THE CHRISTIANS MOURNING GARMENT. The third Edition. AT LONDON Printed for Thomas Pavier, and are to be sold at his shop at the entrance into the Exchange. 1603. To the right Honourable and virtuous young Gentleman, Henry, Lord Hastings, Grace and peace. RIght Noble Impe. THose little creatures the Silkwormes, shunning duality of meats, and betaking themselves wholly to the fresh leasage of the Mulberry tree, frame (by Nature's instinct and virtue of the Plant) so fair, and so sweet a web, that the greatest parsonage will not think much to wear it. I am the meanest of the servants of God, far less than the least of his mercies: yet by the operation of his blessed spirit (the soul of my soul) and the efficacy of his holy word (whereon alone I wish to feed) I trust I have shaped such a garment as the best Christian will not disdain to put on. A Mourning Garment it is: For lighter colours beseem not God's Child in this careless Age, where Lady Faith goes barefoot (alas) all alone, attended by no good works, which makes her wash handkerchiefs in her tears. I present this vesture to your Lordship, not doubting but you will accept it, and adorn yourself with it. And I desire it may be a token of a dutiful and thankful mind, for the numberless favours our happy unhappy name hath received from your most noble, and for zeal of religion most worthy Ancestors. The Lord bless your Honour, that as you grow in stature, and years, so you may grow in grace and favour with God, and men. Your Honours in all observance, William Worship. The Christians mourning Garment. IT is a rule that will abide the tutchstone, No man comes to heaven with dry eyes. Ourselves are ships launched forth for heaven: our tears must be the sea, our sighs the gales of wind, while Hope is the anchor, and Grace steers the helm. Moses, Hezekiah, Peter, Mary Magdalen, and all the Saints of God were wasted on the rivers that gushed from their own eyes to the kingdom of glory. Howbeit, though every penitent sinner weep, yet every one that weeps is not a penitent sinner. For tears in themselves are but things indifferent, & never please God, but when they issue from a troubled spirit, suppled with grace, and wounded with true remorse, and sense of sin. It is not sorrow, 2. Cor. 7. 10. but godly sorrow that goes for currant. Some weep for themselves, not for others: some weep for others not for themselves: some neither weep for themselves, nor others: some both weep for themselves and others. To weep for thyself, not for others betokens lukewarmness: to weep for others, not for thyself, hypocrisy: neither to weep for thyself, nor others, deadness of heart: both to weep for thyself, and others, zealousness. The last of these is an effect of holy sorrow, which who so findeth not in himself one time, or other, is no better than a vessel of wrath. In the name of God then, good Christian brother, let thine eyes spout out tears as a Conduit spouteth out waters, for thy grievous, capital, and enormous vices. Say not thou art Sanguine complexioned and canst not weep, of a manly stomach and wilt not Sam. 1. 16. 12. weep, for David was both, yet tears were his meat, day and night. Flatter not thyself: the vain conceit of easy attaining salvation may cast many a soul away in a year. Thou must upon necessity mortify the flesh: Away with it, Away with it, crucify it, crucify it. Now ere thou can do this, it will cost thee many a groan, and many a tear, oh it will go to the heart of thee. As thou tenderest thy soul, look home: unrip, unbowell, ransack thyself throughout. Mourn for thy original sins, and for thy actual sins, for thy sins before thy calling, and since thy calling: for thy presumptuous sins, and for thy sins of infirmity, for thy open sins, and for thy secret sins, for thy sins of ommission, and for thy sins of commission. Steep thine eyes in tears, read letters of discomfort on the ground as thou goest, let the streams of thy sighs, and the incense of thy prayers rise up like mountains before the Lord, and if this will not move him to pity, if it be possible weep tears of blood. Above all things beware thou look not sourly in company to be seen of men, for then thy reward is sure to be great in hell. Get thee into thy most retired closet, let no body (by thy good will) know of it, pull the latch into thee see there be no holes in the door, no crannies nor cliffs in the wall, & then fall groveling to the earth, thump thy breast, strike upon thy thigh, wring thy hands, and pour out thy soul before the Lord: so he that seeth thy true humiliation in secret, shall one day reward thee openly in the sight of his glorious Angels. Unclasp thy Bible, lay the ten commandments before thee, and (bedewing them with thy tears) make thine humble confession thus before God. O my God, I am confounded, and ashamed to lift up mine eyes unto thee, my God, for mine iniquities are increased, and my trespass is grown up into heaven. Yet Lord remember thy mercies of old, and open mine eyes that I may see the wonders of thy law, that so sin may be out of measure Rom. 7. 12 sinful. Good God, thy commandments are just, and holy, but I am carnal, sold under sin, and should not lie yelping, and howling in the burning lake of damned souls, if I had my right. Blessed be thy name for inspiring this good motion of meditating in thy law, for it is a glass wherein I may behold the ugly morphew of my soul, and so be forced to flee to my redeemer for his precious blood, to rinse, and mundity me, that I may be presented a spotless virgin before thee. Alas, I should have been thy Nazarite, The 1. commandment. and have given thee all my heart: but I have given the flesh a piece of it, the world a piece of it, and the devil a piece of it. I should have worshipped thee according to the square, and tenor of thy word, without adding, detracting, changing: but I have balanced thy service after mine own scoales, and have more delighted in falling down before a gilt Image, than in beholding thy sweet son most lively crucified in Gal. 3. 1. thy word preached, and sacraments administered. I should have magnified thy name, and have spoken of it with high reverence: but I (ah wretch) have cursed & band, and champed Phil. 2. 10. jesus in my mouth, at whose blessed name every knee should bow, both of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, yea Lord I have torn thy holy name, as the Draper rasheth out a piece of linen to the buyer. I should have hallowed the best day of the seven, and have bestowed it in prayer, hearing of Sermons, receiving the sacrament, alms, meditation on God's works, but I (woe worth me for it) have most villainously profaned it. It hath been a burden unto me, by barring me from trivial sports. Yea I thought myself an holy man, when I sat still at home and did nothing, though while I did so, the beast at the crib kept as good a sabboath as I I should have been subject to the higher Rom. 13. 1 powers ordained of thee: I should have honoured my parents, thy instruments for my life and education: and I should have been ready (with the Galathians) to have plucked Gal. 4 15 out mine eyes to have done the Preachers good: but I (a sinful worm of five foot long) have spoken evil of the Magistrate, and refused to be the staff of my Parent's age. As for the Ministers, I ever held them for a sort of simple souls, the very scorn of men, and outcast of the people. I should have loved my neighbour dearly, and have winked at wrong, not letting the sun go down upon my wrath: but I (this one thing were enough to staunch the blood of my dying Lord) have boiled in rage for one tart word, and for a small injury have wilfully and stubbornly refused the blessed Sacrament of thy supper. I should in beholding that notable work of thy fingers called Beauty, have given glory to thy power & wisdom, that couldst set such amiableness, and sweet favour in a face not a foot compass, the ground whereof is but dust: but I (such was my corruption) have burnt in lust at the sight of it, and Satan hath made it a stolen, and a snare to entangle my soul, which now would feign flicker thence, and fly it to heaven. I should have been good to the poor, and needy, remembering that Not to give them, is to steal from them: but I (vile caitiff) have served Mammon the God of Kissed, the Mat. 6. 15. God of Moths, the God of thieves. Many a time hath Christ jesus (in his members) stood cold, and naked, & hungry at my door, and cold, and naked, and hungry, have I sent him away. Yet would I not stick to spend hundreds upon Luxury, that infernal fire, whose matter is Gluttony, whose flame Arroganty, whose ashes Obscenity. whose end eternal misery. I should have succoured the name of my neighbour, and rejoiced at his credit, and good estimation: I should have abhorred all falsehood, and leasins, & spoken the truth from my heart: but I (vile wretch unworthy to breath) could either never find in heart to bestow one good word on my brother, or very coldly commend him, though the graces of God shined in him extraordinarily. Oh what gladsome tjoing was it to me when I hard of a professor that was over taken with sin, I would be sure to point at him as he went by, and cry there, there. And truly I made but a jest of a lie told in jest, as for officious lies, I reckoned them amongst my good works, and now and then I would broach a pernitions lie, and think little worse of myself when I had done, for I was a right Grecian. Tit. 1. 