earnest in these our prayers and help us to live as those that believe the great truths of thy Gospel that we may ever have such a sense of them upon our minds that we may not dare at any time upon any account to allow our selves in any one sin or in the neglect of any known duty but by patient continuance in well doing may seek after and make sure of that glory and immortality which thou hast promised through Iesus Christ to them that love and serve thee With us shew mercy to the whole world Let the Gospel of thy Son run and be glorified throughout all the earth let it be made known to Heathens and Infidels let it be obeyed by all that are called Christians Let all popish darkness ignorance and Idolatry with all other errours and heresies be driven away by the light and truth of thy pure Gospel and let the coming of Christ in glory be hastned Be merciful to these nations wherein we live and grant we may be so humbled and reformed that we may be pardoned and spared Be gracious to our dread Soveraign with all his royal Relations and enrich them with the graces of thy holy Spirit Make all our Magistrates faithful and zealous in punishing and suppressing wickedness and in promoting vertue and godliness and make us and all other Subjects loyal and obedient to our King and to all in power under him Let thy blessing be upon the faithful Preachers of thy Gospel encrease daily their number and let their labours be blest and succeeded Let all our differences be so composed that we may live in peace and love and with one heart and one mouth may glorifie thee our God Bless ad our friends and relations and make them thy faithful and obedient servants Visit in mercy all the children of affliction whatever their particular necessities and burthens are whether of soul or body do thou seasonably and suitably comfort and relieve them We humbly bless thy name for the mercies of this day that thou hast safely brought us to the end thereof and earnestly we beg thy pardon of whatever sins we have been guilty whether of omission or commission in thought word or deed Take us we beseech thee and all that is ours into thy care this night and keep us if it be thy will from all evil of body especially of soul And so refresh us with rest and sleep that we may be fitted for thy service and our lawful imployments in the following day And all we humbly beg for Christ Jesus our Saviours sake with whose words we conclude our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art in heaven c. Two Forms of Prayer especially intended for the Younger sort MORNING PRAYER GReat and Glorious Lord God Thou hast commanded us to remember thee our Creatour in the days of our youth and here am I thy unworthy servant desirous to manifest my remembrance of thee I praying to thee according to thine own appointment My only hope of acceptance is in thy goodness and mercy who art a loving and tender Father to us thy poor creatures and art ready to accept of the weak services and prayers of those who do heartily desire to please thee and obtain thy favour Wherefore I now most humbly beseech thee to be gracious and favourable to me a worthless sinful creature I have indeed been a transgressour from the womb and have shewn my evil and wicked nature by my great forwardness to run into any kind of wickedness that I have been capable of When I could do little else I had soon learnt to sin against thee very early I began to be stubborn and self-will'd proud and slothful quarrelsome and revengeful And to this very day have I continued in my sins which have encreased together with my years and have been given up to the pleasing of my self and satisfying my own vain and childish inclinations but have taken little thought for the pleasing and serving of thee my Maker and Preserver Though I have had so much reason that I could love my Parents and Friends those that did me good and have been afraid of displeasing them and of being corrected by them yet have I had little love for thee my God who art the giver of all good nor have I been afraid of thy wrath who canst destroy both body and soul in Hell This oh Lord hath been my great folly and a very great cause of all my other sins that I have lived most of all by sight and have little minded any thing but what is now before me Therefore have I forgotten thee and lived as if there was no God because I could not see thee with bodily eyes and have preferr'd any foolish pleasure now in hand before the everlasting joys of heaven which are yet to come and because I could not see Hell-torments nor hear the roarings and out-cries of those who are damned for their sins therefore have I made so light of sinning against thee But of this my folly and all my wickedness the fruit of it I desire to to be ashamed before thee confessing that I have herein behaved my self more like a bruit Beast than a reasonable creature whilst I have been led by my senses more than by my reason or by the belief of thy holy word And most justly mightest thou deal with me accordingly and mightest shut me out of those joys which I have so little loved and sought after and mightest make me for ever feel those torments of which I have not been afraid But I humbly beseech thee oh merciful Father for thy Son Iesus sake take pity on me and freely forgive me all my sins and save me from those miseries which for my sins I have deserved And I beseech thee to give me thy holy Spirit that I may thereby have my mind enlightned my heart softned and my nature so throughly renewed and changed that I may be taken off from the love of all sin and may take such pleasure in thy service here that I may live with thee in happiness for ever hereafter Since through thy great mercy I have been baptized in my infancy and thereby given up to thee my God and engaged to be thy servant do thou help me rightly to understand and carefully to perform the duties to which by my Baptism I am bound that I may in heart and life renounce the Devil and all his works the lusts of the flesh and the pomps and vanities of this world and may remain Christs faithful servant unto my lives end Let thy grace preserve me from all those snares and temptations which in these my younger years I am most in danger of Oh keep me that I may never fall into rioting and drunkenness whoredom or any kind of wantonness and uncleanness Do thou help me at all times to watch over my ways that I may not wilfully run into any temptations and occasions of sin that I may
