hearts seem to be Know ye therefore that we are Authorised in Gods name to bring to such the message of the Absolution from the guilt and Remission of the punishment of their sins And by vertue of the power and in obedience to the Command given to us by God we do now proclaim that not we but He Pardoneth that can do it by his own right and Absoldeth both from guilt and Punishment all them be they never so many and their sins never so great that are qualified for a Pardon by those conditions which are by him required even them that truly Repent and heartily grieve for all their evil ways longing to be delivered from them and seriously purposing to amend them these shall never be condemned if they will trust in his mercy and Vnfeignedly believe and are firmly perswaded of the excellency of the precepts and the truth of the Promises of his holy Gospel and if they particularly accept this message of his Love therein manifested wherefore since God is so able and willing to pardon and hath sent us his Ministers to offer a Pardon if you repent and believe oh let us not loose the benefit of so gracious an offer but let us all since all are sinners go together to the Throne of grace upon this courteous summons and beseech him earnestly who sent it to us of his favour and bounty to grant us true Repentance such as he can work in us and such as he will accept so as to forgive us thereupon and having thereby cleansed us from by-past sins let us most heartily beg the help of his grace and his holy Spirit to purifie our hearts strengthen our Faith and bless our indeavours of reformation so constantly that we may have all our desires accomplished which petition if God shall grant the blessed event will be that those things even all the duties which you shall now perform and the Absolution now pronounced which is the office of the Minister may please him so as that he hear your Prayers and seal your Pardon and bless all which we do at this present when he hath cleansed us from iniquity and quickened us by his spirit the fruit shall be present acceptance and that the rest of our lives hereafter which formerly have been so sinful may be pure from wickedness sanctified and righteous and holy full of all well-pleasing and that we may persevere all our daies in this happy course so that at the last when Death puts an end to the tedious sorrows and short contents of this mortal life we may come to his eternal joy that is unconceivable and endless without mixture or diminution and which is so much above our deserts that we could not hope ever to obtain it but through Iesus Christ our Lord who by his Death purchased this Pardon by his intercession prevaileth for grace and at his Ascension took possession of this eternal joy for all that are truly Absolved to which we all say Amen Lord be it so unto us Amen SECTION V. Of the Lords Prayer Of the Lords Prayer in General § 1. WHat hath hitherto been performed by the Church was rather a preparation to Prayer then Prayer it self For this Confession and Absolution answers to the Heathen Washings and those the Jews used before they approached their altars So that we may say the first place is by us assigned to the first and chiefest of all Prayers which should have stood in the front of all but only till we had repented of our disobedience we ought not to call God Father and till we have his Pardon we cannot with comfort call him so He that hath been in Rebellion must have his offence forgiven before he presume to petition for acts of grace so we being praedisposed by Confession and Absolution begin with this Prayer And sure this deserves to be first since it was made by Jesus and endited by his divine spirit to be a guide to and a part of our daily Devotions (i) Luc. 11.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Math. 6.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. LXX Numb 6.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Debet benedictio ista proferri linguâ sanctâ cum nomine Dei proprio Fagius in loc to be used as oft as we need our daily bread saying these words or praying in this manner which is all one for that form of blessing Num. 6.23 the Jews are prescribed to use in that manner who yet keep both words and language in the Pronunciation this Prayer Christ had delivered in his first Sermon Matth. 6. but it seems his Disciples did not then understand it for a form (k) See modo Diatrib on Matth. 6.9 so that the next year they requested him for a Form such as the Doctors among them were wont to give their Schollers as a Badge of their Relation to such a Master and then Luke 11.1 our Lord prescribed this set Form which for words and phrases he took (l) Tam longè abfuit Dominus Ecclesiae ab omni affectatione non necessariae novitatis Grotius out of the Jewish forms with little variation (m) Vid. Capelli not in Crit. Sacr. to shew how far he was from all affectation of novelty in Devotion and certainly we may discern in it a lively resemblance of its Author who was the highest and lowest the greatest and least God and Man The Comprehensiveness of it is the admiration of the wisest (n) Quantum substringitur verbis tantùm diffunditur sensibus Tert. the plainess suiting still the meanest capacity for it is so clear that all may understand it so short that any may learn it so full as to take in all our wants and so exact as to shew us what we should be (o) Vnusquisque nostrûm sic discat orare de orationis lege qualis esse debeat noscere Cypr. de Orat. as well as what we should ask and is the Epitome (p) Breviarium Evangelii Tertul. de Orat. of the Gospel Herein we glorifie God in desiring his honour may be made manifest and are mindful of our selves in praying for all Graces Reverence and Fear Sanctification and Purity Submission and Obedience active and passive Faith and Love Diligence and Zeal Constancy and Perseverance and for our Bodies we beg Food and Raiment Health and Strength Riches and Friends a good Name and a long Life so far as they are good for us We look back to our sins past and humbly crave Remission we look forward first to our duty engaging our selves in purposes of holy Charity and then to our danger earnestly intreating his preventing grace and pitty may preserve us from sin and punishment the snares of men and devils finally we look upwards in an humble acknowledgment of his goodness and greatness and just deservings of all honour and glory from us and all the World In this one Form as we represent all our own wants so we exercise all graces (q) Quot simul expunguntur
Apostles are raviâ—hed with his glory whom they saw in his weaknâ—ss The Prophets are delighted with him whom they prophesied of but never beheld before The Martyrs are transpoâ—ted with his love and forgetting all their torments solace themselves in his joyes and every gaping wound (d) Quot vulnera hiantia tot ora laudantia Deum is a mouth to chant out his Praise Oh what honour is it to serve such a Lord what delight to be admitted to so glorious a society Summon up all the powers and fâ—culties of your souls and as they fill Heaven do yoâ— fill the Earth with setting out the Majesty of his Glory § 3. The second part of this Hymn in the eleven following versicles is a Confession of Faith And eveâ—y Aâ—ticle thereof is a fâ—rther motive to praise God eitâ—er foâ— the gâ—ory of his Essence or the mercy that appears in his works And since we see God at present only by Faith the Profession of that Faith is to us reputed a glorifying of him (e) Rom. 15.6 The Saints and Angels have a fâ—ll view and what they â—o by Joy we do by Faith and holy desires of a nearer union Aâ—d certainly we cannot set out the Majesty of his Glory better then by assenting to that Revelation which his Truth hath made of himself and by confessing him that the glorious Hosts of Heaven adore and the Universal Châ—â—ch doth and ever did acknowledge For so we agree in a sweet harmony with the Saints and Angels in heaven and with all holy men our Bretheren on the earth For the unanimous consent of the Servants is a manifestation of the Masters honour And it is an evidence that our Lord is really such and so glorious as we believe him to be since all unite in the profession of it Aâ—d this holds good most evidâ—ntly in the great mistery of the Trinity which the Celestial Quire owns by their Trisagium Holy Hâ—ly Holy And the Catholick Church hath most unanimously acknowledged most sacredly kept and most courageously defended above all other Articles so that all those agree in this who differ in many other points Let us then chearfully acknowledge the infinite Majesty of the Father who governs all Creatures and declare the honour of his true and only Son whose Glory is great in our salvation Let us confess the Divinity of that holy Spirit who is our Advocate in Heaven and our Comforter (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 u rumque signif Johan 14.16 1 Ep. Johan 2. ver 1. upon the Earth Above all let us be carefull that the humiliation of our mercifull Redeemer do not abate of our esteem To prevent which the Church in this Hymn as also in all her Creeds makes the largest and most particular Confession of the Son of God and we have here a full account of Divinity and Humanity because by the malice of Sathan these have been so confounded and mistaken by so many Heresies and we have also a recital of those works of his which most concern us because it is the interest of us all to know and believe these which more directly tend to our salvation then any other of the works of God and therefore do more strongly engage our gratitude for we shall find abundaâ—t matter of Praise both in what Jesus is in his nature and what he hath done for us He is very God and therefore we give â—im that title which alone belongs to the Lord of hosts and St. Ambrose the best interpreter of this Hymn saith (g) Psal 24 7. 