12. I should have borne a pure heart to my neighbour, and have hampered, & tamed the cursed rebellion of the flesh: but I (no better than a lump of sin) have wished that such an house, and such a close of my neighbours were mine, and I ever thought the Corn on his land was better bladed, and fairer eared than mine own. To conclude: many an unclean thought, laid by that Cockatrice mine inbred concupiscence have I hatched up, when my conscience advisd me to kill it in the shell. Thus I, the distressedst wight upon the face of the earth, have broken all thy holy precepts, even from the first unto the last, from the greatest unto the least. And now, O Lord, whether shall I fly for secure? To thee? Woe is me, I dare not look up to heaven. To Angels? They grieve, and blush at my rebellion. To men? alas they are inrould in the same thraldom of sin with me. What then? shall I finally despair with Cain, and make away myself with judas? No Lord, though thou kill me, yet still will I put my trust in thee. Dost thou overwhelm me with the tirrible waves of thy judgements? Still will I cry unto thee even out of the deep, with David, and out of the Psal. 130. 1 jonah. 2. 2. belly of hell with jonah. Yea, blessed jesus, though thou shouldst sink me, and drown me, yet still would I catch hold on thy clemency, and be taken up dead with thy mercy fast clasped in my hand. In this sort, poor sinner, mourn, & droop for the multitude of thine iniquities, not for a day or two, while the wound presents itself fresh, and green before the eyes of thy mind, but continually, even so long as thou feelest the enemy priest to give the onset. Howbeit when the bridegroom Christ jesus is taken from thee (and peace of conscience is away) then, then is the fittest time Math. 9 15. for sadness above all other. Now that thy soul may be cut, and lanced to the quick, I beseech thee by the mercies of God in the bowels of jesus Christ, that thou ponder these Motives that ensue. Know first that the substance and quality of thine eye is a forcible argument to drive thee to weeping. The Almighty hath made it of a liquid, fatty, and waterish kind of matter, so that it seemeth to delight in moisture, as being a syrup to preserve it in. Moreover there are sited above and under the eye, two wet & spongeous kernels, purposely to cast a dew upon it, and to make way for tears. Nay that the obstinate and obdurate sinner may be convinced and confounded, if he sweat not some tears for his offences, the Lord hath environed the Apple Columb. lib. 10. of the eye with a party coloured circle called a Rainbow. Now it is not a shame for a man to have a Rainbow in his eye, & yet never drizzle one tear for his sins? Good Christian carry not about thee so tough, so brawny, and so steeled an heart: good Christian carry not about thee a pair of such parched & irrelenting eyes. Consider what I say, & the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Regard in the second place, the unruliness of thine eyes, and let that induce thee to be liberal in weeping. God indeed set them in thine head (the tower of thy body) as Spials, and Scoutwatches, to diseris danger a far of: but such is the disorder of thy bad nature, that they will too soon put both thy body and soul in icopardy. Yet a little while, and those two of thine that look out by the windows, will play the wag abonds, and entice thee to folly. For what art thou to David? And yet those very eyes of David that lay soaked in tears at the time of his banishment, became afterwards traitors, letting lust into his bosom, when they darted from his roof upon Bath-sheba, and were the occasion that he committed two heinous sins died so deeply in crimson, that time hath not yet worn out colour. If thou think thou canst bless thee from the evil to come, & make a covenant with thine eyes as job did, yet let thy heart be gripped, job. 31. 1. and twinged, in regard they have heretofore been rolling and extravagant eyes. Thirdly, have respect to the description of sin. Sin is the transgression of the Law. Wherein observe first what this law is which thou breakest. Secondly who this God is whom thou offendest. First then let it damp thee, & disquiet thy soul to consider, that in every lose thought by thee conceived, and in every unsavoury word by thee uttered and in every lewd deed by thee committed, thou hast violated God's law: which law is far more excellent than the beautiful frame of the whole world, though in each part it be good, and in all the parts together exceeding good. For (such is our purblindnesse, that) the great book of Nature is not able of itself to direct us to the true God, as much resembling that Athenian Altar, wherein was written Unto the unknown God (but the law written Acts. 1. ●. 23. pointeth as just to God as the finger to the dial, and which commends it most of all) Psal. 19 7. converteth the soul. Go to now, miserable, & wretched sinner, canst thou by thy dissolute life, crack, and disestéeme of this matchless jewel, and when when thou hast done wilt thou not enter into a sad, and sober consideration, opening the sluices of thine eyes, and sending forth a swift current of tears? Would not that felon be hanged in chains who having broken most notoriously the wholesome laws of his Prince, takes no thought at all, but reviles and plays at Tables all the while he is in prison, with his heels in irons, and his neck in suspense? Yes verily. Well then take heed. For if after thou hast lift up thy horn most insolently and pushed down the incompararable statutes of the Lord, thou be not ashamed of thyself, and confounded in thyself, but dost feast when thou shouldst fast, sing when thou shouldst sob, laugh when thou shouldst weep, thou art as near in quality to the aforesaid thief, as can be well imagined, and therefore likely to come to some heavy, and fearful end. Secondly, take knowledge who he is that enacted this law which thou hast transgressed so shamelessly. It is no earthly Prince, nor Potentate, (a creature finite, ready to huff out life at every moment) but it is jehovah, Esa. 40. 12. that mighty God, who spans the heaven, and measures the waters in his fist, in respect of whom all nations are but as the drop of a bucket, nay nothing, nay less Nah. 1. 2. than nothing, even vanity. The God of anger, who hath his way in the whirlwind, and in the storm, at whose sight the earth is burnt, the mountains quake, the hills melt, the devils shudder. O my dear brother, how can thy heart be light, sith thou hast offended so great a Majesty? Why dost thou not put sackcloth about thy loins, and an halter Kings. 1. 20. 31. about thy neck (with the servants of Benhadad) and cry out, Mercy good Lord, good Lord grant mercy, for we have heard that the King of Israel is a merciful King. If thou hadst committed but petit treason against an earthly Prince, I persuade me, it thou mightst be admitted to his presence thou wouldst stoop, and look forlornly with a palish cheek, and unkeambd beard, & neglected apparel, using these mutes as vocal spokesmen, and intercessors for thy pardon, and all because, The fear of the King is like Prou. 20. 2 the roaring of a Lion. And is thy heart so crusted, and rough cast, that thou wilt not throw thyself even below the earth, for displeasing that glorious and fearful name The Lord thy God? Shall a Grasshopper Deu. 28. 58 outface the omnipotent, Clay the Potter, filth Purity, Darkness Light, A wisp of stubble a consuming fire, a sinner of sinners the holiest of all holies? Surely if these persuasions make no dint, nor impression, thy heart is harder than the Smith's anvil: yet hearken still (I beseech thee) to the nature of this God, who chief joys in getting him honour by his boundless mercy. If this make thee not beweep thy personal sins, thou hast not so much as a sparkle of grace truly working in thee. Wilt thou not be grieved for offending thy God, who loved thee before thou wast Ephe. 1. 4. borne, yea before the first stone of the world's foundation was laid, who was thy hope, when thou hungest upon thy mother's breast, who guarded thee with Angels as thou layest sprawling in thy Cradle, and hath ever since fed thee, clothed thee, preserved thee? Didst thou deserve the least of these blessings? If thou say thou didst, thou art a liar, and there is no truth in thee. For I say unto thee, that he might have made thee a Dog, or a toad, or a Serpent, & have done thee no wrong at all. Even when thou wast a delightful burden to thy mother, taking thy pastime in her wembe, and having no other mouth but thy navel, then, even then wast thou odious to God (in thine own nature) because conceived in sin. Neither must thou think this to be rigour, for thyself canst not abide a young Wolf, for that he hath in him the spawn and cruelty, and will destroy the flock when he comes to full growth. Why wilt thou recompense the Lord evil for good, and not rather pine away like the Hart that findeth no pasture for displeasing so indulgent & loving a father, whose kindness is stretched out still? Behold this God hanging for thy sake upon the cross: lo how he stretches out his arines to embrace thee: lo how he bows down his head to kiss thee, lo how his heart is opened with a spear to love thee, to love thee an undutiful and graceless child, unworthy indeed to be called his child. And yet he gives not period 1. Cor. 12. 