lest his Mercy become the support of iniqâ—ity his Holiness the entertainer of what he hates and his Goodness the encouragement to the breach of his Laws And if this seem difficult that you must forsake all evil and do the contrary good before you can be accepted you must consider the benefit of it is the saving your souls alive this will preserve you from a two-fold death the least of which is worse then bodily death a dying in sin and a dying for sin for while you go on to practise these sins you are really dead (d) Impii etiamsi videantur vivere miseriores tamen sunt omnibus mortuis carnem suam sicut tumulum circumferentes cui infaelicem infoderunt animam quae intra humum volvitur terrenae avaritiae cupiditatibus caeterisque vitiis includitur ut gratiae coelestis auram spirare non possunt Ambros de Cain Ab. Ephes 2.1 1 Tim. 5.6 though you have a name to live because you so long have no sense of any good nor motion toward it nor any union â—ith God whose departure from the soul of the sinner is as real a death to the soul as it is to the body to have the soul separated from it But by forsaking your sins God will be moved to return and revive you and so you shall not dye eternally whereas the wicked man that lives in his sins first God forsakes his soul and then his soul forsakes his body (e) Revel 3.1 and so begins his eternal misery (f) Cum anima à Deo deserta deseriâ— Corpus Aug. where his soul lives only to feel torments but never more to enjoy any good To prevent which you must turn out of that evil way that leads to both these deaths and your souls shall live in glory for though Gods justice oblige him to punish you for the old score yet our Lord Jesus hath by his death purchased a Covenant of Repentance for us wherein God ingageth to receive us and he promiseth to satisfie the former Debt if we repent and amend (g) Ezek. 18.27 Though I might easily revenge my self on the sinner for all his old transgressions yet through my Son Christ Jesus I do here promise when the wicked man who is walking in the wayes of death not onely confesseth his fault but also turneth away from those paths and being really grieved for what is past abstaineth from his wickedness and never more practiseth those sins that he hath formerly with so much delight committed if this wicked man amend his life and doth that which is lawful and allowed by my word so that his wayes be good and right in my eyes I will forgive the punishment and remove the power of his sins so that while impenitent sinners are dead in sin here and die eternally for it hereafter he shall save his soul alive and I will give him life everlasting A Meditation preparatory to Prayer for the instruction of such as are mistaken IS it possible I should be all this while deluded so grosly to imagine my eyes open and my way direct and to suppose I have hitherto dwelt in light when indeed my eyes are shut and my feet are wrong and my mind over-spread with the mist of Error and the Aegyptian Darkness of a stupid Ignorance Thy Word O Lord is a light to my feet not onely to shew me which is the right way but to let me know when I am in the wrong which I never suspected till I met with the faithful conduct of thy sacred Oracles How have I given up my soul to false gâ—ides who that I might not enquire after the right way would never acquaint me I was wandring from it had I followed them still I had stumbled on the threshold of hell while I expected to arrive at the gates of heaven Blessed be thy Name I now see I have been straying from thee the fountain of all true happiness and have been in vain seeking content where it is not to be found and this disappointment drives me to seek it where it is Had I not been a stranger to my own heart I had not been so far out of the right way But I have supposed my self clear only because I never considered wherein I was guilty and have flattered my self with the pleasing thoughts of my own innocence so that I have been as secure as if I really had been so I have relyed on my own vain imaginations being glad to spare my self the labour of a farther inquiry and most foolishly I have accounted this a Peace which was no other but want of a sense of my real danger I find my chief design hath been to seem good and persuade my self I was so that I might be more quiet in the ways of evil and might neither be accused by my own Conscience nor allarumed by thy dreadful threatnings since I supposed they did not belong to me But alas how miserable would the event of this self deceit have been for thou oh my God didst see and wouldst have condemned me for all my blasphemous and repining thoughts against thee my malicious envious disdainful and treacherous thoughts against my neighbour thou heardest all those false and slanderous vain and filthy words I uttered with my mouth those deceitful and unjust cruel and uncharitable works which I committed with my hands thou sawest yea all that formality and hypocrisie ambition and pride lust and covetousness that lay in the secret corners of my heart were apparent in thy sight and what did it avail me not to see them thy vengeance would have come as certainly and more terribly because it was not expected It is most strange I should never see this vast heap before but sure I have wilfully shut my eyes lest I should discern that I was loath to believe and unwilling to amend and thus my Iniquities continue still But now I see them by thy mercy and I believe I have offended thee as much by hypocrisie in concealing them as by my disobedience in committing them Therefore now I will ingenuously confess them because the graciousness of thy Nature and the truth of thy Promises and the satisfaction of the Lord Jesus are sufficient to procure a pardon for those who dare so far trust to thy Mercy as to become their own accusers and while I thus discover my sore to the Physician of souls though it be dishonourable and troublesome 't is the onely way to have it cured and cleansed had not Jesus dyed for me upon my confession thy Justice would have proceeded to punish but now by thy promise to him it will oblige thee to forgive me and deliver me Yet since my God hath so graciously convinced me of the evil and danger of those courses I have taken I will not rest in a bare confession I am in the wrong but by his grace will return from it and utterly forsake all these my follies His Mercy perhaps is great enough to
