thy statutes may keep thy ordinances may do them and be thy people and thou our God So shalt thou make known the Name of thy holines in the midst of us shalt be sanctified in us in the presence of the Nations and we will consider in our hearts will regard and look on with our eyes will hearken unto with our eares what ere thou speakest unto us concerning all thy ordinances and thy Lawes Save thy flocke that it may not become a prey raise up Pastors thy servants that may feed it with wholsome food And let them whom thou hast set for watchmen in thine house hearken to the words of thy mouth and give warning from thee Give them a mouth opened amongst us that the sheep which are dispersed thorow the want of a shepheard and which are exposed to be devoured and they which err and are strayed out of the way over the whole surface of the earth may be drawn home and gathered in and that thou maiest feed them and give them rest seek out that which is lost bring back that which is driven away bind up that which is broken strengthen that which is sick and those that are afarr off amongst the Nations and those that are scattered upon the earth be thou unto them a safe Sanctuarie in the countries wherein they are Sanctifie thy great Name which hath been prophaned among the Nations let them know that thou art the Lord that thou maist be sanctified among them and that the earth may shine abroad with thy glorie A Prayer to be affected with Spirituall things and to renounce the world 23. LOrd we are rebellious against thy Truth and have not been obedient to thy righteousnes nor have put in practise thy Law whence our condemnation is just Yet Lord saith was imputed to Abraham for righteousnes Graunt it may be so also imputed to us and that we may obtaine mercy Seeing Christ died for us and he is the end of the Law righteousnes unto all beleevers and that whosoever beleeveth in him shall not be confounded And for that they that are according to the flesh are affectioned to the things of the flesh but they that are according to the spirit unto the things of the spirit And in as much as the affection of the flesh is death but the affection of the spirit is life and peace Let thy Spirit dwell in us and let us put on the Lord Iesus Christ and let us not be carefull for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Knowing that Christ being risen againe from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over him For in that he died he died once for sinne but in that he liveth he liveth unto thee Also we summe up thus our account that we are dead unto sin but live unto thee in Iesus Christ our Lord and that we shall appeare all before his judgment-Seat and that every one of us shall render an account for himself Let then thy feare be before our eyes having in horror all evill cleaving unto that which is good that we lay no stumbling block or occasion of falling before our brother but may walk in charity loving our neighbor as our selves being fervent in spirit serving thee joyfull in hope patient in tribulations persevering in prayer That we may offer up our bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing unto thee which is our reasonable service and let us not fashion our selves unto this present world But let us be transformed by the renewing of our understanding that we may search out what thy good pleasant and perfect wil is And be it that we live we may live unto thee be it wv die we may die unto thee that whether we live or whether we die we may be thine For therefore died Christ and rose againe and returned unto life that he might have dominion both over the dead and over the living We commend unto thee all thy Churches let the weak in faith be strengthened grant there may be the obedience of faith thorow out all nations Let every knee bow before thee and let every tongue give thee praise Let all nations praise thee Lord and let all people celebrate thee Relieve the poore and afflicted and make them partakers of spirituall good things Furnish them with the things of this life assist them in every thing they stand in need of thorow Iesus Christ Grace be with us and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Iesus Christ A Thankesgiving and a Prayer on the same subject 24. O Our God and Father which raisedst from the dead Iesus Christ who gave himselfe for our sinnes to the end that according to thy will he might withdraw us out of this evill world To thee be glory for ever and ever Amen 'T is thou Lord that hast called us by thy grace and hast revealed unto us thy Sonne who hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law when he was made a curse for us that we might receive the promise of the Spirit by faith knowing that man is not justified by the works of the Law but onely by faith in Iesus Christ in whom we have believed that we might be justified by faith Give us to obey thy Truth furnish us with thy Spirit which may produce thy vertues in us And because we are thy children send the Spirit of thy Sonne into our hearts crying Abba Father so that being thy children we may be thine heires thorow Christ and that we may walk according to the spirit not fulfil the lusts of the flesh because what a man soweth that shall he reape also For he that soweth to the flesh shall reape of the flesh corruption But he that soweth to the Spirit he shall reape of the Spirit life eternall That we may live by the Spirit and may walk also in the Spirit the fruit whereof is love joy peace patience gentlenes goodnes faithfulnes meeknes temperance And as they which are Christs have crucified the flesh with the Iusts thereof that we may be crucified with Christ and may live not now we but that Christ may live in us and that what we now live in the flesh we may live in the faith of thy Son who hath loved us and gave himselfe for us that it might not happen unto us to glory in any thing save in the Crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ by whom the world may be crucified unto us and we unto the world And that in him we may be new creatures not growing carelesse of well doing seeing we shall reape in due season if we grow not slacke Wherefore whilst we have time let us do good unto al men but especially unto the houshold of faith And all they that shall walk according to this rule peace be upon them and mercy and upon thy Israel O God Work with efficacie by those unto whom the preaching of the Gospell is committed That they which know thee not and who serve those that
faithfull Soule Touching the present affliction of the Church 1. O LORD our good God and gracious Father wee thy poore creatures humbled before thy face are bold to present our selves before thy holy and high majesty although we be but dust and ashes thou dwellest in inaccessible light but wee by nature are plunged in darknesse thou art a consuming fire but we are as the chaffe thou art soveraigne righteousnesse and we are poore sinners thou art the fountaine of life and we by nature are in death Yet O Lord thou hast commanded vs to call vpon thee in our necessities with promise to heare vs and hast given us thine owne Sonne to be our Intercessor promising vs to give us the things we shall aske in his Name thou hast called us with an holy calling and amidst the thick darknes of ignorance wherewith the earth is couered thou hast enlightened us with thy knowlege and received us into the number of thy children yea every one of us severally hath beene sensible of thy particular assistance and fatherly succours in the whole course of his life But O Lord the greater thy favours are towards us the guiltier are we of ingratitude for we have abused thy graces and thy feare hath not beene before our eyes Wee have despised thy word and have not reverenced it After the fires and massacres whereof we are but a remnant and as a firebrand pluckt out of fire thou hast re-establisht us and hast given us dayes of peace and of refreshing but we have abused our repose and turned it into licentiousnesse and loosenes We have had more care to build againe our owne houses then to advance thine we have run after the gaine and vanity of this world In stead of cloathing the poore we haue arrayed our owne bodies sumptuously Wee have rent and torne our selves with quarrels and enmities and are thereby become contemptible to our adversaries our prayers have beene cold our zeale languishing our almes skanted and therefore hath our iniquitie abounded and our charity been frozen In stead of drawing the ignorant unto the knowledg of thee by our good life we have scandalized exasperated them by our evil conversation When we have had humane strength and meanes and when thou raisedst up among us Princes and Potentates who seemed they would be a firme prop unto thy Church and and an assured shelter and place of retrait during the storme we have leaned on the arme of flesh in stead of relying on thee alone O God which castest downe and abatest the pride of the loftiest and raisest up the miserable out of the dust thou liftest up and bringest low the degree therfore hast thou cast us downe and humbled us and hast made us know the vanitie of our thoughts contrary to thy counsells yea even the Ministers and Preachers of thy word have failed in their charges and in many places evill and prophanation is issued and come foorth frâ—m the Prophets and indeed in these yeares of peace are seene the revolts of many which had the leading of thy flocke For these causes O Lord God thou just Iudge thy wrath is kindled against thy people being confounded in our selves wee acknowledge that thy chastisements are just yea Lord far lesse then we have deserved thou hast covered our faces with confusion thou hast glutted us with bitternesse thou hast caused us to drinke of the cup of thine anger thou hast called us to weeping and sighing in sacke-cloath and ashes thou hast lifted up the hand of our adversaries and hast exposed us unto scorne and hast made thy hand heavie upon us thou hast plucked up the plants which thou hadst planted and beaten downe the Churches which thou hadst erected by the blood of thy Martyrs by the preaching of thy Gospell Thou hast broken downe the hedge of thy providence which environed thy Church and hast exposed it as a prey to wilde beasts And now Lord we see that in the places where thy Gospell was purely preached even there at this day ecchoeth forth alowd forgerie and idolatrie is againe established and the enemies of thy truth insolently triumph and insult over the ruines of thy house Hereupon we have cryed unto thee but thou hast turned away thy face Thou hast covered thee with a cloud that our prayers might not come up unto thee and we see thy hand lifted up to smite us yet more rigorously and the rods prepared which thou displayest in thy displeasure Lord God justice belongeth to thee but unto us confusion of face wee acknowledg in all this which is come to passe the tokens of thy just displeasure and there is no evill in the Cittie which the Lord hath not done So it is that thou art our Creator and wee are the worke of thine hands thou art God we are thy people thou art our Redeemer and we are thine own purchase thou hast purchased us with a great price a people whom thou hast honored with thy knowledge thou art a mercifull God and of great benignitie slow to anger and dost not alwayes keepe it that takest no pleasure in the destruction of thy work It is thy goodnesse that we have yet any being It is of thy tender compassion that we are not utterly consumed thou dweilest in the highest heavens and in the humblest hearts the broken and contrite spirit unto thee is an acceptable sacrifice Now then O God look downe from the place of thy Sanctuarie to wit from the heavens heare the prayer of thy servants and accept their humiliation pardon Lord pardon the iniquitie of thy children for thine owne sake for the greater it is by so much the more admirable is thy goodnesse in pardoning it the greatnesse of our sinnes serveth to exalt thy mercie and withall thou hast received a sufficient ransome of thine owne Sonne and a redemption of infinite pricâ— whereon relying we dare approch unto the throne of grace to obtaine grace in due time For O God in these anguishes we see no meanes on earth but our eyes are towards thee Heare then from thy habitation and regard for thou art able to releeve us thou art not a God that art onely a God at hand and not a God a farre off even then when all humane meanes faile then is it that thou displayest thy strength and when thorough our foolishnesse we have procured unto our selves evils thou usest our foolishnesse for our good that the subsisting of thy Church might not bee a work of mans wisdom but of thy sacred providence Thou it is that in all former times hast succoured thy people and drewest them forth of the iron fornace with a strong hand and with an outstretched arme and hast carried them as upon the wings of an Eagle who even in our time hast made us sensible of thy succours by many deliverances and who deliveredst our fathers from many cruell persecutions having caused them to passe thorow many more grievous tryals then this thy tender compassions are not