12. to his goodness, but lays thee nearer his heart, marrying thee unto him, and calling thee Christ by his own name, to manifest the wonderful (yet real) conjunction betwixt him and thee. O the depth of the riches of the mercy of this God, who hath hereto adjoined another singular benefit. What is that? He hath decreed that thou shouldest be borne (not a Turk, or a Jew, but) English, & then there (not when Pharaoh of hell and Antichrist his vicegerent, made all true Israelites weary of their lives with all manner of spiritual bondage, which they laid upon them most cruelly, but) when he set the Diadem on the head of that virgin Queen, who hath given us already three and forty years of jubilee, wherein we sit peaceably under our vines, & go joyfully to the Church to hear the golden bell of Aaron ring sweetly in the Pulpit, & to feel the fragrant smell of his Pomegranates. Be glad, ye heavens, at this, & let the Ravens of the valley pick out his eyes that curseth this ancient mother in Israel. I could make more ample rehearsal of God's special favour to thee, beloved Christian, but the intended quantity of the book will not suffer me. Wherefore read on be not weary of well doing, and for thy next task think upon three principal Effects of sin, that so thy sorrow may be aggravated. First ascertain thyself that so long as thou weltrest in thy wickedness without remorse & touch of conscience, thou art a servant Rom. 6. 23 Luk. 15. 15 & a vassal to Sin, whose wages is Death. A prodigal child thou art. strayed from thy good father into a far country, where being all raged, and tottered, & eaten into the flesh with vermin, thou art glad to become the devils swinheard. Which tyrant hath taken thee prisoner to do his wil & mewed 2. Tim. 2 26 thee up in a far more noisome dungeon than that wherein poor jeremy stack so fast. This is thy state O man. Why then dost thou not thrust forth tears, and smoke out sighs, & even break the kall of thine heart with sorrow? Is sweet liberty so irksome, & irksome bondage so sweet? Inquire of the Fowls of the air, & they will tell thee that freedom in the wood is better than prisonment in a cage of gold. Inquire of the Lions and they will make answer that they had rather seek their meat at God in the Wilderness, than have it put into their mouths through the grate. Inquire of the Rivers & they will resolve thee that they would much sooner lie open to wind & weather at home in the sea, than crawl never never so calmly by the gréenest and best scented meadows. I beseech thee therefore by the mercies of God that thou bewail thy miserable vassalage. The Babylonians of hell (the Devil & his Angels) have led thee away captive, & the cruel Edomits (thy sins) provoke them against thee, and both of them, by way of mockage, require a song & melody of thee: then sit thou down upon the water's bank, weeping, and hanging thy harp upon the Willows, for mirth at such time is out of season. Cast not thyself upon thy ivory bed, eat not gluttonously, drink not Wine in bowls, but remember thy soul, thine afflicted joseph, who all this while hath his feet in hell stocks. The blessed father of our Lord jesus Christ bore thine cares that thou mayst hear and suffer these words of exhortation, and blow up thy heart by his holy spirit, for it is made of a tough, and churlish kind of clay. I proceed to another Suasive. During the time of thine impenitency, all the Creatures in the world band themselves against thee, & conspire thine overthrow. And the reason is for that the Lord of Hosts is marching forward, whose faithful & sworn soldiers they be. Is not here sufficient matter to cloud, & overcast thine eyes, and to change thy joy for mourning, thy beauty for ashes, thy Oil of gladness for the spirit of heaviness? At dead time of night in thy soundest sleep, the embers on thine hearth desire the wind (in their kind) to leave his natural course of blowing assant, and to whip them up, that so they may get matter to work upon. The spars, and rafters of thy house have vowed to be ready to increase the flame at less than an hours warning. Walkest thou in the street? The tiles threaten downfall. In the field? the air will convey infection, the earth will groan under thy soot as loath to bear so unprofitable a burden. Nay what wilt thou say if the silliest & imperfectest creatures dog thee, and make thee weary of thy life? Are Frogs, and Lice, & Caterpillars nothing with thee? Doth not one poor Gnat (heartening on herself to battle with her Cornet which she winds so lastingly) waken thee, and make thee start with her feeble sting? Then what would a legion of Gnats do? Ah sinful soul, and laden with iniquity, is thy heart made of rubbish, & thine eye of Marble, that the one will not give again, the other become dankish? Knowest thou not what it is to have the stones of the field out of league with thee, and the beasts of the field out of league with thee? Take an example of jonah, and see how he was handled when God mustered up such forces against him in his displeasure. After this Prophet had long laboured, and toiled in Israel, and could do no good, the Lord gave him express charge to remove his plough into the Ninevites field to shame her. He (unmindful of his commission) pays the fare, and is shipped. For Tharshish he, he is resolved. While he thus struggled with divine providence, the Winds (at their Creator's command) broke lose, & bade the Mariners jonah. 1. 4. deliver jonah. The Sea saw that, and was wroth, and bad the Mariners deliver jonah. The Whale lay watching all this while, and bad the Mariners deliver jonah. The ship (poor winged vessel) lay swooning upon the billows, and bad the Mariners unballase her of jonah. Nay jonah stood up against jonah, and besought the Mariners to tumble him into the large Sepulchre of the sea. How now merry sinner, doth not the senere usage of the man of God appall thee? If so righteous a man be thus harshly entreated by the creatures, where wilt thou an ungodly and unrepentant man appear? O Samson, why sufferest thou lady Pleasure to play the Delilah, dandling thee on her knee, till she have shaved of all thy goodness, & made thee wretched, & feeble, and impotent? what Samplon, Samson, fend for thyself, the Philistnes are upon thee Samson. There remaineth a third effect of sin, sufficient to split thy heart, be thou not insensibly blockish, wilfully nefarious, extremely impious. It is this. All creatures in the world groan under the heavy burden of thy sins yea the Creator himself. S. Paul affirms this (in part) most excellently. For we know Rom. 8. 11. (saith he) that every creature groaneth with us also, and travaileth in pain together unto this present, because it is subject to vanity, & under the bondage of corruption. The world left being a world, when Adam left being obedient, it was never beautiful, nor cheerful, since it waxed old in youth through manifold ataxies and disorders, and at this day lies bedrid, waiting with a servant desire for the glorious coming of the son of God. When Israelits sins were ripe, and called for the sickle, rotten, & cried for the corastue, what followed? The harmless creatures must pay for it. The beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven must be cut off, and Hose. 4. 2. 3 the Fishes of the sea must be taken away. The Prophet jeremy (bewailing the piteous Lam. 2. 