esteem it while it promotes your Imitation of so excellent a Patern I shall add no more but to beg my Imperfections may take Sanctuary in the integrity of my Purposes which have armed me against all Detractions because my Aim is the Glory of God the encrease of Piety and the Peace of this Church for the obtaining whereof the Prayers as well as the Patronage of your Lordship are most earnestly requested by My Lord Your Honours most obliged and Most faithful Servant Thomas Comber THE PREFACE THere are two principal ends of the Worship of God The glory of him that is Worshiped and the benefit of the Worshipers And these two are so inseperably united that St. Augustine (a) Credendum est totum quod recte colitur Deus homini prodesse non Deo Aug. Civ Dei l. 10. cap. 5. reduceth both to one assuring us that all the advantage accrues to us But whether we look on them single or conjoyned no part of Divine Worship doth so much express and advance Gods glory nor so directly tend to Mans good as Publique Prayer in which we make the most universal solemn acknowledgments of our Obligations unto and Dependence upon the Supreme Lord of all the World and by which all the servants of God in all times places and circumstances do with one heart and voice by common consent (b) Publica est nobis COMMUNIS ORATIO quando oramus non pro uno sed pro toto populo oramus quia totus populus unum sumus Cyprian reveal their wants and obtain supplies for them So that we may call this the Life and Soul of Religion the Anima Mundi that universal Soul which quickens unites and moves the whole Christian World Nor is the case of a private Man more desperate when he breaths no more in secret Prayer then the condition of a Church is where Publique Devotions cease St. Hierome out of Hippolitus puts the cessation of Liturgie (c) Hieron Com. in Dan. as a principal sign of the coming of Antichrist And nothing more clearly shews a profane generation (d) Gen. 4.26 Chal. Par. Tunc profani fuerunt homines ut non Orarent in nomine Domini edit Ven. the very title of wicked men in Scripture (e) Psal 14.4 53.4 being that they call not upon God 'T is well if any of us can excuse our selves but the general neglect of daily Prayers (f) In the Rubrick before the Morning Prayer by Ministers who are both desirous and bound to perform them doth too sadly testify they are tired out with the peoples constant absence and all together witnesseth an Universal decay of true Piety Perhaps the dishonour that is cast upon God and Religion while there is no apparent testimonies that they value either will not move these disregarders and neglecters since they live so that a Stranger could not imagine they had any God at all But I hope they have yet so much Charity for themselves that it may startle them to consider what mischiefs are hereby brought upon themselves and others Wherefore let them ask the cause of all that Atheism and Prophaneness Luxury and Oppression Lying and Deceiving Malice and Bitterness that is broke in upon us to the torment and disquiet of the whole World Let them ask why they plague others with their sins and others requite them again and it will appear that all this is come upon us because we forget God and Heaven Death and Judgment which daily prayers would mind us of Our Souls are fixed to the Earth because we lift them not up to Heaven We have neither grace to do good nor resist Sin because we never ask it and we can have as little hopes of Glory as we have signs of grace because we do not prepare for it But if these evils be too thin and spiritual let it be enquired whence our National and personal calamities proceed Epidemical diseases Warrs and pestilences Whence comes the Multiplication of Heresies the prevalency and pride of the Enemies of the true Religion The Jews will tell you Jacob's Voice in the Synagogue (g) Omni tempore quo Jacobi vox est in synagogis non sunt ibi manus Esau Prov. Rab. lib. Musar keeps off Esau's hands from the People We have disrespected and slighted God and his VVorship and he may justly put us out of his Protection who do not duly pay our homage to him and go away (h) Si Deus s b. synagogam intrat nemo inventus est abiit iratus ut Isai 50.2 Buxtorf syn ex Rh. displeased and then we lye open to all evil when our defence is departed from us and they that provoke him so to do are enemies to themsâ—â—â—â— and to the Church and state where they live indeed the worst Neighbours (i) Quisquis incolit civitatem in quâ extat synagoga et eam tecum non adiit is est Vicinus malus R. Nath. de latr But notwithstanding all this while all sober and devout Men lament this Epidemical iniquity and groan under the sad effects thereof passionately wishing a speedy remedy the Offenders grow bold by their numbers and hardened by this evil custome till they now despise a reproof and deny this Negligence to be a sin because they have no mind to amend it But these are of two kinds 1. Those that make their business their Apology and suppose it is unreasonable to expect them every Day at Common Prayer and judge it sufficient to say they cannot come 2. Those which have learned to despise or hate the Prayers of the Church and to scorn that which their Fore-fathers generally better then they did heartily serve God by and yet these account it their Virtue to abstain from them and having sufficiently undervalued these Devotions stampt by Publick Authority they imagine they may say innocently enough they wil not come But if to disparage our Rule did take off our Obligation to walk by it Scorners then were the least of sinners But neither the excuses of the one can cover his Covetousness and Irreligion nor the confidence of the other shelter his Pride at the last and dreadful day So that I suppose it may be a friendly office and will be so accepted to warn all such of the unsafe grounds they relye upon to prove their innocency in forbearing Publique Prayers And this I shall do by representing with all Moderation 1. The reasonableness of our being present at Daily Prayers to those who say they cannot 2. The Excellency of the Liturgie to those who say they will not come And this I am obliged to do to smooth the way to the Temple for in vain do we shew how men may be devout there if they excuse or deny Coming thither And we must not so confine our Charity to these within the walls as to forget those without We love the one best but we must pitty the other also and endeavour to
wherein the Messias and our Saviour of the world was to set up a spiritual kingdome in the hearts of men it was necessary for all that desired to become his subjects to renounce those lusts to which they had been enslaved and to prepare his way by repentance or else they must remain slaves still and this reason urgeth us now as strongly as ever because our Lord Jesus doth every day now by his Word and Embassadours proclaim liberty to us and offers to become our King but in most of our hearts sin hath usurped his throne and therefore we must first exclude that and if we repent not it seems we love the slavery of Sathan better then the liberty of the Sons of God and do declare we will not have Christ to reign over us and though he may for a while connive at this affront yet remember there is another kingdome of heaven at hand even the kingdome of glory wherein all that shall then have rejected Christ for their King shall be utterly destroyed (p) Luke 19.27 and condemned to unspeakable and endless torments And this ought to fill such lazy persons with fear because for any thing they know the end of all is near at hand however 't is secret that you might not delay and will be sudden when it doth come and if it surprize us we can never repent more and if this world should last 10000 years more it is nothing to us for this kingdome of heaven begins with us when we leave this world and therefore who knows how near the kingdome of heaven may be Matth. 