and try my wayes to looke backe upon all the ungodly actions and aberrations of my fore-past life to view my sinne-deformed soule in the cleare glasse of thy undefiled â—aw that so I may judge and abhorre my selfe in dust and ashes and bee still more vile in mine owne esteeme make me to examine my selfe and so eate of that bread and drinke of that cup knowing that if I eate and drinke thereof unworthily I eate and drinke damnation to my selfe because I discerne not the Lords body Teach mee to try my selfe whether I be in the faith or no for without faith it is impossible to please thee in any service T is my faith in the death of my Saviour that is the hand and mouth by which I must apply him and make him mine in this Sacrament Assure me by these broad seales annexed to the covenant of grace and letters patents of thy holy word that thou wilt make good what thou hast promised that as thou hast called Ho every one that thirsteth come to the waters so thou wilt refresh this my gasping and thirsting soule as thou callest all that be weary and heavie laden to come unto thee so thou wilt in no wise send mee empty away that cast my selfe into the bleeding armes of my dying Saviour Perswade my unbeleeving and doubting heart that as thy Minister taketh and blesseth and breaketh and poureth out and giveth and saith Take and eate the bread take and drinke the wine of the Sacrament so thou from everlasting hast separated consecrated and ordained Iesus Christ to be a Sacrifice for my sinnes hast poured out his blood to be a satisfaction to thy offended justice for my sinfull soule and that hereby I shall continue in communion with him my head and his mysticall body my fellow members Thy flesh O sweet Saviour is meate indeed and thy blood is drinke indeed O let me I beseeth thee find it so in my fainting soule that I may bee ravished with thy love that I may taste and see how gracious the Lord is and find thy free promises and pledges of thy grace to bee better than wine sweeter also than the honey and the honey combe Let thy holy spirit set to his privie seale on my heart inwardly by the secret and sweet refreshment of his blessed testimonie that I am my well beloveds and my well beloved is mine establishing my heart in thy love and knitting my soule unto thee for ever O draw me and I shall run after thee shew me the light of thy countenance and I shall bee saved And Lord make mee to love my brethren as thou hast loved me yea to love my very enemies for thy names sake reconciling my selfe to those whom I have offended following peace with all men and forgiving them their hundred pence as thou hast freely forgiven me my ten thousand talents Vouchsafe me this aud all other graces which may fit mee for thy service in thy kingdome of grace and prepare mee for the enjoyment of everlasting glory through my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ Amen After the receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper O Lord what shall I render unto thee for all the benefits which thou hast bestowed upon mee and daily ladest mee withall a most unworthy sinner how shall I bee sufficiently thankefull unto thee for them when they bee more than I can reckon up unto thee more then my heart is able to conceive or comprehend Should I offer up unto thee thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oyle they all would come farre short of thy most free eternall undeserved infinite love Lebanon it selfe is not sufficient for wood nor the beasts upon a thousand hils for a burnt offering What shall I then doe unto thee O thou Preserver of men or what recompence shall I make thee I will even take the cup of salvation and give thankes to thy name O Lord. I will offer up my soule and body for a holy living and acceptable sacrifice unto thee this will please thee better than bullocke that hath hornes and hoofes Thou O Lord in the beginning didst make mee to bee when I was not before and when I had lost my selfe and forfeited my being and life and happinesse didst in Christ restore mee to a more blessed estate than at my Primitive integrity Thou thy selfe art become my Father thy sonne my Saviour thy holy Spirit my Sanctifier thy word my Instructor thy Sacraments the food to refresh satisfie and feed my poore hungry soule to everlasting life This day thou hast called me to thy holy Mountaine and made me joyfull in thy house of prayer this day hast thou invited me to sit downe at thy table and made unto mee a feast of fat things full of marrow a feast of wines on the lees well refined thou hast abundantly satisfied me with the fâ—â—nesse of thy house and hast made mee to drinke of the river of thy pleasures Blessed bee thy glorious name for ever and ever which is above all thankesgiving and prayse of mine O that I could bee indeed