4. estate of jerusalem) testifieth, that the very ways of Zion, and the rampart, & wall did lament for the iniquity of the jews. See, see, my beloved, how the dumb creatures complain under the intolerable weight of thy sins, while thou jettest up and down with a Camels proud neck, & bearest no part in their song of sorrow. Thy corn which thou hopedst would grow plump in the ear, is blasted in the prime, and it thanks thee for it. Thy close is pestered with thorns and thistles, and other cursed and untimely fruit, and it thanks thee for it. Thy fishes are frozen to thy pond, & they silently thank thee for it. O what a rack, what a gibbet would this be to thy soul, if thou hadst any grace? But thou (more senseless than senselessness) even when fit opportunity is offered to cast dust upon thy head, and that thine eye, even thine eye should shower forth tears day and night, goest metily away, regardless of so lamentable spectacles. What is this but a clear demonstration that so continuing thou art within an inch of hell? Water is an heavy substance, and yet if a man lay close to the bottom of the sea, he should feel no weight, because No Element is heavy in it proper place. The whole world is crushed with the ponderousness of thy sins, and thou feelest it not: A shrewd token that sin is where it would be. Alas for pity, why wilt thou die? why wilt thou strangle thy soul with so full resolution? If thou love God, who loved thee first, be no longer an Heafer of three years old (ever living in pleasure, & never feeling sorrow) but let thy bowels sound like an Harp, or Shawme, for thy transgressions, and now at length sigh out this exclamation, Oh that mine head were full of water, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for my manifold and bloody sins. And that thy heart may yet wax colder within thy body, know further that thy sins lie so sore upon thy sweet Saniours back, that he can take no rest. Hark how he complaineth. Behold I am pressed under Amo. 2. 13 thy sins even as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. pity O pity thyself, if not take pity upon thy Redeemer, who is priest down to hell with the heavy sheaves of sin which thou hast picked upon him most cruelly, more like a jew than a Christian. It was thou, O wretch, that didst cast him into his agony, where he sweat such a sweat, that the drops of blood trickled down apace, and the Angels were feign to comfort him. It was thou, O wretch, that betrayd'st him with a kiss, & sold'st him for a little pleasure of sin, not worth thirty pieces of silver. It was thou, O wretch, that camest unto him with swords and staves, as if he had been a thief, who indeed thought it no robbery to be equal with God. It was thou, O wretch that didst whip him, and clap a crown of thorns upon his head, mocking him, & spitting in his face. O cruelty? If thou have occasion to spit, thou gettest thee to the Chimney, or behind the door for manners sake, and yet thou makest no bones of spitting in the face of the God of Angels. It was thou, O wretch, that didst strip him naked, & rivet his hands and feet to the cross, flouting him even when he endured for thy sake the incomprehensible wrath of God his Father. Behold thy Redcéemer, offering up prayers with strong crying, and tears, and art thou srolicking? The daughters of jerusalem weep, the Virgin Mary is pierced through with the sword of sorrow, and dost thou run riot, and chop away thy soul for a mite of pleasure? The Sun lends night in midst of day, the vail of the Temple is rend from the top to the bottom, the earth quaketh, the Mat. 27. 51. stones cléeve, the graves open, and art thou fatting thyself with merriment? And meanest thou for all this to sail to heaven by heaven? Can there be two heavens? If thou still play the Epicure, letting these reasons which the scripture yieldeth so bounteously rebound from thine eye, ear, and heart, like a Tennis from the ground, I (even plunged in a gulf of sorrow, to see thee like a frantic smile when thou dingest thy knuckles against what is next thee, till the blood spin out) must leave thee to the secret council of God, & if thou needs wilt perish, thy blood will be upon thine own soul. But I trust these words shall prove unto thee the sweet savour of life unto life, and not of death unto death: wherefore be diligent in weighing two reasons more, so will I betake me to the remainder. The first is the blessedness of this godly sorrow. Dost thou molest the air with sighs, and the earth with tears, not countersaite, and forced, but sincere and penirent? Rejoice, and be glad. Thou art in the kingdom of Grace, the forerunner of the kingdom of heaven. Before the conversion, and Zeph: 1. 12 new spiritual birth, thou was frozen in the dregs of thy sin, & there was such a thick Ice upon thy soul, that the evil Angels, shot at pricks (as it were) and drove carts upon it: but since the Holy Ghost (which the Math. 3. 12 Gospel compared to fire) hath caught hold on thee, thy congealed nature is dissolved, and thawed into a flood of tears. Wouldst thou think it? There is not a Psal: 56. 8. tear shed for sin, but God catches it before it falls to the ground, and treasureth it up in his bottle. Not a tear spent in this sort, which thou shalt not find upon record in heaven, so soon as ever thy soul is unhousde. In sum: the Lamb in the midst of the Thorn, will (with his own hand) wipe away all tears from thine eyes. Thus they that sow in tears, shall reap in joy. Blessed art thou if thou now weep, for thou reve. 7. 17 shalt laugh, blessed art thou if thou now mourn, for thou shalt be comforted. Yet a very little while, and he that shall come, Luck. 6. 21 will come, and will not tarry. The last Motive is the consideration of their deplored estate, who aiming at nothing but the bodies corrupt satisfaction, bury the excellent designs of the soul in muddy sensual pleasure, terming sorrow for sin nothing else but a sullen passion be got between Fear, and Melancholy, the silly effect of the foolishness of Prenching. Whereunto shall I liken this generation? They are like unto the fat Kine of Bashan that are in the mountain of Samaria, appointed for the slaughter. They are like unto thieves that go through a fair sloured field to the gallows. They are like unto Rivers that run sweet, & fresh into the salt sea. They are like unto Passengers laid along to sleep under shady trees, who wakning since themselves swelted with the heat of the removed sun. These Riotours that never came where true sorrow grew, first are base. For themselves affirm that pleasure is for the body, & all men know the body is for the soul: so become they servants to their servants servant. Secondly their estate is damnable in life, in death, after death. In life, for their consciences are bereft of sense and motion, by that gangrene sin, and thoroughly burnt with a searing Iron. If a man should cut them up he should find no heart in them, for Whoredom, and Wine, and new Wine, have taken Hose. 4. 11. away their heart. This is a plague of all plagues. The stone in the bladder is a grievous disease, so is the stone in the back, but there is no disease to the stone in the heart. Some read the Bible, and finding the wrath of God to smoke against sinners in the old Testament, sometime with stoning, sometime with the earth swallowing her inhabitants, sometime with fire & brimstone from heaven, they wonder why God is so gentle now a days as to let sin alone, which grows so rank in all places. Alas it is true (wretches that we are) we are all of one language (quite contrary to the good language of Canaan) & we build Towers of Babel (Towers of sin and confusion) whose pinnacles spire up to heaven, and cry out in the ears of the Lord, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself. And verily if we go on as we do, out-sinning all the regions about us, and turning unto our own race as a horse rusheth into the battle, we shall drive the Lord in his anger to exclaim, O, they have put out my eyes, as the Philistines did Sampsons' my type, they multiply abominations, as if I had no providence: lead me lead me to the main pillars of the land, the posts whereon the house standeth, that so I may bring the realm upon their heads, & be at once avenged of them for my two eyes. But (to answer the question) I avouch i● confidently that the Lord doth plague the impenitent of this land more sharply and severely now in these days of peace, than he did malefactors in former ages. And I prove it thus. Then he punished the body, now he punisheth the soul, delivering these men up into a reprobate sense, & giving the Devil liberty to eare-marke them. It is the fearfullest judgement in the world, when sin is punished with sin, and this is the judgement of these times. woe, woe, woe unto us, for we are sick of sin unto death, and yet feel it not, nay like Gadarens, we drive away the Lord of life the dear Physician of our souls. If any man be desirous to know the cause of so universal a desertion, and embrawning of the heart, I must tell him that we are poor with riches, pale with beauty, sick with health, evil with good. Peace, and Plenty (the mother, and daughter) have so led and pampered us, that we are waxed wanton, and kick against the Lord, Search the Scripture who will, he shall ever find that leanness of soul hath been sent amongst Quails, & that excessive mirth, gluttony, and chambering, make men pursy, unweildsome, and to God unserviceable. By this dear Christian brother, mayest thou take a scantling of their wretched estate in this life who do nothing else but fulfil their sensual lusts and appetites. Surely me thinks this one judgement that usunlly befalleth Belly-gods on earth, should make our Lusty bloods afraid. But (alas) they have eyes, and see not, ears and hear not, hearts and understand not. They drink till they be drowned in fire, and shoot chaineshot of roaring oaths that make the windows of heaven to totter, (in my conscience they made the earth quake so lately.) Tell them of it, they break jests, and like the profane Israelites, rebuke the Priest. Hosea. 