10. Quis est iste Rex gloriae Respondetur à scientibus Dominus virtutùm ipse est Rex gloriae Ergo Dominus virtutùm est ipse filius Ambros de Fide lib. 4. that twenty fourth Psalm was sung by the Angels at our Saviours Resurrection those who came with him calling to those in Heaven to open the gates for the King of Glory who answered them as it is in that Psalm And we may call him the King of Glory both as he is very God and because he hath purchased Glory for us and shall distribute it to us and shall receive glory and praise from us and all that are partakers of it And his glory depends not on our praises but is inseparable from his nature because he is the true and only begotten Son of God not Created as the Angels nor Adopted as Men but by Eternal Generation Coeternal with the Father and Coequal What though he was born in time the Son of Man this doth not take away his Being the Son of God nor change his nature but express his love and engage our affections Dear Jesus whether hath thy love carried thee from Glory to misery from the highest Throne in Heaven to the lower parts of the Earth (h) Ephes 4.9 Pudorem exordii nostri non recusaâ—iâ— sed contumelias naturae nostrae transcurrit Hilar How hast thou pursued â—s through all the stages of our infelicity from the dishonours of the Womb to those of the Tombe not abhorring the meanest place that was pure nor the lowest condition that Innocence could be put into What cause have we to bless thee (i) Ideo quod homo est Christus esse voluit ut homo possit esse quod Christus est who wert pleased to become what we were that we might be not what we deserved but as thou art Holy Saviour we believe and rejoyce in believing that thou wast born like us livedst with us and diedst for us and that death was our life it was shameful and inglorious sharp and tormenting so terrible as might startle a great confidence in a good cause But it was not more bitter to thee then sweet to us We even we Oh Lord had armed Death with a sting sharp and venomous for our sin had provoked the Divine wrath And this sting though with the suffering (k) 1 Cor. 15.57 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Devicto mortis aâ—uleo Ambr. of inexpressible dolours thou hast pulled out and having satisfied the Justice of God canst now triumph over death it self and enable us with comfort to say O Death where is thy sting with which thou didst threaten all the World with unavoidable destruction Who can behold what thou hast suffered and we have escaped and not be ravished with thy Love Oh blessed Lord Jesus The way to Heaven was ever open to Innocence but we all had sinned and come short of the glory of God Heaven gates were shut against us and Hells mouth open to receive us And in this estate our life had been worse then death by the dreadful expectations of deserved vengeance and our death had certainly delivered us up to feel what we feared Do we live with any comfort 'T is thou hast removed our fears Can we dye with any peace It is thou alone hast renewed our hopes if any men that are or ever were or shall be are admitted into this Kingdome
probable he was a person considerable very likely him whom the Jews call Simeon the first who lived at this time and was the son of the most famous Rabbi Hillel (i) Vid. Scultet Exerc. Evang. l. 1. c. 61. and Light-foots Harm on this place who opposed the received opinion of the temporal Kingdome of the Messiah for it is certain our Simeon did so or he had never thus rejoyced over a Messiah presented by so mean Parents in swadling clothes at the gates of the Temple It was not the object that appeared to his eyes but the illumination of the Spirit and the prospect of his Faith that elevated his affections Wherefore we need not pretend to dismiss this holy song by alledging it was an extraordinary occasion for the writings of thâ— Apostles which are daily read among us do as clearly represent him the Saviour of the world to the eye of Faith and set him before us as evidently in the house of God as any bodily sight could do to him and if our minds be inlightened and our faith firm as his we have the same occasion and ought to rehearse it with the same devotion The mercy is made sufficiently plain to us it we were but as apprehensive of the advantages it brings to us and all men as he was I know not why we should wish to live any longer then till we have obtained hopes of a share in it But we have houses to build families to propagate and designs to compleat and all before we are willing to dye We desire something besides nay perhaps more then an Interest in Jesus and therefore we dare not joyn in this noble wiâ—h But he was dead to the world before and had been impatient of a longer stay but only for the promise to have a sight of Jesus in the flesh And when this long-wished for happiness was come to pass his expectations are answered and all his desires filled He values nothing here but humbly craves his dismission His holy soul that came from God can find no rest on the waters of this world and therefore desires to return with an Olive-branch of peace to its dear Lord (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Câ—em Al. Strom. 4o. Mortem Stoici appellare solent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian where it was sure of rest and joy among the best of friends He now desires leave to depart from the flesh which he had long esteemed his Prison wherein he was confined by his infirmities (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Themistius ap Stobae and shut up from beholding the glories of God which he now longs to see more then ever by this last experience of his Truth and Mercy and he knew that death would set him free his desires and joy begin to swell too big to be confined in the walls of flesh and now he is even straitned till he be let loose into the regions of glory to praise him face to face And yet his extasies transport him not beyond the measures of obedience and humility for he first asks his Masters leave nor will he go till he have Commission but he intimates he had stript himself of all worldly desires and had his inner coat his flesh in his hands ready to lay it down and run whenever the watch word (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ar. was given His hopes and desires to see his Saviour had alone made his life acceptable and the fulfilling of them makes even death most welcome to him because he knew that Jesus came to disarm death and by satisfying for sin to deprive it of that sting which made it terrible to all men All the sin-offerings of the law were but weak armor to encounter death nor could they so fully purge or appease the Conscience as that it should not accuse in the fatal hour But the perfect Sacrifice of the death of Jesus doth so fully avert Gods wrath that all that believe in him can triumph over death meet it with courage and embrace it with peace as the end of their fears and the entrance into their felicity (n) 1 Cor. 15.55 Non est timendum quod liberat nos ab omni timendo How can he fear death that hath his sins forgiven or how can he doubt Gods mercy that beholds his Son with faith and love or how can he question the truth of Gods Promises that embraces Jesus the greatest of all in his arms He that knows Gods power is persuaded of his love and convinced of his truth can dye in peace and lye down with joy in the assurance of a blessed Resurrection And this we may do for it was only their priviledge who lived then to see Jesus and whoever looked on him so as to dare to dye then must behold him by faith and thus we may see Christ not only with Simeon presented in the Temple but with St. Steven standing at the right hand of God not only in his rising but his full glory Why then are we so fixed to this world so desirous to stay so loath to depart so sad when God calls Oh let us look on this our Redeemer so stedfastly and embrace him so tenderly in our hearts that it may appear he is dearer to us then our very lives Let us love him so intirely that nothing may satisfie us without him and trust so fully in his merits and mercies that we may live chearfully and dye peaceably Let us say with this devout Old man Lord I do now so clearly perceive thy purposes of mercy so confidently believe thy promises of forgiveness and so firmly rely on the hopes of glory that I resolve to be ever thy servant I desire to stay no longer in this world then to get assurances for a better Earths vanities do not make me wish to live nor deaths terrors afraid to dye If thou callest me this day Lord I come I can live with patience or dye in peace for I see him that will preserve me in life or death and gives me hopes that whether I live or dye I am the Lords I was not with Simeon in the Temple to behold my Saviour with my bodily eyes but I have had thy Salvation as clearly manifested in this thy holy word as if I had seen him with my eyes Lord grant me thy holy Spirit that I may behold him with the same faith and embrace him with the same affections that he did and then I shall chearfully joyn in a Nunc Dimittis and being daily ready to dye shall ever be fit to live and thy will shall be done in my life or death Blessed Lord thou hast even to our dayes by these holy writings sufficiently manifested thy Son before all our faces and it is our carelesness ingratitude and unbelief that hides him from our eyes and makes us hug these vanities and fear to leave them But thou hast done thy part and I will praise thee for sending this bright and glorious Sun
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
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
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