3.3 I see you have committed many sins and do still go on in them and so are neither fit for that grace which is offered you here nor to appear in that judgment which must pass upon you hereafter Wherefore I charge you all repent ye of all your wickednesses and confess them seriously and forsake them speediâ—y for the kingdome of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of the God of heaven is now to be set up in the hearts of all true penitents and for others their death is not 〈◊〉 off and the kingdome of glory is at hand and wiâ—â— surprize them in their trifâ—ing intentions to their utter ruine A Meditation preparatory to Prayer for the quickening of such as neglect repentance IT had been well for my soul if all this while my safety had been equal to my confidence for none ever thought themselves more secure though there was no other ground for it but only because I was resolved not to take the pains to behold my danger I have multiplied my transgressions and lived in sins unamended yea unrepented of and therefore have had the drawn sword of the divine vengeance hanging over my guilty head by the slender thred of my uncertain life which every thing can snap asunder and I have seemed wilfully to shut my eyes chusing rather to feel it and the eternal smart of it then to behold this dreadful sight which would long since have terrified me into amendment and snatched me from under the approaching ruine what prodigious folly hath seized on me what stupid laziness hath benummed me are the pains of escaping greater then the pains of suffering or will the blow be lighter because I resolve neither to see it nor avoid it awake my soul awake while there is a possibility to prevent thy ruine thy sins are so numerous and so hainous that thou canst be ignorant of them the threatnings of Gods wrath are so plain and so positive that thou mayst see they aim at thee thy conscience cryes so loud that thou canst not but hear it and Gods holy spirit pleads so powerfully that thou must take as much pains to exclude these friends as would serve to turn out thy enemies Surely God gave me not wit and understanding to invent a plausible cover for the eyes of my conscience or to contrive bulworks of excuses to intrench my sins in safety and yet I unhappy wretch have been ingenious in nothing so much as in plotting the ruine of my soul and designing to perish undisturbed Behold and blush where holy David lyes covered with shame drowned in tears and overwhelmed with sorrow not able through sear and terror to take his eye of that one offence whilst thou a far greater sinner art careless and unconcerned He sets his before his own face and God throws them behind his back but I who cast them behind me and strive to bury them in oblivion and inconsideration shall have them set before my face when the sight of them cannot conduce to the obtaining of my pardon but the aggravating my eternal misery the sight of them indeed is most unpleasant the object odious and ungrateful but the benefit will abundantly recompence the trouble and if I behold them now so as to repent of them I shall see them no more for ever I will imitate therefore this holy man and ever view the guilt and the danger of them that I may humbly confess them and obtain a pardon for them my wretched heart hath taken pleasure in committing them and it shall have vexation in reflecting on them for I will not take my eyes off from them till the horrid aspect of my grievous iniquities have humbled my soul for them and turned my heart against them The blessed Jesus that sees the hearts and knows the necessities of all hath given a universal command of repentance to all men which yet methinks seems peculiarly directed to me who have neglected this necessary duty hitherto Thou oh Lord seest my danger and pittieth my approaching ruine I bow my head and heart and neither dare nor can disobey so gracious and loving advice so useful and necessary a warning Thy bare word had been sufficient to command obedience from those who expect salvation by thee but thou art pleased farther to convince me I do believe dear Jesus the benefit is great if I shall turn now while thy grace is so freely offered to all people I know the danger is dreadful if I defer any longer since 't is certain thy Kingdome shall come but uncertain how soon either death shall arrest me or judgment surprize me in such delayes I have cause to bless thee that neither of these have happened yet since I have so justly provoked thee by excluding so gracious a King out of my heart rather then I would be at the trouble of preparing for thee yet Lord thou callest still and now I am making what haste I can oh remember not how long I have stayed but consider how little time I have left and by the help of thy grace make my work short and easie proportionable to my time and strength I confess I knew before but I never considered till now and now I dare not stay but through thy help now I come oh do not cast me off for thy mercies sake Amen § VII Lastly If any by dayly use of these offices begin to grow
to pray to my Victorious Redeemer to rescue me from the snares of Sathan whom he hath conquered to obtain my justification in Heaven and to compleat my sanctification on Earth that I may serve him in new obedience and never lye as dead in sin more Art 6. I do also most firmly believe that the work of our Redemption being finished on Earth he ascended as a glorious Conquerour with great triumph into Heaven from whence he came and sitteth there in great glory now interceding for us and pleading his merits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty that we may be admitted thither for his sake Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to lift up my heart to him and trust in him in all my troubles to hope for the acceptance of my services to ascend thither now in my thoughts affections and desires that I may hereafter ascend in Person and have the full prospect and fruition of his glory And I am encouraged to call upon my glorified Mediator that he will preserve me in peace on Earth fill my soul with longings after Heaven and procure my acceptance there And that his power over Men and all Angels and his interest at the Throne of God may be imployed to bring me to himself Art 7. I do also most firmly believe that though Jesus be now in heaven yet at the end of the world from thence he shall come again most gloriously attended with millions of Angels to try and to judge all the world according to their deeds both the quick which shall then be found alive and the dead though departed never so long before Wherefore I am obliged and resolved daily to expect and diligently to prepare for his coming to Judgment by frequently examining and severely judging my self before by careful avoiding that which would then condemn me and by leaving all evil actions of others to receive their sentence at his Tribunal And I am encouraged to make my supplication to my Judge who also is my Saviour that he will forgive me and all my enemies and to beseech him to prepare us for this day by his Grace and to acquit us in it by his infinite merits and then none can condemn us for ever Art 8. Furthermore I believe most firmly in the third Person of the glorious Trinity the Holy Ghost the sanctifying spirit who is very God and by his assistance and blessing on the means of grace doth instruct convert strengthen and comfort all pious and pure souls Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to honour the holy Word of God to attend on all his Ordinances to follow the good motions of this blessed Spirit and in a lively hope and expectation of the assistance thereof to resist all evil and apply my self to all that is good And I am encouraged to pray by the help of this good Spirit for a blessing on the Word and Sacraments