4. 4. Yet when they lie upon their death beds, tumbling, and tossing, and telling the clock: when the flashes of hell fire present themselves to their consciences, and the bloody wounds appear which they gave their own souls in the days of their iollitye: when that wild beast Sin that hath so long slept at the door of their hearts, and stirred not, is suddenly awaked, and flies in their bosom, ready to pull out their throats: when swarms of iniquities hum like flies about them, and like Frogs scrall upon them, and croak vengeance against them: then tell me if they descend not from the triple keys of mirth to the grave keys of sorrow: tell me then if they tremble not like an Aspen leaf, or like the heartless Dear at the noise of the thunder-cracke. Then send for Moses, send for the Preacher, then good people pray for me, O whither shall I fly from the Arrows of the Almighty, that part my ribs, and wound me incurably: Alas I thought I could have repent at the last gasp, even when I was fetching my soul sighs, but now I find to my pain, that repentance is the gift of God. O that I might die the death of the righteous. This will be the outcrye of every one of them, die not their hearts like stones within 1. Sam. 25. 37. them, as Nabals did. But when the date of their life is out, and their souls unbodied, then is that truly brought to pass which our Saviour pronounceth, Woe be to you that now laugh, Luk. 6. 25. for ye shall weep, and wail. When they once put their heads within hell gates, and hear the fearful yelling of damned spirits, that feel no comfort, no release, no ease, nor any thing but amaze and horror, then will they wish, & wish that they had wept their eyes out, & sighed their lungs in pieces, but it will be too late. Then will each of them cry out, Cursed be the day wherein I was borne, cursed be the paps that gave me suck, cursed be the knees that prevented me, for damned I was, damned I am, damned I shall be for ever more. O whether (poor forsaken) shall I go from distress, since no remove can lessen my sorrows, & every place presents like face of misery? Alas what comfort can I have when the God of all comfort is away? Alas it is a long night that's never day, an unmerciful fire that's never quenched, a dreadful torment that hath never end, but lasteth for a time, & times, & no time, even for ever. O hell, hell, thy fire is intolerable hot, (yet without any light to give a soul comfort) the breath of the Lord like a River of Brimstone doth kindle it. O that some mountain would Isai. 30. 33. fall on me, & hide me from the presence of the Lamb, whom if I had kissed, he had not been angry, and I had never come to this. O that I had been borne a Katte, or a Spider, or a Load, for so should my soul have vanished to nothing, whereas now it is substantive, always dying, yet never dead. Worm of conscience, when, oh when wilt thou die? wilt thou never leave tugging and tearing my soul? Father Abraham, one drop of water to cool my tongue, good father Abraham. Alas, why go I about to blazon the arms of hell, since they pass the power of any pencils expressing, or minds imagination? Suppose a man laid his limbs on a choice featherbed, having before him all sightly prospects for the eye, and all toothsome meats for the taste, and the sweetest accord in music for the ear, and were bound to remain so without stirring a joint but for twenty years: Oh how often would he look up to heaven pitifully, and long for death as for a treasure, rather than endure so soft a pnnishment? What then will become of that unhappy soul, who having sported out his life must be hurried by Devils into hell, where his bed shall be a red-hot gridiron, legions of damned ghosts his best sights, his diet Despair, his Music Gnashing of teeth, assisted with dreadful shrieks, and Clamorous lamentations, not for twenty or forty years, but for as many thousands of years as there be drops in the Sea, and Sands on the shore, and then to begin fresh again everlastingly. These motives well respected, and not overly surveyed, what flinty heart will not rive, and what sinful soul will not howl after the manner of Dragons? My most loving, & most dear Christian brother, let me become not a suitor, but a beggar unto thee: For jesus Christ's sake I ask it, humble thy self with fasting, weeping and mourning: humble thyself with fasting, weeping, and mourning, For jesus Christ's sake I ask it. If the nature of thine eye cannot move thee, then let the excellency of God's law which thou hast broken, persuade thee. If the excellency of God's law which thou hast broken cannot persuade thee, let the mighty Majesty of the Lord rouse thee. If the mighty Majesty of the Lord cannot rouse thee, let the mercifulness of the same God allure thee. If the mercifulness of God cannot allure thee, let the pestilent effects of sin curb thee If the pestilent effects of sin cannot curb thee, then let the insupportable torments of hell kill thee dead, and rend thee in pieces. As for thee, O young man, rejoice in thy Eccle. 10. 9 youth, & let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, & walk in the ways of thine heart, & in the sight of thine eyes, but know that for all this God will bring thee to judgement. Brutish Epicure, that postest to the Playhouse at the sound of the Trumpet, and givest money to behold their vanities, who set up the Flag of defiance to virtue, but wilt in no wise be brought to the Church to mourn though the Preacher lift up his voice like a trumpet, & cry aloud, Ho, come, and buy Wine and Milk without silver: persist Isaia. 55. 1. in thy merriment, do: but know that for all this God will bring thee to judgement. thievish adulterer, that feloniously takest away thy poor neighbours little sheep, that eats of his own morsels, drinks of his own cup, & sleeps in his bosom: laugh on, swear on, whore on: but know that for all this God will bring thee to judgement. To return to thee (brother mine) whose salvation I desire in my heart: those Instigations & Inducements which the Lord hath put into my mind, have I imparted to thee: And yet I find not myself satisfied, till I acquaint thee with certain rubs which Satan will cast in thy way, to stop thee from running smoothly to this godly sorrow. The first Impediment is the want of the word preached. For how canst thou mourn, if john Baptist mourn not to thee, or call thy place Bochim (that is by interpretation) Weeping, jud. 2. 4. 5. unless Phineas, or some zealous Prophet forbear Incarnative salves, and give thee corrosives, rebuke thee sharply, and sounding thy sins to the bottom? Peter must not balk thy wickedness, but tax Acts. 2. 36. thee roundly, and point out jesus whom thou hast crucified, else wilt thou not be pricked in thy heart, nor demand what thou shalt do to be saved. O then, my brother, beloved, and longed for, my joy & my crown (I hope) as ever thou meanest to have a grudging in thy conscience for thy manifold corruptions, be a diligent frequenter of powerful Sermons. The second Hindrance, is the hope of long life. Soul (saith the rich man) take thine Luk. 12. 19 ease. Why so? Thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take heed, take heed of this fault, for it is inbred. The Adulterer will grant that Adultery in general, is nought: but when he descends to this, or that special adultery, than he varnisheth it over with some vain show of reason and approveth it. Right so thou wilt confess by words of course (especially when thou art craving a bond for security) that man is mortal, man is mortal: but when it comes to this, that thou, thou in particular, must shortly be borne on four men's shoulders to the place of dead men's skulls, than thou soothest thyself, & art fond incredulous, as if thy life were thine own fée-simple. Hark in thine ear. Thou art a Dyve-dapper, péering up, and down again in a moment, thou camest by the womb, and must go by the grave. Hark in thine ear. Thou dwellest in an house job. 4. 19 of clay, in a tent, pitched to day, removed to morrow, and Corruption is thy father, the worm thy mother, and thy sister, Where is 2. Cor. 5. 1 lovely Absalon? Where is strong Og, wont to streak himself on his bed of iron? Dead. All, all go naked out of the world, thou boughtest life, and must pay for it with death. Assure thyself, whosoever readest this book, that ere many years, or decades of months be past, Death (mounted on his Revel. 6. 8. pale horse) will rap at thy door, and alight, & carry thee away (bound head and foot) to a land dark as darkness itself. What then remaineth, but that thou presently make joh. 19 41 thy grave with joseph of Arimathea in thy Garden (the place of thy delight) mourning each day amidst thy most tickling pleasures, as if the Sun of thy life were sure to set at night? When shall I pray for thee, saith Moses to Pharaoh? To morrow, answers Exod. 8. 9 Pharaoh. He should have said To day. Be not a kin to Pharaoh. For if thou play the ignamous and slothful servant, beginning to eat, and drink with the drunken, Math. 24. 