should ease and recreate and usually bends and weighs down the Soul with Covetousness to the Earth Riches what are they but vanishing Treasures Which if not taken out of our Hands by the Fraud Violence and Injustice of others may in time make themselves Wings and fly away from us which we certainly must leave at the day and hour of our Death Riches attended with disquieting thoughts and brain-cracking Projects in the procuring them with anxious Cares and Solicitudes in the keeping them with jealous fears and distrusts of loosing or being despoil'd of them The immoderate Love of which is the Root of all evil That which puts men upon the worst of wicked practices which pierces their Hearts through with many Sorrows and finally drowns them in the Gulph of Perdition Worldly Pleasures what be they But the joyous sensations of a few moments which Decease as soon almost as born and which tasted straightway loose their flavour and Relish Which if dishonest and sinful are likewise hurtful and prejudicial and very severely paid for by succeeding shame sorrow and repentance if innocent and harmless yet carrying vanity in their Nature they add also Vexation of Spirit through a deceit of our Expectations For how should what is Finite as all Terrene Comforts are afford any compleat and settled Satisfaction Oh no Absolute and Durable Contentment is not contain'd within the narrow limits of the Creature Nothing but what is Infinite is proportionate to an immortal Souls Capacity which are next to Infinite O our God that such a thing of Nothing or worse than Nothing of pain sorrow and disappointment as is this World should take up so much of our Affections as it does and that Heaven a Region of the sublimest sincerest ever-durable and most enravishing Delights should share so little in our Love and Approbation Thither did we mount our Thoughts our Desires our Religious Enterprizes even to the Celestial Mansions above oh with what Disdain should we look down on this vile inferiour Earth How little would it appear in our sight Nay how would it in a manner disappear our God our Heaven our spiritual and eternal Concerns having pre-ingaged the main of our Affections and consequently having left little Room for meaner Objects and Entertainments We are Pilgrims here on Earth and therefore ought to have the coldness and indifferency of Pilgrims to its most entertaining Gratifications we are strangers here on Earth and ought on that account to be shy of using too much Familiarity with the World lest it should ruin and betray us with its wicked Seductions For who would trust himself too far who would live careless and unguarded in a Forreign in an Enemies Country We are Strangers here 't is so very Little a time we shall continue in this Alien Countrey that 't is not worth our while to set our hearts upon it to learn its Language or Conform our selves to its Customs and Manners We are Citizens of the New-Jerusalem which is above Heirs of an Heavenly Canaan and shall we basely hanker after the Garlick and Onions of this viler Egypt Can we think this howling Wilderness-Condition a Paradise of Delights Or do we account Heaven the End of our Hopes not worth making it the End of our Pious Labours Not worth the looking after or earnest contending for it Does a life of Voluptuousness of too free indulgence unto or too much Affection for Worldly Pleasure Honour or Profit suit with the Gospel-Duties of Mortification and Self-denial With a being Crucified to the World and the World to us in the immoderate Love thereof With the End of our being sent into it viz. to prepare for our happy going out of it and for a Blessed Eternity Does it suit to our profession of a Suffering Religion suit to the Disciples of a Crucified Saviour To his Mortified Poor and Lowly Example Who was made perfect through Sufferings and Worldly Renunciations Does it suit lastly to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant wherein we solemnly engaged to Renounce the Devil and all his Works the vain Pomp and Glory of the World with all covetous desires of the same and no longer to follow or be led by them O what Perfidiousness what Perjury is it after all this to be false to our Christian Profession false to our Baptismal Vow and Covenant by becoming Idolaters of Earthly Vanity following and being led by it and preferring the things Sublunary before those of Heaven and Eternal Glory The Prayer O Most Amiable Divine Majesty Give us a lively Transporting Prospect of the Glories of Heaven give us a prospect of the Enravishing Beauties and Perfections of thine own Nature and then how will all Sublunary Pomps and Vanities appear dim and faded in our sight How shall we look down with Scorn and Contempt upon them Wilt Thou O Lord allow us to Raise our Thoughts to Thee to Exalt them above this World and shall we still lye Groveling upon it Wilt Thou Admit and Accept our weak imperfect Affections and shall we not do all we can to Elevate our Thoughts to Spiritualize our Affections for thy Service O give us that Victory of