instinct He was Created in the condition of a Son The rest but as bondslaves 3. Of Christians more especially by Grace Regeneration and Adoption by Iesus Christ his Son A Father but what Father There is no Father like unto thee When my Father and Mother forsake me then the Lord taketh me up Thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us Can a Woman forget the fruit of her womb c. Yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee A most indulgent Father to whom the Prodigal Son arose and went Whom the insolvent servant besought Though thou be a displeased Father yet a Father thou art Though I be a wastful and disobedient Son yet a Son I am Though I have lost the ingenuity of a Son yet thou hast not lost the compassion and love of a Father A Father of Mercies Whom we find so to be By his inciting us to good Confirming us in it Pardoning our sins Delivering us from tentations Reclaiming us from sin Crowning us with blessings 1. If then thou be our Father in are thy Sons How great what manner of Lord hast thou bestowed upon us that we should be called the Sons of God 2. If thou be our Father and we the Sons of God how great is the honour that we are as it were Gods 3. If thou be our Father then are we Brethren to Angels as also to Men. to Saints as also to Mean to Christ as also to men to Himself as also to Poor men And how great ought our love to be Let no man therefore extoll himself above his brethren nor be ashamed to call any man his Brother whom God hath vouchsafed to call Son 4. If thou be our Father how great is our Hope what are we to expect from thee Even all things which a Father giveth to his Children What are we to render unto thee Even all duty and obedience belonging to Children that thou mayest not repent thee nor we be unworthy either of our Creation or Adoption It is not without some reason from our Saviour that the words Mine or I are not to be found in this Prayer Our is a word of charity and unity It is not My Father as if God were any mans peculiar but our Father the Father of all as he properly is through and in Christ. Our prayers are most powerful with God when we express in them a fellow-feeling of the Necessities of our Neighbours and Sympathize with them in their misery This is Charity Let every one of us therefore be as willing and careful to pray for others as well and as heartily as for himself considering that in so doing he prayeth for him whom Charity hath made as himself Christ bare us and all our sins in his body Let us do the like to one another in word and deed For our Selves Necessity compelleth us to pray My Father For our Brethren Charity inviteth us to pray Our Father In these two words Our and Father the Law and Prophets are comprehended In Father the Love of God In Our the Love of our Neighbour And in these two words the sum of the Gospel is contained In Father our Faith In Our our Charity In these words we have a rule and direction to whom to frame our prayers Unto thee shall all flesh come Who have I in Heaven but thee saith King David He is only able to hear us and to grant our desires It is true we have Earthly Fathers but these leave and forsake us Their hands are shortned We call not to them but to thee which art in Heaven Heaven is thy Throne The Heavens declare thy Glory Not that thou art included in the Heavens only for as Solomon said The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee but as if that were thy Royal Palace where the Elect shall enjoy thy blessed presence Thou art Every where by thy Presence Thou art In Heaven by thy Excellence Thou art in Earth also But they which come to thee must be lifted up higher I have lifted up mine eyes Ultra montes expectare Sursum Corda A word of Hope For if thou be our Father and Lord and King of Heaven then our Hope is that our Inheritance is there also that thou wilt not deny us an Inheritance that hast vouchsafed us the Title of Sons Let us therefore take the wings of the Eagle and be lifted up in our Meditations to Heaven being made heirs thereof Let us look up to Heaven while we are upon Earth Unto thee O Lord do I lift up my soul. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills whence cometh my help Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord. A word of Power For thou art in that place from whence at all times thou canst send us Help in danger Good things in need Plagues for our offences And though thou art a Father by thy Love yet art thou in Heaven by thy Majesty and Power Let us not therefore presume upon too much familiarity with him as with a Father but let his word in Heaven keep us in a submiss Reverence For though Father and Son be of near Relation yet a Son of the Earth and a Father in Heaven are of great distance And let us be respective of his awful Majesty and make our petitions to him in fear and trembling in all Humility and Reverence And Let us not be rash with our mouths nor our hearts hasty to utter any thing before him For GOD is in Heaven and we poor Creatures upon Earth which is but his footstool This Petition justly challengeth the first place For being thus intituled and dignified with the honour of Sons we ought primarily to consider our duties what we should render back And what should a Son desire more than the honour of his Father By this word we understand all the Attributes by which God hath manifested himself as his Majesty Iustice Power Truth Mercy Goodness c. Blessed be thou our Lord who hast given this power to men To Hallow Thy Name To Magnifie Thy Name To Glorifie Thy Name Which in it self is Holy Which all thy works in general do sanctifie Which all the unreasonable Creatures do hallow and praise in their kinds Which all reasonable Creatures as Angels and Men do glorifie The Angels and Hosts of Heaven Men that are in Heaven already though In Earth by their works In the Congregations In Afflictions Let us therefore glorifie it also and that not carelesly or slightly but zealously and holily in Thought Word and Profession For the whole scope of our Actions ought to tend to the Glory of GOD only And Lord let thy Name be sanctified by others besides us Dilate this power of sanctifying thy Name communicate it more and more to the Gentiles Make thy Gospel to spread to
From the power of the Dog From the Lyons mouth and the horns of the Unicorns Out of the mire that we sink not From the deep and let not the pit shut her mouth upon us And deliver us not only from him but from his malice also From whatsoever poyson he hath breathed on the Creatures From the enmity of the World Take us not from the world but deliver us from the evil of it From whatsoever is evil in our flesh Deliver us from our selves as we are evil Deliver us also as from the evil of sin so from the evil of punishment From the evils and miseries of this life Especially of the life to come O Lord we are oppressed undertake for us Lord carest thou not that we perish We are brought into bondage by sin Captives to Satan and lyable to thy wrath We are not able to match with our enemies by our own strength Assist us thou and deliver us Deliver us by thy Son and we shall be free He overcame the Devil and the World He overcame them in himself Let him overcome them also in us He overcame the Devil in himself by breaking his head dis-arming him and diminishing his power Let him overcome him in us by giving us the Armour of the Spirit and increasing our strength and grace Deliver us from the evil of sin that it have no dominion over us à parte ante Deliver us from the evil of sin when it hath prevailed over us à parte post And that presently and speedily if that it seem good to thee But if not so soon as we desire yet let thy deliverance come certainly Lest the pit shut her mouth upon us Deliver us from evil especially from that evil that carries with it a shew of good When the Enemy pretends to condemn that which is evil and to approve that which is good From the Devil at Noon-day From Satan transforming himself into an Angel of light From pleasing Errors From sins declining and bending to the right hand savouring of politique wisdom Deliver us O Lords From rebellious hearts From polluted lips Throats like open Sepulchers Tongues talking vanity From evil and lustful eyes From uncircumcised ears Deaf like the Adder From hands slow to good From feet swift to evil From a forehead of brass and a neck of Iron From these and all other evils Deliver us O Lord. Lord be thou our help for vain is the help of man Deliver us so that we may be freed not only freed but free So free from sin that we may be servants to righteousness and so long servants to righteousness that at length we may be adopted into Children heirs and co-heirs with Christ. Thine is the Kingdom The Kingdom is the Lords saith David Two thing are considerable in this Conclusion 1. The Confirmation of our Faith we believe that we are heard of GOD who is able and willing to give what we desire 2. The End whereto we ought to refer whatsoever we desire in our prayers The Praise and Glory of GOD. Thou art a King and wilt hear thy Subjects Thou hast right and authority to bear rule and free command over thy creatures the works of thy hands By thee Kings rule and unto thee must they surrender their Crowns All Potentates are but subordinate to thee thy Vicegerents For though God was pleased to stile Nebuchadnezzar King of Kings as having many petty Kings under him yet is he himself and he only the King of Kings For he ruleth over all as well Kings as others The Kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdoms of the Lord. Thou art the great King as thou speakest thy self Thou removest and sertest up Kings And thy Kingdom is not temporary or of short continuance as other Kingdoms are but it is an everlasting Kingdom Thy Throne endureth for ever The Lord is King for ever aud ever Thou art the King eternal Thou hast power and strength to manage this Kingdom Thou art mightier than our adversaries Who is able to resist thy power This power of thine hath been felt in all ages Who can do like thee or what God is like thee Thou rulest by thy power for ever And this power is proper only to thee Thou hast spoken it and David hath heard it more than once that power belongeth to God And that no small power neither Great is our Lord and of great power Saint Paul calls it the exceeding greatness of his power His mighty power Moses in his Song calls it glorious power So Saint Paul Therefore thou and thou only canst give us what we ask Great is the glory of the Lord. Glory and honour is in his presence He hath set his glory above the Earth and Heavens also He is rich in glory He is the only King of glory And therefore thou expectest of us that we should give glory to thee And O Lord our intent is to glorifie thee We ask these things as meaning and intending to use them to thy glory and say with the Angels and Quire of Heaven Glory be to God in the highest And with all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth and under the Earth and such as are in the Sea Blessing honour and glory and power be to him that sitteth on the Throne And this Kingdom Power and Glory endureth not for a season only but for ever there shall be no end of it Thy Kingdom is everlasting saith David Thy Power everlastiug say and pray the Angels Thy glory is ever also Let us therefore say with those Heavenly people Allelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God Behold O Father we have according to thy Sons directions and form presumed to crave those things which we want We have made our necessities known to thee We stedfastly believe that thou art able to supply our wants We desire of thee that thou wouldst grant us those things which we have craved of thee We look up to thee we sigh and groan and pray thee to confirm our votes and wishes with thy Seal Amen So be it Grant us our Petitions for his sake that sent us to thee and that is a true and faithful witness and in whom all thy Promises are Yea and Amen Honour him in us who deserve of our selves without him no good but much evil at thy hands And say to our Petitions Amen So be it O Almighty LORD and our Heavenly Father whose fatherly power and goodness is seen in the Creation Preservation and Governing of all things and upon whom as a Father we wait and depend for all that is good who art in all places by thy presence but especially in Heaven by thy Excellency
We thy poor Children whom thou hast preferred before the rest of thy Creatures do from the bottom of our hearts wish and desire that thy Name may be Hallowed glorified and magnified from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof even through all parts of the World And that it may the better spread from one Nation to another give us grace who have received the Adoption of Children so to walk before thee in holiness and righteousness that the Heathen who have not known thy Name seeing our good works may glorifie thy Name together with us Thou seest O Lord that we have many Tyrants amongst us in this life as the Devil malicious and cruel the World vain and curious the Flesh frail and deceitful and our own Will vile and corrupt all which do impetuously tyrannize over us and oppose themselves against thy Kingdom Arise therefore O Lord and suppress these Tyrants and rule over thine and our Enemies by thy power and in us by thy grace that we may hereafter be Subjects in thy Kingdom of Glory Let thy Kingdom come and govern us by thy Providence defend us by thy Might lead us by thy Spirit and teach us by thy Word Drive far from us the Prince of this World and do thou only Rule in us Give us grace to follow the example of thy blessed Angels and all other thy Creatures who readily and joyfully do thy will Let our wills follow thine in all things and let nothing be displeasing to us which thy Will hath decreed either for our prosperity or adversity Let us do nothing contrary to thy Will but let the performance and execution of thy Will be the whole scope and aim of our thoughts words and actions And to this end give unto us thy holy Spirit which may direct our wills enlighten our understandings mollifie our hearts and make them obedient to thy Will We further cry unto thee O Lord who givest food to every living creature and feedest the young Ravens that call upon thee and pray thee that thou wouldst likewise give unto us this day our daily Bread First and above all the Bread of Life which may nourish us spiritually and after that Bread for our bodies to sustain Nature Give us we beseech thee all things necessary not superfluous for this life and grant that we using thy blessings as becometh us may be strengthned and enabled to pass this life quietly and soberly and at the end of these our dayes by the merits and intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ obtain life eternal And for as much O Lord as we know thou hearest not unrepentant sinners and that our sins have long since prevented our prayers and ascended into thy preiuce to stop the current of thy mercies and to call for vengeauce against us O Lord behold that we earnestly repent us of them and are heartly sorrowful for them Wherefore we humbly pray thee for thy great mercies to mankind in thy Son Christ Iesus that thou wouldst be pleased to be reconciled unto us and to forgive us our Trespasses Enter not into Iudgement with us for if thou do no man is able to abide the mildness of thy Iustice much less the severity of it Give us also grace to follow the example of our blessed Saviour who forgave his Enemies and prayed for them that we may forgive them that trespass against us Lest when thou comest to Judgement thou dealest as severely with us as thou didst with him who had much forgiven and would not forgive a little Thou knowest O Father how unapt we are of our selves to think a good thought much less to resist so great Enemies as are hourly ready to assail us Suffer us not therefore to be tempted above our abilities neither by forsaking us or with-drawing thy hand of protection from us Lead thou us into Tentation but Lord so strengthen us that although it be not good for us to be altogether free from Tentation yet by thy aid and grace we may have a happy issue and joyful deliverance from it And as we have humbly prayed thee not to lead us in So we further desire thee to deliver us out of all evil For as long as we remain in this flesh we shall have contiuual strivings and wrestlings with divers evils but especially with the evil Spirit the Enemy of Mankind who omitteth no opportunity to bring us into his bondage But we are comforted O Lord with the assurance of thy mercy which can effect and work more to our salvation than his Malice to our destruction Grant therefore O Lord that we may be delivered from all evil and from all our Enemies spiritual and temporal that so we may serve thee ever hereafter in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of our life All these Blessings we have been the more confident to beg of thee O Lord because we know assuredly that thou art King of Kings none hath absolute power within thy Dominions but thy self and that thou hast power also without resistance to maintain thy right and defend thy Subjects being able to give those things which are necessary for those who call upon thee faithfully And we lastly pray thee that seeing it will be for thy glory to grant those things which we have desired that with the bestowing of them thou wilt also give us thy grace that we may use and employ them to that end for which thou gavest them even thy Honour and Glory That so being thy true servants here we may be glorified with thee hereafter who art Lord of all glory to all Eternity Having thus discovered and laid open our necessities to thee O Lord in that form and manner which thy Son directed us we humbly pray thee to say Amen to all our Petitions In his Name and for his merits sake we pray thee to grant them For though we have no deserts to challenge them yet his merits are numberless by which we plead for them And with this Sacrifice and Oblation we are bold to come unto thee not only craving pardon for our sins but supply of our necessities We come not to thee of our selves presuming of any thing in us but we are sent by thy Son Iesus Christ who hath commanded us with confidence to press unto thy Throne and in his Name to ask whatsoever we shall need either for this life or the life to come And as he hath sent us so hath he also put into our mouths words meet for our request O Lord take notice of the stile it is his own and for his sake say to what we have required Amen So be it And thou O blessed Saviour God and Man intercede we beseech thee for us for thou only art our Advocate Mediator and Intercessor to the Father Cover our imperfections and nakedness with the robes of thy righteousness and supply our poverty with the riches of thy