49. 50. thy Master Christ will come in a day when thou lookest not for him, and in an hour that thou art not aware of, and will cut thee off, and give thee thy portion with hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The third let is Company, especially merry Company. Therefore the Prophet David Psal. 4. 4. would have us examine ourselves (quietly) on our Beds. It is storied by the Evangelists that Peter went out (from the Luk. 22. 62 concourse of people in the high Priests hall) and then he wept bitterly. It is better to go to the house of mourning than of feasting, Eccles. 7. 4. saith Solomon. The king of glory sometime so dignifieth the Gentleman, that he knocks at his heart by his holy spirit, and bids him open the door that he may enter in. Here gins he to sigh at the view of his sins. Presently comes me in a Ruffian (whom God sends to prove him, whom the Devil sends to spoil him) and he with a pair of Cards, and a Cup of neat Claret, thrusts jesus out into the Stable, because there is no room for him in the Inn. Thus be the good motions of the holy Ghost extinguished by the access of a Gamester, that Schools his young master in the Art of Driving away time. Drive away time? Is Time so slowfooted that it needs driving? My friend: if a sinner entice thee to sport when the Fever of thy sins gins to shake thee, consent not to him, Rather go aside (as a man thrown from the world) and then let thy belly tremble, let thy lips shake, let rottenness enter into thy bones. Learn of the Nightingale who when she is robbed of her younglings, gets her to some solitary tree, where she bewails her unhappy marriage. Abstract, and sequester thyself, flee resort, say unto laughter thou art mad, haunt untrodden paths, desire the Lilies of the field to themselves in black, and accompany thee in thy doleful passions. The fourth Impediment is impairing of health. A joyful heart (saith the Wiseman) causeth good health, but a sorrowful mind Pro. 17. 22 drieth up the bones. Let not this dismay thee, better go sickly to heaven, than healthful to hell. Be not all for thy body, nothing for thy soul, but like the Lapidary, esteem the jewel far above the rind or bark: Moreover I affirm that it is the care of this world that brings a Calendar into the bones, and snows upon men's heads so timely, and not this sorrow which we magnify. For as the Sea at high water, if angered with a boisterous wind, threateneth present deluge to the earth, and yet suddenly it gives back, and runs away like a coward: so the pangs, and grievances of the righteous, stirred up by the justice of God, even when they seem to devour, are devoured of his mercy. They are as sorrowing and yet always rejoicing by reason of spiritual comfort which putteth life into them. Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy willbe sure to be with them in the morning. The last and worst Let, is the holding the mortality of the soul. There is a cursed generation that sit down to eat, and drink, and rise up to play, and hold that their souls in death vanish away like a dogs. This Satanical paradox possessed the hart of that great Physician Galen. A man might have cast his water and found filthy sediments of Atheism. But he is dead long ago, & I would this sin had died with him. Good Christian, never come thou near those Carrions that maintain the soul to be a vapour, unless thou have the wind of them. That thou mayst be assured of the soul's immortality, hearken to these pregnant, and unanswerable proofs. Our fathers are the fathers of our bodies Heb. 12. 9 Eccle. 12. 7. (not of our souls) saith the Apostle. The spirit returns to God that gave it, saith the Preacher. The Lord breathed the soul into Gen. 2. 7. man's body, saith Moses: Therefore is it not elementary, therefore is it everlasting. But because the disputer of this world renounces Christian principles, we will enter the lists of reason with him (a little) and foil him in his proper element. The sense is so corrupted by a great object, that it cannot endure the less. For example. The eye is so dazzled with the beams of the Sun, that it cannot judicially discern colours in an obscurer light. It is contrary with the understanding. For the more vehement the object is whereabout it is conversant, the more forcible is it in comprehending the inferior. An evident demonstration of the soul's divinity I omit the horror of conscience, which cannot possibly light upon the body (it being a spiritual punishment) nor yet upon the soul, were it not a subsisting essence. And I will but touch the most admirable gradation of the creatures, some whereof are only bodily, as beasts: some spiritual as Angels: some both spiritual, and sensible, as man: the one in respect of his soul, the other of his body. Therefore, my beloved, be thou steadfast, immovable, & abundant in mourning for thine iniquities, for as much as thou knowest thy sorrow shall not be in vain in the Lord. If thou find thy soul at odd times unwilling to think of flitting, impute that to her illness: for naturally she is estranged from the father of lights, and lodging so warmly and peaceably in the body, she is not so forward to remove as she ought. The Infant is at harts-case in the mother's womb, and would not change it for a palace: yet when it is borne, and comes to discretion, it cannot endure to think of the closet where it lay enwrapped. The soul delighteth now to inhabit the body, but when death hath brought it to a joyful birth after a long travail, O then it would not be imprisoned again in the body for a thousand worlds. And thus by God's goodness have I gone through the Impediments. And now, good brother, that I have given thee a potion, the virtue whereof I trust hath had full course to run throughout all thy veins: I am for a farewell to leave thee a sweet Electuary, or julep for thy comfort. It is a Moderation in sorrowing. For the tempter will covet to besnare thy soul with intolerable anguish, that so (with Cain) thou mayest complain that thy sins are greater than can be forgiven. O pray, pray, pray for patience, and comfort of the holy Ghost, for a wounded spirit who can bear? job, and David (a blessed of Saints) mourned like Doves, and pelicans, when the Lord caused them to possess Pro. 18. 14. the sins of their youth, Surely no wisdom can counsel, no counsel can advise, no advise can assuage a perplexed conscience, nor any thing else, but only the heart blood of jesus Christ, which blood he hath powered out so plenteously for all true penitent sinners that they may bathe themselves therein. Then cry incessantly, and importunately, O son of David have mercy on me, open mine eyes, heal my wounds, cure my Maladies, even for thy goodness sake, O Lord. Remember the heavenly words Christ uttered in the extreme agony of his soul; My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? Behold how he calleth his father his God twice, what time his wrath ceased upon him in an incomprehensible manner. Sorrow not too much when the Lord openeth the book of thy conscience (all blurred, and blotted with sin) but be of good cheer, & kiss his holy hand even when he striketh thee. The father of mercies, and God of all consolation, be thy Castle of defence in all thy tribulations, & spiritual conflicts, that thou mayst be able to comfort others in the like distress by the same comfort wherewith thou thyself art comforted of him. Amen. FINIS. A Morning prayer to be vsed in private families. O Lord our God and heavenly Father, we thy unworthy children do here come into thy most holy and heavenly presence to give thee praise & glory, for all thy great mercies and manifold blessings towards us: especially for that thou hast preserved us this night past, from all the dangers and fears thereof, hast given us quiet rest to our bodies, and brought us now safely to the beginning of this day, and dost now a fresh renew all thy mercies upon us as the Eagle reneweth her bill, giving us all things abundantly to enjoy: as food, raiment, health, peace, liberty, and freedom from many miseries, diseases, casualties, and calamities which we are subject unto in this life every minute of an hour: and not only so, but also for vouchsafing unto us many good things, not only for necessity, but even for delight also. But above all (dear father) we praise thy name for the blessings of a better life, specially for thy most holy word and sacraments, and all the good we enjoy thereby: for the continuance of the Gospel amongst us: for the death of thy son & all that happiness which we have thereby. Also because thou hast chosen us to life before we were, and that of thy mere goodness, & undeserved favour towards us, and hast called us in thine appointed time, justified by thy grace, sanctified us by thy spirit, & adopted us to be thine own children, & heirs apparent to the great crown. O Lord open our eyes every day more & more to see and consider of thy great and marvelous love to us in all these things: that by the due consideration thereof, our hearts may be drawn yet