A Spiritual Propine of a Pastor to his People, Section 11
A meditation of the faithfull saule with God, after the receauing of the holy Communion.
VVE might vtterly dispaire in consideration of our manifold sinnes and infinit offences, had not thy word, O Lorde our God, bin made fleshe, and dwelt amang vsus: But now all praise be vntounto thy mercifull grace, we neither neede, nor dare dispaire: for gif when I was thy enemie, I was reconciled to thee by the death of thy Sonne, how meikle mair being reconciled, sall I be saued by his life: For all mine hope and my confidence is reposed, in that precious blood whilk was shed for me and for my saluation. In that blood I reviue wha before was dead, I take my hearte againe wha before was heartles, & resting therevpon▪. I couet to come to thee, wha before hated thee, & followed after Sathan, I cum to thee putting no doubte, but now I sall be acceptable, not hauing my awin righteousnesse, but whilk is through faith of my Lorde Iesus Christ. Wherefore, O most gratious and mercifull God, louer of all mankinde, and louer of thy faithfull Saincts: but louer of me in speciall, wha through Iesus Christ thy sonne my Lord, euen when I was in the estate of damnation be reason of sinne, hast deliuered and faued me after sik a way, as neither man nor Angel could dreame off: what craues thou againe for this thy louelove that thou hes kythed vponupon me pure wretch but thankfulnesse? I therefore, vnworthie to thinke vppon thee, vnworthie that thy holines suld be conceaued in my prophane & filthie heart, yet fra my hearte, whilk in sum parte is renewed by thy halie Spirite, I thank thy gratious gudnes; yea, I highly thank thee for that thou hast sent thy onelyonly begotten sonne, from thy awin bosome to saue sinners, and to saue me, of all sinners the greatest, the very childe of wrath; I thank thee for his holy incarnation, & byrth of his blessed mother, of whome he vouchsafed to take my flesh for my saluation; that as hee was very God of God, sa he might be verie man, of man: I thanke thee for his bitter passion, crosse, and death; I thanke thee for his glorious resurrection, and ascension to heauen, and sitting at thy right hand, powring down the haly Spirite according to his promise, vponupon me his childe of adoption. I thank thee, both for the shedding of that his precious blood, wherwith we are redeemed, and also for his instituting of his holy and liuely Sacrament of his body and blood that was giuen for mee, where withal thus in thy Kirk I am nurished, refreshed, sanctified, strengthned & quickned in my inward man, and made pertaker of ane heauenly and diuine nature: againe, I thanke thee for thy vnmeasurable louelove, wherwith thou hes so loued me, miserable and catiue wretch in thy onelyonly weil beloued sonne Iesus Christ, in whom I hauehave this reconcilation, with thee my God & Father, this redemption, forgiuenes of all my sinnes, righteousnes, adoption, sanctification, and finally assured life, and heritable infeftment of the kingdome of glorie. O pittie vnspeakeable! O wonderfull louelove, to saue thy vnworthie seruand, thou hes giuen thy deare sonne▪ God was made man, that I of the wretched seede of man, might be plucked out of the snare of the diuell, how deerely hes thou Lord Iesus my sweete Sauiour loued me, wha thoght it not enough to humble thy selfe from the most heigh and glorious majestie of the Godhead, to take on my slauish nature, vnles that for me also, and for my saluation, thou hadst shed thy precious blood, and suffered the most shamefull death of the crosse. O rare louelove! O tender kindnes! Wha had hard the like at any time, wha rightly considering, will not be amazed at sik bowels of merciemercy. O strange judgement! O vnspeakeable disposition of the mysterie of God. The sinner offended, the just is punished: the guiltie transgressed, the innocent is struken. The wicked sinned; the Godly is damned: that whilk the euill deserueth, the gud suffers, the seruand dois amisse, the master makes the mends, man commits the sinne, and God bears the punishmēt. Ah, O sonne of God, how hes thou abased thy selfe, how hes thou burned in affection? how far is thy mercies stretched out? how great is thy kindnesse? how large is thy louelove? for I did wickedly, and thou was punished: I sinned and thou was afflicted: I offended and thou was tormented: I lifted vp my selfe proudly, & of a vile worm made a God of my selfe, but thou was humbled, and of the euerlasting God made thy selfe a worme: I was disobedient, but thou obediently bare the punishment of my disobedience: I serued the belly, but thou endured hunger: the forbidē tree, allured me to vnlawful concupiscence; but