and all Religious duties that I may by them become still more wise and holy till I am sanctified throughout in Spirit and Soul and Body Art 9. I do also most firmly believe that God is and ever was acknowledged by and hath and ever will defend the Universal society of Believers in all ages and places called the holy Catholique Church who are all united unto Christ their head by grace and to one another by love as appears by the Communion of Saints in all offices of Piety and Charity among themselves Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to live in unity peace and charity as a useful member of this Church to adhere to the Faith professed by it to joyn in the Ordinances Administred in it and to do good to all that belong unto it And I am encouraged to pray with my bretheren for the encrease safety and peace of this Church for the flourishing of Religion the prosperity of the Princes sâ—ccess of the Ministers and unity of the members thereof that by our Concord and good works we may all appear living members of Christ Art 10. I do also most firmly believe that I and all true Christians upon our unfeigned Faith and hearty Repentance shall obtain the forgiveness of and a Pardon for all our sins through the merits and intercession of Christ Jesus Wherefore I am obliged and resolved never to forsake Christs Church to which this priviledge doth belong diligently to repent of all my Transgressions and chearfully to serve my God without fear neither doubting the truth of his Promise nor the sufficiency of my Redeemers merits And I am encouraged daily to make an humble Confession of my siâ—s with earnest supplications for Absolution and hearty Petitions that I may repent so truly that I may abhor and forsake all iniquity here and be fully acquitted from it at the last and great day Art 11. I do also most firmly believe that not only our souls remain after death but our whole man shall be restored to life again by the resurrection of the body howsoever corrupted or dispersed and its reuniting to the soul at the voice and by the power of the Son of God Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to keep this body in temperance soberness and chastity while I live to resign it chearfully when I dye to be steadfast unmoveable alwaies abounding in the work of the Lord since I know my labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And I am encouraged to pray through the first begotten from the dead for the sanctification of my vile body and a part in the first Resurrection that over me the second death may have no power and that I may be delivered in the greatest miseries of this life and supported under the very Agonies of Death Art 12. And finally I do most firmly believe that the wicked shall remain in endless torments while Gods faithful servants shall enjoy his presence and the society of Saints and Angels in the life whose joys are unspeakable and its glories everlasting which Faith I seal with a most hearty Amen Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to suffer patiently whatever happens in this transitory life to spend the moments thereof well to despise the short and empty pleasures of sin and to esteem nothing too good to loose too difficult to resist or too tedious to perform for the obtaining this happiness And lastly I am encouraged to pray to the purchaser of this Glory to comfort me in all the troubles of this life with the hopes and to carry me through all my duties here by the desires thereof and finally to bring me to the fruition of this bliss the fulfilling of all these hopes and desires hereafter Amen SECTION XII Of the Versicles and their Responsals before and after the Lords Prayer § 1. THe Lord be with you Answ And with thy Spirit If we have sincerely repeated our Creed together we have professed our Faith in God and declared our unity and agreement with one another and then we have cause to hope our Prayers will prevail
way to escape them To deny my sins were impudence to excuse them will be apparent hypocrisie To be concealed is impossible to be found intollerable I am miserably confounded But was never any in this case before that I might receive some advise and comfort for them Yes surely The Church hath here presented me with a King and a Prophet both dear to God whose fears were greater though their sins were less and their danger not so great as mine yet these in the midst of their fears considered their sins as the onely cause of these evils and accordingly they freely confessed them bitterly lamented and exceedingly humbled themselves for them not striving so much to avoid the Punishment as to obtain the pardon of their sins knowing that the guilt once removed thou wouldst either totally spare them or gently chastise them for their good Wherefore they rendred themselves up into thy hands rather aggravating then extenuating their offences and yet humbly begging their correction might be in mercy and they found the benefit of it Go to then my soul and do thou likewise thou hast first occasioned Gods wrath by thy breaches of his laws oh do not encrease it by dishonouring his Name with excessive fears thou hast forsaken him by sin run not farther by despair for the faster thou runnest from his Mercy the sooner thou wilt meet with his Justice Delay no longer but go in before he send for thee deliver up thy self before death or any sore judgment arrest thee accuse thy self before thou be indited and confess thy sins freely before the witnesses be called out against thee pass sentence on thy self e're the Judge condemn thee I cannot expect wholly to escape but it will be a great favour if I meet a sickness instead of death losses in my estate instead of loosing both my God and my Soul for ever It is not fit to desire my heavenly Father altogether to lay aside his Rod but only to use it gently that I may by this smart be warned against those future sins that bring me to utter and final ruine Oh Lord rather chastise me then disinherit me me and those stripes shall be welcome which come in exchange for eternal torments Thou who wilt change thy Sword into a Rod wilt be so compassionate in thy inflictions that I shall onely feel what my distempered soul needs to recover and my flesh and spirit can bear not what my sins deserve and thy Justice might exact Wherefore I will no longer hide my sins but by a humble and hearty confession declare that I hate them more then I fear to fall into thy merciful hands and do hope hereafter I shall fear to offend and then I shall be freed from these sad expectations of thy heavy wrath which wisdom God grant me for Jesus sake Amen § 4. NOt much unlike this is the case of the poor doubting soul who is discouraged from Confession by mis-giving thoughts that God is become utterly irreconcileable and hence they conclude it needless to repent because they believe the recovery of his favour to be impossible and truly so it is if we think it so to be because while we look upon it to be impossible we can never seek after it (z) Postquam enim adempta spes est lassus câ—râ consertus stupet Arnobius but if we observe it is the design of Satan to make us to think so that we might never obtain it nor attempt it Wherefore to rescue these poor souls from so dangerous a delusion and to prepare them to ask a pardon in Faith the Church hath selected three portions of Scripture more The first (a) Psalm 51.17 To shew they are fitly disposed to ask by their contrition The second (b) Daniel 9.9 To demonstrate God is inclined to give notwithstanding their unworthiness The third (c) Luke 15.18 19. To prove by a pertinent example they are likely to be received if they will venture to come 1. Psalm 51.17 Let this dejected soul view holy David after the Commission of his great sin who being earnestly desirous as you are to be taken again into favour by God vers 12. was surveying his flocks and all his substance (d) Micah 6.6 7. to find some acceptable present to offer to God resolving that nothing was too much nor too precious to procure a thing so excellent But while he looks abroad he remembers he hath something at home a trembling broken heart which panted in his breast and therefore here expressed by a word (e) Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fluctus ad scopuluâ— allisos ita signif Psal 94.5 signifying waves dashed against a Rock this broken spirit and contrite heart was the most acceptable offering in the world Gods justice in condemning his power in detaining and his severity in executing the sentence of his wrath upon his Enemies was in his thoughts as a mighty Rock against which these thoughts had beat so long that his heart was almost dashed to pieces with fear and yet he knows its sighs and groans are pleasanter to God then the melody of the Chantings of the sons of Asaph its pantings and breathings are perfumes sweeter then the cloud of Incense its free Confessions and exposing it self to shame make it an acceptable Heave-offering its tears are a precious Drink-offering and its flaming desires do make it more excellent then whole Burnt-offerings and all the Sacrifices of the Temple The sorrows of our hearts are far more prevalent then the fattest oxen of our stalls or the fairest calves of our lips neither of which without contrition are respected by God (f) Matth. 15.9 The prayers and tears of sorrowful Hanna can fetch a greater and spedier blessing from heaven then the costly oblations of Elâ—anah (g) 1 Sam. 1.13 David is resolved to offer this for this he is sure God will not despise Which word not despise is to meet with the fears of the contrite sinner who because he knows his own heart so filthy deceitful and vile a thing cannot believe but God will reject it as he did the lame and the blind the sick and maimed sacrifice under the Law This is that you fear but he assures you he will not despise it but there is more intended (h) Minus dicitur sub eo majus intelligitur ut Johan 6.37 alibi even that he will accept it kindly as when Christ saith he will not cast them off who come to him he means he will lovingly entertain them so here 't is certain God will not onely not despise it but will look upon it as the best and greatest gift though it be from the hand of a Publican (i) Luke 18. wherefore be not disheartned for your fears shew you have this broken heart offer that and be assured God will embrace it lovingly treat it tenderly and keep it safely Psalm 51.17 I have nothing in this world so dear to me but I would give it
forgive thee upon thy humble acknowledgment but that he knows thy sins are as inconsistant with thy happiness oh my soul as they are with his laws and therefore he that desires thy felicity will not forgive the old score unless thou cease to run further in debt for while thou goest on in sin thou art in the way to eternal death and art really dead to all true sense of divine comfort thou art buried alive in lusts and pleasures and thy flesh intombs thy wretched soul and the grave-cloaths of vile affections bind thee hand and foot from moving towards God nor hast thou power to breathe in the pure air of heavenly meditations and canst thou like to stay in this filthy place still when thou didst not see thy misery no wonder if thou calledst this Dungeon and Vault a Pallace But now thou must abhor it when Jesus calls Lazarus come forth Dost thou not find the more thou followest these the less thou lovest thy God and seldomer thinkest of him and movest slowlier toward him and hast meaner apprehensions of him Return then from these evil paths for now thou knowest the dead are there Do not onely seek a pardon but desire a Communion with him who is thy strength and life thy joy and happiness and he will be joyful for thy recovery that he will forget all former unworthy dealings and will only study how to make thee happy hereafter There is nothing can hinder thee unless thou lovest thy sins too well to forsake them and carest so little for him that thou hadst rather dye without him then with him live holily here and happily hereafter which God forbid § VI. ANother sort of men there are who know it to be their Duty to Repent and yet do from day to day neglect it and have more need to be excited then instructed in order whereunto here is provision made of a cogent example and a strict command which may put them upon the practise of this necessary grace First such who are great sinners and yet seldome reflect upon their own condition cannot sure but blush to behold one who had been no customary offender but being once surprised in a deplorable instance never gives over thinking upon it with shame and sorrow * Psalm 51.3 while they that are more guilty never concern themselves The rest of Davids life was a converse with God and a strict observance of his will and if the Jewish conceit of good deeds being weighed over against the evil might be allowed or if after the manner of the Persians (h) Vita anterior simul cum delicto in aestimationem venit quâ major pars vitae atque ingenii steâ—iâ— eâ judicandâ—m de homine Asin Pollio de Persis his former life had been considered with his present transgression surely he might have been excused But he never attempts to hide this one sin in a croud of holy actions nor goes about to extenuate it because it was the first or but one or not great in comparison of others but confesseth it to be very hainous continually laying it open not only before God but before himself that he might recollect with grief and sorrow the guilt and filth whereof the baseness of the act and the danger of the event and fully discover the vileness and horridness thereof and it seems he was not without dreadful apprehensions of Gods anger for we fix our eye on what we fear and cannot get that out of our minds which doth affright us oh how doth this reproach that negligence which we shew who are guilty of so many and so great wickednesses and have no holy actions to set over against them and yet we either cast them behind our backs and grow careless and merry and forget our danger or if we do sometimes look over them we do it slightly and are glad of any occasion to divert us T is certain God sees them and will one day make them all pass before us (i) Psal 50.21 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanquam aris armatorum disponam nay muster them up against us unless by looking on them now we learn to abhor them and repent of them and so God of his mercy do for ever hide his eyes from them (*) Psal 51.3 let others be unconcerned when they offend thee and go about to excuse themselves I must and will publish my baseness in offending my heavenly Father Lord I acknowledge with a sad heart my transgression of thy most holy law by this wilful act of wickedness for which I know I have so justly deserved thy wrath that my eye and mind are fixed on what I have done and my sin haunts me continually giving my conscience no rest because it is ever before me and I cannot but view the hainousness of it till thou hast pardoned it Secondly If the shame of such an example make no impression let them hear that strict and positive command (k) Matth. 