Faith whereby we may overcome the World that Assurance of Hope whereby we may live above its Corruptions purifying our selves even as Thou art pure Mortifie in us O Sovereign Excellency the Love of the World with the Quickning Enflamed Love of thy self shew thy Self a Loving Father to us and it sufficeth a Glance of the Light of thy Countenance is enough to Eclipse all Earthly Splendour O make us to see the Vanity of all things here below and then we shall soon discern the Vanity of our Affections in inordinately doteing on them Cause us O Spirit of Divine Grace to consider how our Blessed Saviour the Lord of all things the Lord of Life and Glory despised and contemned the World and certainly after this we cannot continue overvaluing it Cause us to have our Thoughts our Desires our Conversations more in Heaven and then shall we be much less fond of this Earth for finding our infinitely more valuable Treasures Above our Hearts our Affections will be there also Make us O our God to evidence daily our contempt of this World by the coldness and indifferency of our Love towards it by wanting its Enjoyments without Impatience by possessing them with Temperance and Moderation and by Loosing them without murmuring and discontent Perswade us O Lord effectually perswade us that we can never be happy till we have disintangled our Affections from every empty unsatisfying disappointing and transient Good here below and till we love Thee above all things who alone canst fill our desires gratifie all our wishes till we despise this World think lowly of our selves highly of our God and are wholely dead and crucified to all Polluting sensual Lusts and Appetites O come Thou then unto us O our God come and satisfie our Souls with thy Fulness replenish them with thy Likeness in Holiness and
thereby drive out of us all inordinate love for meaner Objects and Gratifications Amen Blessed Lord Amen Meditation II. On the Redemption of Time THere is no Talent committed to our Trust more precious than Time it being a season for the making provision for an Happy Eternity and yet no Trust is there more abused more profusely squander'd away We take Time by the Fore-lock in all our Temporal Concerns laying hold on the first opportunity of well-managing them but in Spirituals we defer and delay and move so heavily about the good husbanding of Time as if the wheels of our Chariots of our Executive Powers our Wills and Affections were taken off and Time was rather to be shunn'd and avoided than diligently pursued But is This running the Race of Christian Obedience set before us Is This giving all diligence to make our Calling and Election Sure Is This Redeeming the Time because the days are Evil Time lies so dead a Commodity on many Peoples hands that they are glad to get rid of it at any rate whatsoever The next vain pleasure and divertisement the next as vain and impertinent Idle-Companion the next fruitless silly or corrupting Spectacle shall ease them of their spare hours as they call 'em of their leisure and wearisome seasons But ah that any time should be accounted spare and vacant when so much as our Eternal Salvation depends upon it and we know not whether we shall Live till the next Moment Ah that what is the dying Man's Want should be the well Person 's Burthen While Living Time is thought by us too Long and Tedious we are hard put to it to spend many of its Hours while Dying 't is accounted too short and Transient which now is likely to be the truest Judgment that of the living or dying man For certain that of the Latter For at the near approaches of Death all false disguises which the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye or the Pride of Life had put on things are pull'd off and then all things appear in their proper Colours and Genuine Native Dress When Death Stares us in the face when Time is nigh at an End with us then we shall know the true value of Time then to our cost and trouble have far different Sentiments concerning it than what we have Now then oh that Time could be Recall'd that Time mis-spent could be lived over-again and be better improved how diligent and industrious would we be in its improvement But alass these Good Wishes come then too late to be converted into Good Practices Death will not be put off Time will not be Recall'd and the Man dies despairingly Disconsolate if not everlastingly Miserable not for that he had no means of Grace no opportunities of Salvation but because he made not that Good Use of them as he both might and ought to have done Time passes away swiftly though we idle and loiter the Minutes the precious Minutes fly while we are speaking we are Now a Moment nearer Eternity than we were the former one but are we in a nearer preparation for it Is there a nearer Tendency in us to an Heavenly Temper the nigher we come to the Heavenly State Or rather grow we not more Earthly Affection'd the nigher we draw to our bed of Earth the Grave Alass the Loss of Time is one of the Greatest Losses in the World and yet how Light a matter do we