prevail but little upon many and some might deny their guilt others despise the summons and others might think to avoid by recrimination Wherefore the Minister comes armed with the sword of the Spirit the Word of God that as the Prophets of the old Testament came with Verbum Jehovae the Word of the Lord so might also the Priests of the New and though the Person may be contemptible yet it is the voice of God which you hear from him and whoever be the proclaimer where the word of a King is there is power (c) Eccles 8.4 who dare disobey when the King of heaven commands He that knows the hearts of all and commands all men every where to repent not onely in the places now read But in sundry other places (d) Isai 1.16 17. Chap. 55.7 Lament 3.40 41. Acts 2.38 Chap. 17.30 even throughout the whole Scripture and miserable will their case be who refuse so many so plain and so earnest calls from such a God We Ministers are exhorted as well as you and we intend to joyn with you and if we request you to joyn with us it is in obedience to the Commission we have from the King of heaven and he that refuseth refuseth not Man but God and that Word of God which now moves you so frequently to repent will be produced against you to condemn you if you obey it not § 3. To acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness We need not here be curious in the difference between these words though acknowledging seems to signifie the granting something laid to our charge as David did when Nathan came to him I have sinned (e) 2 Sam. 12.13 saith he upon the first charge and to confess may import a voluntary act when no man accuseth us which indeed is the more acceptable and ingenuous but it were well if we would but acknowledge our offences For God in his Word by his Ministers and by our own Consciences doth indict us as guilty and he that soonest owns the truth thereof shall easily find mercy But it may perhaps be more material to take notice of the Epithete joyned to our sins manifold which is borrowed from Amos 5.12 and may denote the variety of our transgressions like Josephs coat of many colours for we are clothed with the redness of Anger the paleness of Malice the yellow of Covetousness the blackness of Despair or the green of Presumption in these changeable garments are our souls attired when we put off the white garments of our Innocence Or else as the learned Translator of the Liturgy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Multiplicia those iniquities which are so cunningly twisted and weaved together by that accursed policy which Satan teacheth men to begin with many small thrids of lesser sins and by uniting these and twining them together to proceed till they draw iniquity with cords of vanity and at last sin as it were with a Cart-rope (f) Isaiah 5.18 Peccatum trahit peccatum Dict. R. R we perhaps imagine it a piece of commendable craft (g) Job 5.13 Heb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filum retortum unde signif multis nexibus implicitum consilium LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Drus to be able thus to contrive our wickedness But alas if Gods Mercy do not unravel it it will at last be strong enough to draw us into eternal flames But we are warned that as we have used much study and pains to twist our sins together that one may strengthen the other so we do now by an humble and hearty confession untwine and separate them again that we be not bound in the bands of death § 4. And that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God our heavenly Father It is the language of Satans school that we must cover one sin by committing another which the Scripture pronounceth a woe against (h) 1 John 1.8 9. Isaiah 30.1 and sheweth the folly and danger of it because it doubles the guilt (i) Negatio iniquitatis duplex iniquitas and hinders the pardon See Chap. 1. Sect. 5. p. 18. and therefore Gods Word teacheth us that if we have sinned we must neither dissemble them with excuses as Saul * 1 Sam. 15. and Ananias with his wife †Acts 5. nor cloak them with a flat denial as Gehazi ‖ 2 Kings 5. least we be judged as they were But this is the manner of Hypocrites 1. To extenuate them with dissembling apologies and fair pretences it was the first time I was surprised the effects of it were not very evil others have done worse c. whereas the good man aggravates his sins with all those circumstances that make them heinous and S. Paul calls himself the chief of sinners The worst men will deny they have sinned and reckon themselves among the Righteous as the Pharisee did (*) Luke 18.11 while Ezra (k) Ezr. 9.6 loquitur de Culpis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ne nimium arreganter se caeteris eximere videatur Grotius in loc and Daniel put themselves in amongst sinners and that is by much the safer way for he that feigns himself better then he is or denies himself to be sick before the Physician keeps his disease and looses an opportunity to regain his perfect health But remember thou art in Gods house nay just before his face and dost thou think with a lye or an excuse to deceive him No no this is too thin a veil and to short a cover for thy numerous transgressions and will avail no more then for a Thief to deny he stole that which is found about him before the Bench if thou couldst deny so impudently or dissemble so cunningly as to deceive all the world yet do not hope to impose upon him that is Almighty to find thee out and hath a heavenly all-seeing eye to discern thee and he would shew the kindness of a Father in thy pardon if thou shewest the ingenuity of a Son in confessing wherefore do not deceive thy self nor slight this warning for be sure one time or other your sin will find you out Numb 32.23 § 5. But confess thâ—m with an humble lowly penitent and obedient heart The Word of God is not only a Monitor to remember us of our duty bâ—â— a guide to direct us in the performance of it it interposeth its authority to command us to repent and then affordeth its directions to shew how we may repent and 't is impossible the right disposition of a true penitent heart can be more exactly described in so few words then the Church hath here done it and they that would know how they must be affected when they confess so tâ—at they may be sure to find pardon cannot learn in fewer and more significant expressions 1. An humble and lowly heart viz. to behold our vileness by sin till we have a mean opinion of our selves and can be content that God or Men
his promise but for the confirmation of our Faith and as a condescention to our infirmity Indeed all Gods words are most true but not many have an Oath annexed as this hath which he that will not have us swear but upon weighty Occasions would not have added but because the belief of this is the Foundation of all Religion since no man can begin to seek to God till he believe he delights in Mercy (k) Heb. 11.6 and is willing to receive those that turn to him wherefore let us not doubt so great and necessary a truth confirmed with his Oath (l) O beatos nos quorum causa Deus jurat O miserrimos si nec Deo juranti credimus Tert. de poenit who assures us he wills not the death of a sinner (m) LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vatab. num desidero aut volo with his Will nor desires it as we do those things we have pleasure in but is even forced to it against his inclination Which gracious nature of God is here set before the sinners eyes to discover what probability there is for his granting out such a Commission because he that desireth not the death of such will not withold Mercy nay he will by the offer of a Pardon prevent it for this phrase means he desires the life even the everlasting life of all penitents (n) Negatio mali in S. S. notat accumulationem boni Job 3.18 Job 11.26 vide 1 Tim. 2.4 1 Thess 5.9 and if the assurance of Remission will support them and give them encouragement to seek for happiness they shall not want it For to do good is the Nature of God he doth this willingly and readily without the consideration of merit or expectation of reward but Punishments are Extorted from him (o) Lam. 3.33 Vatab. ex corde non est proprium Dei affligere castigare homines sed alienum by mens wickedness and when he inflicts them he expostulates with himself like an indulgent Father about to correct a disobedient child (p) Hos 11.8 Ezek. 33.11 So that it is no incredible thing that he should send a Pardon it is the device of Sathan to picture the Almighty so dreadful that he may be a terror to his Supplicants to make men fear and hate and fly from him rather then serve or love him But God is love and especially kind to Men (q) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato 1 John 4.8 who have no reason to dishonour God by dismal apprehensions of him Remember I beseech you the Price payed for you the Covenant made with you the Promises given to you call to mind how justly frequently and easily he might have cut you off if he had not designed to be Reconciled and think of the earnestness of his invitations continuance of his patience the arts of his providence and all other means used to preserve you and then blush at your selves for having ever had hard thoughts of God or doubting he would not Absolve you Whoever hath so conceived of God is as bad as an Atheist for he takes away Gods Being and this his goodness as if like the Scythian Deities (r) Meliùs esset nullos credere Deos quam esse putare sed sanguine caesorum hominum laetatos existimare Plutar. de Superstit Scyth Gallorum he rejoyced in humane Sacrifices and we our selves had rather be reported dead then traduced living but though this unbelief do attempt to dishonor God the mischief lights upon it self for God is glorious still in Mercy and he that does not