The Pathway to Prayer and Piety, Prayer 5
A PRAIER TO BE SAID by a ſick perſon, or for him, changing my vntounto vsus &c.
ALmightie God, and in Ieſus Chriſt my moſt mercifull and all-ſufficient Sauiour, I thy ſicke and ſinfull ſeruant, diſeaſſed in my bodie, and diſtreſſed in my ſoule, doe flie vntounto thée, yea to thée alone for ſuccour. I hauehave liued heretofore in the health of my bodie, I acknowledge that thou waſt the author of my health. I am caſt downe vponupon my ſicke bed, thou haſt by thy prouidence ſent this Herauld to arreſt me. It is O Lord the meſſenger of death, preaching vntounto mee that vndoubted doctrine, which I hauehave beene learning euer ſince I was borne namely, That it is appointed that all muſt die, and after death commeth iudgement. My ſpirit is willing and would faine ſay, Come Lord Ieſus, come quickly; my fleſh is fraile, and in weakneſſe doth ſay, Father if it be poſſible let this cup paſſe from me. And as in mine health I did nothing but ſinne, when I was not aſſiſted by thy good Spirit; ſo now in my ſickneſſe, I ſhall doe nothing but ſorrow, vnleſſe I bee comforted by the ſame Spirit. O Lord comfort me in this agonie of mine, and ſay vntounto my ſoule, I am thy ſaluation. Thou art the Phyſitian, heale me: thou art that Samaritan, pitie me: thou art the reſurrection and the life, quicken me: and quicken mee ſo in the inner man, that neither the louelove of this world, nor the loſſē of this light, nor the conſideration of thy Iuſtice, nor the feare of death, nor the terror of hell, may make me vnwilling to depart this life. Thou alone knoweſt the ſorrowes of mine heart, take them away: thou beholdeſt my feare of death, deliuer me out of al my feares: couer my ſores with the righteouſneſſe of thy Son, heale them by the blood of thy Son: and though thou launce them with the knife of the law, yet bind them vp againe with the bands of the Goſpell. I know that my Phyſitian dwelleth in heauen, yet he ſendeth his medicines downe vponupon the earth. Beſides thee, none in heauen can helpe me, and there is none in earth, in compariſon of thée, to do me any good. I am weake, ſtrengthen me: I am ſick, cure me: I am faint, comfort me: I muſt die, quicken me: I am aſſaulted, defend me: I am full of feare, encourage mee: I hauehave deſired to liue the life of the righteous, O let mee die the death of the righteous, and let my laſt houre be like vntounto his. Into thine hands doe I commend my ſoule, for thou haſt redeemed it, ô Lord God of truth.
My conſcience doth tell mee that I hauehave ſinned againſt thee, and whatſoeuer I now ſuffer, it is for my ſinnes: they are like an heauie burden vponupon my ſoule, they preſſe me downe to the graue of death, and Satan doth lay them now eſpecially before me, to make me deſpaire of thy mercies in Chriſt. Lord aſſure mee of the pardon of them all, perſwade my ſoule by the Spirit of my Sauiour, that they are nailed to his croſſe waſhed in his blood, couered in his righteouſneſſe, acquited by his death, buried in his graue, and fully diſcharged by his alone ſatiſfaction. Now, now I ſtand in néed of thy Spirit, let it crie in mine heart, Abba, Father: I deſire none Angell from heauen to comfort me, I deſire the Spirit of adoption to aſſure me: to aſſure me o Lord, that thou art my Father, and I thy ſon; thou my ſhepheard, and I thy ſheepe; thou my king, and I one of thoſe ſubiects, who ſhall ſhortly waite vponupon thée in the kingdome of heauen, to which I muſt paſſe by the gates of death. O though I hauehave now a ſick body, yet grant me, I pray thée, a ſound ſoule. In thy hands are life and death: thou haſt the keyes of the graue and death, thou bringeſt to the graue, and pulleſt back again: my mother bare mee a mortall man, I came into this world to leaue it at thy pleaſure: it pleaſeth thee now to forewarne me of mine end, which might hauehave come vponupon mee before this time: I might hauehave periſhed either in the womb, or in my cradle, or in my childhood, or before I had knowne thée, or ſuddenly might I hauehave béen taken away; and I deſerued to die ſo ſoone as I was borne: I owe thée a death, as Chriſt Ieſus died for me. I hauehave béene ſalling to this hauen euer ſince I was borne, be thou my Pilot, that I ſinck not in ye hauens mouth, but that I may land at the port of paradiſe. I hauehave done, I confeſſe, little ſeruice vntounto thée, and if thou ſhouldeſt now take mee away, I ſhould die before I hauehave begun to liue. Thou knoweſt what is beſt for me: Conuert me O Lord, and I ſhall be conuerted; O Lord, turne me, and in a moment, I ſhall bee turned vntounto thee. Therefore déere Father, giuegive me that mind which a ſick man ſhould hauehave, faith in thy promiſes, hope of eternall life, patience with my paine, a deſire to bee looſed, and to bee with Chriſt, and a loathing of the vanities of this preſent euill world. Call to my remembrance all thoſe things which I hauehave heard, or read, or felt, or meditated of, to ſtrengthen mee in this houre of triall, that I who hauehave beene negligent in teaching others by my life, may now teach them how to die, and to beare patiently the like viſitation. Lord grant that my laſt houre may bee my beſt houre; my laſt thoughts the beſt thoughts, and my laſt words the beſt words that euer I did ſpeak: ſo that with my ſwéet Sauiour I may then ſay, Father into thine hands I commend my ſpirit: or with old Simeon ſay, Lord now letteſt thou thy ſeruant depart in peace according to thy word. Take away from mee in that houre all terror of conſcience, all ſcriching and howling, all ſottiſhneſſe, and ſenſleſneſſe, which doth often accompany the wicked at their ends; and ſince thou haſt lent mee for a while my life, grant that I may willingly reſtore it again, when thou calleſt for it to heauen. Let not the graue make me afraid, becauſe it is perfumed by the buriall of Chriſt, and made as a bed for my body to reſt in, againſt that day, in which thou ſhall clothe mee againe with mine owne fleſh, and make it like to the glorious bodie of Chriſt, when he will ſay vntounto mee, Come thou bleſſed of my Father, inherite the Kingdome which was prepared for thee, before the foundations of the world were laid.
