, Give unto me of that which I have given unto thee. Do good with thy goods, that thou mayest obtain good. Give thy earthly things liberally, that thou mayest keep them: For in keeping them too frugally thou losest them. Hear Christ admonishing, that thou be'st not compelled to hear him at the judgement saying, Go ye cursed into everlasting fire, Mat. 25.41, 42. because ye fed me not when I was hungry. The holy seed of almes-giving, as it is sowed sparingly or bountifully, 2. Cor. 9.6 so it shall be reaped sparingly or bountifully. If thou wouldst be in the number of the sheep, do good unto the sheep. Let the goat's cause thee to fear: Nazianz. Mat. 25.33. For they are placed at the left hand; not because they took any thing away, but because they gave not. Incline our hearts, O God, unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Ps. 119.36 Meditat. XXXVI. Of the properties of true love and charity. The sign by which the Saints we know, It is by love their faith to show. TRue & sincere love is an inseparable property of the godly: No Christian without faith; and no faith without charity. Where there is not the brightness of charity, neither is there the heat of faith: Take away light from the sun, and thou mayst take away charity from faith. Charity is the outward act of the inward life of a Christian man. Jam. 2.26. The body is dead without the spirit; and faith is dead without charity. He is not of Christ, that hath not the Spirit of Christ; & he hath not the Spirit of Christ, that hath not the gift of charity. Charity is the fruit of the Spirit: Gal. 5.22. The tree is not known to be good unless it bring forth good fruit. Col. 3.14. Charity is the bond of Christian perfection: As the members of the body are knit together by the spirit, that is, the soul: So the true members of the mystical body are united by the holy Spirit in the bond of charity. In Solomon's temple all was covered with gold within and without: 1. Kin. 6.21. So in God's Spiritual temple let all be beautified with love and charity within and without. Luther. Let charity move thy heart to compassion, and thy hand to contribution: Compassion is not sufficient, unless there be also outward contribution: Neither is outward contribution sufficient, unless there be also inward compassion. Faith receiveth all from God, and charity giveth it again unto our neighbour. By faith we are made partakers of the divine nature: But God is love. 1. Joh. 4.8 Therefore where charity showeth not itself without, let no man believe that there is faith within. No man believeth in Christ, which loveth not Christ: And no man loveth Christ, unless he love his neighbour. He doth not yet apprehend the benefit of Christ with true confidence of heart, whosoever doth deny unto his neighbour the office which he oweth unto him. That is not truly a good work which proceedeth not from faith: Rom. 14.23. Neither is it truly a good work which proceedeth not from charity. Charity is the seed of all virtues: Bernard. It is no good fruit which springeth not forth from the root of charity: For charity is the spiritual taste of the soul: For unto it alone is every good thing sweet, every hard thing sweet, all adversity sweet, and all pain and trouble sweet; yea more, the taste of charity maketh even death itself most sweet: Cant. 8.6. For love is strong as death, yea stronger than death; because love brought Christ to die for us: And love doth so stir up the true godly, that they doubt not to die for Christ. All the works of God proceed from love, yea punishments themselves: So let all the works of a Christian man proceed from love. In all the creatures God hath set before us the glass of love. The sun and the stars shine not to themselves, but to us: The herbs purge not themselves, but us: Air, water, beasts, and all creatures serve man: Do thou also give thyself wholly to serve thy neighbour. Tongues profit not without charity: 1. Cor. 13.1. 1. Cor. 8.1 1. Cor. 13.2. Because without charity knowledge of tongues puffeth up, but charity edifieth. Knowledge of mysteries profits not without charity: Because the devil also hath knowledge of mysteries; but charity is only proper to the godly. Faith also which can remove mountains, profits not without charity: For such faith is the faith of working miracles, and not of salvation. Charity is better than the gift of doing miracles: Because that is the undoubted mark of true Christians; but this is sometimes granted to the wicked. It profits not to give all that one hath unto the poor, if there be not charity: For the outward action is done in hypocrisy, if there be not inward love. Rivers of bounty profit not, unless they spring from the fountain of charity. Charity is patient: 4 For no man is easily angry with him that he loveth truly. Charity is bountiful: 4 For he that by charity hath bestowed his heart, which is the chief good of the soul, how should he deny the outward goods, which are less? Charity envieth not: 4 Because he that is in charity looketh upon another's good as upon his own. Charity thinketh no evil: 5 No man easily hurts him whom he loveth truly, and from his heart. Charity is not puffed up: 4 Because by charity we are all made the members of one body; and one member prefers not itself before another. Charity doth not behave itself undecently: 5 For it is the property of an angry man to bear himself undecently; but charity is the bridle of anger. 5 Charity seeketh not those things which are her own: Because that which one loveth, he preferreth before himself, and seeketh the profit thereof more than his own. 5 Charity is not provoked to anger: For all anger proceedeth from pride; but charity puts itself under all. Charity imagineth no mischief: 5 For it plainly appeareth that he is not yet in perfect charity, whosoever worketh mischief against any one. 6 Charity rejoiceth not in iniquity: For charity maketh another's misery to be her own. Charity beareth all things, 7 believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things: For charity refuseth not to do unto others as she desires that others should do unto her. Tongues shall cease, prophecies shall cease, and sciences shall be destroyed: But charity shall▪ not cease; but the imperfection thereof shall be taken away, and the perfection thereof shall be complete in the life to come. God commanded two altars to be built in the tabernacle; and fire was carried from the outward to the inward: God hath congregated a twofold Church, a militant and a triumphant: The fire of love shall at length be translated from the militant to the triumphant. Think upon these things, O devout soul, and study after holy love: Whatsoever thy neighbour be, yet he is one for whom Christ vouchsafed to die: Why then dost thou deny to show thy charity to thy neighbour, when as Christ did not stick to lay down his life for him? Bernard. If thou lovest God truly, thou must also love his image. We are all one spiritual body: Ofiand. Let us therefore have all one spiritual mind: It is unfit that they should be at variance upon earth, which must at length live together in heaven. Whilst our minds agree in Christ, let our wills also be conjoined. We are the servants of one Lord: It is not fit that we should be at variance. That member of the body is dead, which hath not a sense of another's grief: Neither let him judge himself a member of Christ's mystical body, whosoever doth not grieve with another that suffereth. We have all one Father, that is, God, whom Christ hath taught thee daily to call our Father: L. Vives. And how shall he own thee to be his true son, unless thou again own his sons to be thy brethren? Love him that is commended unto thee by God, if he be worthy; because he is worthy: and if he be not worthy, yet love him; because God is worthy whom thou oughtest to obey. If thou lovest a man that is thine enemy, thou showest thyself to be the friend of God. Do not mark what man doth against thee, but what thou hast done against God. Observe not the injuries offered thee by thine enemies; but observe the benefits conferred upon thee by God, who commandeth thee to love thine enemy. We are neighbours by the condition of our earthly nativity, Austin. and brothers by the hope of our celestial inheritance: Let us therefore love one another. Kindle in us, O God, the fire of love and charity by thy Spirit! Meditat. XXXVII. Of the study of chastity. The soul that's chaste is Christ his spouse, His bed of rest, his lodging-house. HE that will be the true disciple of Christ, must study to be chaste and holy. Our most gracious God is a pure and chaste Spirit: And thou must call upon him with chaste prayers. It was the saying of a wise man, Berosus. That the chastity of the body and the sanctity of the soul are the two keys of religion and felicity. If the body be not kept pure and immaculate from whoredom, the soul cannot be ardent in prayer. ●. Cor. 6.19. Our body is the temple of the holy Ghost: We must beware therefore, and be very careful that we pollute not this holy habitacle of the holy Ghost. Our members are the members of Christ: 15 We must beware that we take not the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot. Let us cleave unto the Lord by faith and chastity; 17 that we may be one spirit with him: Let us not cleave unto an harlot; that we be not made one body with her. 16 Gen. 19.11. The Sodomites burning with lust were smitten by the Lord with blindness corporal and spiritual: And such is the punishment of unchaste men even unto this day. The Sodomites lust was punished with fire and brimstone▪ falling down from heaven: So God shall inflame the heat of this evil concupiscence in whoredoms with everlasting fire. This fire is not to be extinguished: Rev. 14.11. Rev. 22.15. But the smoke of the torments ascendeth up for ever and ever: Without, that is, without the heavenly Jerusalem, are dogs, that is impure and lustful men. Christ hath washed us with his precious blood in baptism: And therefore we must beware, and be careful that we do not defile ourselves with filthy lust. Even nature herself hath taught men to blush and to be ashamed to commit such filthiness in the sight of men: And yet they are not ashamed to commit it in the sight of God and his angels. No walls can hinder God from seeing; for his eyes are brighter than the sun: No angles, or corners can exclude the presence of the holy angels: No secret turnings can keep away the testimony of the conscience. This is a wonderful thing, That the heat of lust should ascend up into heaven, Granat. when the stink thereof descendeth even unto hell. This short pleasure shall bring forth everlasting sorrow: Beda. That which delighteth is momentany, but that which tormenteth is everlasting: The pleasure of fornication is short, but the punishment of the fornicator is for ever. Let the memory of him that was crucified crucify in thee thy flesh. Bernard. Let the remembrance of hell quench in thee the heat of concupiscence. Let the tears of repentance extinguish in thee the fire of lust. Let the fear of God wound thy flesh, that the love of the flesh deceive thee not: Consider with thyself that the appetite of lust is full of anxiety and folly; the act full of abomination and ignominy; and the end full of repentance and shame. Look not upon the fawning face of the devil inciting thee to lust, but look back upon his tail, when he flieth, which is full of pricks. Think not upon the shortness of the pleasure; but rather think upon the eternity of the punishment. Hierome▪ Love the knowledge of the Scriptures; and then thou wilt not love the vices of the flesh. Be always doing somewhat, that the tempter when he cometh may find thee busied. 2. Sam 11.2. Gen. 39.8. He deceived David when he was idle: He could not deceive Joseph; for he was busied in his master's service. Think every hour that death is at hand; and thou wilt easily despise all the pleasure of the flesh. Love temperance; and thou shalt easily overcome evil concupiscence. The belly set on fire with wine, doth presently some with lust. Amidst thy dainties thy chastity is in danger: If therefore thou feedest thy flesh daintily and immoderately, thou nourishest thine own enemy. So feed thy flesh, that it may serve thee: keep it so under, Hugo. that it be not proud. Think upon the terror of the last judgement, and thou shalt easily extinguish the fire of lust: For at the day of judgement the secrets of the heart shall be revealed; 1. Cor. 4.5 and then how much more those things that are done in secret? Matt. 12.36. Thou must give an account for unprofitable words: And how much more than for filthy speeches? Thou must give an account for filthy speeches: How much more than for impure actions? As long as thy life hath been, Bernard. so long shall thy accusation be: As many as thy sins have been, so many shall thy accusers be. Those thoughts which men make no reckoning of, shall come to judgement: What then doth it profit thee to have thy fornication for a time concealed from men, seeing that it must be revealed in the sight of all men at the day of judgement? What doth it profit thee to escape the judgement-seat of an earthly judge, seeing that thou canst not escape the judgement-seat of the supreme judge? This judge thou canst not corrupt with gifts; for he is a most just judge: This judge thou canst not move with prayers; for he is a most severe judge: This judge his province and jurisdiction thou canst not flee from; for he is a most powerful judge: Him thou canst not deceive with vain excuses; for he is a most wise judge: From his broad and proclaimed sentence thou canst not appeal; for he is the supreme judge. There shall be truth in the inquisition, Bonavent. nakedness in the publication, and severity in the execution. Therefore, O soul devout towards God, let the fear of this judge be always before thine eyes; and the fire of lust shall not deceive thee. Be thou the rose of charity, the violet of humility, Bernard. and the lily of chastity. Matt. 11.29. Learn humility of Christ thy bridegroom, and of him learn also chastity. Erasmus. Great is the dignity of chastity, which was consecrated in the body of Christ: Great is the dignity of chastity; because whiles we are in the flesh it makes us to live as out of the flesh. As nothing is more vile then to be overcome of the flesh: So nothing is more glorious then to overcome the flesh. Neither must we only avoid outward fornication, but also impure cogitations: Because God is judge, not only of the outward acts, but also of the inward thoughts. Piety is often wounded by the looks, and chastity is often wounded by the eyes: Hear what truth itself saith: He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her, Mat. 5.28. hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. As the fight is difficult: Bernard. So shall the victory also be glorious. It is a difficult thing to quench the flaming fires of lust. Lust incites them that are not yet come to the years of youth; it inflames those that are young; and it wearieth those that are old and decrepit: It despiseth not cottages, neither doth it reverence palaces. But as difficult as it is here to fight, so laudable shall it be hereafter to triumph. The first sparks are presently to be quenched; and we must not add fuel to the fire of evil concupiscences. The Apostle, when he reckons up the vices with which we must strive, Camerar. bids us not fight with fornication, but flee from it: Flee, saith he, ●. Cor. 6.18. from fornication: For even as a stranger feigning simplicity comes to us like a beggar to deceive us: if we deny him entrance, he goes his way; if we receive him in, he becomes our guest, and gathers strength: and at length, if we consent, he becomes our lord and master: So the motions of evil concupiscence assail us: if we foster them not, they depart away; if thou wouldst not have this enemy to rule over thee, receive him not into the house of thy heart. Keep us, O God, in sanctity of life, and chastity of body! Meditat. XXXVIII. Of the flitting swiftness of this present life. The life of man's a rolling stone, Moved to and fro, and quickly gone. THink, O devout soul, upon the misery and brevity of this life, that thy heart may be lifted up to the desire of the celestial inheritance. This life whiles it increaseth, it decreaseth; whiles it is augmented, it is diminished: Whatsoever is added to it, is also taken from it. Seneca. It is but a point of time that we live, yea it is yet less than a point: Whilst we turn ourselves, immortality comes upon us. We are in this life, as in a strange house: Abraham had not in the land of Canaan a place to dwell in; Gen. 23.4 but only an hereditary place for burial: So this present life is like unto an inn, and to a burying-place. The beginning of this life is presently the beginning of death. Ambrose. Gregor. Our life is like unto him that saileth; for whether he stand, sit, or lie down, still he comes nearer & nearer unto the haven, & goeth thither, whither he is carried by the motion of the ship: So also we, whether we sleep, or wake, lie down or walk, will or nill, are carried still moment after moment till we come to our end. This life is rather a death; because every day we die: Bernard. For every day we spend some of our life. This life is full of grief for things past, full of labour for things present, and full of fear for things to come. Austin. Our ingress into this life is lamentable; because the infant begins his life with tears, as it were foreseeing the evils to come: Our progress is weak; because many diseases afflict us, and many cares torment us: Our egress is horrible; because we do not depart alone, ●evel. 14. ●3. but our works follow us, and we must pass from death to God's severe judgement. Heb. 9.27 Bernard. We are conceived in sin, we are brought forth in misery, we live in pain, and we die in anguish. We are begotten in uncleanness, we are nourished in darkness, and brought forth in sorrow. Before we come forth, we are a burden to our wretched mothers; and when we do come forth, we do like vipers tear a way. Austin. We are strangers in our birth, and pilgrims in our life; because we are compelled to depart away by death. The first part of our life is ignorant of itself; the middle part is overwhelmed with cares; and the last part is burdened with grievous old age. All the time of our life is either present, past, or to come. If it be present, it is flitting; if it be past, it is then nothing; if it be to come, it is then uncertain. Sol. Salam. We are filthiness in our original, we are bubbles in our life, and we are meat for worms at our death. From earth we come, on earth we go, to earth we must return. The necessity of our birth is base, our life miserable, and our death lamentable. Sidonius. Our body is an earthly house in which do dwell together sin and death, which every day consume it. All our life is a spiritual warfare. Above, devils lie in wait for our destruction: On the right hand and on the left, the world oppugnes us: Beneath and within, the flesh fighteth against us. The life of man is a warfare: Because in this life, Gal. 5.17. there is a continual fight between the flesh and the spirit. What true joy than can a man have in this life, when there is in it no certain felicity? What thing present can delight us, when other things do pass away, but that which hangeth over our heads, doth never pass away? And again what can delight us, when that which we love is quite ended, and grief that shall never have end, doth approach still nearer unto us? This is all we gain by long life: Nazia●z. To do more evil, to see more evil, and to suffer more evil. This is all that long life doth for us: It makes our accusation the greater at the last judgement. What is man? The slave of death, and as a passenger on the way: He is lighter than a bubble, shorter than a moment, more vain than an image, more empty than a sound, more brittle than glass, more changeable than the wind, more flitting than a shadow, and more deceitful than a dream. Bapt. Mant. What is this life? The expectation of death, the stage of mockeries, the sea of miseries, an hemine or phial of blood which every light fall breaketh, and every fit of an ague corrupteth. The course of our life is a labyrinth; we enter into it when we come out of the womb, and we go out of it by the passage of death. Ware nought but earth, and earth is but a fume: A fume is nought, as nought do we consume. This life is frail as glass, is sliding as a river, is miserable as a warfare: And yet it seems to many much to be desired. This life seems outwardly as a gilded nut: Gregory▪ But if thou openest it with the knife of truth, thou shalt see that within there is nothing but worms and rottenness. There are apples growing about Sodom, which are pleasing for outward beauty: But being touched they fall to dust. The felicity of this life doth outwardly delight; but if thou pressest it with a more weighty consideration, it will appear to be like unto smoke and dust. Therefore, O beloved soul, do not suffer thy cogitations to set up their rest in this life: But let thy mind always pant and breathe after the joys to come. Compare the short moment of time granted unto us in this life, with eternity which never shall have end: and it will appear what a foolish thing it is to cleave unto this life that flitteth away, and to neglect that which is everlasting. This life of ours posteth away: And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting life. This life is most miserable: And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting life. This life is subject to many calamities: And yet in it do we either get or lose everlasting joy. If therefore thou hopest for life everlasting: in this flitting life desire it with all thy heart. Use the world; but let not thy heart cleave to the world: Negotiate in this world; but fix not thy mind upon this present life: The outward use of worldly things hurteth not, unless thy inward affection cleave unto them. Heaven is thy country; the world is but the place of thy sojourning: Be not so much delighted with the momentany entertainment of this world, as to have thy mind withdrawn from the desire after thy heavenly country. This life is our sea; but eternity is our haven: Be not therefore so much delighted with the momentany tranquillity of this sea, as that thou canst not attain to the haven of everlasting tranquillity. This life is sliding, and doth not keep faith with her lovers, but doth often flee from them when they never think of it: Why therefore wilt thou trust it▪ It is very dangerous for thee to promise unto thyself security for one hour: For oftentimes in that one posting hour this l●●e is ended. The safest way than is, to expect our departure out of this present life every hour, and to prepare ourselves for it by serious repentance. In the gourd wherewith Ionas was delighted, Jon. 4.7. God prepared a worm that it might wither: So in these worldly things, whereunto many cleave so fast, as if they were glued to them, there is no certainty; but the worms of corruption do breed in them. Austin. The world is now so worn away with a long consumption, that it hath even lost the face by which it was wont to seduce: And therefore they that delight to perish with the world now perishing are as much to be blamed and condemned, as they are to be praised and commended, that flourished with the world then flourishing. Withdraw, O Christ, our hearts from the love of this world, and stir up in us a des●●● after the kingdom of heaven! Meditat. XXXIX. Of the world's vanity. Love not the world: The world is vain: But love those things that ay remain. 1. John 2.15. SEt not thy love, O devout soul, upon those things which are in the world: 1. Cor. 7.31. 2. Pet. 3.10. The world shall pass away, and all the things therein shall be consumed with fire: Where shall thy love be then? Love that good which is everlasting; that so thou mayest live for ever. Rom. 8.20. Every creature is subject to vanity: Whosoever therefore cleaveth with his love unto the creatures, shall also become vain himself. Love that good which is true and stable; that thy heart may be quieted and established. Why doth worldly honour delight thee? He that seeketh the honour of men, John 5.44. cannot be honoured by God. He that seeketh the honour of the world, must be conformed unto the world: and he that pleaseth the world, Gal. 1.10. cannot please God. All things are un●●able and must perish, whatsoever are given by those that are unstable and do perish: How then can the honour of the world be stable? He that was yesterday extolled to the skies by the praises of men, is brought down again to morrow with disgrace. Desire therefore to please God; that thou mayest be honoured of God: For that is the true and stable honour. Kempis. What is a man the better for being reputed great by man? If a man be great in the sight of God, then is he great indeed, not otherwise. Christ being sought for to take a kingdom, Joh. 6.15. fled from it; but being sought for to be reproached, and to be ignominiously crucified, he offered himself: Joh. 18.5. Bernard. Delight therefore rather in the disgrace then the glory of the world; that so thou mayest be conformed unto Christ. He that doth not despise the world for Christ, how would he lay down his life for him? There is no way to true glory but by contemning the glory of the world: Luke 24.26. for so Christ entered into his glory, by the ignominy of the cross. Be content therefore to be despised, to be vilified, and to be rejected in this world; that thou mayest be honoured in the world to come. Christ taught us by his life how we should esteem of the world. Bernard. All the glory of the heavens serveth him, yea he alone is even glory itself: And yet he rejected worldly glory. Therefore the more a man is honoured, and the more he aboundeth in bodily consolations; the more deeply and inwardly must he become sorrowful, that he is so far from being conformable unto Christ. Vain is the praise of man, Kempis. if an evil conscience accuseth within: What doth it profit a man sick of a fever, if he be laid in a bedstead of ivory, when as notwithstanding he is tormented with raging heat within? It is the testimony of thy conscience that is the true honour and praise indeed. There is no juster judge of thy doings, then God and thine own conscience: Desire to approve thy deeds before this judgement. Is it not enough for thee to be known of thyself, and, which is most of all, to be known of God? But why dost thou so much covet after riches? Bernard. He is too covetous unto whom the Lord is not sufficient. This life is the way to our eternal country: What then do much riches profit? They do rather burden the traveller, as great burdens do a ship. Christ the king of heaven is the riches of God's servants. L. Vives. The true treasure must be within a man, and not without him. Kempis. That is the true treasure which thou canst carry with thee to the general judgement: But all these outwaad goods are taken from us in death. The goods gathered together do perish; Bernard. but first he that gathered them doth perish, unless he be rich in the Lord. Poor thou camest into the world, Job 1.21. and poor must thou go out: And why should the middle differ from the beginning and the end? Dionys. Riches are appointed for our use: And how few will be sufficient! A little gift of grace and virtues is better than all earthly riches. Wherefore? Because virtue pleaseth God, but riches do not please him without virtue. The poverty of Christ must be more acceptable unto us, Bernard. than the riches of the whole world. Poverty was sanctified through Christ. He was poor in his nativity, poor in his life, and poorest of all at his death. Why dost thou stick then to prefer poverty before worldly riches, when as Christ preferred it before heavenly riches? How will he commit his soul unto God, who doth not commit unto him the care of his body? How will he lay down his life for his brother, who doth not bestow his riches upon him? Riches bring forth labour in the getting, fear in the possessing, and grief in the losing: And, which is most to be lamented, the labour of the covetous doth not only perish, but it causeth them also to perish, as Bernard teacheth. Thy love is thy God: Mat. 6.21. Where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also: He that loveth these bodily, worldly, and perishing riches, cannot love the spiritual, heavenly, and eternal riches. Wherefore? Because those press down the heart of man, and draw it downwards; but these lift it upwards. Austin. The love of earthly things is as the birdlime of spiritual punishments, as one of the true lovers of Christ said. Gen. 19.26. Lot's wife which was turned into a pillar of salt doth yet preach unto us, Not to look back to those things which are in the world; but to go strait on to our heavenly country. Mat. 4.22. The Apostles left all and followed Christ. Wherefore? Because the knowledge of the true riches taketh away the desire after false riches. If we have tasted the Spirit, Gregory. the flesh pleaseth not our taste. If Christ be sweet to a man's taste, than the world is bitter unto it. But why dost thou so much seek after pleasures? Let the remembrance of him that was crucified, crucify in thee all desire of pleasure. Let the remembrance of hellfire quench in thee all the fire of lust. Compare the short moment of pleasure with eternal punishments. Pleasures are brutish, and they make us like brutes. Bernard. The sweetness of the kingdom of heaven pleaseth not his taste, that is daily full with the husks of the swine. Granat. Let us mortify all sensual pleasures, and let us with Abraham offer to God as a spiritual sacrifice this our beloved son, Gen. 22.3. that is, the concupiscences of our soul, by renouncing voluntarily all pleasure, and by embracing the bitterness of the cross. It is not a plain way strewed with roses, but a sharp way and set with thorns, that leadeth unto the kingdom of heaven. The outward man increaseth by pleasures; but the inward man by the cross, and by tribulations. As much as the outward man is augmented, so much is the inward man diminished. Pleasures serve the body; but the true godly have least care of their body, and the greatest care of their soul. Pleasures do captivate our hearts that they cannot be free in the love of God. Not pleasures, but the contempt of pleasures at death shalt thou carry away with thee, and bring to judgement: Let the fear of God then wound thy flesh; that the love of the flesh deceive thee not. Bernard. Keep always in thy mind the memory of God's judgement; that the perverse judgement of thy sensual appetite lead thee not into bondage. Look not upon the flattering face of the serpent; but look back upon his stinging tail. Overcome thou by the grace of Christ; that at length thou mayst as conqueror be crowned by Christ. Meditat. XL. Of the profit of tentations. The palmtree grows the more pressed down, And crosses prove the Church's crown. IT is profitable for the faithful soul, to be tried and confirmed by tentations in this world: Our Saviour himself would wrestle with the devil in the wilderness, Matt. 4.1. that for us and for our salvation he might overcome him, and be the first champion in our quarrel. He descended first into hell, and afterwards ascended up into heaven: So the faithful soul doth first descend into the hell of tentations; that so it may ascend into celestial glory. Josh. 23. The people of Israel could not come to possess the promised land of Canaan, before they had overcome diverse enemies: Neither can the faithful soul promise unto itself the kingdom of heaven, until it hath overcome the flesh, the world, and the devil. Tentation proveth, Di●nys▪ purgeth, and enlighteneth us. Tentation proveth us: For faith shaken by adversity is confirmed more strongly in the rock of salvation, it enlargeth itself more into the boughs of good works, and riseth up higher unto the hope of deliverance. Gen. 22.10. When Abraham being commanded to sacrifice his son, showed himself ready to obey God's command: after the tentation the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying, 12. Now know I that thou fearest God, seeing that for my sake thou hast not spared thine only son. Even so in tentations if thou shalt offer unto God the beloved son of thy soul, that is, thine own will, thou shalt be reputed one that truly feareth God, and thou shalt in thine heart hear God speaking unto thee. Fire proves gold, and tentation proves faith. The soldier's valour is seen in the fight: And the strength of our faith appeareth in tentations. When the whirling winds and the stormy waves beat upon the ship of Christ, Mat. 8.24.26. Judg. 7.4. than it appeareth of how little▪ faith some of the disciples are. The Israelites whom God commanded to be led forth to overcome the Midianites, were first proved at the waters: So they which are to be admitted into their heavenly country after the conquest of their enemies, are first to be proved in the waters of tribulations and tentations. Whatsoever adversity therefore, whatsoever tentations happen unto the faithful soul; let her think with herself that they are for trial and not for denial. Bernard. Tentation also purgeth. To purge out the pestilent humour of self-love, and the love of the world, Christ our Physician useth many grains of bitter Aloes. Tribulation sends us to search our conscience, and recalls to our memory the sins of our life past: And further, as Physic preserveth the body from contagious diseases: So also doth tribulation preserve the soul from sins. Man is always prone to sin: But more in time of prosperity then in adversity. Matt. 13.22. Riches are thorns to many men: Therefore God plucks out the thorns; that they may not choke their souls. Variety of worldly business hindereth many from the service of God: Therefore God sendeth diseases upon them; that they may come to themselves, and begin to die to the world, and to live to God. Some men have tumbled down the hill of great prosperity: And have enjoyed truest rest in their adversity. The honour of the world puffeth men up with pride: Therefore God brings them into contempt, and withdraweth from them the fuel of pride. Last of all, Tentation enlighteneth. We come not to know the frailty and vanity of all worldly comfort, but by tentations. Acts 7.56. Stephen when he was stoned, saw the glory of Christ: So Christ manifests himself unto the contrite soul, in calamities. There is no true and solid joy but where God dwelleth; and God's dwelling is in the contrite and humbled spirit. Isa. 57.15. Affliction it is and tentation which humbleth the spirit, and maketh it contrite: Therefore true and solid joy is in the soul of the afflicted. Tentation is the way to come to the knowledge of God: Therefore the Lord saith, Psal. 61.16. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him, and make him see my salvation. 16. Blind Toby saw nothing either above him, beneath him, or before him, and therefore he saw not himself: But being enlightened of God by the angel Raphael, he saw all things, which before he could not see, using no other medicine but the gall of a fish: Tob. 6.8. To show, that our eyes are to be anointed with the gall of bitterness; that so we may be enlightened, and come to the true knowledge of ourselves and worldly things. Why saith the Apostle, that we know but in a glass? Because in tentations we come to know that God maketh the elect joyful under the show of sorrow, 1. Cor. 13.12. and quickeneth them under the show of death, and healeth them under the show of sickness, and enricheth them under the show of poverty. Therefore must the cross and tentation be welcome unto him, Bernard. whosoever is not unthankful to Christ who was crucified and tempted for us. O good Jesus! Let me be burned here, let me be smitten here, that I may be spared hereafter! O good Jesus! Thou which dost often cast us off from thee by sparing us, make us to return unto thee by striking us! Afflict and press the outward man; that the inward man may grow and increase! O good Jesus! Fight within me, against me: Be thou the moderator of the fight, and the crown of my victory! Whatsoever adversity I feel in this life, Greg. Nyss. let it tend to the strengthening and increasing of my faith! O good Jesus! Help my weak faith! For so thou hast promised by thy holy prophet: As a mother comforteth her children, so will I comfort you: Isa. 66.13. Weller. As a mother cherisheth and nourisheth her sucking infant with much care: So do thou (O good Jesus) erect and confirm my languishing faith! Grant that thy inward comforts may prevail more with me then the contradictions of all men and the devil himself, yea and the cogitations of mine own heart! O thou good Samaritan, pour▪ Luke 10▪ 34. the sharp wine into the wounds made by my sins, but pour in also the oil of divine comfort! Multiply my crosses, but give me also strength to endure them! Meditat. XLI. Here are foundations of Christian patience. Take up thy cross do but endure: To overcome thou shalt be sure. BE quiet, O devout soul, and endure with patience the cross which God hath laid upon thee: Consider the passion of Christ thy bridegroom. He suffered for all, of all, and in all. He suffered for all, yea even for them, which despise his precious passion, and wickedly trample his blood under their feet. Heb. 10.29. He suffered of all. He is delivered, he is broken in pieces, he is forsaken of his heavenly Father, Matt. 26.56. he is forsaken of his disciples, he is rejected of the Jews his own peculiar people: For they preferred Barrabas the thief before him: Matt. 27.21. He is crucified of the Gentiles. He suffers for the sins of all men: And therefore he is afflicted of all men. He suffered also in all: Matt. 26.38. His soul was sorrowful even unto death, and being pressed with the sense and feeling of God's anger, cries out that he was forsaken of God: Matt. 27.46. All the members of his body are in a bloody sweat: His head is crowned with thorns: 29.34. Psal. 22.16. John 19.34. His tongue tastes a cup of gall and vinegar, his hands and feet are boared with nails, his side is wounded, his whole body is scourged, and he is stretched forth on the cross: He suffered hunger, thirst, cold, contempt, poverty, reproaches, wounds, death, and the cross: And then how unjust a thing were it for the servant to rejoice, when the Lord suffereth! How unjust were it that we should rejoice in our sins, when our Saviour is so grievously punished for them! How unjust were it that the other members should not condole, when the head is afflicted! But rather it is necessary that we enter through many tribulations into the kingdom of heaven: Acts 14.22. as it was necessary that our Saviour should by his passion enter into celestial glory. Luke 24.26. Rom. 8.18 Consider also the bountiful reward: The sufferings of this present life are not worthy of the glory which shall be revealed unto us. How great soever our suffering is; it is but temporal, yea sometimes but for a day: But the glory is everlasting. God doth exactly observe all our adversities, and will at length bring them to judgement: Eccles 12.14. How disgraceful a thing than will it be at the general assembly of the whole world, to appear without the jewels and bracelets of the cross, and passions! Isa. 25.8. Rev. 7.17. He shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of those that are his: O happy tears, which shall be wiped away by the hand of such a great Lord! Dionys. O happy cross, that shall find a crown in heaven! David was not ten whole years in his exile, but he was forty in his kingdom: 2. Sam. 5.5 Here we have the shortness of our suffering prefigured, and the eternity of the glory which is to follow. It is but a moment of time wherein the Saints are exercised by the cross: But the mercies by which they are comforted are for ever. And thus after adversity in the morning, follows prosperity in the evening. Consider also the tribulation of all the Saints. Job 2.8. Matt. 3.4. Behold Job mourning on the dunghill, John hungry in the wilderness, Peter stretched out upon the cross, James beheaded of Herod with the sword! Behold Mary the blessed mother of our Saviour standing under the cross! John 19.25. She was the type of the Church the spiritual mother of our lord Blessed are ye, saith Christ, Matth. 5.11, 12. when men shall persecute you for my name's sake: For so have they done to the Prophets. O glorious persecution which makes us conformable unto the Prophets and Apostles, and all the Saints, and even unto Christ himself! Maca●. Let us therefore suffer with those that suffer, let us be crucified with those that are crucified, that we may be glorified with those that are glorified. If we be true sons indeed, let us not refuse the condition of the rest of our brethren. If we truly desire the inheritance of God, let us accept it wholly: For the sons of God are not only heirs of joy and glory in the world to come, but also of heaviness and sufferings in this present world. Heb. 12.6. For God scourgeth every son whom he receiveth: He punisheth their sins here, that he may spare them at the judgement to come: He multiplies tribulations here, that he may multiply their reward hereafter: And so not only the persecution, but the reward also is increased. Consider the happy condition of the cross. Bernard. It plucks the love of the world out of us by the roots, but it sows in our hearts the seed of the love of God. The cross begets in us an hate of worldly things, and lifts up our mind unto heavenly things. When the flesh is mortified, the spirit is quickened; and when the world waxeth bitter, Christ becometh sweet unto us. Great is the mystery of the cross, for by it God calls us to contrition, to true fear, and to the exercise of our patience. Let us open to him when he knocketh, and we shall hear what the Lord will say within us. The sight of the cross is contemptible in the sight of the world, and in the carnal eyes of the outward man: But it is glorious in the sight of God, and in the spiritual eyes of the inward man. What was reputed by the Jews more base and vile than the passion of Christ? And what was more glorious and precious in the sight of God? For it was the price paid for the sins of the whole world: 1. John 2.2. Even so the just man is afflicted; the just man dies, and no man considereth it: Isa. 57.1. But precious is the cross, Psal. 116.15. and precious is the death of the Saints in the sight of the Lord. The church which is the spouse of Christ, is black without, Cant. 1.5. by reason of calamities and persecutions: But she is beautiful within, by reason of divine consolation. The Church and every faithful soul is as a garden enclosed, 4.12. and none knows the beauty thereof but he that is in it. We shall never fully and perfectly feel the consolation of the spirit, unless our flesh be afflicted without. If the love of the world dwelleth in us, the love of God cannot enter in. A full vessel cannot be filled with new liquor, unless the first be emptied. Let us therefore pour out the love of the world, that we may be filled with the love of God. Therefore God by the cross doth extinguish in us the love of the world, that there may be room for the love of God. Besides, the cross drives us to our prayers, and is an occasion of virtue. When the Northwind blows upon the garden, Cant. 4.16. that is, when persecutions assault the Church, than the spices thereof are scattered abroad, and the virtues thereof are increased, and they cast forth an odour pleasing unto God. The beloved bridegroom of my soul is white and ruddy; 5.10. white for his innocency, and ruddy for his passion: And so is also the beloved spouse of Christ; white for her virtues, and ruddy for her sufferings. And thus the grace of God can produce oil and honey out of the most hard rock of afflictions: And so, out of the bitter root of calamities God knows how to bring forth the most pleasant fruit of eternal glory. Unto which he bring us and admit us! Amen. Meditat. XLII. How we must overcome tentations by perseverance. Let not tentations cast thee down: For perseverance shall thee crown. HOly Lord Jesus, the most loving bridegroom of my soul! when will the time come that thou wilt lead me to the solemnity of thy marriage? Rev. 19.7. Psal. 39.12. I am a pilgrim and a banished man from thee: But yet I most firmly believe and nothing doubt, but that I shall be shortly set at liberty out of the prison of my body, and appear before thy face. Psal. 55.5. Fear and trembling are come upon me; because I carry my treasure in vessels of clay: 2. Cor. 4.7 My mind is prone to error, and my will is prone to sin; and therefore my spirit within me is not always ready, Matt. 26.41. but the flesh is always weak. Sin leadeth me captive, and the law of my members is repugnant to the law of my mind. Rom. 7.23. Fear and trembling are come upon me; Psal. 55.5. because Satan lieth in wait for my treasure: His subtlety is great, his desire to hurt is most earnest, and his power is exceeding great. He deceived Adam in paradise, Gen. 3. John 13.27. and Judas in our Saviour's school: And how then shall I be safe from his treacheries? Fear and trembling are come upon me, Psal. 55.5. 1. John 5.19. because I am still in the world, which is altogether set upon wickedness: The delights of the world entice me, adversities in the way of the Lord affright me, sometimes the enticements of the world are pleasing unto me, and all the world is full of snares: Miserable man that I am! how shall I be able to escape them? Joys do assault me, and sorrows do assault me: Miserable man! how shall I be able to stand? Fear and trembling are come upon me, Psal. 55.5. Phil. 2.13. because it is God that worketh in me both to will and to perfect. I am afraid lest I should force God, by my negligence and want of care, to take from me that good will which he hath given me. I make not a right use of remission of sins, and I refuse the first grace which was given freely: And therefore I have cause to fear, lest God in his secret and just judgement justly take from me that which I have unjustly abused. I am afraid lest I be forsaken of him, whom after my first conversion I have so often forsaken. How grievously am I vexed when I consider, that the heavy and severe judgement of God shall follow after his benefits, if I make not a right use of them! But the infinite mercy of God raiseth me up; because as he hath given me to will, he will also give unto me to perfect; for he is God and is not changed: His mercy also is confirmed towards me, Psal. 117.2. and shall not be changed: 2. Tim. 2.16. The foundation of God is sure; sure indeed, because it is in God, in whom there is no change: Jam. 1.17. Sure indeed, because it is confirmed by the blood of Christ, Heb. 12.24. which always speaketh loud before the throne of God: Sure indeed, because it is signed with the sure seals of the Sacraments. If I should seek never so little salvation in myself, I must needs doubt of my salvation: But as all my righteousness is in Christ, so in him also is all the hope of my salvation. If I had apprehended and laid hold upon Christ of mine own free will, I might yet fear, lest my will should change, and so I should lose Christ: But he that was found of him that sought him not, will not assuredly withdraw himself again after he is once found. He that hath translated me out of the shadow of death unto the participation of light, Luke 1.79 will not suffer me to return again unto my former darkness. Rom. 11.26. The gifts of God are without repentance, and our vocation by God, as concerning the will of God: But I could wish that even I also were unchangeable in that which is good. That treasure is always present; but the hand that should apprehend it doth sometimes languish: But I shall be able to apprehend Christ; because as he hath revealed himself unto me in his word and promises, so likewise he will grant unto me of his goodness that I may believe his word and promises. I will use the help and support of prayer to strengthen my faith, and I will not suffer the Lord to depart out of the chamber of my heart, until I have obtained salvation. 1. Pet. 1.5. By the power of the Lord I shall be able to be preserved unto salvation: The power of the Lord doth lift me up and comfort me, but mine own infirmity doth cast me down and make me sorrowful. 2. Cor. 12.9. But the power of the Lord shall be perfected in my weakness: He shall strengthen me, from whom cometh all the strength of my faith: The grace of God doth lift me up, but mine unworthiness doth cast me down: But if there were any worthiness in me, than it were no grace, but a reward. If of works, Rom. 11.6 Austin. then certainly not of grace: For grace is not any way grace unless it be every way gratis. Therefore have I no respect unto my works: Bernard. That which is amiss, he will amend; that which is wanting, he will make up; that which he will not impute against me, shall be as if it were not. Therefore is my salvation only from God, Host 1.39. and therefore sure. Meditat. XLIII. That we must think daily upon our death. Think every day to be thy last▪ And when night comes, thy life is past. O Faithful soul, look fo● death every hour: Because it waits for thee every hour. In the morning when thou risest, O man, think that it is thy last day: And in the evening when thou goest to bed, think that it is thy last night upon earth. Whatsoever thou dost, whatsoever thou goest about, look about thee, and consider with thyself first, whether thou wouldst do such things or no, if thou shouldest die that hour, and so go to God's judgement: What! Dost thou think that death doth not approach, because thou thinkest not of it? or dost thou think that it draweth nearer, because thou thinkest upon it? whether thou thinkest upon it or no, whether thou speakest of it or no, it hangs always over thy head. Life was lent unto thee, not given as a freehold. Upon this condition thou didst enter in, that thou shouldest go out: Job 1.21. Naked thou camest, and naked thou must go. This life is a pilgrimage: when thou hast traveled a good while, than thou must return home again. Thou art but a farmer and tenant in this world, and not a perpetual lord: Every hour think with thyself whither thou hastenest every moment. In this we are deceived, in that we think we die then, when we breathe out our last: Every day, every hour, every moment we die: Whatsoever is added unto our life is taken from it, and as it increaseth it also decreaseth: we fall not into death suddenly, but walk into it step after step. This life of ours is a way, and every day we must rid some of it: Life and death seem to be most distant, but they are as near as near can be: For one passeth away, and the other cometh on. As it is with those that travel by sea, they oftentimes come to the haven, and yet they neither feel, nor so much as think whither they are carried: So likewise it is with us: whatsoever we do, whether we eat, drink, or sleep, we draw nearer always to our death. Many have passed away their life, even in the time whiles they were seeking after things belonging to the sustentation of this life. No man entertains death joyfully, unless he hath long before prepared himself for it. In this life die daily unto thyself; that so in death thou mayst live unto God. Before thou diest, let thy sins die in thee: In thy life time let the old Adam die in thee: So at thy death Christ shall live in thee. In thy life time let the outward man daily decay, that at thy death the inward man may be renewed in thee. 2. Cor. 4.16. Death translateth thee from time to eternity: for as the tree falls, so it lies: Eccles 11.3. How carefully then ought we to think upon the hour of death! Time passeth away, but the infinite space of eternity remains behind: In time therefore make thyself ready for eternity. What we shall be for ever, whether blessed or miserable, it shall be decreed at the hour of death: In that one moment, is eternal felicity either enjoyed or lost. Wherefore, O faithful soul, how solicitous and careful oughtest thou to be in preparing thyself for that hour! Thou wilt easily contemn all worldly things, if thou considerest with thyself that thou must die: Consider that thine eyes shall be darkened in death; and thou wilt easily turn away thine eyes from beholding vanity: Psal. 119.37. Consider that thy ears shall wax deaf at thy death; and it shall be easy for thee to stop thy ears against impious and filthy speeches: Consider that thy tongue shall be tied at thy death; and thou wilt have more regard unto thy words: Set before thine eyes the cold sweat and anxiety of those that are ready to die; and thou wilt easily contemn all worldly delights: Look upon the nakedness of them that depart out of this world; and poverty in this life will not seem grievous unto thee: Consider the trembling of the whole body at the point of death; and thou wilt easily contemn the splendour of the world: Consider the mourning of the soul being compelled to go out of the house of the body; and thou wilt easily beware of the guilt of all sin: Consider the corruption that followeth after death; and thou wilt easily bring down thy proud flesh: Consider how naked thou art left at thy death, being forsaken of all the creatures; and thou wilt easily turn away thy love from them, and turn it towards the Creator: Consider how narrowly death looks to thee, that thou carry away nothing with thee at thy death; and thou wilt easily contemn all the riches of the world: He that in this life dieth daily through his sins, doth pass from death temporal unto the punishments of death eternal. No man is translated unto everlasting life, but he that begins here to live in Christ. That in death therefore thou mayest live, be engrafted into Christ by faith: Let death be always in thy thoughts; because it is to be expected always. ●rent. We carry death always about us; because we always carry sin about us, Rom. 6.23. and the wages of sin is death. But if thou wouldst escape the bitterness of death, keep the word of Christ. Faith doth conjoin and unite us unto Christ: Therefore they which are in Christ, die not: For Christ is their life. 1. Cor. 6.17. He that is joined unto God by faith, is one spirit with him: And therefore the faithful man dieth not for ever; because God is his life. Exod. 1●. 18. The people of Israel passed through the Red sea unto the promised land; but Pharaoh and his host were drowned: So the death of the godly is unto them the beginning of true life, and the gate of paradise; but the death of the wicked is not the end of their evils, but it coupleth together those evils which are past and those that follow after: They pass from the first unto the second death. Rev. 20.14 So near is the union between Christ and the faithful, Rom. 8.38 that death itself cannot dissolve it. In the thickest cloud of death the torch of God's grace shineth before them: In their dangerous journey Christ provideth for his beloved the angels to be their protectors. The bodies of the Saints are the temples of the holy Ghost: 1. Cor. 6.19. The holy Ghost will not suffer his own temples altogether to be destroyed by death. 1. Pet. 1.23. The word of God is the incorruptible seed: It is not destroyed by death; but it is hid in the hearts of the godly, and shall quicken them in their due time. Meditat. XLIIII. Consolations at the death of friends. Grieve not when friends and kinsfolks die: They gain by death eternity. THink, O devout soul, upon Christ thy Saviour, and thou shalt not be afraid for the terrors of death. If the violence of death doth make thee sorrowful, let the power of Christ make thee joyful. The Israelites could not drink the waters of Marah by reason of their bitterness; exod. 15. ●. but God showed unto Moses a tree, which being cast into the waters made them sweet. 25. If thou art affrighted by reason of he bitterness of death, God showeth unto thee a tree which turneth it into sweetness; that is, a branch that did spring from the root of Jesse: Isa. 11.1. This branch is Christ, and whosoever keepeth his word shall never see death. This life is burdensome: John 8.51. Ambrose. And therefore it is good to be eased of it. The misery of a Christian dieth: But the Christian man dieth not. That which we call death is but going a journey; it is not an end of life, but a beginning of a better life. Ter. of patience. We do not lose our friends at their death, but send them before us; our friends do not die, but life enjoy; they go before us, they do not go from us for ever. Cyprian· It is not death, but a departure: When the godly depart out of this life, they enter again into life: The death of th● godly is gain unto them. Austi●●. Do our friends die? Make this interpretation of it: That they cease to sin, they cease to be tossed, and they cease to be miserable. Do they die in the faith? Interpret that thus: That they depart out of the shadow of life, that they may pass unto true life; from darkness, to light; and from men, to God. Our life is a navigation, and death is the haven of security, and safety: Therefore we must not grieve that our friends are dead; but rather rejoice in their behalf, that out of the turbulent sea they are come safe to the haven. This life is the souls imprisonment, but death sets her at liberty: Therefore old Simeon being about to die, crieth out, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. Luke 2.29. He desires to be set at liberty, being shut up in the prison of the body: We must rejoice therefore in the behalf of our friends, that they are as it were delivered out of prison, and received into true liberty. In like manner the Apostle desires to be dissolved, Phil. 1.23 as being bound to his body of earth in a kind of miserable servitude. What? shall we be sorrowful that our friends are delivered out of their bonds and set at liberty? Cyprian. What? shall we for their sakes put on black mourning clothes, when as they have put on white robes? For it is written, that unto the elect are given white robes, Rev. 7.29. in token of innocence; and palms in their hands, in token of victory. Shall we macerate ourselves with tears and sighs for their sakes, when as God hath wiped all tears from their eyes? Rev. 7.17. Shall we mourn and trouble ourselves with grief, when as they are in the place where there is neither mourning, nor grief, Rev. 21.4. nor any cry heard, Rev. 14.13. but they rest from their labours? Shall we for their departure kill ourselves with immoderate grief, when as they do enjoy the fellowship of the angels, and true solid joy? Shall we for their sakes weep and wail, Rev. 15.3. when as they sing a new song of the Lamb, 2 having harps and golden phials? 7 Shall we grieve that they are departed from the earth, when they themselves rejoice that they are departed? Cyprian. What profit it is for to depart out of this world, Christ showed, who when his disciples were sad, because that he said he should depart, answered, If ye loved me, John 14.28. ye would rejoice rather. If as thou wert sailing, a stormy tempest should arise, and the winds lift up the waves, and threaten shipwreck, wouldst not thou haste to the haven? Behold the world staggereth, and reeleth, and threateneth her ruin not only for her old age, but also by the end of things: And dost not thou thank God, and art not thou glad for thy friends, that being departed the sooner, they are delivered from ruins, shipwrecks, and imminent plagues? In whose hands art thou kept safer then in the hands of Christ? In what place can the souls of thy friends rest safer then in the kingdom of paradise? Hear what the Apostle saith concerning death: Phil. 1.21. Death is gain: It is gain to have escaped the increase of sin; it is gain to have left the things that are worse, and to have passed to the better. Although those whom by death thou hast lost were very dear unto thee: yet let God be more dear unto thee, whose will it was to take them unto himself. Be not angry with the Lord for taking away what he hath given: He hath received his own, he hath taken nothing from thee. Do not take it ill that the Lord doth require what he did only lend thee: It is only the Lord that forseeth evil to come: It was his providence therefore to take away thy friends that they might not be entangled in the misfortunes to come. Rev. 14.13. They that die in the Lord rest sweetly in their graves, when those that are alive are tormented grievously even in the palaces of their kingdom. Bernard. If by death thou hast lost those that were dear unto thee: Believe that thou shalt hereafter receive them more dear unto thee. A little distance of time doth separate thee from them: But blessed and secure eternity shall join thee again unto them. Austin. For we hope upon a most true promise, that we shall depart out of this life, from whence some of our friends are departed before us; and that we shall come to that life, where the more known the more dear they shall be unto us, and amiable, without fear of any dissension. What'ever souls have been before, or shall hereafter be, Bapt. Mant. Shall be received i'th' theatre of huge capacity. There shall we know the face of them that of our kindred be, And speak & answer in our course each interchangeably. There with the brother sister shall, and son with father be: And there they shall keep holiday for all eternity. Therefore think not only upon the time of thy friends forsaking thee, that is, at their death; but think also upon the time when they shall be restored again unto thee, that is, at the resurrection. To them that firmly believe the resurrection, death seemeth not death, but rather a quiet sleep. The whole universe seems to be a glass, Tertull. in which we may behold the resurrection: The sun that sets every night, riseth again in the morning: The herbs that are dead in the winter, shoot up again in the spring: The Phoenix at her death reneweth herself again: When times and seasons are passed they return again: After fruits are come to maturity, still there succeed others: Seeds unless they die and be corrupted, they rise not again with increase: All things are preserved by perishing, and generated by corrupting: Shall we think then that God hath to no end or purpose set before us these types in nature? Shall nature be more powerful than God, who hath promised that our bodies shall rise again? Austin. He that quickeneth the grain of the seeds that are dead and rotten, that thou mayest live thereby in this world, shall not he much more raise up thee and thine, that thou mayest live with them for ever? God hath called thy loving friends unto their beds: Isa. 57.2. And do not thou envy them their quiet rest: The resurrection will shortly come. It may be, thou didst hope that thy friends before their death would have been profitable members of the militant Church: But it hath pleased God to make them members of the Church triumphant: Seeing it hath so pleased God, be thou also well pleased. It may be, thou thoughtest that thy friends before their death would have attained to the knowledge of diverse things: But it hath pleased God to take them up into the heavenly Academy, there to learn true wisdom: Seeing therefore it hath so pleased God, be thou also well pleased. It may be, thou didst hope that thy friends before their death would be raised out of the dust, and be set with princes: Psal. 113. ●. But it hath pleased God to make them the fellows of heavenly princes, that is, the holy angels: Seeing therefore it hath so pleased God, be thou also well pleased. It may be, thou didst hope that thy friends before their death would have gathered together much riches: But it hath pleased God to make them partakers of the delights of his heavenly kingdom: And therefore seeing that it hath so pleased God, be thou also well pleased. Holy God, thou hast taken away nothing but what thou gavest, blessed be thy name for ever and ever! Meditat. XLV. Of the last judgement. Remember that Christ Jesus shall Thoughts, words, and deeds to judgement call. THe Father judgeth no man, John 5.22 but hath committed all judgement to his Son. I know, Lord Jesus, Carthenius that thou wilt come as the severe Judge of all men, to bring their thoughts, 1. Cor. 4.5 words, and deeds to light, though they were done in darkness. Above, there shall be a severe judge; beneath, hell gaping; within, the conscience gnawing; without, the fire flaming; on the right hand, sins accusing; on the left hand, the devils terrifying: The good angels keeping out of heaven, and the evil angels pulling down to hell: Then, Lord Jesus, to whom shall I betake myself in these my straits? I am afraid of all my works, knowing that thou sparest not every one that offendeth. Job 94.28. I shall there be set between time and eternity: Time will be past, but the infinite space of eternity will remain behind. The malignant spirits will require their wicked works, unto which they have persuaded me; and in that severe judgement they will produce all they know against me, that they may draw my soul into the fellowship of their torments. Isa. 34.4. All the host of heaven shall consume away, the heavens shall be rolled together like a scroll, all the host of them shall fall, even as a leaf falleth from the vine or figtree. The sun shall be ashamed, and the moon shall be brought to confusion: Isa. 24.23. But if these the works of thy hands, which never committed any evil against thee, if they flee away from thy sight, how shall I miserable sinner be able to appear before thy face? The heavens of heavens are not clean in thy sight: Job 15.15.16. 1. Pet. 4.18. What am I then that drink iniquity like water? But if the righteous shall scarce be saved, where shall the sinner appear? Whither then shall I fly, or to whom shall I go, but unto thee, O Lord? Thou shalt be the Judge of my sins, who diedst for my sins: For the Father judgeth no man, Joh. 5.22. but hath committed all judgement unto his Son: The Father delivered all judgement to the Son; but the Son again was delivered for our sins. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, Joh. 3.56. not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him: How canst thou then condemn me, Lord Jesus, when as thou wast sent by thy Father to save me? Thou ●idst fulfil the will of thy Father in all things: How then wilt thou not fulfil it in saving me miserable sinner? It is not the will of thy Father that one of the little ones should perish: Matth. 18.14. And I am a little one in thy sight, and a little one also in mine own sight: Gen. 18.27. For what am I but dust and ashes? Neither only dust and ashes, but also a very little one, and a very dwarf for proficiency in piety: Perfect therefore in me little one the will of thy Father. Thou camest, O Jesus, to save that which was lost: Matt. 18▪ 11. How then canst thou condemn him that desires to be saved? My sins will accuse me, and call upon the Judge for severe sentence: But thou hast taken my sins upon thee: Joh. 1.29 Thou takest away the sins of the world: How then hast thou not taken away mine also? How canst thou condemn me for my sins, when thou diedst for them? Thou diedst for the sins of the whole world: 1. John 2.2. How then hast thou not died for mine also? Certainly, Lord Jesus, if thou hadst meant to deal with me in thy strict judgement, thou wouldst never have descended from heaven to take upon thee my flesh, to die, and to be crucified. The devils will accuse me, and require of my soul the works whereunto they have persuaded me: John 14.30. But the prince of this world is condemned, and hath nothing in thee; and if he hath nothing in thee, then certainly he hath nothing in me: For I believe in thee, O Lord, therefore thou abidest in me, John 15.4 and I in thee: He will accuse me, that am thy friend; He will accuse me, that am thy brother, that am the beloved son of the eternal Father: How then canst thou deal with me in thy strict judgement, seeing that I am thy friend, thy brother, and thy son? At that judgement Moses will accuse me, Deut. 27.26. and pronounce me accursed, for not keeping all that is written in the book of the law: But thou, O Christ, wast made a curse for me, Gal. 3.13. that I might be freed from the curse of the law. I shall be cursed by Moses, but blessed by thee: For I desire to hear that voice; Matt. 25.34. Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. Moses will accuse me: But thou wilt not accuse me to thy Father; yea, thou makest intercession for me. Rom. 8.34 Therefore I am not afraid of Moses his curse; because thou hast blotted out the hand-writing which was against me. Col. 2.14. The damned will accuse me, and pronounce me guilty of the same fault with them: I confess, Lord Jesus, my guiltiness doth conjoin me with them: but the acknowledgement of my guiltiness, and the saving knowledge of thee doth disjoin me from them. He that heareth thy word, and believeth on him that sent thee, John 5.24 hath life everlasting, and shall not come into condemnation. I hear thy word, Lord, and in thee I believe with weak faith, Mar. 9.24. but yet faith: Lord I believe; yet help thou my unbelief▪ Lord ay believe; but yet do thou increase my faith: Luk. 17.5. Although I am not free from all the sins of the damned, yet thou, O Lord, shalt deliver me from unbelief. All my accusers do terrify me, but thou being my Judge dost comfort me: To thee hath the Father committed all judgement. Joh. 5.22. Matt. 11.27. Rom. 8.32 Into thy hands hath he delivered all things; and again, thee hath he delivered up for us all: and thou hast delivered up thyself for the Church, to sanctify it, and cleanse it by the washing of water through the word: Eph. 5.26. How canst thou then according to severe judgement judge those for whom thou hast delivered thyself to death, even the death of the cross? Eph. 5.29.30. Thou canst not hate thine own flesh: we are members of thy body, of thy flesh, and of thy bones. Meditat. XLVI. Of the desire of eternal life. All earthly things tread under thee, And let thy thoughts in heaven be. DEvout soul, thou must not love this life which is transitory; but rather that which remaineth for ever: Ascend up by thy desires to the place where there is youth without old age, life without death, Austin. joy without sorrow, and a kingdom without change: If beauty delight thee; Anselm. The righteous shall shine as the sun: Matt. 13.43. Matt. 22.30. If swiftness, and strength; The elect shall be like unto the angels of God: If a long and healthful life; There shall be healthful eternity, and eternal healthfulness: If fullness; The elect shall be filled, when the glory of the Lord shall appear: If melody; There do the quires of angels sing without end: If pure pleasure; God shall make those that are his, drunk in the torrent of pleasure: If wisdom; The very wisdom of God shall show itself unto them: If love; They shall love God more than themselves, and one another as themselves; and God shall love them more than they themselves: If concord delight; There they shall be all of one mind: If power; To the elect shall all things be easy; they shall desire nothing but what they shall be able; and they shall desire nothing but what God will have them to will, and to desire: If honour and riches delight; God will make his faithful servants rulers over many things: Matt. 25.23. If true security; They shall be as certain never to want that good, as they are certain that they themselves would never lose it willingly; and that God that loveth them will never take from them against their wills that which they love; and that nothing is more powerful than God, to separate God and them asunder. Bonavent. Whatsoever the elect can desire, there they shall find; because they shall behold him, 1. Cor. 13.12. that is all in all, face to face. So great are the goods of that life that they cannot be measured; Pelarg. so many that they cannot be numbered; and so precious that they cannot be valued. There shall be eternal health unto our bodies, and great purity unto our souls; there shall be glory and fullness of divine pleasure; there shall we have familiarity with the saints and angels for ever, having our bodies of admirable clearness and brightness. Bonavent. The elect shall rejoice for the pleasantness of the place, which they shall possess; for the pleasant society, in which they shall reign; for the glory of their bodies, which they shall put on; for the world, which they have despised; and for hell, which they have escaped. Austin. The least crown of eternal life shall be more worth than a thousand worlds; because they are all finite, but this is infinite: Neither is there any fear that they shall envy one another's brightness; because there shall reign in them all, unity of love: By reason of that high degree of love, whatsoever happeneth to one of the elect, the rest shall as much rejoice at as if it were their own. There is no greater good than God, in heaven and in earth: Therefore there can be no greater & perfecter joy, then to see & possess God: Therefore to see God for one moment, shall go beyond all joys: For we shall see God in himself, God in us, and ourselves in God: In the way of this life we have Christ with us, Bernard. but hidden under the covering of the word and sacraments. We know him not here as he is, but in the life to come we shall behold him in presence, when he shall distribute unto us the bread that satisfieth for ever: As the disciples knew him not upon the way, Luke 24.35. but in the Inn at length, when he broke bread unto them. The heavenly Jerusalem hath no temple made with hands, neither sun nor moon; because the temple thereof is eternal, Rev. 21.23. and God is the life thereof. Vision succeeds in the place of faith, attainment in the place of hope, and perfect fruition in the place of love. As at the building of Solomon's temple there was heard neither the sound of axe nor hammer: Berthor. 1. Kings 6.7. So in the heavenly Jerusalem, there is neither pain nor tribulation felt; because the materials of this temple, to wit, 1. Pet. 2.5. the spiritual stones are prepared by tribulation in the world long before. 1. Ki●● 10.2. The queen that came to Solomon is the soul travelling to the heavenly Jerusalem, unto Christ: She entereth in with a great train of the holy angels, with gold and precious stones of diverse virtues: She will wonder at the wisdom of Christ the King, the order of his ministers, that is, the Angels and the Saints; the fare of his table, that is, 〈◊〉 9.9. the fullness of eternal repast; the price and value of his clothes, that is, 〈…〉 17 the bodies glorified; the beauty of his house, that is, the greatness of the heavenly palace; the sacrifices, that is, the multitude of divine praises: She will be turned into astonishment, and confess she could not believe what she now seeth with her eyes. Therefore let the faithful soul lift up herself, and consider what good things are prepared for her: Thither let the spirit be directed whither at length it shall go: In time we must strive to go thither, where at length we must remain for all eternity: Into this glory of the Lord shall no man enter but he that desireth to enter: Bernard. Dost thou hope to appear hereafter before the face of the Lord? Study then after holiness; because he is holy. 〈◊〉 11. Dost thou look for the fellowship of the heavenly angels? Take heed then that thou dost not by thy sins deprive thyself of their ministry. Ber●▪ Dost thou hope after things eternal! Why then dost thou so much desire things temporal? 〈◊〉. 13. Dost thou seek for a city to come? Why then dost thou desire here an abiding place? ●●rian. Dost thou desire to come to Christ? Why then dost thou fear death? It is the property of him that would not come to Christ, to fear death. Dost thou desire to enter into the heavenly Jerusalem? Why then dost thou defile thyself with so many and such grievous sins? Whereas it is written, that nothing which is defiled shall enter in there. Rev. 21.27 Dost thou desire to enjoy at length the tree of life? Lay hold then on Christ the true tree of life, Rev. 22.2. by true faith in this life. For it is written, 14 Blessed are they that have their robes washed in the blood of the lamb, that they may have part in the tree of life, and enter into the city by the gates. Without, are dogs and sorcerers: Beware therefore of the loss of chastity. Without, are murderers: Take heed therefore of anger. Without, are idolaters: Beware therefore of covetousness. Without, are liars: Beware therefore of all the malice of sin. If thou desirest to enter in to the marriage of the Lamb, desire the bridegrooms coming. Rev. 19.9. The Spirit and the Spouse say, COME. If thou hast not the earnest of the Spirit, by which thou mayst cry, Rev. 22.17 Eph. 1.14. Come Lord: the bridegroom will never lead thee in unto the heavenly marriage. Thou art not the spouse, if thou desirest not the coming of the bridegroom. wouldst thou have a place in the new heaven, Rev. 21.1. and the new earth? Why then dost thou so cleave unto the old? wouldst thou be made partaker of the Creator? Wherefore then dost thou so cleave unto the simple creatures? Dost thou expect the building of God, 2. Cor. 5.1. the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens? Why then dost thou not desire, that this earthly house of thy dwelling may be dissolved? Dost thou desire to be clothed? Why then dost thou not provide for thyself, that thou be'st not found naked? If the holy Trinity dwelleth not in thy heart by grace in this life▪ it shall never dwell in thee by glory in the life to come. If thou hast not a taste of eternal felicity in this life thou shalt never have a full draught in the life to come. Meditat. XLVII. Of the beatifical vision of God, in heaven. The saints are pilgrims here below, And towards their country heaven go. Joh. 14.2. IN my Father's house are many mansions, they are the words of our Saviour. Lord, I desire to see that place where thou hast prepared for me an everlasting mansion: Psal. 39.12 For I am a stranger and a sojourner here, as all my fathers were: Gen. 47.9. The days of my pilgrimage are few and evil: Therefore in this life, wherein I live in exile, I do long after my heavenly country. Phil. 3.20. My conversation is in heaven: Psal. 27.13. I desire to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. This life passeth away in a shadow, my days are measured out, and my substance is even as nothing in thy sight: What then is my hope? Psal. 39.7. Is it not the Lord? Lord Jesus, when will it be that I shall come unto thee? Psal. 42. ●. When shall I appear before thy face? As the hart panteth after the fountain of waters, Psal. 42.1. so doth my soul after thee, O God. Oh the true, perfect, and full joy! Austin. Oh joy of joys surpassing all joy, without which there is no joy! When shall I enter into thee, that I may see my God that dwelleth in thee? Thou shalt fill me, O Lord, with the joy of thy countenance: At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore: Psal. 16.11 I shall be abundantly satisfied with the plentifulness of thy house: Psal. 36.8. and thou shalt give me to drink of the brook of thy pleasures: For with thee is the fountain of life: 9 Austin. Oh life to be desired! Oh blessed felicity! in which the most holy Trinity shall be the perfection of our desires, which we shall see without end, love without loathing, and praise without being weary. To see God, will surpass all joys: To see Christ, to live with Christ, to hear Christ, will surpass all the desires of our hearts. O Jesus Christ the most sweet bridegroom of my soul, when wilt thou lead thy spouse into thy royal palace? Bernard. What can there be wanting there? What to be desired, or expected, where God shall be all in all? He shall be beauty to the eye, honey to the taste, music to the ear, balsam to the nose, and flower to the touch. 1. Cor. 15.28. God shall be all in all, and shall distribute unto every one good things according to the desires of his own heart: If thou desirest life, if health, if peace, if honour, God shall be there all in all. The mysteries which are now sealed up in the great doctors of the Church, shall be then revealed even unto babes: The blessed humanity of Christ shall be there present unto us, and shall preach unto us with a most sweet voice concerning the mystery of our salvation. Cant. 2.14 Psal. 45.2. Psal. 8.5. His voice is sweet, and his face is comely: Full of grace are his lips: And he is crowned with glory and honour: Bernard. But if God shall be all in all, then shall he be fullness of light to the understanding, plenty of peace to the will, and continuance of eternity to the memory. The Son will satisfy the understanding with perfect knowledge, the holy Ghost will satisfy the will with most sweet love, and the Father will satisfy the memory with the remembrance of both. Austin. Psal. 36.9. Thou O God shalt be our light, and in thy light shall we see light; that is, we shall see thee in thyself, in the brightness of thy countenance, when we shall see thee face to face: Neither shall we only see thee, but we shall also live with thee; neither shall we only live with thee, but we shall also praise thee; neither shall we only praise thee, but we shall also rejoice with thee; neither shall we only rejoice with thee, but we shall also be like unto the angels; Mat. 22.30. neither shall we be like unto the angels only, but even unto God himself, blessed for ever. 1. Joh. 3.2▪ Let the faithful soul be here astonished, and adore the mercy of her Saviour: He doth not only receive us his enemies into favour, but he doth also forgive our sins; neither doth he forgive our sins only, but he doth also bestow righteousness upon us; neither so only, but he doth lead us also into our heavenly inheritance; yea he makes us like unto the angels and even unto himself also. Oh most blessed city! Oh heavenly Jerusalem! Oh the holy seat of the most holy Trinity! when shall it be that I shall enter into thy temple? The Lamb is the heavenly Jerusalem, Rev. 21. ●2 to wit, Joh. 1.29. Rev. 13.8. the Lamb which taketh away the sins of the world, & was slain for them from the beginning of the world. When shall the time come that I may in that temple worship my God, that is, God in God? when will that sun rise upon me, which enlighteneth that holy city? I am yet a banished man from my country, Rev. 21.23. but there is laid up for me an ample inheritance. To those that believe, power is given to be made the sons of God: Joh. 1.12. Rom. 8.17 And if we be sons, we are then heirs, heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ. Lift up thyself, O my soul, and long to come to thine inheritance. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, Psal. 16.5. and my exceeding great reward: Gen. 15.1. What could the most ample mercy and bounty of God bestow upon us more than this? He bestows life; He bestows his Son; He bestows himself: And if he had any thing else greater in heaven or in earth, he would bestow even that also upon us. In God we live, God's temple we are, Act. 17.28▪ 1. Cor. 3.16. Austin. God we possess, here indeed in the spirit, and in a mystery, but there in truth: There shall our hope become fruition, and there shall we not only remain, but dwell for ever. Meditat. XLVIII. Of the most comfortable fellowship of the angels in heaven. If thou be'st here a child of grace, Amongst angels thou shalt have a place. AT the resurrection of the dead they shall neither marry, Matt. 22. 30· nor be given in marriage, but shall be like unto the angels of God in heaven. Who can worthily set forth with praises this honour of the blessed? Into whose heart hath this glory of the blessed ever entered? 1. Cor. 2.9 The elect being renewed by a glorious resurrection, shall enjoy the saving vision of God, without all fear of death, and without any spot of corruption. I have seen the Lord face to face, and my life is preserved, Gen. 32.30. saith the holy Patriarch. But if the sight of God for a moment could bring so great joy: What joy will it bring to see him for ever! If the sight of God appearing in the shape of man, brought salvation and life unto the soul: Certainly the seeing of him face to face shall bring life and everlasting felicity. What then can be added to this felicity? What can the elect desire beside the fruition of the sight of God? And yet notwithstanding they shall enjoy the most sweet and blessed fellowship of the angels: Neither shall they only enjoy their fellowship, but they shall be also like unto them for the nimbleness, brightness, and immortality of their bodies: We shall be clothed with the same garment that they are; Rev. 7.9▪ we shall stand before the throne of the Lamb, clothed with long white robes, and sing unto the Lord an everlasting song: we shall shine in the same crown of virtues; we shall rejoice in the same privilege of immortality. Judg. 13.22. We have seen the angel of the Lord, and we shall surely die, crieth out Manoah: But we shall see thousand thousands, Dan. 7.10 and ten thousand times ten thousand angels, and yet we shall live for ever. And if we shall be like unto angels, surely we shall have no cause to fear lest we be separated from them by the unlikeness of our sins. We shall put off the ragged coat of our sinful nature; and our nakedness shall be covered with the garment of salvation, Isa. 61.10. and we shall be clothed with the white robe of righteousness. Austin. No man there receiveth hurt, no man is angry, no man envious; there is no slandering, no concupiscence, there is no ambition after honour and power: We shall not be laden with the burden of our sins, neither shall we be constrained to weep and wash away the spots of our sins with penitent tears, neither shall we have cause to fear the deadly wounds of our soul: Rev. 5.5. For the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath overcome, and through his virtue have we all overcome. Again, if we shall be like unto the angels, we shall have no desire after meat or drink: Aust. upon ●he 50. Psal. God shall be our meat, with whose pleasures we shall be satisfied: God shall be our meat, which only doth refresh us and is never deficient. The blessed shall neither hunger, Rev. 7.16. nor thirst any more, the sun and the heat shall not scorch them: because their merciful Father shall feed them, ●7. and shall lead them unto the living fountains of waters. Joh. 7.38▪ Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living waters: There shall be a feast prepared of marrow and fatness, and wine clarified. Isa. 25.6. We shall feast, and be merry, and sing joyfully for the joy of heart. Lord Jesus! these things shall be fulfilled in spirit & in truth: Mat. 26.29 Of the fruit of the vine shall we drink in thy Father's kingdom; but yet in spirit and in truth: For the words which thou spakest unto us are spirit and life, Joh. 6.63 and thou declarest the joy of the world to come, by the language of this world. Again, if we shall be like unto the angels, we shall be free from the fear of death: For death shall be swallowed up in victory, 1. Cor. 15.54. and shall be trod down for ever, and God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of his people. Rev. 7.17. Rev 21.1. Austin. Therefore there shall be joy without sorrow, which containeth everlasting joy; health without sickness; life without death; light without darkness; love which shall never wax cold; joy which shall never decrease: No sighing shall be heard there; no grief felt; no sorrowful thing seen; but there shall be joy for ever. There shall be great and certain security, secure quietness, quiet pleasure, pleasant happiness, happy eternity, eternal blessedness, the blessed Trinity, the Unity of the Trinity, the Deity of the Unity, and the blessed sight of the Deity. Lift up thyself, O my soul, and weigh with thyself the honour conferred upon us by Christ: We shall be made fellows with the companies of Angels and Archangels, Matt. 22.30. Col. 1.16. with thrones and dominions, with principalities and powers: Neither shall we only be fellows with them, but we shall be like unto them. We shall there know the angel that was appointed by God to be our keeper in our life time; neither shall we stand in need of his ministry, but we shall be delighted with his sweet company: We shall not desire his protection, but we shall rejoice for his good fellowship, and we shall behold his brightness with eyes enlightened. Again if we shall be like unto the angels, our frail, weak, and mortal bodies shall be changed, and they shall be made spiritual, 1. Cor. 15. ●●. nimble and immortal. They shall be light; because they shall be near unto God, who dwelleth in light, that no mortal man can approach unto, 1. Tim. 6.16. Psal. 104.2. and is covered with light as with a garment. They shall be incorruptible; because they shall be made conformable unto the angels, Phil. 3.21 ●. Cor. 15 and unto the glorified body of Christ: They are sown in corruption, but they shall rise again in incorruption; they are sown in dishonour, 42 but they shall rise again in glory; 43 they are sown in weakness, but they shall rise again in power: It is sown a natural body, 44 it shall rise again a spiritual body: Dan. 12.3. and it shall shine like the brightness of the firmament for ever. Come, Lord Jesus, and make us partakers of that glory! Meditat. XLIX. Of the grievousness of the torments in hell. If into hell thou wouldst not fall, Be there by thoughts continual. THink, O devout soul, upon the grievousness of hell-torments, and thou shalt easily get the mastery of all wicked pleasure in sin. There shall be the presence of all evil, Carthenius & the absence of all good. What evil can be wanting to them who are punished for the greatest evil, & that is sin? what good thing can be present to them, who are removed from the chiefest good, and that is God? There shall be the heat of fire and the freezing of cold; There shall be perpetual darkness; There shall be smoke and continual tears; There shall be the terrible sight of the devils; There shall be crying for ever; There shall be dryness, thirst, the stink of brimstone, the worm of conscience, fear, grief, shame & confusion for sins made manifest to all, envy, hatred, sorrow, want of the divine vision, and loss of all hope. By the power of God the light of the fire shall be separated from the burning quality; the light shall serve for the joy of the saints, and the burning quality for the torment of the damned. It shall shine to the damned, but not as an object of comfort, that they may see it and rejoice: But to the increasing of their misery, that they may see and grieve the more. The sight shall be deprived of the light of the sun, moon, and all the stars, as also of the sight of Christ and all the saints: And it shall be punished with weeping, smoke, and the sight of the devils and all the damned. The ears shall hear schreetching, and frequent blasphemies of the damned, and the horrible roaring of the devils The taste shall be afflicted with hunger and thirst, and shall be deprived of all the pleasure of meat and drink. The smell shall be tormented with the stink of brimstone. The touch shall feel the fire within and without, burning & piercing even to the marrow. The bodies of the damned shall be deformed, obscured, slow, and heavy: The memory shall be tormented with the remembrance of sins past; neither will she grieve so much, that she hath sinned, as that she hath lost her pleasures. One spark of hellfire shall more torment the sinner, then if a woman should remain in labour and travail a thousand years: There shall be weeping for grief, and gnashing of teeth for madness: Mat. 22.14 In the flesh they shall be tormented by the worm of conscience. Bernard. There is no sin which shall not there have its proper torment. As there is nothing to be desired in the kingdom of heaven which may not be found: So in hell there is nothing found that is desired. It will nothing profit the damned there, to have enjoyed diverse pleasures in their life: yea the remembrance of them shall grievously torment them. It will nothing profit the damned to have lived here in this life in perpetual fullness and drunkenness: for than they shall not obtain so much as a little drop of water. Luk. 16.24 It will nothing profit them, to have been clothed with costly garments: because they shall be covered with confusion, and have their bodies clothed with shame. It will nothing profit them, to have lived in honour: for in hell there is no honour, but continual sighing and dolour. It will nothing profit them, to have heaped up riches in this life: because they shall be all there poor alike. Bernard. They shall be removed from the beatifical vision of God. Not to see God, exceeds all the punishments of hell. If the damned which are shut up in the prison of hell could but see God's face, they should feel no pain, no grief, no sorrow. They shall feel the wrath of God, and yet they shall never see the beatifical face of God: They shall feel punishments from his face, and yet they shall never behold his face. Polycarp. The fury of the Lord shall always kindle the fire of eternal damnation like a river of brimstone. Neither shall they only be removed from beholding God, but they shall be also miserably tormented by the sight of the devils. They shall feel their whips, whose commands they have followed in this life. If the sight of a seeming ghost doth almost exanimate a man in this life, what shall the horrible sight of the devils which shall last for ever? Neither shall they only be compelled to be with the devils, but they shall feel themselves tormented by them for ever. If in this life by God's permission, the devil doth so grievously afflict the saints: How grievously shall he torment the damned which are given up to his power for ever! The damned shall not only be tormented by the devils outwardly, but by the worm of conscience also inwardly. All sins whatsoever they have committed, shall be set daily before their eyes: And their torture shall be so much the greater, because there remains no more the benefit of repentance. When the virgins that are prepared are entered in with the bridegroom, the gate shall be shut presently: Mat. 25.10. Granat. Understand thou the gate of indulgence, the gate of mercy, the gate of consolation, the gate of hope▪ the gate of grace, the gate of holy conversion. The damned shall cry, Revel. 6.16. and say to the mountains & rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb: But their cry shall be in vain; because heaven and earth shall flee from his wrath, as it is written, Every island fled away, Rev. 16.20. and the mountains were not found. Whatsoever is given to the elect to the increasing of their glory, all that shall turn to the damned to the increasing of their sorrow. There shall be indeed degrees of punishments: But yet he that feeleth least torment, shall receive no ease thereby. He that is tormented with greater punishments shall envy him that is tormented with less. The damned shall receive no ease from this, that some of their kinsmen & friends are received into the heavenly palace: Because the elect shall not grieve at all, that some of their kindred are gone to hell to be tormented for ever. So great shall the pain and torment be in the damned, that their mind can think upon nothing but that whereunto the force of pain driveth them. The damned shall hate all the creatures of God, they shall hate one another, they shall hate the holy angels, and the elect, and even God himself, but not in himself, and in his own nature, but in the effects of his justice. All the evils of this life are single: One is troubled with poverty, another is tormented with grievous sickness; one is oppressed with hard servitude, another is laden with the burden of reproaches: But there all at once shall be tormented with all evils. The pains there, shall be universal, in all the senses, and in all the members. In this life, hope of release mitigateth all troubles: But there, is left no hope of deliverance. The punishments of hell are not only eternal, but there is no ease so much as for a moment. And hence it is, that if all men since Adam to this present day, and all that are yet to be born, should live to the last day, and should suffer but one punishment in hell, as the soul that sinneth must suffer for one sin, every portion of that punishment, which any one of them should suffer, would be greater, than all the torments, that all felons and malefactors have ever suffered. O Lord grant unto us, that we may think upon hell, that we never fall into it! Meditat. L. Of the eternity of Hell-torments. The pains of hell do far extend Beyond all times, world without end. THink, O devout soul, upon the eternity of hell-torments, and thou shalt more truly understand the grievousness thereof. Paulinus. In hell there is a raging flame which burneth without end. The life of the damned is to die without end; the death of the damned is to live in eternal torments: For neither is the tormentor wearied, Bernard. neither doth the tormented die. So doth the fire consume there, that still it leaves somewhat; So are the torments there increased, that still they are renewed; So shall the damned die, that they shall always live: So shall they live, Isidor. that they shall always die. For a man to be tormented without any end, this is it that goes beyond all the bounds of desperation: For what is more grievous, then always to will that which shall never be, and to ni●l that which shall always be? The damned shall never obtain what they would, and shall be constrained ever to suffer what they would not. When the wrath of God shall cease, then shall the torments of the damned cease: But the wrath of God is eternal, and therefore the torments are eternal. When the damned shall truly repent, than they shall be delivered from their sins: But the time of repentance is past, and therefore there remains no hope of indulgence. When the devils shall cease to torment, then shall the damned cease to be tormented: But the fury of the devil shall never cease, therefore the torments of the damned shall never cease. When God's justice shall be changed, than the torments of the damned shall be changed: But the justice of God is unchangeable, therefore the torments of the damned shall be eternal. Gregor. The sentence of severe judgement requires, that they should never want punishment, who in this world never want sin. It is just, th●t there should be no end of the punishment of the damned; because, as long as they could, they would make no end of sinning. The damned sinned in their eternity, that is, as long as they lived: Therefore it is just that they should be punished in God's eternity. Their sin had an end, because their life had an end: But they would have made no end of sinning, but that they were forced to make end of living, that so they might have sinned without end. The matter of hellfire is eternal, that is, the stain of sin: And therefore meet it is that the punishment should be eternal. The filthiness of the sins of the damned can never be removed out of the sight of God: How then can the greatness of punishments appointed for sin be removed? Besides, sin is an infinite evil; because it is committed against an infinite good; and Christ paid for it an infinite price: And therefore meet it is that their punishment, who die in their sins, should be infinite. Man destroyed in himself the eternal good: And therefore in the judgement of God he doth justly fall into everlasting evil. God at the beginning created man after his own image, Gen. 1.26. that he might live with him for ever: God by Christ reform man after his own image, when he was fallen into sin: He hath provided for all, means of eternal salvation; and he hath offered unto all, the reward of eternal life: And therefore it is just, that they which would voluntarily want everlasting rewards, should be made subject to everlasting punishments. An evil will shall never be taken away from the damned: Therefore the punishment of their evil will shall never be taken away from them. The damned made choice of momentany pleasure & finite goods, before God the infinite good; they longed after the delights of this short and flitting life, rather than the riches of eternal life: It is just therefore that they should suffer eternal punishments. Oh eternity not to be termed! Oh eternity not to be measured by any space of time! Oh eternity not to be conceived by humane understanding! How much dost thou augment the punishments of the damned! After innumerable thousands of years they shall be compelled to think, that then is but the beginning of their torments. What a grievous thing is it to lie, though in a very soft bed, for thirty years without moving! And how grievous shall it be then to burn in that lake of brimstone thirty thousand thousand years! Oh eternity, eternity! it is thou alone that dost increase the punishments of the damned beyond all measure. Dionys. Carthus. Grievous is the pain of the damned for the cruelty of the punishments; it is yet more grievous for the diversity of the punishments; but it is most grievous for the eternity of the punishments. Gregory in his Morals There shall be death without death, end without end, defect without defect: because death ever liveth, and the end ever beginneth, and the defect is never deficient. The damned shall seek life, and shall not find it: Rev. 9.6. they shall seek death, and it shall flee from them. After an hundred thousand thousand thousand of years they shall return without end to the same punishments. Th● thought of the continuance of their sorrow shall torment them more than the sense of outward torment. What can be more miserable than so to die that thou mayest always live, and so to live that thou mayest always die? That life shall be mortiferous, and that death shall be immortal: If it be life, why doth it kill? and if it be death, why doth it always endure? What eternity is, we do not perfectly know; and it is no wonder: For what created mind can comprehend that which cannot be measured by any time? But if thou wouldst guess what the space of eternity is, think upon the time that was before the world was created. If thou canst find God's beginning, then mayest thou find when the punishments of the damned shall have an end. Imagine thou sawest an exceeding high mountain▪ which for its greatness exceeded heaven and earth: Imagine also that some bird every thousandth year should carry from this mountain one grain of the smallest dust: There might be some hope that at length after the end of many incomprehensible thousands of years the greatness of that mountain might be consumed: But it cannot be hoped that the fire of hell should ever go out. The rewards of the elect shall never be ended; therefore the punishments of the damned shall never be ended: Because as the mercy of God is infinite towards the elect, so the justice of God is infinite towards the reprobate. Imagine that the damned had so many kinds of torments, as there are little drops in the vast sea: Imagine also that at every thousandth year some little bird should fly thither, and suck a small drop thereof: There might be some hope that at length the sea would be exhausted and become dry: But it cannot be hoped that the punishments of the damned should ever have an end. O devout soul, think always upon the eternal punishments of the damned: To think upon hell, preserves a man from falling into hell. Kempis. Have a care to repent, whiles yet there is time for pardon. What else shall the fire devour but thy sins? The more thou heapest up sins, the more matter thou layest up for the fire. O Lord Jesus, which by thy passion hast made satisfaction for our sins, deliver us from eternal damnation! Amen. Meditat. LI. Of the spiritual resurrection of the godly. Doth Adam die, Christ in thee live? Christ shall eternal life thee give. Christs' resurrection profits thee nothing, unless Christ also rise in thee. As Christ must be conceived, born, and live in thee: So also must he rise in thee. Before resurrection goes death, because none riseth again but he that is fallen: And so it fares in this spiritual resurrection. Christ riseth not in thee, unless Adam first die in thee. The inward man riseth not, unless the outward man be first buried. The newness of the spirit will not come forth, unless the oldness of the flesh be first hidden. It is not enough for thee, to have Christ once risen in thee: because the old Adam cannot be extinct in one moment. The old Adam will revive in thee daily: And thou must daily mortify him, that Christ may begin to live in thee daily. Christ ascended not into heaven, neither entered he into his glory before he rose from death: So neither canst thou enter into celestial glory, unless Christ first rise in thee and live in thee. He is not a member of the mystical body of Christ, in whom Christ liveth not: Neither shall he be brought by Christ into the Church triumphant, who hath not been a member of his body in the Church militant. Betrothing goes before matrimony: And that soul shall not be brought in unto the marriage of the heavenly Lamb, which is not in this life betrothed to Christ by faith, Host 2.19. 