Comforter If I go not away the Comforter will not come to you but if I depart I will send him to you He sitteth at the right hand of the Father Instantly to intercede for us to shew himself head of the Church And sate at the right hand of the Father Seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father Who is at the right hand of God He ever liveth to make intercession for them to appear in the presence of God for us Where I am there you may be also CHRIST is Head of the Church He set him at his own right hand far above all principalities and powers He shall come to judge both the quick and dead To receive us with power glory even to the consummation of all things I will come near to you in judgement Behold the Lord cometh c. The Father hath committed all judgement to the Son Ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained The dead shall arise first c. In the Holy Ghost I consider An hypostatical power sanctifying from above quickning to immortality working powerfully and invisibly in us By the illumination of knowledge Infusion of grace Regenerating us Reprehending things evil in us Teaching us the truth Joh. 14. 26. 1 Cor. 2. 13. With-holding us from doing evil Encouraging us to do good striving for our good Comforting us in our necessities Adopting us Helping our infirmities Sealing to us our inheritance Assuring us our inheritance The Holy Catholique Church Which is the mystical Body of the Head Christ Iesus composed of all people of the World which are called by the Spirit to the belief of Divine Truth and Holiness of Conversation Holy By imitation of Christs Righteousness Sanctification of the Holy Ghost Of all these Members of his Body there is a reciprocal participation to the Communion of Saints In the union of the Church with Christ. In the participation of his benefits Forgiveness of sins For the present To the hope of The Resurrection of the Body To be united with the Soul And Life Everlasting hereafter And that after this life there shall be a life wherein the Church shall be glorified and God by the members thereof praised for ever Of which I believe my self to be one Lord I believe Help the defects of my Faith 1. That I may love thee as a Father Reverence thee as Almighty Commend my self to thee as to a Faithful Creator 2. That I may be mindful to give thanks to Thy only Son As to the Purger of our Nature in his Conception and Birth As to our Deliverer In his Passion Cross and Death As to the Triumpher over Hell In his Descension Over Death In his Resurrection As to our Fore-rnner In his Ascension As to our Advocate In his Session As to the Establisher of our Faith In his Second Coming That he may be fashioned in me That I may be made conformable to him In Works To his Conception In Faith To his Nativity In Humility That for his Passions 1. I may sympathize with him as with one that suffered for me and be ready to suffer of him and for him when it shall be his good pleasure 2. I may have an Antipathy with Sin as being the cause of his Sufferings and be Revenged of Sin in my self Crucifie Sin in my self Morsifie Sin in my self Bury Sin in my self 3. I may conform my self 1. To his Descension into Hell By often descending thither in meditation 2. To his Resurrection By rising to newness of life 3. To his Ascension By savouring and seeking those things which are above and nearer to my Salvation 4. To his Iudgement By judging my self lest I be condemned with the world That when I am cold in Prayer and want any Spiritual Grace or Comfort I may remember thy Session and Intercession And when I am fervent in any evil Affection or Concupiscence I may not forget thy fearful and terrible Iudgement-Seat and the sound of the last Trump That for thy only Son Christs sake I may also receive thy Uiction even thy Saving Grace the unspeakable Gift of the Holy Ghost and never extinguish grieve resist or reproach it That so I may be called into thy Catholick Church where I may be partaker of the Persons Actions Prayers and Examples of Saints To the assured belief of Remission of Sins To the hope of Resurrection and Translation to Life Everlasting Lord increase my Faith as a grain of mustard-seed Not Dead Temporary or Hypocritical But pure and unfeigned most holy lively and working by charity Confession of Faith O Almighty and Eternal Lord God I poor unworthy and wretched sinner am bold to renew that Covenant of Faith which in my Baptism I made unto thee I believe and confess that all those things which thy most beloved Son Christ Iesus did suffered and taught while he was conversant in the Flesh here upon the Earth are most true and certain I profess that I believe all the Articles of the Apostles Creed and the Holy Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ which is preached through all the World To this Faith I bind my self and purpose Gods grace assisting me never to depart from it and acknowledge that without believing thus I cannot be saved I am heartily glad O Heavenly Father even in my Soul and give thee all possible thanks that into this Faith I was baptized and doe most humbly pray thee O Lord that this Faith may not fail me during this life nor at the hour of death And if I shall at any time hereafter either by the temptation of the Devil imperfection of my senses pain of any disease weakness or any other means speak any thing in any other manner than shall be agreeable to this Faith I renounce all such words as none of mine and desire thee O Lord to forgive them and pray all those which shall hear them if any such shall be to account them as none of mine This I protest thy Grace aiding me To thee be all honour and praise from this time forth forevermore Amen Confession of Gods Glory and Praise FOR his Great and wonderfull works Of Creation Preservation Governance For his Goodness The excellency of his Glory His Highness His Eternity His Omnipotence His Omnipresence His Omniscience The height of his Wisdom His Truth His Exquisite Iustice. His Great Mercy His Plentifull Mercy His Wonderfull Mercy His Everlasting Mercy For his Promise of the
iu my Mothers womb that I might come safe into this world and receive the mark and badge of all thine even the Sacrament of Baptism whereby I was cleansed from the guilt of Original sin Amongst a multitude of Infidels dispersed over the face of the Earth thou wouldest have me in the number of the Faithfal even of those to whom so happy a lot hath fallen to be thine regenerated with the water of Baptism From which time I was taken to be thine and that admirable and happy Contract was made between us that thou shouldest be my Lord and I thy Servant thou my Father and I thy Son that thou shouldest perform and shew to me the love of a Father and I to thee the duty of a Son Further O Lord thou didst descend from Heaven to Earth for my sake seeking me in all the ways wherein I had lost my self With thy humanity thou didst ennoble my nature and by thy bonds didst deliver me from bondage Thou didst challenge me from the power of the Devil by delivering thy self into the hands of sinners and didst destroy sin by taking upon thee the form of a sinner With what reverence shall I speak of that other blessed Sacrament which Thou also O Lord hast instituted and ordained for a remedy of all the miseries which have befallen me and the many sins I have committed since my Baptism and for a salve and cure for all my spiritual diseases even the Sacrament of thy most precious Body and Blood And as thou hast bestowed on me all these divine and heavenly blessings so likewise in plentiful manner hast thou heaped on me temporal favours Thou hast from my birth to this hour preserved nourished cloathed and fed me in most abundant manner giving to me the use of all thy creatures for my sustentation Nay what couldest thou have done more for me than thou hast done Or what couldest thou have given me more than thou hast bestowed upon me either of blessings of this world or of the world to come Now having received all these mercies and favours from thee how have I on my part behaved my self in thankfulness to thee for them Have I returned due praise unto thy Majesty for them or carried my self and ordered my life like to one that might any way deserve them O Lord I confess that I have not for such hath been the malice of my heart that instead of shewing my self conformable to thy will I dayly adde sin to sin and iniquity to iniquity heaping up wrath for my self against the day of wrath How can I without tears remember how often thou mightest justly have slain me and yet notwithstanding my sins which call for vengeance no evil hath happened unto me How many souls burn in Hell fire which have sinned far less than I and yet I remain alive What had become of me if thou hadst taken me away with those at the same time How strict had my Iudgement been if thy Iustice had laid hold on me laden with so many sins Who then O Lord hath bound the hands of thy Iustice who hath deprecated for me when I lay thus lulled asleep in the security of my sins What hath pleased thee in me that thou shouldst deal more mercifully with me than with those who in the midst of their dayes in the heat of their youth are taken away from amongst us My sins cryed out against me and thou stoppedst thine ears my offences dayly increased against thee yet thy mercy dayly abounded towards me I sinned thou didst expect me I fled from thee and thou followedst me I was weary in offending thee and thou not weary in expecting me And in the midst of all my sins I ever received many good inspirations and goodly reproofs from thy holy Spirit which checked me in the dissolute course of my life How often hast thou called me with the voice of Love How often hast thou terrified me with threats and fears laying before me the peril of death and the rigour of thy divine Iustice How often hast thou followed me with thy Word preached invited me with thy blessings chastened me with thy scourges compassing me about that I could by no means slee from thee And lastly which is not the least of thy mercies with what patience hast thou waited for my serious Repentance What then O Lord shall I render back to thee for all that thou hast done unto me In that thou hast created me I owe thee all that I am created in that thou hast preserved me and thus long expected my return to thee I owe thee life and all that I am But in that thou hast regenerated sanctified and redeemed me and left those excellent pledges for my salvation I know not what to render unto thee For if the lives of all men and Angels were in my power and that I could offer them unto thee for a sacrifice of praise and thanks yet were it nothing being compared to the least of all thy spiritual blessings bestowed on me VVho therefore will give a fountain of tears to mine eyes that I may lament my great ingratitude and unjust retribution for all these thy manifold blessings heaped upon me Help me thou O Lord and give me grace that I may heartily confess and grievously bewail my hainous offences and transgressions against thee that thou mayest be reconciled to me and in thy abundant mercies shew some pity to me for them I am thy creature O Lord made after thine own Likeness and Image acknowledge thy workmanship for it is thine own In taking away the soyl and filth wherewith it is defiled and stained thou shalt soon perceive it to be thine own handy-work Art not thou a Father of mercies which have neither number end nor measure Although I have shaken off the duty and obedience of a child towards thee yet cast not thou off the love of a Father toward me I beseech thee Although I have done many things whereby thou mightest justly condemn me yet thou hast not lost the means whereby thou mayest mercifully save me If thou forsake me to whom shall I flee who is there to help me besides thy self Acknowledge G Lord a straying sheep Behold I come to thee all wounded thou canst heal me blind thou canst enlighten me full of leprosie thou canst cleanse me and spiritually dead yet thou canst revive me Thy mercy is greater than my sin thy clemency more than my wickedness and thou canst remit more than I can commit Do not then O Lord put me back from thee look not so much upon my sins as upon thy infinite meocies who livest and reignest God of all mercies world without end Another O Almighty Lord God great in thy power and terrible in thy judgements who madest the Heaven the Earth the Sea and all things in them by thy Word whose Power cannot be resisted and whose Mercy is over all thy works All things are under
it The Transcendency of the Godhead exceeds not only the usual strength of eloquence but of understanding likewise He is Absolute or Simple Without Composition Without Body Spiritual He is all Eye He is all Ear He is all Hand Invisible Because he seeth all things Because he heareth all things Because he worketh all things He is all Foot because he is every where When you hear him named conceive him to be a substance without beginning or end Simple without mixture Infinite Not to be circumscribed to time or place Whither shall I go from thy presence c. Heaven is my Throne c. Where is the place of my rest Do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord The Spirit of the Lord filleth all the world Deus ubique est totus ubique est AEterna stabilitate in seipso manens totus adesse rebus omnibus potest singulis totus God is every where and wholly every where By eternal stability remaining in himself he is wholly in all things and wholly in every thing Immortal I live for ever I honoured him that liveth for ever He only hath immortality Solus Deus est immortalis quia non est per gratiam sed per naturam Eternal Without beginning Thou art God from everlasting Without end Thou art the same and thy years shall not fail He is called the Ancient of dayes Immutable Not to be changed 1. In his Nature Thou shalt endure I am the Lord I change not Every good and perfect gift cometh from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of changing 2. In his Promises and Decrees The counsel of the Lord shall stand My counsel shall stand The immutability of his counsel saith the Apostle God hath promised who cannot lie Non mutatur Deus qui unus atque idem est mutari non potest God is not changed being one and the same uncapable of change Wise. Nothing hid from him The Lord knoweth the wayes of the righteous The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man His wisdom is infinite No searching of his understanding Loe thou knowest all things Known unto God are all his works O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God The Spirit searcheth all things All things are naked and open to his eyes God knoweth all things Holy No evil or iniquity in him Who is like unto thee O Lord glorious in holiness None holy as the Lord. The holy One of Iacob The holy One Of purer eyes than to behold evil Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts He is an Holy God I am Holy saith God himself True 1. In himself Whatsoever is in him is Truth The Lord is the true God It is life eternal to know thee true God c. Let God be true and every man a liar Ye turned from Idols to serve the true and living God 2. In his works Iust and true are thy wayes Righteous in all his works Iust art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgements 3. In his words The words of the Lord are pure The Truth of the Lord endureth for ever Good Absolutely Not participating from any other 1. In himself 1. There is none good but God Thou art Good 2. Author of all good to others 2. Every good and perfect gift commeth from the Father of lights The Earth is full of his goodness Glorious Ye shall see the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord appeared The sight of his glory was like consuming fire The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people The glory of the Lord filled the House of God The whole Earth is full of his glory His glory is above the Heavens Powerful Working all things in all Almighty He doth great unsearchable and marvellous things without number The fabrique of the Universe is the work of his hands The Heavens beautified with Stars The Earth spacious and adorned The Sea Full of variety of his riches The Sea Stored with Fish c. All made of nothing but by his word Thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun Thou in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth Through Faith we understaud that the World was ordained by GOD. Mundus hic est veluti magnus liber divinae Majestatis gloria opera explicans This World may be compared to a great Volume wherein are contained and expressed the works of the Divine Majesty and Glory He is King of Kings Lord of Lords Upholding all the Pillars of the Earth Moving the Heavens Changing the Seasons Dividing the Waters Bringing forth the Winds as out of his Treasury But in this and all other his Attributes Verius cogitatur quam dicitur We may better couceive of them than express them And we speak best of his worth when with a silent admiration we hold our peace according to that of the Psalmist Psal. 65. 1. which St. Hierom hath translated Tibi silet omnis laus DEUS in Sion Yet though the custom of the world is to respect men and things either for the goodness in them or for the benefit which accreweth by them Yet the latter worketh most For let a thing be never so good if it bring no profit it is the less regarded Let us therefore take a view of some other of Gods Attributes and consider whether we have not sufficient cause to serve him for the benefits we reap by him And first of that which cometh by him by the I. Creation In which he made Man and all things else for his service 1. He made him his chief delight He made him after his own Image He made him little lower than the Angels and crowned him with glory and honour putting all things in subjection under his feet This wrought admiration in David When he was not he made him a Man not a Beast but such a Creature as may enjoy Eternity with Him He made the Heaven and rested not He made the Earth and rested not He made the Sun and rested not He made the Moon and rested not He made the Stars and rested not But when he made Man he rested that he might have one Creature whose sins he might remit 2. He made all things for the service of Man For him The Sun riseth and goeth down For him The Moon increaseth For him The Stars arise For him Beasts Fowl and Fish For him Corn and Hearbs For him Hills and Mountains For him Valleys and Fields For him Rivers and Flowers For him Times and Seasons For him Angels and Archangels For him Principalities and Powers For him Thrones and Dominions For him Cherubim
