dejections of spirit keep me from charging thee foolishly Bestow upon me a chearful spirit by an humble hope in thee and by referring my self wholly to thee Endue me with such wisdom and uprightness that I may neither neglect my duty nor suspect thy gracious acceptance of me Give me an hearty zeal to do the best that I am able and a setled perswasion that thou requirest no more of me Defend me O my gracious God from dishonouring thee and my Religion by distrusting thy goodness and calling thy loving kindness in question towards those that are sincerely bent to please thee Remove all troublesome imaginations from me and give me a clear understanding of thee and of my self or when I am in darkness and confusion of thoughts grant me so much light and judgment as not to conclude my self forsaken by thee but to reflect upon thy long-continued favours to me and many deliverances of me that so I may resolve still to hope in thee to bear my present trouble patiently and to resign my will absolutely to thy good pleasure And good Lord enable me to look beyond these clouds to that blessed state whither my Saviour is gone in which there is no darkness at all and in an humble hope of coming to the same place where he is to content my self with any condition whilst I am here so far remote from that Region of light and glorie Hear me most loving and merciful Father I most humbly beseech thee Pity my great dulness and deadness of heart Strengthen my weak and feeble endeavours support my fainting spirit and cause it humbly to hope in thee for ever Confirm and establish every good thought desire and purpose which thou hast wrought in me perfect that which thou hast begun make me to grow in wisdom faith love and willing obedience conduct me hereafter so evenly and steadily so peaceably and quietly so cheerfully and sincerely in thy ways that I may Glorifie thee whilst I live by encouraging others to accompany me in thy service and when I come to die may resign my Soul unto thee with an undisturbed mind and in an holy hope also of a joyful resurrection of the body at the great day of the Lord Jesus to whom be glory and dominion for ever Amen The Prayer for a Woman with Child MOst merciful and gracious God who wilt not turn away thine ear from those that call upon thee in sincerity and truth look down with an Eye of pity and compassion upon thy unworthy Servant I must confess my sins are very great and so is my danger which is at hand my pains to come will be grievous and my life is now most uncertain Assure me I beseech thee of the forgiveness of all my sins mitigate my fear and sorrows strengthen me with the comforts of thy Spirit confirm me in the faith of my Saviour and bless all good means appointed for my comfort that in due time I may be a joyful Mother and see the fruit of my Body safe sound and perfect without blemish or deformitie O Lord I know not how soon my travel will steal on me when I must fight that battle of Life and Death one drop of thy mercy hath soveraign power to cure all the Wounds of those sorrows shed therefore O holy Father that drop of grace upon me in that minute when I am to encounter with so stern an adversary strengthen me with patience bless me that I perish not bless the work of my Midwife let not the Child yet unborn the Babe in my womb be punished for mine offences but give it growth give it flourishing and form and when the time is come that thou wilt call it out of this close House of flesh where it now inhabiteth to dwell in the open World sanctifie thy Creature make it by Baptism a member of thy Church a Lamb of thy flock and direct it in the ways of Godliness to its lives end And all through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed words I continue to pray Our Father c. A Thanksgiving by the Woman after safe deliverance to be used when she is able MY Soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour He hath given me my Hearts desire and not denied me the request of my lips Children are his heritage and the fruit of the Womb is his reward Glory be to thee O Lord God eternal who hast now delivered me from the great pains and peril of Child-birth who hast taken away my reproach and made me an instrument to increase thy Kingdom It is in thy power to strike death into my Womb but thou hast given me a double life all mine anguishes thou hast sweetned with gladness Continue thy mercies and favours to me thy servant put strength into my bloud bloud into my Veins and courage into mine Heart that my lips may render thee deserved thanks Thou that art the Father of love and life look upon this mine Infant which thou hast given me preserve it in health quicken it with grace crown it with long life that it may grow up to be a servant in thy houshold Send the Father of it and me much comfort by it that it may be a staff to our old age Bless it with store of friends in this World and be thou the chief friend to it for evermore and for the better growth in godliness feed it with the Milk of thy Word defend it from all dangers and all enemies Bodily and Ghostly And whereas it is written that the great red Dragon stood before the Woman which was ready to be delivered that he might devour her Child when she had brought it forth so guard me and regard this my birth that Satan rule not nor reign within us but deliver us still out of his Jaws as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler Let thy blessing O Lord be upon me and my Children strongly to help keep and defend us from this time forth for evermore Amen A Prayer to be used by one that is sick O Eternal and most merciful Father look down I beseech thee upon thy poor servant who is punished and afflicted in Body with the smart of my pain and sickness and who is also troubled with the fear of thy heavy displeasure for my many sins and iniquities wherewith I have provoked thy holy Majesty in the time of my health I confess that of very faithfulness and goodness to me thou hast laid this scourge upon me to the end that by the stripes of my flesh my Spirit might be healed and saved in the day of the Lord Jesus I valued not the benefit of health as I should have done and therefore thou hast made me sensible of it by the want of it in prosperitie I remembred not the afflictions of my Brethren and therefore thou hast afflicted me like unto them I was in a kind of Spiritual lethargy till thou didst awake me with the stroke of thy
of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed sure many who have offended less have been justly sent to everlasting burnings do now dwell with devouring flames and why should a living man complain it were certainly more rational to be humbled for the evil that occasioned the rod that our present misery may not be the prelude to more lasting torments Nay there is nothing that more offends God that is more contrary to the pattern set before us than to murmur and repine let us therefore study to bear the resemblance of our eldest Brother that our Heavenly Father may acknowledge us for his Children In the next place Christ's obedience to the Will of his Father is set forth as our president and can any thing more powerfully perswade us to obedience than his example which not onely discovers our duty but also inspirits and enables us to perform it If the marvelous pattern of Christ's entire obedience does not form our wills to do what God enjoyns I scarce know any argument that will prove â—ffectual And now how serious was our Lord Christ in dispatching that business his Father intrusted him with The work that his Father gave him to do he finished it Joh. 17.4 and he testifieth of himself That he did always those things that pleased his Father Joh. 8.29 and that he might more emphatically express this he tells us Joh. 4.34 My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work and indeed in that he so entirely resigned the whole power of his Will to his Father Not my will but thy will be done we have the most unquestionable proof of his perfect obedience He was as the great Apostle tells us Obedient to the death of the Cross submitted to the most dreadful sufferings that he might instruct us to keep his commandments even as he kept his Fathers commandments Joh. 15.10 and that the same mind be in us that was in him But God knows how little we regard either his Precepts or Examples for although our great Master has made his obedience our rule yet how ready are we to despise it if in the least it cross our humors or carnal interest Alas little do we consider that obedience is essentially necessary in order to our supream happiness and that torments as severe and intolerable as they are lasting are the lot of the disobedient It were to be wished that the rebellious posterity of Adam would but seriously ponder what they will be able to say in the great day of Audit Sure I am the whole Contexture and Harmony of the divine Precepts and Doctrines are equitable and just and therefore call for our hearty compliance with them The wise God never issued out any Command which could not be obeyed He is not like the Aegyptian Task-masters to require Brick while there is no Straw Nay indeed our duty and interest are coupled together so closely that if we disobey and rebel we may thank our selves for the misery we have chosen And as his obedience is set before us for imitation so is his Love Charity and Compassion also His whole life was spent in doing good to men how transcendent is his love in pitying us in our degenerate and forlorn estate when we were at odds with Heaven and incapable to help our selves then even then did he commiserate our case and by his own Blood reconciled us to the Father It is the greatest demonstration of love imaginable for a man to lay down his life for his friend Joh. 15.13 and yet more wonderful was the love of our Redeemer in passing through so many cruel sufferings for us who were but Rebels and Enemies O how should the remembrance of his boundless compassions transport and ravish us with love how strange is it that the highest endearments of Love have not inflamed our spirits and made Love mutual and reciprocal Love is a most excellent affection of a noble original by which we resemble the best of beings the great God being by the beloved Disciple described to be Love and indeed well does this description sute with his dealings with men But alas how unlike are we to God in this there is scarce any duty more frequently inculcated by our Saviour than Love John 15.12 This is my commandment that ye love one another as I have loved you and yet how little efficacy has either his precept or example with us Blessed Redeemer how unworthy do impure Earth-worms require thy love thou hast not been wanting to conquer our affections and to inflame our frozen hearts with love to thee and to our Neighbours also Thy life and Death comprehend the most endearing arguments imaginable and yet well maist thou ask us as once thou didst Peter Love you me but God knows there are but a very few who can unfeignedly say as this Disciple did Lord thou knowest that I love thee We can remember all thy sorrows without tears and look upon thy agonies with an unconcerned eye We can view thee in the Garden when grief and pain made thee sweat drops of bloud and behold thee as thou stoodst accused as a Malefactor before Pilate as thou wert contemned scourged and derided by impure worms and most spitefully represented in a fools habit we can ascend Mount Calvary and contemplate thee as enduring the most shameful death of the Cross and hanging betwixt two Thieves and all this time have Adamantine hearts which receive no impression Blessed Redeemer come touch these hearts of ours that they may be overcome with love that our wills and affections may be perfectly moulded according to thy pleasure Sure if we had any sparks of Generosity or common Ingenuity we could not thus despise so much love The very Publicans who were reputed the worst of men yet loved those that loved them And it hath even in the most degenerate times been reckoned the highest baseness to contemn Benefactors yet more brutish are we become than these and may very fitly be ranked in a Category inferior to that of bruits For the Ass as sacred Writ tells us knoweth his masters crib and the Ox his owner Isa 1.3 The very beasts in their own manner express a kinde of love to their Benefactors and yet although our Redeemer hath made our peace by his blood on the Cross and hath reversed that sentence of Damnation passed upon us although he hath endured the greatest dishonour and pain imaginable that we might be delivered from the wrath to come yet this unparallel'd kindness the greatest endearment of love hath not had the kindly effect to quicken our dead and benummed hearts but like a lifeless carcass we remain insensible without the least return of love And indeed it can scarce be well expected that the example of his love to us should engage us to love one another since it hath produced so little love in us to himself But however I need not take much pains to prove that hereby we demonstrate