2. Cor. 1.22. and sealed by the earnest of the holy Spirit: Let Christ therefore rise, and live in thee, that thou mayst live with him for ever. Rev. 20.5, 6. This is the fi●st resurrection: Blessed and holy it be that hath part in the first resurrection: over him shall the second death have no power. If thou wilt at the resurrection come forth unto life, Christ must daily rise in thee in this life. At the resurrection of Christ the sun rose: Ma●. 16.2. So if Christ be spiritually risen in thee, the light of the saving knowledge of God shall rise in thy soul. How can the light of the saving knowledge of God be there, where the darkness of most grievous sins still hath place? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: Psal. 111. 1●. How then can heavenly wisdom be there, where the fear of God hath no place? But he that is destitute of the light of divine knowledge in this life, how can he be made partaker of eternal light in the life to come? The sons of light only do pass unto eternal light, but the sons of darkness unto eternal darkness. Christ at his resurrection triumphed over death: So he, in whom Christ is spiritually risen, Joh▪ 5.24. is passed from death to life: For he cannot be overcome by death, in whom Christ the conqueror of death doth live. Christ rising again brought with him perfect righteousness: Rom. 4.25 for he died for our sins, and rose again for our justification: So he also, in whom Christ is spiritually risen, is justified from his sins. For how can sin have place there, where the perfect righteousness of Christ liveth and flourisheth? Now this righteousness of Christ is applied unto us by faith. Christ rising from the dead, got the victory over Satan: for in his descent to hell, he destroyed his kingdom, spoiled his palace, and broke his weapons in pieces: And so also in whomsoever Christ is spiritually risen, against him shall not Satan prevail: for how can he be overcome of Satan, in whom Christ liveth who overcame Satan? At Christ's resurrection there was a great earthquake: Mat. 28.2. So the spiritual resurrection with Christ is not without the earnest commotion and contrition of heart. The old Adam cannot be overcome without striving and resistance: Therefore Christ also cannot rise in thee spiritually without great commotion. There is no spiritual resurrection with Christ, unless there be a blotting out of sin; and there is no blotting out of sin, unless acknowledgement of sin go before; and there is no true acknowledgement of sin without serious contrition of heart: Therefore there is no spiritual resurrection of Christ in thee, without inward contrition of heart. 〈◊〉. 38.13. Holy Ezechias said, As a lion hath he broken in pieces my bones: Behold great contrition! But he adds presently, ●6. O Lord, so shall they live again, and so shall my spirit be quickened: Thou shalt correct me, and thou shalt quicken me. Again, Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back: 17. Behold a spiritual resurrection from sin! At Christ's resurrection an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, Mat. 28.2. and sat upon the sepulchre: So if Christ be risen in thee spiritually, thou mayest rejoice in the fellowship of the angels. Where the old Adam lives and reigns, there is a pleasing bed for the devil: But where Christ liveth and reigneth, there the angels rejoice to dwell. For it is written, Luke 15.7 There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth: But where there is true repentance, Luther. there also is Christ risen spiritually, Where Christ is not yet risen spiritually, neither is there yet the grace of God; and where there is not yet the grace of God, neither is there the guard of angels. Where Christ is not yet spiritually risen, there still doth the old Adam reign; and where the old Adam doth reign, there doth sin also yet reign; and where sin doth reign, there the devil doth reign: And what communion can there be between the blessed angels and the devil? Christ after his resurrection presented himself alive unto his disciples: Luke 24.15. So if thou be'st made a partaker of the spiritual resurrection by faith, show thyself to be a lively member of Christ by love. A man is not judged to be alive, unless he show forth outwardly the actions of life. Where Christ is, there is also the holy Spirit; where the holy Spirit is, there he inciteth and moveth to every good work: because they which are led by the Spirit of God, Rom. 8.14 are the sons of God. If therefore we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gal. 5.25. The light of the sun doth every way disperse the brightness of his beams: So the light of faith doth every way diffuse the heat of love. Take light from the sun, and thou mayest separate love from true faith. Sins are dead works: If thou walkest in dead works, Heb. 9.14. how dost thou live in Christ, and Christ in thee? Sins belong unto the old Adam: If the old Adam doth still reign in thee, how art thou spiritually risen with Christ? Sins belong to the old flesh: If thou walkest in the old flesh, how doth the new man live in thee? Raise us up, O good Jesus, from the death of sin, that we may walk in newness of life! Let thy death kill the old Adam in us, and let thy resurrection raise up the inward man unto life! Let thy blood wash us from our sins, and let thy resurrection put upon us the robe of righteousness! To the virtuous gentlewomen, Mris Anne Henshaw, Mris Elisabeth Dilk, and Mris Helen Probey, (the daughters of Mr. William Bonham, late citizen of London, now citizen of the celestial Jerusalem) health and happiness. Virtuous Gentlewomen, It was the respect which I owed unto your father, and to your father's house, that first moved me to translate Gerard's Prayers, and being translated to dedicate them unto you: But the Stationer (whom I would not name, because he is dead; and yet I must name, for fear lest by my silence I may seem to wrong others) Richard Jackson of Fleetstreet, to whose trust I committed the book to be printed, usurped the dedication, and obtruded it upon a Religious Countess, whose name for honour I conceal: Hereupon I committed it unto the press at Cambridge, being first purged from innumerable errates. Since jackson's death, the copy it seems came to one Williams his hands Stationer in Popes-head-alley: With him I had conference as one desirous to restore unto you what of right belonged unto you: But in stead of satisfaction, I received nothing but ill language. To conclude, I bade him, if he thought good, go on to do you wrong: but I promised withal that you should find one to do you right as long as I lived. In part I hope I have made good my promise: If you accept of this my service as a scholars New-yeares-gift (for so the time of the Edition makes it) I have my desire, and shall always remain A true lover of your family, R. W. From King's College in Cambridge January 1. 1631. Pray always, Luke 18. DIstressed soul, if thou conceivest what 'tis To mount unto the tower of endless bliss, Embrace this work: it reacheth to the sky, And higher, if beyond it ought do lie. Man's dull capacity, weak humane sense, Wide world's expansion, stars circumference, Cannot it comprehend: Prayer presseth even To God's pavilion, to th' imperial ●eaven. That is the golden chain fixed to God's care: Knock, and he'll open; call, and he will hear: This surely, this is blessed jacob's ladder, On which our souls climb by Christ to Christ's Father: Faith is prayers chief attendant, Christ the way, God's Spirit both moves, & helps how to pray: True love admittance gains, humble confession Both helps devotion, and procures remission. Edmund Sheaf. IF loathed ulcers do thy soul possess; See, see a medicine, hither make address: Or if tentations, fears, or future harms; Against such assaults receive these powerful charms. These prayers may prove, if well these prayers thou note, Against those a balm, against these an antidote. Th. Bonham. THe sun doth shine, the blind man doth not see: Light is but dark, if eyesight none there be. Gerard to Latins gave a glorious light, But in our English Hemisphere 'twas night: Th' eclipse is past, night gone, 'tis now high day, Gerard hath learned i'th' English tongue to pray. Fr. Winterton. A Margarite's a precious thing: but he that hath no skill esteems it no more than that the cock found on the hill. A candle lights not if it be in lantern dark concealed: But turn the lantern, and there is an useful light revealed. The Englishman knew not the worth of Gerard's Margarite: But now it is in English prized, there's profit and delight. The lanterns turned, the light appears which was before concealed: And now there's English, none so blind to whom 'tis not revealed. John Noare. The contents of this book: divided into four parts. I. Confession of sins. Prayer 1 HE weigheth and considereth the grievousness of original sin. Page 1 Prayer 2 He recalls to our memory the sins of our youth. Page 4 Prayer 3 He reckons up our daily falls and slips. Page 6 Prayer 4 He examines our life according to the first table of the commandments. Page 8 Prayer 5 He examines our life according to the second table of the commandments. Page 11 Prayer 6 He showeth that we often partake in other men's sins. Page 14 Prayer 7 He showeth that we are many ways convinced of sin. Page 17 Prayer 8 He argues us to be convinced of the grievousness of our sins, by the effects of contrition. Page 19 Prayer 9 He aggravates our sins by the greatness of God's benefits. Page 22 Prayer 10 He considereth the severity of God's anger against our sins in the passion & death of Christ. Page 24 II. Thanksgiving for God's benefits. Prayer 1 HE renders thanks to God for forming us in our mother's womb, and for our nativity. Page 28 Prayer 2 He renders thanks for our sustentation. Page 31 Prayer 3 He renders thanks for our redemption wrought by Christ. Page 33 Prayer 4 He renders thanks for the incarnation of the Son. Page 36 Prayer 5 He renders thanks for the passion of Christ. Page 39 Prayer 6 He renders thanks for our vocation by the word. Page 42 Prayer 7 He renders thanks for the expectation of our conversion. Page 45 Prayer 8 He renders thanks for our conversion. Page 47 Prayer 9 He renders thanks for the forgiveness of our sins. Page 50 Prayer 10 He renders thanks for our continuance in good. Page 53 Prayer 11 He renders thanks for all the gifts of the soul and body, and for external goods. Page 56 Prayer 12 He renders thanks for the sacrament of Baptism. Page 59 Prayer 13 He renders thanks for the sacrament of the Lords supper. Page 62 Prayer 14 He renders thanks for our preservation from evil. Page 65 Prayer 15 He renders thanks for the promise of eternal salvation. Page 68 III. Petitions for ourselves. Prayer 1 HE prays for mortification of the old man. Page 72 Prayer 2 For conservation and increase of faith. Page 74 Prayer 2 For conservation and increase of faith. Page 74 Prayer 3 For conservation and increase of hope. Page 77 Prayer 4 For conservation and increase of charity. Page 80 Prayer 5 For conservation and increase of humility. Page 83 Prayer 6 For the gift and increase of patience. Page 86 Prayer 7 For the gift and increase of meekness and gentleness. Page 89 Prayer 8 For the gift and increase of chastity. Page 91 Prayer 9 For contempt of all earthly things Page 94 Prayer 10 For denial of himself. Page 97 Prayer 11 For victory over the world. Page 100 Prayer 12 For consolation in adversity, and true rest of the soul. Page 103 Prayer 13 For victory in tentations, & for deliverance from the snares and treacheries of the devil. Page 106 14 For a blessed departure out of this life, and a blessed resurrection unto life everlasting. Page 109 FOUR Supplications for others. Prayer 1 HE prays for the conservation of the word, and increase of the Church. Page 114 Prayer 2 He prays for pastors and hearers. Page 117 Prayer 3 He prays for Magistrates and subjects. Page 121 Prayer 4 He prays for houshold-government, and private families. Page 124 Prayer 5 He prays for parents, brethren, sisters, kinsfolk, and benefactors. Page 128 Prayer 6 He prays for enemies and persecutors. Page 131 Prayer 7 He prays for those that are afflicted and in misery. Page 134 The disposition and method of this daily Practice of piety. THis Practice of piety is reduced to four heads, according to the number of the objects about which it is employed: For we must every day weigh and consider with ourselves, 1 The grievousness of our sins: and ask pardon thereof for Christ's sake. 2 GOD'S benefits: for which we must offer humble and hearty thanksgiving. 3 Our own necessities: where we must pray for conservation and increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and for a spiritual victory in all tentations. 4 Our neighbour's necessities: where we must pray for all things needful for them, for this life, and that which is to come. The first Part. Of Confession of sins. The Argument. The meditation of our sins comprehendeth in it these two heads, of original and actual sins. Actual sins are committed in thought, word, and deed: By the committing of evil, and by the omitting of good: Against GOD, our neighbour, and our selves The offences of our youth a●e many, and our daily infirmities many. We are often tempted of the flesh, and we do often yield unto it. We partake many times in other men's sins: and in many things we are defective our selves. We are convicted of our sins by all the creatures: and we behold the severity of GOD'S anger against our sins, in the passion and death of CHRIST. PRAYER I. He weigheth and considereth the grievousness of original sin. HOly God, and just Judge! I know that I was conceived and born in sin: Psal. 51. 5· I know that I was form of unclean seed in the womb of my mother: Job 14.4. That poison of sin hath so corrupted and putrified my whole nature, that no faculty of my soul is free from the contagion thereof: That holy pledge of the divine image, which was committed unto me in our first father, is perished in me: There is no power at all in me, to begin to come unto the saving knowledge of thee, the fear of thee, confidence in thee, and love of thee: There remains no sufficiency in me, to perform obedience unto thy commandments: My will is averse from thy law: Rom. 7.23 and the law of sin in my members, being repugnant to the law of my mind, makes my whole nature become corrupt and perverse. I wretched and miserable man, do feel the power of sin cleaving fast to my members: I do feel the yoke of wicked concupiscence grievously pressing me: For although I am regenerate, Titus 2.5. and renewed by the spirit of grace, in the laver of baptism; yet am I not as yet wholly free from the yoke and captivity of sin. For that root of bitterness, which lieth hidden in me, doth always desire to put forth new branches: The law of sin reigning in my flesh, doth strive to captivate me: I am full of doubts, distrust, and desire of mine own honour: Matt 15.19. Out of my heart proceed wicked cogitations: Filthy thoughts defile me throughout in thy sight: Out of that poisoned fountain flow forth rivers of poison. Psal. 143.2. Enter not therefore into judgement with thy servant, O Lord; but be propitious unto me, Psal. 51.1. Psal. 42 8. according to thy great mercy: The deep of my misery, calleth upon the deep of thy mercy: For this uncleanness and filthiness of my polluted nature, I offer unto thee the most sacred conception of thy Son: For me he was born: Isa. 9.6. For me therefore he was conceived. For me he was made sanctification, 1. Cor. 1.30. and righteousness: For me therefore he is become purification and cleanness. Through him, and for him, thy Son, have mercy on me, O thou most highest: Psal. 90.8. and set not in the light of thy countenance that hidden corruption that cleaveth to my nature; but look upon thy beloved Son my Mediator, and let his most holy and immaculate conception succour my misery! Amen. PRAYER II. He recalls to our memory the sins of our youth. Psal. 25.7. Jer. 31.34. HOly God, and just Judge! Remember not the offences of my youth, and call to mind no more my sins that are past. How many venomous fruits hath the vicious root of concupiscence, that is inherent in me, brought forth! In my childhood what an innumerable brood of actual transgressions hath the evil of original sin hatched! Gen. 6.5. The very thoughts of my heart are wicked and perverse, even from my childhood; yea, even from my tender infancy: For when I was an infant but of one day, I was in no wise innocent before thee. As many as the days of my life are, so many offences do burden me; yea many more by far in number, Pro. 24.16 seeing that the just man falls seven times in one day: But if the just fall seven times in one day, than I wretched and unjust man, without doubt have fallen seventy times seven times. As my life hath increased, so hath the web of my sins increased: and as much as hath been added to my life by thy bounty; so much hath been added to the course of my sins, by the wickedness of my corrupt nature. I examine my life that is past: and what else do I behold, but a filthy stinking cloak of sin? I attend unto the light of thy precepts: and what do I find in the course of my years that are past, but darkness and blindness? The tender flower of my youth ought to have been crowned with virtues, and offered to thee for a sweet savour: The best part of my age past did owe itself unto thee the best Creator of nature: But the dirty filth of my sins hath most foully polluted the flower of my age, and the stinking mud of my offences hath in a wonderful and miserable manner defiled me. The first age of man is amongst all the rest the fittest for the service of God: But I have spent a good part thereof in the service of the devil. The memory of many sins, which the unbridled looseness of my youth hath committed, is set in my sight: and yet there are many more which I cannot call to memory. Psal. 19.12. Who knows how oft he offendeth? cleanse thy servant from secret faults. For these offences of my youth, I offer unto thee (holy Father) the most holy obedience, and perfect innocency of thy Son, who was obedient to thee unto death, even the death of the cross. Phil. 2.8. Luk. 2.42. When he was but a child of twelve years old, he performed holy obedience unto thee, and began to execute thy will with great alacrity. This obedience I offer unto thee (just Judge) for a price and satisfaction for the manifold disobedience of my youth. Amen. PRAYER III. He reckons up our daily falls and slips. HOly God, and just Judge! There is no man innocent in thy sight, no man free from the spot of sin: And I am bereft of that glory, which I should bring with me to judgement: I am stripped of that garment of innocence, with which I ought to appear arrayed before thee: Prov. 24. ●●. M●tt. 26. ●1. Seven times, yea and oftener every hour I fall: seventy times seven times I sin every day. The spirit indeed is sometimes ready; but the flesh is always weak: The inward man flourisheth, and is strong; but the outward man languisheth, and is weak: Rom. 7.19 For I do not the good that I would, but the evil that I would not. How often do vain, wicked, and impious cogitations arise in my heart! How often do vain, unprofitable, and hurtful words break forth! How often do perverse, wicked, and ungodly actions pollute me! All my righteousness is as the cloth of a menstruous woman: Isa. 64 6. Therefore I dare not plead for my righteousness before thee: But I humbly prostrate myself before thy most just tribunal, and out of the deeps do I cry unto thee: Lord, Psal. 130.3. Psal. 143·3. if thou shalt decree to impute sin, who sh●ll abide it? If thou wilt enter into judgement, who shall stand? If thou wilt call me to appear according to the severity of thy justice, how shall I come before thee? Job 9 3. If thou wilt exact a strict account of my life, I shall not be able to answer thee one for a thousand: Therefore my mouth is stopped, and I acknowledge before thee, that I have deserved eternal torments; and withal I confess with tears, that thou mayst justly cast me into prison for ever. Therefore for these daily sins of my life, I offer unto thee (holy Father) the most precious blood of thy Son, which was poured forth on the altar of the cross, which washeth me from all my sins. My sins which lead me captive, are many in number, and most powerful: But the ransom of thy Son is much more precious, and of more efficacy: Let that most perfect, plenary, and holy price paid by Christ, obtain for me remission of sins! Amen. PRAYER FOUR He examines our life, according to the rule of the first table of the commandments. HOly God, and just Judge! Thou gavest unto us thy Law in mount Sinai, Exod. 20.1. and thou wouldst have it to be the rule of all our actions, words, and thoughts: That whatsoever is not squared by it, should in thy judgement be accounted sin. As often as I look upon that most clear glass, I perceive mine own filthiness, and tremble every part of me. I ought to love thee (O my God) above all things: But how often do I love the world, and forget the love of thee! I am bound to fear thee (O my God) above all things: But how often do I consent to sin, and let thy fear slip out of my memory! Thou requirest, that I should trust in thee (O my God) above all things: But how often in adversity doth my soul waver, and anxiously and carefully doubt of thy fatherly goodness! I am bound to obey thee (O my God) with all my heart: But how often doth my refractory flesh resist the resolution of obedience, Rom. 7.23 and lead me captive into the prison of sin! My cogitations ought to be holy, my desires pure and holy: But how often is the quiet state of my mind troubled with vain and impious cogitations! I ought to call upon thee (O God) with all my heart: But how often doth my mind wander in prayer, and doth anxiously doubt, whether her prayers be heard or no! How often am I remiss in prayer, and demisse in conceiving confidence! How often doth my tongue pray, and yet I do not worship thee in spirit and in truth! Jo●. 4.23. How profound oblivion of thy benefits doth seize upon me! Thou dost daily pour thy benefits upon me in a loving manner▪ and yet I do not daily return unto thee thanksgiving. How cold is my meditation of thy immense and infinite gifts bestowed upon me! What slender devotion is there for the most part in my heart! I use thy gifts, and yet I do not praise thee who art the giver. I stick in the rivers, and come not to the fountain. Thy word is the word of spirit and life: Joh. 6.51. But I through sin and corruption have destroyed the work of thy holy Spirit within me. The sparks of a good resolution often enkindled, I as often extinguish: and yet I do not sue to thee for increase of thy gifts. For these and all other my sins and defaults, I offer unto thee (O my God) the most pure and perfect obedience of thy Son, who loved thee in the days of his incarnation most perfectly with his whole heart, and cleaved unto thee most firmly with all his soul: in whose deeds, words, and thoughts, there was found no blot of sin, Isa. 53.9. nor spot of the least offence. That which I want, by faith I draw from his fullness: Therefore for this thy well-beloved Son's sake, have mercy Lord upon thy servant▪ Amen. PRAYER V. He considereth our life according to the rule of the second table of the commandments. HOly God, and just Judge! It is thy eternal and immutable will, that I should honour with due respect my parents, Exod. 20.12. and the magistrates: But how often do I think too meanly of their authority! How often do I in heart refuse to obey then! How often do I traduce their infirmities! O how often do I omit by serious prayers to further their safety! I often cherish anger conceived against them, whereas I ought with patience to submit myself unto them. Thy sacred will requires that I should do good to my neighbour in all things, to my power: But how often doth it irk me to do him good! How doth it go against my stomach to forgive him! How often am I solicited by my flesh, to anger, hatred, envy and brawling! How often doth the fire of my angry heart burn within me, although contentious words be not heard without! Thy holy will requires that I should live chastely, modestly, and temperately: But how often hath the love of drunkenness and lust, made my soul captive to sin! How often do fires of lust flame within me, although my outward members be restrained! Mat. 5.28. He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart, saith the Text: How often therefore in the sight of God do we commit adultery! The inordinate and immoderate use of meat, drink, and wedlock, often steals upon us, and makes us appear guilty before thee, if thou wouldst enter into judgement with us. Thy holy Writ requireth, that in bargaining I deceive not my neighbour in any sort; but that I rather further, and procure his good; that I traduce not his faults, but rather cover them with the cloak of charity; and that I do not censure him rashly and unadvisedly: But how often do I seek mine own profit by injustice! How often do I spend my judgement rashly upon my neighbour! Thy holy will requires, that my spirit, mind, and soul be free from concupiscence: But how often doth my flesh solicit me to sin, and contaminateth my spirit with wicked concupiscences! As a fountain doth abound with continual bubbling of water: So doth my heart always swell with evil concupiscence. For these, and all other my sins and defects, I offer unto thee (most holy Father) the most perfect obedience of thy Son, who loved all men with perfect love, and in whose mouth was found no gui●●▪ Isa. 53.9. 1. Pet. 2.22. 〈◊〉 whose words and deeds no aberrations, no corruption in nature: To this propitiation I flee with true faith, and by faith I ●uck out of his wounds, Rom. 3.28. as much as is sufficient to justify me, and save me: Have mercy on me my God, and my Father. Amen. PRAYER VI He showeth that we often partake in other men's sins. HOly God, and just Judge! Thou ●ast committed unto me, not only the care of mine own soul, but also the care of my neighbours: But how often doth my neighbour through my negligence suffer great loss of godliness! How often do I neglect freely and boldly to chide him, when he sins! How often do I, being hindered either by favour or fear, reprove him for his sins more slightly than I ought! In pouring out prayers for his salvation, 2. Tim. 2.1. I am too remiss; in reprehending his sins, I am tootoo timorous; in furthering his salvation, I am too slothful: insomuch that thou mayest justly require at my hands the blood of my neighbour that perisheth. Ezek. 3.21. If there were in me a perfect and sincere love of my neighbour, surely from thence would proceed freedom in reproving of sin. If the fire of sincere charity did burn in my heart, surely it would break forth more clearly into the spiritual incense of prayers to be made for the salvation of my neighbour's. For a man to pray for himself, it is a duty of necessity: But to pray for the salvation of his neighbour, it is a deed of charity: As often therefore as I neglect to pray for the salvation of my neighbour, so often I condemn myself for the breach of the commandment of the love of my neighbour. My neighbour dies the death of the body, and sorrow fills all with lamentation and mourning; when as yet the death of the body brings no hurt to a godly man, but rather gives him a passage into a celestial country: My neighbour dies the death of the soul, and behold. I am nothing troubled at it: I see him die, and grieve not at all; when as yet sin is the true death of the soul, and brings with it the loss of the inestimable grace of God and eternal life. My neighbour delinquisheth against the king, who can only kill the body; and behold, I seek by all means his reconciliation: but he sinneth against the King of all kings, Mat. 10.28. that can cast both body and soul into hellfire: and yet I behold it in security, and consider not that this offence is an infinite evil. My neighbour stumbles at a stone; and I run presently to save him from a fall, or otherwise to raise him up, if he be fallen: He stumbles at the cornerstone of our salvation; and behold I securely pass by it, Psal. 118.22. and labour no● with care and diligence to lift him up again. Mine own sins are grievous enough: And yet I have not been afraid to participate in other men's sins. Be propitious (O God) unto me great sinner, and overburdened. To thy mercy I flee in Christ, and through Christ promised unto me, I come unto this Life, being dead in sin: I come unto this Way, having gone astray in the path of sin: I come unto this Salvation, being by reason of my sin guilty of damnation. Quicken me, guide me, and save me, thou which art my Life, my Way, and my Salvation for ever and ever. Amen. PRAYER VII. He showeth that we are many ways convinced of sin. HOly God, and just Judge! If I look up to heaven, I think with myself, that I have many ways offended thee my God and Father: Luke 15.18. I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, I am not worthy to be called thy son. 19 If I look down upon the earth, I think with myself, how I have abused thy creatures by my sins: I have infinitely abused not only the darkness of the night, but also the light of the day to work works of darkness. If I look upon the examples of sinners, upon whom thou in thy just judgement hast inflicted punishment, I find that the weight of my sins will counterpoise theirs. If I look upon the examples of the saints, I find that I come far short of them in my holy service of thee. If I think upon the angel my keeper, I find that often I put him to flight by my sins. If I think of the devils, I find that I have often given place to their suggestions. If I weigh with myself the rigour of thy law, I find that my life is many ways irregular. If I look upon myself, I find that the very cogitations of my heart do accuse me before thy judgement. If I think upon the hour of death to come, I find that it is the just reward of my sins, Rom. 6.23 and (unless thou of thy mere mercy for Christ his sake shalt receive me) the gate and entrance into everlasting death. If I think upon the judgement to come, I find my deserts such, that thou mayst justly call me to the most exact account, and punish my sins according to the strict severity of thy law. If I think upon hell, I find that I have deserved by my sins the most just punishment there. If I think upon eternal life, I find that I have by my sins justly fallen away from all hope of attainment. All things therefore convince me of my sins: Only thou, O my God, be not thou extreme against me! To Christ thy beloved Son my only Mediator I betake myself: By him I most firmly believe I shall obtain thy grace and remission of