servitude but ledd by the spirit of feare and true filiall love Remove from my understanding all darknesse of error and ignorance make me know thy works cause mee to see in the mirrour of nature the excellent works which thou madest in six dayes and thine admirable providence in the upholding and preservation of all thy creatures there appeares before our eys both thine eternal power and Godhead and there is not the least of the world which is not a faithfull witnesse of the glory which is due to thee by reason of thy wisdome power and infinite goodnesse but Lord give me eyes to looke into the mirrour of thy Word in which are represented most clearely unto us the mysteries of our redemption that in it I may see thy Sonne that in thy Sonne I may behold thee For O good God as we beseech thee that thou wouldest not looke upon us but in thy Sonne for that in him onely thou findest us righteous and unblameable so can we not behold thee but in him because in him onely thou manifestest thy selfe unto us not as a rigorous Iudge as thou doest to the reprobate but a gracious and mercifull Father to thy children Moreover Lord in such sort inspire mee that having beene soundly and faithfully instructed in the knowledge of thy Truth I may judge uprightly of all thy counsells of thy whole Word of all thy actions for seeing it hath pleased thee to lodge me in the midst of all thy creatures and to put as it were into my hands the quiers of all thy Actions namely thy holy Word ought I not to avouch that thou art just wise good mightie and mercifull and that glory is due unto thee upon occasion of every one of thy works and wherefore hast thou brought me up in the Schoole of thy Church but to the end to forme in me a jâ—dgement and to teach me to speake against all the reasons of men be it that the Lord spareth be it that he afflicteth be it that he blesseth be it that he punisheth or what ere he doth it is every way justice equitie and wisedome and his sole will is the most perfect rule of all righteousnesse But O my God graunt that I may not know thee unto my condemnation with science give me conscience illuminate my understanding rectifie also my will accompanie it with a franke affection to thy service Graunt my heart may burn within me let it be inflamed with the desire of thy glory let my soule be continually ravisht with admiration above all seeing that to save us thou hast turned our darknesse into light our evils into good our death into life and us that were thine enemies thou hast made not onely thy friends and servants but of thy household but even thy children without any desert of ours notwithstanding our contrary demerits even of thy meere free grace and mercy and without sparing of thine owne Sonne O Lord our God let thy Name be magnified thorough out all the earth but as thy works be admirable but as thou art mercifull in thy Church thou hast done great things for us thou hast wrought powerfully by thine arme and in such sort above my capacitie that I cannot but crie out ô the depth of the riches of thy wisdome and of the knowledge of God! Grant Lord that I may not be stupid nor insensible in these things but care that my soule may be affected with gladnesse my heart with joy and solid contentment If the Devills and all thine enemies wonder at thy works it is but in despight of themselves it is but in their murmuring against thee but have not I wherein to rejoyce have not I cause to put farre away from me all sorrow every vaine apprehension seeing that I assuredly know that thou art not onely wise and mighty in thy selfe nor good to others but wise mighty and good unto me and unto my salvation and redemption Yet O my God that I may keepe measure in my mirth beget in my heart true humilitie which may serve to counterpoise it so that whilst I rejoyce in thee I may be humbled in my selfe that I may adore in all reverence thy divine Majestie that I may be exempt from all pride acknowledging how lamentable the poverty and weaknesse of my condition should be were it not that I wholly depend on thy grace and on thy good pleasure For it is thou that resistest the proud and that givest grace to the lowly it is thou that abhorrest every man of an haughty heart he shall not from hand to hand abide scotfree and unpunished In stead whereof thy favours flow downe upon them which come unto thee in humilitie and reverence Forme Lord forthwith in my foule a true feare of thy Name which may withold me and keepe me from offending thee for thou seest thou understandest all things thou art he that wilt judge all the thoughts words works of men But why should I not feare infinitely to offend thee to provoke thee by mine iniquities thou that hast alwaies bin a most gracious and mercifull Father unto me suffer not my heart to be hardened for then should I fall into all calamity but make me happie in fearing continually Let me feare Lord not to out-passe the traditions of men but the rules and instructions of thy Word Let me apprehend not some imaginary punishments but the rigour of thy just judgments Let me have not the feare of the damned and of Devils which tremble with horrour but the feare of thy children To this end O my God give me thy love to season my feare and to warrant me from despaire The wicked feare thee onely for the apprehension of thy punishments but as for me I wil feare thee Lord because in my heart shall lodge thy love Also good God whâ—refore shall I not love thee when I consider what heretofore thou hast done for me that which now thou doest in me and that which hereafter thou wilt do with me thou hast elected me before all eternity thou hast justified me in calling me unto thy selfe in the fulnesse of time daily thou sanctifiest me by thy Spirit and hereafter thou wilt glorifie me in everlasting life I will love thee then with all hearty affection and wholly accursed shall I account him that shall practice the contrary For my Saviours sake I will deprive my selfe of all things I will account them all as dung for thou hast loved me not simply the first or before I knew thee but Alas Even then when I was of the number of thine enemies And to sum up all art not thou Lord the Soveraigne Good Without thee and out of thee is there any thing amiable Let the world love it selfe let men be Idolaters of their concupiscences of their goods of their lives and of their reputations on earth As for me Lord if I hate not all things for thy sake and in case thou so requirest and that it be expedient for thy glory I am
most assured that I am unworthy of thee I will love thee O my God and give me grace to put my whole trust and confidence in thee onely and so to repose and relie upon thy goodnesse and holy providence that from thee onely almighty and most gracious I may hope for and expect patiently whatsoever is expedient and necessary for me Cursed be the man that trusteth in man that maketh flesh his arme and whose heart withdraweth it selfe from the Lord It is better Lord to cleave unto thee then to trust in the Princes of the people Let worldlings and the reprobate live full of diffidence and distrust let them be bereau'd of judgement in their adversitie let them be daunted and forlorne in the first difficultie that befalls them let them have recourse to unlawfull meanes and those that are forbidden by thy Word As for me O God of my salvation in thee only will I place my hope that I may not be confounded Yea rather thus beholding with a setled and fixed eye what ere shall come to passe I shall abide stedfast as the mountaine of thy holines But O my God horrid should my condemnation be if I hoorded up in my heart the precious gift of thy knowledge how inexcusable my proceeding if I should boast of thy feare of thy love without my testifying thereof in my outward actions I beseech thee then so to strengthen me that I may shew forth by an holy conversation that it is thou Lord that sanctifiest me by thy spirit Touch my soule worke so in my heart and in my conscience that I may be freed from hypocrisie that my religion may not be a cloke to vaile from men the irregularitie of my passions the violence of mine affections but that being well ordered in my mind from thence as out of a purified fountaine may flow forth the streames of all sorts of good works agreable to thy Word meet for thy glory and profitable to my neighbours befitting my Vocation and unto my salvation To this end O Lord I beseech thee that thou wilt be pleased to give me courage to testifie what I have in my heart by my outward actions that I may glorifie thee every where and upon all occasions in making free and publike profession of thy Truth That I may not be ashamed of thy Word that I may not passe by thy bountie in silence but that I may shew forth thy strength even from thee Lord that hast called me out of darknesse into thy marvelous light that with my mouth I may give unto thy works praise conformable to the judgment and approbation I have already made of them in my soule that I may never cease to magnifie thee and that my heart may take no other pleasure but to see thee glorified in the world For if even the livelesse creatures celebrate thee why should I thorow ingratitude be mute in the acknowledgment of thy benefits Wherefore Lord hast thou given me a tong but chiefly to serve as an instrument to blesse and praise thee And that I may speak nothing but what may tend to thy glory Let me not take thy Name in vaine nor give my self to evill speaking nor detraction let no rotten speech go forth of my mouth but let all my talke tend to edification Moreover O Lord give and enable me to confesse not only in prosperity and whilst all things smile upon me according to the world but even in the greatest adversity that even in the midst of persecution if it please thee not to exempt me from the same I may answer alwayes with meeknes and reverence every one that shall demaund of me a reason of the hope that is in me I know Lord that very great is my weaknesse but is thy hand shortened or lesse strong for me then for the rest of thy children Is it thou that art pleased to perfect thy strength in our weaknes and infirmity Thou wilt give me then the constancie and that perseverance which shall be necessary for me that without feare and without being troubled I may be happy in suffering for righteousnes Give me grace also that all my actions may be void of vanity and presumption accompanied and seasoned with humility and reverence that I may humble my selfe under thy mighty hand that the world may see I wholly depend on thy goodnes and mercy that I hold my life being and all things of thee only that thou only hast the power to do with me thy poore and miserable creature what shall seem good unto thee And seeing thou hast given me to feare thee and to love thee give me also the strength to do what thou hast commanded me to avoid what thou hast forbidden me enable me to order my life according to thy commandements thou hast given us in thy Law As also Lord in that which displeaseth thee it may be seen that I have thy feare and that I have thy love whilst I do that which thou requirest of me Thy feare shall estrange me from that familiarity which hath no place but amongst companions and shall containe me within that respect which I ow unto thee and thy love shall exempt me from that feare which shall euer ceaze upon thine enemies Lastly O my God above all the things which in all humility I desire of thee I beseech thee that often thou wouldst often graunt the leasure and desire to call upon thee as thou now hast done Thou dost familiarly speak to me by thy Word graunt that I may confidently speak to thee by my prayers that often I may withdraw my selfe apart that I may shut my self up in my closet to impart unto thee my griefs to confesse unto thee my sinnes to bewaile before thee my poverty and my miserie and to implore from thee thine assistance and thy mercy For Lord prayer wil be unto me an unspeakable comfort as an evident testimonie that thou hast not left me to my self that I am in the number of thy children that thou wilt blesse me and powre forth upon me thy mercy and after I have called upon thee I shall carry my self in my vocation with much more zeale standing upright with thee I will not feare the world having discharged my conscience in thy presence I will march with my head born aloft having carefully recommended my self unto thy guidance I shall have rest in my soule and shal be most assured that notwithstanding the rage and subtilty of all mine enemies which are also thine thou wilt give me to continue faithfully my life in thy feare and end it in thy holy favour even then when out of this vale of misery thou wilt receive me into thy glory unto everlasting and most happy rest Another Prayer 8. O Lord our gracious God and almighty Father as thou hast alwaies thy hand opē to do us good thy wil is that our mouthes likewise should be so heartily to render unto thee thanksgiving Now then we praise and blesse thee for that
varietie of formes wherewith thou hast distinguisht them and as thou now bringest upon the earth the brightnes of the day and of the Sun bring also Lord upon my soule the brightnes of thy holy Spirit that according to the mesure that my arms shal be imployed for the maintenance of my body the thoughts of my soule may be engaged in the invocating of thy holy grace thorow the conduct wherof wee may walke so on thorough the wayes of this sensuall and corruptible world that I may not go astray from the celestiall and incorruptible That if my senses deceived by the pleasing baites and delicious objects which offer themselves in the world would seduce my reason hold them back Lord by the hope of pleasures infinitely greater which are proposed to them which live according to thy holy will and by the feare of the paines 〈◊〉 number 〈◊〉 â—â—out measure which 〈◊〉 them that forsake the way of thy commandements to follow that of their flesh And seeing that to lead me to thy mercy thou hast been pleased that the Author of light that eternall wisedome came downe upon earth and there abode for a time that he might converse amongst us to light the lamp of our soules by the fire of thy holy Word Infuse Lord by the same bounty the cleare light which thou hast put therein by the operation of thy holy Spirit that in thy wedding day we finding our selves adorned with the wedding garment of thy grace we may be led into the participation of thy celestiall glory A Prayer for the Evening 19. LOrd in as much as thine unsearchable wisdome hath been pleased to divide our whole life into labour and rest and every one of our dayes into light and darknes and yet appointest them both to serve thy glory Now at this houre that it hath pleased thee to shut in this day and to call me from my labour to sleepe I lift up my hands unto thee and offer unto thee for an Evening Sacrifice my heart and my tongue and revolving and ruminating in my thoughts that favour wherewith thou hast from morning unto this evening sustained my life conducted my actions guided my steps directed my hands governed my thoughts turned away the temptations of the world I forme in my voice in the best manner I am able a thanksgiving and song of praise to thy infinite goodnesse And therefore albeit I know well that in my works there is a great deale more want then good yea not to file upon the account but that which proceedeth from my self the whole must needs be damnable I conjure thy sacred mercy that it will make them acceptable by powring forth on them that infinite grace which thy deare Son hath purchased for the world which alone giveth perfection and sanctification unto all the actions of men Now that I go to yeeld my eyes unto sleepe graunt my body may take rest in bed my soule withall may repose in the bosome of thy Son Iesus Christ And thy Holy Spirit watching over me may remove far away froÌ„ me all unclean concupiscences foolish imaginations and uncouth dreames and deliver me from all feare saving from that of thy sacred and severe judgment and so moderate the course of my sleep that repairing my strength of body it may not lull it asleep in idlenes but let me awake at a fit houre and exercise my self in holy prayer thus all the dayes of my life sliding on one after another untill it shall please thee to change this temporall into an eternall rest thorow the intercession of him that hath purchased as with the price of his bloud our SAVIOVR IESVS CHRIST Amen A Prayer for our finall obtaining of victorie by Iesus Christ. 