Lord I thanke thée for all thy mercies in the time of my health, and in this of ſickneſſe; eſpecially that thou haſt taught mee out of thy word, which alſo by thy Spirit I beleeue, that howſoeuer I am by nature mortall, yet by grace thou haſt made me immortall; and that I am tranſlated from death to life. I thanke thée O Lord for all the good meanes of health offred to me in this viſi…ation of mine, as my Chriſtian friends, their holy prayers, and godly comforts: for the meanes of Phyſicke, and all other fauours which I now taſte of in this ſicke bed of mine, which thou haſt denied vntounto many of thy ſeruants and déere children, who hauehave deſerued thy fauour more then my ſelfe. I thanke thée alſo, that as I hauehave liued in a Chriſtian Church, ſo if I die I ſhall die in thy Church, and be buried in the ſepulchres of thy ſeruants, who all waite for the conſolation of Iſrael, and the Redemption of their bodies in the Reſurrection of the iuſt. Bleſſe all good meanes vntounto mee, ſo farre ſorth as it may be for thy glory, and my good: and as I hauehave euer praied, Thy wil be done: ſo now let me not be offended that thy will is done. Teach me that all things, euen both ſickneſſe and death, turn to the beſt to them that louelove thee: teach me to ſee my happineſſe through troubles: that eueryevery paine is a preuention to the godly of the paines of hell: and that this light affliction which is but for a moment cauſeth vntounto vsus a farre moſt excellent and eternall weight of glorie. Teach mee againe by thy holy Spirit that there is none hurt by going to heauen: that I ſhall loſe nothing but the ſenſe of euill: and that anon I ſhall hauehave greater ioyes then I feele paine. O death, where is thy ſting? O hell, where is thy victorie? I thanke thee O Lord who haſt giuen me victorie by Ieſus Chriſt: in the confidence of this conqueſt I come vntounto thée, & am aſſured that if I liue, I ſhall liue vntounto thée, and if I die, I ſhall die vntounto thée. I deſire to be diſſolued, and to be with Chriſt, for he vntounto me is both in life and in death aduantage. I ſhall by death put off corruption, and put on incorruption, ſhake off ſinne, and be couered with righteouſneſſe, caſt off mortalitie, and be attired with immortalitie; I ſhall loſe my life in earth, and finde it againe in heauen. Thou my Father, Chriſt my brother, the Saints my kinred, happineſſe mine inheritance, are in heauen alreadie, why ſhould I feare to go thither, whither all the godlie dead are gone before me, and all the faithful liuing ſhall follow after mee? Why art thou troubled O my ſoule, and why art thou ſo diſquieted within mee? Lord I know I cannot eſcape death, why ſhould I feare it? my chiefeſt happineſſe is behind, and I cannot hauehave, it vnleſſe I go vntounto it. I could be content to go thorow hell to heauen, O make me to go through death to heauen. My paines I confeſſe O Lord are great, but ſince I trauell to bring forth eternitie, make me patient to endure all paines. I ſée my ſins, make mee now to ſée my Redeemer: I feare the Iudge, perſwade me that his Sonne is become my interceſſor. Satan would affright me, I hope thine Angels pitch their tents about me: the graue will gape on me, out of thy word I know, it was the bed of my Sauiour. What though I leaue many aliue behind me? yet they ſhall all follow after; if I get mine inheritance before my brethren, I muſt bee more thankfull to my father for it. Grant therefore moſt mercifull God that if I liue, I may liue to ſacrifice, and if I die, I may die a ſacrifice: I am thy ſeruant, and the ſonne of thine handmaiden, do with me what thou wilt. Bleſſe O Lord the ſuruiuing generation, make them wiſe to ſaluation, to number their daies a right, and to applie their hearts to wiſedome. And though thou kill mee, yet let me now truſt in thée. Grant this O Lord for thy Sonnes ſake, in whom alone thou art well pleaſed, for my comforts ſake, which by this means ſhall bee encreaſed, and for the beholders ſakes, who ſhall ſée mine end, that they all may ſay, Grant that wee may die, as this our brother did, ſo that our ends may be like vntounto his, and our ſo…les follow his. Amen. Euen ſo come Lord Ieſus, come quickly: and the Grace of our Lord Ieſus Chriſt, the louelove of God the Father, and the comfort of the holy Ghoſt bee with mee now and for euer more. Amen.
Bleſſed are the dead that die in the Lord.
Reuelat. 14.
The eye hath not ſeene, the eare hath not heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceiue the good things which God hath prepared for them that louelove him. 1. Corinth. 2.
We know that if this earthly houſe of this Tabernacle bee deſtroyed, wee hauehave a building giuen of God, that is, an houſe not made with hands, but eternall in the Heauens. 2. Cor. 5.1.
Farewell my friends, but you ſhall follow: for it is appointed that all muſt die.