have ascertained our selves of the truth and lawfulness of it this the very Poet could dictate Nec Deus intersit nisi dign us vindice nodus Inciderit It were to be wished that the Hectors of this age would learn of the very Heathens more reverence and that those men that pretend to good breeding would be so civil even sometimes for the companies sake as to forbear those Oaths that tender ears cannot hear without offence In the last place the Divine Love if scattered in our Hearts will excite us to worship God after the method himself hath prescribed It will direct us to the rule of Piety where we shall finde every thing that relates to our immediate intercourse with God in Divine Ordinances and Worship exactly ordered I confess the Heathen world as they were confused in their notions of a Deity and almost quite ignorant of the eternal reward so were they superstitious in their Worship and sometimes ignorantly erected Altars to an unknown God Their Worship was attended with a great deal of external pomp was very grateful to their external senses but it reached not the Heart But the Christian rule instructs us to worship God in Spirit and prescribes the best method of devotion It requires that We worship and bow before the Lord our maker with all possible humility and reverence that we possess our Hearts with the greatness and glory of that Majesty we adore that we be intent in our devotion and not suffer sâ—â—nlar concerns to intrude and interrupt us that we act faith upon him and believe that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him and that we approach the throne of grace in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ If Devotion were not a duty yet methinks the advantages thereof should invite us to the performance But since God has coupled our duty and interest together how amazing is it to think we should so neglect it How many attractives are there to approach his presence who dwells in light unaccessible Have we not a multitude of sins to confess many wants we would fain have suppli'd How many temptations does every place present How numerous are the dangers and accidents to which we lie open and should not all these excite us to render homage to that omnipotent power which alone can guard us from inconveniences But besides our dangers we are freed from the mercies and favours he daily confers upon us the fresh communications of his bounty every morning nay minute require at least a return of praise and a grateful acknowledgment But yet alass in spight of all these inducements how is Devotion contemned by some and neglected by most But I dare not enlarge now on the particular Branches of Holiness nor insist in the recommendation of every particular duty lest I seem to digress from my proper subject I shall therefore proceed to the other two Branches of Holiness namely those duties that respect ourselves and others As to the first we are by the perfect rule of Holiness instructed to live soberly to be moderate in all things and to shun every kinde of excess as equally hurtful to Soul and Body it forbids complacency in those lusts that war against both restrains all irregular and impetuous inclinations retrenches all inordinate desires the first motions to forbidden objects and in a word enjoyns all those vertues which respect either our Bodies or Souls For those that respect our Bodies how straitly is chastity commanded For this is the will of God even your sanctification that ye should abstain from fornication 1 Thes 4.3 We are urged with the most affectionate earnestness to abstain from the very first motions to forbidden objects from the polluted glances and wanton lascivious speeches that are windows at which uncleanness enters and that by such invincible and cogent arguments as might prove effectual with men who but consider what they do Lust being a Vice mischievous to the body Prov. 7.26 hurtful to the Soul Prov. 6.32 casting an everlasting stain upon a mans good Name Prov. 6.33 undoing his Substance Prov. 6.26 Job 31.12 and that which finally excludes from the Kingdom of Heaven where nothing that pollutes can enter 2 Cor. 6.9 Rev. 21.27 'T is indeed no wonder though the Religion of the Gentiles which contained a prodigious mixture of vanity and impiety gratified the inclinations of uncleanness for if we consult their writings we shall observe that the most abominable vice wanted not a Deity to patronize it amongst them which upon the matter was an establishing iniquity by Law and an argument more sufficient to encourage than to correct vice And although the Writings of some Philosophers have been more refined yet the Lives even of such were full of the foulest actions Nay the rules which the best Masters of Morality amongst them prescribed never reached to the purifying of the Heart I confess that man that shall take notice and who having eves in his head can avoid this when men proclaim their sin like Sodom of the prodigious uncleanness this prophane age has arrived at shall be strongly tempted to suspect the purity of the Christian Rule if he make no farther enquiry than to the practices of most that are called Christians We may indeed very aptly write to the professors of this age as the great Apostle did to the Church of Corinth It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named amongst the Gentiles 1 Cor. 5.1 And I am a little afraid if the Church should strictly observe that charge that the Apostle gives there and excommunicate all such wicked persons that our Church should not need to brag much of the number of Christians 'T is indeed matter of great sadness to consider how much the Christian Religion has suffered upon the account of the scandalous practices of Titular Christians and I make no doubt but this age has been at more pains than any that precedes it to increase the scandal but sure 't is but a silly artifice to challenge the exactness of the Rule and with Celsus impudently alleadge that the Christian Religion encourageth men to the practice of immorality and vice since of all Religions the Christian onely can produce the strictest Laws against all filthiness of flesh and spirit 'T is a Doctrine as the blessed Apostle tells us according to godliness and lays undispensible obligations upon its followers both to think upon and to do whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are of good report and suchlike things which being general include all particulars and yet it doth not onely prescribe general rules but descendeth to the commanding of all particular vertues and the equal prohibition of particular vices Next to Chastity we might discourse largely of the commendation of Moderation in eating and drinking and shew that the excess of both is condemned as being mean and ignoble that it is the true cause of many
how careless how negligent and foolish do ye prove If I had not been held forth as the most desirable copy as a pattern most accommodate to your state your case had been more tolerable but since you can pretend no rational excuse for your rejecting of me Behold ye despisers wonder and perish I confess our blessed Prince performed many extraordinary and miraculous actions which could have no other author but one invested with omnipotency and although we cannot are not required to set Christ as our president in these as likewise in many other special actions he performed as his fasting forty days c. yet even these we are called to admire and must in so far imitate as they were expressions of his great charity and kindness to men and of his trust and dependancy upon his Heavenly Father But as for those moral actions he performed we are extreamly culpable if we do not make him our pattern if we walk not as he walked And it is sure the most unaccountable thing that can be to profess our selves to be his Disciples and to despise the lessons he hath copied out to us The whole life of Christ being one continued lecture of Holiness presents to our view a large field to discourse upon but my intended brevity will not allow me to mention all those particular actions and vertues of his which we ought to imitate I shall therefore contract my discourse to those more remarkable instances wherein we should industriously endeavour to imitate the holy Jesus in his spirit and actions and sure there cannot be a more powerful motive to form us to holiness than his most excellent life which is a pattern absolutely perfect and designed as a fair copy after which we should write In the first place our blessed Leader for so he is called Isa 55.4 hath by his precept as well as his practice enjoyned us to learn meekness and humility of him Mat. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart Throughout the whole course of his life he did evidence a spirit full of calmness and quietness If we trace his foorsteps from the Cradle to the Cross we shall not fined him either by his words or actions discovering the least expression of wrath or revenge but the most admirable disposition of gentleness and meekness even then when his insulting Enemies endeavoured to cast upon him the most ignominious affronts We read Numb 12.3 of Moses his great meekness but how was he once and again transported with passion but never did our meek Jesus by the most insufferable abuses he received ever discover a discomposed spirit Isa 53.7 He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he openeth not his mouth He did indeed frequently meet with extraordinary provocations to anger but yet how sweet were his reproofs when the Samaritans refused to receive him Luke 9.53 he did not treat them with contumelious speeches nor revenge himself upon them although he could have done it with ease but being desired by his exasperated Disciples to call for fire from Heaven to consume them he rebuked their revengeful motion with The Son of man is not come to destroy mens lives but to save them It would be too prolix a business to instance the several examples of his Gentleness and Meekness only let us view the last scene of his life where we shall behold lively instances to confirm this When he did finde his three Disciples whom he had commanded to watch sleeping he did not upbraid them for their negligence but gently asks them What could not ye watch with me one hour and when he was treacherously accoasted by his own Disciple who became leader to a great multitude who came out with Swords and Staves to apprehend him with what astonishing mildness did he entertain this Traytor who had the impudence to betray him with a kiss Friend wherefore art thou come Mat. 26.50 or as another of the Evangelists expresseth it Judas betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss This was all the hard language he treated him with And after he was apprehended with what horrid contumelies and affronts did his barbarous Enemies entertain him they did spit in his face and buffet him the highest affronts imaginable they stripped him of his ordinary cloaths and put upon him a fools robe and a Crown of Thorns and being thus disguised they expose him to the mockery and contempt of the Spectators Notwithstanding of all which he opened not his mouth but with a most sedate and serene temper he received all these abuses as the Apostle Peter expresseth it 1 Pet. 2.23 When he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatned not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously Meekness I confess is so noble a vertue accompanied with so many admirable and charming advantages that it needs as one would think but few words to recommend it to men but no argument is like to prevail more with generous mindes than the example of so excellent and perfect a Pattern Sure I am it is the most unaccountable thing imaginable for the Disciples of so meek a Master to be of a disposition and temper quite opposite to his But as his meekness so is his humility also recommended to our imitation As he was of a meek so also of a lowly spirit His first appearance upon earth was but mean and despicable he was born as the Scripture informs us in a low estate more fit for the meanest of his Disciples than for so great a Prince He was not brought forth in some stately Palace nor born in a Chamber curiously deckt but in a vile Stable where the bruit beasts had their residence Nay after he had discovered himself by his Illustrious works to be a great Prophet the true Messiah who enlightneth every one that cometh into the world yet how humbly did he walk his Companions he did chuse were but mean Fishermen his Occupation and Employment was no ways honourable and his Revenues were but small as he himself did testifie The foxes have holes and the birds of the air nests but the Son of man hath not where he may lay his head Although his descent and extraction was incomparably great yet he rather endeavoured to conceal than to brag of it and so humble was he that he chose rather to attribute the praise of his admired works to his Father than take the honour of them to himself Joh. 8.28 I do nothing of my self but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things He was not ambitious of Rule and Government but modestly refused to be a Ruler and Judge Nay when the multitude thought to make him a King he shunned their society by an invisible removal it being quite contrary to his designe in coming into the world as he tells us Matth. 20.28 he came not
darkly but then face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 they shall as the Angels in Heaven always behold the face of their Father Matth. 18.10 in whose presence as the Psalmist assures us is fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 O the unspeakable delectability of the Saints future state where the most blessed God shines forth in his Glory where the beams of beauty ravish the beholders who stand continually in his presence receiving the manifestations of his Glory Sure if the faint expectation of enjoying the company of vertuous men in their fancied Elyzium did instigate some Heathens to imitate their vertues how much more perswasive should the heavenly Jerusalem and the City of the living God be where the holy Soul shall be admitted to converse with an innumerable company of holy Angels and taken into the blessed Society and Church of the first-born where all those imperfections that imbitter our communion here are removed where the holy Soul shall see Jesus the blessed Mediator of the new Covenant Heb. 12. who suffered so much for sinners now sitting in glory and majesty not crowned as once he was with thorns nor wearing a purple robe but having on his head the most transplendent Diadem and cloathed with Majesty and Beauty Methinks the thoughts of beholding this glory and participating of so much felicity should excite the most lazie to follow Holiness and to walk worthy of him who hath called us to his Kingdom and glory But I confess I am not able to express half of the glory of that future felicity The blessed Apostle seems to intimate that all Hyperbolical expressions fall short in describing it 2 Cor. 4.17 where he stiles it A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory and 1 Cor. 2.9 he tells us Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for those that love him For although we may be assured that the reward is of infinite value and that the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father yet the most glorious part is hid from the eyes of viators 't is onely those who taste the Honey-comb that can best discover its sweetness And yet it is prodigiously strange that the imperfect glance of future Glory that men may here behold is so ineffectual to form them to Holiness that men who know they may be for ever happy if they would study and endeavour to be holy in all manner of conversation yet live as if they thought such a happy state not worthy to be noticed I confess if the faithful and true God had not promised this state of blessedness and discovered by revelation the truth and reality of it we could never have dreamed of partaking of so much happiness The Heathen world could never be ascertained by Natures dim light that the Soul is beyond all doubt immortal and that there is a future state of rewards and punishments The wisest of their Philosophers by their most laborious search were exceedingly confused in their thoughts about it and could at the most only entertain some probable guesses and conjectures founded upon moral arguments which could never perfectly conquer their doubts They did indeed think it was very reasonable to believe that God who is holy just and good would in another life since he did it not in this reward good men and punish the bad but they could not be beyond all doubt ascertained that it would be so The most celebrated Socrates who parted with this life in expectation of a better plainly told his Friends it was God onely who knew whether there were a future felicity or not much less could either he or any other without revelation discover the nature and quality of the blessedness of that future state And indeed although they entertained some imperfect notions of a future life of bliss for the Soul yet they never thought of the resurrection of the Body although 't is true the felicity they formed was more congruous by far to satisfie sensual appetites than rational Souls The Poets Elyzium being much of the same nature with the Mahometan Paradise exactly accommodated to their flesh and senses In these thick clouds of darkness and ignorance did the wisest of the Heathens walk Exceedingly perplexed they were what to think their doubts being greater than their hopes But the arising of the Sunshine of Righteousness hath wholly dispelled all that darkness the Gospel hath brought life and immortality to light 2 Tim. 1.10 and hath undoubtedly assured us that there is a reward for the Righteous and that Holiness shall be crowned with Happiness SECT 3. Holiness the onely safe way to escape the wrath to come Fear is a passion so extreamly violent and repugnant to Humane nature that nothing imaginable is of more force to conquer the unruly wills of men to duty Hence is it that even humane Laws are much more secured by punishments than rewards Therefore if the promise of Heaven be not forcible enough to work upon our rebellious Wills we have a Map of eternal and intolerable torments to excite our fear and to affright us from the commission of those sins that lead down to the chambers of death and that drawn so exactly that it is the greatest miracle that men will notwithstanding slight Holiness which is the onely means to evite these lasting tortures In sacred Writ the torments of the damned are represented by such terrifying expressions that it is a wonder they impress not a fear and terrour upon the most daring sinner The Apostle St. Jude describing Hell calls it The vengeance of eternal fire and the blackness of darkness for ever Jude 7 13. And the Apostle St. John calls it A lake of fire and brimstone Rev. 20.10 15. Our Saviour more emphatically describes it to be A fire that can never be quenched and where the worm dieth not Mark 9.46 All which phrases do most significantly express the severity and intolerableness of the torments for what punishment is so terrible as that of Fire and how unspeakably does it inhance the misery in that it is eternal and that too as inflicted by an offended God who is executing his vengeance upon sinners Would God sinners would seriously consider whether they are able to endure the eternal pains of a gnawing Conscience or can patiently dwell with devouring Flames Whether the momentary pleasures of sin are to be balanced with those furious reflections those horrid stings and intolerable tortures the damned suffer day and night where nothing of life remains but the sense of pain Alas will no argument prevail with men how amazing is it to think that the everlasting God has used all the methods of love to excite men to Holiness and to reclaim them from sin and all to no purpose May I not well say to such men as St. Paul said to the Galatians Vnwise sinners who hath bewitched you Did