20. O Almighty God sith we are filled with so many concupiscences which must needs pollute the pure and sacred gifts of thy Holy Spirit graunt we may take in good part the chastisements which thou sendest us to tame and bring under the said concupiscences and that as we acknowledg thee to be our shepheard we may yeeld up our selves to be governed by thy shepheards staffe profiting daily under thy chastisements and tasting in thy severitie of thy bounty that we may not be discouraged but walking on forward thorow mis-reports and disgraces yea even thorow the midst of death for thy Names sake that we may rejoyce in thee esteeming all things losse for the price of the knowledge of thy Sonne who giveth the same Spirit that hath sanctified us which also strengtheneth us That being partakers of that unction of the Holy Ghost we may withall be partakers of the victorie of thy Sonne IESVS CHRIST A Prayer for the preservation of the Church 21. ETernall Lord God strong pitifull mercifull slow to anger abundantly plentifull in thy free mercy and truth keeping Covenant to a thousand generations taking away iniquity transgression and sin We beseech thee that we may find favour before thine eyes pardon our iniquities and our sins and possesse us fill us with thy Spirit in wisdome in understanding in knowledge teach us that which we are to do so that we may apply our hearts to thy Word and may not hold on our course of sinning nor follow the multitude to do evill But that we may seriously obey thy voice keep thy covenant may be ranked amongst all people thy most precious jewell although all the earth is thine and we are unto thee a kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation dwell thou in the midst of us and be our God Preserve our houses and when thou shalt passe thorow the countrey â—o strike and to exercise judgement let there be no wound unto destruction among us bedeaw with the bloud of the Lamb our threshold and both our doore-posts look upon that bloud and passe by the doore and suffer not the destroyer to enter into our houses to strike that we may know thou puttest a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites Graunt thy children may grow and increase into exceeding great abundance may be multiplied and reinforced mightily so that even the earth may be replenished with them and the more it shall afflict them the more they may multiplie in all abundance Be moved with compassion towards them which sigh and crie let their crie come up unto thee looke downe upon their affliction Another Prayer for the Church 22. LOrd thou takest no pleasure in the death of a sinner but hadst rather that he should turne from his way and live Powre not forth thy furie upon us heape not thy wrath upon us judge us not after our wayes but let thine eye spare us and have compassion upon us for we are thy sheep the sheep of thy pasture and thou art our God Hide not then thy face from us but powre forth thy Spirit upon us Graunt we may have all but one heart and put into us a new spirit Take from us our heart of stone give us a heart of flesh that we may walk in
by nature are no gods may know thee and may be knowne of thee and may not to be turned back to the weak and beggarly rudiments which they would serve That all they that are baptised may put on Christ and that we may be all united in Iesus Christ our Saviour Let thy grace be with our spirit Amen A Prayer to be filled with Charitie 25. LOrd I beseech thee I may abound in faith and charity that I may yeeld up my self wholly first unto thee and then according to thy will unto my brethren knowing the gracious favour of our Lord Iesus Christ namely that he became poore for me although he was rich that by his poverty I might be made rich That my abundance might supply their wāt that I might have both a forwardnes of will thereunto and an habilitie of bringing the same into action also according to my meanes That it may relish of bounty not of close-hand niggardlinesse Knowing that he that soweth sparingly shall also gather sparingly and he that soweth liberally shall gather also liberally That it may not be unwillingly or by constraint seeing thou lovest a chearefull giver and art able to make to abound all grace in me to the end that having alwayes all sufficiencie in all things I may be plentifull in every good work as it is writ he hath scattered abroad he hath given to the poore his righteousnes abideth for ever Now thou Lord that givest seed to the sower be pleased also to give unto me bread to eat and multiplie my wealth augment the revenue of my righteousnes and that I may be enriched in all franknes of liberalitie The Kings Prayer Samuel II. 26. LOrd thou hast anointed me to be King thou hast accepted me to be the Leader of thy People be with me be thou with me be thou my Father and I shal be thy Son Let not thy free mercy depart from me Make an everlasting Covenant with me Keepe me whither soever I shall go Protect me from the hand of all them that shall rise up against me Establish the throne of my kingdome blesse thou thy servants house that it may be blessed for ever Graunt my dominion over men may be just that I may govern in thy feare O God and that I may raigne doing judgement and justice to all my people even as thou hast commanded me and that I may be acceptable unto thee Another Prayer of the Kings Chron. I. 27. O God give me an upright sound heart that I may keep thy commandements and thy testimonies and thy statutes that I may know and serve thee with an upright heart and with a willing mind For thou Lord searchest the hearts and knowest all the imaginations of the thoughts thereof graunt I may raigne doing judgment and justice to all thy people that I may be thy Sonne and that thou mayst be unto me a Father Establish the throne of my Kingdome for ever Be with me that I may prosper and build thy house O Lord my God Give me wisdome and understanding and teach me how to governe and how I may keep thy Law knowing that then I shall prosper if I take heed to do thy statutes and judgments which thou hast commanded Fortifie me and double in me my strength keepe me wheresoever I go blesse also thy servants house that it may be alwayes before thee and may be blessed for ever Give peace and rest unto thy people in my time Graunt thy Name may abide firme and be magnified for ever The Peoples Prayer for the King 27. BLessed be thou O Lord our God that hast accepted our King to set him upon the throne because thou hast loved us and hast establisht him to the end to do judgment and justice Shew thy great mercy unto him and that he may walk before thee in truth in righteousnes and uprightnes of heart Be with him magnifie his Throne lengthen his daies and let him live for ever Let there be peace to thee-wards alwayes for him for his posteritie for his house and for his Throne Give him riches and glory so as there hath not been the like unto him amongst Kings Let him be greater then all the Kings of the earth both in riches and in wisdome Let him walk in thy wayes to keep thy ordinances and thy commandements and let there ever be in him divine wisdome Put his enemies under his feet Give him rest round about him and let him have no adversitie nor evill lucke Let his people be very numerous as the sand which is on the sea shore Let him have peace round about him on every side and let neither them nor their children turne back from thee but keep thy commandements and thy statutes which thou hast set before them that men may know that thou art God in this Kingdome and that we are thy servants A Prayer of the faithfull that fervently desireth to participate in the publike exercises whereof he was deprived 28. O Lord of Hosts how amiable are thy Tabernacles My soule ceaseth not to desire greatly and even languisheth after thy Courts my heart and my flesh leape for joy after thee O mighty and living God O how happy are they that dwell in thy house which praise thee uncessantly O how happy is the man whose strength is in thee and they that go by troupes to present themselves before thee in thy Temple For better is a day in thy Courts then a thousand elswhere I had rather be a doore-keeper in thy house O my God then to dwell in the Tabernacles of the wicked For Lord God thou art unto us a Sunne and a shield thou givest grace and glory and withholdest no good thing from them that walk in integrity O my God I seek thee by the day breake my soule thirsteth after thee my flesh desireth thee as in a desart land I am athirst and without water to see thy face and thy glory as I have beheld thee in thy Sanctuary for thy free mercy is better then life therfore shall my lips praise thee and so will I blesse thee whilst I live and will lift up my hands in thy Name Satisfie my soule as it were with honie and with fatnes and let my mouth praise thee with a song of rejoicing Be my helper and I will rejoice in the shadow of thy wings My soule shall cleave unto thee to follow thee and thy right hand shall hold me up Another Prayer out of the second Epistle of St. Iohn 29. LOrd cause thy Truth to abide in us and to be alwayes with us and let us be ever found walking in the Truth according as we have received thy Commandement Let us love one another and walk according to thy commandements taking heed unto our selves that we lose not that we have done but rather that we may receive our full wages and that our joy may be full Grace mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Iesus Christ the Sonne of the
then this which is eternall Wherfore I pray you in the Name of God that you disquiet not your selfe for any affection you may have to this world For here we are all but strangers as our fathers when as then the Lord God shall have ordained and decreed that you must dislodge flit and go before us will not you conform your self unto his holy will and ordinance As on the other side if he see it expedient for your salvation to prolong unto you your life as he did to that good King Ezekias would you not content your selfe with whatsoever it shall please him to do with you Yes assuredly for he is Lord and Master you are but his servant He is your Creator you are his Creature and the work of his hands For this cause then will he dispose of you according to his will Vnto the which alone you ought to conforme and humble your selfe saying from your heart LOrd God thou knowest my necessitie if it shal be thy good pleasure to prolong and lengthen my life thy will be done if it be thy good pleasure also to call me hence unto thee even thy will be likewise done For thy creature Lord hath no other will but thine Now brother comfort your selfe with God who if he hath ordained to call you your Calling shall be happy For you must believe and hope in firme faith that he will make you rise againe in your owne body unto glorious immortalitie to make you raigne with him in life eternall which is purchase and given you by the vertue of the precious Bloud of our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ In whose name the Lord God blesse and protect you and make his face to shine upon you and be mercifull unto you The Lord turn his face towards you and preserve you in all happines Amen THis done if it appeare he growes worse and worse and draweth on towards death and tending to his appointed end forthwith in his deadly agonie we must not faile to repeate with a lowde voice before him the Christian Consolation which is heere below promised This doing GOD graunt him grace well and and faithfully to die in him Amen HEB. XIII Remember them that are afflicted as being your selves of the body of the Church and subject to undergoe the like afflictions A PRAYER AGAINST the Apprehensions of Death PSAL. XVIII IIII The sorrowes of death compassed mee round about and the flouds of the ungodly men made me afraid O Lord my gracious Saviour when sorrowes presse us and death threatens us we looke up unto thee that art our life Death thought to have daunted thee in the garden of Geth-semane in such sort that thou knowest well what the distresses are which it brings unto men But as thou haâ—t vanquisht and overcome it graunt me also the grace to vanquish overcome it to beare patiently affliction to submit my selfe to the will of my heavenly Father Thou hast seene how the wicked did compasse thee about as the flouds of waters But now thou art in the happy haven of thy celestiall glory But being there on high despise not â—or sleight nor thy Church which is as yet in the midst of the waves and stormes of the world Gather us also unto that happy life draw us unto that wished port still the furie of the winds which trouble the earth for Lord thou art our Lord we are thy people A Continued Sequell OR An Vnintermitted Course of Comforts MOunsieur d' Ambesaignes a Domestique Gentleman of the late Mounsieur the Marquesse of Moussay being sicke in the Castle of Plouer in Bretagne Madame the Marquesse of Moussay sent to fetch Mounsieur Pallory of Richelieu Pastor and Author of this Booke to be comforted by him and as they expected from houre to houre his death for hee was in an agony from Munday evening the ninth of March 1626. Vntill the morning of Thursday the tenth in that sort that hee was required after diverse consolations to redouble during the space of that night prayers hourely and oftener for him And because there are but two prayers in this preceding Booke to be said when the Sicke is in anguish the first whereof is in the leafe 231. The other in the leafe 344. To satisfie the devotion of certaine good men the Authour hath caused to bee added these prayers following which he then said unto this second Edition to serve hereafter unto the comforters who shall assist the Sicke COMFORTS for the Sicke 1. A Prayer to be said when the sicke is in perplexitie 34. O Lord our good God and gracious Father the onely comfort of our soules the gladnes of our hearts our sole solace and refuge yea our singular sweetnesse amidst the sharpest bitternesses and anguishes which oppresse us we beseech thee to cast thy sweet and mercifull eyes upon this sicke person which hath received this honour together with us by thy speciall favour to bee delivered from the power of darknesse and to be transported unto the Kingdome of the Sonne of thy love having opened his heart as ours to receive the Word of life which alone can save our soules And as thou hast given him the wil to do wel grant unto him and unto us also this happines to give him to perfect the same according to thy good pleasure and to finish his course in thy feare that persevering in the confession of thy holy Name thy light and thy truth may lead him and bring him into the mountaine of thy holinesse O Heavenly Shepheard that hast sent thy deare Sonne to seeke the lost sheep and who repellest not the languishing soule that casts it selfe into thy bosome accomplish in such sort thy strength in the weaknesse of this sicknes that he may say with his whole heart the Lord is my portion and my succour therefore will I hope in him unto the end And seeing thou hast engraven and imprinted the seale of thine election upon the soule of this sick person Yea sith thou hast sealed him with the seale of thy Spirit for the Day of redemption purchased unto the glory of thy Name And seeing thy comforts are welcom to good soules give unto this sicke person amidst the anguishes he suffers in his body a vigorous and a constant soule sweetly bedewd from the springs of sweet comforts in the midst of the hot fits of his disease and the which may make to flie up and to sparkle forth the flames of a sacred desire even unto the Sanctuarie of thy Holines there to behold with the eyes of his mind the ineffable love thou bearest to thine Elect and the glory inestimable which thou keepest in heaven for thy children And to this end give him a gracious refreshing repaire his enfeebled forces wasted and spent by the violence of his disease quicken his heart by the sweetnes of thy grace kindle afresh his zeale inflame his prayers animate his sighes restore unto him the joy of his salvation and let the bones which