believe it is void of love and hope weak in Faith full of fears and dismal expectations (s) Et faciunt animos humiles formidine divum Depressosque premunt ad terram Luc. and when he that is perswaded of Gods mercy can rejoyce in hearing this Absolution the other quarrels with the Messenger or suspects the Master and tortures himself with endless scruples § 5. But rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live We must be cautious while we endeavour to prevent despair that we encourage not presumption and least any should think when they hear of Gods kindness to sinners that he will allow them their sins (t) Rom. 6.1 this is added to shew that he so desires our happiness as the end that he desires our holiness as the only way thither he would have us live viz. in Eternal glory but his desires cannot be accomplished if we continue in our wickedness because then God is obliged in justice to destroy us therefore he labours to turn us from those evil ways which end in death and to bring us into the safe paths of holiness which are the beginning of Heaven upon earth for the felicity of Heaven is but an addition to and the perfection of that begun holiness in vain therefore does any trust to this Mercy of God who lives wickedly still for what Father would spare his offending Child or what Prince pardon his rebellious Subject but upon condition they will not renew the same Crimes it is possible indeed to deceive men into Remission when the offenders mean not to reform Caesar was stab'd by Brutus a reconciled enemy whom he had adopted for his son Cicero was beheaded by Popilius whom he had saved from publique justice But the All-seeing God knows your purposes and can tell what you will do hereafter so that you deceive your selves in hoping for forgiveness while you remain impenitent but you cannot deceive him to make him grant to it he will not make his mercy the support of your iniquity and it would undo (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 3. sinners if he should too easily forgive such mercy before true repentance would make sin cheap and encourage men to do wickedly Wherefore he sends his Ambassadors to proclaim his gracious intentions of saving you least any should grow desperate with Cain (x) Gen. 4.13 and as the hardened traitor resolve to dye in their rebellion but these Ministers of God are first to turn (y) Acts 3. ult men from their iniquities and if they prevail in that they have a Pardon ready sealed and can assure them of life everlasting and that God who punisheth unwillingly will freely forgive he must either condemn or save you it is most evident he had rather give you life and will rejoyce if you accept it and if you miss it it is because you had rather sin and dye not because he had rather you should so perish § 6. And hath given Power and Commandement to his Ministers Whoever hath a just right and absolute Authority may either exercise it in Person or Depute others by communicating to them their Power subordinately and then these substitutes have a Ministerial right so far as their Commission extends a Temporal Prince can do thus and choose which of his Subjects he pleaseth to act thus in his Name and by
then he would by fraud or flattery lying or cheating deceive his neighbour of what is justly his If any here object many rich men have goods laid up for many years and need not ask their daily bread I answer The Rich need Gods blessing to prosper and preserve what they have as the poor do to give them what they have not nor can their meat nourish them (l) Matth. 41.4 their garments warm them or their pallaces defend them without his blessing what one hath more then another is here confessed to be the gift of God and Christ teacheth the rich humility by shewing them whence their abundance came and by whom it is continued and least they should despise the poor they learn that if God withdraw his blessing they will soon become both alike wherefore he that hath as well as he that hath not must every day on his knees beg a piece of bread or a power to use it and a blessing upon it And thus we have begun to pray for our selves and Jesus teacheth us to begin at the lowest step and first to ask relief for our bodies assuring us that our Heavenly Father cannot hear his Children cry for bread and not supply them and when he hath done so we may from his kindness in lesser things be encouraged to ask for our Souls which he is more concerned for but it would seem presumption for us to ask the greatest first who do not deserve the least Genes 32.10 § 7. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us The Particle and connects this to the former Petition and declares we are continuing those requests which concern our selves and we have need to look further then our earthly needs least if we obtain a supply for them from his bounty (m) Consequens erat ut observata Dei liberalitate clementiam ejus precaremur quid enim alimenta proderunt si illi reputamur reverà quasi taurus ad victimam Tertull. and do not procure a Pardon from his mercy our food should fat us for the slaughter If we rightly apprehend the danger of our souls all the enjoyments of this life can yield no more pleasure to us then the curious fare presented to that Persian Captive designed to be sacrificed when he remembred the knife and the Altar The fears of Gods eternal vengeance will imbitter all our abundance and therefore we add a prayer for forgiveness without which we cannot relish our daily bread nor do we think our food so necessary as the remission of our offences the want of that could but bring us to a temporal death but without this we shall loose everlasting life and dye in eternal misery and the necessity is also as universal for as no man can live without bread so no man can live comfortably here or happily hereafter without mercy for all men have sinned (n) Rom. 3.23 Sâ—iâ—bat Dominus se solum sine delicto esse Tert. and those sins cannot be done away without mercy which every man that lives by bread must pray for even the best of men and as often as they pray for that even every day they must also ask Pardon of Almighty God because no day is wholly inoffensive and our Lord Jesus would here set our sinfulness daily before our eyes to make us constantly sensible that we are unworthy of the meat we eat and all outward blessings which we receive and to make us continually humble and penitent He knew before that even the best of men had sin and prescribes this petition as daily useful to all his Disciples and those who out of ignorance or pride think they have no sin do exclude themselves out of the number of his Schollers who have all learned to pray for Absolution But to be more particular let us observe how many Duties are exercised in these few words even all that becomes the address of a true Penitent Confession and self-accusation Contrition for and Aggravation of the sâ—ns deprecation of the punishment with acknowledgement of the justice thereof Faith in a Redeemer and hope in his Merits First we herein daily confess our sin our very asking pardon is an acknowledgment we are guilty and we appropriate them to our selves (o) Exomologesis est petitio veniae qui petit veniam delictum confitetur Tert. de Orat. for though Jesus did suffer the Punishment we acted the Crimes which we here being mindful of his bitter Passion do own with sorrow calling them Our Trespasses and in that word we signifie the vast number of our transgressions this plural indefinite word declares them very many which we have committed against God and our neighbour not against one but all his laws not once but many times And further we confess they are as heinous as numerous viz. trespasses and injuries done to God himself by us his poor Creatures (p) 1 Sam. 2.25 in his own person or in his subjects our neighbours of whose Rights he is the Protector and the avenger of their wrongs we have broke down the hedge of Gods laws and by our disobedience disowned his supremacy and denied that duty which we owed to him whereupon sins are called debts (q) Matth. 6.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same Luke 11.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confer Luke 13.2 cum ver 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost de poen 2. Debitum in Scripturis delicti figura est quod perinde judicio debeatur nec evadat justitiam exactionis nisi donetur exactio Tertul. ut supr because God being our supream Lord Creator and preserver we are bound to obey all his pleasure and to do his commands specially having voluntarily promised this in our Baptism wherefore if we pay not God this due and vowed obedience we are debtors to him and must discharge and satisfie by suffering the Penalty (r) Si non reddit faciendo justitiam reddit patiendo miseriam August unless we can find a surety to undertake for us Oh what can set out the heighnousness of sin more lively it is a wrong and injury done by us poor miserable wretches against the Laws and Authority and the Rights of that God who made us and whose Covenant-servants we are and to this we must add that we are liable to his just and severe threatnings and may be if God please summoned to his Bar endited for this Debt nay Condemned for it to eternal Torments for the satisfaction But only that his Mercy and Wisdome hath found a gracious Redeemer who hath taken these Trespasses upon himself and made a fuller satisfaction for them then we could have done by eternal sufferings And it must be supposed we believe the satisfaction of Christs death and by it hope for a Remission or else what encouragement have we to ask pardon and confess a debt when we are insolvent and that to a just and true God that must have satisfaction this were to ask impossibilities