irresistible power and force in her charmings which conquereth the hearts of men insensibly Now if Beauty mixed with so much deformity accompanied with so much attendance and slavery be so enchanting and attractive how much more powerfully should the Beauty of Holiness which is every whit perfect and unspotted and attended with no dismal accidents raise our admiration and make us say as David of Goliah's Sword There is none like it Alas all earthly beauty will be quickly laid in the dust a little time will deface the fairest face and make its beauty consume like a Moth an unexpected accident may disfigure it and marre the most lovely features and there is no doubt but old Age which draws on a pace will make wrinkles in the smoothest face and make it wither as a flower But the Beauty of Holiness is lasting it fades not with time nor can it be impaired by the most loathsome and nauseating disease Since then Pleasure is so ready to excite our affections and draw out our complacency 't is pity that the noblest the most satisfying and the most lasting should be so much contemned Eccl. 5.10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver nor he that loveth abundance with increase All the caresses of this World are unable to satisfie the Soul but how ravishing are the joys of a holy conversation The pleasures of this world are short and momentary are onely as the Apostle phraseth them for a season which quickly passeth but the joy of the Holy Ghost is as lasting as unspeakable and this joy saith Christ to his Disciples no man shall take from you It is without the reach of the malice of men and Devils too Alas how diminutive does it make the pleasures of the wicked to say they are short how exceedingly does this one circumstance diminish them But indeed this were not so very considerable if there were a concurrence of no worse circumstances but that which mostly is an allay and damp to temporal pleasures is the consequence a painful and lasting eternity of the severest punishments 'T is this life that puts a period and conclusion to the joys of wicked men whileas the pious have Rivers of pleasures for evermore to delight and ravish them 't is at Death that they enter into the joy of their Lord. This is a subject so ravishing and pleasant that I cannot without reluctancy conclude it O how unsatisfactory are all the delights of Sense if compared with those Spiritual Joys the holy Soul partakes of The delights that the Drunkard hath in his Cups and Companions the Covetous in his Riches the Ambitious in his Preferments c. fall all incomparable short of that joy that is the lot of the righteous The delights that the holy man enjoys do upon a double account far over-poise the transitory pleasures of the wicked First the present satisfaction that the holy Soul tastes of in this valley of tears is incomparably greater than the delights that arise from sense The soul that hath once tasted of the love of God findes more pleasure in the very acts of mutual love than in all the feasts of delight that sense is capable to enjoy Food is indeed sweet to the hungry and drink to those who are languishing with thirst the taste does without doubt finde some meats sweet and relishing even where there is no extremity of hunger much more where it is for to the hungry every bitter thing is sweet Beauteous Sights ravish the Eye melodious Musick the Ear and Odoriferous things please the Smell But alas how far beyond these is the delight which the devout soul receives in Ordinances the antipasts of joy which their Heavenly Father bestows upon them are more delightful than the concurrence of all sensual pleasures The soul that is in trouble can fetch more consolation from the promises of the Word than the carnal man can from his pleasures Vnless thy Law had been my delight saith the Psalmist I had perished in my affliction Other things could not avail him they could afford no relief but to have access to God in prayer and to pour out our complaints to our willing God this is more ravishing than I can express And I am sure there is no man who hath tasted these joys who would part with them for sensual pleasures and no man dare inveigh against those spiritual delights but strangers who intermeddle not with this joy The very Heathens have taught us that Vertue is a reward to it self they experimented more real satisfaction in moderation and temperance than in Drinking and Whoring But Christianity gives us more uncontrolable evidences of the reality of that joy that good men even in this state of absence taste of Into what a rapture and unexpressible extasie of joy did the abundance of revelation St. Paul met with put him and the Apostle St. Peter was so transported with joy when he did see Christ in his Transfiguration that he could not forbear crying Master it is good being here How full of joy have Martyrs been in the midst of the flames what comforts have they even then expressed And is not all this evidence that the joy of holy men is more real more sweet and ravishing than the transitory pleasures of the wicked which in several seasons can afford no delight a little pain or disease is such an allay and damp to their pleasures that it quite extirps them But besides those foretastes of joy that the holy Soul experiments here which as I have shewed infinitely overwhelms all trouble and pain that which contributes most to advance the joy of good men are those felicities above which are prepared for them and to these wicked men can lay no claim their farthest prospect being confined to temporal delights What abundance of delights and unexpressible pleasures are laid up for the holy Soul above How delectable will it be to be constant residents in the Heavenly Jerusalem whose Streets are pure Gold and whose Gates are Pearl how ravishing will it be to be always in his presence where there are Streams and Rivers of perpetual pleasures How sweet will it be to be a member of that blessed Society of the first-born in Heaven where there is a perfect concord and agreement But I confess I am not able to express half the joy of this future felicity Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entred into the hearts of men to conceive what a store of happiness God hath laid up in Heaven for those who are holy in all manner of conversation SECT 8. Holiness accompanied with Peace There is nothing more suitable to and agreeable with Humane nature than Peace as those who endure trouble and vexation can fully attest Amongst earthly blessings it deserves not the last place it being a mercy which crowns all others and without which the fullest fruition could not prove satisfactory Those languishing and much to be pitied Kingdoms which now lie bathed in
there is a great deal of more pleasure in the ways of Holiness than in the commission of sin which is the fourth thing proposed to be considered needs not puzzle any man to prove it How delightful are all acts of Piety and Vertue how unexpressible is that comfort that the devout Soul findes in conversing with God Well might the Psalmist say Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 he often experienced that sweetness and satisfaction that is the result of obedience whileas Solomon who could pass the best verdict of sensual pleasures yet concludes them to be but vanity and vexation of spirit There be two things that allay the pleasures of sin First the unruliness of immoderate passions which fret and vex the mindes of men and hinder the sinner from tasting its pleasure Secondly the fear of an invisible being armed to punish them for their misdemeanors Conscience upon the apprehension of guilt recoils upon the sinner and mars all the pleasure he promised himself to enjoy This made Belshazzer a King and environed with his Nobles tremble and quake in the midst of his cups But supposing vices did bring as much pleasure along with them as they pretend yet upon two accounts they are not half so delicious as the pleasures that spring from a good life First the pleasures of sin are so interrupted of a short duration or as the Apostle expresseth them they are but for a season how quickly will a period be put to all these pleasures which now make so much noise They are very fitly compared by Solomon to the crackling of thorns under a pot which are scarce sooner in a blaze than they vanish but the joys that spring from a good conversation are at their lowest ebb here they do indeed continue for no man taketh away this joy but Heaven is the designed place for the good Soul to feed upon those Rivers of pleasures that are at God's right hand for evermore Secondly sensual pleasures do soon cloy mens appetites we cannot enjoy long any sensual delight but we are quickly weary of it but it is not so with spiritual delights 't is onely the absence of them when suspended for our sins that troubles and molests us 'T is impossible that sensual pleasures can satisfie the soul of man which was never framed for a Mahometan Paradise nor can it be rationally expected that he who is conscious to himself of guilt should be free from fear which being so tormenting can never permit men to enjoy pleasure freely But let us descend to sensual pleasures and we shall finde that he who is temperate and moderate is more likely to relish the pleasantness of Meat Drink and Pastime than the intemperate and immoderate He who relieves the Poor and refresheth the Needy cannot but finde more real sweetness and satisfaction in doing so than he who drinks away his Estate He who speaks the truth findes not those tormenting checks of Conscience which are the just reward of lying But all this will more plainly appear by the Solution of the next Objection The second Imputation is brought from Experience namely that wicked men are for ordinary very jovial and cheerful and enjoy a great deal of satisfacton in their ways whereas men who pretend to Piety and Holiness are very sad and disconsolate To this I answer That the Question is not whether wicked men have some pleasure in their sins or not but whether that pleasure that ariseth from a good life be not infinitely preferable to these Alas the most promising sensual pleasure supposing it to be lawful is much inferiour to the satisfaction and comfort that springs from a good Conscience How much more inconsiderable must sinful pleasures be which are attended with so black and dismal consequences Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil Sinful pleasures are at the best but short and sure this consideration contributes very much to lessen their value But that which makes them so mean and not worth the enjoying is the painful Eternity that succeeds to them However then the wicked may appear jovial and merry yet their inward thoughts if we could discover them cannot be at quiet and ease Whatever pleasure they may reap in the present act yet they cannot afterwards look unto themselves without horrour and amazement The after-stings of sin are so painful that he buys those present pleasures at a rate no reasonable man would purchase them But that wicked men cannot really enjoy that pleasure and contentment they pretend to seems very plain from Reason For first How can any man be satisfied with those actions which are so cross to his very nature and opposite to Reason as every sin is Can a man finde pleasure in doing that which he knows he ought not to do sure the reboundings of Conscience upon the apprehension of doing amiss will soon rase out any pleasure that sin affords and a sick man may more rationally expect rest than those men pleasure and contentment Secondly it can afford little pleasure to men to act quite contrary to their own interests it is rather like the laughter of fools and mad men than a real pleasure that such men can pretend to Now every sinner quite ruines his interest and happiness while he runneth headlong to destruction and for a present pleasure which is onely grateful to the sensual appetite loseth those lasting Rivers of pleasure which though future are yet certain and which are calculated for the Soul Thirdly What pleasure can any man enjoy who is sure to be eternally tormented As there is no peace so no pleasure to the wicked who are at oddes with God whose favour is better than life But what reason have good men to be sad and disconsolate since all the causes of grief are removed from them Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart so that the Apostle had good reason to double that Exhortation Rejoyce in the Lord again I say rejoyce O how satisfying and pleasant is it for men to act reasonably and to be assured that they have done their duty and have acted for their own interest Our rejoycing is this saith the Apostle the testimony of our consciences that in all simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in the world Sure there was never any man who was troubled for living holily there being no reason why any should 'T is true good men may be of a melancholy disposition and naturally inclined to sadness but this can be no reflection on Holiness as if it were the cause of that melancholy temper nay the best of men have their own failings and no wonder though these breed some trouble and disquiet But this is not to be disconsolate for being good but for doing evil And indeed I may adde that the great abominations and profanity the contempt of Religion and dishonour that is done