drawne dry thy arme is not shortened nor thine eare growne heavie of hearing but our iniquities are they which make this sepation between thee and us which take thou away by thy mercy and by the intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ It is thou that hast crusht the Dragon and bruised the head of that old Serpent and who by the blood of thy Covenant hast drawne us out of the pit where there was no water having vanquished hell by the death of thy Sonne thou then great God that hast pluckt us from out the talons of the Divell wilt thou not deliver us from the hands of men thou which hast saved us from hell wilt thou not deliver us from the power of the world O Eternall Lord thou wilt do it and wilt not forsake us but rather having chastised us in measure thou wilt make us sensible of thy comforts and wilt cause to shine upon us thy face in ioy and in salvation least wee faint thorow our infirmity and least we be overcome through the length and hardnesse of the temptation for so also Lord hast thou promised and thy promises are certain thy word more firm then heauen and earth thou hast promised us by the mouth of thine own Sonne not to forsake us and to be with us even to the end of the world thou numberest our haires thou receivest our sighes thou puttest up our teares into thy bottles he that toucheth thy children toucheth the apple of thine eye thou causest thine Angels to pitch their camps about them that feare thee deare and precious is their death in thy presence Doe then O God according to thy word and let the Angell of thy face march before us let thy protection be round about us as a wall of fire thou that stillest the waves of the sea and the insurrections of the people and which holdest the hearts of Kings in thine hands as the rivers of waters curbe the furie of the people and give unto our King thoughts of peace estrange farre from him the Counsels of violence frustrate the expectation of our enemies who alreadie have devoured us in hope dissipate their counsels thou that surprisest the wise in their subtilties which knowest the depths of Satan and piercest with thine eyes into the counsels of the sonne of perdition whom thou wilt discomfite with the breath of thy mouth and wilt beate downe all power which opposeth it selfe against thine but if our iniquities beare witnesse against us and make us unworthy to see so excellent a worke do it for thine owne sake for though we be unworthy to be heard thou art worthy to be glorified wherefore suffer not Satan to triumph and reioyce at the dissipation of thy Church and that thy holy Name is without punishment blasphemed Awake then O God thy jealousie and the blustering motions of thy fatherly affections unbare and tucke up the arme of thy holinesse and let the ends of the earth see thy salvation remember thy ancient compassions and thy covenant with thy people Remember the bloud of thy children spilt in abundance which cryeth for vengeance from the earth We confesse indeed that we have need to be humbled and that thy Church hath need to be purged againe and therefore it is that thou takest the fanne into thy hand to repurge thy floore and raisest the wind of persecution which serveth to carry away chaffe and to expell hypocrites But withall O good God amidst this tribulation the weak do faint and the good are oppressed and partake in the affliction and Idolatrie gathereth strength and the night of ignorance groweth thicker and thy holy Name is blasphemed and the doctrine of salvation trampled under foot by thy adversaries Therefore is it that we beseech thee O Father of mercie that if thou wilt afflict us that we may not fall into the hands of men but that we may fall into thine owne hands for thy compassions are great for men hate us not for that we have offended thee but because wee defend thy quarrell and because thy Name is called upon by us and renouned upon us the blood-suckers thirst after our blood not to ease the patient but to satisfie their lust Above all things O God and most gracious Father continue unto us thy word and afflict us rather with all other manner of affliction in this life then to take from us that light sith it is the testimonie of thy favor towards us our priviledge amongst all people and the way to come to thy kingdome that our children may be instructed therein and mâ—y be heires of thy Coveâ—â—nt after us and that our dayes may be finished in thy favour may be followed with an age wherin thy truth may shine forth againe and the kingdome of thy Sonne Iesus Christ may take a great increase and by preserving unto us this preaching of the Gospell in the purity thereof give it efficacie in our hearts and breake not in thy anger the strength of this spirituall bread Rather Lord make the feare of this light incite and rowse us up to make our profit thereof and to redeeme the time and to further and carrie us on forward in this way whilst we have the light and let evils wherewith thou visitest us be wholesome remedies unto us and an instruction for our soules and let them serve to recollect our faith and to draw from out our hearts fervent prayers and that the deliverance which it shal please thee to graunt us may make us know thy fatherly love towards us which shall accompanie us the rest of our dayes till we be retired out of this vale of miserie to put us in possession of thy kingdome that we may leave after us thy Church peaceable the breaches of thy house repaired and thy service purely establisht to the glory of thy great Name and the salvation of many by thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Es c. 26. v. 12. 13. Lord thou wilt ordaine peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our workes in us O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us but by thee onely will we make mention of thy name Ver. 20. Come my people enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doores about thee hide thy selfe as it were for a little moment untill the indignation be overpast Morning Prayer 2. O Our good God and gracious Father we thy poore creatures present our selves before thy face acknowledging that we are great sinners who cease not to offend thee in thought word and deed ingratefull for thy benefits full of diffidence and incredulitie more affectioned to the things of this world then unto thy service But there is mercie with thee for thou lovest not the death of a sinner but that he should convert and live and hast given us thine own Sonne that we beleeving in him might not perish but have life everlasting Thou hast commanded us to call upon thee with promise to give us
ended not my labour in thy praise O God that hast strengthened and enabled me It is thou whose strength is perfected in our weakenesse it is thou that choosest the lowly and meane to confound the strong and who in the weaknesse of the instruments thou imployest displayest the greatnesse of thy strength not unto us but to thy Name give the glory and the honour for who are we that we should be able to beare so great a burthen and what is our strength to sustaine so great a combat But that very Truth it self which we defend giveth strength to them that defend it and thou deniest not them thy succours that in defending thy cause have no other end but the glory of thy holy Name It 's thou my God who having been favourable to me from the beginning of my dayes wilt not forsake me in my old age and wilt make it yet profitable to the edification of thy Church being beaten with sundrie afflictions plucked from my flock bewailing the pressure of thy People disfurnisht with all necessarie aydes for so great a worke travelled of a sicknesse almost this two yeares which hath brought me within two inches of the graue and having in my ordinary vocation a sufficient taske to take up a whole man yet even against all appearance I have taken in hand this great labour and against my expectation am come to the end thereof through thy assistance I also hope O my God that thou wilt make fruitfull thy servants labor to the end to draw into the right way the minds of those who wilfully go not out of the way and who err but thorow want of instruction Against mine inclination I have imployed a multitude of humane testimonies in this worke for I know that thy Word alone is the rule of our faith and receiueth not men for judges in thy cause and I know well that a word which commeth forth of thy mouth is more worth then all the writings of all men But we are hurried away with the streame and are constrained to give place to the maladie of this age which holding thy word suspected as a dangerous booke searcheth into the writings of men wherwith to arme themselves against divine rules Wee shew unto the advocats of errour that they lose their cause even before the Arbitrators whom they have chosen but O God thou art mighty good to bring forth an age wherein thy Word alone shal be listened unto and whereunto for the sole unfolding and deciding of doubts thy Sonnes mouth shall onely be consulted withall Grant it O God and Father of all mercy and author of all consolation pittie the people that stoupe and stand still in so profound darknes cause to shine forth the brightnesse of thy Word before the eyes of all Nations as for me having traverst and struck through a way ful of thornes and with many infirmities defects which are in me sustained the contradiction of an age contrary to thy Word I am glad perceiving the time to draw nigh of my repose and my task to be so soone finished But thou O God wilt raise up workmen who with better successe shall labour in thy harvest and whom thou wilt cloath with thy Spirit in greater measure to defend thy holy Truth Lord it is thy cause Lord it is for thy sake that we are hated Awake thy jealousie and thine ancient compassions upon the people whom thou hast redeemed that many soules may be saved and thy holy name glorified for Lord though we be worthy to be forsaken and unworthy to be releeved yet ever art thou worthy to be glorified It is indeed a small matter that we are afflicted were it not that amidst our afflictions thy truth is oppressed and thy holy name blasphemed Attend then O God and Father of all consolation and heare and pardon for thine owne sake thou art wise in thy counsels just in thy judgements mighty to execute thy will but withall thou art full of tender compassion and true true in thy words Do then O Lord according to thy promise for thou hast promised not to forsake vs but to bee with us to the end of the world Thou that hast redeemed us from the power of Satan by the death of thy Sonne wilt deliver us also from the hands of those which oppresse us the time commeth and is not long to that out of the ashes of that burning which seeme extinguisht thou wilt cause to come forth a great brightnesse and wilt confound the tongues of Babell and wilt cause to fall outright the seat of the sonne of perdition In the meane time we will possesse our soules in patience whilst the full measure of their iniquitie be heaped up and we expect from heaven our Lord Iesus who will come to examine our cause and to render unto every one according to his workes Amen A Prayer to be said going to the Communion 5. LOrd great God have pitie on me a miserable sinner and grant me grace to lay hold on my Saviour by true faith and that being called to this holy and sacred banquet in the number of thy faithfull and elect and truly repenting of my transgressions and sinnes my soule may receive her spirituall nourishment the true bread of life which giveth salvation to the world looke upon me desiring ever to receive this holy and sacred spirituall meat Amen A thanksgiving after the Communion received 6. O My Saviour and my God I render unto thee humble thanks for the great benefit which thou hast this day bestowed on me as having thy selfe for a ransome for me for having pluckt me out of the pawes of the Divell and out of the depths of hell whither so many enormious sinnes had plunged me guide me by thy Spirit and give me grace that in overcomming the concupiscence of the world and the flesh I may finish the rest of my dayes in thy feare Amen HOLY PRAYERS A Prayer in forme of a Confession 7. LOrd my God and Father Almightie and most gracious to thy children I cast downe my selfe in thy presence acknowledging my selfe a poore and miserable creature guilty of high treason against thy divine Majestie For O my God I came into the world tainted with sinne polluted with iniquitie and through my evill conversation I have thorow the whole course of my life exceedingly augmented the same I have made infinite the number of my transgressions I have beene over unthankfull for so many blessings wherof it hath pleased thy bounty to afford me the fruition too often have I opposed to thy infinite goodnesse extreame ingratitude by my hypocrisie and dissimulation I have made my selfe utterly unworthy of that freedome and faithfulnesse wherewith thou hast entertained me I have beene deafe to thy admonitions have stopped mine eare at thy Word I have estranged my heart from thy instructions the feare of men hath hindred me from making free publike profession of thy Truth I have more feared the world