my sins. Thy creatures accuse me; the book of my conscience accuseth me; both the tables of thy divine law accuse me; Satan accuseth me day and night: But take thou upon thee my patronage, O sweet Jesus! To thee the poor man is left, bereft of all solace of the creatures. All my refuge is placed in thy satisfaction for my sins, and in thy intercession at the right hand of the Father for me. My soul, take thou the wings of the morning, and, like a dove, hide thyself in the clefts of the rock, that is, Cant. 2.14 in the wounds of Christ thy Saviour. Hide thyself in this rock, till the anger of the Lord be passed by: and thou shalt find rest, and thou shalt find protection, and thou shalt find deliverance therein. Amen. PRAYER VIII. He by the effects of contrition argues us to be convicted of the heinousness of sin. HOly God, and just Judge! My heart is contrite and humbled, my spirit is heavy and in a great strait, by reason of the burden of my sins wherewith I am oppressed. The courage of my heart hath failed, and the sharpness of my eyes is decayed. My heart is pressed, and from thence gush out tears: My spirit is oppressed, and I forget to take my bread: My heart is wounded, and from thence gusheth out blood, and a fountain of tears. Who knows how oft he offendeth? Psal. 19.12. Who knows the sorrow of the heart, that is in a great strait by reason of offences? My soul is dry and broken in pieces, and thirsteth after the fountain of life: Psal. 42.2. O Christ feed me with the dew of thy Spirit of grace. My heart that is in a great strait sigheth unto thee: O thou true joy, give unto me peace and quietness of heart, that being justified by faith, Rom. 5.1. I may have peace with God. 1. John 3.20. My heart condemneth me: But do thou absolve me, who art greater than my heart. My conscience accuseth me: But do thou absolve me, who hast fastened to the cross the hand-writing of my conscience. Col. 2.14. I offer unto thee (O my God) my contrite and humbled heart, Psal. 51.17. for a most acceptable sacrifice: I offer unto thee my sighs as the messengers of true and serious contrition: I offer unto thee my tears as abundant witnesses of my unfeigned grief. In myself I despair: In thee is my trust. In myself I faint: In thee I am refreshed. In myself I feel straightness: In thee again I find enlargement. Mat. 11.28. I am troubled and burdened overmuch: Thou shalt refresh me, and give rest unto my soul. Psal. 130.1. One deep calleth upon another: The deep of my misery calleth upon the deep of thy mercy. Psal. 130.1. Mic. 7.19. Psal 38.3. Out of the deeps do I cry unto thee: Cast thou my sins into the deep of the sea. There is no soundness in my flesh by reason of thy anger: neither is there any rest to my bones by reason of my sin: For mine iniquities are gone over my head, and become too heavy for me. Cure my soul thou heavenly Physician, that I be not swallowed up of eternal death. Take the burden of my sins from me, thou that hast taken it upon thyself on the cross, that I despair not under the intolerable burden thereof. Have mercy on me, thou fountain of grace and mercy. Amen. PRAYER IX. He declareth the number and greatness of God's benefits unto us, and the grievousness of our sins. HOly God, and just Judge! By how much the more benefits thou hast bestowed upon me, by so much the more I grieve, that I have so often displeased thee so loving a Father. As many gifts as thou hast heaped upon me, so many bonds of love hast thou sent over unto me. Thou wouldst have bound me unto thyself: but I have forgotten thee and thy beneficency, and linked sin unto sin. Father, I have sinned against heaven, Luk. 15.19. and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. I am altogether displeased with myself: Make thou me altogether to please thee. Thy large bounty, and wonderful patience, ●om. 2.4. have often invited me to repentance: But hitherto I have been backward to come. Thou hast often called me, (O most bountiful God) by the preaching of thy word, by the teaching of thy creatures, by the punishment of the cross, and by inward inspiration: But I have stopped the ears of my heart altogether at thy call. All the faculties of my soul, all the members of my body are thy gifts: I ought therefore with all the powers of my soul, and parts of my body, be ready to do thee all holy service, which is due unto the●: But I have made them (the more is my grief) the weapons of iniquity and unrighteousness. The breath which I fetch is thine; the air which I suck in is thine; the sun, whose light I see daily, is thine: All these aught to have been unto me as furtherances and instruments to sanctity of life: But I have abused them, the more is my grief to the slavery of sin. Thy creatures I should have used to the glory of thee the Creator: But I have wickedly abused them to thy dishonour. In the light of the sun I should have put on the armour of light: Rom. 13.12. But therein have I committed the works of darkness. How much soever is added unto my life, comes all from thy bounty: Therefore my whole life ought to be employed in thy service, on whom it doth wholly depend: And yet I have scarce bestowed the least part thereof in thy service. As many good inspirations as I have felt within me, so many handmaids of thy grace hast thou sent as ambassadors to invite me mos● lovingly to return unto thee by true repentance: But alas, how often have I stubbornly refused to give them audience! But yet receive him, who now at length returns unto thee with sighing and a contrite heart: Sprinkle me with the blood of thy Son, that so being purged f●om all the pollutions of the flesh and the spirit, 2. Cor. 7.1 I may become whiter than snow, Psal. 51.1. and with all thy elect praise thee in the heavenly Jerusalem world without end▪ Amen. PRAYER X. He considereth the severity of God's ange● against our sins, in the death and passion of Christ. HOly God, and just Judge! I behold thy Son hanging upon the cross, and pouring forth plentiful rivers of blood: I behold him, and behold for very terror, I faint altogether. My sins are those iron nails with which I have bored his hands and his feet. My sins are ●hose pricking thorns with which his most sacred head (which is to be reverenced of the angelical powers) was crowned. My sins are those stinging thongs, with which his most ●ure body (the proper temple of Divinity) was scourged. Gen. 37.33. A cruel wild ●east hath torn in pieces the heavenly Joseph, and imbrued his coat with his blood: I miserable sinner am that wicked beast: for my sins did make an assault, and rush upon thy most beloved Son. If thy most obedient Son is so vexed and troubled for other men's sins: Isa. 53.5. What cause hath the undutiful and disobedient servant to fear in regard of his own sins! The wounds of my soul must needs be great indeed and mortal, when as thy only begotten Son is so miserably smitten for to cure them. The disease of my soul must needs be great indeed and mortal, when as the heavenly Physician, and life itself, doth die upon the cross to cure it. I see the torment of his most holy soul: I hear the miserable exclamation of my most holy Saviour upon the cross: For me it is he is so vexed: it is for my sins that he complaineth that he is forsaken of God. Matt. 27.46. If the weight of other men's sins doth so exceedingly press the Almighty Son of God, that it wrings from him a bloody sweat: How intolerable shall the anger of God be, and how unmeasurable shall be his wrath against the unprofitable servant! O thou dry and unhappy wood, that hast always served as a slave the everlasting fire of hell! What must thou fear, when thou seest these things come to pass in the green wood! Christ is the green tree: In the root of his divinity, in the love of his humanity, in the boughs of his virtues, in the leaves of his holy words, and in the fruit of his good works. He is the cedar of chastity, the vine of joyfulness, the palm of patience, and the olive of mercy. But if the fire of the divine anger inflames this green tree of life: How much more shall it consume the sinner like dry wood for his unfruitful works! In what capital and bloody letters are my sin's ingrave● in the body of Christ! How conspicuous (O thou most just God) is thine anger against mine iniquities! How straight must that captivity needs be in which my soul was held, when so precious a ransom was paid for her delivery! How great must the stains of my sins needs be, when rivers of blood flow down from the body of Christ to wash them away! O thou most just God, and yet most merciful Father, consider what indignities thy Son hath suffered for me; and forget the wicked works of me thy unworthy servant! Behold the profundity of his wounds; and overwhelm my sins in the profound sea of thy mercy! Amen. The second part. ¶ Of thanksgiving for benefits. The Argument. The meditation of God's benefits, doth gather out of the garden of nature, and of the Church, sundry, and those most fragrant flowers of divine gifts: and recreating it 〈◊〉 with the odour thereof, offereth again to God the sacrifices of the lips, for a savour of sweet smell. Now the immense and innumerable benefits of God may be divided according to three articles of our Christian faith; God hath created, redeemed, and sanctified us. He heapeth his benefits on us in this life, and hath promised greater unto us in the life that is everlasting. He confers upon us the gifts of the mind, of the body, and of fortune, which we call external goods. He preserveth us from evil, and conserveth ●s in good. That which is past he covereth, that which is to come he governeth. His privative blessings are more than his positive. In brief, we can neither in word express, nor in thought conceive, the number and dignity of God's benefits, which will afford unto us hereafter in the world to come, most plentiful matter of eternal praise and thanksgiving. PRAYER I. He giveth thanks for our forming in the womb, and for our nativity. ALmighty, eternal God, Father, Son, and holy Ghost: I give thanks to thee, I praise thee, Job 10.8. I glorify thee: because thy hands have fashioned me, and made me wholly round about. Thou formedst me like clay in my mother's womb. 9 Thou didst draw me like milk. 10 Thou didst curdle me like cheese: 11 With flesh and skin hast thou covered me, and compacted me together with bones and sinews. 12 Thou hast given me life and mercy, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. This thy great mercy bestowed upon me, I will celebrate with perpetual praises. Thy goodness I will sing of in continual songs. Psal. 139.13 Thou didst protect me in my mother's womb. I will confess unto thee: For I am wonderfully form: 14 Marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My bones are not hid from thee, which thou didst make in secret, and deckedst me with diverse members in the lower parts of the earth. 16 Thy eyes saw me yet being imperfect, and in thy book were all my members written, which day by day were fashioned when as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious unto me are thy thoughts, O God how great is the sum of them! 18 If I go about to reckon them, I find them multiplied above the sands of the sea. Thou didst show thy mercy unto me before I understood it: Thou didst prevent me with thy blessings before I did desire them: Thy bounty did embrace me on every side, before I could give thanks for it. Thou art he who not only didst form me wonderfully in the womb, but also didst take me out: Thou art my hope even from my mother's breast: Out of my mother's womb I was cast upon thee: Thou art my God from my mother's womb. As often as I think upon many that have been extinct, and never came to the light of this life: So often I admire and praise thee for thy mercy, which brought me out of that prison into the theatre of this world safe and sound. How many years are passed in which I was not, and yet thou didst erect for me this house of my body, and didst bring me out of that bottomless pit, and the darkness of my mother's womb! Thou gavest unto me a reasonable soul: Thou madest me a man, not a stone, or a serpent. To thee (O my God) for this thy mercy be honour and glory for ever! Amen. PRAYER II. He renders thanks for our sustentation. I Render thanks unto thee, Almighty and merciful God, for that thou hast sustained me from the very first days of my life. Naked I came into this world, and thou coveredst me most graciously. Hungry I entered into this world, and thou hast hitherto fed me most bountifully. In thee I live, move, and have my being: Without thee I fall again into nothing, and die. Through thee I bow, and move my members: Without thee I can neither be partaker of life, or motion. Thine is the sun that giveth me light, Mat. 5.45. which I see daily with mine eyes. Thine is the air which I draw in with continual breath. The night is thine, and the day is thine, whose intercourses serve for my labour and rest. Thine is the earth, whose fruits do nourish me most plentifully. Every creature in heaven, air, earth, and sea is thine, and is appointed for my use and service. Silver is thine, Hag. 2.8. and gold is thine. Whatsoever is necessary for the sustentation of this my present life, all that I receive from thy most liberal and bountiful hands. O God, how liberal art thou to mankind's All things thou createdst long ago for the use of man: All things thou dost as yet preserve for the good of man. Whatsoever thou, of thine infinite goodness, afford to the other creatures, thou afford also unto me; for as much as thou dost wonderfully form, furnish, and conserve them for my sake. Some of the creatures serve to obey me; some to nourish me; some to cloth me; some to cure me; some to chastise me: But all of them to teach and inform me. Who can reckon up those diverse kinds of nutriments, which thou hast created, and dost as yet produce out of the earth unto this day to nourish us? Who can enumerate those diverse species of herbs which thou dost every year cause the earth to bring forth, to cure us? Who can in words comprehend those sundry kinds of living creatures, which were made for man's use, and do yet all serve him? To thee be praise and honour for ever, who art the Creator and Conserver of all things! Without thee the true sun, I should vanish away as doth the shadow: Without thee the true life, I should presently depart out of this life: Without thee the true being, I should suddenly fall to nothing. To thee only is due, that I live, move, and have my being. Therefore to thee alone will I live and adhere for ever. Amen. PRAYER III. He renders thanks for our redemption wrought by Christ. I Owe unto thee (O eternal and Almighty God) most hearty thanks for that thou hast created me when I was nothing: But much more for that thou hast redeemed me when I was lost and condemned. I did hang in the jaws of hell: And thou didst pluck me out by the blood of thy Son. Col. 1.14. I was the slave of Satan: but thy grace hath delivered me out of the power of the devil, and translated me into the kingdom of Christ. I owe myself wholly unto thee: because thou createdst me wholly. My tongue ought always to praise thee: because thou gavest it unto me. My mouth ought always to set forth thy praise: because the air and breath which it draws is thine. My heart ought always to cleave unto thee with perpetual love: because thou didst form it. All my members ought to be ready for thy service: because thou didst wonderfully frame them, how many and how great soever they be. But if I owe myself wholly unto thee, because thou createdst me: What shall I repay unto thee for redeeming me out of slavery and captivity! The lost sheep thou hast delivered out of the claws of the infernal wolf. The fugitive slave thou hast plucked out of the prison of the devil. The lost groat thou hast sought out with great carefulness. Luk. 15.8. In Adam I fell, and thou hast erected me: In Adam I was captivated in the bonds of sin, but thou hast set me at liberty: In Adam I was lost, and again thou hast saved me. What am I worm, that thou shouldest be so solicitous for redeeming me? What am I worm that thou shouldest be so prodigally bountiful for saving me? If thou hadst altogether cast off our first parents after their fall, and hadst thrown them with all their posterity out from the presence of thy glory into the lowest pit of hell, there is none of us could justly complain of any wrong done unto him: For they had received, and we had received for our deeds a just reward. What else could we have desired or expected from thee, who createdst us after thine own image, and furnishedst us with power and sufficiency to have kept our innocence. But in this thou didst manifest thy incomprehensible and unspeakable love towards us, in that thou didst promise unto our first parents after their fall, thy Son for their Redeemer, Gal. 4.4. and in the fullness of time didst send him unto us, to call us from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and from the infernal pit unto celestial glory. O thou lover of man, whose delight is with the sons of men, Prov. 8. 3● who can worthily set forth the praise of thy love to man? Yea, who can in mind conceive the worthiness thereof? These are the incomprehensible riches of thy goodness: This is the infinite treasure of thy gifts which the slenderness of our capacity and understanding cannot conceive. Was a servant so dear unto thee, that thy Son must be delivered to death for his redemption! Was an enemy so much to be beloved, that thou shouldest appoint thy most beloved Son to be his redeemer! My soul is astonished with the very consideration of this thy goodness▪ ●nd doth wholly turn and dissolve itself into the love of thee. Amen. PRAYER FOUR He rendereth thanks for the incarnation of the Son. I Render thanks unto thee, Jesus Christ, thou alone Mediator, and Redeemer of mankind, for that thou hast in the fullness of time personally united unto thee the true humane nature, Gal. 4.4. and hast vouchsafed to be born of a Virgin. How great is thy love to man, Isa. 7.14. Heb. 2.16. in that thou didst not assume the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham! 1. Tim. 3.16. How great is the mystery of godliness, that thou being very God, wouldst be made manifest in the flesh! How great is the inclination of thy pity, that descending from heaven for my sake, thou hast endured to be born of a Virgin! For me most vile creature, Creator Almighty, thou art become man. For me most abject servant, most glorious Lord, thou hast put on the shape of a servant, that by taking flesh upon thee, thou mightest set my flesh at liberty. To me thou art born: Isa. 9.6. Whatsoever celestial good therefore thou bringest with thee in thy Nativity, shall be mine. To me thou art given: And therefore all things with thee. My nature in thee is more glorified, than it was in Adam dishonoured: For thou dost assume it into the Unity of thy Person, whereas it was weakened with accidental corruption only by Satan. Thou art flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone. Eph. 5.30. Thou art my brother: And what canst thou deny unto me, seeing thou art most nearly joined unto me in the same flesh and affection of brotherly love? Thou art the Bridegroom, who according to the good pleasure of thy heavenly Father, hast coupled unto thee by a personal league, the humane nature, as a spouse: To the joy of those nuptials I do proclaim and thankfully acknowledge that I myself am invited. Mat. 22.2. I wonder now no more that the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them were made for man by God, seeing that God himself would for man become man. Thou canst not utterly divorce me, and cast me away from thee, seeing that thou canst not deny that thou art a man, and therefore my brother. Thou canst not altogether forget me, because thou hast graven me in thine own hands: Isa. 49.16. For the very communion of the flesh doth daily and continually put thee in mind of me. Thou canst not altogether forsake me, seeing that it hath pleased thee to conjoin unto thee the humane nature, in a most near bond of personal union. Although therefore my sins do hinder me, yet the communion of nature doth not repel me. I will adhere wholly unto thee, because thou hast wholly assumed me wholly. Amen. PRAYER V. He renders thanks for Christ's passion. HOw great thanks do I owe unto thee, O most holy Jesus, for that thou hast taken upon thee the punishment of my sins, and hast endured hunger, thirst, cold, weariness, reproaches, persecutions, sorrows, poverty, bonds, whips, pricking of thorns; yea, and that most bitter death of the cross for me sinner! How great is the flame of thy love which forced thee of thine own accord to throw thyself into that sea of passions, and that for me most vile and unthankful servant! Thy innocency and righteousness made thee free from all sufferings: But thy infinite and unspeakable love made thee debtor and guilty in my room. It is I that trespassed, and thou makest satisfaction. It is I that committed rapine, and thou makest restitution. It is I that sinned, and thou undergoest the passion. O Jesus most benign, I acknowledge the bowels of thy mercy and the fiery heat of love. Thou seemest to love me more than thyself, seeing thou deliverest up thyself for me. O most innocent Jesus, what hast thou to do with the sentence of death? O thou most beautiful amongst the sons of men, what hast thou to do with spittings upon thee? O thou most righteous, what hast thou to do with whips and bonds? These things belong not unto thee: They are all due unto me: But thou of thine unspeakable love didst descend into the prison of this world, and take upon thee the shape of a servant, and most willingly undergo the punishment that was due unto me. I was for my sins to be adjudged to the lake that burneth with everlasting fire: But thou by the fire of love being burnt upon the altar of the cross, dost free me from it. I was to be cast away for my sins from the face of my heavenly Father: And thou for my sake complainest that thou art forsaken of thy heavenly Father. Matt. 27.46. I was to be tormented of the devil and his angels for ever: And thou of thine infinite love dost deliver thy self unto the ministers of Satan to be afflicted and crucified for me. As many instruments as I see of thy passion, so many tokens do I see of thy love towards me: For my sins are those bonds, those whips, and those thorns which afflicted thee, all which of thine unspeakable love thou enduredst for me. Thy love was not yet satisfied with taking my flesh upon thee: but thou wouldst make it as yet more manifest, by that most bitter passion of thy soul and body. Who am I, most mighty Lord, that for me disobedient servant, thou thyself wouldst become a servant so many years? Who am I, most beautiful Bridegroom, that for me the most filthy vassal of sin, and whore of the devil, thou hast not refused to die? Who am I, most bountiful Creator, that for me most vile creature, thou hast not been afraid of the passion of the cross? I am to thee, most loving Bridegroom, the true spouse of blood, for whom thou dost pour forth such plenty of blood. I am to thee, most beautiful Lily, a thorn indeed that is full of prickles. It is I that laid upon thee a heavy and sharp burden, with the weight whereof thou wast so squeezed, that drops of blood did distil abundantly from thy sacred body. To thee, Lord Jesus, my alone Redeemer and Mediator, for this thine unspeakable love will I sing praises for ever. Amen. PRAYER VI He renders thanks for our calling by the word. Unto thee, O Lord my God, is most due, all praise, honour, and thanksgiving, for that thou wouldst by the preaching of thy word make manifest unto us that thy Fatherly will, and determinate counsel concerning our salvation. By nature we are darkness; Eph. 5.8. Luk. 1.79 we sit in darkness, and in the region of the shadow of death: But thou by the most clear light of the Gospel dost dispel this darkness. In thy light do we see light; Psal. 36.11. John 1.9. that is, in the light of thy word we see that true light that lighteneth every one that cometh into this world. What use were there of a treasure that is hid, and a light that is put under a bushel? Mat. 5.15. I do therefore declare with thankfulness that great benefit, in that thou hast by the word of thy Gospel revealed unto us that treasure of benefits in thy Son. Isa. 52.7. Nah. 1.15 How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good tidings, and tell of salvation! This peace of conscience, and salvation of the soul, by the preaching of the Gospel thou dost yet declare unto us, Rom. 10.15. and call us unto the kingdom of thy Son. I was led into the by-paths of errors, as it were a weak and miserable sheep: But thou hast called me into the way again by the preaching of thy word. I was condemned, and utterly lost: But thou in the word of thy Gospel dost offer unto me the benefits of Christ; and in the benefits of Christ, thy grace; and in thy grace, remission of sins; and in remission of sins, righteousness; and in righteousness, salvation and life everlasting. Who can sufficiently in words express those bowels of thy mercy? yea, who can in mind conceive the greatness, & the riches of thy goodness? Rom. 11.25. The mystery of our salvation kept secret from eternity, by the manifestation of thy Gospel thou dost lay open unto us. The counsels which thou hadst concerning our peace before the foundations of the world were laid, thou dost reveal unto us by the preaching of thy word, Psal. 119.105. which is a lantern unto our feet, whiles we go through this darksome valley into light everlasting. What had it profited us to have been born, unless by Christ thou hadst delivered us when we were captivated through sin? What had it profited us to have been redeemed, unless thou hadst by thy word declared unto us the great benefit of our redemption? Thou dost spread forth thy hands unto us all the day. Isa. 65.2. Rev. 3.20. Thou knockest at the gate of our heart every day, and callest us all unto thee by thy word. O Lord most benign, how many thousand thousands of men do live in the blindness of Gentilism, and in errors and have not seen that light of thy heavenly word which thy bounty hath granted us of all men most unthankful! Alas, how often through our contempt and unthankfulness do we deserve that thou shouldest take from us the candlestick of thy word! But thou of thy long patience dost make as if thou sawest not our sins; Rev. 2.5. Wisd. 11.23. and of thy unspeakable mercy dost yet continue unto us that most holy pledge, and most precious treasure of thy word. For which thy great benefit we render unto thee eternal thanks, and we humbly beseech thee to continue it still unto us. Amen. PRAYER VII. He renders thanks unto God for the expectation of our conversion. I Render unto thee, most merciful Father, immortal thanks, for that thou wouldst with so great patience and long-suffering expect my conversion; and hast brought me out of the path of sin, unto the fellowship of thy kingdom. How great is thy long-suffering, Rom. 2.4. that thou hast not cast me away from thy face, and thrust me down into everlasting torments, whereas I have deserved it a thousand times! How many thousands hath death prevented before they could attain unto true repentance! How many sinners hath the devil made obstinate, that they might not obtain forgiveness of their sins! There was no distinction in nature between me and them; only thy goodness and long-suffering: My offence was no less than theirs; but thy grace did abound. Thy mercy strove with my misery: I went on in my sin; and thou didst go on in thy mercy: I deferred my conversion; and thou didst defer my punishment: I went astray; and thou didst call me: I refused to come; and still thou didst expect me. This thy goodness, most indulgent Father, I cannot extol with sufficient praises. This thy long patience, most merciful God, I cannot recompense with any merits. Thou didst preserve me from many sins, whereinto the corruption of the flesh, the deceit of the world, and the persuasion of the devil, would have thrown me headlong as well as others. Neither hast thou only kept me from falling into sin; but also hast most graciously expected my conversion from sin, into which I had fallen. I find thee more merciful than I am sinful: I sinned; and thou madest as if thou didst not see it: I contained not myself from wickedness; and yet thou didst abstain from punishment. Bernard in his 2 Serm. of the seven loaves I did long time prolong my iniquity, and thou didst prolong thy pity. What were then my deserts? Surely evil, and the worst of evils, to wit, my sins, many in number, most grievous for weight, and detestable for variety. Therefore to thy grace and bounty alone do I attribute it, that thou hast so long expected my conversion, and delivered my soul out of the snares of ●●nne. To thee, O Lord, be praise, ho●our, and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. PRAYER VIII. He renders thanks for our conversion. I Render thanks unto thee, my God, for that thou hast converted my heart that was hard, and knew not how to repent; and for that thou hast taken from me my stony heart, and given me an heart of flesh. I had of myself power to sin: But I had not of myself power to rise again to repentance. I could go astray of myself: But I could not return again into the way without thee. Grana. in the 2 book of the life of Chr. chap. 2. For even as he that is born crooked from his mother's womb, cannot be made strait by natural means, but only by divine and supernatural power▪ So my soul being by nature crooked and prone to sin, and the love of earthly things, could by no humane power, but thy grace only, be rectified, and lifted up to the love of thee, and heavenly things. I could deform myself by my sins most foully: But thou only couldst reform me. As the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, Jer. 13.23 nor the leopard his spots: S● neither can I do that which is good, being by nature addicted unto the love of that which is evil. Thou my God didst convert me, and I was converted; and when I was converted, Jer. 31.19 than I repented; and when I was instructed, than I smote my thigh. Eph. 2.5. I was dead in sin: And thou didst quicken me. As much power as a dead man hath to raise himself: So much had I to convert myself. Unless thou hadst drawn me, I had never come unto thee; unless thou hadst stirred me up, I had never watched unto thee; unless thou hadst illuminated me, I had never seen thee. My sins were more sweet unto me then honey and the honeycomb: But I am to thank thee, that now they are sharp and bitter unto me; for thou hast given me a spiritual taste. The works of virtue were more bitter unto me then gall and aloes: But I am to thank thee, that now they are become pleasant and sweet; for thou hast by thy Spirit changed the corrupt judgement of my flesh. Isa. 53.6. I went astray as a sheep that is lost, and declined to the way of iniquity: But thou, Grana. out of August. meditations. which art the good shepherd, hast found me out, and brought me again unto the flock of thy saints. It was late ere I knew thee; for there was a great and darksome cloud of vanity before mine eyes, which would not suffer me to see the light of the truth: It was late ere I saw the true light; because I was blind and loved blindness, and walked through the darkness of sin, into the darkness of hell: But thou hast illuminated me; thou soughtest me, when I sought not thee; thou called'st me, when I called not upon thee; thou convertedst me, when I was not converted unto thee; and thou saidst with a most powerful voice, Let there be light in the inward parts of his heart, and there was a light; and I saw thy light, and I knew mine own blindness. For this thy immense and infinite benefit, I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Amen. PRAYER IX. He renders thanks for the forgiveness of sins. I Owe and render unto thee, eternal and merciful God, great thanks, for that thou hast not rejected me when I came unto thee, Joh. 6.37 but didst most readily receive me, and most mercifully forgive me all my sins. I was that prodigal son, most indulgent Father, I was that prodigal son, Luke 15.13. that by living riotously wasted his Father's substance: For I have defiled the gifts of nature; I have refused the gifts of grace; I have deprived myself of the gifts of glory. I was naked and destitute of all good things: and thou coveredst and enrichedst me with the robe of righteousness: I was lost and condemned: and thou of thy free grace hast bestowed upon me eternal salvation. Thou of thine ardent mercy didst embrace me and kiss me, in sending thy most beloved Son that is in thy bosom; and thy holy Spirit, Joh. 1.13. which is the kiss of thy mouth, Cant. 1.2. as ample witnesses of thine infinite love. Thou clothedst me with my first robe, in restoring me my former innocence. Thou gavest me a ring for my hand, by sealing me with thy Spirit of grace. Eph. 6.25. Thou didst put shoes upon my feet, by arming me with the Gospel of peace. Luke 15.23. Thou killed'st the fat calf for me, by delivering thy most dear Son to death for me. Thou didst cause me to feast and make merry, by restoring the joy of heart, and the true peace of conscience unto me. I was dead; and through thee I was restored to life: I went astray; and through thee I came again into the way: I was consumed with poverty; and through thee I entered again into my former possession. Thou mightest in thy just judgement have rejected me, seeing that I was polluted with so many sins, covered with so many offences, and corrupted with so many iniquities: But thy mercy did abound above my sins; Rom. 5.21 thy goodness was greater than mine iniquity. How often have I shut the gate of my heart when thou didst knock! Therefore when I knocked thou mightest most justly have shut the door of mercy against me. How often have I stopped mine ears, that I might not hear thy voice! Therefore