benedicam tibi laudabo nomen tuum c. Vulg. Lat. only altering the Tense and Person Lord help us for we are thy servants paying thee the daily tribute of Praise Whatever thou bestowest on us will not be forgotten nor buâ—ied in ungratefull silence We meet in thy house every day to magnifie thee in this manner and to set our the glory of thy Name in every thing thou dost for u. Withold not thy mercy for we will not withold thy Praise and since we resolve daily to do the work of Angelâ— Lord keep us pure as they are for praise is neither seemly nor acceptable in the mouth of a sinner Let not us who are thy servants in the morning be the devils slaves before night (z) Coepisti meliùs quam desinis ultima primis Distant but preserve us holy all day that our afternoon sins may not rob us of the benefit of this dayes Praises nor indispose us against the next morning when our duty will return Dear Jesus look on our frailty and strengthen us look on our guilt and misery and Pardon us We cry earnestly and double our request Jesus Master (a) Math. 20.30 31. have mercy on us have mercy on us for our needs are great and pressing unless we find mercy for former sins we must be condemned by thee and except we obtain mercy for future assistance we shall be overcome by Sathan Oh shut not out our Prayer consider not our merits but our distress we know we deserve nothing but we have great hopes such is thy transcendent goodness that we shall have what we desire Those that were better then we have put words in our mouths who in the Psalms (b) Psal 33.22 Sit misericordia tua Domine super nos quemadmodum speravimus in te Psal 31.1 In te Domine speravi non confundar in aeternum Vulg. Lat. did not urge thee as if they had been worthy but only trusted in thy mercy and so do we We rely not on our selves or any Creature but on thee alone for we know thou canst help us and we have a persuasion thou wilt All the world sees by our daily attendance on thee that all our expectations are from thee Oh do not disappoint those hopes that are grounded on thy tender mercy least Sathan upbraid us and the world slight us (c) Ezra 8.22 Psal 22.7 8. and then which way can we look Lord be it unto us according to our Faith Amen Amen The Paraphrase of the Te Deum WE Praise thee most heartily for all we have learned out of thy holy Word O God and it shall be our care as it is our duty to observe thy Will since we acknowledge thee to be the Lord to whom we owe all Duty and Obedience We esteem it our happiness and honour to be accounted thy servants who art Lord of all the world and aâ—l the earth with its Inhabitants joyns with us and doth worship thee who aâ—t from Eternity and in all ages hast been acknowledged to be the Father everlasting Nor doth this lower world alone own thy Supremacy but Praise is given to thee by the several Orders of all Anâ—â—â—s who with harmonious voices cry aloud in proclaiming thy glory which is ever set forth by all the hosts of the Heavens the Thrones Dominions Principalities and the Powers that are therein To thee O God triumphant Hymns are sung in that Celestial Quire For the Cherubin on one side and the Seraphin on the other with ravishing melody chart thy Praise and in their mysterious adorations they continually do cry one to another Holy Father Holy Son Holy Spirit three Persons but one Lord thou art tâ—e most mighty God of Savaoth the supream commander of all the hosts of Heaven of us and the innumerable myriods of blessed Spirits Thou makest us happy with beholding and the Sons of men with expecting thy glory so that all the Inhabitants of Heaven and Earth rejoyce in thee because all parts of the Universe are full of those manifestations of thy power and goodness which declare the majesty of thy glory Thus the Angels sing and for our great comfort many of our bretheren now glorified bear a part with them The glorious company of the Apostles who Preached Christ and with unwearied diligence and patience admirable courage and fidelity shewed he was come to save the world these are now in those regions of bliss and there for ever praise thee As also all those harbingers of thy Sons comming inspired at sundry times and in divers manners these are now met in glory and make up the goodly fellowship of the Prophets whose words we read on earth but they now are happy in beholding him of whom they foretold and now continually praise thee To all which blessed numbers are added those undaunted Legions who sealed the truth of the Prophets predictions and the Apostles preaching with their blood even The noble army of Martyrs who conquered infidelity and cruelty by Faith and Patience these now are passed from torments to their reward and they with all other Saints and Angels with united hearts and voices sweetly praise tâ—ee Oh Lord we long to be there that we might see thee as clearly and praise thee as heartily as they do But since we can now know thee only by Faith we must glorifie thee by agreeing with The holy Church even our faithful bretheren throughout all the world in the Confession of that True Faith whereby every good Christian doth acknowledge thee to be what thou hast revealed thy self to be in thy holy word We believe in that Trinity which the Angels worship even in thee the Father who by creating and governing all the World declaredst thy self to be of an infinite Majesty And we believe in him that is equal in glory with thee and one in nature thine honourable true and only begotten Son who hath redeemed us that we of slaves of Sathan might be thy adopted Sons We do believe and acknowledge also the Holy Ghost to be very God equal to and with the Father and the Son and is the advocate for us in Heaven and the Comforter of us on the Earth And these Three Persons are One God Thy grâ—cious condescension O blessed Jesus shall not Eclipse thy Divine Perfection for though thou camest in our likeness to Redeem us yet we believe thou art equal with the Father and the King of Glory for thou ever wa st most glorious in thy self and thou O Christ art anointed of God a King and Priest for ever From eternity thou art God neither hadst thou thy beginning when thou wast made the Son of Man for thou art the everlasting Son begotten of the Father before the world began Yet blessed be thy name thou didst change thy Glory for Misery and sufferedst thy Eternity to be measured by time for when thou tookest upon thee that glorious design to deliver man from eternal death thou didst not abhor the meanest
advantage which occasions that joy wherefore we are most of all obliged to rejoyce with the blessed Virgin both as she was the Mother of our Redeemer according to the flesh and because we may be so according to the spirit the Lesson we now heard is out of the Old Testament and as there we find the Records and Examples of the Divine Mercy to the Pious and humble and of his Vengeance upon the Proud and arrogant so here we find a Form of Praise for those dispensations of Gods Providence and since all the deliverances of Gods people there related are founded on this mercy of our Redemption or flow from it or are directed to it this Hymn will teach us to turn the Old Testament into Gospel and with the holy Patriarchs (l) Gen. 49.18 Non expecto redemptionem Sampsonis quae est salus transitoria sed expecto redemptionem Messiae filii David Targ. ever to apply all to this great salvation of which all other mercies were but types Behold then the Mother of Jesus saying to you Oh praise the Lord with me (m) Psal 34.4 and let us magnifie his name together let us shew forth the greatness of his power and goodness for we cannot set out his Perfections with any advantage nor represent him greater then really he is as we often magnifie one another but then we magnifie the Lord when we declare what we apprehend him to be and let us advance his glory as high as is possible for there is no danger of exceeding our Praises will be short but they must be real wherefore before we can bear a part in this Anthem we must get our souls affected with a sense of his infinite Power and our minds exalted with the belief of his excellent mercy so our praise shall be no complement but our soul and spirit shall bear their part and our thanksgiving may be real as his favours are let his wonderful love present it self to your affections and bring out your wonder and joy your hopes and desires to behold the sweetness till these passions begin to be enamoured on it and moved by it and then they will carry a lovely notion and fair Idea of it to the mind and so effectually recommend it that the whole inward man shall be ravished with the beautiful prospect and every faculty of the soul and part of the affections shall unite into a devout celebration of the divine love and mercy Behold the holiest of Women observe where she fixes her eye and whether she directs her Praises she rejoyceth not in her own excellencies nor doth she magnifie her self but God her Saviour which may check our vanity who are so apt in a prosperous success and unexpected exaltation to sacrifice to our own deserts (n) Hoc ego feci non fortuna dict Timoth. ducis to crown our selves though we snatch it from the head of Heavens King but sure since he gives the blessing he deserves the honour (o) Tuum Domine est bonum tua itaque est gloria Qui enim de bono tuo gloriam sibi quaerit non tibi fur est latro similisque diabolo qui voluit furare gloriam tuam August Soliloqu c. 15. and he that paies it not is a double thief and steals the gift and the glory also for both are his She that was the Mother of Jesus after the flesh thinks it no disparagement to confess her Son to be her Saviour but rejoyceth that he was so let not us then think we are saved from temporal evils or can be from eternal death without him and let us esteem it a greater honour to us and a surer ground of our rejoycing that the most high God is become our Salvation then if we had our strength in our own hands § 2. There is nothing gives the dimensions of Gods love to us more truly then the sight and sense of our vileness when we behold our selves so low and despicable as indeed we are then the glories of the Divine Majesty in stooping to us and looking on us in our low estate will shine in their native lustre when we see how worthless we are and what favour we have obtained beyond our expectations as much as our deserts then our souls will magnifie the Lord in the apprehensions of his greatness and our spirits rejoyce in the admirable goodness of God our Saviour Thus the blessed Virgin was inspired with these Seraphical extasies of joy by looking on the mean Condition in which this infinite mercy surprised her she was not arrived to the honour of marriage and in the opinion of the daughters of Jerusalem who esteemed it a huge reproach and a great affliction (p) 1 Sam. 1.