3.3 which being a summons from God to all the world to repent was proclaimed first by the harbinger S. John in the wilderness to those who had so much devotion as to come to him thither and after it was published by the Lord Jesus himself in Towns and Cities to all those he met with this was his first Sermon (l) Matth. 4.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hierocles and is the first lesson to be learned in Christs School not by some particulars but by all that will be his Disciples he speaks to all and to every particular man repent ye for he knows this duty necessary for every one so that till this be done you have done nothing in Christianity and if any say he will not he despiseth his authority if he plead he need not he impeacheth his Wisdome and if he alledge he cannot yet it seems he dare live in a wilful neglect of his commands Tertullian thinks we ought not to enquire what need or what good there is of repentance (m) Neque enim quia bonum est auscultare debemus sed quia Deus praeceperit ad exhibitionem obsequii prior est authoritas imperantis quà m utilitas serviâ—â—is Lib. de poenitent because his commands by whose favour we hope for eternal happiness are to have weight with us without any appendant reason but here we have a reason of the precept added to shew us he injoyns not this so much to shew his authority as because it is necessary for us and our interest requires it viz. Because the kingdome of heaven or of God which is all one ant pag. 14. is at hand That is either the kingdome of grace as it is sometimes taken in Scripture (n) Matth. 13.24 alibi or the kingdome of glory as it signifies elsewhere (o) 1 Corinth 6.9 2 Thessal 1.5 both which do press this duty when this was spoken by our Saviour he meant it in the first sense viz. that the time being now approaching
they have benefit by this excellent part of holy Writ 4ly The Prophesies are the Predictions of ruine from the mouth of God to all wicked men both heathens and enemies of Gods people and also those that then gloried in that name as we do now but continued in the practice of all iniquity How sadly do the Prophets complain of such what terrible Menaces and piercing reproofs do they give them Yet every where intermixed with earnest invitations to amendment and pressing exhortations to sincere reformation and the practice of that hearty obedience which the Letter of the Law expressed not as an introduction to the Gospel and coming of Jesus which is here set out in all its glory And when we behold that both those heathen Nations and the Jews themselves have pulled utter ruine on themselves by their contempt of the Promises and verified the Threatnings by their disobedience to these warnings we ought to fear and grow wise by their Calamity and take heed to answer our profession with a holy life and cast off all those destructive sins or we may be sure these Prophecies shall once more be fulfilled in our inevitable destrâ—ction And for the more Mysterious Prophesies (s) S. Propheta audivit nâ—n intellexit quid faâ—ient hi qui signatum librum usque ad tempus consummationis mulâ—is obscuritatibus inâ—â—luâ—um praesumptione mentis edissâ—runt Hieron in Dan. we need not curiously pry into them noâ— know particularly to what Church or Persons to fix the woes therein denounced but rather applying them to our own lusts let us take courage from the assurance of victory under Christs Kingdome to mortifie and subdue them That as God hath sent him to us in the Flesh and so far made good these predictions so we may admit him to reign in our hearts and then we shall experience the truth of that triumph joy and peace which is promised to wait upon his Government and also avoid all the terrors that are denounced against the workers of iniquity § 8. The New Testament is read for the Second Lessons because it is the perfection of the Law the substance of the types and the fulfilling of all the Prophecies and because it hath manifested the reward more fully it heightens and improves the duties (t) Lex vetus ligat manum lex nova ligat animum for since to us mâ—ch is given much may justly be required And if so clear a discovery of Gods infinite love will not work upon us we are strangely obdurate But we hope better things will be effected 1. By the History of the Gospel 2. By the Epistles Fifthly Therefore that we may apply and improve the Gospel let us consider it as an exact account of all that Jesus did and suffered for us Here is a Relation of his mean and humble birth a record of his holy and afflicted life a register of his Miracles a summary of his Sermons and a most moving description of his painful and Meritorious death Let us therefore in hearing these Lessons imagine our selves of his retinue as if we were giving audience to his voice or beholding his wonders of goodness and might Let us carry our Pride to his Nativity our idleness to his industrious doing good to all our anger to his meekness our revenge to his gentleness and love of his enemies that they may blush and dye when they see their deformity by so sweet a pattern See and wonder admire and love and strive to imitate your dear Saviour in kindness and charity mercy and pitty diligence and piety patience and constancy faith and zeal and rejoyce to have him presented to you thus because your Captain is your Companion (u) Tunc enim promptius iâ—unt Milites cum Dux sit Socius and hath done himself what he requires of you The servant of Wenceslaus following his Royal and devout Master barefoot in a deep snow to a house of Prayer in a Winter night when he began to tire beheld his Prince and with shame and love recruited his tired spirits and every look gave him a new life So would the sight of Jesus beget in us did we view him with that affection and steddiness as we ought if we have a due love for Christ it will not only be pleasant but profitable thus daily to hear of him For his Sermons will convert us his Conversation engage us to love him more his Example will invite and enflame us and his Death will above all tye our souls to him and make our sins as odious as the worst instruments of that black cruelty thus we may live like him dye with him and rise again to newness of life Lastly those sacred Epistles are used which do further explain the Mysteries of the Divine Love and the Covenant of Grace declaring Gods designs in it and expectations from us and the preparations made for us with incomparable cautions against the deceits of Sathan cruelty of Persecutors and falshoods of hereticks together with variety of Promises Exhortations and Directions so closely united and so majestically expressed that it requires a quick apprehension and a solid jâ—dgment to unravel all the mysteries in them and yet they that avoid curiosity and self-conceit and bring humility love and holy resolutions such cannot be more effectually improved in knowledge and piety by any part of Scripture And this rule must be observed by all in the Offices of Religion when we hear Gods word that we do not