and madness is it to be careful for the Body and careless what becomes of the Soul to provide for Time and neglect Eternity Sure 't is no wonder though the Wise man does so frequently characterize the sinner a fool and represents him as one that lacketh understanding And indeed we may rationally say This their way is their folly their foolish choice proclaims that those workers of iniquity have no knowledge The Conclusion WE have now seen the Excellency and Beauty of Holiness have discovered the absolute Perfection of its Nature and the Compleatness of its Rule have taken a view of its Allurements and powerful Motives and have discovered the weakness of those Cavils that are urged against it and what remains but that we set about this work with the greatest seriousness imaginable that we give no sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eye-lids till we forsake our sins and enter upon a course of Holiness If God had imposed upon us a heavy and intolerable yoak if he had commanded us to perform some grievous and uneasie service had we not been obliged to have obeyed But since he onely commands us to wash and be clean requires onely our consent to what is so much our own interest onely exacts that we separate our selves from those lusts that pollute and defile us that vex and torments our mindes and which if continued in will certainly ruine and undo us what fools and mad-men are we if we refuse to hear his voice Almighty God has been drawing us with the Cords of Love has presented to us the most charming motives to excite our love and esteem has carried us as it were to the Pinacle of the Temple and discovered to us all the glory and beauty of this world has taken us to Pisgah and given us a view of the good Land of Canaan of the City of the living God of which glorious things are spoken and promised that all these things shall be ours if we will but be holy in all manner of conversation And to excite our fear he has opened to our view the powers of the world to come has plainly told us of the pains and torments that the damned suffer day and night and that indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish remains as the due portion of those that do evil And now may he not take up that same protestation that he used to his ancient People the Jews What more can I do for you But alas we have in the most insolent manner despised all these charms of Love and like the mad-man in the Gospel have broken to pieces the strongest Fetters and Chains We are God knows as deeply sunk into sensuality and bruitishness as those to whom the Grace of God that bringeth salvation hath never appeared 'T is not credible I may say possible that men could have been more wicked than they now are supposing they had never heard of Heaven or Hell 'T is a wonder as any one would think that those very men who profess they believe in Christ should so grosly and openly contradict his plain Precepts that those who believe that without holiness no man shall see the Lord and that the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness yet persist in their abominable wickedness and are neither awed with fears nor animated with hopes What is all this but for men to expose themselves to the contempt rather than pity of discerning men We have surveyed the several advantages which attend Holiness have discovered how much mans temporal as well as his eternal welfare and happiness depends upon it We have explained how in her right hand is length of days and in her left hand are riches and honour that her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths peace And now may we not give the same testimony of it which Joshua and Caleb did of Canaana Numb 14. The land which we passed through to search it is an exceeding good land The Sons of Anak I mean the pretended difficulties are not so strong as some men represent them to be we need not be discouraged to encounter with them greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world Alas what Objection can men possibly make against a Duty that is so excellent useful and necessary that is founded upon such mighty motives as may prevail with any who is not quite petrified in desperate Impiety Good God! what stupid folly is this that men hide their hands in their bosom and will not so much as stretch them out to this tree of Life that they may eat of this fruit which is pleasant to the eye and profitable both to our present and future happiness 'T is indeed pity that men should be thus permitted to run headlong to destruction Alas is perdition so lovely and desirable that like Rachel a double servitude is thought light for it and shall wise and discerning men be Eye-witnesses of the bad bargain those men make and not warn them of their folly I know this is a duty chiefly incumbent to our spiritual Watchmen to discharge I doubt not but many of them stand upon their watch and warn men of their danger It were to be wished that all and every of them were thus faithful but sure every man is in some manner concerned to be his brothers keeper and he is highly criminal who should see a mad man running upon danger and not stop him in his course I wish some new-coined Doctrines had not an inauspicious influence upon the bad practices of many had not too much countenanced and authorized vice but my present designe is so far from controversial that I shall rather think my self concerned to inveigh against needless disputes than start any If I may speak from my own experience I ingenuously confess I finde Disputes so insipid and fruitless and in the review so unsatisfactory that I am resolved henceforth to bid an eternal adieu to them and to condemn them as the great underminers of Christian Piety And if any shall after this fair warning assault any Doctrine I have elsewhere owned I hope discerning men will neither esteem me nor the Cause the worse that I draw not my Sword in its defence And now what shall I say more but conclude with Moses's passionate Exhortation Deut. 32.46 Set your hearts to the words which I testifie to you this day for it is not a vain thing because it is your life Let us no longer delay and put off this duty while it is called to day let us not harden our hearts through the deceitfulness of sin but seriously search and try our ways and turn to the Lord this is the proper season for so necessary a work ere long there will be no time left us to consider our ways O that in this our day we did understand the things that belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes If men would but be induced to imitate the
Psalmists Example Psal 119.59 I thought on my ways I doubt not but they should also imitate the course he did take I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments But men consider not what they are doing and so no wonder though they perish no wonder that they prefer darkness to light and despise Holiness as a thing of no value Let us therefore humbly and heartily invoke the Father of Lights to open the Eyes of men whom the God of this world hath blinded that they may flee from the wrath to come by cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God Holy Devotions OR A COLLECTION OF PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS Fitted to the main uses of a Christian Life PHILIP 4.6 Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer and Supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God London Printed for Rob. Sollers at the Kings Arms and Bible in St. Pauls Church-yard 1683. HOLY DEVOTIONS OR A Collection of Prayers A Prayer for Families on the Lords day in the Morning O Most holy and eternally blessed The heavens and the heaven of heavens is thine the earth also with all that therein is Thou art everywhere and canst not be excluded from any place but art present to the greatest secrets of our Souls and seest the closest and most retired thoughts of our Hearts Thou knowest very well with what designs and Affections we now bow our selves before thee and canst not be deceived by any words that we are able to speak in thy praise whilst our Hearts are far from thy fear and love Behold O Lord our Hearts are full with desires to be possessed with a mighty reverend sense of thee and all the benefits thou hast bestowed on us and be lifted up to Heaven in Love to thee and Joy in thee whilst we bless and praise thee and speak good of thy Name We here remember with all humility and thankfulness that thou art our Creator and acknowledge thy care and providence over thy antient People in blessing and Sanctifying a day wherein thou thy self restedst from thy works that they might cease from all other employments and admire thy wonderful works extol thy Power bless thy Goodness and be astonished at thy Wisdom in making preserving adorning and governing this excellent frame of the World The Heavens declare thy glory O God and the Firmament sheweth thy handy-work The Sun the Moon and all the Host of Heaven proclaim the greatness and splendour of thy Majesty The whole Earth is full of thy rich goodness so is the great and wide Sea wherein are things moving innumerable both small and great living Creatures There is nothing but what speaks of thee and above all the Children of men whom thou hast wonderfully made curiously wrought and impressed with thy own Image that they might understand thee and love thee in all and above all things The variety the order the stedfastness of all thy works in this great World abundantly utter thy adorable perfections But thou O Lord by thy goodness in giving thy Son for us and then raising him up from the Dead and setting him at thy right hand hast given us new matter of wonder and praise and consecrated a better rest and holy day of rejoycing wherein we should behold the glories of another World and have before our Eyes the happiness thou intendest for us there together with all the excellent means which lead unto it Thou givest us occasion not onely to reflect upon all the good things thou hast provided for our bodies which we can never acknowledge enough the very Health and Ease of one day deserving the thankfulness of many but we must also remember that we are thy redeemed ones and that thou hast done great things for our Souls in thy Son Jesus who is entred into the Heavens for us and gone to prepare a resting place for all those that follow him This exceeding riches of thy grace infinitely surpasses all our acknowledgments since all the praises we are able to render thee are less than is due for thy temporal blessings To this Love we owe the knowledge of thee the true and onely God our freedom from Idolatry and a vain Conversation the true principles of Holy living the benefit of repentance the promise of a pardon the assistance of thy Holy Spirit the ministry of thy Angels the hope of immortal Life and the pledges our Lord hath left us of his endless love To this we owe thy forbearance in the days of our ignorance thy unwearied patience towards us