when I sighed unto thee, thou mightest most justly have stopped thine ears, and not harkened unto my voice. But thy grace was more abundant than all my sin and transgression. Thou didst receive me with thy hands spread forth, Isa. 65.2. and put away mine iniquities as it were a cloud, Isa. 38.17. and cast all my sins behind thy back. Thou remember'st my sins no more, but receivest me into the most ample bosom of thy mercy. For this thy inestimable benefit, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Amen. PRAYER X. He renders thanks unto God for conserving us in that which is good. TO thee Lord, be honour and glory, and blessing, Rev. 6.12. and thanksgiving: for that thou hast not only in mercy received me upon my repentance; but also hast enabled me to abstain from sin, and live more reformedly. What should it profit a man, to be free from his sickness, and presently to fall into a worse relapse? What should it profit, to be absolved from sins past, unless grace be conferred to lead a godly life? Thou, God most faithful, hast showed all the parts and offices of a faithful and skilful Physician in the cure of my souls wounds. My wounds were deadly, and thou didst cure them by the wounds of thy Son: But there was cause to fear, that the wounds that were healed might wax raw again: And thou by the grace of thy holy Spirit, as it were a fomentation, hast hindered it. How many be those, that after remission of sins obtained, return again to their former course of life, and reiterating their sins, more grievously offend God Alas, how many do we see, that being freed from the yoke of sin, return to their former captivity, and being brought out of the spiritual Egypt, look back again to the pots! They have fled from the pollutions of the world, 2. Pet. 2.20.22. by the knowledge of Christ, and do wallow again in the same, by repeating the former conversation of their most wicked life. They were freed out of the bonds of Satan by their conversion, and again are held entangled in the same, by the delusion of wicked spirits: Surely, their latter end is worse than their beginning: 2 Pet. 2.21. And it had been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness, then having known it, to turn away from the path of the holy commandments, which were delivered unto them. These are the dogs that return again to their vomit; 22. and sows that after their washing, wallow again in the mire. Whatsoever hath happened unto them, might have happened unto me; but that it hath pleased thee by the grace of thy power, and the efficacy of thy holy Spirit, to enable me to continue in that which is good. The same wicked spirit that vanquished them, assaulted me: The same world that seduced them, enticed me: The same flesh that overcame them, alured me. Only thy grace protected me against their assaults, and furnished me with power sufficient for victory. Thy strength was powerful in my weakness: 2. Cor. 12▪ 9 From thee the strength of the Spirit descended, with which I was enabled to bridle the assaults of the flesh. Whatsoever good there is in me, it descends all from thee, who art the fountain of all good: for in me by nature there is nothing but sin. Therefore as many good works as I find in me, which notwithstanding are impure and imperfect, by reason of my flesh; so many gifts they are of thy grace, I must needs confess. For this thine inestimable gift conferred upon me, I will give thee thanks for ever. Amen. PRAYER XI. He renders thanks for all the gifts of the soul and body, and for external goods. I Render unto thee, eternal and merciful God, as it is most due, eternal thanks: for that thou hast not only made me a body and a soul; but moreover hast furnished me with sundry gifts of the soul and body, and also with external goods. Thou which art wisdom itself, teachest man all knowledge: Psal. 94.10 If therefore I know any good, it is a demonstration of thine abundant grace towards me. Without thy light, my mind is darksome: Without thy grace, my will is captive. If there be in me either any wit or prudence, it is all to be attributed to thy clemency. Wisdom is the eye of the soul, and divine grace is the eye of wisdom. Whatsoever we know, we know either by the light of nature, or by the revelation of thy word: But from thee, O thou light of eternal wisdom, doth the illumination of nature spring: From thee also doth the revelation of the word come: Therefore whatsoever we know, descendeth unto us as thy gift. Thou, O indeficient fountain of life, art my life, and the length of my days. Thou, O eternal health itself, art the strength of my body, and the vigour of my virtue. Man liveth not by bread only, Mat. 4.41 but by every word that proceedeth out of thy mouth: So than man is not preserved in health and strength by bread only; neither is he preserved from diseases by physic only: but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Tranquillity of the mind preserveth the health of the body: And true godliness begetteth tranquillity of the conscience. From thee (O thou chief good) all true godliness, all tranquillity of the mind without disturbance, and all wished-for health of body doth come. Moreover, whatsoever external good I do possess, all that I owe unto thy liberality and bounty. A crust of bread is not due unto my deserts: How much less than are all these external goods which thou dost heap upon me? They are called indeed the gifts of fortune: But they are in deed and in truth the gifts of thy grace. There is nothing more blessed then to do good, and to be liberal to others: and thou hast made me partaker of this blessedness, by bestowing liberally these outward goods upon me. Thou hast sowed in me the seed of thy grace, that from thence there may arise to others an harvest of liberality and beneficency. Thou hast committed many things unto me, as unto a steward, that I might have wherewithal to do good to my fellow-servants. From thee the fountain of all good, there descends upon me streams of goods: Whatsoever I am, whatsoever I possess, whatsoever I bestow, depends all, I confess, upon thy bounty. For this thine inestimable mercy, I will give thee thanks for ever. Amen. PRAYER XII. He renders thanks for the sacrament of Baptism. TO thee, O eternal and merciful God, Father, Son, and holy Ghost, I render humble tha●●s, for that thou hast washed me in the holy laver of baptism from all my sins: and for that thou hast received me into the covenant of grace, and made me an heir of everlasting life. I acknowledge it is thy gift that I was born of Christian parents, and by them brought unto this heavenly fount. How many thousands of infants are born in Gentilism, and without this sacrament do die in their sins! There is no difference in nature between me & them: Only thy superabundant grace hath made a difference. I was joined with them in communion of sin: But I was separated from them by participation of thy grace. How great is this thy goodness, that thou didst find me, Matt. 7. ●. when I sought thee not; that thou didst hear me, before I asked; that thou didst open unto me, before I knocked. This thy mercy exceeds all praise, yea and all admiration. Mat. 28.19. I was baptised in thy holy name, thy name for me was called upon: Therefore I am received into the heavenly family, being made the son of my heavenly Father, the brother of Christ, and the temple of the holy Ghost. This is an holy and heavenly laver: In it therefore I am washed and purged from all my uncleanness. It is the laver of regeneration and renovation: By it therefore I am regenerated & renewed by the grace of the holy Ghost. Whatsoever Christ my Saviour merited by his most holy obedience, & by the effusion of his most precious blood; of all that he hath left the saving fount of baptism as a pledge. Therefore the conferring of baptism, is the besprinkling of the blood of Christ. That precious blood of Christ doth make me clean from all my sins, 1. Joh. 17 and makes me whiter than snow in the sight of God. Psal. 51.7. O eternal God, thou hast made an eternal covenant with me in baptism; unto which I have always recourse by true and serious repentance. Thou hast betrothed me unto thee for ever in judgement and righteousness, in grace and mercy: Host 2.19. Thou hast given me an earnest and pledge of thy Spirit in baptism: Eph. 1.14. Therefore thou wilt not cast me away from thy face; but being mindful of thy promise, thou wilt lead me into the joys of the celestial marriage. As at the baptism of Christ my Mediator and head, the heavens were opened: Mat. 3.16. So by the communion of the same baptism, thou hast opened unto me the gate of paradise. As at the baptism of Christ, the holy Ghost descended upon him, and a voice from heaven did testify that he was the beloved Son of God: So by the same communion of the same baptism, I am made a partaker of the holy Ghost, and adopted to be a son of God. For which inestimable benefit, I will give thanks unto thee, my God, for ever. Amen. PRAYER XIII. He renders thanks for the sacrament of the Lords supper. HOw great thanks do I owe unto thee, most high God, for that in the most sacred mystery of the supper, thou dost feed me with the body and blood of thy Son! What is there in heaven or in earth of more price and excellency, than that body which is united to thy Son personally? What more certain testimony and pledge of thy grace can there be, than the precious blood of thy Son poured out for my sins, on the altar of the cross? The very price of my redemption thou bestowest upon me, that I may have a most certain testimony of thy grace towards me. As often as I fall through my sins from the covenant of baptism: So often by true repentance, and the saving use of this supper, I am restored unto it again. It is a sacrament of the new Testament, and it always enriches me with new gifts of the Spirit. In this body life itself dwells, and therefore it refresheth me, and quickeneth me unto everlasting life. By the effusion of this blood, satisfaction is made for our sins: And therefore by the drinking thereof, the remission of my sins is confirmed unto me. Christ saith it, Truth itself saith it; Joh. 6.54. Whosoever shall eat my flesh, and drink my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, that is, to the life of glory. 50▪ For this is the bread of life which descended from heaven, that whosoever shall eat thereof, may not die, but have everlasting life. It is the eating by faith that Christ so commends, which must needs be added unto the sacramental eating, that so that which was appointed to life, may be received by us unto life. I come therefore with true faith unto this heavenly banquet, being firmly persuaded, that the body which I eat, was delivered unto death for me, and the blood which I drink, was poured forth for my sins. I cannot in any wise doubt of the remission of my sins, when as it is confirmed by the participation of the price which was offered for my sins. I cannot in any wise doubt of Christ his dwelling in me, when he seals unto me the same by the communion of his body and blood. I cannot in any wise doubt of the assistance of the holy Spirit, when my infirmity is strengthened with such safeguard. I am not afraid of Satan's assaults, when as this angelical food doth make me strong to fight. I am not afraid of the allurements of the flesh, Hilar. in his 8. book of the Trinity, pag▪ 141. when as this quickening and spiritual food doth corroborate me by the virtue of the Spirit. These taken and drunk do make Christ to dwell in me, and me in Christ. The good shepherd will not suffer the sheep that is fed with his own body and blood, to be devoured by the infernal wolf: Neither will the power of the Spirit suffer me to be overcome by the weakness of the flesh. To thee (O Saviour most benign) be praise, honour, and thanksgiving, for ever and ever. Amen. PRAYER XIIII. He renders thanks to God, for preserving us from sundry evils. TO thee (O eternal and merciful God) I render eternal thanks, for that thou hast hitherto preserved me from infinite evils and dangers, and hast kept me safe by the guard of thy holy angels. Thy privative blessings, by which thou dost keep me from evil, are more in number then thy positive, by which thou dost confer good upon me. As many evils of soul and body as I see in others; so many tokens do I see of thy mercy toward me: For my deliverance from those evils is to be attributed as due only to thy goodness. How great is the power of the devil! How great is his subtlety! As often therefore as that malignant and most subtle spirit, and our most potent adversary doth labour to do us any mischief; so often by the buckler of thy benignity, and by the guard of thy holy angels being protected, I have been able to escape his nets. But who can reckon up the treacherous assaults and invasions of the devil? Who can therefore reckon up the riches of thy bounty? When I sleep by night, the eye of thy providence doth watch over me, that the infernal enemy which goeth about like a roaring lion, may not be able by his strength and subtlety to oppress me. When by day Satan by his tentations doth set upon me, the strength of thy right hand doth most bountifully comfort and strengthen me, that the deceitful tempter may not allure me into his snares. When an innumerable host of evils hangs over my head, thy blessed angels encamp about me like a fiery wall. Psal. 34.7. Zech. 2.5. There is no creature so vile, so weak, and so little, of which I do not stand in danger many ways. How great and immense a benefit is it therefore, that thy providence doth preserve me safe from them! My soul is prone to sin, and my body to falling: Therefore (O Lord most benign) my soul thou governest by thy blessed Spirit, and my body by thy angelical buckler: Psal. 91.11. For thou hast given thy angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways, and to bear me up with their hands, that I dash not my foot at any time against a stone. Lam. 3.22 To thy mercy I attribute it that I am not consumed. New dangers compass and environ me about every day: Thy mercy is therefore renewed unto me every morning. Psal. 121.4. Thou dost neither slumber nor sleep, O thou faithful and watchful keeper of my soul and body: Thy grace is the shadow on my right hand, that the noon-tide rays of open and violent persecution strike me not, nor the darkness of the night cause me to fall into the secret and hidden snares of the devil. Thou dost keep my ingress; thou dost direct my progress; thou dost govern my egress: For which thy great benefit, I will sing praises unto thee for ever. Amen. PRAYER XV. He renders thanks for the promise of everlasting salvation. I Render thanks unto thee, heavenly Father, for that thou hast not only given me free remission of my sins, and the inward renewing of the Spirit, but also an assured promise of everlasting salvation. How great is thy goodness, that to me poor miserable man, and a sinner, having had so often experience of thy mercy, thou hast given boldness to hope even after heavenly things, and to conceive an assured hope of habitation in the everlasting mansions of thy heavenly house! The goods of that true and everlasting life are so great, Bern. in his 2 serm of the 7 loaves, p. 181. Bonavent. in the 7. book of his Compend. cap. 32. that they cannot be measured; and so many, that they cannot be numbered; so far extended, that they cannot be termed; and of such price, that they cannot be valued. How great therefore is thy goodness and bounty to me undeserving wretch, in that thou dost in the prison and workhouse of this life, make me blessed in part, with an infallible promise of those goods! That I am already saved by hope, Rom. 8.24. the Apostle of the truth doth manifest: Rom. 5.5. And that hope maketh not ashamed, it is proved by evident testimony. Why therefore is the ship of my heart, in which Christ is carried by faith, so often tossed up and down with storms and waves of doubtings? Thou hast given unto me a promise of salvation, O God, thou God of truth: How can I therefore any longer doubt of the certainty and immutability of thy promise? That promise of life comes of thy mere freewill: And therefore it depends not upon the merit of my works. I am by faith as surely ascertained of the benefits promised of thy grace, as I am assured by the sight of mine eyes of those which I already have. Thou feedest me with the body and blood of thy Son. Thou sealest me by the inward testimony of thy Spirit: What more certain testimony, or more precious pledge can there be to confirm unto me the promise of salvation? I find in very deed that thou art with me in the troubles of this present Psal. 91.15. life: How can it otherwise be but that I shall be with thee in that most blessed fellowship of eternal life? If thou bestowest upon me such great things in the poor cottage of this world: How much greater wilt thou bestow in the palace of the heavenly paradise! Whatsoever thing to be hoped for thou hast promised, is as certain unto me, as all those things, which thou hast given me for my use in this world. Thy mercy and truth is strengthened and shall be strengthened over me for ever. Psal. 117.2. Thy mercy did prevent me, Psal. 23.6. and thy mercy shall follow me: It prevented me in my justification, and it shall follow me in my glorification: It prevented me that I might live piously, it shall follow me that I may live for ever with thee. Therefore I will praise and sing of thy mercy and truth for ever. Amen. The third part. Of Petitions for ourselves. The Argument. The meditation of our own wants, doth show that 〈◊〉 have of ourselves no manner of spiritual good: And therefore that it becometh ●s to renounce all confidence in our own strength, and to flee to the aid 〈◊〉 succour of God's mercy, promised unto us through Christ: By this consideration of our manifold wants, 〈◊〉 soul is lifted up unto God, and begs of him mortification of the old man, and renovation of the new, ●hich is necessary for all those that are born again. ●his renovation consisteth in the conservation and increase of faith, hope, charity, humility, patience, gentleness, chastity, and the other virtues: And ●●erefore we ought with serious prayer to sue unto 〈◊〉 for it. Moreover, seeing that daily we are assault●● by the flesh, the world, and the devil: insomuch 〈◊〉 our flesh solicits us u●to the love of earthly 〈◊〉; the world with hatred, and Satan with his ●●eacheries oppugnes us: We have just cause to pray 〈◊〉 unto the Lord of hosts, who proposeth unto us 〈◊〉 battle, and a reward of victory, For contempt 〈◊〉 earthly things: For denial of ourselves: For conquest over the world: For comfort in all ad●●rsitie, and true tranquillity of the mind: For sectorie in tentations, and preservation from the devil's treacheries. And to conclude, seeing that the aid 〈◊〉 assistance of God in the hour of death, and the 〈◊〉 of judgement, is most necessary: Therefore we must 〈◊〉 day humbly pray for a blessed departure out of 〈◊〉 life, and a blessed resurrection unto life 〈◊〉. PRAYER I. He prays for mortification of the old man. MOst holy and most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the same thy beloved Son by thy holy Spirit I humbly beseech thee, that thou wouldst be pleased to work in me a daily mortification of the old man, tha● according to the inward man I may in thee be strengthened. Rom. 7.17. Sin dwell● in my flesh: But give thou unto me the strength of the Spirit, that I do not suffer it to reign in me. Rom. 6.12 Psal. 90.8. Thou dost set my secret sins before thee in the light of thy countenance: But set thou them, I beseech thee, in the light of my heart, that I may see them and grieve, and humbly sue unt● thee for pardon. I am not as ye● altogether free from sin dwelling in me: But grant, I beseech thee, i● mercy, that I may be free from th● guilt thereof, and from condemnation. Rom. 7.23 The law of sin in my members is repugnant unto the law of m● mind which is renewed: But gius unto me the Spirit of thy grace, that I may captivate the law of sin, and not be captivated by the old flesh. The flesh within me lusteth against the spirit, Gal. 5.17. and the spirit against the flesh. The spirit indeed is ready, Mat. 26.41. but the flesh is weak: Grant therefore unto my spirit the riches of thy strength and virtue, that it may overcome the evil concupiscences of the rebellious flesh. Judg. 6.6. That whorish Dalilah with her allurements doth daily set upon me: Eph. 3.16. But strengthen thou me by thy Spirit in the inward ma●, that at length she overcome me not. O how grievous and hard a thing is it for a man to fight against himself, that is, against his flesh! How difficult and hard a matter is it for one to overcome a domestic enemy! Unless in this combat thou dost arm me with thy heavenly strength, there is great fear that I shall be constrained to yield unto this enemy, by reason of her secret and hidden treacheries. Press, burn, ●aunce, mortify the old man, that I may escape his fawning deceit and seducement. Grant unto me that I may daily die in myself, that by the allurements of the flesh I be not separated from the life that is in Christ. Kindle in my heart the fire of the Spirit, that I may sacrifice unto thee the beloved son of all my evil lusts, 1. Cor. 15.50. and mine own will. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: Let them therefore die in me, that I be not excluded from the kingdom of heaven. They that live according to the flesh, Rom. 8.13 shall die: But they which by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, shall live. They that are Christ's, Gal. 5.24. do crucify the flesh with the lusts thereof: Therefore strike thorough and crucify my flesh, O Christ, thou that wast upon the altar of the cross pierced thorough and crucified for me. Amen. PRAYER II. He prays for the conservation and increase of faith. THou hast lighted in my heart, thou living and eternal God, the light of saving faith: which I humbly beseech thee, of thy goodness and clemency, to keep and increase. I often feel weakness of faith, I often waver, and am tossed with storms of doubts and fears: Therefore I humbly call upon thee with thy blessed Apostles, Luk. 17.5. that thou wouldst vouchsafe to increase it. My heart propounds unto thee a good word. Isa. 42.3. Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. 2. Cor. 4.7▪ I carry my treasure in a vessel of clay: The torch of faith I bear about me in a brittle vessel. What else remains there, but that with serious prayers and sighs I commend it unto thy custody, and daily pray unto thee for increase of the same? In the darkness of this life and present world, make me partaker of the heavenly light of faith. Thy word is light and life: Grant unto me of thy mercy that by true faith I may stick unto thy word, and be made by thee a son of light and life. Against all the tentations of Satan, against all oblocutions of the world, yea against the cogitations of mine own heart, let the comfort of thy word prevail in me. One word of Scripture is of more worth than heaven and earth, in that it is more firm than heaven and earth. Luk. 21.33. Effect in me by thy holy Spirit, that I may firmly believe thy word, and yield my reason and my senses to the obedience of faith. Thy promises are of thy mere free grace, neither do they depend upon the condition of my worth and merits: I may therefore with most assured faith rely upon them, and with my whole heart trust in thy goodness. Eph. 3.17. Gal. 2.20. By faith Christ dwells and lives in my heart: Conserve therefore in me the free gift of faith, that my heart may be and always remain the habitacle of Christ. Faith is the seed of all good works, and the foundation of holy life: Conserve therefore, most bountiful Lord, and confirm this in me, that my spiritual harvest, and dwelling, suffer no loss. Strengthen my faith, that it may overcome the world, 1. Joh. 5.4. Matt. 5.16. and the prince of the world: Increase the light thereof, that it may daily cast forth more clear beams outwardly: Conserve it in the midst of the darkness of death, that it may cast a light before me to true life. Rule me by thy holy Spirit, that I lose not this faith by consenting unto the lusts of the flesh, and taking pleasure in sin against my conscience: But confirm in me that good work which thou hast begun, that by perseverance of my faith I may obtain the inheritance of eternal life. Amen. PRAYER III. He prays for the conservation and increase of hope. ALmighty, eternal, and merciful God, I beseech thee by the most sacred wounds of thy Son, to uphold in me the prop of saving hope. Sometimes my heart doth wave like a ship in the midst of the sea: But grant thou unto me the safe and firm anchor of immovable hope; Heb. 6. ● Still the waves of tentations and doubts: Thou that art the God of hope, and all consolation. As certain and immovable as the truth of thy promise is, so certain may the firmness of holy hope be in me. I rest upon thy promises: And thou wilt not leave me destitute of aid. My confidence is in thy bounty: And thou wilt not leave me destitute of comfort. I know on whom I have believed, 2. Tim. 1.12. Bern. Serm 3. of the fragments of the 7 loaves, col. 183. Phil. 1.9. and I am sure that he is able to keep that which is committed unto him by me, against that day. I am most certainly persuaded, that thou which hast begun a good work in me, wilt also finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. There are three things that lift me up when I am prostrate; that uphold me when I am falling; that direct me when I am wavering: to wit, thy love in my adoption; the truth of thy promise; and thy power in performance. This is the threefold cord, that thou lettest down unto me into this prison, out of my heavenly country, that thou mayst lift me up, and draw me unto thee, unto the sight of thy glory. This hope is the anchor of my salvation: This is the way that leadeth unto paradise. The meditation of thy command makes me hope: The meditation of thy goodness suffers me not to despair of thy mercy: the meditation of mine own frailty suffers me not to hope and trust in myself, or mine own power and merit. By how much the less my hope is fastened on these frail and fluxible sands of present goods and humane aid: By so much the more solidly and certainly it is established upon the firm and immovable rock of thy promise, and celestial things. Unite my heart unto thee, that I may altogether withdraw myself from the wo●ld, and cleave unto thee with all my heart. Unto thee I flee, as unto the throne of grace, and altar of mercy, Heb. 4.16 and ark of the covenant, and sanctuary of liberty, Psal. 18.2. and the rock of my strength, and horn of my salvation. In me there is nothing but sin, death, and condemnation: In thee there is nothing but righteousness, life, health, and consolation. I despair therefore in myself, and I hope in thee: I am dashed in pieces of myself, and I am raised up by thee. Let tribulations be multiplied, so that thy quickening consolations be present unto me, and erect my hope. Rom. 5.3. Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; 4 and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed. 5 In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust, Psal. 31.1. let me never be confounded. Amen. PRAYER FOUR He prays for the conservation and increase of charity. Eternal and merciful God, who art charity and love itself: 1. Joh. 4 8. Grant unto me the riches of true and spiritual love. My heart is cold, my heart is earthy: O thou that art fire, O thou that art love itself, kindle me. My heart is hard and stony: O thou that art the rock, O thou that art love itself, soften me. My heart is full of thorns and thistles of anger and hatred: O most gracious Father, O thou that art love itself, Psal. 18.1, 2. weed me. I will love thee, O Lord my strength, my rock, and my tower of defence, my deliverer, my God, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation. Whatsoever I see in the creatures either good or excellent, all that I find in thee, who art the chief good, more abundant and excellent. I will love thee therefore with all my heart above all things, in whom I know there is such plenty & excellency of all good. It is so much the better for me, by how much the more I come unto thee, than whom there is nothing better: But I will come unto thee, not walking on the feet of my body, but loving thee with the affection of my heart. If I desire beauty, thou art the most beautiful of all: If I desire wisdom, thou art the wisest of all: If I desire riches, thou art the richest of all: If I desire power, thou art the most powerful of all: If I desire strength, thou art the strongest of all: If I desire honour, thou art the most glorious of all. Thou didst love me from eternity: I will therefore love thee again unto eternity. Thou didst love me in giving thyself for me: I will love thee again in rendering myself up wholly unto thee. Let my heart be set on fire; let every creature seem vile unto me: Do thou only become sweet unto my soul. It was thy will that the humane nature should be united unto thy Son by an unseparable union: How much more is it fit that my heart be joined unto thee by an unseparable bond of love? A divine love drew thy Son from heaven to earth, tied him to a pillar to be whipped, and fastened him to the cross to be crucified: Should not as fervent a flame of love lift up my heart from earth to heaven, and bind me to thee the chief good, and that unseparably? I should offer much injury unto thee and unto myself, if I should love terrene, vile, and mean things, when thou hast so much honoured me, and given me such large promises, to the end I might love thee. From this love of thee, let there arise in my heart a sincere love of my neighbour. Joh. 14.15. ●. Joh. 4.20. Whosoever loveth thee (O thou chief good) keepeth also thy commandments: seeing that the doing of the work is the trial of love. Wherefore seeing that thou hast commanded us to love our neighbours, 1. Joh. 4.20. therefore 〈◊〉 man loves thee sincerely, which payeth not unto his neighbour the debt of love. Whatsoever my neighbour is, he was so dear unto thee, that thou didst wonderfully create him, mercifully redeem him, and graciously call him to the fellowship of thy kingdom: In thee therefore and for thee I ought to love my neighbour, whom I see to be raised by thy grace and mercy to such an height of glory. Strengthen and increase in me this true and sincere love, thou that art love eternal, and unchangeable. Amen. PRAYER V. He prays for the conservation and increase of humility. ALmighty and merciful God, which art a severe hater of all pride, grant that I may be the rose of charity, and the violet of humility: that I may by my deeds of charity cast forth a good and fragrant smell, and think humbly of myself in my heart, What am I Lord in thy sight? Dust, ashes, a shadow, nothing. Wherefore seeing that I am nothing in thy sight, grant that I may seem to myself nothing in mine own sight. Keep down that swelling pride that was born together with my heart, that I may receive the dew of thy heavenly grace: For the streams of thy grace do not flow upwards to the high mountains, but are carried downwards to the low valleys of the humble heart. There is nothing at all mine but infirmity and iniquity: Whatsoever good thing there is in me, it descends from the fountain of thy goodness unto me. Therefore I can challenge no good unto myself, seeing that there is nothing properly mine. By how much the more I think highly of thee: By so much the more I think basely of myself. far be it from me, most gracious Lord, far be it from me, to be proud of thy blessings, and in respect of them to despise others. The treasures of thy riches thou didst depose in the chest of my heart, as many and as great as it pleased thee: God forbid that I should attribute them unto mine own worth, and ascribe them unto myself. Thou didst kindle in my heart, by thy Spirit, the fire of piety and love: Grant, I beseech thee, that I may cover it with the ashes of humility. How little is the honour that by man is given unto man! How little is the praise wherewith man is graced by man! But he, O most mighty Creator, is great indeed, that is great with thee. He that pleaseth thee, pleaseth the true prizer of things: But no man pleaseth thee, unless he displease himself. Thou art the life of my life: Thou art the soul of my soul: I therefore resign my life and soul into thy hands, and with an humble heart cleave fast unto thee. Let thy highness' look upon my lowliness: Psal. 1●3. 