Christi I conceive that there is nothing perpetual in this confused and disordered life but think that all things are transitory and pass away And whosoever duly considereth this falls upon his face knowing how far he is distant from the Majesty of GOD and will bend his knees to GOD the Father in the name of Iesus Christ and crave to be dissolved 2. It is Miserable Besides the brevity many miseries accompany it No year day nor hour but hath his misery One sues thee for thine estate another layeth wait for thy life a third wrongeth thy good name Evil Children vex thee if thou have any If thou hast none thou art grieved for the want Thy Wife unchast and unquiet disquiets thee Thy friends death discomforts thee One loseth an eye another an arm One is slain by a fall from his horse Another perisheth by water or fire So that the miseries over-ballance the joyes Then I would know what felicity is in it Saint Augustine describes them at large Plena sunt omnia laqueis plena periculis incitant cupiditates insidiantur illecebrae blandiunt lucra damna deterrent amarae sunt obloquentium linguae nec semper veraecia sunt ora laudantium c. All things are full of snares full of dangers concupiscence tickleth allurements lye in wait gain flattereth loss terrifieth slanderous tongues of some are bitter and the praises of others are not alwayes true or pleasing to us c. 3. It is sinful All the actions of it and of all that live in it being so In it you may see the Innocents afflicted the Guilty acquit the good despised the evil preferred The Lord himself looked down from Heaven upon the children of men and found them all abominable none to do good No truth mercy nor knowledge of GOD in the Land but swearing lying killing and whoring If the Devil be Prince of the world what goodness can be expected in his Dominions 4. Lastly It is Deceitful It seems to be that it is not promiseth that it gives not Out of the pleasures thereof arise many sorrows Children bestowed bring cares Honour enjoyed brings emulation Wealth encreased brings fear Offices possessed bring envy Unlawful pleasures used bring diseases If the World flatter thee it is but to deceive thee If it exalt thee it is but to cast thee down headlong If it make thee merry it is but in short time after to afflict thee the more Extrema gaudia luctus occupaet Si spes nobis in vita non esset relicta quam de vita futura concipimus non multum hic mundus ab inferno distaret If we had not here some hope left to us which we conceive of the felicity of the life to come there were little difference between this World aud Hell it self Therefore to end this first point love it not for he which loves it hath not the love of God in him But settle your affections on high on God alone in whose service consists true happiness No Creature can be fully at rest till it attain to the end for which it was created but is restless till then Now God is the object of Mans happiness and the end of his felicity Nothing can satisfie Mans heart but God nor can it be at rest though it possess the whole world till it return to him The nearer to him the quieter No Man hath perfect blessedness in this World Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas said Solomon who had his hearts desire as much as any Usque quo filii hominum How long will ye have pleasure in vanity in the things of this life follow lies in the false appearance of them The World is a Hypocrite covers his defects It is a Harlot that bears her Lover out of doors when their money is spent I will conclude with Saint Augustine Mare terras omnia percurre scrutare universa ubique misereris nisi ad Deum refugeris Travel over Sea and Land and search all places yet shalt thou be miserable and wretched every where except thou have recourse to God And in Gods service all good is to be found If thou desire profit Eye hath not seen c. what God hath prepared for them that love him If length of dayes Length of dayes is in his right hand If pleasures Pleasures for evermore If honour The Iust shall be had in everlasting remembrance Them that honour me I will honour Blessed therefore are they which are undefiled in the way and walk in the Law of God Blessed are they which keep his testimonies and seek after him with their whole heart II. The second part of Gods service in general is To avoid that which he forbiddeth that is Sin The difinition whereof and how it cometh you shall have out of St. Gregory All sin is committed gradatim by three degrees 1. By Suggestion of the Devil 2. By Delight of the Flesh. 3. By Consent of the Spirit 1. For when the malicious Spirit suggesteth sin in the mind of Man no delight in it follow sin is no way acted 2. But when the flesh beginneth to delight in it the sin is begun to be in the birth 3. Then if a Man descend to consent upon deliberation then it is plain that sin is committed So that in the suggestion is the seed in the delight is the nourishment and in the consent is the full accomplishment Now as vertue and goodness is for divers respects to be followed So sin is to be avoided for many reasons Because God hateth sin and sinners The Psalmist calleth sinners Gods enemies The ungodly and his ungodliness are both hated alike of God Your iniquities have separated you from God His hate may appear by the continuance of it He visiteth the wickedness of the Fathers upon the Children in the third and fourth generation Seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God I will also forget thy children 2. By with-holding good things from them I will hide my face from them I will take away the hedge of my Vineyard I will not feed you I will be to Ephraim as a Moth. 3. By the severe punishment of Offenders from time to time Who gave Iacob for a spoyl and Israel to the Robbers Did not the Lord because we have sinned against him For sin God drove our first Parents out of Paradise The Angels from Heaven Sodom and Gomorrah was consumed by fire The whole World by Deluge God drowned Pharaoh and the Egyptians Destroyed Korah Dathan and Abiram The two Sons of Aaron and of Heli. Ananias and Saphira Ierusalem his own City and oâ— 600000. which went out of Egypt only two came into the Land of promise Because God heareth not the prayers of the wicked When they stretch out their hands he will hide his eyes from them and though they make many prayers he
unworthy to receive any thing we are not to arrogate any thing for any merit of our own but confess that we are nought but dust pollution and a masse of corrupption that we brought nothing into this world nor have gathered any therein but uncleanness We must say with Iacob Minor sum Domine omnibus tu is beneficiis I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies And with the Publican whom our Saviour commended to us for a pattern deny our own unworthy 〈◊〉 deserve any favour Which Humility of his as appeareth by that Story or Parable made his prayer more acceptable to God than the vaunting and boasting of the proud Pharisee And with David saith A broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise And the Son of Syrach The Prayer of the Humble pierceth the Clouds And lastly the Virgin Mary He hath exalted the Humble and Meek This Humility is likewise two-fold 1. Of the Spirit 2. Of the Body 1. For by the First we acknowledge the impurity of our souls and confess our selves wicked miserable and wretched in our own eyes and that our strength is not worth the coasting of which kind or manner of prayer hath ever wrought effectually with God The Prophet Esay witnesseth it To this man I look even to him that is of a poor and of a contrite spirit And the Psalmist testifieth how propense and propitious GOD is to such kind of Petitioners The Lord is nigh to them that are of a contrite heart and will save such as are of an humble spirit And the blessed Virgin acknowledgeth that she found the fruits of her Humility He hath regarded the lowsiness of his Hand-maiden Secondly We are to use an outward gesture answerable to our inward devotion We must manifest our Humility by a reverend posture of the body too God is as well Creator of the body which is the souls temple as of the soul and therefore expecteth to be honoured by both And as it is not to be denyed that the inward affections are to be regarded in the prime place yet it will not be unnecessary to observe with what postures the holy men in sacred Story powred out their petitions Abraham speaking to God fell on his face and bowed to the ground Solomon at the Dedication of the Temple stood before the Lord and spread forth his hands to Heaven The Publican stood and smote his breast Moses held up his hands to Heaven Daniel Stephen Peter and Paul kneeled David kneeled and lifted up his eyes Lastly our Saviour Christ every one of whose actions ought to be a rule to us sometimes fell on his face sometimes kneeled and sometimes lifted up his eyes when he prayed Not that Gods worship is absolutely or universally tyed to these outward Ceremonies but that they serve to stir up the inward intentions and affections for while we kneel and lift up our eyes and hands to Heaven we shew our humility and declare our ardent desire and confidence that all our aid and help we expect from God and none else Therefore the acts of humiliation of casting dust on their heads putting on sack-cloath rending of garments mentioned in holy Writ are there set down to no other purpose but to make their Humility that used them appear and to be a pattern for us in after times Neither is it without reason that Man being a creature consisting of body and soul should serve his Creator with both which makes us a perfect Holocaust or Sacrifice And as we have yielded our members servants to uncleaness and to iniquity unto iniquity so we should yield our members servants to righteousness unto holiness And to this reverend gesture of the body must be added the uncovering of the head Our heads must be bare and we must not pray so familiarly as if we were speaking to our equals For the higher and more eminent the person is whom we petition the more reverend and submiss ought our behaviour be to him in our petitions In the next place We must resolve with our selves not to be impatient of delayes as we call them if God seem not to hear us presently But we must pray with Perseverance Our Saviour himself immediately after he had prescribed to his Disciples that absolute form of prayer taught them also and us in them the effects of this vertue by the Example of the Friend which came in the night to borrow Loaves And shortly after by that of the Importunate Widow Which effects also David and the Woman of Canaan felt Wherefore not without good reason did St. Paul so often counsel this assiduity and servency in prayer And though we make our conclusions by events which we usually take notice only by that God is not moved by our prayers nor we bettered by them we must resolve that the fault is ours and not Gods For either we ask things not to be prayed for Or coldly not intending what we desire Or not with due reverence and patience Or else GOD yieldeth not either to inflame our zeal Or to set an edge on our desires Or to humble us Or to prove us by adversity as well as by prosperity Or to try whether we serve him for our own ends or his glory Or else the time is not come which he knoweth meetest to grant what we pray for Elias being persecuted by Iezabel prayed that GOD would take away his life which GOD granted not presently yet afterward took him into Heaven Deus multos non jam exaudiat ad voluntatem sed paulo post ad salutem God hears not many men presently according to their desire but after a while he gives ear to them to their good and salvation Therefore we must not give over at the first second or third time For no doubt but he which said Ask and ye shall have will also give what he promised when he thinketh expedient that we should receive it O tarry thou the Lords leisure saith David And let not us prescribe to God either time place or manner but in all modesty humility patience and perseverance attend his good pleasure Three other Qualities there are which seem to depend upon this last Vertue of Perseverance for as the difficulty to pray aright ariseth of three causes 1. The Corruption of our Nature depraved by sin 2. Evil custom or habit in suffering our hearts to wander when we are at our Devotions 3. The malice of Satan who out of his inveterate hate to mankind intangles our thoughts with other matters when we should intend this act The Remedies therefore fit to oppose these are 1. A fervent desire to the action for what we zealously affect we soonest compass 2. That we be diligeut and couragious to overcome all difficulties for as all Creatures have a concupiscible nature to obtain things necessary to preservation so
the end of the Earth From the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same let thy Name be great among the Gentiles Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy Name give the glory Thou art worthy O Lord and thou alone to receive honour and glory And His Name ought to be sanctified by us above all things for all other things are for us and we for His glory only Not that God shall get any thing thereby or that He hath need of our sanctifying but in regard of the benefit which will accrew to us by it For this honour will be an honour to him that giveth it And this praise and glory only is profitable to the glorifier It is not so any where or in any thing else He that glorifies God him will God glorifie Him that honours me I will honour saith God Let thy Name therefore O Lord be Hallowed And thine only Let it be Hollowed Inwardly By Word By Us. Outwardly By Profession By all Others Let us not only salute thee in word but imitate thee in deed that we may be fit to glorifie thee and be worthy to be called thy Sons Give us a filial affection The Spirit of Adoption The Grace of Contrition That we may say from our hearts each one of us Father I have sinned I 'am no more worthy to be called thy Son And This humble Confession is one of the wayes to honour God My Son said Iosuah to Achan give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him And let us also do it by refraining our tongue from irreverent speeches and leading our lives carefully by the rule of Gods Laws So shall we truly hallow his Name So shall we truly glorifie him and say O Lord our God how excellent is thy Name in all the world We praise thee we bless thee we worship thee we glorifie thy holy Name For thou only art holy Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hosts Quaerite primum Regnum Coelorum Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven GODS Name is more precious and dear to him than his Kingdom But after his Name his Kingdom In Name He is alone without us Sole and Singular In his Kingdom He communicates himself and what is his with us In his Will We dedicate our selves wholly to him And therefore in respect of Gods bounty to us this is the chief Petition of our good and happiness For In it we pray First for the comming of Gods Kingdom That GOD may only rule over us Secondly For the destruction and eversion of the Kingdom of Satan That he may have no more dominion over us The Kingdom of GOD is threefold First of Glory Secondly of Grace Thirdly of Power 1. Of Glory hereafter which indeed should be the scope of our desires For we ought so to live here that we may desire without fear the coming of this Kingdom So to be affected at our death that we may joyfully and without fear say Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace So to be affected in our life that we may often say and pray When shall I appear before the Lord I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Come Lord Iesus come quickly 2. Of Grace in this life in us That we be not of their minds who said We will not have this man to reign over us But subject us O Lord to this Kingdom that easie yoke of thine that in all things we may be obedient to thee Govern us and reign in us that Satan or Sin reign not in our members If thou be pleased so to rule in us here we shall reign with thee hereafter Cast Satan under our feet 3. Of Power for there are many Rulers in this world which oppose thy Kingdom Arise O Lord and take the Rule into thine own hands Reign thou therefore only over us Govern us within and without For as we are vexed inwardly by our selves with civil warr and domestick tyranny so without also by others And that it may come in us let it come into our Rulers Make them like to thee in their Government Let them rule to thee not to themselves Let thy Kingdom come within them for in thy Kingdom only are proper and fit Laws and Conditions to rule by And because when this Earthly Government is at the best it is laborious and unperfect hasten thy Kingdom of Glory we beseech thee wherein will be no cause of complaint but all things will be absolute and perfect For which all the Creatures together with us earnestly wait even with groans For all the votes and desires of the Old Testament were pitched upon the first coming of Christ and all of the New upon the second looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great GOD and our Saviour Iesus Christ. Let it come to us but not upon us Certainly come it will will we nill we Let it come to us not against us Let us feel the happiness of it O Father in coming not the violence of it in rushing upon us In the mean time let it come to us here though not in the full fruition yet in the certain hope and expectation Say unto your souls I am your salvation It is not Let us do thy will Nor Do thou thy will But Thy will be done Thy absolute and eternal will which none can oppose Which will take effect though all the world resist Which will be done because thou wilt have it done Who hath resisted his will It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks Thy revealed will holy and saving which perswadeth us to be humble in Conversation firm in Faith just and charitable in Works true in Words to love thee with all our hearts as a loving Father to fear thee as a revenging God to prefer nothing before Christ who preferred us before all things and the like This we may contradict Let that be done as much as may be Let both be done Let us shew our obedience to thee here as the Angels do in Heaven All other Creatures obey thy will The Sea passeth not its bounds The Earth alters not its station And all things else are obedient to thy will only Man is disobedient to it Thy will and all thy will without contradiction Thy will and all thy will without exception Thy will and not our will The Lords will be done If the Lord will Thy will be done in all things as well pleasing as displeasing to us Let not us argue or dispute what is profitable what is unprofitable what pleasant what hard to flesh and blood but what thou wilt let it be done Let our blind and perverse will be led by thy most holy will Graft thy will by thy Spirit into ours as into barren stocks If our wills be refractory to thine