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX pro sterilitate ut Gen. 29.32 to be without Children her estate was disgraceful and her fortunes were really dishonourable for though she sprung from the blood Royal of Judah yet she was then a poor obscure maid unknown to the world but regarded by him that loves to lodge in the lowest hearts (q) Isai 57.15 of the poor and pious as well as in the highest heavens she was in her lowest estate the Lords hand-maid and devoutly served him day and night and her Piety sanctified her Poverty and drew the eye of God to regard her as he will the meanest of us if our obedience equal hers and especially if our minds be as low as our estate is for so was this excellent Virgins who by lowliness here means not her humility for it had argued Pride to have so high a conceit of her lowliness of mind as to believe it obliged Gods favour there it was her meanness and poverty (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abjectionem humilem conditionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verò humilitatem significare asserit Erasmus which she so freely confesseth and heartily praiseth God for regarding No doubt her humility was eminent in her afflicted condition for when she was advanced to be the Mother of the Worlds Saviour she seeks no greater honour then to be stiled the hand-maid of the Lord ver 38. Oh Blessed Soul that was ever the same neither dejected in her affliction nor puffed up with her exaltation but serves God chearfully in the one and praises him heartily for the other She beholds an infinite and lasting honour prepared for her not alone among the daughters of one place or Generation (s) Gen. 30.13 Syr. pro gloriâ med for she was to be the Mother of a Universal and Everlasting blessing which all former ages had desired and all future times should rejoyce in and Both would proclaim her happy above all Women who should be the Instrument of this Mercy And yet she resigns all this glory to him that gave it her and declares whence she received it (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophilac in loc that not her name but his may have the glory and sure she deserves
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
and thy gracious Providence we being defended from the Power and malice and preserved in safety from the fear of our enemies may never be hurt terrified or disturbed but may pass our time which thou shalt afford us on this earth in rest from our foes and quietness in our own minds Grant us O Lord therefore this Peace for the sake as it was obtained through the merits of thy Son Iesus Christ our Saviour Amen The Analysis of the third Collect for Aid against all Perils This Collect hath only two Parts 1. The Petitions for 1. Mystically Knowledge Lighten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord Literally Comfort 2. Safety intimating 1. The means by which we must be delivered and by thy great mercy defend us 2. The evils from which from all perils and dangers 3. The time in which of this night 2. The motive urged to obtain them for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Practical Discourse on the third Collect at Evening Prayer § 5. LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord The declining of the day doth now mind us of the approaching darkness which will shortly wrap us in the shadows of the night And what Petition more seasonable then with holy David to beseech God to enlighten our darkness (o) Psal 18.28 Vul. Deus meus illumina tenebras meas For the night is sad and terrible in it we can see nothing with our bodily eys to entertain or to cheer us and we seem exposed to all the mischieâ—s (p) Versuta frans callida amat tenebris obtegi Prud. Ovid. Metam 2. Conscia culpae Conspectum lucemque fugit tenebrisque pudorem Celat John 3.20 Job 24.17 of Sathan and those instruments of his who fly the light and hope to cover their sin with this sable Mantle our dangers are many and our fears are sometimes more especially if our eyes be closed by unbelief as well as darkness If we behold not the Divine Providence watching over us and the Angels encamping round about us the very apprehension of the perils of a dismal night may damp our joy and startle our courage and makes us cry out with the Prophets servant (q) 2 Kings 6.15 16 17. What shall we do But let us intreat the Lord to fulfil his promise (r) Psal 112.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccl. 5.17 Psal 97.11 c. Adrian Isagoge that light may arise in our darkness that is in Scripture phrase comfort in our sadness That our hearts may by faith and cheerful thoughts by the assurance of his providence and the operations of his Grace be joyful and pleasant and that the shine of his countenance may make our nights bright as the day illuminated by the Meridian Sun For the inward comforts of Gods Spirit and a sense of his care and favour when the Soul is in fear or sadness do cheer and refresh more then a suddain light doth the wandring Travellour who is misled in a gloomy night These make our dwellings a Goshen while the wicked have thoughts black and dismal and Aegypt is veiled in a horrid shade and terrified with the dark side of the Cloud while the people of God are led all the night thorough with a light of fire so that the darkness and light to them are equally safe and comfortable Or if we desire to spiritualize the Petition more we may take occasion from the approaching night to enlarg our meditations upon our spiritual ignorance and blindness by nature by which our Souls are veiled and in the dark so that we often wander out of the way We stumble in the day and are in danger to run into the shadow of death till the day spring from on high visit us and give us that true knowledg which is usually set out under the name of light (s) Luke 2.32 Hebr. 6.4 illuminati i. e. edocti Wherefore let us humbly beseech our gracious Lord to let the Sun of righteousness arise upon us for whoever follows him doth not wander nor walk in darkness (t) John 8.12 and that we may take heed to Gods holy word as to a light shining in a dark place (u) 2 Pet. 1.19 and a sure guide to true blessedness And then our knowledg shall increase and we shall keep the right path till we arrive to that eternal light which shall never be extinguished When our hearts are clouded with greif shadowed with ignorance and benummed with dreadful â—pâ—rehensions we are taught to lift up our thoughts to the Father of lights and the God of all comfort who dwells in that light to which no mortal eye can approach whose Countenance is cleer as the sun and bright as lightning And if we can by our beseechings obtain his favour to shine upon us no doubt it will turn our night into day our sorrows into the joyes of the Morning While we are in the darksome cell of this lower world we think of our glorified brethren who dwell in a perpetual brightness and everlasting light and we long to be with them when it may please God But in the mean time we hope he will support and recreate us with some glimpses of those beams which they have the constant and full fruition of § 6. And by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night Comfort and safety are those two things which make a happy night And of whom should we ask these but of God the Lord who is a light and defence (x) Psal 84.11 The hopes of his love makes it comfortable But least we should be deceived in that comfort his mercy and power must keep us safe which here we earnestly desire We may easily perceive we are most miserable without his Providence especially in the night season for then Sathan prepares most violently to assault us supposing it is his hour and the power of darkness And alas how easily may we then be enticed with pleasure transported with malice and revenge or disturbed with evil fancies and imaginations When the Soul is heavy the Senses dull the stomack loaden the flesh strong and the reason weak (y) Stomachus aeger mens somnolenta animus occupatus tunc omne nefas suadere contendunt quando nullus arbiter culpae nullus criminis conscius nullus potest esse erro is testis Ambros in 8. par 119. Psal when the Curtain is drawn and we think no eyes see us neither judg witness nor accuser can espy us how open are our Souls then to all Dangerous temptations And yet our temporal concerns are not more safe for how soon may we be seized by diseases or suddain death or made miserable by theives and Robbers burnings or inundations Are not our lives and limbs estate and friends liable to loss and mischief both suddenly and unavoidably Go we then with all speed to our merciful Father and let us represent our condition to him the consideration whereof
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. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
