Media: the middle things, in reference to the first and last things: or, The means, duties, ordinances, both secret, private and publike, for continuance and increase of a godly life, once begun, till we come to Heaven. Wherein are discovered many blessed medium's or duties, in their right method, manner and proceedings; that so a Christian (the spirit of Christ assisting) may walk on in the holy path, which leads from his new birth to everlasting life. / Drawn, for the most part, out of the most eminently pious, and learned writings of our native practical divines: with additionals of his own, by Isaac Ambrose, minister of the Gospel at Preston in Amoundernes.

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Title: Media: the middle things, in reference to the first and last things: or, The means, duties, ordinances, both secret, private and publike, for continuance and increase of a godly life, once begun, till we come to Heaven. Wherein are discovered many blessed medium's or duties, in their right method, manner and proceedings; that so a Christian (the spirit of Christ assisting) may walk on in the holy path, which leads from his new birth to everlasting life. / Drawn, for the most part, out of the most eminently pious, and learned writings of our native practical divines: with additionals of his own, by Isaac Ambrose, minister of the Gospel at Preston in Amoundernes.
Author: Ambrose, Isaac, 1604-1664.
Publication: London :: Printed by John Field for Nathanaell Webb and William Grantham, at the Greyhound in Pauls Church-yard,; 1650. [i.e. 1649]
Rights/Permissions: To the extent possible under law, the Text Creation Partnership has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above, according to the terms of the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/). This waiver does not extend to any page images or other supplementary files associated with this work, which may be protected by copyright or other license restrictions. Please go to http://www.textcreationpartnership.org/ for more information.
Subject terms: Christian life -- Early works to 1800.; Devotional exercises -- Early works to 1800.; Asceticism -- Early works to 1800.
Cite this Item: "Media: the middle things, in reference to the first and last things: or, The means, duties, ordinances, both secret, private and publike, for continuance and increase of a godly life, once begun, till we come to Heaven. Wherein are discovered many blessed medium's or duties, in their right method, manner and proceedings; that so a Christian (the spirit of Christ assisting) may walk on in the holy path, which leads from his new birth to everlasting life. / Drawn, for the most part, out of the most eminently pious, and learned writings of our native practical divines: with additionals of his own, by Isaac Ambrose, minister of the Gospel at Preston in Amoundernes." In the digital collection Early English Books Online 2. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A75287.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 20, 2024.

Pages

SECT. 1. Of the nature and kindes of Meditation.

MEditation is a deep and earnest musing upon some point of Christian instruction, to the strengthening of us against the flesh, world and Devil, and to the lead∣ing us forward towards the Kingdom of Heaven; or Meditation is a stedfast bending of the minde to some spiritual matter, discoursing of it with others, till we bring the same to some profitable issue.

Now this Meditation is either sudden or set, occasional, or so∣lemn, and deliberate.

1. Occasional or Extemporal Meditation, ariseth from such things as God by his providence offers to our eyes, ears and senses. When I consider the Heavens, the work of thy fingers, the Moon and Stars which thou hast ordained: What is man that thou art mindeful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him? This Meditation of Davids was occasional.

2. Deliberate, set, or solemn Meditation, ariseth out of our own hearts, when purposely we seperate our selves from all com∣pany, and go apart to perform this exercise more throughly, making choice of such matter, time and place as are most requi∣site thereunto: Now this Meditation is double, for it is either conversant about matters of knowledge, for the finding out of some hidden truth, or about matters of affection, for the en∣kindling of our love unto God: The former of these two we leave to the Schools and Prophets, the latter we shall search after, which is both of larger use, and such as no Christian can reject, as either unnecessary, or over-difficult.

Notes

Psal. 8.3, 4.

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