merits and cast nor those from thy favour and grace whom by Nature thou of thy goodness hast vouchsafed to make thy Brethren Who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Spirit now and for ever Amen Petitions for Spiritual Graces OH that my wayes were directed to keep thy Statutes O LORD Blessed is the man whom thou teachest out of thy Law Open mine eyes that I may see the wonderous things of thy Law Teach me to do thy will for thou and my GOD let thy good Spirit lead me into the Land of Righteousness Give me Grace O LORD To know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing To abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the Soul To keep in mind alwayes Thou the World passeth away and the desire thereof And that the benefit which a Man getteth by the World is nothing but Destruction Truly to say I have remembred thy everlasting Iudgements and my Son receiveth comfort thereby O thou that givest Grace to the humble give me Grace to be humble Give me a good heart which hearing thy Word may keep it and bring forth fruit with patience O Lord Let me find Grace in this eyes Let me find a place and time of Repentance Let me not receive thy Grace in vain Let me not fail or fall from it But let me continue in it And let me grow in it To the end of my dayes Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Carefulness Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Defence or clearing my self Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Indignation Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Fear Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Vehement Desire Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Zeal Give me O Lord the works of Repentance Revenge Give me Grace to think upon and do Whatsoever things are True Give me Grace to think upon and do Venerable Give me Grace to think upon and do Honest Give me Grace to think upon and do Iust Give me Grace to think upon and do Pure Give me Grace to think upon and do Lovely Give me Grace to think upon and do Of Good Report Give unto me O LORD Humility of Heart Give unto me O LORD Charity to my neighbour Give unto me O LORD Patience of Mind Give unto me O LORD Temperance of Life Give unto me O LORD Chastity of Body Give unto me O LORD Contentedness of Mind Give unto me O LORD Alacrity of Spirit Give unto me good Lord Perfect knowledge of my Sins Give unto me good Lord Hearty sorrow for them Give unto me good Lord Perfect hatred against them Give unto me good Lord Fervent love to all Goodness Give unto me good Lord True obedience to thy Will Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Faith Vertue Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Vertue Knowledge Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Knowledge Temperance Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Temperance Patience Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Patience Godliness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Godliness Brotherly Kindness Give me Grace O Lord to adde To Brotherly Kindness Charity Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Love Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Ioy Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Peace Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Long Suffering Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Gentleness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Goodness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Faith Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spririt Meckness Give unto me O Lord The Fruits of the Spirit Temperance Give unto me good Lord Contempt of the World Give unto me good Lord Hatred of Sin Give unto me good Lord Loathing of the flesh Give unto me good Lord Desire of Heaven Give unto me ô Lord A right Faith to live well Give unto me ô Lord A sure Hope to persevere well Give unto me ô Lord A perfect Humility to obey well Give unto me ô Lord A true Charity never to be divided from thee Give me grace O Lord to be content with that which is necessary To despise that wich is superflous Grant O Lord That I may so live that I repent not to have lived That I may so live that no man may know I have lived amiss That I may so live that I may alwayes live That dying I may live and living I may dye and say with a chearful Spirit Lord now leitest thou thy servant depart in peace I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Amen Prayers for Spiritual Graces O Blessed Lord Jesus Christ who art my only Tutor and Instructer and from whom I have learned whatsoever I know I beseech thee that thou wouldst further teach me those things whereof I am ignorant and which are necessary for my Salvation that thou wouldst keep me in things which I have already learned and rectifie me in those matters wherein as a man I erre Strengthen me and make me firm wherein soever I waver and am doubtful and keep me from that which is erronious and hurtful Above all things O Saviour strengthen my Faith and give me grace daily to prosit in the knowledge and understanding of thy Holy Word and so govern all my actions by thy Holy Spirit that my life may be answerable to my knowledge and that I may shew the fruits of whatsoever I have learned by my good and religious conversation Give me a firm and assured hope in thee and thy gracious promises that in all my troubles and necessities I may be evermore confident in thy mercy Be unto me a strong Tower of defence against mine Enemies that whether the World allure me the Devil assail me or the Flesh rebel I may fly unto thee for refuge And although thou presently put not forth thy hand to help me but defer thy comfort according to thy good pleasure yet keep me from doubting or despairing of thy aid because thy promises are sure Give me a fervent Love and perfect Charity to my Neighbour that I may be as kind to him and as careful of him as of one who is a Member with me of the same Body whereof thou O sweet Saviour art the Head Let my love to him be sincere and unfeigned which may charitably relieve him in his wants patiently bear with his infirmities and willingly forgive him all his trespasses against me Create in me I beseech thee a pure mild peaceable and humble heart which may think harm to no man nor recompense evil for evil but good for injuries Cleanse me from all unclean and earthly desires and lift up my heart to thee and Heavenly things and so write thy Laws in it that I may wholly bend my self to keep them and please thee persevering in the same to my
lives end Give me O Lord true compunction of heart and so water it with the dew of thy Heavenly Grace that I may in the bitterness of my Soul with abundance of tears sighs and groans bewail and lament all my hainous and grievous transgressions against thee Give me grace O Lord that I may not boast in any merits or works of mine own or have any confidence in them but let me glory in this alone that I am a Member of that Body of thine which was crucified for me and did sufficiently satisfie for all the Sins of the World If thou O Lord look or expect any merits from me behold I tender unto thee thine own merits the merits of thy Death and Passion which thou hast vouchsafed to make me partaker of by vertue whereof alone I dare boldly appear before thy Tribunal These merits I set between my sins and thy Iustice and otherwise or in any other manner I dare not I will not contend with thee O sweet Iesu I desire thee to offer them to the Father as a propitiatory Sacrifice for all my great and grievous Offences that when my Soul shall depart from this Body it may by the same be freed and delivered from all the judgements and punishments which are due unto it for sin and be carried to that blessed place where there is no sorrow but endless felicity where thou together with the Father and the blessed Spirit livest and reignest for ever Before Prayer O Almighty and everliving GOD Heavenly Father to whom it is manifestly known how inconstant and wandring the minds of men are in any good actions and how easily we suffer our selves to be carried away from the contemplation of thee by diversity of distractions and unseasonable thoughts which take hold of us in the time of our Devotions and Prayers unto thee who also by thine only begotten Son Christ Iesus didst prescribe unto his Disciples a Form of Prayer to be offered up to thee and hast derived the same from them to us Behold me most wretched sinner wholly depraved and corrupt intreating thee by the same Son that for his sake thou wouldst infuse thy Holy Spirit into me which may adopt me into the number of thine Elect that it may teach me how I ought to pray according to thy Holy Will that it may allay all troublesome and wandring thoughts in me while I offer up my prayers and praises unto thee Suffer me not to serve thee with my lips and be absent in heart from thee but create a right Spirit within me that I being sensible of all thy graces and comforts may with joyful and holy zeal perform my duty to thee that so my prayers and desires may appear before thee and in thy Sons Name I may effectually be heard and my petitions may be granted to the glory and honour of thy most holy Name and the endless comfort of mine own Soul through the same our only Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ. Before a Sermon O Most loving SAVIOUR I most humbly intreat thee that thou wouldst be pleased at this time to enlighten my understanding and to open my inward ears with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that I may hear that sacred Word with an humble heart and rejoyce in it in the obedience of the Spirit That I may be fully instructed thereby how to do good and avoid evil and bring forth the fruit thereof in my life and conversation That thy Honour and Glory may be thereby increased the Devil and all other the Enemies of my Soul may be vanquished my Soul may be saved and at the last I may appear with boldness before thy Tribunal and receive the reward of a good and faithful servant even his Masters joy everlasting blessedness and that by thy merits only O blessed Saviour Petitions for Temporal Blessings in which we are to desire of God THat he would be pleased to continue unto us The blessing of a good King just and religious To give unto us Magistrates and Iustices upright and careful to see good Laws duly executed Teachers to direct us in the Truth That he would bless us with Length and Goodness of Dayes Health of Body Contentedness of Mind Competency of Estate Food and Rayment Conveniency of Dwelling Wholesomeness of Air. Fruitfulness of Cartel Fruitfulness of Soyl. That he would make us happy In Wedlock In Children In Faithful Friends In Peaceable loving Neighbours In Honest Servants In Skilful Physicians That he would preserve our Goods Good Name Our Senses and Understanding That he would protect us From Trouble From Enemies From Dangers From Losses From Sicknesses That he would give Peace To all Nations Peace To our Land Peace In our private Dwellings Rules to be observed in the Morning WHen thou awakest in the Morning shut and close up the entrance to thy heart from all unclean prophane and evil thoughts and let the consideration of God and goodness enter in When thou art risen and art ready retire thy self to thy Closet or other private place and offer to God the first fruits of the Day and in praying to him and praising him remember 1. To give him Thanks for thy quiet rest received for delivering thee from all dangers ghostly and bodily and for all other his benefits to thee 2. Offer unto him thy self and all things that thou dost possess and desire him to dispose of thee and them according to his good pleasure 3. Crave his Grace to guide thee and to strengthen thee from and against all Tentations that so thou mayest do nothing the day following contrary to his will 4. And Lastly Beg of him according to the Rules before prescribed all things needful for the Soul and Body To which purpose pray as followeth Morning Prayer I Thank thee O Heavenly Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy Blessings which I underservedly have received from thee that thou gavest a being from honest Parents and in that part of the World where thy Son Christ Iesus is purely professed that thou didst endue me with Reason and Understanding and didst also give me perfect Members and Senses that thou hast preserved me ever since my birth vouchsafed me health and liberty and a competency of means to maintain me and those whom thou hast placed under me That thou hast Elected me in thy Love Redeemed me by thy Son Sanctified me by thy Spirit and kept me this night past from all perils of Body and Soul and given me a sweet and comfortable rest O Lord I commend into thy hands my Soul and Body thoughts words and actions and humbly beseech thee that thou wouldst guide and order them all to thy honour and glory and my endless and eternal happiness Enlighten my mind that the darkness and cloudy mists of mine offences being dispelled I may walk before thee in my vocation without offence as in the day clean unspotted and unblameable Give unto me thy Holy Spirit which may bridle
so guide me with thy holy Spirit that I may neither do speak nor think any thing this day contrary to thy holy Will Behold O Lord I offer my self a living Sacrifice to thee and humbly pray thee to accept it Good God direct my Soul in the way of thy Commandements increase my Faith strengthen my Hope enlarge my Charity and infuse all the good Graces of thy Holy Spirit into me Give me grace so to remember my sins as that thou mayest forget them and so to forsake them as that thou mayest forgive them Instruct me in all goodness and give me the grace of Perseverance that I fly not back from any good courses in this life but that I may go forward and continue in them to the end of my dayes O Lord who hast promised the necessaries of this life to those which shall first seek thy Kingdom I humbly intreat thee to give unto me this day all things necessary for my sustentation as Food Rayment Health of Body Ioy of Heart Peace of Conscience and a blessing to all my endeavours give me a mind contented with that which shall be sufficient and not desirous of that which is superfluous that I may pass the rest of my dayes on earth religiously honestly and soberly as becommeth thy servant to thy honour and my endless comfort Be gracious to the Kings most Excellent Majesty his Royal Queen the Royal Issue the whole Estate Clergy Nobility Gentry Mastistrates and Commons give us all grace in our several places to do our Duties as in thy sight that at the last by the merits of Iesus Christ our Saviour we may receive the reward thereof in thy eternal Kingdom where thou reignest together with the same our Lord Iesus Christ and the Holy Spirit World without End Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty Lord God Heavenly Father we give thee most humble and hearty thanks in that thou hast not only of nothing created us after thine own Image but also hast from time to time most graciously preserved us even to this present Morning from all dangers and terrours and hast given us this night past sweet sleep and comfortable rest whereby we are refreshed and fitted to our bodily labour We thank thee O Lord for all thy Spiritual Blessings for our Regeneration Iustification Sanctification in some measure and our Redemption by Iesus Christ. We praise thy Name for thy bountiful supply of all things necessary for this life as also for thy patient and long expectance of us in our Conversion O Lord we confess that we have been so far from the serious consideration of thy favours to us and from rendering due thanks unto thee for them that in stead thereof we have grievously offended thy Majesty with most abominable and vile sins notwithstanding thou hast sought to reduce us to thy obedience by the good motions of thy Holy Spirit As often O Lord as we look about us either with the eyes of our bodies or minds so often do thy fatherly and innumerable benefits appear unto us For all which we tender again and again from the bottom of our hearts infinite thanks unto thee and humbly desire thee for thy mercies sake in Christ Iesus to pardon all our ingratitude and rebellions Enlighten us we pray thee with thy holy Spirit that we may see our imperfections kindle our zeal towards thee rule and govern our minds wills affections and actions that we may not offend thee any more And give us Grace that we may alwayes think speak and do whatsoever shall be pleasing