in a continued Rebellion and thy earnest intreaties of us when we were passionately bent upon our own destruction Thou hast sent us in much love many Holy Instructors and Guides to blessedness we have had the benefit of sundry Pious Sermons good Examples holy Admonitions and serious Councels of the Power of the Holy Ghost and divers restraints of Fear and Shame and Love and thou still pursuest us with thy merciful kindness and beseechest us to attend to thy gracious invitations and receive thy blessings and make thee our choice and be Eternally happy in thy divine favor and likeness What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits towards us O help us to manifest our real and unfeigned desires to make some worthy returns to thee by our careful improvement of the Holy opportunity which thou this day puttest into our hands O that our mindes may be more enlightened to understand the Truth as it is in Jesus that our wills may be more stedfastly resolved to cleave unto it that our Affections may be excited to a stronger and more ardent Love to thee and a greater delight in thee and all the powers of our Souls disposed to serve thee at all other times more cheerfully and readily in all the Duties of Piety Soberness Righteousness and Mercy So that every day may become an Holy rest to the Lord by ceasing to do Evil and constantly doing well that we may Glorifie thee throughout our whole life in all our actions shewing forth thy praise who hast called us out of Darkness into thy marvellous Light And enlighten good Lord the whole World with the beams of thy Glorious Gospel and dispose the Hearts of all Christian People among whom the Son of righteousness hath shone so long to walk as Children of the Light that so they may offer unto thee this day most acceptable Sacrifices for themselves and for all mankind and be fitted and prepared by serving thee in Righteousness and true Holiness here to shine for ever in his Heavenly Kingdom with Christ Jesus our Saviour by whom thou hast given us good hope in thee that thou will hear our Prayers and do for us above all that we can ask or think which we humbly beg in those Holy words which he hath taught us saying Our Father c. Another for the Lords-day at Night O Most blessed for
evermore the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort How precious are thy promises to us-wards how great is the sum of them Thou renewest thy favours continually and art still pouring upon us innumerable benefits of which this is not the least that thou givest us leave to come into thy Presence to call thee Father and to make known our requests to thee by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving We accept O Lord with all thankfulness this thy great Grace and Loving kindness to us and are here again prostrate before thee this Evening to acknowledge thy goodness in making us such excellent Creatures capable to know thee and acknowledge thee and love thee and by being made like thee to be Eternally happy with thee Blessed be thy Name that we are now alive and that we have lived so long in health and strength and peace and plenty of all good things whereas our Eyes might have been consumed with grief our Bones sore vexed and we might have mingled our Drink with continual weeping We are bound unto thee for the free use of our understandings for the good inclinations we find in our will for any devout affections which are stirring in our Hearts for all the advantages we have had by our educations good company and holy Examples and more especially for the Illuminations of the Holy Ghost by thy blessed Gospel the breathings of it frequently into our Spirits the importunities thou hast used to draw us to thee and the great and precious promises whereby thy love in Christ Jesus constrains us to resign our selves entirely to the Obedience of thy Precepts We ought likwise to admire and praise thee for thy Goodness to all thy Creatures who live daily upon thy bountious allowance The eyes of all wait on thee and thou givest them their Food in due season thou diffusest thy blessings in several Streams to every one of them according to their needs That thou givest them they gather thou openest thy hand they are filled with good We give thee the Glory of thy plentiful provision thou hast made for them and more particularly admire thy great liberality to the Children of men under whose Feet thou hast put in subjection all Sheep and Oxen yea and the Beasts of the field the Fowl of the Air and the Fish of the Sea and whatsoever passeth through the Paths of the Waters O Lord we praise thee for thy Goodness to those who praise thee not themselves Be thou adored and acknowledged in thy bounty which bestows so many blessings unasked and unsought and continues them notwithstanding abundance of provocations and most high Offences that they have given to thy merciful kindness And let thy Goodness to thy Church be never forgotten by us which thou hast in all Ages Protected and defended in a marvelous manner propagating the Gospel of our Saviour confounding its opposers and spreading it by the power of the Holy Ghost over the face of the Earth We thank thee for thy singular favor to these Countries wherein we live to whom these glad tydings of Salvation have reached and who have long enjoyed a more glorious light than many other places and been delivered from the Darkness of Popish superstition and from sundry attempts that have been made to bereave us of this Happiness and are again setled after many Confusions in a peaceable enjoyment of thy true Religion which thou hast also continued to us though we have not brought forth Fruit worthy of the Gospel of thy Grace O that all thy undeserved Goodness may have this effect upon us to make us heartily love thee and devoutly worship thee and zealously obey thee and stedfastly trust and hope in thee for ever That by a careful improvement of the knowledge of thee our God and our Lord Jesus Christ by whom thou hast given us all things that pertain unto life and goodness we may still enjoy this inestimable treasure and all thy love to us may at last be finished in those eternal Joys which he hath promised to the Faithful And as we have been taught exhorted and encouraged this day out of thy holy word and have likewise publickly acknowledged our obligations to thee and made profession of Love and Gratitude and Durifulness to thy Divine Majesty So help us all the Week following openly to testifie the Truth and Honesty of our Hearts in all this by a blameless conversation in all Humility Meekness Temperance Righteousness Charity and Peace with all them that call on the Lord out of a pure Heart Bless our Soveraign the defender of the Faith we profess and all imploy'd under him in their several Offices that they may be Instruments of continuing to us these Holy opportunities with all other good things that may make these Kingdoms happy O that all our friends may be thine and if we have any Enemies Father forgive them comfort and support the Sick the Needy and all other distressed persons with an immoveable belief of thy wise and good Providence to which give them Grace patiently and obediently to resign themselves And when all our senses this Night shall be bound up with sleep be thou O Lord our keeper and after the refreshment of that repose and this Holy rest from our Labours raise us in the Morning to return unto them with cheerful minds and ready wills Praising still and Magnifying thy multiplied Mercies to us in Christ Jesus by whom we present our selves and petitions to thee saying farther as he hath taught us Our Father c. A Prayer for a Family on any Morning O Most holy most glorious and eternal Lord God we thy poor and unworthy Servants in all humility of Soul and Body and unfeigned acknowledgements of our duty prostrate our selves before the throne of thy Mercy praising magnifying thy Fatherly goodness for the abundance of thy blessings and for the multitude of thy Mercies heaped upon us beseeching thee for Christ his sake to be merciful to all our sins committed against thy Divine Majestie upon the consideration of which we confess we are not worthy to appear in thy presence much less to ask a blessing at thy hands for by reason of our corrupt Nature in us derived from our first Parents our inclinations have been prone to commit all manner of sin and wickedness against thy Goodness Thy Laws and Precepts we have broken both in thought word and deed out of our hearts proceed evil and wicked imaginations which defile the soul and body Yet O Lord thou art our Creator thou hast sent thy dear Son Jesus Christ to die for us and thy Holy Spirit to sanctifie us and many are the benefits and blessings which thou hast bestowed upon us and which by thy goodness we enjoy both of soul and body and therefore by the Testimony of our own Consciences we stand convicted and the thoughts of our great sins and transgressions do much astonish us What shall we say therefore or wherein shall we open
our mouths who shall deliver us from the misery due unto us for our transgression nothing can be expected in this life but misery and confusion and in the world to come eternal condemnation But yet O Lord in obedience to thy command and in confident assurance of thy endless and unspeakable mercy promised in Jesus Christ to all sinners which come unto thee with sorrow in our hearts shame in our faces and in all humility of spirit And we would appeal from thee a just Judge to thee a merciful Father from the Throne of thy Justice to the Seat of thy Mercy beseeching thee O Lord to have mercy upon us and to turn away thy face from all our sins and to blot out all our transgressions for the onely meritorious Death and Passion of Jesus Christ who so abundantly shed his Blood on the Cross to take away the sin of the world and be pleased now to reform our affections transform us out of sin into the glorious liberty of thy own Children to live in newness of Life in a holy conversation and continual obedience to thy divine Majesty And now we further intreat thee O Lord for a blessing upon the Church universal more especially we beseech thee to continue the peace and prosperity of these Churches wherein we live and every member thereof and in a more especial manner bless with the chiefest of thy blessings our King Queen Duke and the rest of the Royal Family bless our Counsellours Ministers and Magistrates bless our Friends Kindred and Acquaintance bless the whole Church every afflicted member of it accept of our morning-sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all themercis and favours comforts and deliverances which from time to time thou hast afforded and continued to us We thank thee for thy last mercy in preserving us from the dangers of this night past for refreshing our bodies with seasonable rest and bringing us safe to the beginning of this day Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him and the Son of man that thou shouldst thus visit and remember him Give us grace O Lord to remember thee and to be mindful of thy mercies that we may praise thee for all the truth and faithfulness which thou shewest to us in the land of the living that as thou hast brought us to the comforts of this day so thou mayst go along with us in the same to enable us for the Duties of those callings wherein we are placed and to deliver us from those dangers to which we are exposed even for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our weak and imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us in his holy Gospel Our Father c. A Prayer for a Family at Night MOst glorious and everlasting Lord God which inhabitest eternitie and dwellest in that light which no mortal Eye can attain unto the God in whom we live and move and have our being we thine unworthy Servants do here in all lowliness and humility present our Persons and Prayers before thy Divine Majesty confessing and acknowledging that we were conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquitie and as if that had been but a small matter we have heaped up our Actual transgressions as the sand upon the Sea-shore and as the Stars in the Firmament for number we have broken thy Commandments we have prophaned thy Sabbaths we have dishonour'd thy Name we have abused thy Creatures we have neglected the day of our Visitation and turned thy Grace into wantonness whereby we have most justly provoked thy wrath and everlasting displeasure we have wounded our own consciences weakned our assurance of Salvation and grieved thy good Spirit which sealeth us up unto the day of our Redemption And now O Lord if thou shouldst deal with us after our deservings thou mighest pour upon us the deluge of thy wrath and fury to sweep us out of the Land of the living into that place of torment prepared for the Devil and his Angels But thou hast revealed thy self to the Sons of men to be the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long-suffering and of great goodness who pardons sins and passest by the transgressions of thy People this is thy Name for ever and thy Memorial throughout all Generations We beseech therefore for Jesus Christ his sake to be merciful unto us in the free pardon and forgiveness of all our sins that we have ever committed against thee Accept of his obedience for our disobedience of his righteousness for our unrighteousness of his sufferings for all our sins wash them away in his blood nail them to his Cross hide them in his Wounds and bury them in his Grave that they may never rise up for our confusion here or for our condemnation hereafter O Lord be unto us a Father of mercy and a God of consolation speak peace unto our Souls and consciences and say unto us that thou art the God of our Salvation And give us Grace for the time to come to dye daily unto sin by vertue of thy Sons death and to rise up to newness of life by the power of his resurrection Wean our Hearts and take off our Affections from the things of this world which endure but for a season and raise them up unto those things which are at thy right hand for evermore Enlighten the darkness of our understanding subdue the stubbornness of our wills rectify the disorder of our affections and bring into obedience whatsoever exalteth it self against thy will that at last we may become such as thou would'st have us to be Continue and enlarge thy blessings upon the Church and Land wherein we live upon the Person and Government of our King bless all the Royal family together with his Majesties Councels the Nobilitie Magistracy Clergy and Gentry of the Land Be merciful to all those who are afflicted with any cross or calamitie all our relations and aquaintance and all others whom we are bound to pray for O Lord accept our thanksgivings this Evening for all the mercies and favors which thou hast afforded for our Souls or Bodies for this Life or a better more especially that thou hast preserved us and our Family this day in health and happiness Now holy Father seeing the Night is upon us and we are ready to take our rest in thy hands we commit our Souls and Bodies and all that we have beseeching thee who art the keeper of Israel that neither sleepest nor slumberest to take care of us for if thou protect us not Satan will devour us yea we shall sleep a perpetual sleep and never arise up to praise thee we pray thee therefore to be good to us this night defend us from danger refresh us with comfortable rest and raise us up to glorifie thee in the duties of the day following that thou mayst still be our God and we may be thy People Hear us and gratiously answer us in these our
may further my Salvation Keep me O Lord in my old age forsake me not when I am gray-headed And whensoever it shall please thee to cast me upon my sick bed grant that I may take my sickness patiently and at the last gasp let not either sin or Satan take such hold upon me that I depart this life with cryings and screechings and words of despair but that believing thy word and yielding to thine ordinance my last hour may be my best hour and I may say with the Psalmist Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Pardon O Lord my misspending the time my unprofitableness my unthankfulness for thy goodness Supply what is wanting in me through the fire of compunction make me at all hours to seem a living sacrifice in thy sight Continue towards me thy love and make me to love thee again Without thee alas I die but when I think on thee I revive again To thee therefore be ascribed all honour and glory world without end Our Father c. A Prayer before the receiving of the Sacrament O Most gracious and merciful Lord God thou hast called all those that are weary and heavy laden with their sins to come unto thee and hast promised to ease and refresh them thou hast invited all those that hunger and thirst after thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof to come to thy Table to tast of thy supper and hast promised that thou wilt satisfy them in assurance therefore of these promises I come to thee blessed Lord Jesus beseeching thee to ease me to refresh me to satisfy me with thy mercy for my Soul hungers and thirsts after thee and thy Salvation I confess and acknowledge that my daily sins have made me unworthy of my daily Bread much more of this Manna this Bread of Life that came down from Heaven I confess O Lord I am not prepared according to the preparation of thy sanctuary yet for as much as this day I have set my Heart to seek to thee thou O God be merciful unto me and though I cannot bring with me a clean Heart for who can say his Heart is clean yet behold O Lord I bring with me a contrite Heart and a broken Spirit despise not O God this Sacrifice As for the sins that I have committed against thee binde them up in one bundle and cast them into the bottomless Sea of thy mercy bury them in thy Wounds and wash them away in the blood of that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus and for the time to come sprinkle my conscience with the same blood that being cleansed from dead works I may serve thee the Living God in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life That so this blessed Sacrament may be a means to quiet my conscience to increase my Faith to inflame my Charity to amend my life to save my Soul and to assure me that I am of the number of those blessed ones who shall eat at thy Table and be called to the Marriage-supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake in whose Name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father c. A Prayer after the receiving of the Sacrament O Most gracious God from whose bountie every good and perfect gist is derived I and all that is within me praise and magnify thy holy Name for all thy mercies and favours which from time to time thou hast bestowed upon me But especially I thank thee for Jesus Christ thy Son the fountain and foundation of all blessings and benefits that thou hast sent him into the World to take our nature upon him and to die for us and that thou hast fed me who am unworthy of the least of thy favours with the precious merits of his death and passion Blessed Lord God thou hast been pleased this day to set thy Seal to the Pardon and forgiveness of all my sins Oh let me not lose it again by unthankfulness or relapsing into my old sins from which thou hast purged me lest my last end be worse than my beginning But if hereafter I shall be tempted by the Devil allured by the World or provoked by my own flesh then set before mine eyes by the remembrance of thy Spirit how dear the expiation of my sins cost my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ even the effusion of his most precious and holy blood that in the contemplation of his death and application of his most bitter passion I may die daily unto sin and so may shew forth the Lords death till he come and bring his reward with him I may receive the Crown of Righteousness which he hath purchased and prepared for all those that love and expect the day of his appearing with the precious price of his incorruptible blood And whereas I have this day renewed my covenant with thee my God in vows and purposes of better obedience assist me by thy grace and strengthen me by thy power that I may pay the Vows which I have made unto thee and that by vertue of thy heavenly nourishment I may grow up in grace and godliness till at last I come to be a perfect man in Christ Jesus Preserve and maintain always this thine Ordinance that it may be a note and a badge of my publick profession and give unto all of us that have been partakers of thy body and blood one heart and one mind in the unity of Spirit for the worthy and reverend receiving of the same whensoever we shall come to thy holy Table again And for this thy mercy towards me do I yield unto thee all praise and glory and power and might and majesty through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most blessed Name and words I further pray Our Father c. Another Prayer before the Sacrament DEpart from me Luk. 5.8 for I am a sinful man O Lord. I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof For the house of my Soul which thou hast made a fit Temple for thy holy Spirit to inhabit in I have defaced and defiled with all manner of pollutions and abominations It is become a den of ravenous Beasts and a cage of unclean Birds and every corner so crowded with filthiness that thou wilt not find where to lay thy head Luk. 9.58 But thou O Lord which despisest not a penitent sinner but hast promised to dwell with the humble and contrite Spirit I beseech thee cast me not away from thy presence but cast out all profaneness and uncleanness out of my Heart and remove every thing that may offend the pure Eyes of thy glory and the holiness of thy presence and then O Lord vouchsafe to come and enter in and dwell there and abide with me for ever Behold O Lord I am before thee in my sins Zach. 3.1 clothed with filthy garments and Satan standing at my right hand accusing