thankefull unto thee as thou art gracious unto me If I should open my mouth never so wide thou wouldest fill it thy favours to my poore soule are more than all tongues of men and Angels can worthily magnifie And now O Lord accept I beseech thee the free will-offering of thy servant that desires to feare thy name and to make a covenant with thee never to bee broken that my soule shall cleave close unto thee and avouch thee this day to bee my God and Saviour for ever more Here I doe resigne myselfe soule and body all that is in me and all that belongs unto me to bee wholly thine and that I will never wickedly depart from thee my God as I have done O that my wayes were so directed that I might keepe thy commandements alway Never let mee with the disgorged dog returne any more to my former vomit nor with the washed sow to wallow in the mire but as I have now washed my feete so suffer mee no more againe to defile them as I have put off the filthy rags of my old conversation so I may never againe put them on but become a new creature That seeing the expiation of my sins cost my Saviour so deare as the shedding of his precious blood and that thy wrath lay so heavie upon him who was our suretie onely being innocent in himselfe I may hence conceive how heinous a thing sinne is how abhorred by thee and so hate it in my selfe with a perfect hatred and resist it even to blood and not crucifie againe hereby the Lord of life and glory O make mee thankefully to remember that bitter passion of his and thy love O Father unto mee in that thou hast accepted mee to life in him and hast brought salvation this day home to my house to my heart Lord enter in abide with and dwell in my soule for ever Take not
he may And thou who preservest the way of thy Saints hold up my goings in thy paths that my foote steps slip not Give thine Angels charge over us to keepe us in all our wayes that they may beare us up in their handes lest at any time we dash our foot O be thou with us and keepe us in all places whither we goe and bring us againe and leave us not untill thou hast done that which thou hast spoken to us of O that thou wouldst blesse mee indeed and enlarge my coast and that thine hand might bee with me and that thou wouldest keepe me from evill that it may not grieve me Prosper now I pray thee thy servant this day and grant him mercy in the sight of the man and let the beauty of the Lord our God bee upon us and establish thou the worke of our hands upon us yea the worke of our hands establish thou it We know not what to doe but our eyes are upon thee thou also must worke all our workes in us It is in vaine for us to rise up early to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrowes O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himselfe it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps neither is hee that planteth any thing neither hee that watereth but God that giveth the increase Deliverance from Evill 1. Of SINNE Let not sinne raigne in our mortall bodies that wee should obey it in the lusts thereof neither suffer us to yeeld our members as instruments of unrighteousnesse unto sinne but unto God as those that are aliue from the deast and our members as instruments of righteousnesse unto God looking diligently lest any man faile of the grace of God lest any root of bitternesse springing up trouble us and thereby we be deluded that being now made free from sinne and become the servants of God wee may have our fruit unto holinesse and the end everlasting life But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing mee into captivity to the law of Sinne which is in my members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death Cleanse thou mee from secret faults Keepe backe thy servant also from presumptuous sinnes let them not have dominion over me then shall I bee upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression Subdue the pride of our nature cast downe every imagination and every high thing that exalteth it selfe against thee and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Let not my heart be haughty nor my eyes lofty neither suffer me to exercise my selfe in great matters or in things too high for me but behave and quiet my selfe as a child that is weaned by his mother Order my steps in thy word and let none inâ—quity have donion over me make me also to be upright before thee and to keepe my selfe from mine inâ—quity Let us lay aside every weight and the sinne that doth so easily beset us that we may run with patience the race that is set before us that we may not love the world nor the things in the world because all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world that denying ungodlines and worldly lusts wee may live soberly righteously and godly in this present world That we