then I have loved heaven I preferred the preservation of my goods before the setting forth of thy glory earthly repose before eternall happinesse Alas Lord what punishments am I worthy of What torments have I deserved For my conscience accuseth me my sinnes call for vengeance against me and surely if the wages of the least of our sinnes be eternall death and if it be impossible for me to number my sinnes or to conceive the enormiousnesse of them how O thou God of vengeance how whilst I consider my selfe in my selfe shall I expect from thee with unspeakeable feare eternall and infinite punishments Yet O gracious God thy word teacheth us and experience witnesseth to us that thou wilt not the death of a sinner but that he turne unto thee and live so also hast thou thy selfe found out in thine eternall counsell the meanes of our deliverance and hast in the fulnesse of time sent into the world the eternall Sonne of thy love thy darling even he in whom thou art well pleased thou hast establisht him a Saviour and Redeemer for all those that hope in him by converting them unto thee He was made for us wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption his bloud cleanseth us from all sinne he was despised to raise us unto glory he hath taken our nature to make us partaker of his he was borne the Sonne of Man to make us the Children of God he was full of sorrow to fill us with happinesse he was wounded for our sins and bruised for our iniquities upon him was laid the penaltie which brought us peace and by his bruises are we healed he came into the world to lead us to heaven he died to give us life he rose againe for our justification To conclude Lord thou so lovedst the world that thou gavest that spotlesse Lamb to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have life everlasting And seeing O my God and Father of mercy that out of thy speciall favour it hath pleased thee in the midst of my errour even in mine infidelitie ingratitude to take pitie on me to give me thy knowledg and the resolution to follow thy Gospell seeing thou hast endued me with true faith in thy Sonne seeing thou hast touched my heart wherefore Lord shall I not have accesse unto thee with confidence Why shall I not approch with assurance to the throne of thy grace to obtaine mercy and to be releeved by thee in due time For though I be miserable art not thou mercifull If I be unrighteous wilt thou not cloath me with the righteousnesse of my Saviour Mine iniquitie amazeth me but thy goodnesse assureth me my unworthinesse estrangeth me from thee but the worthinesse of thy Sonne recalleth me back inviteth me and conducteth me to thee unto thee that art the God of my salvation that hast redeemed my soule from death that hast purchased me life everlasting and most happy O my God how great is my comfort how excellent the joy how precious and unspeakeable the repose which my soule enjoyeth in the meditation of these things Vnto thee onely then it is that I now addresse my selfe as to confesse my sinnes so also to acknowledge thy mercie as to condemne my selfe so withall to find absolution in thy Sonne If to be sorrowfull and to grieve for my sinnes so also to rejoyce and to comfort my selfe in thy bounty who shall lay any thing to my charge Is it not thou which justifiest me Who shall condemne me seeing that Christ died for me Seeing he is risen againe seeing that for me he is at thy right hand making request for my salvation and quest conservation Nothing O my God shall separate me from the love thou bearest me and seeing thou hast loved me in thy Sonne I shall in all things be more then victorious But what shall I render unto thee O Lord unto thee that hast delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from sliding Vnto thee O Lord that hast loosed the bands of death which compassed me about Vnto thee that hast converted and turned into joy the sorrowes of the grave which had overtaken me What shall I render unto thee O Eternall Lord for all thy benefits conferred upon me I will take the cup of salvation I will call upon thy Name I will pay my vowes before the people I am thy servant thou hast unloosed my bands I will sacrifice unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving I will offer unto thee the fruit of my lips I will confesse thy Name thou hast purchased me with a price I will glorifie thee in my body and in my soule I am thine unto thee therefore will I present my selfe as a lively and holy sacrifice that may be pleasing and acceptable unto thee To this end O my God I crave strength from thee the conduct of thy Spirit thou hast already given me a will to serve thee produce O Lord in me not onely the will but withall perfect it with efficacie and according to thy good pleasure Of my selfe I can do nothing to thy glorie I perceive not the things which are of thy Spirit all the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are altogether continually evill the wisdome the desires of the flesh is enmitie against thee It will not it cannot be subject to thy Law and yet by thy Spirit thou hast already given me the beginning of my regeneration Yet Lord though I will the thing that is good yet find I not the meanes to performe the same I do not the good that I would but I do the evill that I would not do It is to thee then that I have my recourse thou art the Author of every good gift the fountaine of life lyeth in thee in thy cleare light we see clearely and from thee onely is all our sufficiencie illuminate me by thy Spirit that being directed by the same I may render unto thee the service which I owe in the acknowledgment of all thy benefits Give me grace that to serve thee I may do nothing but what may be acceptable to thee that I may frame my selfe not unto mine owne fancie but according to thy will that I may do not what seemes good unto my selfe but what thou approovest that I may performâ— not mine owne designes but thy will not mine owne intentions but thy commandements not my will but thy Word Graunt I may propound unto my selfe for my end not the vanitie of the world but thy glory not my reputation but the manifestation of thy holy Name not my establishment on earth but the advancement of thy truth and of thy Church Give me to serve thee not unwillingly and by constraint but freely and with a good heart that I may be pricked forward not by the rigour of Menaces and the chastisements of thy Law but incited by the sweetnesse of the promises and benefits of thy Gospell that I may be not possessed with the Spirit of
thou hast begun from their enemies and thine that thy children may be comforted and confirmed in their faith and hope and that the wicked may learne to cease from their blaspheming of thee And that they may know that thou art the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords Lord be mercifull unto us poore and miserable sinners Give gladnesse unto our soules give succours unto thy Church for it is time O God which art the God of Peace and of comfort give us that true peace which is the repose of our consciences In the meane time reforme our disorders and confusions as it shal be expedient for thy glory and our salvation so that avoiding the surprises and practises which may be made against us by our enemies we may serve thee in all security and tranquillity according to thy holy will All the which things we aske and most humbly crave of thee in the Name and for thy beloved Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ his sake praying unto thee as it hath pleased him to teach and shew us how to call upon thee saying Our Father which art in heaven c. An Evening Prayer 13. O Lord God eternal and Almighty Father who hast made formed us with thine owne hands that knowest of what matter we are fashioned and made and reservest to selfe as Lord and Master the prerogative of sounding and searching of the hearts of thy creatures even unto their most retired thoughts We cannot denie before thee this truth namely that we are poore sinners conceiv'd and born in iniquitie and corruption inclined to do evill unprofitable unto every good work and that thorow our vitious disposition wee transgresse continually and without ceasing thy holy and heavenly Commandements in doing wherof we purchase to our selves thy just judgment our utter ruine and destruction Yet Lord we are grieved in our selves for the same O Lord God who hast created the day for our travell and the night for our rest pardon us if we have not imployed the day to thy service in performing thy holy will and ordinance and grant we may passe the night without offending thee even that we may remaine unpolluted both in body and soule to the end that in the morning for our first work we may praise thee and give thanks unto thee and dispose our selves unto thy service And because Lord that in the night season our afflictions presse ordinarily more then in the day and we have lesse succors from men re-inforce Lord thy Guard over us and behold with pitie and compassion all thy poore afflicted persecuted and oppressed ones especially for thy Word deliver them O good God as thou hast begun from their enemies and thine that thy children may be comforted and confirmed in their faith and hope and the wicked may learn to blaspheme thee no more but that they may know that thou art the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Lord be mercifull unto us poore and miserable sinners give joy to our soules give relief to thy Church for it is high time O God which art the God of peace and consolation give us that true peace which is the repose of our consciences In the meane while remedie our disorders and confusions as shall be expedient for thy glory and our salvation So that avoiding the surprises and deceitfull practises which may be made against us by our enemies we may serve thee in all security and tranquillity according to thy holy will All the which things we ask and crave of thee most humbly in the Name and for the sake of thy welbeloved Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ according as it hath pleased him to informe and teach us to pray unto thee saying Our Father which art in heaven c. The blessing of our gracious God and Father the peace and grace of our Lord Iesus Christ remaine evermore with us in the Communion of the Holy Ghost Amen Another Morning Prayer 13. O Lord God and most gracious Father I thy poore creature that naturally am wrapt in darknesse durst not lift up mine eyes towards thee that inhabitest inaccessible light were it not that thy deare Sonne who is the brightnes of thy glory hath made way for me to the Throne of thy Grace by the effusion of his precious bloud And now my God I acknowledge that it is a great benefit that I that am unworthy to live upon the face of the earth and have deserved by my sins to be cast for ever into utter darknes have this happines to see the light of the day and of the Sun and to behold the works of thy hands with the fruition of the good things of the earth which thou hast given me But because O gracious God thy Sun shines as well on the bad as on the good and that this light is but to guide my body be pleased O God that the brightnes of thy face may shine upon me in blessing me and enlighten my understanding by regenerating and sanctifying me that I may walk in the way of thy Commandements that in my Calling I may in such sort carry my self as that all my words deeds and thoughts may be correspondent to thy honour and glory and to the edification of my neighbours Lord thou hast drawne me out of the darknes of idolatrie and ignorance thou hast taken away the vaile of superstition from before myne eyes thou hast also even in my time caused to shine forth and as it were lighted againe that lamp of the preaching of thy Gospell But suffer me not that having eyes not to see with them But Lord inlighten all the parts of my soule and graunt that what ere is in me may be imployed to give thee all honour and obedience that in my Calling thy feare may before mine eyes And because thou esteemest not thy selfe to be loved of us unlesse we love our neighbours imprint in me a faith working by love in such sort that with confidence I may have a good conscience doing nothing to any other but what I would should be done to my selfe Let me have a mercifull and a relenting heart let not my bowels be straitened towards the needy and poore Lastly that seeing the shape of this world to passe away I may use it as a passenger remembring ever that my freedome is in heaven Give me peace in my family give a blessing upon my labour contentment to my mind repose and comfort to the poore afflicted and full deliverance to thy Church by thy Sonne Iesus Amen Another Prayer for the Evening 15. O Lord God thy People Israel offered unto thee Evening and Morning Sacrifices in token of acknowledgment unto thee that keepest us both morning and evening but what more acceptable sacrifice can we offer unto thee then our contrite hearts and tongues to praise and blesse thee Wherefore Lord in all humility and reverence I present my self before thy face beseeching thee thou wilt be pleased not to enter into account nor into judgment with