make of it This Life so short so uncertain every Moment of it so valuable and yet that we should live as if it were never to have an End or as if we had nothing of Concern to do in it How Astonishing is this what an Instance of Folly and Inconsiderateness Blessed God! That a Pearl of so Great price as an indulged space of Repentance as an happy opportunity of Salvation should be cast before Swine before brutish sensual Worldlings should be put into the Custody of those who value it not who know not how to use and improve it The Days the Months the years of our Lives are violently born away by the impetuous Torrent of Time many many Days of our Years are past and Gone as to our ever living them over again but though past yet are they not wholly lost and perish'd They are Registred in God's Faithful Book of Remembrance they are there preserved they are there charged upon us for a demand of their Good Use and Husbandry an Account an Account of them will one day be required at our Hands And it will be but a lamentable Account indeed when all we have to offer for the expence of our Life past will be so much Time spent Idly and in doing of nothing to any Good purpose so much spent to a very Bad one in Riot and Excess in Chambering and Wantonness so much in unnecessary Habitual Sports and Divertisements so much spent in the Devil's Service and so little in God Almighty's Ah will such an Account think ye pass our Great Auditor's Examination Will such an Account procure our Discharge and Acquitment What a strange perverse folly is it in us to complain our Life is short and yet to render it far shorter by letting much of it lye Fallow and unimproved To complain our day time here is quickly spent and our Night of Death is near at hand and yet to invent Arts to lavish this short Remainder of Life and then to lament its being so soon past away and we are Gone But if we would lengthen time let us leave off complaints and fall to the work of improving it let us beside the ordinary Returns of Publick Religious Worship at set appointed Seasons be frequent and fervent in our private Domestick Devotions let us allow to Religion and the exercises of Vertue some of those Great shares of Time which we call spare Hours which we trifle away in vanities and impertinencies in pleasures and recreations in fruitless Visits and Complements which we spend viciously in Luxury Riot and Intemperance or which we suffer to lye waste without any Employment at all 'T is a vast work a man may do if he never permits himself to be Idle 't is a huge progress he may make in Vertue if he never stops in the way through Carelesness or never goes out of his way by wilful and presumptuous sinning Strive to improve all your Time strive to suffer none of it to pass unaccountable and this will be to Redeem it this will be to compensate for its shortness for its uncertainty and Irrevocableness We cannot begin too soon to live well and yet do we demur about it Had we set upon the work of Religion much earlier we should have had none to spare all would have been little enough whereby to have evidenced the sincerity of our Faith and Hope and Trust of our Love to God and his Commandments whereby to have secured an Interest in his Favour and Acceptance and in his free Gift Eternal Life For Heaven cannot
for his plaâ—â— of Worship and Residence Make 〈◊〉 such a Remove from all uncleanness 〈◊〉 the outer 〈◊〉 as to hate the very Garment 〈◊〉 with the Flesh as to become 〈◊〉 of Angelick Purity as if we were not cloath'd on with Rayment of Moriality as if whether will St. Paul we were in the Body or 〈◊〉 of the Body it was uncertain O Divine Spirit of Purity thou Author and Preserver thou Beginner and Finisher of the Grace of Chastity as 〈◊〉 all other Good and perfect Gifts let 〈◊〉 Consideration of thy unspotted Purity preserve us from all filthines both 〈◊〉 Flesh and Spirit and may the apprehension of thine All-seeing inspection who art of purer Eyes than to behold 〈◊〉 least Speck of iniquity with Approbation Awe us into an entire Sanctity O our God how ought we to offer up our Souls and Bodies Living Saerifices Holy Pure and Acceptable unto Thee whenas both are the purchases of thy Dear Son 's most precious Blood both are the Care and Protection of thy Good Providence the Temples of thy blessed Spirit when as both bear the beautiful impressions of thy Wisdom Power and Goodness both were Dedicated to hy Service in Baptisme and have frequently since Renewed their Engagement of Renouncing the World the Flesh and the Devil O keep us to the performance of this solemn Engagement keep us to a Reverencing of our Humanity which God hath Dignified by his susception thereof keep us undesiled both in Soul and Body And wherefore O blessed Saviour to what End were we Redeem'd by thee But that we should be Redeem'd from all Iniquity and purified unto thee a peculiar peopole Zealous of Good works O purifie us thoroughout by the Spirit in Soul Body and Spirit May we live no longer after the flesh fulfilling the impure Lusts thereof having