may walke circumspectly not as fooles but as wise giving none occasion to the adversary to speake reproachfully Mortifying our members which are on the earth fornication uncleannesse the inordinate affection evill concupiscence and covetousnesse which is idolatry Putting off all these anger wrath malice blasphemie filthy communication That wee may resist unto blood striving against sinne taking heed lest there bee in any of us an evill heart of unbeliefe in departing from the living God taking heed to our selves lest at any time our hearts bee over-charged with suffering and drunkennesse and cares of this life That wee may bee sober and vigilant because our adversary the devill as a roaring Lyon walketh about seeking whom hee may devoure whom that wee may resist stedfast in the faith let us take unto us the whole armour of God that we may bee able to stand against all his wiles being strong in the Lord and in the power of his might 2. PVNISHMENT Let no evill befall us neither let any plague come nigh our dwelling Send from heaven and save mee from the reproach of him that would swallow me up My soule is among Lyons and I lye even among them that are set on fire even the sonnes of men whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharpe sword Plead my cause O Lord with them that strive with me fight thou against them that fight against me Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weake O Lord heale me for my bones are vexed My soule also is sore vexed c. Returne O Lord deliver my soule O save me for thy mercies sake For in death there is no remembrance of thee in the grave who shall give thee thankes I am weary with my groaning all the night make I my bed to swimme I water my couch with my teares Mine eye is consumed because of griefe it waxeth old because of all mine enemies Turne thee unto mee and have mercie upon me for I am desolate and afflicted The troubles of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of my distresses Looke upon mine affliction and my paine and forgive all my sinnes O my Father if it be possible let this affliction passe from me neverthelesse not as I will but as thou wilt Lord make mee to know mine end and the measure of my dayes what it is that I may know how fraile I am Behold thou hast made my dayes as an hand-breadth and mine age is as nothing before thee verely every man at his best state is altogether vanity So teach us to number our dayes that wee may apply our hearts unto wisedome The HOLY CATHOLIKE CHVRCH of IESVS CHRIST Preserve that little flocke to whom thou hast promised and reserved the Kingdome Be unto it a wall of fire round about Let thy delight be to Mount Sion grave her on the palmes of thy hands let her walls bee continually before thee Let her builders make haste and cause her destroyers and such as would lay her wast to depart from her Feed them that oppresse her with their owne flesh and make them drunken with their owne blood as with sweet wine Looke downe from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse
on any earthly thing for nothing brings true content to the soule but God Delight thy selfe in him this will both purifie thy heart and assure it before God In thy carnall delight there are or may be losse of crosses in curses for them They are broken cisternes In the end of every day aske thy selfe What have I done What have I done amisse What have I left undone Thus summe up thy accounts and make all streight twixt God and thee Keepe a Catalogue of all thy g 〈…〉 knowne sinnes nor balking any but dealing truely with thy selfe and then falling downe on thy knees disburden thy conscience of them by humble confession to God carrying this thy owne inditement and spreading it before the Lord and pleading guilty drag thy sinfull lusts to the crosse of thy Saviour and there crucifie them 2 Pray for a soft and tender heart as for life Lord thou hast promised to take out the heart of stone to give an heart of flesh 3 Get the particular promises which thou desirest to have fulfilled to thy soule without booke yea into thy heart as well as thy head Mr. Byfield Mr. GEORGE FLETCHER in Christs victory and triumph pag. 50. VVHo is it sees not that he nothing is But he that nothing sees what vveker brest Since Adams armour faild dares warrant his That made by God of all his creatures best Straite made himselfe the worst of all the rest If any strength we have it is to ill But all the good is Gods both povv'r and vvill The dead man cannot rise though he himselfe may kill Mr. QVARLES Historie of SAMPSON Medit. 21. LOrd if our Father Adam could not stay In his upright perfection one poore day How can it be expected we have povver To hold out siege one scruple of an houre Our armes are bound vvith too unequall bands We cannot strive vve cannot loose our hands Great Nazarite avvake and looke upon us Make haste to helpe the Philistims are on us Medit. 