me thy poore creature for whether thou lookest upon the first or on the second Table of thy Commandements thou wilt find that I have offended thee many wayes Yet as the child hath alwaies recourse to his father I have my refuge and my retrait unto thee O Lord which art slow unto anger and of great compassion beseeching thee by thy goodnes to cover my sins as all things are covered thorow the darknes spread over the earth Alas my God I know Satan goeth round about us as a roaring Lion I know he is the governour of the darknes and Prince of this world But withall if thou be for me who shal be against me It is thou that hast thousands of Angels that are encamped round about us It is thou that hast created the Sun begetting heat and the Moone affording coolenes It is thou that governest the whole frame of nature and never slumberest Be pleased then to graunt me the favour to take my rest this night in peace not to suffer a sleepe unto the things of the earth but more and more to acknowledg thankfully thy goodnes untill thou callest me unto that so greatly to be desired rest which thou hast prepared for us O how sweet and amiable will that dwelling be to us when in our graves we shall heare the voice of thy Sonne to raise us up unto glorious immortalitie But in the mean time whilst we expect that last comming we commend unto thee O heavenly Father the peace and preservation of thy Church our Superiours and Magistrates and all them that have need of thy succours beseeching thee that in this decrepit age of the world wherein all the kingdomes of the earth do stagger thou wilt be the prop and shoare of thy poore people and in stead of the so many dolorous dayes and yeares which we have seen we may see some rest in the midst of thy Church Raise up Lord some nursing father and some retrait for thy children that an over-violent oppression trample them not under foot and this for thy beloved Son our Lord Iesus Christ his sake in whom I trust and on whom I repose my selfe Amen A Prayer in the time of the Plague 16. LOrd whose infinite power seemeth small being compared to thy mercy turne thine eye of pitie upon us and amidst the dangers of this pestilent infection which threatneth us on every side retaine and uphold our languishing lives which without thy grace would vanish to nothing and be turned to corruption in a moment With the same mercy wherewith thou hast cleansed our soules consecrating them to thy service by the badge of sacred Baptisme repurge and cleanse our bodies to serve as cleane vessels unto our soules and to co-operate in the mysterie of thy praise Thou drewest light out of the bottomlesse deep by thy power thou drawest away the darkenesse which obscured the earth Purge away now again by the same light the noisomnes and corruption of the ayre and in such wise powre forth thy grace that we may breath to our safety and preservation Lord thou hast justly suffered for the punishment of our sins this poison and contagious venome to raigne with power over our bodies But seeing thy deare and onely beloved Sonne hath blotted out with his bloud the sin which had provoked thee he should withall have drowned the scourges appointed for the punishment We fall againe every day into the gulfe whereout thou hast drawne us we renounce by our evill life the grace thou hast given us It is true Lord that if thou wilt judge us in thy justice we have but to be silent and to suffer but we implore thy mercy greater yet then all our sins thy mercy Lord which cannot bee invoked in vaine It sufficeth that we lift up our eyes unto thee it sufficeth that we sigh turne our heart unto thee so soone as we feele thee present and neare unto us But without thee Lord we cannot move towards thee Take us then my God and inspire into us this wholsome motion In the sequell whereof we shall undoubtedly have what ere we crave of thee in the name of thy precious Son our Saviour Iesus Christ Sith then that in his name we ask of thee the health of our bodies preserve them my God from the danger wherein they are make the ayre we breath the water we drink the victuals we use the garments wherewith we cloath our selves may be instruments of health to our life remove farr from us in every thing what is impure and pestelent fortifie the spirits that animate our bodies to the end to be able to resist all the infection they may encounter to overcome and surmount the same Give us firme and undaunted courage to wit relying and resting on thy grace thorough the which we may be enabled to passe without apprehension the dangers amidst the which it pleaseth thee that we live and make us continually sensible of thy comfort by which we may be guided with a quiet mind thorough the midst of these worldly miseries maintaining evermore that lively hope in our hearts that giving thee the glory which is due to thy holy Name we may arrive in the end to that which thou hast promised to thine Elect. Amen A Prayer upon the Creation 17. LOrd God who hast created all for thy glory especially man to be the principall instrument thereof and hast moreover received him unto the greatest honour assuring him that he shall obtaine what ere he shall ask of thee in true faith and charity raise up my thoughts purifie my heart sanctifie my tongue to the end I may sing worthily thy praises render unto thy bounty the thanksgivings which are due thereunto and ask that which is necessary for my salvation and convenient and meet for the advancement of thy glory This Lord I cannot do but thorough thy favorable assistance Not onely all good commeth forth from thee but even the hability to ask it As then with fierie tongues thou openedst the lips of thine Apostles purge now this of a poore humble sinner and instruct my heart to ask of thee what may be pleasing unto thee Give me a new spirit which may know how to conceive that good which is to be praied for from thee which therin may take content which may therin confirm and entertaine it selfe not floting and wavering but firme and surely anchored in the faith of thy promises and assurance of thy goodnes as in that safe and calm haven whither ought to be steared the whole equipage of all our desires looking alwayss for our most assured star the merit of thy most deare Sonne our Lord Iesus Christ by the intercession of whom we cannot fall from any of our hopes unto him I say be glory and honour for ever and ever Amen A Morning Prayer 18. O Light of lights which hast dispersed the darknesse to bring light into the world and to give man for a mirrour the beauty of thy works and the elegant
Father be with us in truth and love A SACRED Spirituall Awakening or Morning Sacrifice to serve for the awaking and rowsing of the carnally secure The eare that heareth the reproofe of life abideth among the wise Pro. 15.31 He that despiseth the Word shall perish by reason thereof Proverb 13. It shall be more tollerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha Mat. 10.14.15 29. IT is our over much stouping unto and our setling upon the lees of our vanities that the foolish affections of the flesh dragge us deeper into their disordered appetites It is our overmuch thinking on the things here below let us remain no longer curb'd on earth let us rouse up addresse our selves toward heaven and let us not defraud it of what belongs unto it shall not the examples of the creatures without reason yea without sense lead us unto this reason We see water commeth forth of the water and returneth unto water the earth drawne from the earth re-inclineth to the earth and so every thing tendeth to his place and shall we that are borne for heaven flie from it The knowledge that our blessednesse is there eternall blessednesse which already we possesse thorow the assurance of our union with Iesus Christ into whose death we have been baptised to the end to participate in his resurrection and to be in time ordained by God fully co-heires of that celestiall heritage ought it not to make us lift up our senses on high and to pluck them wholly from the earth But alas We confesse that this knowledge appeareth to be almost altogether obscured in us for our conversation is like unto that of them that have not knowne God walking as having no feare of the Lord and doing the things which indeed ought not to be so much as thought on or named of us it seemeth to appeare by the course of the most that man is but only for the flesh to the end to glut his disordered passions O wonderfull brutishnes Where then shall this knowledge be Or the feeling or expectation of the heavenly joy Rom. 6. Col. 3. For this union not performing her functions should we not walke in feare and trembling all the course of our life mortifie our old man and corrupt nature Otherwise where shal be the fruit of our baptisme Or the efficacie of the passions and sufferings of Iesus Christ and if we be destitute and deprived of these things abide we not still in death yea eternall death Wherefore let us here enter into astonishment let us be terrified with feare Rom. 2.4 We see the anger of God threatneth us if we turne not away from evill His Patience inviteth us to repentance let us not despise the riches of his mercy Eccles 5.5 He hath borne with us untill this day let us not say any more the mercy of God is great he will have pitie on the multitude of our sins to ad sinne unto sinne and let us not stay till to morrow to convert our selves for mercy and wrath come both from the Lord and his day shal be and will come when it shall not be thought on no man knoweth the houre And this is it which is meant by the Parable of the evill servant who saying in his heart my Master deferreth the time of his comming Math. 24.48 And therefore I will lead an evill life That his Master will surprise him and will come in a day when he looketh not for him and will cast him thither where there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Let us feare let us feare then such a surprise let us awake thorowly and slumber no longer in our sins O halfe Atheists infamous Monsters that say let us sinne that God may forgive us otherwise what use shall there be of his mercy came he not for sinners Oh how you deceive your selves and those also that glut their brutish and irregular lusts giving the full swing to their foolish desires prophaning likewise the mercy of God promise to themselves afterward to have the same all the course of their lives jollily heaped up their iniquitie to say at their last day a peccavi whereupon they heape and pile up in this manner as much mischief as the most perverse can do As if it were in mans power to have repentance to ask and obtaine mercy at any time or moment hee shall assigne himselfe and as if it were in his own free habilitie and power and not a speciall and singular gift of God as it is manifested unto us in Ieremy 31.8 when he saith Convert mee and I shall bee converted for thou art the Lord my God surely after I was converted I repented That such grace commeth from God alone according to his good pleasure It is the saying of the Holy Ghost Act. 11.18 God gave to the Gentiles also repentance unto life Which is also clearely shewed by Saint Paul charging Timothie to teach those that were contrarily minded 2 Timoth. 1.25 To trie if at any time God would give them repentance to the knowledge of the truth that they may awake and recover themselves out of the snare of the Devill according to that we gather Esay 1.15 That man somtimes cryeth unto the Lord in vaine and without that he answereth him Consider then now unto whom when and how mercy is graunted Psalme 18.41 And we may acknowledge all in that behalfe that we have not the morrow to repent in Let us not grow elder in our iniquitie least as wisdome admonisheth us That malice having taken deep root in us our heart can never be changed Wisdome the 12.10 So the tree long since planted is not easily stub'd up and let us ever beare in mind that threatning Apoc. 3.3 If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what houre I will come upon thee But what shall we not grow wise thorough the frequent examples which daily occurre and present themselves to our view That the lustiest man he that buildeth his designes as it were farre from the grave and who thinketh of nothing lesse then on the tribute he owes to death in the same instant sinks downe And therefore no man knowes the houre nor how he must dislodge from out of this lower earth Every moment both of night and of day shewing that God hath a thousand and a thousand meanes in his hand to cut off when he pleaseth the thread of the soundest and strongest life Whereupon one hath said very well What act what time what place exempt can stand From dreadfull dart of Deaths fell hand Is not unpartiall proofe Pope Adrians flie That laughing eating drinking man may die Stay a little thy mind and thoughts in this place O thou temporiser that deferrest unto another season to amend and become better let not this passe thee without thinking on it and it shal be an entrance unto thee to profit by the admonition which our Saviour Iesus Christ gives us Mat. 24.44 Therefore be
Paul saith Rom. 8.14 Courage then Sir say boldly with that holy Apostle in the midst of your combats I am assured that nothing shal be able to separate me from the love of God which he hath shewed me in Iesus Christ our Lord To assure the sicke against the temptations and terrors of conscience FOure things there are indeed which in this spirituall combat may give you terror stagger your faith and trouble the peace of your conscience Namely the sense of your sinnes the apprehension of death the feare of the Devill and the horrour of the judgement of God before whom we are to appeare at our going forth of this life But against the feare of al these things the goodnesse of God in the benefits of Christ and in the testimonies he gives us in his Word furnisheth you with good and sufficient remedies thorowly to assure and establish you in invincible constancie Against the terrors proceeding from the sense of his sinnes FIrst for the regard of your sinnes it is indeed very necessarie to have a thorow sensible apprehension and lively feeling of them to humble you before God But in as much as you protest you have a true and serious repentance of them and do seek and lay hold of by faith the satisfaction and expiation of them in the bloud of Iesus Christ assure your self they can in no sort hinder the effect of your salvation If you be a sinner why Iesus Christ also came into the world to save sinners 1. Tim. 1.15 He is that Lamb of God that takes away the sinnes of the world Iohn 1.29 It is his bloud which cleanseth us from all iniquitie 1 Ioh. 1.7.9 And whosoever shall believe in him shall receive remission of his sins thorow his name Act. 10 43. For this cause is it that there should be preached in his name repentance and remission of sinnes Luke 24 47. Yea he himselfe invites us to himselfe to endow us with the fruition of such a good come unto mee all yee that labour and are heavie laden and I will give you rest Matth. 