a Name indeed to live yet being Dead unto the Life of Grace but Grant that mortifying through thy Spirit the deeds of the Body we may live a life of inward Peace and Joy and Freedom from the slavery of serving diverse corrupt Lusts and Passions Enable us holy Jesu to take up the Banner of thy Cross against the World the Flesh and the Devil to Crucifie the Flesh with its corrupt Desires and Affections hereby shewing that we are Thine followers of thee as dear Children in all Purity and Chastity That so possessing our vessels in Sanctification and Honour we may lay them down in a pious Hope and receive them again in a Joyful Resurrection when the Bodies of Saints shall Rise first and the Bodies of Virgin-Innocencies with a brighter Lustre and Ray of Revived Glory Amen Thou Resurrection and the Life Amen Meditation VIII Against the Sin of immoderate Anger AH did but a furious Angry Person behold himself in the midst of his unrulely Passion and see his own Blood-shot Eyes his Distorted Face his wild Disorders of Countenance Speech and Gesture he would I perswade my self be so out of Love with the unseemly Picture his Anger drew of him as to fly and abhor it ever after for 't is a Passion which for the time is Raging Madness which puts a man Besides himself out of his own power and keeping perverts the Order of God and Nature in our Primitive Constitution causing Reason that Spark of the Divinity that at first design'd Ruling Faculty of our Souls to Crouch and become Obeysant and headstrong Lust and Passion to be Uppermost and Domineer Ah how doth impotent Wrath and Fury debase and vilifie Humane Nature transforming a man into Wolf or Bear into a Lion or Tyger so that with some shew of Reason did the Pythagoreans Fancy a Transmigration of such wild and savage Souls into the Bodies of as wild and savage Beasts for how should they be suitable inhabitants of more calâ—â— and peaceable Receptacles And upon account of this Tumult and Disorder of Soul which the Vice of inordinate Anger and other Passions put us in the Stolck-Philosopher advises his Wise Man to a Total suppression and Eradication of all Passion that hereby he may live undisturb'd and at Peace in his own Bosom But the Good Christian abstains from undue Anger upon higher Considerations viz. for that 't is contrary to his known Duty and to the Divine Precepts enjoyning Meekness of Spirit for that 't is Displeasing unto God rendering of us unlike Him who is Patient and Long-suffering contrary to our Saviour's Calm and Gentle Temper and Behaviour for that also Anger indisposes a man for Communion with God in Prayer and other holy Exercises and makes his Soul an unquallifed Temple for the Dove-like Spirit of Grace to keep his Residence therein For if the Divine Spirit of Prophesie under the Law a Law for the Hardness of Jewish hearts less strictly restraining Anger and a desire of Revenge rested not however on the head of a furious passionate person at least not till his Anger was over and dislodged much less can we think that under the state of the Gospel a more meek and Loving Dispensation the Celestial Spirit of Meekness and Gentleness will inhabit a passionate malicious or Revengeful persons Soul No 't is Meekness and Humility 't is Good Nature and Slowness to Anger which consecrate ouâ— Souls Sanctuaries to that God whose Sovereign Attribute is Clemency and Goodness and our being in a lower Measure endued with this is that which makes us partakers of the Divine Nature for God is Love says St. John And furthermore that a violeâ— passion of Anger or any other inordinate perturbation of Mind are utterly inconsistent with the Quiet and peaceable Spirit of God which 〈◊〉 it descended formerly on our Saviour in the Shape of a Dove descends now only on Meek Dovelike Dispassionate persons the sacred Scriptures do plainly and abundantly testifie for when the Prophet Elijah was upon the Mountain Horeb there came a Great Strong Wind but the Lord was not in the Wind and after the Wind an Earthquake but the Lord was not in the Earthquake and after the Earthquake a Fire but the Lord was not in the Fire Last of all came a Still Small Voice an Emblem of Meekness a Cessation of all former boisterous Commotions and then was it that the God of Peace Unity and Concord was more immediately present 1 Kings 19. 11 12. A Calm Joyous Unmolested temper of mind is a lively Representation of the Celestial state of Blessedness a fit Preparatory for it and which makes an Heaven upon Earth to the man who possesses it but a furious Angry Disposition is all its Contraries 'T is an Argument of a weak pusillanimous Spirit which can bear nothing to be in a passion upon every provocation a sign that the mind is Galled and fretted within that the Owner thereof has no Command or Governance over himself but is rather at the Disposal of others who can discompose him when they please But a truely Great and Noble Spirit is Superiour to many Lesser Affronts and not immoderately