pursue difficulties and unprofitable disputes but apply the holy Scripture to profit by it And certainly he best understands it who by it learns to bridle his passions bound his desires conquer his appetites to fear God love his neighbour and to be careful of his own Immortal soul and if we make this use of the words of God we shall have good cause to joyn in the next duty of giving praise to him that made them and assists us that we may profit by them SECTION IX Of the Hymns for the Morning Prayer § 1. THere is not in the whole Circle of Christian Duties any more universal then Praise For because in every thing God shews mercy we must in every thing (x) 1 Thess 5.18 give thanks So that Hymns of Praise are ever seasonable especially in the house of God where they are to be intermixed with every part of Divine Service to make it pleasant to us and delightful to him we worship We are to bless God for our bodily food how much more then for the food of our souls the providing of which for us is the greatest mercy next to that of giving the Eternal word to us For if God had not written his Word for us we should not have seen either our sin or our danger our duty nor our assistance our Deliverer nor our reward and shall we not Praise him for this shining light And particularly what Chapter is there but it contains a peculiar reason of our
still Are not our principles surer our hopes clearer and our probabilities fairer and our gains like to be infinitely more Why then do we say these principles over as it were some Lesson that was never to be put in practice Let us turn our Creed into Syllogisms and we shall see what consequences necessarily flow from it And let us so firmly believe it that our Conversation may be the natural conclusion from those premises for there is no man whose natural Logick will not enable him to argue thus He that believes God to be Almighty and that he made him and all the world must love and fear this God and trust in him in all his needs But I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Therefore I must love and fear and trust in him at all times Or thus Whoever deserves and fears Gods wrath cannot truly believe Jesus came to save him from it but he must speedily apply himself to him and thankfully embrace this salvation But I who deserve and fear Gods wrath do believe this c. Therefore I must speedily apply my self to him and thankfully embrace this salvation from him And thus without strictly confining our selves to the rules of Art the most ignorant may with a little consideration find the natural result of every Article and what effect it will produce in any man that heartily doth embrace it And oh that all the world were as willing to live according to their professions as they are able to apprehend the force of these arguings We should not see our practises so frequently opposite to nay destructive of those principles we pretend to believe Let us ask our selves what manner of persons we ought to be who do so solemnly protest our belief that all these things are true In temporal things what we believe dangerous and unprofitable we avoid what we are persuaded is pleasant and advantageous we pursue and if our assent be as firm why should we not do so in spirituals Where the grounds are surer the inferences clearer and the gain and reward infinitely greater 't is too much to be feared we follow not our Creed far enough nor consider what the belief of those Articles would produce in us if cordially embraced Wherefore for the sake of such as could not or would not thus use the Articles of their Faith we have added to the Paraphrase the following Application The Paraphrase and Application of the Creed Art 1. I Believe most firmly in one infinite and eternal God who is a most powerful wise gracious and pure spirit Distinguished into three Persons the first of which is the Father Almighty who is the maker of me and all the Creatures of heaven and earth the preserver and Governor of all the world Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to own him for my God and Almighty Father by loving fearing serving and obeying him and to acknowledge him the Creator of all by admiring his works rightly using his Creatures and relying on his Providence for whatever I want in this world which is at his disposal And I am encouraged to call upon this my mighty God and merciful Father for my self and all the world for a competent measure of food and raiment health and wealth peace and plenty and not to doubt but that he who can do what he please will take care of the work of his own hands Art 2. And I do most firmly believe in the second Person of the glorious Trinity even in Iesus Christ our anointed Saviour who is very God equal to the Father being his only Son by eternal generation and is now become our Lord by the merciful redemption of our souls from death and hell Wherefore I am obliged and resolved most thankfully to commit my salvation to the management of my glorious and gracious Redeemer and as anointed by God to be a Prophet Priest and King to observe his teaching rely on his attonement and submit to his Authority and to walk answerable to the price that is payed for me And I am encouraged to pray in his name with faith and comfort for deliverance from my spiritual enemies and the salvation of my soul for a safe Pasport to Gods Heavenly Kingdome since his only Son is my Redeemer Art 3. I do also most firmly believe it was this very son of God who became man and yet was conceived free from sin by the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost and that assuming our Nature and uniting it to his own Divine Nature was born of the blessed Virgin Mary so that he was both God and Man two Natures in one Person Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to be most thankful for that miraculous condescension and to learn to submit to the meanest condition to do good and to be careful not to defile my Nature which Jesus hath united to the Divinity And I am encouraged to pray that I may be sustained under the necessities of my frail estate which Jesus was acquainted with and purged from the corruptions which he was freed from and that being regenerate like him by the power of the Holy Ghost I may be partaker of his Nature as he was of mine Art 4. I do also most firmly believe that the holy Jesus being to satisfie the Divine Justice for our offences suffered the wrath which we had deserved and under Pontius Pilate the Romane Governor though most innocent in himself he was crucified till with cruel torments both of body and soul he had offered up his life a sacrifice for sin He was really dead and buried and took possession of the regions of darkness for he descended into hell and remained under the power of death for a time Wherefore I am obliged and resolved to lament for and crucifie my sins the cause of his bitter Passion to beware least by continuing in them I bring my self under the same curse and loose the benefits of this all-saving death and also to learn from him to suffer patiently and dye chearfully when God pleaseth And I am hereby encouraged to pray that I may not suffer what Christ hath endured for me that this sacrifice may be accepted as a satisfaction for all my transgressions and that the remembrance of it and the grace obtained by it may mortifie and kill in me that which hath crucified him Art 5. I do also most firmly believe that when he had paid the full price for the sins of the world death could no longer hold him so that the third day after his suffering by an infinite power he arose again assuring us that justice was satisfied and our enemies conquered since he was delivered from the dead among whom our iniquities and Gods anger had laid him Wherefore I am obliged and resolved in my lowest estate to trust in his power for my safety to rely on his All-sufficient merits for my Pardon and to endeavour to rise from the death of sin to walk in newness of life And I am encouraged