11.28 Go you then unto him if you feele your selfe overwhelmed with the burthen of your sinnes in assurance to find remedie and rest to your soule And for this selfe same cause performes he yet still dayly the office of an Advocat with the Father for us If we have sinned saith Saint Iohn ch 2. ver 1 2. We have an Advocat with the Father to wit Iesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for our sinnes Against the feare of death NOW as touching death why should you feare it seeing your sinnes are not imputed unto you For by sin it is that death entred into the world thus saith Saint Paul Rom. 5.12 and by consequent where there is no sinne there can be no death And indeed as for eternall death which the Scriptures call the second death you have from it a full and a perfect release by the meanes of this faith which God hath given you Verily saith the Son of God Iohn 5.24 I say unto you that hee that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent me he hath eternall life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death vnto life And as for the death of the body whereunto we remaine still subject it is not unto the faithfull a testimonie of Gods anger upon them as it is ever such unto the reprobate but rather a great and singular favour of his bounty and which bringeth them an infinitenes of excellent commodities First of all it delivereth and setteth us free from all manner of evils and dangers putting an end unto such a number of miseries vexations and griefs which exercise and disquiet us uncessantly both in our bodies and in our mindes during the course of this miserable life or rather of this continuall death wherein we languish here below and by drawing us out of this corrupt world imbrued in malignitie with the corruption wherof we cannot chuse but be infected as with a contagious ayre to see our selves brought to this unhappy necessity of offending daily the goodnesse of our heavenly Father so many wayes as we do Secondly corporall death is an entrance to us into a true life by the benefit of Iesus Christ who hath himselfe passed thorow this death to make the passage happy and dangerlesse unto us it is a safe bridge unto us to passe us and convay us out of the world unto God from earth to heaven and out of the calamities of this transitorie life unto the incomprehensible blessednesse of life eternall unto that fulnesse of joyes which is as David saith Psal 16.11 in beholding the face of the Lord. This is the happinesse which your soule shall injoy even from your very instant departure out of this body And as for your body which shal be put into the earth this shall not be for it there to perish for ever but rather there to rest only for a time in expectation of a blessed resurrection For this cause is it that the death of the faithfull is called a sleepe in the Scriptures and they are called they that are asleepe in regard of their bodies which at the last day shal be awakened and raised up out of the dust to possesse together with their soules glorious immortality being made conformable unto the glorious body of our Lord Iesus Christ Philip. 3.21 He is the head and they are the members And therefore it must needs be that the members be made like and conformable to their head What do you then find now in death which should astonish or affright you seeing it will deliver and set you free from all evill and will mount you up to the highest pitch of all happinesse But rather you shall find in it nothing which makes not fâ—â— your comfort and to settle and warrant you and which for that cause ought not to make you wait for it with resolution and repose of spirit yea to breath and long after it with all your heart when the houre therof shall come And to say with Saint Paul My desire tendeth and endeavoureth to go hence to be with Christ Against the feare of the Devill AS for the feare you may have of the Devill you see now how you have no great subject to fearâ—â—im seeing that death cannot hurt you but by that death whereof he hath the empire and power thereof Now the Apostle witnesseth that Iesus Christ hath not onely by death destroyed death but also him that had the power of death to wit the Devill Heb. 2.14 Our Lord saith himself that the Prince of this world hath nothing in him Nor then hath he ought in those that â—ire his members of the number of whom by the grace of God you are one Besides for us and for our profit it was that the Son of God fought with and hath vanquished and overcome him upon the Crosse upon the which he hath as Saint Paul speaketh
is but a vapour which appeareth for a short time and then vanisheth away sith in exchange therof there shal be given you life eternall and therein the height of happines so transcendent and incomprehensible that neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hath entred into the heart of man that which God hath prepared for them that love him When it shall appeare that the sicke doth notoriously draw on unto death or seemeth indeed readie to give up the ghost there may be yet further added if need require and repeated this briefe consolation with the prayer following COurage Sir you draw neare now unto the end of the combat which cannot but be happy for you as you are assured of the victorie by the meanes of your faith which is the victorie which overcommeth the world and the Prince of the world Iesus Christ your head and Saviour stretcheth out his arme unto you and stayeth attending you at the end of the fight to present unto you the incorruptible Crowne of glory which he hath purchased for you by the price of his bloud Commend and commit your selfe then unto him with your whole heart go unto him with cheerfulnesse cast your selfe into his armes and say unto him my soule into thine hands I come to yeeld for thou hast redeemed me ô God of truth Psa 31. We will beseech God againe that he will give you grace so to doe A Prayer O Lord Father of mercy and God of all consolation and comfort unfold plenteously in this exigencie thy mercies and boundlesse comforts upon the person of this thy poor servant and child Give him to reape now and to apply unto himselfe an abundant and excellent fruit and profit from those holy lessons which thou hast during the course of his life taught him in thy schoole Give him an invincible faith in this combat arme him with thy whole Spirituall armour that he may be able to stand against all the temptations and ambushes of Satan and having vanquisht them all he may abide stedfast If thy justice astonish him let thy mercy establish and comfort him if his sinnes accuse him let the obedience of thy beloved Sonne excuse and justifie him If the apprehension of death trouble him make him behold the gate of eternall life Open unto him wherunto thou goest to give him entrance Thou hast given him thy Sonne make good unto him such a gift that it may not be vaine nor unprofitable He is one of the sheepfold of that great shepheard let none take him out of thy hands Thou hast begun in him his salvation let not thine owne work remaine unperfect And seeing thou hast led him on forward to the end of a painfull course receive now his soule into thy hands and carrie it into thy celestiall paradise to that height and full accomplishment of rest and blessednesse in the companie and fellowship of thy blessed Angels and of all the holy soules of thine Elect which thou hast already gathered thither there jointly to injoy together for ever the fulnesse of joy which standeth in the beholding of thy face Heare us Father of grace for the sake of thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord who in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth and raigneth with God eternally Amen A briese consolation to give unto the neare friends of the deceased person of whether sex soever especially afther their returne from the funerall DEare friends in this exigent it is that you are to call to mind that holy and Christian instruction which you have received in the schoole of Iesus Christ to make your profit thereof by bearing patitiently your affliction and resting with humilitie and with a quiet mind in the will of God whereunto evermore ours must conforme and submit it selfe Our nature indeed in such accidents carrieth us to nothing but to teares to plaints and sorrowes But the Spirit of God the author of all new-birth teacheth therein to keepe meâ—sure and not to grieve after the manner of those that are without hope 1 Thess 4.14 If we be men in mourning we must withall shew that we are Christians adorn'd with Faith and with Hope to assure us that this corporall death is unto the faithfull children of God by the benefit of Iesus Christ nothing else but a doore to enter by into everlasting life Iohn 5. vers â—8 29 and that for the regard even of their bodies themselves that the earth receiveth them but a pledge they shall heare one day the voice of the Lord that shall cause them to come forth of their graves into the resurrection of life that the partie deceased he or she may there be of the number of the children of God the witnesses and the mirks and badges that God hath given him thereof by the good profession of pietie and integritie which he practised in the midst of his Church unto the last gasp of his life ought not hereof to leave any scruple or doubt in us He lived to the Lord and he is dead to the Lord by consequent he is happy resteth from his labours Apo. 14.13 by the heavenly witnes of the Spirit of God himselfe You have then no subject matter to weepe over him in regard of his estate which is not to be bewailed he being every way most happy He hath likewise a great advantage above us that remaine still in the world after him for he is arrived at the haven of happines whereas we are still tossed under the storme and tempest of the troublesome and dangerous Sea of this miserable world And therfore farre better is it for us to breath after our going to him then to wish him here againe with us As for the regard of your selves who in that which may concern this life may receive some inconvenience by his absence you must consider that God who gave him you abideth for evermore for you who is sufficient for us without all other things whereas all other things are nothing without him He it is who will continue evermore over you the care of his Fatherly Providence if you continue alwayes to walke in his feare I beseech him to give you the grace so to do and that he will therein strengthen you with an holy resolution and with constancie Consolation for the sicke extracted out of the holy Scriptures to prepare them unto death F. S. N. HE that is of God heareth the Word of God and he not only heareth it but keepeth it and bringeth it into practice For all things shall come to an end and shall wax old as a garment but the Word of God shall abide for ever Now seeing it is so that by one man sinne came into the world and by sinne death and consequently all afflictions and adversities do thereon depend upon just occasion the life of man is but a continuall battell upon the earth in like manner the flesh fighteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Devill the world and the flesh Which
Father hath given you all things F. S. N. Be strong in Iesus Christ who calls and inuites you by his Prophets Apostles and Evangelists to resort and freely to make towards him saying you that thirst come unto the great fountaine come unto me all you that travell and are heavie laden and I will ease you F. S. N. Believe stedfastly that Iesus Christ hath discharged and set you free from all your sins and hath reconciled you unto God his Father Vnto whom in all humilitie and repentance say from the bottom of your heart LOrd God Almighty have mercy upon me a poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his death passion be pleased to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands F. S. N Bee of good hope For assuredly he will receive your soule as his for his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake who is the Saviour and Redeemer of all those that believe in him Moyses and all the Prophets have testified that all Nations shall receive salvation and blessednes by Iesus Christ The Apostles and Evangelists do testifie that Iesus Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and to give his life for the redemption of many for he hath shed his bloud for the remission of sinnes Believe then and doubt not in any wise for Iesus Christ hath made you cleane from all your sinnes having promised that all they that shall believe in him and in his Father that sent him shall have eternall life and shall not come into judgement but shall passe from death unto life Well then F. S. N. take a good courage in Iesus Christ For he hath loved you and washed you from your sinnes in his bloud Have then this stedfast faith to fight valiantly against the adversarie use no other buckler to defend your selfe withall but this precious bloud of Iesus Christ which by vertue of his Death and Passion hath reconciled you unto God his Father unto whom in great humility and repentance offer up this Prayer O Lord God Almighty have mercy upon me a poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his Death and Passion be graciously pleased to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands F. S. N. Let this be your hope stedfast faith that that good God full of all mercy will receive your soule as his into his hands for his Sonne Iesus Christs sake For there is no other Name under heaven given unto men wherby we must be saved nor is there salvation in any other but in Iesus Christ Arme your self then indeed with this gracious Iesus Christ for he hath done all for you he hath fulfilled the Law for you he hath overcome all for you Well then F.S.N. cheer up your self in God be you ever unmooveable in this lively faith follow and imitate you the holy Patriarks Prophets and Apostles who are all saved in this faith who assure you all of them that the adversarie can no wayes hurt you For your suit is won by Iesus Christ who is both your Iudge and Advocat together Wherfore say evermore in this stedfast faith that though I should walke thorow the midst of the shadow of death yet would I feare no manner of evill For thou Lord God art with me F. S. N. Also cease not to say from the bottome of your heart in great humility and repentance LOrd God Almighty have mercy upon me poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his Death and Passion let it please thee to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands So be it A singular Prayer for a person greatly afflicted with sicknes which seemeth to approach nearer to death then to life With a short Catechisme purposely made to instruct the sicke and to make him contemplate by faith the great mysterie of our redemption Eccles c. 18. v. 19.20 Vse Physicke ere ever thou be sick before judgement examine thy selfe and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy NOw the Lord admonisheth us to pray continually especialy when we are touched with his rods wherefore all kinsfolks and faithfull friends that visit the sick person ought not only to visit and be carefull for the body but withall to seek and ask for the spirituall physick for his Soule This must he do by good prayers confession of sinnes and Christian exhortation according to the Word of God without which man cannot live and to this end that all things may be done in good order and with zeale First of all it is meet to cast downe himselfe before the Majestie of God and to call upon him by beginning Our helpe is in the Name of the Lord c. Then to present unto him the generall confession of sinnes and consequently this present prayer as it followeth O Lord God Almighty and Father of mercy we are here assembled together in the Name of thy welbeloved Son our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ thorow whom we are bold to present our selves before thee to call upon thy holy Name having our sole refuge unto thy Soveraigne and transcendent goodnes which we not only desire to be sensible of and to tast in our selves but also in the necessitie of thy poore creature here afflicted with corporall sicknes and with the affliction and calamity of mind We know Lord that justly thou visitest and chastnest him with thyrods to make him to understand thy fatherly affection But thy great mercies which thou hast used towards our fathers are not extinguisht nor exhausted For thou art that great eternall God gracious and mercifull that never changest with whom there is no variablenes nor shadow of change Thy holy Word teacheth us most evidently that the whole earth is full of thy mercies which are farre above thy justice Wheâ—fore Lord mitigate thy rigour towards thy creature have pity and compassion on him for thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake Looke not upon his sins but looke upon the face of thy Christ who hath fully satisfied thee for him by offering up unto thee that great sacrifice of his body upon the Crosse We beseech thee then O most gracious God full of mercy to make him sensible of thy grace which thou hast never denied to thy children And because thou art our eternal Father well knowing whatsoeveâ— is needfull and expedient for our salvation We pray not unto thee to lengthen unto him his life or to abridge it for we repose our selves upon thy holy will whereunto onely we desire to be conformable Thou art wise without counsell to dispose of thy creature according to thy good pleasure That if it shal be thy pleasure to call him hence who is he that shal be able to resist thee But if it be thy good pleasure to send him health againe who is he that shall reprehend