unto thee and abstain from all things which shall displease or ofsend thee It is more than enough O Lord that we have been hitherto so rebellious against thee It is too much that we have been so negligent to serve thee and it is worst of all that we have been so ingrateful to thee for all thy blessings Let all evil and wickedness now depart from us and let new manners new affections and new hearts be renewed in us We commit our selves O Lord wholly into thy protection this day and the rest of our lives and most humbly desire thee of thy infinite goodness that as now thou hast put good thoughts into us thou wilt be pleased to perfect them in us so that being led by thy Holy Spirit we may do that which is acceptable to thee and love serve honour and praise thy holy Name all the dayes of our lives And for a much O Lord as thou hast promised to those that love thee all things necessary for this life we call and cry to thee O our Father which art in Heaven to Give us this day our daily bread even whatsoever is needful and expedient for our sustentation Give us O Lord sufficient for our maintenance lest we take evil and indirect courses or blaspheme or murmur against thee and not too much lest we forget from whose hands we receive it Give not only that which shall be necessary but contented minds also with it Bless O Lord the labour and work of our hands bless us at home and abroad and grant that every one of us may truly as in thy sight walk in our several vocations and diligently and carefully intend the same making a Conscience of all our wayes that by thy gracious favour and our own endeavours we may have prosperous success in all things that we shall undertake Continue O Lord thy Gospel among us Bless our gracious King with the Queen the Royal Issue the Lady Elizabeth with her Princely Off-spring the whole Land and all sorts and conditions of people in it Bless all that travel by Sea or Land and take into thy protection all Orphans Widows and all that suffer wrong Give health and strength to the sick and weak and joy and comfort to the sorrowful and afflicted Bless us O Lord with healthful and sound Bodies keep our good Names unspotted and unblemished Bless the fruits of the Earth and give us wholesome peaceable and seasonable times These and all other thy blessings which thou knowest better to give than we to ask vouchsafe if it seem good to thy Majesty to give us for the worthiness of thy Son Iesus Christ our Lord in whose blessed Name and absolute Prayer we close up our imperfect Prayers aud say as he hath taught us Our Father c. Rules for Evening and Night AS we usually twice a day at the least take our bodily sustenance so should we be no less careful for the refreshing our Souls but twice a day likewise Morning and Evening if not oftner dispose our selves to Devotion and Prayer When thou therefore retirest thy self as in the Morning remember 1. To give God thanks that he hath delivered thee from the dangers of the day past prospered thee in thy affairs and given thee necessaries for thy sustentation 2. Examine thy Conscience narrowly and consider wherein thou hast the day past offended God either in thought word or deed
yet they have hitherto been so senseless thereof that we fear not to add sin to sin and to multiply iniquity upon iniquity And now O Lord we reap the just reward of our impiety and feel too soon that we are justly plagued for our disobedience O Lord we confess that thy Iudgements are just and withall humbly acknowledge our misdeeds and heartily repent us of them and earnestly beg and crave that thou wouldest in mercy pardon them and remit the punishment which in Iustice is due unto us for them O Lord In thy just anger remember mercy encline thine ear and hear open thine eyes and behold our desolations and upon our repentance and humiliation remove this thy punishment which in thy displeasure thou hast begun to inflict upon us Command thy destroying Angel to spare us and not to strike us to utter desolation Be merciful unto us who are every hour in danger of thy Iudgements Take away the unwhilesomeness of the air and purifie our dwellings unto health and safety Keep those that are well release those upon whom thou hast laid the rod of thy afflictions Thou hast promised O Lord That if at any time thou sendest the Pestilence among the People if that people do humble themselves and pray and seek thy presence and turn from their wicked wayes thou wilt hear in Heaven and be merciful to their sin and heal their Land We humbly pray thee O Lord to make good thy promise and ease us of our afflictions For behold O Lord we humble our selves under thy mighty hand we bewail and lament our sinful lives past and humbly beseech thee to give us thy assisting grace that we may henceforth order our wayes to please thee Then shall no Contagion hurt us but we shall live to praise thy Name and all the World shall know that thou art our God and that thy Name is called upon by us Hear us O Lord and be merciful unto us even for Iesus Christs sake the Righteous To whom with thee and the Blessed Spirit be ascribed all honour and praise now and for ever Amen Confession of Faith FAith in general is a full assent to all things written in the Holy Scriptures concerning God his Will and Works not for the evidence of them but even for Gods assertion only Est sperantium substantia cognitio corum quae non videntur tunc est fides quando expectatur in spe quod in re nondum videtur Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen And this is Faith indeed when a man expects that in hope which in reality is not seen Si vides non est fides Faith in special is a firm assent to the Gospel the sum whereof is contained in these three Propositions 1. That Salvation is to be had by Iesus Christ. 2. That there is no other way of Salvation but by the Name of Iesus Christ. 3. That there is no Salvation to be had by Iesus Christ but upon those terms and conditions which are revealed in the Gospel He is the Author of Salvation to those that obey him This Faith therefore must be ushered by Repentance and attended by good works Faith without works is dead It must not be abstracted but concrete with Hope and Charity Sine Charitate fides potest esse sed non prodesse Faith may be without Love but not to do any good We may well have Faith in us it is true but little good it will do us except we have Charity also For Saint Paul saying that a man is justified by Faith without Works is not to be understood that though he live ill we should call him just though he have received the Faith Quomodo ergo justificabitur homo per fidem fine operibus responderet tibi Apostolus Propterea hoc tibi dixi ô homo ne quasi de operibus tuis praesumere videaris merito operum tuorum accepisse fidei gratiam Si fidem quis dicat se habere opera tamen non habeat numquid poterit fides salvare eum The Apostle will answer you how a man may be justified by Faith without Works And therefore O Man whatsoever I have said it hath been lest thou shouldst seem to presume upon thy Works and by the merit of them think thou hast received the grace of Faith But how can that mans Faith save him which professeth that he hath Faith and yet hath no Works If I had Faith to remove Mountains and have no Love I am nothing 1. This Faith is the Foundation of Gods Worship No worshipping of God till we are perswaded that there is one to worship He that cometh to God must believe that he is 2. It is the first Duty that God requireth of us This is his Commandement that we should believe Believe and thou shalt be saved was the first Rule that Saint Paul gave the Keeper of the Prison upon his Conversion The people demanding of our Saviour What they should do to work the works of God were answered with That ye believe as being the principal or first Degree to Salvation Non virtutibus venitur ad fidem sed per fidem pertingitur ad virtutes We attain not to Faith by Vertue but Vertue by Faith The Particulars of this Faith are contained in the Apostles Creed so called because 1 It containeth the sum of the Apostles Doctrine which the Catecumeni were to hold and profess 2. Or because the Apostles delivered it to their Disciples Symbolum fidei nostrae tali ratione institutum majores nostri dixerunt Tradunt enim c. Ne localitur ab invicem discedentes diversum vel dissonum praedicarent i is qui ad fidem Christi invitabantur Omnes igitur in unune positi Spiritu Sancto repleti breve suae praedication is judicium conferendo in unum quod sentiebat unusquisque computabat atque haâ—câ—ita credentibus dandam esse regulam instituerunt Our fore-Fathers tell us that the Creed was made and composed by the Apostles at a meeting before they were to be dispersed And that lest when they were separated they might preach divers and several Doctrines of Faith to those whom they sought to win to the Faith of Christ. And therefore being all assembled together and filled with the Holy Ghost they made a short and summary Collection of what they thought fit to preach and appointed the same to be delivered to Believers as a Rule and Foundation of their Faith Symbolum breve est verbis sed magnum est Sacramentis And though it be short in words yet is it great in Sacraments It is to be daily repeated and professed 1. Because it is a mark whereby Christians are distinguished from Infidels 2. It putteth us in mind of our daily tryal whether we continue in the Faith or not 3. It incites
us to pray that we continue and increase in it 4. It puts us in mind of our vow in Baptism to believe in the Trinity Lord I believe Help thou my unbelief In God the Father Wherein I consider First His personal Relation to his natural Son and gracious affection to us in him That in Christ we are all his Sons by grace and adoption As many as received him to them he gave power to become the Sons of God The Spirit beareth witness with out spirit that we are the Sons of God No more a Servant but a Son Having predestinated us unto the adoption of Children by Jesus Christ. Almighty Secondly His Saving Power That as he is a Father willing to do us good so he is Omnipatent and able to do us good Even to your old age I am he c. I will bear I will carry and deliver you I am the Lord and none else He is Lord over all Upholding all things Almighty Able to subdue all things unto himself Maker of Heaven and Earth Thirdly His Providence in disposing preserving and governing all things 1. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made He laid the Foundations of the Earth Thou Lord which hast made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is I form the Light and create the Darkness He layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters The Spirit of the Lord hath made me and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life 2. He provideth for the Raven his food c. Thou Lord shalt save both Man and Beast They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness c. Over Sparrows He careth for us In him we live move and have our being 3. He ordereth the world according to equity He judgeth the folk righteously and governeth the Nations upon the earth Thy providence O Father governeth all things He ordereth all things sweetly In Jesus A Saviour He shall save his people from their sins He that beleeveth not in him is condemned Neither is there Salvation in any other By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous Christ. Annointed With the Oyl of gladness above his fellows The Lord hath annointed me His onely Son Of God the Father The only begotten of the Father His only begotten Son Our Lord. In right of 1 Creation 2 Redemption 1. By whom he made the World By him were all things created 2. In whom we have redemption Redeemed with his precious Blood Bought with a price Conceived by the Holy Ghost Without the help of Man to help the uncleanness of our conception She was found with Child of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee Angelo nunciante Spiritu adveniente mox verbum in utero mox intraverbum Caro. Upon the Annuntiation or message of an Angel and the Overshadowing of the Holy Ghost the word presently entred into the VVomb and with the word the flesh Born of the Virgin Mary Made the Sonne of Man that we might be the Sonnes of God To purge the uncleanness of our birth He did not abhor the Virgins womb A Virgin shall conceive She shall bring forth a Son And she brought forth her first born Son c. The word was made flesh And when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman c. S. Bernard saith That God in the assumption of our nature made three mixtures so wonderfull without comparison that never the like were or should be to the end of the world God and Man a Mother and a Virgin Faith and Mans heart Suffered under Pontius Pilate Those things which we should have suffered That we might not suffer them He powred out his soul unto death c. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree He once suffered for sins Was Crucified To take away the Curse of the Law Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us as it is written Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree He humbled himself and became obedient to death even the death of the Cross. Dead To take away the sharpness and bondage of death To satisfie Gods justice for us The wages of sin is death That he by the grace of God should taste death for every one That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil And deliver them who through the fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage O Death where is thy sting Buried To take away the corruption of the grave that we might be assured of his death All agree that he was buried in a Sepulcher They took him from a Tree and laid him in a Sepulcher Descended into Hell Whither we ought to have gone that we might not go thither at all Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell Non immerito creditur It is not without cause that we believe saith Saint Augustine upon this Article And Christ according to his Soul was in Hell the Scripture is plain for it being foretold by the Prophet David and evidently expounded by the Apostles Application of that Text Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell And he concludeth peremptorily with this Question Quis ergo nisi infidelis negaverit fuisse apud inferos Christum Who therefore but an Infidel will deny that Christ was in Hell The third day he rose again from the dead That he might raise with him our nature being the first fruits of them which sleep He is risen He is not here Christ being raised from the dead c. And was raised again for our justification By the Trinity 1. By the Father Acts 2. 24. 3. 15. 4. 10. 5. 30. 10. 40. Ephes. â— 20. 1 Pet. 1. 21. 2. By the Son Joh. 10. 17 18. Rom. 14. 3. By the Spirit Rom. 8. 11. 1 Pet. 3. 18. He ascended into Heaven To prepare us a place whereto we had no right To assure us that our flesh is gone before To send us the Holy Spirit He was received up into Heaven He was parted from them and carried up to Heaven We have a High Priest that is Passed into the Heavens He that descended is the same which ascended far above all Heavens I go to prepare a place for you Having boldness to enter into the Holiest by the blood of Iesus And hath raised us up together and made us sit in Heavenly places together I will pray the Father and he shall give you another
commanded as a Law by God to Adam in Paradise by prohibiting the Tree And if he had fasted from that Tree we had not needed to have fasted we are sick by sin let us be healed by repentance but repentance without fasting is in vain So he The Flesh had need to be kept under the Soul like a servant left it rebell and to be held in with this bit for let but the reins loose and the flesh will run headlong to perdition Prayer is good with fasting c. And God saith Turn unto me with fasting The Prayer and Alms of Cornelius ascended to Heaven Wilt thou have thy Prayers fly to Heaven make it two wings Fasting and Alms. We are to give alms saith he in this regard that we may be heard when we deprecate Gods anger for our sins past By Mercy and Truth iniquity is purged Who so stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard Give alms of such things as you have and all things shall be clean to you Break off thine iniquities by shewing mercy on the poor saith Daniel to Nebuchadnezzer Lastly The most powerful act of Repentance is godly sorrow accompanied with groans sighs and tears They are the blood of a wounded soul. They ascend unto the nostrils of God as the Odour of a sweet smelling Sacrifice God suffereth them not to be spent in vain but gathereth them David every nighe in thought of his offences washed his bed and watered his couch with them God promiseth that if we come weeping he will lead us in mercy And therefore commandeth it as a chief demonstration of our hearty Repentance Saint Peter after his denial of Christ wept bitterly but said nothing We find that he wept not what he said He made choice to repent rather with tears and no words than with words and no tears Recte flevit tacuit quia quod defleri solet non solet excusari Mary Magdalen wept but said nothing yet Christ said to her thy sins are forgiven thee Ezechias wept sore The Lord said I have heard thy prayers and seen thy tears and added fifteen years to his life Lachrymae tacitae quodammodo preces sunt veniam non postulant merentur Sufficit auribus Domini imber oculorum fletus citius audit quam voces Let the wicked therefore forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord. To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts If we will not hear this voice of his Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand He will stop his ears to us when we cry Lord open unto us though we cry with tears as Esau did for his Fathers blessing who found no way of changing his Fathers mind though he sought it with tears carefully when it was too late For though tears prevail in their due time and happy is he that can shed them Yet when the door is shut God will say to the impenitent sinner as he said to the foolish Virgins I know ye not The Duty of Repentance THis duty of Repentance consisteth of two parts 1. Mortification of the old Man which is the first degree of Regeneration 2. Quickning of the new which is the second 1. Mortification is an act of the Holy Spirit in us who doth by little and little quench and abate in our souls and bodies the natural strength of our corruption which was crept into us partly Originally by Adams fall which is that we mean by the Old man and partly that Sin which we have actually increased by our own frailty It consisteth 1. In our acknowledgement of Sin 2. In our Contrition and Sorrow Both which are set down in one Verse of the Psalmist 1. Our acknowledgement is either 1. Inward 2. Outward 1. Inward acknowledgement is when we feel the burden of our sins pressing us down our Consciences accusing us and our thoughts testifying against us 2. Outward is when we make Confession of them by speech or other outward actions And this Confession of sin is a publication or manifestation of our unworthiness and guilt whereby we testifie and bewail that we have sinned against God and have withall a setled resolution and purpose to offend him no more Confession is either Publick Private Publick Confession is when upon the Lords Day or other dayes appointed for Gods Worship we in the open Congregation together or after the Minister do confesse our sins to God Private is either 1. To God in our Closets or other private places as Ps. 32. 