Majesty that we may serve thee our Lord with fear and walk before thee with an humble Reverence Endue our hearts with a filial ingenuous fear mingled with Love and Obediential Respect make us to fear thee because of thy very Goodness lest we should forfeit thy Love and favour more than for dread of incurring thy heavy Vengeance and Displeasure Cause us to account thy Loving-kindness better than Life it self and then we shall dread the Loss thereof more than Death Permit us not O our God for fear of man to let fall our fear of Thee but give us to fear Thee Religiously and we need fear nothing else nay we need not fear thee Thy self Slavishly with a Guilty fear Put blessed Lord thy fear into our hearts that we may not at any time presumptuously Depart from thee but may with fear and Trembling work out our own Salvation Make thy fear upon our Souls to be a True Godly fear causing us to walk and behave our selves as alwayes under thy All-seeing Eye and inspection Trembling with a fear of holy Caution at thy presence Ever Obeying thee because we Love thee and ever Obedientially Loving thee because afraid of Loosing thy Love by offending thee Give us Gracious God that fear of the Lord which is clean Converting the soul and Commanding that we depart from all iniquity give us such a Dread of thy Divine Majesty as may make us Careful of pleasing thee fearful of offending thee as may make us inquisitive to search thy Will Diligent to performe it and persevering in the Exercises of a Religious Awe and Reverence unto our lives end and then that Constant habitual fear of thee our God which has perserved us from wilful sinning or put us upon Clearing the Guilt of it by Repentance will afford us upon a Death-bed Peace of Mind Consolation in believing and our fear of God will then be exchanged into Love and Confidence into Joy and Delight in him at that hour of Death and for Evermore Amen Blessed Saviour Amen Meditation XIV On Love and Charity to our Neighbour MUtual Love and Kindness is what the condition of our Nature dictates unto us for man being born a Sociable converseable Creature is for that very reason born an Amicable Loving one for to what End and purpose should mankind Associate and Live together Converse and hold Correspondence but to perform perform offices of Aid and Assistanc of kindness and beneficence to each-other the very Notion and common Acceptation of Humanity imports Courtesie and Good-will Loving-kindness and compassion We are born also calamitous infirm necessitous Beings and therefore mutually Dependant Creatures and Dependance on each other necessarily infers a reciprocal help and beneficience For what more Reasonable than that those who by Nature are liable to stand in Need of other◠help should Afford help to other◠when in want and Adversity 'T is the Prerogative of God alone to be Self-sufficient and Independant and therefore God who saw every thing which he had made and behold 't was very Good yet saw it not Good for man to be Alone but resolved on making an Help Meet for him that they might be mutually comforting and Assistant to each other Though in Paradise man was much nearer Self-sufficiency and further Removed from helplessness than at present So that both Nature Reason and the Ordination of God dictate that we ought to be mutual helps and common Blessings to those of our kind as being our selves in the body Subject to its wants and infirmities as well as other persons A further obligation to mutual Love and Beneficence arises from our being all very nearly Related as Kinsfolks and brethren as all cast in the same mould fashion'd according to the same General Likeness partakers of the same blood of the same common Humanity nay of one very Substance differenced only in some few Accidental Circumstances unessential to our Nature And ought not now this nearest Relation of Consanguinity to make us Loving and Beneficent to all Mankind without exception Ought not the Cement of one blood to unite us in one hearty Good will and Friendship Should not Similitude and Likeness beget Love Should not one common Nature produce in us one common Natural Affection Causing us to love our selves in loving another to do Good to our selves in doing Good to another he being a part and member of our very Substance flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone And no man says the Apostle St. Paul Eph. 5. 29. ever yet hated his own flesh but Loveth and Cherisheth it even as Christ the Church and as we in conformity ought to Love and cherish one another 'T is Natural even among Savage Beasts for those of the same kind to live at a Loving Agreement and not to prey upon each other and shall Mankind whose very frame has Tenderness interwoven in it be less Amicable and Loving than Brute-Creatures Reason and Scripture the Law of Equity and that of Moses the Prophets and Christ all urge acts of Kindness and Charity from this very Argument Whatever you would that men should do unto you even so do unto them Matth. 7. 