22. ibid. Lord shouldst thou punish every part in me That does offend what member would be free Each member acts his part they never lin Vntill they joyne and make a body of sinne Make sinne my burthen let it never please me And thou hast promis'd when I come to ease me Medit. 19. idem ibid. Thou great Chirurgion of a bleeding soule Whose soveraigne balme is able to make whole The deepest wound thy sacred salve is sure We cannot bleed so fast as thou canst cure Heale thou our wounds that having salv'd the sore Our hearts may feare and learne to sinne no more And let our hands be strangers to those knives That wound not fingers only but our lives Some particular formes of PRAYER 1. For the Sacrament of the LORDS Supper WOnderfull art thou O Lord in all thy works towards the sons of men but more especially wonderfull in that great worke of our redemption by the death of thy Son Hadst thou left us to have perished in that estate of damnation into which wee desperately had implunged our selves by the wilfull disobedience of our first parents it had beene but just with thee so to have done for wee were the clay thou wast our Potter and we all are the work of thine owne hands and hadst thou taken no delight in us to doe us good thou mightest easily have made us dishonourable vessels of thy wrath as well as thou didst the Angels which kept not their first estate but left their owne habitation whom thou hast reserved in everlasting chaines under darkenesse under the judgement of the great day But thou in love to our soules wouldest not that wee should perish and therefore out of thine own incomprehensible wisedome foundest out a meanes of rasoming and redeeming man from hell by causing thine own sonne God equall for ever with thy blessed selfe to bee made sinne for us that so wee might bee made the righteousnesse of God in him who his owne selfe bare our sinnes in his body on the tree and the more to confirme us in the assured hope of everlasting salvation which he once purchased for us by his bloody passion did institute for his Church the blessed Sacrament of his body and blood in which I see him againe crucified and freshly bleeding before mine eyes in the outward elements of bread and wine which he hath appointed to bee often celebrated in remembrance of him Blessed bee thy holy name therefore my daily sinnes have made mee unworthy of daily bread much more of this bread of life yet seeing thou callest and invitest mee at this time to the Supper of the Lambe to eate of that Manna that came down from heaven to partake of those divine mysteries O let not mee suffer my selfe to bee needlesly detained from so blessed a feast by any pretended occasions whatsoever as those did that made excuses and set light by their invitation to the marriage of the Kings sonne Math. 22. 5. left thou sweare in thy wrath that I shall never taste of thy Supper nor enter into that rest which my Saviour is gone to prepare for thy beloved ones For if those in the law that did neglect to eate the Passeover and to worship at Hierusalem at the times appoynted were to bee cut off from the number of thy people of how much sorer punishment shall I bee worthy if I refuse to partake in thy blessed Sacrament and neglect so great salvation which thou tenderest unto mee hereby O therefore make me to come as a guest invited comming prepared unto thy table having on my wedding garment because thou thy selfe the great master of this feast art present in the assembly eying and observing thy guests Let mee therefore first wash my hands in innocencie my heart from wickednesse and so compasse thine Altar O Lord that seeing Christ my Passeover is sacrificed for mee I may purge out the old leaven and become a new lumpe keeping this feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth feeding on him with the sowre herbes of godly sorrow and unfained repentance for all my former sins O make the very remembrance of them to be grievous and the burthen of them intollerable unto mee O wash mee Lord wash mee not onely the feete but even the hands also and the head for I am uncleane I am uncleane a very Leper a sinke of sinne whom thou mighest shut out of the congregation of thy people for ever but yet O Lord if thou wilt thou canst make mee cleane Thy blood O sweet Iesus is able to cleanse more throughly than the waters of Iordan did Naomans leprosie and to wash away all my pollutions and make my Ethiopian skin my leopards spots to be white as snow in Salmon Now the good Lord pardon me and every one that prepareth himselfe to seeke thee in the truth of his heart though wee bee not cleansed and prepared according to that exact purification of thy Sanctuary O Lord make me to search