5. 38. 9. 18. 41. 4. 51. 2 Sam. 24. 10. Dan. 9. 2. To men Jam. 5. 16. 2. Contrition is a sorrow and grief of the Conscience and mourning of the Soul because we have offended God having also joyned with it a displeasure against our selves and a true humiliation both of souls and bodies as Iam. 4. 9. Esa. 66. 2. Eze. 36. 1. 41. 10. Ion. 3. 8. 2 Kings 22. 19. Matt. 5. 4. 2 Cor. 7. 9 10 11. Quickning of the new man is when we returning to God live spiritually and have a desire for the time to come to please Him this is also called a Conversion to God And this we do 1. By avoiding evil 2. Following that which is good Both comprehended in Psa. 34.14 Esa. 1. 16 17. The Benefits we receive by Repentance are The deferring of Gods punishments due for sin The mitigation of his displeasure The averting of his judgements The escaping of eternal death The prolonging of our prosperity The attaining of eternal life Confession of Sins VVHo will give water to my head or tears to mins eyes that I may day and night bewail my sins and ingratitude against thee O God my Creator Many things there are which terrifie mens Consciences and bring them to the true sense of their sins but nothing is so available thereunto as the contemplation of the greatness of thy goodness and the multitude of thy benefits That therefore O Lord my poor wretched soul may the better see and consider in what state it stands I will recount thy manifold blessings and the number of my sins that thereby also I may more clearly understand who thou art and what I am how gracious a God thou hast been to me and how rebellious a sinner I have been to thee There was a time O Lord as thy Divine Majesty best knoweth when I was not and thou tookest me out of the dust of the Earth and gavest me a being creating in me a Soul after thine own similitude and made it capable of thy glory Thou didst create my body with all the members and senses thereof and my soul with all the powers and faculties thereof And as thou didst create me so thou didst preserve me
should any longer sustain me or that I should expect any thing from thee but thy severest Iudgement For if thou sparedst not Lucifer and his Angels for one only sin Pride but didst cast them from Heaven to be reserved for everlasting chains of darknesse unto the Iudgement of the great Day what can I hope or look for that have offended thee not in one offence alone but in all kind of transgressions For my sins are in number numberless insomuch that I hate my self for my madness that from so noble a liberty I am fallen into so base a servitude and find my self overwhelmed with the horrible dread of thy fearful Iudgements Yet when I behold and consider that infinite mercy of thine which surpasseth all the rest of thy works I am a little refreshed and my Soul is a little comforted and revived For as by the examination of the hainousness of my sins and the strictness of thy Iustice I did almost despair So considering and weighing the testimonies of thy Servants left upon record for the comfort of poor distressed souls I am somewhat again cheared and raised up For besides those places of consolation and many more I find by divers Parables and Similitudes of thine own how ready and propense thou art to receive and pardon the Penitent As by the lost Penny the lost Sheep and by the Prodigal Son whose Image I find in my self and whose life mine doth fully parallel Wherefore O Lord I humbly intreat thee to restore me thy lost Son to thy favour and withall to give me the true sense and knowledge of the innocency I have lost I do not desire that thou shouldest deal so kindly with me as that Father did with his Son but I shall be happy and glad if thou wilt entertain me as one of the meanest of thy hired servants My hope and confidence is that thou wilt pitty me because thou art the fountain of pitty and compassion Behold me therefore with the eyes of pitty look on me and ease me who come unto thee laden with the heavy burden of my sins pardon them and save me for thy infinite mercy and remember not my sins but thine own sufferings think not on me as a proud and rebellious Malefactor but as an humble and penitent Convert Look on me with those eyes of compassion wherewith thou didst sometime behold Mary Magdalen Peter and the good Thief Give me true knowledge of my sins with the first true contrition with the second and receive me with the third into thy Heavenly Paradise Let thy obedience satisfie for my rebellions thy innocency for my guilt thy humility for my arrogancy thy fasting for my intemperance and thy justice for my iniquity Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me whole and restore me to thy former grace Purifie purge and cleanse me from mine offences and open mine eyes that I may clearly see mine own pollution and make me to grieve that I have not grieved for my sins as I ought to have done And as thou hast by thy long-suffering hitherto expected my repentance so of thy infinite mercy and goodness pardon me repenting and grant me grace that I may be afraid to offend thee hereafter Hear me O sweet Saviour make intercession for me to the Father with whom and the Holy Spirit thou dost live and reign coequal and coeternal Lord God world without end Amen Confession of Sins I confess O Lord That I was shaped in wickedness and in sin my Mother conceived me That I was brought forth in uncleanness That I am a root of bitterness A wild vine of Sodom A branch of the wild olive The child of wrath A vessel of dishonour and perdition That my heart is rebellious like a starting bow That my throat is an open sepulcher venting all folly That I am of polluted lips That my tongue talketh nothing but vanity That mine eyes are evil prone to lust That mine ears are uncircumcised and like to the deaf Adder That I have a forhead of brass and a neck of iron That my hands are slow to good That my feet are swift to evil I have sinned against thee O Lord and in thy sight not fearing thy Majesty My Sins are In quantity Large and of a great size Of long continuance From my Mothers breasts Deep Heavy Like a burden Like lead Stretching to Heaven with their cry Many in number Like the Stars More than the hairs of my head The sands of the Sea Oftentimes reiterated As a Fountain casting out water Till they became as a habit As red as scarlet and crimson I am sold under sin Till they become natural to me Like the AEthiopians skin The Leopards spots In quality The worst of sins Strong like cords and cart-ropes Gaining nothing thereby For a handful of barley a little bread Committing sin with greediness Sin upon sin With impudence Not being ashamed Knowing it to be sin Giving offence thereby Unthankfully Like the Dog to the vomit Like the Sow to the mire Therefore O Lord because thou art just and thy judgements true I reap the fruit of my foolishness For what fruit have I in those things whereof I am ashamed My dayes are consumed in vanity and my years in the bitternesse of my soul. And now there is no health in my flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any rest in my bones by reason of my sin My heart trembleth also with remembrance of thy Iudgements I feel bitterness above the bitterness of death in that I have forsaken thee O God and that thou hast forsaken me Woe unto me rebellious Wretch for thus doing See and consider O Lord how vile I am become for my Soul abhorreth to live I have roared for the disquietness of my heart And what shall I now say or wherein shall I open my mouth What shall I answer seeing I have done these things Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me out of this body of death When I have not what I can further say or do this only remaineth this is my last refuge that I direct mine eyes to thee Out of the deep have I called to thee O Lord Lord hear my voice If thou Lord shouldest be extream to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it Enter not into judgement with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no man living be justified Wherefore O Lord I appeal from Thee to Thee From Thee a just Iudge To Thee a merciful Father From the Throne of thy Iustice To the Seat of thy Mercy O Lord be pleased to admit of this appeal If thou do not I perish And O Lord carest thou not that I perish
and sorrow encline thine ear of pity unto me and that right soon and speedily 3 For my dayes which I have mis-spent are consumed away like smoke which for want of substance dissolveth to nothing and my bones which by my broken spirit are dryed up are burnt up as a fire-brand 4 My heart is dejected and smitten with the thought of thy Justice and it is withered with remembrance of thy Judgements like grass without juyce or sap so that in this anguish of Soul I forget and loath to eat my bread 5 By reason of the grievous voice of my groaning sighs and tears I am so consumed away that my bones for want of flesh cleave to my skin and I am nothing but skin and bone 6 I am for shame that I have offended thee become in condition like a Pelican that liveth solitarily in the Wilderness and I am like an Owl not daring to be seen but that avoideth the light and is continually in the Desert shunning the company of other Birds 7 I watch and sleep not for the thought of my sins and am as a Sparrow that caring for no company sitteth alone making grievous lamentation in a mournful note upon the house-top 8 Mine Enemies seeing me thus penitent reproach me with opprobrious speeches all the day continually deriding me and they that while I was their companion in sin applauded me are upon my conversion mad against me and do combine and are sworn to do me mischief and to that end set themselves against me 9 For this cause taking no pleasure in this world I have eaten ashes and fed upon course meat like as it were fine bread and dainty fare and I have mingled my drink with tears weeping and lamenting for my sinnes 10 Because of thine indignation against me for them and thy wrath for my bad life past all this evil and more hath befallen me for thou hast lifted me up very high and from thence hast cast me down that my fall might be the greater 11 My dayes few and evil are passed like a shadow upon a Sun-Dyal that declineth toward the Evening and I that lately seemed to flourish am withered and dryed up like grass without sap for want of thy comfort 12 But thou O Lord which wert and art shalt continue immutable and shalt endure for ever while all transitory things pass and come to nothing and thy glorious works shall be had in remembrance unto all generations even unto the end of the world 13 Thou O Lord who seemest to men to sleep shalt arise in thy strength and have mercy and compassion upon Sion thy Church militant now oppressed with the tyranny of Antichrist for the time to look upon her and favour her is at hand yea the set time which thou hast decreed for her deliverance is or will not be long ere it come 14 For they which be thy true and faithfull Servants take pleasure and delight in her stones their fellow Servants and are glad when they see them prosper and favour and pity the very dust and ruines thereof when they see them under persecution 15 So that when they shall be delivered from their misery the very heathen shall fear and tremble at the Name of the Lord and be converted to him and all the Kings and Potentates on earth which now oppose the truth shall acknowledge thee O Lord to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and be afraid at the greatness of thy glory and Majesty 16 When the Lord by his almighty power shall build up Sion and repair the ruines of his Church he shall then to the confusion of his enemies appear in his glory which they shall not be able to endure 17 He will then in mercy regard and hearken to the prayer of his poor servants and the destitute of his help and not any longer seem to turn away his face from them nor despise their prayer and earnest supplications 18 This mercy of his shall then be recorded and written as a remembrance for the generations to come even to the end of the world which shall attempt the like against his Church and the people yet unborn that shall succeed and be created in ages to come shall praise and magnifie the Lord which only doth marvellous things 19 For he hath in mercy by sending his Son Christ Jesus looked down from the height of his Sanctuary his holy place even from Heaven his Fathers bosom did the Lord Jesus behold the Earth and had compassion upon all the Sons of men 20 To hear and pity the groaning of the Prisoners such as did groan under the burden of the Law and to loose and set at liberty by his passion and intercession those of the posterity of Adam that are appointed to suffer death for not fullfiling the same 21 To the end that they being so delivered may declare and shew the power and the Name of the Lord which is Jesus the Saviour in Sion his Church and magnifie and extol his praise in Ierusalem his holy habitation 22 When the faithful people which are yet dispersed over the face of the Earth are gathered together and made one Congregation and the Kingdoms of the Earth which are yet in darkness are instructed to serve thee the only Lord of Heaven and Earth 23 He even the Lord in the time of this expectation hath weakned and abated my strength so that I can do no good of my self in the way of this my earthly pilgrimage he hath shortned and cut off my dayes by afflicting me for my sin 24 I said yet in this weakness and anguish of my Soul O my God with-draw not now thy mercy from me and take me not away out of this world in the midst of my dayes the chief time of my strength as for thy years as they are from all eternity so shall they endure throughout all generations even for ever 25 Of old at the beginning of time hast thou of thine own power laid and created the Foundations of the Earth the visible World and all things in it and the Heavens and Firmament thereof are the only work of thy Almighty hands and power 26 They even Heaven and Earth and all things in them shall pass away and perish from the form they now have but thou O Lord the Creator of them shalt endure immutable Yea without all doubt all of them as thou hast decreed shall wax old and consume with age like a garment long worn and as a vesture or garment shalt thou by the sound of the last Trump change and dissolve them and they shall yield to thy power and be changed 27 But thou O Lord art the same alwayes unchangeable and thy years being from all Eternity shall have no end but continue for ever 28 The Children and posterity of thy faithful Servants begotten by the seeds-men of thy Word shall continue in grace in this life and their righteous seed shall stand fast and be established for ever together with