12. You no doubt were your Circumstances such as to be in Want and Distress would that others should Relieve you have you therefore a ready will and Inclination to Relieve others whose Wants and Necessities Challenge your Relief And since you know not through the vicissitude of Humane Affairs and some sudden turn of Providence but that the Now miserable Condition of others may become your own some time hence let the hazard of your falling into want of Charity your seles excite your Love and Beneficence towards those who are actually labouring under Penury and Affliction Giving Relief to others is an easeing the troublesome Relentings 〈◊〉 our own hearts which must needs be touch'd and sorrowfully affected at the sight of a part of our own flesh of our common Nature being in Misery and Distress so that Love to others is the truest Love to our seles it relieving us of that Grief and mental Disquietude which a view of others wants and sufferings excited in us Nay the very Reflection on an act of Charity fills one with Joy and Delight Refreshes the Giver's mind as much as the Almsdeed did the Receier's body so that we the Benefactors are in some sort beholden even to the Relieved for their yielding us an occasion of so great pleasure and Contentment For to Recollect how we have been the Almoners of Divine Providence in distributing to the Necessitous how we have rescued a poor miserable man from Extremity of want have Triumph'd over his misery and misfortune and caus'd his refresh'd Bowels in the very act of Relieving him to bless us and his whole person to offer up Prayers and Good wishes on our behalfs and how moreover we have made God hereby our Friend and Debtor and have imitated and Gratified in doing Good the Supream Majesty of Heaven and Earth
Jesus may be unto us both in Life and Death great Advantage Grant this for the Merits and Mercy's-sake of him who dyed for our sins and rose again for our Justification and who hath left us this most Absolute form of Prayer wherewith to conclude our imperfect ones Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name c. A Prayer for a Sick Person O OUR God full of Compassion and Truth whose Ears are ever open to the Cryes of the Distressed who afflictest not neither Grievest willingly the Children of Men but in very Faithfulness Causest us to be Troubled Chastising us for our Profit that we may be Partakers of thy Holyness We thy Poor Unworthy Creatures Address our selves to the Throne of thy Grace in behalf of this thy Servant Grieved with Sickness O let his Grief of body move thy Succouring Pity behold him with the Eyes of thy Mercy Rescue him with the Al-Almightiness of thy Power however Grant that the Infirmity of his outer-Man may tend to the Health and Improvement of his Soul in all Gracious Qualifications O make him by means of thy Divine Chastisements Resemblant in a larger Measure of thy Divine Nature make him Perfect through Sufferings Train him up a Good Souldier of Jesus Christ by such Disciplining Hardships Teach him a more Compleat Obedience and Conformity to thy Will by the things which he Endures Relieve him under all his Distresses Give him Patience Repentance and Submission under all his Uneasiness Support him under all Tryals and Temptations O suffer not his Faith to fail in this Day of Adversity Strengthen him in the Inner-Man especially now he lyes on a Bed of Languishing O make Thou his Bed in all his Sickness In the midst of the pains of his Body let thine Inward Comforts Refresh his Soul make all things Tribulation as well as Prosperity work together for his Good may he Continue to be thy Servant under all Conditions Permit him not Gracious God for any troubles of Life or fears of Death to fall from Thee but Give him Joy and Consolation in Believing when encompassed with the Sorest Distresses Encrease therefore his Faith Confirm his Hopes Enlarge his Contentedness and Resignation Wean his Affections more and more from the things Below and Raise and Settle them on the Good things Above Free Blessed Lord this thy Servant from all Murmuring and Repining at thy Afflictive Providence and Cause him rather to Rejoyce and Glory in Tribulation as knowing that the Tryal of his Faith worketh Patience and Patience Experience and Experience Hope and Hope maketh not Ashamed O let Patience have its Perfect work in him that he may be Compleat and Entire wanting no Vertuous Endowment let thy Grace be Sufficient for him that he may not faint in the time of Calamity O may his Affliction prove an Exercise and Enlargement of all his Graces Let it beget in him greater Trust and Affiance in thy Divine Mercy less Relyance on and Confidence in the Creature a being Crucified to the World and the World to him as to the immoderate Love of it Cause Holy Father this thy Afflicted Son to Humble himself under thy Correcting hand that Thou mayst Exalt him in thy due Season make him to Cast all his Care upon Thee because Thou carest for him Give him to feel now in this his Distress what is the Hope of his Spiritual Calling and what the Exceeding Greatness of thy Mercy and Power towards them who Believe in Thee O Give him that Saving Faith