which hath enabled us with one accord and a fervent devotion to make our Addresses to thee with new affections even in the presenting these our daily and common supplications unto thee we confess thou hast helped us to ask and therefore hope thou intendest to give and the rather because thou hast assured us and dost promise that when two or three even the smallest number of the faithful in obedience to thy command are gathered together to offer up their united prayers to the Father in thy name they shall find thee present in the midst of them for thou wilt grant their requests Wherefore since we have called upon thee by thine aid and are assembled in thy name fulfill now O Lord unto us this gracious promise and mercifully accept the desires and meditations which have been sent from the hearts the prayers and Petitions uttered from the mouths of thy Servants supplying their wants with the best things and at the fittest times as may be judged by thy infinite wisdome most expedient for them But however thou dealest in all other things let the interest of our souls be secured both here and hereafter by thy granting us in this world daily experiments and further knowledg of thy truth in the fulfilling of thy promises and the granting of our prayers that so we may never forsake thee here and in the world to come our happiness shall be compleated by thy bringing us then to life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen The Blessing taken out of 2 Corinth 13. ver ult § 9. THe grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen In all Religious Assemblies it hath been the custome to dismiss the people with a Blessing which was wont to be pronounced by the principal Person present (k) Heb. 7.7 sometimes by the King (l) 2 Sam. 6.18 1 Kings 8.55 but most commonly by the Priests (m) Numb 6.23 24 ver c. whose office was to bless in the Name of the Lord. And therefore under the Law there was a particular form of Benediction which the Jews to this day observe so religiously that they believe it ought to be repeated in the Holy Tongue (n) Fagius in Numb 6. Buxtorf Synag c. 14. See Nehem. 8.6 and to be received by the People with all reverence bowing their heads and prostrating their bodies so that no man may presume to look upon the Priests hands when they are stretched out to give it because they say then the glory of God rests upon them And in the Christian Church also they ever concluded with a blessing 't is likely the same we now use being endited by the Holy Spirit and used by St. Paul in the close of his Epistle to the Corinthians concerning which it was ordered that the Assembly should bow their heads (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Constit Ante benedictionem sacerdotis egredi populus non presunat Concil Agath can 31. when it was pronounced and decreed by a Councel that none might depart out of the Church till it was given But to give a greater strength to these Orders let us consider the excellency of this Divine Blessing and sure its own perfections will oblige us to stay for it and engage us to receive it with all devotion and reverence The legal Benediction was no more but a wish for temporal felicity but this contains the whole order of our salvation and brings in the glorious Trinity with the several gifts of each Person to make us compleatly happy The Father indeed is first in order but we begin with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that is the benefits purchased by his Passion because that is the first mover in our acceptance and obtains both the love of God the Father and the Communication of the Holy Ghost What can the pious soul ask or desire which is not comprehended in this Blessing here is the grace of the Son to pardon our sin the love of the Father to supply our wants the fellowship of the Blessed Spirit to strengthen our weakness The first to redeem us the second to justifie us the third to sanctifie us and all these not only at this present but to be confirmed to us and remain with us even when we are gone from the holy place in life and death and for ever Nor are these only desired but they are pronounced over us by the Embassador of God whom he hath sent to bless in his name and this Minister of Heaven being cheared with observing our Devotion doth from his soul wish and Ministerially as far as in him lies dispense these unspeakable blessings to us And what he doth on Earth shall be ratified in Heaven to every truly holy man Oh let us bow our heads and open our hearts to receive this universal blessing as from God himself and depart from the holy place full of comfort and joy that we have such a preservative against all evil and such a guide and encouragement to all good even the blessing of God to be with us and remain upon us for ever and to this let all the people say Amen The Blessing Paraphrased LEt The Grace and all the benefits of the death of our Lord Iesus Christ merit our Absolution and the love of God the Father seal our justification and the fellowship and Communication of the Graces of the Holy Ghost perfect our sanctification And let all these at present be with us and rest upon us all evermore Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS ERRATA The Reader is desired to excuse and amend the following Errata occasioned by the Authors great distance from the Press PReface page 8. read Pet. p. 8. marg l. 12. r. infirmorum p. 12. l. 5. r. recover it ib. marg l. 3. r. confectus p. 18. l. 2. r not approach p. 21. l. 1. r. had need be p. 22. marg l. 13. r. accipiat ib. l. 21. r. Magistri ib. l. 23. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 29. marg l. 3. r. Acies p. 32. l. 21. r. not be p. 35. l. 14. marg r. Quinque p. 43. l. 3. r. Sec. 1. § 5. p. 22 p. 66. marg l. 8. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 70. marg l. 4. r. tribus p. 72. l. 22. r. bloodshot p. 81. marg l. 10. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 90. marg l. 13. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 94. l. 12. r. in your p. 96. l. 4. r. sectile p. 105. marg l. 8. r. ignoscentium p. 114. marg l. 1. r. r. Lev. 10.13 p. 118. l. 29. r. it act ib. marg l. 11. r. nisi p. 129 marg l. 12. r. Med. p. 174. l. 24. r. reference p. 184 l. 30. dele 11 p. 199. marg l. 14. r. è p. 216. marg l. 13. r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 229. l. 35 r. his Divinity p 259. l. 21. r. therefore it p. 260. marg l. 13. r. hi veâ—o p. 269. marg l. 1. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 271. l. 3. r. enobled p. 313. marg l. 3. r. Prus ib. marg l. ult r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 315. l. 31. r. the other p. 319. l. 15. r. reciting p. 320. marg l. 18. r. occurre p. 349. marg l. 17. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