taking of it to prepare his Soul and fit it for the due receiving of it and not come to it carelesly without due examination of himself and respective consideration of the excellency and worth thereof And therefore before the time of communicating we ought to spend some hours or dayes the more the better in meditating upon the great and unspeakable love and mercy of God towards us miserable sinners in ordaining so powerful a means to purge and cleanse us and bring us to him in believing all his promises made to us in Christ Iesus in applying them to our selves in performing the works of charity in examining in what estate our Souls do stand in calling to mind our sins and confessing them to God in grieving and repenting for them and that in all humility and godly sorrow in returning with the Prodigal smiteing our breasts with the Publican weeping with Mary Magdalen begging mercy with the Thief on the Cross and lastly in promising to God to lead a better life for the time to come Thus if we do no doubt but we shall be welcome Guests to this Feast as being of that number for whom it was prepared For by how much the more we come prepared to take this Sacrament so much the greater shall be the grace which we shall receive by it There are four Duties required in every Communicant First Faith to believe that Iesus Christ did and suffered all things which are written of him in the Holy Scriptures for the Redemption of Mankind Secondly Repentance by which a man confessing his sins to God with a purpose to lead a new life is reconciled to him Thirdly Reverend Behaviour that in all humility we make our selves fit Guests for such a Feast Fourthly Meditation and Attention that we during tht time of the administration of the Sacrament attend no earthly thoughts but wholly fix our Souls upon our Saviour Christ and meditate on nothing but this great and high benefit and thereby be enflamed with a hearty love and thankful mind to God not only for his infinite love in suffering so great things for us but also for instituting this blessed Sacrament to remain to the end of the World as a sure pledge of his continuance among us and perpetual care over us After we have communicated and are refreshed we ought also to be thankful to God for so great a benefit Thankfulness being not the least Duty of this Service The Sacrament it self being called Eucharistia which is Thanksgiving and to strive to imitate him as well in life as death to live purely and not to defile our Souls again being purged and cleansed by the powerful operation of this blessed Sacrament that so by Examination Meditation Thanksgiving and constant Resolution of Amendment We may worthily receive Christ into our Souls and be made members of his mystical body Meditations and Prayers before the Communion VVHat am I O Lord that I should be so bold as to come near to thee what am I that I should attempt to receive this so great and high mystery what is man by nature but a vessel of corruption unapt to any good propense and most ready to any evil What is man but a creature of all others most wretched blind in judgement inconstant in his actions unclean in his desires and though small in desert yet proud and great in his own conceit Thou seest O Lord what I am But thou O Lord art great good wise and eternal omnipotent in strength wonderfull in wisdom deep in thy counsells terrible in thy judgements and absolutely perfect in all thy works How then dare I that am so base and unclean a creature approach to the Feast of so great a God and a Lord of so great a Majesty Behold the Heavens are not clean in thy sight and the Pillars of Heaven shake and tremble at thy word Saint Iohn the Baptist who was sanctified in his Mothers Womb professed himself not worthy to unloose the latchet of thy shooes Saint Peter cryed out to thee to depart from him a sinfull man How then can I the chief of all sinners but tremble at thy presence O Lord I fear that being thus wretched and unfit I shall not be admitted to this Feast but rather be repelled for want of a wedding garment even the garment of a sanctified Soul For my whole life hath been so wretchedly and lewdly spent and my dayes have been so wickedly wasted that I hourly seem to renew thy passion Many a time I have with Iudas sold thee for a small sum of pleasure or profit and now in coming to receive thee unworthily what doe I else but with him betray thee with a kiss How then shall I dare to receive thee in so desperate and wicked estate How canst thou abide or dwell in so loathsome a Dungeon wherein there is no part room or corner clean O Lord I acknowledge mine unworthiness and yet withall thy mercies are not hid from me and by them I am encouraged to come with confidence unto thee for by how much the unworthier I come unto thee by so much the more will thy mercy be glorified if thou do not reject me Lord thou art not wont to put sinners back but to call and set them forward to repentance Wherefore O Lord animated by thy calling and invitation I come unto thee overburthened with the weight of my sins hoping to find ease and relief of thee Thy custome while thou wert upon earth was to receive sinners and to eat with them and thy delight was to be with the Sons of men If thou O Lord be still pleased with such guests behold one here at this time of that kind a notorious sinner I verily believe thou tookest more pleasure in the tears of the sinfull Woman than in the great feast of the proud Pharisee and for a few tears of hers didst forgive many sins unto her Behold O Lord new matter offered for thy great mercy to work upon Here lyeth a sinner who hath many more sins than she but fewer tears by many who though he hath more grievously offended yet doth more carelesly bewayle his offences than she did She was neither the first nor the last whom thou in thy mercy didst receive to favour O Lord let me also be one of the subjects of this thy mercy and although I have not tears sufficient to wash thy feet yet thou hadst shed drops of blood more than sufficient to cleanse my sins I read O Lord in the Gospel that all that were diseased flocked to thee and by that vertue which came out of thee were healed and I verily perswade my self that thy Nature is not changed for in thee is and will be to the end of the world health and remedy for all griefs and thou art readier to make us whole than we are to ask health of thee I know O Lord that this Sacrament which I so earnestly
Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Which forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thine infirmities Which saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth hee with mercy and living kindness Which satisfieth thy mouth with good things c. Motives to Thanksgiving IT is not the least part of the Duty of a Christian in the sight of God to be thankful to him for the benefits he daily bestoweth upon us For as God is kind merciful and loving to us so he expecteth that we should render back thanks to him for those blessings which we receive from him For we have nothing else to retribute to him but a thankful memorial of his blessings And this King David well understood when he said What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving c. As therefore we ought to be diligent in Prayer for those things we want so ought we also to be perpetually thankful for them when we have obtained what we desire And when we have done al that we can we cannot give him due praise and thanks for the least part of that which we daily receive For if we respect that which is past present or to come we shall still meet with matter enough which expresseth his goodness and love to us and exacteth this Duty from us If we consider that which is past then we shall soon perceive that but for him we had not been at all nor been preserved hitherto amongst so many dangers without his protection If that which is present we cannot but acknowledge that by his alone goodness we live and enjoy those blessings wherewith we are loaded beyond desert If that which is to come he is our hope of all good things which we desire or expect either for this life or for the life to come And as God accounteth Thanksgiving a Duty so he taketh it for an Honour done unto him if we perform it He hath so much esteemed of it alwayes even from the beginning that he reputed and accounted it above the rest of the Sacrifices offered unto him Besides we may consider that in the Law God himself instituted a peculiar and special Sacrifice of oblation of thanks For the Feast of the Paschal Lamb was no other thing but an Eucharistical or thankful service in remembrance of the wonderfull deliverance of the Jews from their servitude Our Saviour also instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist for a perpetual remembrance and memorial of all his benefits to Mankind especially of our Redemption by his death Hester established a Feast to preserve a thankfull memory of the Jews deliverance from the plots of Haman And in brief it was generally evermore the practice of Gods Saints to express this Duty as may be seen by many Songs Hymnes Psalms and Prayers of Thanksgiving which are left unto us in the Scriptures as patterns for us to imitate Of Moses and Miriam Of Moses alone Of Deborah Of Hanna Of David in divers places of the Psalms Of good King Ezechias Of Jonas Of the Prophet Habakkuk Of the three Chirldren Of the Angels Of Zachary Of the Blessed Virgin Mary Of the Church And of the Elders And after those examples of necessity we must frame our selves for be sure of this That whensoever praise and thanks shall sail and be wantiug on our parts towards God then presently God will withdraw his hand of mercy and bounty from us Thanksgiving I Thank thee O merciful Father Lord of Heaven and Earth for all thy mercies and favours continually heaped upon me for that thou hast not only created me after thine own Image and likeness and given to me a body with all the parts and members thereof and a soul with all the powers and faculties thereof that with them and by them I might know love and serve thee but that thou hast so graciously preserved both body and soul from time to time from all dangers Thou hast alwayes been my refuge in tribulations and my defence and succour in adversities When I went astray thou didst reduce me into the right away when I offended thee thou didst gently correct me when I was sad thou didst comfort me and when for the grievousness of my sins I was ready to despair thou of thy mercy and compassion didst strengthen me and keep me from utter ruine I acknowledge O Lord thy more than fatherly indulgence toward me from my birth to this present time for unless thou of thy goodness hadst upheld me I had long ere this time been drowned and overwhelmed in the bottomless gulf of my sins But thou hast delivered me from the jawes of the roaring Lyon who hath daily sought to devour me and hast defended me from all his snares and assaults And as thou hast of thy mercy preserved my soul from destruction so thou hast oftentimes delivered my body from the gates of death when many sicknesses and infirmities took hold of me I thank thee also O Lord for all other thy temporal blessings which thou in plentiful manner hast heaped on me as Food Rayment Wealth Possessions and Children For my health and liberty for the prerogative which thou hast given me over all thy creatures in their subjection to my service and use I thank thee also O sweet Saviour for the infinite work of my Redemption and for thy exceeding great love in accomplishing that great work that thou wouldest suffer so many torments sorrows labours and griefs yea so bitter and disgraceful a death even the death of Malefactors to redeem me from a most desperate and certain state of damnation which I most justly have fallen into to a state of glory and immortality which I by no means could have deserved I thank thee also O Lord most holy for all other thy spiritual graces and blessings as my Regeneration Vocation Sanctification for thy blessed Sacraments for my Preservation and hope of Glorification O Lord I am not sufficient to render unto thee condign thanks and praises for all these thy mercies yet accept I humbly pray thee these poor and weak thanks which I offer unto thee according to my bounden duty and service For as there is no hour of my life wherein I do not enjoy thy favours and taste of thy goodness so if my frailty would permit I should spend no time of my life without remembring them and praising and blessing thee for the same Glory be therefore to thee O Lord my Creator Glory be to thee O Iesus my Redeemer Glory be to thee O Holy Ghost my Sanctifier Glory to the high and undivided Trinity whose works are inseparable and whose dominion endureth world without end Another ALmighty and everliving God I humbly thank thy Heavenly Majesty for all thy blessings which thou hast vouchsafed to me poor and sinful
mysteries of life eternal for converting us from evil conversation to newness of life and for sanctifying us to life everlasting for directing us in the works of truth and governing us in our temporal affairs O glorious and sacred Trinity infuse into us we beseech thee such measure of thy grace that we may be dayly mindfull of all these thy blessings Pardon all our former ingratitude and negligence in that we have been no more zealous to love thee nor more carefull to serve thee and so forgetfull to thank thee for all thy benefits and mercies Illuminate our hearts that we may firmly beleeve in thee devoutly call upon thee and obediently execute thy holy Will that at the last we may by the merits and passion of thee O Saviour attain to that heavenly Mansion where thou O blessed Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity abidest world without end I thank thee O Lord For my Creation my being my well being That I am indued with Reason That I am A civil man A Christian. Freeborn Ingenious Of honest Parents That I am sound in mind Senses Body That I am well brought up taught I thank thee For thy gifts of Nature Grace Estate For delivering me from Danger Infamy Trouble For the health of my body A Competency of Estates Friends Children Kindred I thank thee O Lord For thy Redemption Regeneration Instruction Vocation Consolation Illumination Iustification Hope of glorification For thy patience toward me For thy Grace preventing me For Governing me For thy Continual care over me For Strengthning me in tentation For Reproving me in evil For Assisting me in good For the Conjunction of my heart For the hopes of pardon for my sins For the benefits I have received For any good done by me For all those that have done me good by their Writings Sermons Conferences Prayers Examples Reproofs Injuries For all and every of these and for all other known or unknown remembred or forgotten I confess and will confess thee I bless and will bless thee I thank and will thank thee as the Author and Giver of them all Seven Psalms of Thanksgiving Paraphrased Psalm 8. O Lord our God Creator and Preserver of all things how excellent glorious and reverend is thy great and holy Name not in one particular Nation only but in all the Kingdoms of the Earth who as thou hast magnified thy Name in the Earth so hast thou set and extolled thy glory above the Heavens also 2 Out of the mouths and tongues of babes and sucklings even very Infants hast thou because men of riper years and understanding neglect thy glory ordained strength and given little Children ability to praise thee because of the malice of thine Enemies the principalities of this world that thou mightest by this thy great wisdom and power still the tongues suppress the blasphemous speeches of the Enemy and Avenger when he shall see that by such weak means thou canst effect so great matters 3 When I consider and duly weigh thy Heavens and the glorious frame thereof the work of thy fingers made and created only by thee together with the Moon and the Stars and other beautiful Lights of Heaven which thou at the beginning of time hast ordained of nothing I cannot but in the depth of admiration say 4 What is man for whose use and service thou hast made them and all things in this world and him to serve thee That thou so great and glorious a God art mindful of him in so large a manner and what is the Son of man the posterity of sinful Adam that thou in such measure of mercy visitest and regardest him 5 For if I look unto his Creation and consider whose Image he beareth I find that thou hast made him in all respects very little lower in degree than the pure Angels who are honoured with thy presence and hast of thy bounty and especial favour crowned him with glory and honour in making him so glorious a Creature 6 Thou madest and hast appointed him also thy Vicegerent on Earth to have dominion and command over thy Creatures the works of thy hands and Creation thou hast subjected and put all things which thou hast made under his feet to obey and serve him 7 All Sheep and Oxen Beasts for his food and sustentation yea and not those only but the untamed beasts of the field also hast thou made plyable and serviceable to him 8 The Fowl of the Air some for food and some for pleasure and delight and the Fish of the vast Sea which is stored with variety and whatsoever else passeth swimmeth or liveth through the unknown pathes of the Sea are also created by thee to serve him 9 O Lord our Lord when I seriously consider thy power and wisdom in thy work of Creation and the especial honour and favour thou shewest to Mankind in giving him this large Commission over the rest of thy Creatures I cannot but admire and say how excellent and great is thy Name and Power in all the Kingdomes of the World There is none O Lord worthy to be compared to thee Glory be to the Father to the Son and to the Holy Ghost c. Psalm 30. I Will extoll thee and praise thy Name O Lord as long as I live and not without great cause for thou in thy mercy hast lifted me up and endowed me with thy blessings and hast not made no nor suffered my Foes to work their will against me who intended if thou hadst forsaken me to rejoyce and triumph over me 2 O Lord my God and Saviour I cryed and made my humble supplication unto thee in my trouble and adversity and thou of thy accustomed goodness didst graciously hear me and hast healed me of all mine infirmities 3 O Lord thou by the power of thy grace hast brought up and restored to life my sinful soul from the grave of perdition whereinto my sins had well nigh cast me Thou hast in thy love to me kept me alive and preserved me from many dangerous sicknesses that I should not yet go down into the pit of death but live and praise thy holy Name 4 Sing and rejoyce unto the Lord our God O ye Saints and faithful people of his who have with me felt and tasted of his mercy and give thanks together with me at the remembrance and consideration of his holiness 5 For his anger and displeasure endureth towards sinners but a moment and short space if they truly turn unto to him and if we seriously consider his mercies we shall find that in his favour is life to those that lye desparately sick in their sins if he but touch them with his finger of grace as for weeping heaviness and affliction it may and of necessity must sometime befall his servants but yet it shall endure and afflict them for a night a little while only but joy and comfort commeth again to refresh them in the morning by sending the light of his countenance upon them 6 And