me and bringing my transgressions into remembrance before thee with loud clamours for justice against me O Lord I acknowledge and confess my self guilty and that I have deserved the utmost of thy wrath and indignation But O Lord I appeal from thy seat of judgment to thy throne of Grace and Mercy humbly beseeching thee to rebuke and repel the malitious accuser of thy servants and hearken to the intercession of our advocate in thine own bosome for his sake have mercy upon me and pardon my offences and blot out the hand-Writing that is against me and put away all mine iniquities and drown them in the depth of the Sea Wash me throughly from all my pollutions in that Fountain which thou hast opened for Judah and Jerusalem to purifie in and then cloth me with that white robe of thy Son's righteousness the Wedding-garment requisite at this feast and admit me to thy Table which thou hast prepared for thy Children And grant O Lord that when I have tasted of these thy Heavenly dainties I may no more return like the Dog to his vomit or the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire but I may keep my self unspotted from the World and walk before thee in all puritie and holiness And now O Lord thou invitest and exhortest me to come to thy holy Table O my God I know mine own unworthiness yet in the multitude of thy mercies I will humbly approach to thine Altar beseeching thee to behold me not with a severe but a gracious eye Thou knowest the earnest desire of my Soul be thou pleased to pass by the weakness of the flesh and accept the willingness of the Spirit and grant that I may now receive this holy Sacrament to the honour and glory of thy Name and the good and comfort and Salvation of my own Soul The Good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God 2 Chron. 30.18 19. the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not purified according to the purification of the Sanctuary Amen After the Sacrament LOrd what is man that thou art mindful of him Psal 144.3 or the son of man that thou visitest him What is thy servant 2 Sam. 9.8 that thou shouldest look upon such a dead Dog as I The Dogs eat of the crums that fall from their Masters Table Mat. 15.27 but thou hast fed me with the bread of thy Children and given me to drink of thine own cup. Thou hast fed me in a green Pasture Psal 23.2 and leadest me forth beside the waters of comfort O taste and see how gracious the Lord is Psal 34.8 blessed is the man that trusteth in him What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me Psal 116.12 Lord I offer up unto thee my self my soul and body Psal 84.4 and all that I am and have beseeching thee graciously to receive me for thy servant to dwell in thy House and praise thy Name for evermore Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory Revel 4.11 and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the seals thereof Revel 5.9 for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to our God out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the Throne Rev. 7.10 12. and to the Lamb. Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto God for ever and ever Amen An Admonition after Receiving ANd now you have thus solemnly devoted and consecrated your self to God and his Service beware that you do not fall back and return to your former course of sin 2 Pet. 2.22 like the dog to his own vomit or as the Serpent which casts up his Poyson when he goes to drink and when he hath quenched his thirst returns and sucks it up again And thus some are content to leave their sins at the Church-door but with an intent to take them up again when they come out But God will not be so mocked And know this that if you have well and worthily performed this Duty to day yet if you do not persevere in Piety as you have promised and begun not onely your former sins but even the Piety of this day shall one day rise up in Judgment against you But a diligent watching and wariness over your ways after this will be the best preparation against the next time A Prayer for one that is troubled in mind O Lord the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort I acknowledge and adore thy eternal Power and Wisdom and Goodness I render thee my most hearty thanks for all the benefits thou hast bestowed on me from my first coming into the world until this time Many O Lord my God are the wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbered Above all I bless thee for that great demonstration of thy Love and Good-will to Mankind by Christ Jesus whom thou hast sent into the world to save sinners and for bringing me to the clear knowledge of him and unfeigned affection to thy holy Will declared to us in his blessed Gospel O God thou hast taught me from my youth up and hitherto been marvellously gracious to me Hide not I beseech thee thy face now from me and put not thy Servant away in displeasure Thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation But for Jesus Christ his sake I humbly intreat thee to pardon and pass by all my neglects of thee and unthankfulness to thee and offences against thee And as I here sincerely devote and dedicate my whole self soul and body to thy service so help me O my God and further me in the performance of my duty by the grace of thy holy Spirit To thee all hearts are open and from thee no secrets are hid deal with me according to the earnest desire and full purpose of my soul to conform my self in all things to thy holy Will Settle in me an immoveable faith in thy infinite Mercies a constant love and chearful affection to my duty and a readiness of heart to obey thee and to submit to thy wise appointments in every condition The whole Earth is full of thy Mercies That I may rejoyce and be glad all my days compose my broken and disturbed thoughts quiet my troubled and disordered spirit and appease all the ragings and tumults there by a sweet sense of thy most tender mercies which have been ever of old and endure continually Banish from me all causeless fears and jealousies deliver me from all unprofitable sadness and
hand And because I know that it is good for me to be thus disciplined by thee I humble my self under thy mightie hand and kiss this thy rod which I trust through thy grace shall make my Soul appear fair and beautiful in thine Eyes Comfort O Lord my fainting Spirit and strengthen my feeble knees and support my weak hands and revive my deaded heart and so powerfully assist me with the Spirit of strength that I may with confidence call upon thee with patience endure this trial with hope expect thy good pleasure with wisdom make use of this thy visitation and with thankfulness ever praise thy goodness and mercy for my safe recovery if it may be with thy sacred will whereunto I submit and wholy resign now and for ever through Jesus Christ my blessed Lord and Saviour in whose most holy words I further pray Our Father c. A Prayer to be said by them that visit the sick O Eternal God who in thy holy word by the Apostle hast promised that the Prayer of faith shall save the sick and thou wilt raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him We come unto thee in the behalf of our diseased and distressed friend visited under thine hand Speak comfortably O Lord unto his Soul seal in his heart by thy holy Spirit the forgiveness of all his sins Have mercie upon him and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away all his offences blot all his sins out of thy remembrance Grant him thy grace to bear willingly this Cross the Cross of sickness to drink heartily of this Cup the Cup of affliction to endure patiently this Yoak the Yoak of tribulation and to suffer meekly this Rod the Rod of correction He hath received good things of thee make him willing to receive evil also as heretofore he rejoyced in his health so teach him now to rejoyce in his sickness and as he was not ashamed to live so let him not be afraid to die because his life is hid with Christ in Heaven Let the sweet feeling and tast of a lively faith distast all the filthy corruptions that are in him and after the example of the good Samaritan after the sharp wine of grievous tribulation instill also the suppling Oil of comfort whereby he may be able to endure those troubles which otherwise would be intolerable unto him Strengthen his memory whereby to call upon thy glorious Name Settle his Spirits that they may not wander and fly out into any unruly motions Lay thy finger upon his lips that they may not fall into cursing or blaspheming thy Deitie or into any vain language Take from his Eyes all delight of this frail world and let his Soul make ready onely for a voiage to Heaven Set thy saving mark upon his Soul and give order to the destroyer that he hurt it not But having fought a good fight let him now triumphantly exult and say O Death where is thy sting O Hell where is thy victory I thank thee O Lord who hast given me victory by Jesus Christ Be merciful unto us here present who as feeling members of one body adore thy holy Name and implore thy Divine help for this thy servant grant him assistance of thy Spirit to the last gasp and us assurance to be heard of thee for him and all others upon the like occasion We could wish that thou shouldst speak to this our friend as thou didst unto thy servant when thou saidst Arise take up thy bed and walk but yet alas we know not whether we ask aright or not thy will be fulfilled we know that he shall but change this life transitory for Eternitie cast off mortalitie and be clothed with immortalitie and this light affliction which is but for a moment shall cause unto him a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory Wherefore make us all wise to salvation and teach us so to number our days aright that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom Give both this thy servant and all of us grace willingly to forsake this present evil world and so to live in thy fear that we may die in thy favour and so reign with thee for ever hereafter Grant this for Jesus Christ his sake our onely Lord and Saviour Amen A Thanksgiving after Sickness O Most merciful Lord God I thy late sick and sorrowful servant do with bended knees and a thankful heart prostrate my self before thee at this time acknowledging that thou hast been a loving Father unto me not onely before I was yet born but ever since I hung upon my Mothers breast Manifest experience have I had of thy manifold mercies many times but never more than in my late and last visitation I offer now unto thee a sacrifice of praise Because I employed not the faculties of my Soul and members of my Body as I should have done thou didst bereave me of the strength and vigor and use of them for a season but now because thy compassions fail not thou hast returned them to me again wherefore I consecrate and devote them perpetually to thy service and as I am in the state of my Body so by the power of thy renewing grace I will become in the estate of my soul a new man My broken heart which thou hast healed shall now entirely love thee my feeble knees and weak bones which thou hast setled shall night and day bow to thee my weak hands which thou hast strengthned shall continually be lifted up unto thee I confess unto thee O Lord that in my health I often read and heard that worldly delights and comforts were vain and much like Flags and Bulrushes which men in danger of drowning catch to bear them up but they sink down under water with them yet did I not learn till I suffered till thy rod had imprinted it even in my flesh Now O Lord I beseech thee to knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name create in me a new heart and renew a right Spirit within me I asked life of thee and thou gavest it me I now desire and crave thy salvation O my God with-hold it not make me to repent of my sins the cause of my sickness and to depend upon thee the giver of all good things and make me in the time of prosperitie to think of adversity in health to think of sickness in sickness to think of death and at all times so to think of judgment that whether I wake or sleep eat or drink or whatsoever I do else I may ever have this sounding in mine ears Arise ye dead and come to judgment Give me grace O Lord to make this use of mine affliction past and to cleave and stick fast unto thee in all holiness for the time to come through my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in whose Name and words I further pray Our Father c. Of DEATH ANd now I cannot think any conclusion more fit and proper