which worketh by Love and Purifieth the Heart and Overcometh the World Give him Repentance unto Newness of Life never to be Repented of Cause him by means of this Affliction to Search and Try his wayes and turn him unto Thee his God who in Mercy Chastisest him Afford him Gracious Lord afford this Sick Person the Comfort of an holy Hope that thou Acceptest his Penitential Tears and Contrition of heart Support him by this Hope under all his Sickness and Distemper Say unto him by the inward Testimonies of thy Spirit I am thy Salvation Son be of Good Chear thy Sins are forgiven thee I have heard thee in an Acceptable time I have laid Help for Thee on one who is mighty to Save Jesus Christ the Righteous He is the Propitiation for thy sins O Apply the Merits and Satisfaction of his Dying Redeemer unto the Soul of this thy Servant for Pardon and Acceptance wash it clean in the Blood of that Immaculate Lamb which was Slain to take away the sins of the world and through his Saviour's Stripes let him be Heal'd Bless and Succeed we beseech Thee those Remedies which have or shall be used for the Recovering this weak Afflicted Person to his former Health Command Deliverance for him Thou who art the God of Nature Speak Nature within him into a due Temper and Composure Known unto Thee are the most hidden things O do Thou therefore adapt suitable Medicines to any unknown Cause or hidden Spring of this present Distemper Suffer us Heavenly Father to have Power with thee in Prayer and mightily to Prevail on this thy Servants behalf Thou hast Promised that the Prayer of Faith shall Save the Sick and that the Effectual fervent Prayer of the Righteous shall Avail much O make us Pray in Faith and Believing so as to be Heard make us fervent and Zealous in Prayer so as to have our Prayers Answered Restore we entreat Thee this Diseas'd Person that he may be continued a Blessing and Comfort to his Relations that he may live to Performe his pious Vows and Resolutions made in time of Sickness that he may spend the Residue of his Life more to thy Honour and Glory But if in thy Fatherly wisdom thou seest it fitting to Prolong his Corrections thy Blessed Will be done and may thy Afflicted Servant say Amen with an Entire Submission May he bear further Chastisement in his Body so that his Soul be but Saved in the Day of our Lord. Yet O God most Gracious O most Holy and Mercyful Saviour Thou most worthy Judge Eternal be not Thou Extream to mark whatever he has done Amiss Correct him O Lord but with Judgment not in thine Anger lest Thou bring him to nothing and though thou take not off the Rod of Affliction yet take away thy Displeasure we beseech thee far from him Remember O Lord thy tender Mercies and thy Loving-kindnesses which have been ever of old and Cause this our Sick Friend in Thankful Recollection of former Divine Rescues to put his Trust in thee for a Present Deliverance O suffer him not for any Anguish of Body to let Go his Faith and Confidence in Thee but give him to say with the Stedfastness of holy Job though he Kills me yet will I hope in him Fit O God this Languishing Person for whatever Condition thou shalt call him unto that thy Son Christ Jesus may be unto him whether in Life or Death great Advantage O permit him
not to Depart hence at any time but with all imaginable Preparations for Eternity with a Soul thoroughly Changed and Renewed with a Soul full fraught with thy Divine Love Humble and Resign'd Chearful and Enravish'd with future Expectations And then whenever this his Earthly Tabernacle shall be Dissolved he shall have a building of God an house not made with Hands Eternal in the Heavens Which we beseech thee to Grant both him and us for the alone Sake and Merits of thy Son our Saviour to whom together with Thee O Father and thy Holy and Ever-blessed Spirit be Ascribed as is most Dâ—e all Honour Praise Might Majesty and Dominion from this time forth and for Evermore Amen Amen Another Prayer for the Sick when there appears small Hopes of Recovery O Most Glorious and Merciful Heavenly Father the Lord and Giver of Life the Healer and Repairer of our Decay'd Nature who bringest down to the Grave and then sayst Come again ye Children of Men Giving Power to the Faint and to those who have no Might increase of Strength Behold we beseech thee Favourably Visit Graciously and Relieve speedily this thy Servant who standeth in Need of thy Pitty and Relief Be Thou a very Present Help unto him O Lord now in the Necessitous time of his Trouble O let thy tender Mercies come unto him that he may Live Encompass him with thy Favour as with a Shield Pitty and Purifie him Sanctifie and Save him we most humbly beseech thee Either Asswage his Pain or else Increase his Faith and Patience to bear it Either Remove his Affliction or else move towards him with Divine Comfort and Sâ—pport Lay upon him Gracious God no more than thou shalt enable him with Willingness and Submission to undergo and then lay on him whatsoever shall seem Good in thy Sight O Give him a Sanctified Use and Improvement of