nearer unto thee, even more to love thee, fear thee, and obey thee: that as thou art enlarged toward us in mercy, so we may be enlarged towards thee in thanksgiving: and as thou dost abound towards us in goodness, so we may abound towards thee in obedience and love. And sith (dear father) thou art never weary of doing us good, not withstanding all our unworthiness & naughtiness, therefore let the consideration of thy great mercy and fatherly kindness towards us, even as it were force our hearts, & compel us to come into thy most glorious presence with new songs of thanksgiving in our mouths. We pray thee (O most merciful God) to forgive us all our unthankfulness, unkindness, profanes, and great abusing of all thy mercies, and specially our abuse and contempt of thy Gospel, together with all other the sins of our life which we confess are innumerable, & more than can be reckoned up both in omission of good things, and commission of evil. We most humbly entreat thee to set them all over to that reckoning which thy son Christ hath made up for them upon his cross, and never to lay any of them to our charge, but freely forget all and forgive all. Nail down all our sins and iniquities to the Cross of Christ bury them in his death, bathe them in his blood, hide them in his wounds, let them never rise up in judgement against us. Set us free of the miseries that are upon us for sin, & keep back the judgements to come, both of soul & body, goods & good name. Be reconciled unto us in thy dear son, concerning all matters past, not once remembering or repeating unto us our old and abominable iniquities: but accept us as righteous in him, imputing his righteousness to us, and our sins to him. Let his righteousness satisfy thy justice for all our unrighteousness, his obedience for our disobedience, his perfection for our imperfection. Moreover we humbly beseech thy good majesty to give us the true sight and feeling of our manifold sins, that we may not be blinded in them through delight, or hardened in them through custom, as the reprobates are, but that we may be even weary of them, and much grieved for them, labouring & striving by all possible means to get out of them. Good Father touch our hearts with true repentance for all sin. Let us not take any delight or pleasure in any sin: but howsoever we fall through frailty (as we fall often) yet let us never fall finally, let us never lie down in sin, nor continue in sin: but let us get upon our feet again, and turn to thee with all our hearts, and seek thee whilst thou mayest be found, and whilst thou dost offer grace and mercy unto us. O Lord increase in us that true and lively faith whereby we may lay sure hold on thy son Christ, and rest upon his merits altogether. Give us faith assuredly to believe all the great and precious promises made in the Gospel, and strengthen us from above to walk and abound in all the true and sound fruits of fayte▪ 〈◊〉 us walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Let us feel the power of thy sons death killing sin in our mortal bodies, and the power of his resurrection, raising us up to newness of life. Let us grow daily in the sanctification of the spirit, and the mortification of the flesh. Let us live holily, justly, and soberly in this present evil world, showing forth the virtues of thee in all our particular actions: that we may adorn our most holy prafession, & shine as lights in the midst of a crootied, & froward generation amongst whom we live, being gainful to all by our lives & conversations, & offensive to none. To this end we pray thee fill us with thy spirit and all spiritual graces: as love, wisdom, patience, contentment, meekness, humility, temperancy, chastity, kindness, and affability, & stir us up to use prayer & watchfulness, reading & meditation in thy law, and all other good means whereby we may grow and abound in all heavenly virtues. Bless us in the use of the means, from day to day: make us such as thou wouldst have us to be, and such as we desire to be, working in us both will and deed, purpose and power. For thou, O Lord, art all in all, thou wilt have mercy upon whom thou wilt have mercy, and whom thou wilt thou hardnest. Have mercy upon us therefore (dear Father) and never leave us to ourselves, nor to our own wills, lusts, & desires, but assist us with thy good spirit, that we may continue to the end in a righteous course: that so at length we may be received into glory, & be partakers of that immortal crown which thou hast laid up for all that love thee, and truly call upon thee. Further, we entreat thee, O heavenly father, to give us all things necessary for this life: as food, raimcut, health, peace, liberty, & such freedom from those many fold miseries which we lie open unto every day, as thou seest meet. Bless unto us all the means which thou hast put into our hands for the sustenance of this frail life. Bless our stock, and store, corn, & cattle, trades, & occupations, & all the works of our hands: for thy blessing only maketh rich, and it bringeth no sorrows with it. Give us therefore such a competency & sufficiency of these outward blessings, as thou in thy heavenly wisdom seest most needful for us. Grant these things good father to us here present, & to all thine absent: praying thee in special favour to remember our friends, & kinsfolks in the flesh, all our good neighbours, & well-willers, & all those for whom we are bound to pray by nature, by deserts, or any duty whatsoever, for jesus Christ's sake our only mediator, to whom with thee and the holy Ghost, be given all praise & glory, both now, and for evermore, Amen. An Evening prayer, to be used in private families. O Eternal God, and our most loving, & dear Father, we thy unworthy children do here fall down at the foot of thy great majesty, acknowledging from our hearts, that we are altogether unworthy to come near thee, or to look towards thee, because thou art a God of infinite glory, and we are most vile, and abominable sinners, such as were conceived, and borne in sin and corruption, fuch as have inherited our father's corruptions, and also have actually transgressed all thy holy statutes, and laws, both in thoughts, words, and deeds, before we knew thee: and since, secretly and openly, with ourselves, and with others, our particular sins are more than can be numbered: for who knoweth how often times he offendeth. But this we must needs confess against ourselves, that our hearts are full of pride, covetousness, and the love of this world, full of wrath, anger, and impatiency, full of lying, dissembling, and deceiving, full of vanity, hardness, and profaneness, full of infidelity, distrust and self-love, full of lust, uncleanness, and all abominable desires, yea our hearts are the very sinks of sin, and dunghills of all filthiness. And besides all this, we do omit the good things we should do: for there are in us great wants of faith, of love, of zeal of patience, of contentment, and of every good grace: so as thou hast just cause to proceed to sentence of judgement against us, as most damnable transgressors of all thy holy commandments; yea such as are sunk in our rebellions, and have many times, and often committed high treason against thy majesty, and therefore thou mayest justly cast us all down into hell fire, there to be tormented with Satan, and his angels for ever. And we have nothing to except against thy majesty for so doing, sith therein thou shouldest deal with us but according to equity, and our just deserts. Wherefore dear Father, we do appeal from thy justice to thy mercy, most humbly entreating thee to have mercy upon us, and freely to forgive us all our sins past whatsoever, both new, and old, secret, and open, known and unknown, and that for jesus Christ's sake our only Mediator. And we pray thee touch our hearts with true grief, and unfeigned repentance for them, that they may be a matter of continual sorrow, and heart smart unto us, so as nothing may grieve us more than this, that we have offended thee being our special friend and father. Give us therefore (dear Father) every day more and more sight and feeling of our sins, with true humiliation under the same. Give us also that true and lively faith, whereby we may lay sure hold on thy Son Christ, and all his merits, applying the same to our own souls; so as we may stand fully persuaded that whatsoever he hath done upon the cross, he hath done for us particularly, as well as for others. Give us faith (good father) constantly to believe all the sweet promises of the Gospel, touching remission of sin, and eternal life, made in thy son Christ. O Lord increase our faith, that we may altogether rest upon thy promises which are all yea, & Amen. Yea, that we may settle ourselves and all that we have wholly upon them: both our souls, bodies, goods, name, wives, children and our whole estate: knowing that all things depend upon thy promises, power, and providence, and that thy word doth support, and bear up the whole order of nature. Moreover, we entreat thee, O Lord, to strengthen