seculo dicet etiam Amen in seculo future R. Jehud Tanch alius ille facit ut redemptio nostra accelleretur enjoyned the saying it after every little prayer as a thing pleasing to God and profitable to men Comparing it to the setting our Name to an Epistle writ in anothers hand which then becomes ours when we sign it * Buxt Synag Jud. cap. 7. The same Doctors in their Talmud reprove three sorts of Amen 1. Pupillum when like children men speak it to that they understand not 2. Amen surreptitium when by carelesness they say it before the prayer be done 3. Amen fertile when by sleepiness and yawning they cut it in two parts by all which it appears they would have it pronounced zealously and reverently by all the people From the Jews our Lord took it and by placing it at the end of his own prayer (m) Matth. 6.13 declared he would have us Christians to subjoyn it to all ours and accordingly it appears the Apostles ordered it for the most ignorant who could only joyn with others that prayed for him was at the end to say Amen (n) 1 Cor. 14.16 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which we may rather believe they ordained in the Church because we find the Masters of Israel appointed those who could not pray for themselves nor read to go to the Synagogue (o) Buxt Syn. Jud. cap. 5. and hear what others then prayed and by saying Amen heartily to their prayers they made them as they taught become their own From the practice of the Apostles it is sufficiently proved to have descended into the constant use of the Church in all ages (p) Nos simul Amen dicimus Irenaeus Si pro ipsius Salvatoris pacto in consensit duorum quodcunque petierint fiet Quid igitur futurum ubi ex tot tantantisque populis in unum congregatis una vox respondeatur acclamantium Amen Athan. Ad similitudinem caelestis tenitrui Amen populus reboat Hieron so that all know the people in the Primitive times used in the conclusion of all publique prayers to answer with an Amen loud as a clap of thunder and I wish our times which pretend to so much zeal had never laid aside this holy custome which besides the prescription of Antiquity hath the records of Scripture to produce for its Observation I wish I might be a happy instrument to restore it Let us I beseech you reassume this most useful conclusion and all speak it heartily and aâ—dibly to testifie both to God and Men that we have all one Lord one Faith one Hope and one Mouth And as we pronounce it let us reflect on all the sentences of the foregoing prayer especially such as vain thoughts hindred us from attending and sum up all our desires in one devout Amen Lord let all and every one of these things be granted to us if you forbear to say Amen out of dislike to the Prayers do but study them and I am confident you will be reconciled to them if you omit Amen out of negligence pray consider how you can expect God should accept that Prayer which you never owned nor consented to we might as well be absent if we joyn not with the Minister And therefore that God may say Amen to all our prayers he grant us grace devoutly to say it to our own Amen The Paraphrase of the Confession O Most glorious and dreadful Lord God who art Almighty in thy power and of absolute Authority able to destroy us and yet ready to spare us and thereby hast shewed thy self a gracious and most merciful Father slow to anger and ready to receive us thy pitty encourageth us to make this humble Confession with shame and sorrow before thee that we thy poor Creatures have erred and daily gone aside out of thy right paths by mistakes frequent sudden and unobserved sins and strayed many times by voluntary deliberate and habitual transgressions whereby we have stayed longer and wandred further from thy ways of pleasantness and paths of peace where we might have been so safe and happy And hereby we are like lost sheep without our good Shepherd exposed to many secret subtile and powerful enemies being helpless and shiftless unable of our selves to resist them or fly from them and unlikely ever to return to thee unless thou come to seek and save us O Lord we now find to our sorrow that we have followed false gâ—ices with obstinacy heedlesness and delight and have been given too much to rely upon the devices and false principles of our corrupted understandings which mistake the greatest evil for the chiefest good and so we have been led headlong after our mistaken choice by the blind affections and desires of our own hearts which being set upon evilâ— have made us restless and impatient till we have done what we wickedly devised and obtained what we greedily desired And thus by forsaking thy conduct and pursuing all that a mistaken judgment could devise or a wicked heart desire we have daily in thought word and deed most grievously offended against thy holy laws which we could not be ignorant of nor are we able to give any Reason why we should disclaim thy Soveraignty or despise the direction of a Rule so excellent so just and good that we cannot except against it Who shall plead for us who have been fully instructed in our duty and yet we have through laziness forgetfulness or worldly-mindedness very often left undone those things which our Duty to God our Love to our Neighbours and the care of our own Bodies and Souls required (q) Here reflect upon what you read §. 6. and 14. calling to mind what you have omitted of your duty to God your selves or others all which our own Consciences tells us we ought to have done in the most sincere and cordial manner yet we have either omitted them or performed them with so much indifference and formality hypocrisie and distractions that they might almost as well have been left undone And by this Omission and slight observance of our duty thou hast been provoked to give us up to the deceits of Sathan so that we have besides these sins of Omission frequently done those things which have tended to thy dishonour our neighbours hurt and to the prejudice of our own bodies and souls (r) Here remember your sâ—ns of Commission as hath been said and call to mind your breaches of the 2d third sixth seventh eighth ninth and tenth Commandements the least of which we ought not to have done to have gained the whole world O thou Physician of Souls our heads are full of evil devices our hearts of base desires our lives are overspread with the loathsom sores of actual transgressions thou alone canst help us and being likely to perish we confess we are full of diseases and there is no health in us nothing but sad symptoms of death and damnation We have indeed wilfully brought
our selves into this estate but thou O Lord who seest our distress have mercy upon us and let thy bowels yearn upon so wretched a spectacle forgive that horrid guilt that doth amaze us for though we deserve no pitty yet thou knowest we are most miserable sinners like to be eternally condemned by thy Justice if thou dost not pardon us and certain to perish under thy vengeance whensoever thou beginnest to punish us but for thy pity and compassion sake spare thou them O God that knowing they have deserved thy wrath and fearing before it comes do of their own accord confess their faults in hopes to find mercy and a deliverance if it please thee from temporal judgments however from eternal Although O Lord our God when thou hast removed thy Judgments unless thou also take away that security and presumption impenitence and unbelief the sad remains of our sins we shall want thy favour still which is our only happiness therefore we further pray Restore thou that health and comfort that former joy and peace freedom and strength we had before we did offend For we now groan under that deadness which seized on us upon the withdrawings of thy holy spirit and do see and lament those sins which did occasion it we â—ow relent and are of the number of them that are penitent and resolve if thou wilt cleanse us from the dregs of these corruptions never to do the like again We confess we have no merit to deserve these things and so no ground in our selves to expect them but we hope thou wilt grant us all these requests for Pardon Peâ—ce and Restauration because they are oh thou God of truth according to thy Promises which thou madest so freely out of thy everlasting love and resolvest so fully to perform that that thou hast openly declared and proclaimed these thy gracious intentions unto mankind on purpose that such poor sinners as we who are not excepted might not despair but come in upon thy general summons and lay hold on those comfortable promises which are made in Christ Iesus our Lord who Purchased this favour for us by his death and now lives to dispense his benefits to those he dyed for in whom thou art reconciled to us so that we not only hope for a Pardon but mindful of his intercession we beseech thee to give us thy holy Spirit and grant O most merciful Father unto us who deserve nothing on our own account to be so powerfully assisted by thy grace for his sake who is now pleading in heaven for us that we who have earnest desires and unfeigned purposes to amend though we cannot satisfie for the time past may hereafter give all diligence to fulfill the end of Christs coming and answer the design of thy forgiving us that we may live a godly and religious life in observance of all our duties to thee that we may love and fear thee honour and adore thee believe in thee and rely upon thee long for thee and delight in thee above all the world daily seeking to know thee praying for thy help praising thee for thy Mercies and waiting in hopes of the eternal injoyment of thee that by serving thee we may be inabled also to lead a Righteous life in all justice honesty and charity to our Neighbours hurting no man in thought word or deed but ready to relieve and help all to our power doing ever unto others what we would have done to our selves And lastly grant that by thy Divine aid we may live a Temperate Chast and a sober life Mortifying our lusts moderating our desires restraining our appetites so that we may avoid all carnal delights that would cloud our reason engross our thoughts pollute our bodies and souls or unfit us for thy service Which if thou shalt please to do for us thy mercy in forgiving our grievous sins thy pity in delivering us from apparent mine and thy grace in strengthening us to live a reformed life will not only be our advantage but turn to the glory of thy holy name which shall be praised by us and all the world for these incomparable testimonies of thy unspeakable Loving-kindness now and evermore And in token of our earnest desire of all these Petitions we unfeignedly sign them by heartily saying Amen Lord grant it may be so SECTION IV. Of the Absolution §. 