7. Let thy loftiness look upon my baseness. Alas! why do I so desire to be extolled in the world, seeing that there is nothing in the world to be desired? Why do I so much lift up myself, when as the yoke of sin doth so keep me down? Let the goad of thy godly fear prick my heart, lest it die of the most dangerous disease of spiritual tumour. Let my sins which are innumerable be always in my sight. As for my good works, let them be buried in oblivion. Let the remembrance of my sins make me more sorrowful, than the glory of any work that I do, seemingly good, but indeed unclean and imperfect, merry and joyful. In thee alone do I rejoice and glory, who art my joy and my glory for ever. Amen. PRAYER VI He prays for the gift and increase of patience. ALmighty, eternal, and merciful God, with humble sighs I implore thy grace, that thou wilt grant unto me true and sincere patience. My flesh coveteth after things pleasing unto it, that is, soft and carnal, and refuseth patiently to endure things contrary. I beseech thee powerfully to repress in me this desire of the flesh, and underprop my weakness with the power of patience. O Christ Jesus, thou doctor of patience and obedience, furnish me within with thy holy Spirit, that I may learn of thee to renounce mine own will, and patiently to bear the cross that is laid upon me. Thou enduredst for me things more grievous than thou layest upon me: and I have deserved more grievous punishments than thou inflictest. Thou didst bear the crown of thorns, and the burden of the cross; thou didst sweat blood; thou didst tread the winepress for me: Isa. 63.3 Why therefore should I refuse with patience to endure such small sufferings and afflictions? Why should I be loath to be made conformable unto thy sorrowful image in this life? Thou didst drink of the brook of passions in the way: Psal. 110.7. Why then should I deny to drink a small draught out of the cup of the cross? I have by my sins deserved eternal punishments: And why should not I suffer a little in this world a fatherly correction? Rom. 8.29. Those that thou from eternity, before the foundations of the world were laid, didst foreknow, thou hast decreed that they should be made conformable unto the image of thy Son in the time of this life. Therefore if I should not endure patiently this conformity by the cross, I should despise thy holy and eternal counsel concerning my salvation: which far be from me thy unworthy servant! It is for trial and not for denial that thou dost so exercise me with sundry calamities. As much of the cross and tribulation as thou layest upon me, so much light and consolation dost thou confer upon me: neither is my chastisement increased so much as my reward is. The sufferings of this life are not worthy of that heavenly consolation which thou sendest in this life, Rom. 8.18 and that heavenly glory which thou promisest in the life to come. Psal. 91.15 I know that thou art with me in trouble: Why therefore should I not rejoice rather for the presence of thy grace, then be sorrowful for the burden of the cross that is laid upon me? Led me which way thou wilt, thou best Master and Teacher, through thorns and bushes I will follow thee; only do thou draw me, and make me able to follow thee. I submit my head to be crowned with thorns, being fully persuaded that thou wilt hereafter crown me with an everlasting crown of glory. Amen. PRAYER VII. He prays for the gift and increase of gentleness and meekness. O Most gracious Lord, that dost so lovingly and kindly invite us to repentance, and with such long patience dost wait for our conversion: Rom. 2.4. give unto me the riches of long-suffering and meekness. The fire of anger doth flame in my heart, as often as I receive the least detriment from my neighbour: Therefore I humbly pray thee, that by thy Spirit thou wouldst mortify this sinful affection of my flesh. What hard words, and harder blows, and most hard punishments did thy beloved Son endure for me! Who when he was reproached, reproached not again, 1. Pet. 2.23. but referred all to him that judgeth all things most righteously. What pride is this therefore, and stubbornness in me, that I miserable and mortal dust of the earth, and ashes, Gen 18.27 cannot endure a rough word, and overcome with meekness of heart the offence given me by my neighbour! Learn of me, O learn of me, Matt. 11.29. for I am meek and humble in heart; thou criest out, O Christ. Receive me, receive me, with sighs I humbly entreat thee, into that practic school of thy Spirit, that I may learn there true meekness. With what grievous and diverse sins do I offend thee, most gracious Father, whose daily pardon I stand in need of! Why therefore do I being a man harbour anger against man, Ecclus 28. ●· and presume to ask pardon of thee, who art Lord of heaven and earth? Were it not absurd for me to take no pity upon man that is like unto myself, and to ask of thee, Lord, remission of my sins? Matt. 8.35 Unless I shall remit unto my neighbour his offences, neither can I hope for remission of my sins. Therefore, most gracious Lord, that art of much mercy and long-suffering, give unto me the spirit of patience and meekness, that I do not presently conceive anger when my neighbour offendeth me, but that I may shun it, as the enemy of my soul: or if it steal upon me unawares, that I may presently lay it aside. Let not the sun go down upon my wrath, Eph. 4.26. lest it depart as a witness against me: Let not sleep seize upon me whilst I am angry, lest he deliver me in my anger to death his sister. If I desire to take revenge of mine enemy, why do not I set myself against mine anger, which is my greatest and most hurtful enemy, seeing that it kills the ●oul, and makes me subject to eternal death? Set a watch before my mouth, and give me prudence to govern the actions of my life, that I offend not my neighbour either in word or deed. Grant that I may be unto my neighbour by the fragrant smell of my virtues, a sweet scenting rose; and not by offences and detractions a pricking thorn. Grant, good Jesus, that I may insist in the footsteps of thy meekness, and with a sincere heart love my neighbour. Amen. PRAYER VIII. He prays for the gift and increase of chastity. HOly God, thou which art a lover of modesty and chastity, and a severe hater of filthiness and lust, for Christ his sake the most chaste Bridegroom of my soul, I entreat thee to work and increase in me true chastity inward and outward, of the soul and of the body, of the spirit and of the flesh: and chose to extinguish the fire of evil concupiscence that is in my heart. Let the holy fear of thee wound my flesh, that it rush not headlong into the fire of lust. Let the celestial love carry my soul up unto thee, that it cleave not through inordinate love unto the unsavoury things of the world. Shower down a upon me the streams of thy heavenly grace, that the flames of concupiscence may thereby be extinguished, as fiery darts are in the water. My soul was created after thy image, and repaired again by Christ: I should offer great injury unto thee therefore my Creator, and Redeemer, and unto myself also, if I should be-black the beautiful face of my soul with the smoke and stains of dishonest love. Christ dwelleth in my heart: The holy Ghost dwelleth in my heart: Ephes. 3.7. 1. Cor. 3.16. Let him therefore replenish me with the power of his grace, and the largesse of his spiritual gifts, that I may be holy in spirit, and holy in body. 1. Cor. 7.34. Heb. 2.14. Without holiness no man shall see thee, who ●rt the most pure light: As much therefore as thy beautiful vision is to be loved and desired, so detestable and odious let the decrease and loss of chastity be unto me. The holy Spirit is made sorrowful with the sparks of filthy speeches: Eph. 4.30. How much more than with the flaming fire of lust! Bernard of conversion, chap. 2. The very appetite of lust is full of anxiety and folly: The act is full of abomination and ignominy: And the end is full of repentance and shame. The heat thereof ascendeth up into heaven, and the stink thereof descendeth even unto hell: Why therefore should I open the door of my soul to this most filthy enemy, and receive him even into the inward chamber of my heart? Give unto me, thou God of holiness and fortitude, thou Lord of hosts, give unto me the strength of the Spirit, that I may overcome that enemy, which within me fighteth against me: Grant unto me that I may not only abstain from unlawful embracings, and outward acts of filthiness, but also that I may be freed from the inward flames and desires thereof: seeing that thou dost not only require a pure body, but also a pure heart, and dost behold with thy most pure eyes not only the outwards, but the inwards also. Crucify in me (O Christ thou which wast crucified for me) my flesh and the concupiscence thereof, I beseech thee. PRAYER IX. He prays for contempt of earthly things. HOly God, heavenly Father, I call upon thee through thy beloved Son, that by thy holy Spirit thou wouldst withdraw my heart from earthly things, and lift it up unto the desire of heavenly things. As fire by nature doth tend upwards: So let the spiritual fire of love and devotion kindled in my heart, tend to heavenly things. What are these earthly things? They are more brittle than glass, more movable than Euripus, more changeable than the winds. I were a fool therefore, if I should set my heart upon them, and seek rest for my soul in them. We must leave all earthly things when we die, though it be against our wills: Grant therefore that with a free and voluntary affection of the heart, I may first forsake them. Mortify in me the love of the world, that the holy love of thee may increase in me. Preserve me by the aid of thy holy Spirit, that I settle not my love on this world, lest my heart become worldly. 1. Cor. 7.31. The figure of this world passeth away, the momentany glory thereof passeth away: the dissolution both of heaven and earth is at hand: Bend my heart therefore, that I may become a lover of the life that lasteth for ever, and not of this world which soon fleeth away. Whatsoever is in this world, 1. John 2.16. is concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, and pride of life: But how vain a thing is it to love the concupiscence of the flesh! How dangerous a thing is it to satisfy the concupiscence of the eyes! How hurtful a thing is it to make choice of the pride of life! He cannot truly love Christ, which is the heavenly bread of life, that is full with the earthly husks of the swine. He can not freely fly up to God, Luk. 15.16. whose heart is held captive with the love of this world. The love of God cannot enter in there, where the heart is full with the love of this world. Quench in me therefore, O God my love, the desire of earthly things: Take from me this bond of the love of the world; scour the vessel of my heart, that I may love thee with sincere love, and cleave unto thee with a perfect heart. 1. Joh. 2.25. Alas! Why should I love those things which are in the world, seeing that they cannot satisfy my soul which was created for eternity, nor recompense me again love for love? Him shall my soul love, with whom she shall dwell for ever. Thither will I send before the desires of my heart, where eternal glory is prepared for me. Mat. 6.21. Where my treasure is, there shall my heart be also. Psal. 55.6. Give unto me the wings of a dove, that I may fly on high unto thee, and hide myself in the holes of the rock: lest the hell-hunter catch me in the snares of this worldly love, and draw my soul again to earthly things: Let all the world wax bitter unto me, that Christ alone may become sweet unto my soul. Amen. PRAYER X. He prays for denial of himself. O Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, which proclaimest in thy word, Whosoever will be my disciple, Mat. 16, 24. let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me: I entreat thee by thy most precious death and passion, to perfect in me that denial of myself which thou requirest. I know it is easier to forsake all other creatures, then for a man to deny himself. That which I cannot therefore in myself perfect, perfect thou in me I beseech thee. Let the desires of mine own will keep silence, that I may hearken unto thy divine oracles. Let the rootie strings of the love of myself be rooted out of my heart, that the most sweet plants of divine love may grow in me. Let me die wholly unto my self, and mine own concupiscences, that I may live wholly unto thee, and thy will. My will is changeable and movable, wand'ring and unconstant: Grant therefore that I may submit my will to thy will, and cleave inseparably unto thee, who art alone the immutable and eternal good. Then do divine virtues grow in us, when natural strength decays in us us: Then at length are our works done in God, when our own will is mortified in us: Then are we truly in God, and live in him, when we are annihilated and made nothing in ourselves. Therefore, O thou true life, mortify in me mine own will, that I may begin truly to live unto thee. Whatsoever in us aught to be approved, and please God, must from him descend upon us: Therefore, to God alone must all good be ascribed, and to him must we leave that which is his own. Whatsoever doth shine and glitter in us, doth come from the eternal and immutable light, which lighteneth the natural darkness of our minds. Let our light therefore so shine before men, Mat. 5.16. not that we ourselves, but that God may thereby be glorified. O Christ, thou which art the true light, kindle this light of true knowledge in my mind. O Christ, thou which art the true glory of thy Father, work in my heart this abnegation of mine own honour. It is better for me in thee, then in myself: Where I am not, there am I most happy. My infirmity desires to be strengthened by thy virtue: my nothing looketh up unto thy being. Mat. 6▪ 10. Let thy holy will be done in the earth of my flesh, that thy heavenly kingdom may come into my soul. Mortify in me the love of myself, and of mine own honour, that it may not hinder the coming of thy heavenly kingdom. If it be the total good of mankind to love God; than it must needs be the total evil to love himself. If it be the nature and property of the true good to communicate itself: then surely man's love of himself must needs be a great evil; because he challengeth his own and others good unto himself. If all glory be due unto God alone, then is it sacrilege to challenge honour; for he that challengeth it, challengeth that which is another's. Extinguish in me this love of myself and mine honour, O Christ blessed for ever. Amen. PRAYER XI. He prayeth for conquest over the world. Almighty, eternal, and merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, give unto me the grace of thy holy Spirit, that I may get the conquest over all the tentations of the world. The world sets upon me with hatred, flattery, and perverse examples: Teach me to contemn the hatred of the world, to decline her allurements, and to shun the imitation of evil examples. What can the world with her hatred do against me, if thy grace like a buckler protect me? What shall it hurt me though all men should persecute me with hatred, if thou my God dost embrace me with love? Again, what shall it profit me, though all men should love me, if the fury of thine anger shall pursue me? The world passeth away, the hatred of the world passeth away: But the grace of God alone endureth for ever. Remove therefore, O God, out of my heart that inordinate fear, that I be not afraid of the hatred and persecution of the world: But ingraff in my soul a full confidence, and an ardent heat of the spirit, that I may learn to contemn all worldly things, because they are transitory clouds. Mat. 10. 2● Why should I be afraid of them that kill the body, but cannot kill the soul? I will rather reverence and fear him that is able to cast not only the body, but the soul also into the everlasting fire of hell. 1. Joh. 5.4. Our faith is the victory that overcometh the world: For by faith we have an eye unto the joys to come, that so we may with patience endure these present sorrows. By faith we rely upon the divine goodness, that so we may abide humane hatred. Neither doth the world assault me on the left hand only with her hatred, but on the right hand also she laboureth to ensnare me with her fawning allurements. She hath a sting in her tail, but she hath a smooth face. Grant unto me therefore, O Christ, a taste of the sweetness of the heavenly joy, that I may lose the taste of earthly things. The taste of my soul is corrupt, and coveteth after earthly things; and the contempt of the world's allurements doth seem bitter unto it: But thou, the true prizer of things, hast taught me to loath the enticements of the world; and wouldst have my soul to soar aloft after heavenly things. Turn away therefore, O turn away my heart from the allurements of the world, that being turned unto thee, it may enjoy the true and spiritual delights. What have these things profited the lovers of the world after death, to wit, Vain glory, short pleasure, slender power? What hath the momentany pleasure of the flesh, and store of false riches profited? Where are they now, that not many days ago were here with us? There remains nothing of them but ashes and worms. They did eat and drink being secure, they passed their life being made drunk with carnal pleasure: But now their flesh is here given to the worms for meat, and their soul is there tormented in everlasting fire. All their glory is fallen like the flower, and like grass withered. Suffer me not, O God, to follow their steps, lest that I come to the same term of misery: But by the victory of the world lead me unto the crown of celestial glory. Amen. PRAYER XII. He prays for consolation in adversity, and for the true rest of the soul. MOst gracious Father, God of 〈◊〉 hope and consolation, 2. Cor. 1. ● grant unto me in all adversities thy quickening consolation, and the true rest of the soul. I feel much straightness in my heart: But thy consolation shall make glad my soul. Psal. 94.19. Vain and unprofitable is all the comfort of the world: in thee alone is the strength and support of my soul. The weight of diverse calamities presseth me sore: But thy inward speaking unto me, and thy consolation maketh it light. No creature can make me so sorrowful, but thou canst make me much more glad by the spirit of gladness. No adversities can so straiten my heart, but thy grace can much more enlarge it. The fiery heat of sundry calamities doth torment me: But the taste of thy sweetness doth refresh me. Rivers of tears distil from mine eyes: But thy most bountiful hand doth wipe them all away. Rev. 7.17. As thou didst show thy loving countenance to Stephen the first Martyr, Acts 7.56. even in the very heat when his enemies stoned him: So vouchsafe to give unto me in all adversities the joy of thy comfort. As in the most grievous agony of death, thou didst send an angel unto thy Son to comfort him: Luk. 22.43. So in this my wrestling send, I beseech thee, thy holy Spirit to uphold me. Without thy support I fall down under the burden of the cross: Without thy help by the assault of sundry adversities I am cast down flat. Extinguish in me the love of the world, and of the creatures: so shall not the calamities of this world, nor the changeableness of the creatures bring any bitterness unto me. He that with all his heart doth cleave unto the world and to the creatures, can never be made partaker of the true and eternal rest; for all terrestrial things are subject to continual alterations and changes: But whosoever doth not cleave unto the present goods of this life with an inordinate desire, he will not be grieved much for the loss of the same. Pour out, O God, pour out of my heart the love of the world, that the celestial Elisha may pour into the widow's pitcher, that is, 2. Kings 4.2. into my soul devoid of earthly comfort, the oil of celestial joy. Let all earthly things be troubled, and changed, and turned upside down: Yet notwithstanding thou art the immovable foundation and most firm rock of my heart. Psal. 7●. 26. Can a poor and weak creature disturb the quiet of my soul, which I possess in thee my Creator sure and immovable? Can the waves of the world that most unquiet sea, cast down the rock of my heart, which is fixed in thee the chief and immutable good? No: For thy peace passeth all un-understanding, and overcometh the invasion of all adversities. Which inward peace, most bountiful Father, I beg at thy hands with most humble sighs. Amen. PRAYER XIII. He prays for victory in tentations, and deliverance from the devil's treacheries, and invasions. BE present unto me, thou God of Zebaoth, thou God of strength and mercy, that I yield not unto the tentations and invasions of Satan: but being safe by thy guard, and upholden by thy aid, I may become at length the conqueror. Within are fears, 2. Cor. 7.5 without are fights: For within the devil doth wound my soul with venomous and fiery darts of tentations: Without he wearies me with sundry adversities, and a thousand kinds of treacheries. He is a serpent for his subtlety and fallacy, a lion for his violence and invasion, a dragon for his cruelty and oppression. He attempted to assault the very captain of the heavenly host: And will he spare me a common soldier? He did not doubt to set himself in opposition against the very head: And what wonder then if he go about to overthrow a weak member of the mystical body? There is no power in me to withstand him being strong and armed: There is no wisdom in me to escape the snares and 'gins of this engineer, that hath a thousand stratagems. To thee therefore with humble sighs do I betake myself, whose power cannot be termed, and whose wisdom cannot be numbered. Be present with me, O Christ, thou which art the most strong Lion of the tribe of Judah, Rev. ●. 5. that in thee and through thee I may be able to get the conquest over that lion of hell. Thou hast fought and overcome for me: Fight likewise and overcome in me, 2. Cor. 12 9 that thy strength may be perfected in my weakness. Enlighten the eyes of my mind, that I may discern the treacheries of Satan. Direct my feet, that I may escape his hidden snares. Let the victory in tentation be a testimony unto my heart of my heavenly regeneration. Let the presence of thy grace confirm unto me the promise of victory. Furnish me and arm me with the strength of thy fortitude, that in this combat I may be able to stand, and hereafter judge him, 1. Cor. 6.3 of whom I am now oppugned. The more in number, and the more dangerous the treacherous assaults of this enemy are, the more ardently do I flee unto the aid of thy mercy. One while he inspires into me the unsatiable desire of earthly things, that having bound me in the fetters of avarice, he may lead me out of the way of righteousness. Another while he inflames me with the fire of anger, that my heart may burn within me, till I have done my neighbour some mischief. Another while he solicits me to lust, and the love of pleasures. Another while he suggests into my mind envy and ambition. Before he precipitates and throws me headlong into sin, he persuades me it is lighter than the air, or a feather, or an autumn leaf; and this is to make me secure: And when he hath precipitated me into sin, than he tells me it is greater than the universe of heaven and earth, and more weighty than the balance of God's mercy; and this is to make me despair. These so many and so great and treacherous assaults and fallacies I cannot foresee: How much less than shall I be able of myself to escape them? Unto thee therefore do I flee, who art my strength, and the rock of my fortitude for ever. Amen. PRAYER XIIII. He prays for a blessed departure out of this life, and for a blessed resurrection unto life everlasting. O Jesus Christ, Son of the everliving God, thou that wast crucified and raised up again for us, thou that didst destroy our death by thy death, thou that hast merited by thy resurrection a blessed resurrection for us unto life everlasting: I worship thee, I pray unto thee with my whole heart, the only true God, together with the Father and the holy Spirit, to grant unto me a happy egress out of the miseries of this life, and a blessed ingress in the resurrection, and in the day of judgement unto life everlasting. I know that there is an appointed term of my life in thy divine determination, Heb. 9.27. and that after death follows judgement. Be present with me in the hour of death, thou that suffered'st death for me on the cross: Protect me in the day of judgement, thou that wast for me unjustly condemned. When the tabernacle of this my earthly house shall be dissolved, 2. Cor. 5.1. lead my soul into an habitation in my heavenly country. When my eyes shall be darkened in the agony of death, kindle in my heart the light of saving faith. When my ears shall be stopped in the hour of death, speak unto me inwardly by thy Spirit, and comfort me. When a cold sweat doth come forth out of my dying members, make me to remember thy bloody sweat, Luke 22.44. which is a sufficient ransom for my sins, and a defensive remedy for me against death. In thy sweat there appeareth fervency, in thy blood a price, and in the running down thereof sufficiency. When my speech shall begin to fail me in that last agony, grant that I may sigh unto thee by the grace of thy holy Spirit. When those extreme distresses seize upon my heart, be thou present with me by the consolation and help of thy quickening grace, and take me into thy charge and tuition when all other creatures deny me aid. Grant unto me that I may patiently endure all horrors and troubles: and bring my soul at length out of this prison. I beseech thee by thy most sacred wounds which thou enduredst in thy passion upon the cross for me, to grant unto me that I may be able to quench the fiery darts of Satan, Eph. 6.16▪ wherewith he doth strike at me in the hour of death. I beseech thee by those most bitter torments which thou suffered'st, that I may be able to endure and overcome all the violent invasions of the infernal powers. Let my last word in this life be the same with which thou didst consummate all upon the cross: and receive my soul, Luke 23.46. which thou hast redeemed with so dear a price, when I shall commend it into thy hands. Let a blessed resurrection follow a blessed death: In that great day of thy severe judgement, deliver me from that cruel sentence, thou which in my life didst with thy ready help protect me. Let my sins be covered with the shadow of thy grace, Psal. 32.1. Mic. 7.19. and overwhelmed in the bottom of the sea. 1. Sam. 25.29. Let my soul be bound up in the bundle of the living, that with all the elect I may come into the fellowship of everlasting joy. Amen. The fourth Part. Of Supplications for others. The Argument. The meditation of our neighbour's wants and indigencies, concern, the common good and welfare of the Church and Commonwealth, an● makes us look upon others miseries as our own. This is the fruit of true and sincere charity, which binds us altogether into one mystical body, under one head, which is Christ; and commends unto us a serious care of the whole Church, and of all the particular members thereof. That is not a true member of the body, which labours not, as much as in it lies, to preserve in safety the whole structure of the body: That is not a true member of the 〈…〉 that suffereth. And the same reason is of force in the mystical body of Christ. Whosoever therefore is a true and a living member of the Christian Church, let him daily Pray For the conservation of the word: For pastors and people: For magistrates and subjects: and, For the Economical and household estate. For these are those three Hierarchies, and ho●y magistracies, 〈◊〉 by God for the safety and preservation of this life, and fo● the propagation and increase of the heavenly kingdom Let him pray also For his kinsfolk, and his benefactors, to whom he must acknowledge himself to be bound in some special bond of duty. Let him pray For his enemies and persecutors, and seriously desi●e their conversion and salvation. Let him pray likewise For all those that are afflicted and in misery, and show h●●●elf to be moved with a fellow-feeling of their calamities. PRAYER I. He prays for the conservation and continuance of the word, and for the propagati●● and increase of the Church. Almighty, eternal, and merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that by thy holy Spirit dost gather thy Church out of mankind, and in it dost keep the heavenly doctrine committed unto it: In humility I adore and worship thee, and pray unto thee, that thou wouldst be pleased to continue unto us the saving doctrine of thy word inviolable, and every day propagate and enlarge the bounds of thy Church. Thou hast of thine infinite mercy lighted unto us that were in the darkness of this world, the light of thy word: Suffer not therefore the clouds of humane traditions to extinguish it, or to obscure it. Thou hast given unto us thy word for the wholesome meat of our souls: Suffer it not therefore by the delusion of the devil and the corruption of men, to be turned into poison. Mortify in us the sinful lusts of the flesh, that thirsteth after earthly things; that so we may taste the spiritual delicates of thy word which is that heavenly Manna: No man can feel the sweetness thereof, but he that will taste: and no man can taste, whose palate is corrupted with abundance of worldly delights. Thy word is the word of spirit and life, of light and grace. Take away therefore the carnal affections, and the corrupt senses of our hearts; that it may shine to us within, and be a light to lead us unto the light of everlasting life. From the light of thy word let there arise in our hearts the light of saving faith, that in thy light we may see light, in the light of thy word, Psal. 36.9. the light of thy Son. As in the old time that heavenly Manna descended in the wilderness with a wholesome dew: So likewise by the hearing of thy word let our hearts be filled with the fire of the Spirit, that our cold and lukewarm flesh may be excited, and may be tempered against the boilings of sinful lusts. Let the seed of thy word take deep root in our hearts, that by the dew of thy holy Spirit watering it, it may bring forth wholesome fruit, and plentiful increase like standing-corn. Protect, O Lord, Psal. 80.15 Isa. 5.2. the vineyard of thy Church, in which thy word is as seed scattered, and fruit is gathered unto everlasting life Set an hedge of angelical guard round about it, that the wild boars and the foxes break it not down: the wild boars by violent persecutions, and the foxes by fraudulent delusions. Erect up in it an high tower of thy fatherly providence, that by thy custody it may be free from all devastation. But if thou shalt at any time think good to press the grapes of this vineyard in the press of the cross, and of calamities, let them be ripened first by the heat of thy grace; that they may yield the most delicious fruits of faith and patience. Whatsoever is put into the root of the vine, is converted in the grapes into the most sweet liquor of wine: Grant, I beseech thee, that whatsoever shall happen unto us in this life, whether scoffings, persecutions, praises, or whatsoever else, our souls may turn it into the wine of faith, hope, and charity, and into the fruit of patience and humility. Out of this militant Church translate us at length into the Church triumphant: And let this tabernacle of clay be changed into that most beautiful and everlasting temple of the heavenly Jerusalem. Amen. PRAYER II. He supplicates for pastors and their hearers. O Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, our alone Mediator and Redeemer, who being exalted at the right hand of the Father, dost send pastors and teachers of thy word, by whose ministry thou dost gather together unto thee thy Church amongst us: I humbly entreat thee, Eph. 4.11. the only true God, together with the Father and the holy Spirit, to govern these thy ministers in the way of truth, and to turn the hearts of their hearers unto the true obedience of the faith. There is no state or condition of men that is more subject to the hatred and treacheries of Satan, than the ministers of thy word: Defend them therefore by the buckler of thy grace, and furnish them with the strength of patience, that Satan by his sleights may not supplant them. Give, I beseech thee, unto thy ministers, that knowledge that is necessary for them, and a pious vigilancy in all their actions; that they may first learn of thee, before they presume to teach others: Govern and illuminate their hearts by thy Spirit; that being in the place of God, 1. Pet. 4.11. th●● preach nothing else but the oracles 〈◊〉 God. Let them feed the flock that is committed unto them, Acts 20.28. which thou hast bought and redeemed with the precious blood. Joh. 21.15 Let them feed the flock out of true and sincere love, and not for covetousness and ambition. Let them feed them with their mind, with their mouth, and with their works. Bern. 2. sermon of the resurrection, col. 134. Let them feed them with the sermon of the mind, with the exhortation of the word, and with their own example; that they may be followers of his steps, to whom the cure of the Lords flock was three several times commended. Stir them up; Heb. 13.17. that they may watch ●ver the souls that are committed ●nto them, as being to give a strict accounted for them in the day of judgement. Whatsoever they exhort by ●he word of their holy preaching, Greg. 3. book of Pastoral Cure, cap. ●. let them studiously labour to demonstrate the same in their actions: lest that being lazy themselves, and loath to work, they labour in vain to stir up others. Unto what good works ●oever they stir up others, let them shine by the same first themselves, being set on fire by the holy Spirit. Before the words of exhortation be heard, let them first proclaim by their works, whatsoever they shall speak with their tongues. Thrust forth faithful labourers into thy harvest; Mat. 9 38. that they may gather together many handfuls of saints. Act. 16.14 Open likewise the hearts of the hearers; that they may receive the seed with holy obedience. Give unto them thy grace; that with a pure heart they may keep thy holy word committed unto them, and bring forth plentiful fruit with patience. Let them hearken attentively; let them hear carefully; let them practise fruitfully: that the word which is preached unto them, for want of faith condemn them not in the last day. John 12.48. Heb 4.2 Isa. 55.11 There is a notable promise of thy bounty, that thy word shall not return unto thee spoken i● vain: Be mindful of this thy promise, and bless the labour of him that planteth, and him that watereth. Suffer not the infernal crows to pick out of the field of the hearer's hearts, 1. Cor. 3 7 M●t. 13.4. the seed of thy holy word. Suffer not the spiny thicket of the thorns of pleasures, Luke 8.14 and riches, to choke it. Suffer not the hardness of the stony ground to hinder the fructification of it: 13. But pour down the dew of thy heavenly grace from above, and water thy heavenly seed; that the fruit of good works like standing-corn may spring up most plenteously. Knit together in a near bond of love and charity the hearts of the pastors and of the hearers: that they may labour together with mutual prayers, and raise up one another with mutual comfort. Amen. PRAYER III. He prays for Magistrates and subjects. ALmighty, eternal, and merciful God, Lord of hosts, that dost translate and establish kingdoms, Dan. 2.21. Rom. 13.1▪ from whom is all power in heaven and in earth, whom the Angels in heaven adore, whom the Archangel's praise, whom the Thrones worship, to whom Dominations are subject, and Principalities serve, whom Rulers honour, and Powers reverence: I join my prayers and humble requests with those holy and powerful spirits, and call upon thee, to replenish our magistracy here on earth with the spirit of wisdom, and to protect it with the strength of thy fortitude. Be present by thy grace with all Christian Kings and Governors: that the greater their dangers be in respect of the highness of their state, the greater they may find the abundance of thy grace towards them. Kindle in their hearts the light of thy heavenly wisdom: that they may know and acknowledge themselves to be subject unto thee the Lord of all, and to be thy vassals, and that they are bound to give unto thee hereafter an account of their government. Let them study for peace, seeing that they are thy servants, who art the God of peace: Let them study for justice, seeing that they are thy servants, who art the God of justice: Let them study for clemency and mercy, seeing that they are thy servants, who art the God of mercy: Let them keep and observe both the tables of the commandments, and become nursing-fathers' unto thy afflicted Church upon earth: Let them put on a fatherly affection toward their subjects: Let them always administer right judgement: Draw their hearts away from the splendour and brightness of their earthly dominion, that there creep not upon them a forgetfulness of true godliness, and of the heavenly kingdom. Govern them by thy holy Spirit, that they be not highminded, and that they abuse not the authority that is granted unto them, Isidor. 