us from above to walk in every good way, and to bring forth the fruits of true faith in all our particular actions, studying to please thee in all things & to be fruitful in all good works; that we may show forth unto all men by our good conversation whose children we are: and that we may adorn and beautify our most holy profession by walking in a Christian course, and in all the sound fruits, and practise of godliness, and true religion. To this end we pray thee sanctify our hearts by thy spirit yet more, and more: sanctify our souls and bodies and all our corrupt natural faculties, as reason, understanding, will, and affections, so as they may be fitted for thy worship, and service, taking a delight and pleasure therein. Stir us up so use prayer, watchfulness, reading & meditation in thy law, and all other good means, whereby we may profit in grace & goodness from day to day. Bless us in the use of the means, that we may daily die to sin, & live to righteousness. Draw us yet nearer unto thee: help us against our manifold wants. Amend our great imperfections, renew us inwardly more and more, repair the ruins of our hearts: aid us against the remnants of sin. Enlarge our hearts to run the way of thy commandments. Direct all our steps in thy word: let none iniquity have dominion over us. Assist us against our special infirmities, and master sins, that we may get the victory over them all, to thy glory, & the great peace & comfort of our own consciences. Strengthen us good father by thy grace & holy spirit against the common corruptions of the world, as pride, whoredom, covetousness, contempt of thy Gospel, swearing, lying, dissembling, & deceiving. O dear father, let us not be overcome of these filthy vices, nor any other sinful pleasures, & fond delights, wherewith thousands are carried headlong to destruction. Arm our souls against all the temptations of this world, the flesh, and the devil, that we may overcome them all through thy help, and keep on the right way to life, that we may live in thy fear, and die in thy favour, that our last days may be our best days, and that we may end in great peace of conscience. Grant these things good Father, and all other needful graces for our souls, or bodies, or any of thine throughout the whole world, for jesus Christ's sake. In whose name we further call upon thee as he hath taught us in his Gospel, saying: Our Father which art in Heaven, etc. A prayer to be used at any time, by one alone privately. OLord my God, & heavenly Father, I thy most unworthy child, do here in thy sight freely confess that I am a most sinful creature, & damnable transgressor of all thy holy laws & commandments: that as I was borne & bred in sin, & stained in the womb, so have I continually brought forth the corrupt & ugly fruits of that infection, and contagion, wherein I was first conceived both in thoughts, words, & works. If I should go about to reckon up my particular offences, I know not where to begin, or where to make an end. For they are more than the hairs of my head, yea far more than I can possibly feel or know. For who knoweth the height, and depth of his corruption? who knoweth how of the offendeth? Thou only O Lord knowest my sins, who knowest my heart: nothing is hid from thee: thou knowest what I have been, and what I am; yea my conscience doth accuse me of many, and grievous evils, I do daily feel by woeful experiene how frail I am, how prone to evil, and how untoward to all goodness. My mind is full of vainity, my heart full of profaneness, mine affections full of deadness, dullness, & drowsiness in matters of thy worship & service. Yea, my whole soul is full of spiritual blindness, hardness, unprofitableness, coldness, and security. And in very deed I am altogether a lump of sin, and a mass of all misery: and therefore I have forfeited thy favour, and incurred thy high displeasure, and have given thee just cause to frown upon me, to give me over, and leave me to mine own corrupt will and affections. But (O my dear Father) I have learned from thy mouth that thou art a God full of mercy, slow to wrath, and of great compassion, and kindness, towards all such as groan under the burden of their sins. Therefore extend thy great mercy towards me poor sinner, and give me a general pardon for all mine offences whatsoever: seal it in the blood of thy son, and seal it to my conscience by thy spirit, assuring me more and more, of thy love and favour towards me, and that thou art a reconciled father unto me. Grant that I may in all time to come, love thee much, because much is given: and of very love fear thee, and obey thee. O Lord increase my faith, that I may steadfastly believe all the promises of the Gospel made in thy son Christ, and rest upon them altogether: enable me to bring forth the sound fruits of faith and repentance in all my particular actions. Fill my soul full of joy, and peace in believing. Fill me full of inward comfort and spiritual strength against all temptations: give me yet a greater feeling of thy love and many fold mercies towards me, work in my soul a love of thy Majesty, a zeal of thy glory, an hatred of evil, and a desire of all good things. Give me victory over those sins which thou knowest are strongest in me. Let me once at last make a conquest of the world, and the flesh. Mortify in me whatsoever is carnal, sanctify me throughout by thy spirit, knit my heart to thee for ever that I may fear thy name, renew in me the image of thy son Christ daily more and more. Give me a delight in the reading & meditation of thy word. Let me rejoice in the public ministry thereof. Let me love and reverence all the faithful ministers of thy Gospel. Sanctify their doctrines to my conscience, seal them in my soul, writ them in my heart, give me a soft and melting heart, that I may tremble at thy words, and be always much affected with Godly sermons. Let not my sins hold back thy mercies from me, nor mine unworthiness stop the passage of thy grace. Open mine eyes to see that great wonders of thy Law. Reveal thy secrets unto me, be open hearted towards me thy unworthy servant. Hid nothing from me that may make for thy glory, and the good of my soul. Bless all means unto me which thou usest for my good. Bless all holy instructions to my soul. Bless me at all times both in hearing and reading thy word: Give me the right use of all thy mercies, & corrections, that I may be the better for them. Let me abound in love to thy children. Let my heart be very nearly knit unto them, that where thou lovest most there I may love most also. Let me watch & pray, that I enter not into temptation: give me patience and contentment in all things. Let me love thee more and more, and the world less and less. So draw my mind upward, that I may despise all transitory things. Let me be so wrapped and ravished with the sight & feeling of heavenvly things, that I may make a base reckoning of all earthly things. Let me use this world as though I used it not. Let me use it but for necessity, as meat and drink. Let me not be carried away with the vain pleasures and fond delights thereof. Good father work thy good work in me, and never leave me, nor forsake me, till thou hast brought me to true happiness. Oh dear Father make me faithful in my calling, that I may serve thee in it, and be always careful to do what good I may in any thing. Bless me in my outward estate. Bless my soul, body, goods, and name. Bless all that belongeth unto me. Bless my doings out, and come in. Let thy countenance be lifted up upon me, now and always: cheer me up with the joys and comforts of thy spirit, make me thankful for all thy mercies. For I must needs confess that thou art very kind unto me in all things. For in thee I live, move, and have my being: of thee I have my welfare and good being, thou art a daily friend, and special good Benefactor unto me. I live at thy cost and charges. I hold all of thee in Chief, and I find that thou art never weary of doing me good: thy goodness towards me is unstanchable. Oh I can never be thankful enough unto thee for all thy mercies both spiritual and corporal. But in such measure as I am able I praise thy name for all, beseeching thee to accept of my thanksgiving in thy Son Christ, and to give me a profitable use of all thy favours, that thereby my heart may be fully drawn unto thee: give me O Father to be of such a good nature, and disposition, that I may be won by gentleness, and fair means, as much as if thou gavest me many lashes. Pardon all mine unthankfulness, unkindness, and great abusing of thy mercies, and give me grace to use them more to thy glory in all time to come. Strengthen me dear Father thus to continue praising and glorifying thy name here upon earth, that after this life I may be crowned of thee for ever in thy kingdom. Grant these petitions most merciful God, not only to me, but to all thy dear children throughout the whole world, for jesus Christ's sake in whose name I do further call upon thee, saying as he hath taught me. O our Father which art in Heaven, etc. FINIS.