1. Of Absolution in General SIN doth abridge the Soul of its free converse with God and by the terror of it binds the soul down with fear and by it the wicked are reserved in chains to the judgment of the great day wherefore it is compared to a bond (s) Acts 8.23 Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the sinner is said to be holden in its cords (t) Prov. 5.22 but since Christ came to loose those bonds (u) Isai 66.1 they are now prisoners of hope (x) Zach. 9.12 because Jesus hath the keys of death and Hell and he can loose whom he please by forgiving that is absolving and unloosing those bonds But because he is now invisible and imployed in heaven to intercede for us before his departure he appointed his Apostles to supply his place giving them Commission (y) Math. 16.19 Chap. 18.18 John 20.22 23. by a visible and external application of this power to support the spirits of all true Penitents till himself should come to ratifie this Absolution upon which ground the Bishops and Priests of the whole Christian Church have ever used to absolve all that truly Repented and at this day it is retained in our Church and is a part of the daily office which being so useful and necessary and founded on holy Scripture needs not any arguments to defend it but that the ignorance and prejudice of some makes them take offence at it and principally because it hath been so much abused by the Papal Church so that it may perhaps help the Devotion of many if we discover the true meaning of Absolution and the mistakes of our adversaries on both sides as well those who make it nothing as those who urge it as instar omnium those who would rob us of it as those who would ensnare us by it 1. The true judgment of the Church of England concerning Absolution may best be gathered from the Liturgy in which are three forms of Absolving set down The first declaratory here which is a solemn promulgation of pardon by a Commissionated person repeated every day when the whole Congregation confess their sins wherein they are assured of forgiveness if they Repent and believe and this is fitted for a mixt Company of good and bad men where many hypocrites feign Repentance but this Absolution gives no encouragement to such Only it assures all that there is a Pardon and shews on what terms it may be had so that to those who truly do repent it is present remission to those that do not it is a Monitor that they may repent it comforts the Godly and
to desire God to be unjust But our Lord Jesus who payed our scores hath sent us to his Father with these words in our mouths and he calls them truly Our Trespasses to shew his love in redeeming us and Gods mercy in forgiving us not to make us fear them as unpardonable for when we remember our Redeemer we have lively hopes in the midst of our humble acknowledgments because he that payed our Debt makes the same request in heaven for us That God would clear us and charge our iniquities upon him But because we are so apt to remember our needs and forget our duty to pray for good things to our selves and neglect the doing them to others our master hath annexed one of the greatest duties of the Gospel so close to this necessary and desirable request that we cannot ask forgiveness of God but we must promise the same to our neighbours that so Christ may make peace in Earth as well as Heaven we must declare not only to lay as de our groundless prejudices against our bretheren bâ—t to q it all pretences of malice or revenge even to those who have not payed us the returns of love and duty where they were obliged to it and to our enemies that have wronged and harmed us by thought word or deeds Not that our Pardon from God depends absolutely on this or is merited by it but because it is most reasonable that we who request forgiveness of our offences against God should forgive the lesser debts (s) Veniam det facile cui veniâ est opus Ecclus 28.3 Matth. 18.24 cum 28. 10000 Tal. h. e. nostrae monet 1870500 lb 100 Denar h. c. 3. lb 2. sol 6. den vide Waser de Num. ap Critic of our bretheren to uâ— which are fewer in number smaller in valew committed against a meaner person and commonly upon some provocation on our part He that doth so strictly exact his due in these petty injuries deserves to be strictly accounted with himself and may blush to ask of so great a God to abate of his rigour when he a mortal creature will not do it to his Equall how can such a malicious person be sensible of the kindness which God sheweth in forgiving him when he is a stranger to those compassions such a mans person must be hatefull to our Heavenly Father because he is so unlike him (t) Matth. 5.45 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 al. lib. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grot. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Libanius Sophist and his request odious because it is unreasonable and impudent Wherefore take heed least by your malice and uncharitableness you involve your selves into the wrath of God for your own greater injuries and offences § 8. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Temptation doth not in its prime sense in Scripture signifie a sollicitation to evil but any kind of tryal (u) 2 Cor. 13.5 Heb. 11.29 and is expressed both by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Duae sunt tentationes una quae decipit altera quae probat secundum eam quae decipit Deus neminem Tentat Aug. Tract 43. in order to the discovery of what we are whether it be done by a Friend as when God tempted Abraham Gen. 22.1 or glorified him as some read with a design to manifest the strength of his Faith or by an enemy as when Sathan desired to sift St. Peter (x) James 1.13 not to purifie him but to manifest that mixture of chaff he could find in him and because evil objects shew what we are and declare us to be evil if we comply with them therefore the setting evil things before us to draw us into sin are also called Temptation but God never tempts thus he may try us by Afflictions and put us in the fire as Gold (y) 1 Pet. 1.6 7. to separate us from our dross nay he will do it (z) Zechar. 13.9 and it is a sign of his love (a) Heb. 12.6 and ought to be a cause of our joy (b) James 1.2 and David begs it as a favour (c) Psal 139.23 Nor do any but cheats and hypocrites fly this tryal or fear to be inquired into Gods Children are willing their Father should try them and tempt them here with intentions of mercy rather then to pass the severe Tryal before the last Tribunal and as to these tryals and temptations Christ would rather teach us to pray to be supported under and carried through them then never to be lead into them which if Gods grace be with us may be for our advantage and honour and his glory Wherefore by Temptation here we are rather to understand the being enticed to commit sin or however a trying whether we will sin and thus it well follows the former Petition (d) Vt non de remittendis tantum sed etiam de avertendis in totum delictis supplicaremus Tert. de Or. Illud ut praeterita eâ—pientur hoc ut futura vitentur Oros de liber arb for having considered the heinous nature and dangerous consequents of former sins and prayed for the forgiveness of them if we spoke that out of a real fear of those dreadful miseries we cannot but desire we may never more fall into such desperate circumstances and to quicken this request let us consider Our enemies are many and mighty vigilant and politick that we are naturally easie and willing to be deceived rash in our choices heedless of danger neither considering before nor examining afterwards and so shall certainly fall every moment it God in mercy do not help us and if we be humble and fear and heartily call for aid against sin (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian l. 4. c. 12. although we should fall some times we declare our hatred of it and if we be not totally free yet we manifest a desire to be free from all and for this we rely not on our own strength but as Jesus hath taught us humbly beg strength from Heaven every day against it But some may wonder why we desire God would not lead us c. sure he that hates sin so perfectly and so lately forgave us will not tempt us to commit more (f) James 1.13 't is most true Sathan is the Tempter (g) Matth. 4.3 and so his name Sathan in Hebrew signifies he being miserable by sin (h) Solatium perditionis suae perdendis hominibus operatur Lact. de orig er desires to make men partners with him in sin and misery by working on those lusts (i) Jam. 1.14 which do draw us into sin But the Devil himself is under the Command of the Almighty who sets him bounds that he cannot pass and gives permission to him to tempt us (k) Job 1.12 Chal. P. Exiit Sathanas cum licentiae à coram Domino so that he could have no power against us except it were given him from on high