perfite charity led thee to the crosse: I tasted of pleasure, but thou suffered tormēts: I felt the sweetnes of sin, bot thou tasted the bitter gall. Loe, O King of glory, this is my vngodlines & thy mercy manifest, this mine vnrighteousnesse & thy innocencie is euident. And now O my Kinge and my God, what sall I rander vntounto thee for all thy benefits towards mee? for mans hearte cannot conceaue that whilk may worthily recompence these thy sa ample graces. Can the witte of man finde out any thinge answerable to Gods louelove and merciemercy? Na: It is not for a creature to enterprise to recompense and meete God his creator. Notwithstanding sweete Sauiour in this sa wonderfull dispensation, sumthing any frailtie by the force of thy spirit is able to do: namely, gif by thy visitation the minde being pricked, it crucifie the flesh with the affections and lustes thereof: whilk thou hauing wrought, I begin then as it were to suffer with thee, because thou died with meikle paine for me: and sa throw the conquest of the inner man, I sal be armed, thou being captaine, and thy spirite furnishing strength vntounto the attaining of the outward victorie: In asmeikle as I feare not hauing ouer-cum the spirituall battell, to bee subject for thy sake, euen to bodilie torments, to the sworde, to the fire, to the crosse, to prison, banishment, or whatsumeuer els: in whilk respect the weakenes of my conditione, gif it like thy gudnes, sall be able according to the power it hes to answer to the greatnesse of thee the Creator. And this is heauenly Phisick, O sweet Iesus, this is the preseruation of thy louelove. Now I beseik thee, by thy wonted mercies, to make that this oyle and wine poured in the wounds of my saul in this haly Sacrament, it may purge all corrupt contagion of venoumous humours, and may restore mee againe to my first health and holy jmage of God, whereto I was created: and hauing tasted of the sap of thy sweetnes, may make me fra the very hearte, to dispise the intisments of the world: abhor the wickednes, lustes & vanities theirof, yea, nor to fear na aduersitie theirof for thy names sake, but being alwaies mindfull of thy euerlasting life and glorie, thus wayes by thee my Christ purchased to me, may boldly contemn the death, and be readie to gif my life againe for thy louelove and glory. Deare Christ, seeing I hauehave here sealed vp this conjunction and vnion with thee: make me by thy spirit to abide in the same to the ende, and eternally, and make me daylie maire & mair to finde thee my Christ by faith dwelling in my heart; the whilk I may perceaue be the vndoubted fruits and markes thereof, in the exercise of all gud warkes in sobernes, piety, and righteousnes fra time to time encreasing. And seeing I am thus, not onelyonly receaued within thy houshold, O my God and father, but also refreshed nurished and susteined theirin; I maist humbly beseik thee for a mair and mair effectuall working of thy Spirite, whereby I may carefully, reuerendly, and faithfullie, doe the dewtie of thy childe and seruand within the same. And being thus redeemed from the deuill & the seruitude of sin, be my greate and strong Sauiour, to be the free Citiziner, and heir of his kingdome of justice & life. Grant O Lord, by this renewed force of the quickning spirite of thy Christ, that niether the pairts, faculties nor powers of my saule, nor the instruments and members of my body, bee any mair employed to serue Sathan and sinne, conformed to the facions of this world, but that both saule & body, withall the powers and members thereof, may be presented and consecrated vntounto thee, as a liuing sacrifice, pure & holy, & being transformed by the renewing of the inward man, may be alwaies bent, and intend to discerne and obey the will of thee my God, whilk is gud, acceptable and perfite: I beseik thee, Lord my God, let nothing seeme sweet to me without thee, and let nothing that can fall out, seeme sowre & hard to me, gif I hauehave thee, let nothing please me, nor warldly thing like mee, besid thee: let me not louelove that whilk thou dois abhor, and let thy gud pleasure be all my desire continually, let it be a greefe to me to rejoyce without thee, & make me glad to be afflicted for thy names sake, let thy name be my joy, and thy rememberance my consolation: let the law of thy mouth be better to me, then thousands of gold and siluer; and finally, Lorde my God, bee thou all in all vntounto me, thy word and holy worshipping my comfort and pleasure, and thy sweete Christ my onelyonly vantage and gaine, both in life and death. To whome with thee, the father, and that holy spirite my comforter, be glorie infinit and eternall. Amen.