a short time he is no more seen nor his remembrance shall be no where found 16 For as the wind and storms passeth over it and every flower and presently it is gone and withered and the place thereof where it grew shall not know it not bear it any more So Man after he hath a while felt the troubles and storms of this World shall soon dye and be forgotten and the place of his being will be no more known 17 But yet the mercy and loving kindness of the Lord to the Sons of Men is and was from everlasting and shall continue to everlasting to the end of the World and shall ever be upon them especially that with unfeigned hearts serve love and fear him and his righteousness in all his promises shall be accomplished to his servants and unto their Childrens Children their posterity through many generations 18 To such especially as forget not his Commandements faithfully keep and observe his Covenant and to those that remember and be mindful of his Commandements and frame themselves to do them 19 The Lord who commandeth the observance of his Laws is most worthy of all honour and not to be neglected for he hath before the Foundations of the World prepared his Throne and Seat of Majesty in the Heavens where he is attended on by the glorious Company of Angels and his Kingdom is not straitned or limited to one peculiar Place or Country but he ruleth and commandeth over all People and Nations 20 Bless therefore the Lord that is so mighty ye that be his holy Angels magnifie and laud his holy Name ye that excell in strength and that gladly do and execute his Commandements and that by hearkning unto and obeying the voice of his Word willingly execute his will and pleasure 21 Bless ye and praise I say the Lord your and our God all ye his Heavenly Hosts ye blessed Angels ye that are Ministers and Servants of his that willingly and gladly execute and do his pleasure 22 Bless and praise together with one accord the Lord our God all his works which he hath created for the celebration of his glory wheresover ye remain in all places of his Dominion even every where And lastly as I began with thee O my Soul to stir thee up to his praise so I end with the same excitation Bless Praise Laud and Magnifie the Lord thy God O my Soul to whom he hath ever been so gracious and merciful Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 111. I Will praise the Lord and give thanks unto his holy Name with my whole heart and that not only in my private Devotions but in the publick Assembly and Meeting of the Upright in heart and in the Congregation of the Faithful the Church also 2 The wondrous works of the Lord our God even from the beginning thorow all ages even to this time are so great and glorious that worthily he alone deserveth to be magnified for them they are sought out and searched into of all them that have pleasure and delight in meditating and contemplating therein 3 His work in the Creation and Fabrique of the Universe is honourable and glorious of all his Creatures worthily to be admired and his Righteousness and Equity his Care and Providence in the preservation and government of it is likewise to be magnified because it is permanent and endureth for ever 4 He hath made and perfected his wonderful works with such wisdom and power that they ought to be remembred and his Name to be celebrated for them And as he is omnipotent so the Lord is also gracious and loving to his Servants and full of compassion plenteous in mercy to every repentant sinner 5 He hath of his providence and bounty ever given meat and all other necessaries to them that fear and serve him yea and he as he hath formerly so will he ever to the end of the World be mindfull of his Covenant of Grace to his Servants 6 He hath shewed and manifested to his people his elect the power and efficacy of his great works not only in the creation but in the Redemption of mankind that he may give unto them that are in Chirst the heritage of the heathen according to the promise made to our fore-fathers 7 The works of his hands all his actions are done in verity and Iudgement and all his Commandements are sure just holy and worthy to be observed 8 They stand fast and are setled firm for ever and ever to the end of the world and they are done and commanded upon good grounds in truth and uprightness as being enjoyned by the Author of Truth and Equity 9 He in the fulness of time sons Redemption and Salvation unto his Elect People by Jesus Christ he hath commanded his Covenant of the New Testament for ever to be observed by them and it concerneth them carefully to keep it because he which commanded it is a jealous God and severe to transgressors and Holy reverend is his Name 10 The filial fear of the same holy and reverend Lord is the beginning and basis of all true wisdom which whosoever hath not attained to is not really wise howsoever he may be esteemed by the world but a good and perfect understanding have they and they are truly wise indeed that do his Commandements and keep his Precepts his praise and remembrance endureth for-ever and continueth throughout all generations Glory be to the Father c. Psalm 138. I Will praise and blesse thee O Lord with my whole heart with all my strength yea before the Gods in the presence of thy holy Angels will I sing praise and laud unto thee 2 I will worship in fear and reverence towards thy holy Temple dedicated to thy honour and service and I will praise thy holy and great Name for two of thy blessings especially namely for thy loving kindness in comforting distressed sinners and for thy Truth in performing thy promises for thou thy self hast preferred and magnified thy Word of Truth above all the Attributes of thy Name else whatsoever 3 In the day and time of my affliction when I cryed unto thee by earnest prayer thou didst not stop thine ears but graciously answeredst me yea and strengthned me with thy Grace and strength in my Soul 4 All the Kings and mighty men of the earth be they never so high in condition shall and may worthily praise thee without disparagement to themselves when they by the preaching of the Gospel hear the words of thy mouth which are nothing but Truth 5 Yea they shall sing and rejoyce in excercising themselves in the wayes and Commandements of the Lord for great and unutterable is the glory and Majesty of the Lord of Hosts 6 Though the Lord our God be high and his Majesty be above all things yet in his abundant mercy hath he respect unto the lowly in their own eyes and the more humble they are the more he regardeth them but as for the proud and those
from the servitude of sin The First Commandement Thou shalt have no other Gods before me HAving as it were setled in our hearts his Authority and Power to prescribe and make Laws unto us his just precept is that We have no other Gods before him 1. Neither by abating any reverence due to him But to worship him with all our heart By acknowledging him to be the only true God By honouring serving and praising him above all things By trusting and relying wholly upon him By expecting all good from him By humbling our selves before him and patiently bearing whatsoever he shall please to lay upon us and subjecting our wills wholly to his 2 Not by attributing any honour to other Gods or Idols or putting any confidence in Saints or Angels Earthly Pleasures Riches Honour or the like lest we offend thereby As Rachel did by asking Children of Iacob As the King of Syria by desiring Ioram to heal Naamans leprosie As Asa by too much trusting to his Physicians As the Fool in the Gospel trusting to his riches Neither secretly in thy heart Nor in the view of God and the World openly Not but that God is every where and seeth into the secret corners of our hearts and is Omniscient but to set a note or brand of impudence upon us for our indignity to him if we shall make open profession of our Idolatry to any false God or Idol in worshipping it or of our excessive love or doting upon any Creature by putting confidence in it neglecting our dependance on God who is only able by his Omnipotency to releive us This Commandement enjoyneth the inward worship of God The Second Commandement Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image AS in the first Commandement God requireth that we worship him only inwardly so in this he forbiddeth all undue and indirect outward worshipping of him and enjoyneth us not to make any resemblance to worship him by because he is a Spirit and is only to be worshipped in Spirit and Truth It consisteth of two parts 1. A prohibition of making any Image representing the Divine Godhead 2. Of exhibiting any worship to any Image And that 1. Because he is incomprehensible cannot be represented in any form visible 2. Because he is able to punish the contemners of his Name And to bless his true Worshippers 1. Therefore we are not to grave or make any Image or resemblance of him For when he gave the Law saith Moses he appeared in no manner of similitude To whom then will ye liken God or to what likeness will ye compare him 2. Neither are we to make the likeness of any thing to worship it For as we ought not to make any resemblance of him so neither when we make the similitude of any thing else the true use of making Pictures and the like being lawful not to worship or attribute any honour to it Not that all Images are hereby forbidden 1. For some in the Old Testament were Typical The Brazen Serpent being the Type of Christ. The two Cherubins on the Ark represented the Majesty of God attended by his Angels c. 2. Some are for Ornament many in the fabrique of the Temple and in the holy Vessels of it 3. Some Historical of stories either out of the Scriptures or of other Writers 4. Some for instruction in the nature of Beasts Cities and Countries Saint Paul saith that the Gentiles changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an Image like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things wherefore God gave them up to uncleanness c. 1. Either by bowing the body uncovering the head or bending the knee to them 2. Or by setting the same in any eminent place to worship them bestowing extraordinary cost on them making Pilgrimages to them or dedicating Altars Lamps or the like to them By this Commination he sheweth his power to punish Offenders and that he is able and all-sufficient to supply our wants likewise Like the jealous Husband who will have no partner in his love And suffereth no Corrival Competitor or Sharer in his Service My Son give me thy heart thy whole heart Punishing them that run after false Gods in many descents even as long as they shall continue in their idolatrous courses Though the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father yet this is so odious to him that he will take vengeance of the Idolatrous Generation As of the Iews in general Solomon and others 1. To shew how odious Idolatry is to him 2. To force men who naturally have a love and care to their posterity by this Commination to abstain from it left their issue be plagued Confounded be all they that worship carved Images and that delight in vain Gods The mercy of the LORD is over all his Works is over his Iustice. For whereas he punisheth Idolaters in his Iustice but to three or four generations He is merciful to thousands of those that worship him aright throughout all generations His reward is alwayes greater than his punishment Of his own nature more bent to shew mercy than to execute severity It is his proper work and suitable to his nature to have mercy but he is hardly drawn to punish as being a work altogether unsuitable to his disposition With their whole heart without hypocrisie and do not impart that worship to others which is due to him In obedience walking in his wayes All his Commandements but chiefly this concerning his worship The Third Commandement Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain The scope of which is to shew what reverence is due to God in our Conversation especially in the use or abuse of an Oath THe Name of the Lord which in it self is Holy True and Iust. And therefore we ought not to prophane it or take it in our mouths lightly or upon every small occasion Herein we offend When we blaspheme God either openly or in our hearts When we use his holy Word to any prophane scurrilous or impure end When we commit Perjury When we murmure against him When we leave his Providence and consult with Witches or the like When we swear upon trivial and light causes When we curse or use unlawful Imprecations When we perform not that which we faithfully promise When we in any action of our own detract from Gods glory and attribute and arrogate too much to our selves An Oath is to be ministred when the glory of God is questioned for some weighty matter urgeth it upon the Magistrates command And to be taken by those who are of years of discretion and in their right senses The Lord and Iudge of Heaven and Earth who seeth and observeth all our actions is so far from conniving at this
daily sinned and not repented considering that from the Infernal pit there is no redemption Be thou merciful to me O Lord and save me for thy Names sake and in thy strength deliver and comfort me I know O Lord that thy judgements are just and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled Oh let this light affliction which will quickly be gone cause unto me afterward a more excellent and eternal weight of glory In the midst of the sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts O Lord refresh my soul. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me round about yet thou dost destroy me Remember I beseech thee that thou hast made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me into the dust again Hast thou not powred me out like milk and curdled me like a cheese Thou hast cloathed me with skin and flesh and fenced me with bones and sinews Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit O Lord thou numberest my steps and dost set a watch over my sin My breath is corrupt my dayes are extinct the grave is ready for me I have said to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Worm Thou art my Mother and Sister Is there not an appointed time to man upon Earth and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling My dayes are swifter than a Post they flee away and see no good I know thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all the living Woe is me therefore O Lord that I have sinned What shall I do Whither shall I flee but to thee O Lord my God Be merciful to me in the last day My Soul is very much disquieted within me But Lord I require thy aid and comfort Be mindful O Lord of thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust and let thy mercy come unto me according to thy Promise For thou art my Maker and I am the work of thy hands Deliver me O Lord from eternal death in that day wherein Heaven and Earth shall be dissolved when thou comest to judge the Earth I am affrighted when I consider that day the day of thy wrath the day of misery that great and exceeding bitter day O Lord in that day where shall I hide my self from the face of thine anger O Lord when thou comest to Iudgement condemn me not I beseech thee but deliver from the Gates of Hell my poor Soul which I commend unto thee Acknowledge then O Lord thy Creature not made by any strange Gods but by thee the true and living God Make my Soul joyful with thy presence and remember not my sins but according to thy great mercy think upon me in that day for the merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ Amen A Prayer for the Sick ALmighty and most merciful Lord God who by the infirmities of this life dost put us in mind of our mortality and by these outward afflictions dost call us to inward Repentance I cry unto thee with my whole heart Rebuke me not in thine anger neither chasten me in thy displeasure Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Thou art He O Lord That woundest and healest again that killest and revivest that leadest to the Gates of Hell and bringest back again If this my sickness O Lord be not unto death help me on this my bed of infirmity and strengthen me If thou thinkest expedient rather that I should dye than live do with me according to thy good pleasure and receive my spirit to thy peace which I commend into thy hands who livest and reignest God of all mercy world without end AMEN Or thus O Merciful Lord God who of thy great mercy dost forgive the offences of those who truly repent mercifully look upon me thy poor servant and hearken unto me who humbly crave of thee remission of my sins Renew O Lord in me whatsoever is corrupt and decayed by the Devils malice or mine own frailty Pity my sighs pity my tears pity my groans vouchsafe to be reconciled to me that have confidence in nothing but thy meer mercy O Lord it grieveth me that I have offended thy Majesty and it grieveth me much that I can grieve no more than I do And I humbly pray thee by the Death Passion and Intercession of thy Son Christ Iesus to pardon my offences promising that if I recover my former health thy grace assisting me to abstain from displeasing thy Majesty hereafter I willingly O Lord and freely from my heart for thy sake forgive all offenders and offences against me and I heartily desire all those whom I have any way offended to forgive me O Lord though my natural man trembleth at the thought of death yet I profess that I am willing to dye if it be thy good pleasure I. have received life and all the blessings of this life from thee What shall I render back to thee for them I will willingly receive this Cup of Death and praise thy Name I commend into thy hands my Spirit And whether thou disposest of me to live or dye I resign it to thy good will and disposition and humbly pray thee that if thou seest it good for me to prolong my dayes on Earth that thou wouldest renew my conversation by the direction of thy Holy Spirit that I may pass those dayes in thy fear If thou be otherwise pleased to dispose of me take me I beseech thee into the armes of thy mercy for Iesus Christs sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Or Thus. O God of all Consolation who hast promised to hear all those that faithfully call upon thee and not to reject any that with a contrite heart and penitent soul shall humble himself before thee I humbly intreat thee in the Name and Mediation of thy Son Iesus Christ that thou wouldest be pleased to be merciful to me thy poor servant at this time afflicted with sickness O Lord pardon forget and blot out of thy remembrance whatsoever I have committed against thee in the whole course of my life Seal and confirm unto me by thy Spirit a pardon unto me for all my offences that I may thereby receive such comfort in my soul that I may with all joy and willingness depart out of this life unto thee Let me be certified That there is no condemnation to those which are united and ingrafted into Iesus Christ by Faith That I may be confident That neither my Sins Death the Devil nor ought else can draw me away or separate me from thee And that I may be assured that thy Throne will not be to me a Barr of Severity but a Haven of Safety and a sure Sanctuary and Refuge for me to flee unto Strengthen this Faith in me which may serve as a Buckler to defend me from all tentations and that