thou hast broken rejoyce As then thou didst that favour unto the Israelites even then when they were in the desarts to make them to tast of the fruits of the terrestriall Canaan to the end to incourage them to make them to walk on forward with boldnesse towards the Land of Promise So Lord give unto this sick person and unto us that are in the wildernesse of this world an assurance of the forgivenes of our sins in the bloud of thy Welbeloved who was wounded for our trespasses and bruised for our iniquities peace in our consciences a continuall acknowledgment of thy favours a firm reliance on thy love and joy in our soules which are the fruits of the Celestiall Canaan to the end that relishing that sweetnes we may aspire with zeale and courage towards the end of our Spirituall Calling in Iesus Châ—â—st to be filled not with 〈◊〉 and hony but with 〈◊〉 beams of thy glorious 〈◊〉 and with the rivers of thâ— pleasures with thee for evermore For in possessioâ— of thee great God we shall possesse all things and in thee and thorow thee we shal be all radiant with thy glory and shining as the brightnes of the firmament and as the Sun which shineth in his strength And during this small time which remains for us to live in this world give uâ— grace that thorow good works we may make sure 〈◊〉 Vocation and Election to the end that thus doing 〈◊〉 â—ntrance into the eterâ—â—â—â—â—ingdome of our Saviour Iesus Christ may be abâ—ndâ—ntly accommodated unto us bearing evermore in â—â—nd those words of thy Sonne Iesus Christ that he that shall persevere and shall overcome shal be clothed with white garments and I will not blot his name out of the booke of life But I will confesse his name before my Father and before his Angells And to the end we may receive death which is the end of our miseries in good part make us seriously to think on the future resurrection of our bodies for as this day according as thy Prophet Amos teacheth us shal be a day of darknes not of brightnes of heavines not of joy of destruction not of salvation to the wicked so shall it be the acceptable day of the Lord for the good for as thy Son our Saviour teacheth us we ought to lift up our heads and to rejoyce in that day because our redemption is neare In that day shall it be according to thy Prophet Malachie that the register or book of remembrance which is written before thee of them which think of thy Name shal be opened If King Assuerus had in his Palace a Booke of the worthy exploits of his subjects wherein he found written the good deeds of Mardochâ— to recompence it and shalt not thou have O great King by whom the Kings of the earth raigne Thy book of life and retribution wherin are writ the names of thy children whom by a singular prerogative thou hast adopted for such in thy Son Iesus Christ David surely knew this mysterie when as in his sorest afflictions he said unto thee Lord thou tellest my wanderings my tears are in thy bottle are they not in thy Book Now to the end we may bee acceptable to thee whilst we are incompassed with this mortall flesh graunt us the grace to live in this present world soberly justly and religiously expecting that happy day of the last resurrection and appearing of thy deare Son our Saviour Iesus Christ who in the same shall transforme our vile bodies to the end they may be made like to his glorious body according to the effectuall power wherby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Vnto thee O great God thorow thy Son Iesus Christ in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 2. Another Prayer when the sicke is neare unto death 35. O Lord our good God and Father who out of thy great goodnes daily showrest downe upon us a sea of bounty and blessings and who hast in thy hand rest and labour health and sicknes life and death We poore sinners setling our selves upon the assurance of thy goodnes which is continually ready to relieve those that resort thereunto in the interim of their grievous assaults unto the blessed haven of thy sacred mercy We are bold in the name of this sick person who fighteth against death to lift up our hearts and our eyes towards thee to the end that thy favour and grace may serve unto him for a starre of light and a guide in that voyage which his soule maketh from earth to heaven and from this mortall life unto the immortall to persist firmly in the faith even unto the end without being terrified or shaken by temptation illusion or by any other stratageme of the enemie Thou art O great God the light of all them that hope in thee and who leddest thy people Israel thorow the ghastly wildernes by a pillar of fire in the dark night therfore we beseech thee to enlighten with thine assistance and holy protection this thy childe in the darkesome passage of death And surely Lord experience shewes us that when humane means seeme most to faile us then is it that thou keepest nearest unto thine to comfort them with thy right hand handling them with thy helpfull hand with gentle and cherishing fomentations and that thou makest them sensible that the point of their extreame need is the opportunitie of thy succours And therefore is it that now the heart of this sicke person sobbeth that his eyes are duskish and heavy his eares deafe his mouth dry and juycelesse and as the outward man falleth in him it would please thee to give him strength in his inward man and to fill his soule with gladnes and joy in that last conflict making him powerfully to relish those celestiall gifts which are laid up for us in heaven by the merits of thy deare Sonne our Saviour who to make us to live againe in heaven after he had by his death reconciled us unto thee ascended into heaven there to prepare a place for us In the interim then of this small time which remaines for this thy child to live in this world give him grace that his spirit may alwayes acknowledge thee that his heart may adore thee whilst he shall breath that he may be assured stedfastly that in the end of his mortall sweat he may find unspeakable happines with his bride-groome Iesus Christ unto whom with thee in the unitie of the Holy Ghost be honour and glorie for ever Amen 3. Another prayer in distres 36. LOrd God and Father of all mercy that sentest from heaven an Angell to comfort thy Son when in the depth of his Passion bearing our sorrowes and loaden with our griefs wounded for our offences and bruised for our iniquities his soule was heavie even unto death We beseech thee from the bottome of our hearts to comfort this thy sick child whom thou hast regenerated and incorporated
into thy welbeloved Sonne acknowledg Lord the mark of thine adoption in him We know O God of inestimable puritie that our sinnes drive us back far away from thee But thy deare Sonne who is made for us by thee wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption not only washeth us with his bloud to becom acceptable unto thee but withall maketh giveth us entrance into thy Sanctuary boldnes by his death to approch with assurance to the throne of thy grace to be heard in due time Graunt grace unto this sick person to free the point of death with an holy and Christian resolution Redouble his courage at that present houre that his soule is upon the point to behold thy face wherein is fulnesse of joy And amidst the violent dartings of those sighs which accompanie the last acts of his life give him perfect clearâ—esse of judgement accompanied with calmenesse of spirit evermore to acknowledge his true and only God that drawes him out of the desarts of this world to live happy in the Heavenly Ierusalem and who withdrawes him out of the bottomlesse depths of wretchednes to bring him to live in heaven heaped with eternall blessings Command thy holy Angels which thou incampest round about those that feare thee and which watch for the welfare and safety of thy children that they beare the soule of this thy servant up into heaven the sacred Temple of thy glory most gloriously resplendant with happinesse and honour where he shall clearely see that which his spirit adores here below and where he shall injoy that divine and celestiall harmonie which the blessed Spirits make unto thee uncessantly and the eternall joyes which cannot be valued and where he shall live in continuall admiration of those incomprehensible bounties in the presence of his Spouse thy beloved Sonne Iesus Christ To whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for evermore So be it 4. Another Prayer to bee said when the Sicke is in extremity 37. O Lord our good God and most mercifull Father who being overcome with the bowels of thy tender mercies hast sent down thy beloved Sonne to save sinners and hast been pleased that this thy Sonne was bound to loose us condemned to absolve and free us that he died to give us life yea that he was made a curse to the end that we might be made a blessing of God in him We beseech thee to graunt this grace unto this sick person to repose and relye himselfe on the certainty of faith for the full remission of his sinnes upon that entire and perfect satisfaction which thy deare Sonne whose bloud was once offered up to abolish the sinnes of many hath made unto theâ— upon the Crosse For it is certaine that thou wilt not the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live Thou bruisest not in thy displeasure those that thou hast redeemed by his death thou dost not precipitate into that eternall gulfe those whom thou hast ingrafted and regenerated in that great Mediator and Saviour of the world when as calling upon thy mercy they shal be converted with their whole heart unto thee That when Satan our adversarie who like a roaring Lion goeth about us endeavouring to devoure us maketh himself a party against this sick person in this his last conflict setting before him the checkroule and catologue of his sinnes and thy rigorous judgment to astonish and to precipitate him into despaire give him grace to shield and ward himselfe as with a target and buckler to repell and beat back the fierie darts of that enemie with the truth and assurance that the bloud of thy Sonne Iesus cleanseth from all sinne Fortifie then and animate O God of invincible power and our firme hope this thy child with the strength of thy Holy Spirit at this present houre that his soule being disburdened of the miseries which presse him yea set free from the captivitie of his body is ready to go unto thee And in that houre wherin the earth claimeth in his person what we have borrowed of her have pitie Lord on thine owne image and despise not the works of thy hands Behold Lord the teares the plaints the sighes the groanes and the contrition of the heart of this sicke person and our prayers that we may acknowledge in his person thy clemency the mother of our hope thy succours the source of our life and that indeed thou art our sacred and saving refuge And as for us which remaine in this vale of miserie graunt us this grace that as thy people being captive in Babilon had the comfort to direct and lift up their eyes towards Ierusalem the place wherein thou didst manifest unto them thy glorious and gracious presence that even so amidst the captivitie of this world where we see nothing but confusion and where vice raigneth and thy honour is dis-esteemed we may have our eyes towards thee as on the sole object and subject of our joy and rejoycing seeing in thy face is the fulnes of joy and at thy right hand are perfect pleasures for evermore Even so O thou God of inestimable bounty and goodnes and who hast chosen us out of the world to follow thy holy will we beseech thee that when thou shalt call us out of this world to place our soules in the company of those who by faith have overcome Kingdomes have done righteousnesse and have obtained the promises and who are written in the Booke of Life of the Lamb. In the meane time O Lord arme us with patience and in the midst of our troubles make us sensible by a lively feeling that our light affliction which is transient and soone over produceth in us a waight of glory wonderfully excellent and that leaving by death these visible things which are but of small continuance we shall injoy those that are now invisible to our eyes which are abiding for ever in Iesus Christ and by Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever Amen 5. A Prayer when the sick is in some grievous perplexitie 38. O God and Father of all mercy who art wise in thy counsels true in thy word and admirable in thy works yea who keepest thy deare children as the apple of thine eye In as much as now we see that now it is even at this time that it wil be thy pleasure to withdraw this thy sick child out of this mortall world We beseech thee enter not into account with him to punish him nor reprove him in thy displeasure neither chasten him in thy wrath But remember Lord he hath beene called in thy Church and in the number of thine Elect to be washed and sanctified by thy grace in the name of Iesus Christ thy deare Sonne who took upon him our griefs and hath undergone the burden of our sorrowes that by his wounds we might receive health whereof his baptisme hath beene the badge Wash then Lord who art in