3. book, 48 chap. and do that which is wicked. Grant that in this world they may so execute their functions, that they may reign with thy elect without end in the kingdom of heaven: and that they may pass from the flitting glory of this present world, to everlasting glory in the world to come. Rule them and keep them in, that they tyrannize not over thy people, and so descend, for all their costly robes & precious gems, naked and miserable, to be tormented in the pit of hell. And unto us, whom thou hast made subject to them as thy Vicars and Vicegerents, give an obedient heart, and ready mind to serve them with all readiness and cheerfulness, that under their government we may lead a peaceable and quiet life, 1. Tim. 2. ● in all godliness and honesty: that we may honour them, and perform loyal obedience unto them, knowing that they have just power and dominion over us; and that we may obey their honest and godly commands, and so by submitting ourselves unto the laws, be made partakers of the true liberty. For this is true liberty, To serve God, the magistracy, and the laws. Let us honour them with our hearts, with our mouths, and with our works: because thou (O most gracious God) hast made them thy Vicegerents here on earth. Let the eyes of the Magistrates be watchful, Prov. 20.12. and seeing: let the ears of the subjects be open, and hearing: And let the gates of heaven be hereafter set wide open to them both, to receive them. Amen. PRAYER FOUR He prays for the private family, and household estate. ALmighty and merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who besides the Ecclesiastical ministry, and the Politic government, hast appointed also in thy most wise counsel an economical and household estate: I adore thee, I worship thee, I call upon thee with my whole heart, to keep holy that Nursery of the Church and Common-weal. Give unto virgins, widows and married persons true sanctity of mind, and pure chastity of body: Let virgins cleave unto thee without any distraction: Let widows persevere in prayers and supplications night and day: 1. Tim. 5.5 Let those that are married love one another with mutual love: Let them all serve thee, with their whole heart in holiness: Let the marriagebed be undefiled, Heb. 13.4. and let the minds of them all be unspotted: Let them be violets of humility, and lilies of chastity: Let them be roses of charity, and balsam of sanctity. Tie the hearts of them that are knit together in holy wedlock, with the bond of chaste love: that they may mutually embrace and obey one another, and persevere in thy holy service. Preserve thou them from the treacheries of Asmodeus, that they burn not with mutual hatred one towards the other. Tob. 3.8. Let the wife be an help unto her husband, Gen. 2.20. and comfort him in adversity: Let the indissoluble bond of matrimony be a token and seal unto us of the love that is between Christ and the Church. Eph. 5.3▪ By how much the nearer the society is between the man and the wife: by so much the more fervent let their zeal be in prayer. By how much the more obnoxious and subject they are to dangers and calamities: by so much the more conjoined let their minds be in piety and prayer. Be present by thy grace with religious parents, Eph. 6.4. that they may bring up their children in holy admonitions and instructions and good discipline: Let them acknowledge those fruits of wedlock to be thy gift, and restore them again unto thee by godly and faithful instruction: Let them shine before them by the example of their godly life, and not become guilty of that grievous sin of scandal. Bend likewise the hearts of the children, that they may perform due obedience unto their parents: that they may become sweet-smelling plants of the heavenly paradise, and not unprofitable wood adjudged to the flames of hellfire. Let them cast forth a most pleasant smell of piety, obedience, reverence, and all kind of virtue: that they fall not into that most filthy sink of sin, and so consequently into the pit of hell. Let them remember the commandment of honouring their parents: let them be careful to recompense their parents after the manner of storks: let them remember to feed them as they have been fed by them, that they precipitate not themselves into the gulf of sundry evils. Let parents and children with joint desires study in this life to worship thee the true God: that they may bear parts in consort, and together praise thee in the life to come. Eph. 6.5. Let servants obey their masters with alacrity, and with fear, and with singleness of heart: not with eye-service, or to please men, but as it becometh the servants of Christ. In like manner, let masters embrace their servants with fatherly kindness: that they turn not their just government into tyrannical cruelty. Let their society in their private house be an economical private Church, beloved of God, and of the angels. Amen. PRAYER V. He prays for parents, brethren, sisters, kinsfolk, and benefactors. MOst holy and merciful God, from whom large heaps of sundry benefits descend down upon us; who hast given unto me kinsfolk and benefactors to be helps unto me in this present life: I beseech thee to bestow upon them in the life to come everlasting rewards. Those whom thou hast joined unto me in a special bond of nature and blood, I do specially commend unto thy protection. Those unto whom I do owe special love and respect, with serious and fervent prayers I commend unto thy keeping. Grant that my kinsfolk may with joint consent and unanimity serve thee in the true faith, and with true piety: that they may receive all of them hereafter a crown of eternal glory. Unto my parents whom thou hast made, next after thee, the authors of my life, and my informers in true piety, I cannot by any means render deserved rewards: I humbly beseech thee therefore, who art the author of all good, and the rewarder of all benefits, to recompense their benefits here with temporal rewards, and hereafter with eternal. Let the example of Christ thy Son, who about the agony of his death commended unto his disciple the care of his mother, let his example teach me even to the last breath to take care for my parents. Let nature itself, by the example of the stork, teach me that I owe perpetual thanks and rewards unto them for their merits. Unto thee, merciful Father, I commend the care and tuition of my brethren, sisters, and kinsfolk: Let them become the brethren and sisters of Christ, and so heirs of the kingdom of heaven. Let us all be joined together in the kingdom of grace, whom thou hast joined together in the life of nature: And let us all, together with those whom by death thou hast separated from us, and taken unto thyself, let us all at length be joined together in the kingdom of glory. Make us all citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, as thou hast made us in this life members of the true Church. The same likewise I entreat of thee for all my benefactors, whose health and welfare both of soul and body I am bound to desire and further even by the law of nature. Receive them into the everlasting tabernacles of the city which is above, whom thou hast used as thy instruments to confer upon me so many and so liberal benefits. My heart propoundeth unto thee the infallible promise of thy word; that thou wilt of thy mere free grace recompense even a cup of cold water: Mat. 10.42. How much more then wilt thou be liberal and bountiful to those that with full hand bestow benefits of all kinds upon those that want! Let not thy graces cease to run down upon them, that pour forth so plentifully upon others. Let the fountain of thy goodnsse always spring unto them, from whom such plentiful rivers of liberality do flow. Grant, I beseech thee, most merciful God, that they which sow temporal things so liberally, 1. Cor. 9 ●●. may re●p with much increase things spiritual. Fill their souls with joy, that feed the bodies of the poor with meat. Let not the fruit of their bounty perish, though they show it by bestowing of the goods that perish. Give unto them that give unto others, thou that art the giver of every good gift, blessed for ever. Amen. PRAYER VI He prays for enemies and persecutors. LOrd Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, that hast prescribed us in thy word this rule of charity; Love your enemies, Mat. 5.44. bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you: I beseech thee, who art most gracious, and most ready to forgive, to forgive mine enemies, and the persecutors of the Church. Give unto me the grace of thy holy Spirit, that I may not only forgive mine enemies from mine heart, but also pray for their health and salvation even from my soul. Whet not against them the sword of severe revenge, but anoint their heads with the oil of thy mercy and compassion. Extinguish the sparks of hatred and anger that are in their hearts, that they break not forth into the infernal flames of hell. Let them know and acknowledge that our life is but a vapour and a smoke that soon vanisheth away; Jam. 4.14. that our body is but ashes and dust that flieth away: that they bear not immortal anger in their mortal bodies, nor entertain into this brittle tabernacle of clay their souls enemy. Let them know likewise, that inveterate hatred is their greatest enemy: because it kills the soul, and excludes them from the participation of heavenly life. Illuminate their minds, that they beholding the glass of thy divine mercy, may see the deformity of anger and hatred. Govern their wills, that being moved by the example of thy divine forgiveness, they may leave off and cease to be angry and to do harm. Grant unto me, merciful God, that, as much as in me lies, I may have peace with all men: ●om. 12.8. ●ph. 4.4. and turn the hearts of mine enemies to brotherly reconcilement. Let us walk with unanimity and concord in the way of this life, seeing that we hope all for a place in our celestial country. Let us not disagree upon earth, seeing ●hat we all desire to live together hereafter in heaven. We all call upon thee, our Lord, & our God which art in heaven: And it is not meet for the servants of the same Lord to fall out one with another. We are one mystical body under Christ our head: And it is base and shameful for the members of the same body to fight one with another. Eph. 4.5. They which have one faith and one baptism, aught to have one spirit and one mind. Neither do I pray alone for my private enemies, but also for the public enemies and persecutors of the Church: O thou which art truth itself, bring them into the way of truth: O thou which art power itself, bring to nought their bloody endeavours and attempts. Let the brightness of the heavenly truth open their blind eyes, that the raging madness and desire to persecute, which they have in their minds, may hereafter cease. Let them know, O Lord, and acknowledge that it is not only a vain thing, but also very dangerous, Acts 9.5. to kick against the pricks. Why do they imitate the fury of wolves, when as they know that the blood of Christ the immaculate Lamb was poured 〈◊〉 for us? Why do they thirst to shed that innocent blood, for which they know that the blood of the very Son of God was poured ●orth upon the altar of the cross? Convert them, O Lord, that they may be converted unto thee from their heart, and so obtain the fruit of their conversion in this life, and in that which is to come. Amen. PRAYER VII. He supplicates for those that are afflicted and in misery. ALmighty, eternal, and merciful God, 1. Tim 4.10. which art the Saviour of all men, especially of the faithful, and by thy Apostle hast commanded us to make prayers for all men: 1. Tim. 2.1. I entreat thee for all those that are afflicted and in misery, that thou wouldst support them by the consolation of thy grace, and succour them by the aid of thy power. Endue with power and strength from above those that labour and sweat in the most grievous agony of Satan's tentations: Make them partakers of thy victory, O Christ, thou which didst most powerfully overcome Satan: Let the cooler of thy heavenly comfort raise up those, whose bones are become dry with the fire of grief and sorrow. Bear up all those that are ready to fall, Psal. 145.14. and raise up those that are already fallen. Be merciful unto those that are sick and diseased, and grant that the disease of the body may be unto them the medicine of the soul; and the adversities of the flesh, the remedies of the spirit. Let them know that diseases are the handmaids of sin, and the forerunners of death. Give unto them the strength of faith and patience, O thou which art the most true Physician both of soul and body. Restore them again unto their former health, if it be for the everlasting salvation of their souls. Protect all those that are great with child, and those that be in labour: Thou art he that dost deliver children out of the straits of their mother's womb, and dost propagate mankind by thy blessing: be present with those that be in labour, O thou lover and giver of life: that they be not oppressed with an immoderate weight of sorrows. Nourish those that are orphans and destitute of all help and succour. Defend the widows that are subject to the reproaches of all men, thou which hast called thyself the Father of the fatherless, Psal. 68.5. and the judge and defender of the widows. Let the tears of the widows, which flow down from their cheeks, break through the clouds, and rest not until they come before thy throne. Hear those that be in danger by sea, which cry to thee, and send up their sighs unto thee, seeing before their eyes their neighbours suffer shipwreck. Restore liberty unto those that are captive: that with a thankful heart they may sing of thy bounty. Confirm those that suffer persecution for righteousness sake: Mat. 5.10 that they may get the conquest over all their enemies, and purchase the everlasting crown of martyrdom. Be present with all those that be in danger and calamity: and grant that they may possess their souls in true patience, and denying their own wills, take up their cross. Matt. 16.12. Let them follow him under the cross, on whom they believe that he died for us upon the cross. And especially I commend unto thee, most gracious Father, those which are about the gates of death, and are between time and eternity, and wrestle with all their strength with that last enemy. Confirm them, O thou most potent Conqueror of death: Deliver them, O most glorious Captain and Author of life: that they be not overwhelmed in the waves of tentations, but by thy conduct they may be brought unto the haven of everlasting rest. Have mercy upon all men, thou which art the Creator of all: Have mercy upon all men, thou which art the Redeemer of all. To thee be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen. FINIS. The sum of Gerard's prayers reduced into a form of morning prayer for the use of an English family. The four capital words signify the four parts of Gerard's prayers, and the Arithmetical figures point 〈◊〉 every prayer of those parts. HOly God and just Judge. Thine eyes are more pur● than the sun, and cannot behold any thing that is unclear▪ The Cherubims and Seraphims cover their faces before thy glorious majesty: The heavens of heavens are not clean in thy sight. How the● shall earth, sinful earth, dust and ashes appear before thee? We presume not, O Lord, to come before th● tribunal, to plead for our righteousness; for all our righteousness is a● filthy rags: But we prostrate ourselves with all humility of body and soul at thy mercy-seat, to make CONFESSION of our sins. Hear Lord, and have mercy! We confess that ¹ We sinned in the loins of our first parents; we were conceived in sin; we were shapen in iniquity. ² In our childhood original sin brought forth actual: and actual sins have increased in us ever since, as our days have increased. Who can reckon up the sins of his youth? Who can tell how oft he offendeth? The just man sinneth seven times a day: But ³ We have sinned seventy times seven times every day. ●, ⁵ All thy holy laws and commandments we have broken in thought, word, and deed. ⁶ We have been partakers of other men's sins. ⁷ We are many ways convinced of our sins: We are convinced ⁸ By the contrition of heart, and the testimony of our conscience: ⁹ By the greatness of thy mercy, and thy benefits bestowed upon us: 10 By the severity of thy ●ustice declared in the death and passion of thy Son our Saviour jesus Christ. Thou art an holy God; and nearest not sinners: Thou art a just Judge; and thy justice must be satisfied. We are sinners; and the wages of sin is death: Thy justice must be satisfied; or else we cannot escape death. We have nothing of our own to give for the ransom of our souls: Therefore we offer unto thee, holy Father, that which is not ours, but thy Sons: ¹ For our original sin, we offer unto thee, just Judge, his original righteousness, who is righteousness itself; for our conception in sin, we offer unto thee his most sacred conception, who was conceived by the holy Ghost; for our birth in sin, we offer unto thee his most pure nativity, who was born of a pure virgin. ² For the offences of our youth, we offer unto thee his most perfect innocence, in whose mouth was found no guile. ³ For our daily slips and falls, we offer unto thee his most perfect obedience, who made it his meat and drink to do thy will in all things. 4, ⁵ For our often breach of thy commandments, we offer unto thee his most perfect righteousness, who fulfilled all thy commandments. ⁶ For our communicating in other men's sins, we offer unto thee his most perfect righteousness communicated unto us. 7, 8, 9, 10 For our most wicked and ungodly life, we offer unto thee his ●ost cruel and bitter death. For us was he conceived, for us was he ●orn, for us was he crucified: His ●loud still cries unto thee in our behalf, Father forgive them. Accept, ●e beseech thee, the inestimable ●rice of thy Son's blood for a full ●nd plenary satisfaction for all our ●innes: yea, O Lord, we know that ●hou hast accepted it already. Therefore with confidence we put ●p our PETITIONS unto thee. As ●hou hast redeemed us by thy Son, ●o also we beseech thee to sanctify us ●y thy holy Spirit. ¹ Mortify in us ●very day more and more all sinful ●usts and affections, and quicken in ●s all saving graces and virtues. ² Increase our faith. ³ Confirm our hope. Inflame our charity. Teach us to imitate the life of Christ, the true pattern of perfect obedience, and only ●●ue rule of a godly life. Teach us ● Humility, ⁶ Patience, ⁷ Meekness, Gentleness, ⁸ Chastity, Temperance. Teach us ⁹ To contemn all earthly ●hings, 10 To deny ourselves, 11 To overcome the world. 12 Grant us consolation in adversity, and true tranquillity of the mind. Grant us ¹³ Victory in tentations, and deliverance from the devil's treacheries. Grant us in thine appointed time ¹⁴ A blessed departure out of this life, and a blessed resurrection unto life everlasting. We pray not for ourselves alone, but in obedience to thy commandm●● we make our SUPPLICATIONS unto thee for all men. ¹ Save and defend thy universal Church: enlarge thou her borders, and propagate thy Gospel. ³ Bless all Christian kings and governor's, especially thy servant Charles our most gracious King and governor: Bless together with him our gracious Queen Mary: Bless unto them, and us, and our posterity after us, our hopeful Prince Charles▪ season him betimes with true religion, that he may be an instrument of thy glory, the joy of his parents, and the blessing of thy people. Remember David and all his troubles, the Lady Elisabeth our King's only sister, & her princely issue. Suffer them not still to mourn in a strange land: out restore them, if it be thy will, to ●heir former inheritance. Bless all ●ur kings loyal subjects from the ●ighest unto the lowest: Give unto ●he Senators counsel and wisdom: To the magistrates justice and fortitude; to those that are under them Christian subjection and obedience: To the ministers of thy word holiness of life, and soundness of doctrine; to the hearers of thy word di●●gent attention to the word preached, and a care and conscience to live ●hereafter. Bless ⁴ Every family in his kingdom, this especially and all ●hat belong unto it. Bless our ⁵ pa●ents, brethren, sisters, kinsfolk, benefactors and friends. ⁶ Forgive our enemy's. ⁷ Show pity and compassion to all those that are afflicted and 〈◊〉 misery: Relieve them according to their several wants and necessity's. Be thou a Father to the ●therlesse, a Comforter to the comfortless, a Deliverer to the ca●tives, and a Physician to the sick: ●rant that the sickness of their bo●ies may make for the good of their ●uls: Especially we beseech thee to be present with those that are at the point to die: Fit them for their journey before their departure: Ar● them with faith and patience: Seal unto them by thy holy Spirit the pardon and forgiveness of all their sins: And so let thy servants depart in peace, and be translated from death to life, to live with thee for evermore. Hear us, we beseech thee, praying for our brethren, hear out brethren for us, and Jesus Christ our elder brother for us all: We know, O Lord, that thou hearest him always. Hear us likewise, we beseech thee, for his sake, and accept our THANKSGIVING. We render most hearty thanks unto thee for our Saviour's ⁴ Incarnation, for his ⁵ Passion, for our ³ Redemption by his most precious blood: We thank thee for ¹ forming us in our mother's womb, for ¹² washing us in the laver of baptism, for ⁶ c●lling us by thy word, for ⁷ expecting our conversion, for ⁸ converting us unto the faith, for ²³ strengthening our faith by the participation of Christ's body and blood, for ⁹ sealing unto us the pardon of our sins, for ¹⁵ giving us a promise of everlasting life: We thank thee for all other thy blessings ¹¹ corporal and spiritual, internal and external, for our ¹⁰ continuance in that which is good, for ¹⁴ deliverance from all evil: We thank thee for thy often deliverances of this Church and kingdom from foreign invasions, and homebred conspiracies. We thank thee for ² preserving us ever since we were born, for defending us this night passed from all perils and dangers, for the quiet rest wherewith thou hast refreshed our bodies, for thy mercy renewed unto us this morning. Let thy mercy be continued unto us this day, let thy Spirit direct us in all our ways, that we may walk before thee as children of the light, doing those things that are pleasing in thy sight. Let the dew of thy blessing descend upon our labours: for without thy blessing all our labour is but in vain. Prosper thou the works of our hands upon us, O prosper thou our handiwork: Grant that we may consci●onably in our callings so seek after things temporal, that finally we lose not the things which be eternal. We are unworthy, O Lord, we confess, to obtain any thing at thy hands, either for ourselves or any others, even for the sinfulness of these our prayers: But thou hast promised to hear all those that call upon thee in thy Son's name: Make good therefore, we beseech thee, thy promise unto us now calling upon thee in thy Son's name, and praying as he hath taught us in his holy Gospel, OUr Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name: Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven: Give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. An Evening prayer for a family, gathered here and there out of Gerard's Meditations and Prayers. MOst glorious Lord God, whose dwelling is in the highest heavens, and yet beholdest the lowly and the humble upon earth, we blush and are ashamed to lift up our eyes unto heaven, because we have sinned against thee which dwellest in the heavens: But look down, we beseech thee, from heaven thy dwellingplace, and behold the humility of thy servants here on earth, which prostrate themselves at the footstool of thy mercy, confessing their own guiltiness, and begging pardon for their sins. We confess, Almighty Creator, that thou madest us at the first after thine own image, thou clothedst us with innocence as with a garment, thou seatedst us in paradise a place of all delight and pleasure: But we have defaced thine image, we have cast off our first covering, we have thrust ourselves out of that pleasant place. We ran away from thee, and were not obedient unto thy voice: We were lost and condemned before we came into this world: Our first parents sinned against thee, and we sinned in them: They were corrupted, and we are inheriters of their corruption: They were the parents of disobedience, and we are by nature the children of wrath: Sinful and unhappy children of sinful and unhappy parents! Thou mightest in thy displeasure after their fall have plunged them into the bottomless pit, and made them the fuel of hell, and sent their posterity after them: And neither they nor we could justly have complained. Righteous, O Lord, art thou in thy judgements: And our misery is from ourselves. But great was thy mercy unto us. We came into this world in a flood of uncleanness, wallowing in our mother's blood; and thou didst set open a fountain for us to wash in: We were washed in the laver of Baptism; and we have returned with the swine to our wallowing in the mire. We came from a place of darkness into this world, we lived as children of darkness, we sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death: Thou gavest us thy word to be a lantern unto our feet, and a light unto our paths, that in thy light we might see light; that so walking in the way of truth, we might attain everlasting life: But we have loved darkness more than light, and have not been obedient unto thy word. We came into this world crooked even from our mother's womb; and thou gavest us thy law to be a glass wherein we might see our deformity, and a rule whereby to square all our actions, words, and thoughts: But we have shut our eyes that we might not see, and we have refused to be ruled by thy law: The law of sin in our flesh doth daily captivate us. The root of original sin which lieth hidden in us, doth every day put forth new branches: All the parts and faculties of our bodies and souls are as so many instruments of unrighteousness to fight against thy divine Majesty. Our hearts imagine wicked things, our mouths utter them, and our hands put them in practice. Thy mercies every day are renewed unto us, and our sins are every day multiplied against thee: In the day of health and prosperity we forget thee, and we never think upon the day of sickness and adversity. Thy benefits heaped upon us do not allure us to obey thee: Neither do thy judgements inflicted upon others make us afraid to offend thee. What couldst thou, O Lord, have done more for us, or what could we have done more against thee? Thou didst send thy Son in the fullness of time to take our nature upon him, to fulfil thy law for us, and to be crucified for our sins: We have not followed the example of his holy life, but have every day afresh crucified him by our sins. And now O Lord, if we shall become our own judges, we cannot but confess that we have ●eserved everlasting torments in hellfire. But there is mercy with thee, O Lord; therefore will we not despair. Our sins are many in number: But thy mercies are without number. The weight of our sins is great: But the weight of thy Son's cross was greater. Our sins press us down unto hell: But thy mercy in Christ Jesus raiseth us up. By Satan we are accused: But by Jesus Christ we are defended. By the law we are convicted: But by Jesus Christ we are justified. By our own conscience we are condemned: But by Jesus Christ we are absolved. In us there is nothing but sin, death, and damnation: In him there is treasured up for us righteousness, life, and salvation. We are poor: He is our riches. We are naked: He is our covering. We are exposed to thy fury pursuing us: He is the buckler of our defence, and our refuge: He is the rock of our salvation, and in him do we trust: His wounds are the clefts of the rock: Give us, we beseech thee, the wings of a Dove, that by faith we may hide ourselves in the clefts of this rock, that thine anger wax not hot against us to consume us: Let not thy justice triumph in our confusion, but let thy mercy rejoice in our salvation. Pardon the sinful course of our life past, and guide us by thy holy Spirit for the time to come: Amend what is amiss, increase all gifts and graces which thou hast already given, and give unto us what thou best knowest to be wanting. Be gracious and favourable to thy whole church; especially to that part thereof which thou hast committed unto the protection of thy servant and our Sovereign King Charles: Grant that he may see it flourishing in peace and prosperity, in the profession and practice of thy Gospel all the days of his life; and after this life ended, crown him, we beseech thee, with a crown of immortal glory. Let not the sceptre of this kingdom depart from his house, neither let there be wanting a man of his race to sit upon his throne so long as the sun and moon endureth. Of this thou hast given us a pledge already, in blessing the fruit of the Queen's womb. Let the Queen still be like a fruitful vine: And let the Prince grow up like a plant in thine house. Let thy mercy be extended to the Lady Elisabeth our King's only sister, and her princely issue. How long, Lord just and true, how long shall their enemies prevail, and say, There, there, so would we have it? It is time for thee to lay to thine hand: for they have laid waste their dwellingplace. Arise, O Lord, and let their enemies be scattered, and let them that hate them flee before them. Carry them back again into their own country (if it may be for thy glory and their good) make them glad with the joy of thy countenance, and let them rejoice under their own vines. We return home again, and beseech thee to be gracious and merciful to the King's Counsel, the Nobility, the Magistracy, the Ministry, the Gentry, and the Commonalty. Give unto those whom thou hast used as instruments for our good, rewards temporal and eternal. Forgive those that be our enemies, and turn their hearts. Forget not those that groan under the cross. Cloth the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick, deliver the captives, defend the fatherless and widows, relieve the oppressed, confirm and strengthen those that suffer persecution for righteousness sake, cure those that are broken in heart, speak peace unto their consciences that are tormented with the sense of their sins, suffer them not to be swallowed up in despair. Stand by those that are ready to depart out of this life: When their eyes shall be darkened in the agony of death, kindle in their hearts the light of saving faith: when their ●ares shall be stopped, let thy Spirit speak unto them inwardly and comfort them: and when the house of their earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved, than Lord receive their souls. As we have made bold to make our prayers and supplications unto thee for ourselves and others: So also we render unto thee all possible praise and thanksgiving for all thy benefits bestowed upon ourselves and others. We thank thee in special for our election, creation, redemption, vocation, justification, for all the blessed means of our sanctification, and for the assured hope of our future glorification: We thank thee for our health, maintenance, and liberty, for preserving us ever since we were born, for blessing us in all that we have put our hands unto this day. Let thy mercy still be continued unto us, we beseech thee. Let the eye of thy providence which never slumbreth nor sleepeth watch over us, and let the hand of thy power protect and defend us: Cover us this night under the shadow of thy wings, that no evil happen unto us. Grant that our bodies may be refreshed this night with such moderate rest, that we may be the fitter for the works of our vocation, and thy service, the n●xt morning. Hear us, we beseech thee, for Jesus Christ his sake our Lord and only Saviour; in whose name and words we call upon thee further praying, Our Father which art, etc. FINIS.