thy Fatherly Corrections let them teach him more Humility Contentedness and Resignation less Trust and Relyance on the Creature Cause him O Lord by means of his present Distress to see the Empâ—iness Deceit and Instability of all Earthly Possessions and may this Conviction carry up his Mind to the satisfieing Everdurable Enjoyments of Heaven O that his Devout Conversation there in Holy Meditations Fervent Prayers and Transporting Praises may Allay much of his Corporal Pains and Disquietudes and render him in a manner Insensible of them O that thy Word and blessed Promises may be his sure Trust and Confidence in Adversity tho' he walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death yet let him fear no Evil may thy Rod as well as thy Staff Comfort and Sustain him Give him Holy Lord unseigned Repentance for all the Miscarriages of his Life past Stedfast Faith in thy Son Jesus Compleat Pardon and Forgiveness through the Merits of his Blood a lively Hope of that Immortal Bliss which his Redeemer has Dearly Purchased and most Graciously Promised to true Believers a strong Sense of thy Fatherly Love towards him and tender Care over him even amidst his Sufferings O cause this Sick Person to Apprehend and be Assured that thou intendest his Spiritual Benefit and Amendment by these thy Corrections that they are the Chastisements of a Loving Father and not of an Incensed Judge that they are the healing Medicines of a Friend and not the avenging Wounds of an Enemy O Convince him Convince him that in making him endure Chastening thou dealest with him as with one of thy Children for what Son is he whom the Father Chasteneth not That thou seekest to Conform him by Afflictions to the Likeness of his Blessed Saviour O may he be made Perfect through Sufferings Teach him we Pray thee more Obedience through the things which he Endures May his Chastening however Grievous for the Present afterwards yield him the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness may it turn to his Spiritual Profit and Advantage and help him forward in the Right way which leadeth unto Life Everlasting Take O God from this thy Servant all Murmuring Discontent under thy Disciplining Providence Cause him rather Quietly to submit to thy Afflicting Hand as Considering that Affliction ariseth not out of the Dust proceedeth not meerly from Natural Causes but from thy Wise Providence and Appointment who Orderest all things toward us for our Good O Perswade this Sick Person 't is for his Good that he is Afflicted that of very Faithfulness thou hast Caused him to be troubled O make him by Searching and Trying his ways to find out those particular Sins and Failings which thou Aimest at in this his Chastisement to Observe and Understand thy Meaning in the Calamities which befall him that he may accordingly meet thee in thy Providential Ways and Dealings towards him that so the Removal of his Guilt by Repentance through the Merits of his Saviour may make Way for the Removal of thy Divine Rod of Punishment And do Thou the God of all Grace and Truth who hast called this thy Corrected Son to Suffering by thy Fatherly Wisdom and Goodness after that he hath suffered a while for his Souls Profit Stablish Strengthen Settle him Let we Pray thee thy Merciful Kindness be this Afflicted Person 's Succour and Safety send him Help from Above and Evermore mightily Defend him Defend him O Lord from all Satan's disquietting Assaults from all his Wicked Temptations O let not that Evil one have any Advantage over him in these his sorrowful Hours but Rebuke him Good Lord Rebuke him Tread that old seducing Serpent under this thy Servant's Feet and make him more than Conqueror through Christ who strengthens him Worâ— Holy Father Dâ—liverance for 〈◊〉 whom thâ—â— Châ—stisest Heal him and he shall be Healed Save him and he shall be saved for thou aâ—â— the God of his Praise O make him to hear again of Joy and Gladness that the â—ones which thou hast bâ—oken mâ—y â—â—joice But if thou in thy Wisdom hast Decreed that this thy Servants Sickness shall be unto Death Fit and Prepare him for it we beseech thee Give him a more perfectly Holy and Heavenly Constitution of Soul an Heart Wean'd and Estranged from this World a sanctified Meetness to be made Partaker of an Inheritance with the Saints in Light and Glory O may his last Hours be his Best Hours his last Thoughts his Best Thoughts and his last Words and Actions his best Words and Actions The Nearer he draws to the End of his Days cause him so much the Nearer to draw to the End of his Hopes even the Salvation of his Soul For this Purpose Apply we Entreat thee all the Benefits of our Saviour's Perfect Obedience and Meritorious Sufferings unto this Dying Person for Reconciliation and Acceptance Impute not Gracious Lord unto him his former Sins but thy Well-beloved Son 's Alsufficient Righteousness who was Wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities O let the Peace purchased by thy Son's Chastisements be upon this thy Servant and by his Redeemers Stripes let him