of a Prince or Iudge and labour to be like affected whilst you are begging from God forgiveness of sins and eternal life Whilst you are blessing God for his goodness let your hearts be drawn sorth to the exercise of holy love and delight in him Inwardly thirst after that grace you pray for resolving with diligence to labour for it c. And by what I have now said you may plainly perceive that the sincerity of your hearts in prayer is to be known not so much by your present servour and affection as by your behaviour afterward and by the constant tenour of your lives He and he only is the true worshipper of God and prays to him aright who by his daily actions and endeavours doth manifest the same inward setled apprehensions and desires which his words express whil'st he is praying For instance you beg of God to take off your hearts from the world and all things here below and to increase in you a love to himself to his Son Iesus and to the glory which is above Now to manifest that you are sincere in this request you must do your part toward the obtaining of what you beg that is you must set your selves to the serious consideration of the vanity the shortness and emptiness of present things you must consider the nature of your own souls and the allsufficiency of God you must reflect upon the goodness he hath already shown the love of Christ in dying for us and the great and precious promises of the Gospel and by this means you shall find the Spirit of God working in you those graces which you pray for So when you pray against this or that sin to which you are most enclined and in danger of you must both use particular considerations against it and must keep out of the temptations avoid the place and company where you are like to be drawn to it c. Otherwise what do you but solemnly mock God As if one man should come to another and with a great deal of adoe beg his help in any labour and then run away and never set's own hand to 't Or as if a man should pray to have his house kept from burning and then straight way go and put fire to it In prayers for temporal mercies you do not do thus for beside praying for your daily bread you take pains to get it in your several trades and employments And do you think you are not bound to do as much for your souls as for your bodies Or have you promises of grace any more than of daily bread without endeavouring for it in the way God hath set you Nay rather whereas you are oft restrained from too much care about the world you are again and again enjoyned to labour for the meat which endures to everlasting life Ioh. 6. 27. For the Lords sake then beware of cheating your souls with that common mistake which is the ruine of thousands both of this party and that whilst they foolishly imagine that their much praying and hearing will serve turn for their salvation instead of an holy heart and life and so they are but devout in the Church or Closet it matters not what liberty they take in the market in the shop or at the Alehouse and when they have but said a good prayer in the morning they may do what they list all the day after or at least they can make all whole by praying devoutly at night How grosly do such men abuse themselves and their services who would by these excuse themselves from holiness when as one great reason of them is to help and strengthen us for strict and holy living And therefore have I endeavoured so to contrive the ensuing Forms that they who use them might even thereby find themselves instructed and engaged to be holy in all manner of Conversation For which there seems sufficient warrant in our Blessed Saviours own example in that most absolute Form which he hath given us whilst with the petition for that great and comprehensive mercy of the Gospel Forgiveness of sins he hath interwoven an engagement to that great duty which will prove us to be Christians indeed the forgiving of all those who who have trespast against us Let this then be firmly believed and deeply fixt in your minds that as you would be loth to take up with a parcel of good words from your servants every day instead of the work you set them so no more will God be put off with prayers Sermons or any thing instead of a sincere and hearty endeavour to render a constant universal obedience to his pure and righteous commands Christ himself hath plainly enough told us what 's like to become of all those who only cry Lord Lord and yet do not obey the will of God Mat. 7. 21. We must wash our hands in innocency and so compass Gods Altar if we would have our offerings accepted of him Psal. 26. 6. And beside our endeavours to glorifie God by offering up of praise we must order our conversation aright if ever we would see the salvation of God Psal. 50. 23. Of almost all men I know I pray God deliver my soul from the state of those who can pray devoutly be it with book or without and yet go on in sin securely But 't is time for me to conclude though I have much ado to confine my self on so needful a Subject To shut up all then who-ever thou art that readest this Let thy soul to use the Psalmists phrase Psal. 63. 8. follow hard after God in earnest prayer both in the Church thy Closet and thy Family and beside this do thou follow after peace and holiness Heb. 12. 14. in thy life and conversation so shalt thou certainly see and enjoy God in that glory where prayers shall be turned into everlasting praises Amen MORNING PRAYER for a Family MOst Holy and ever-blessed Majesty Thou renewest thy mercies upon us every Morning and every Morning we desire to renew our thanksgivings And here we are now come before thee humbly to offer up thanks and praise for our safety and refreshment this last night to thee the God of love who givest us daily cause to admire thy bounty and to speak good of thy name We acknowledge thee oh God to be our Maker and Preserver thou didst at first give us life and reason and from thee it is we have received all the comforts of life from the very day of our birth to this present morning Through thy goodness it is we have enjoyed any measure of health and strength and have been furnisht with things needfull and convenient for this present state Thy good hand of providence hath still been over us either in keeping us out of dangers and troubles or else in supporting and helping us under them or in delivering us out of the same For these and all other thy mercies at any time bestowed on us or ours or any of the Sons
Oh cleanse thou us from all secret sins and let not presumptuous sins have dominion over us But let thy holy Spirit ever rule in our hearts and so guide us in all our thoughts words and actions that we may ever render a sincere and chearful obedience to all thy commands Fill us with such a sense of thine infinite goodness that we may love thee our God with all our heart and soul. And help us to shew this our love to thee by our unfeigned love to thy people and to all men And make us still careful to deal with others so justly and charitably as we our selves desire to be dealt with Keep us ever depending upon thy grace for strength and assistance without which we can do nothing Oh do not thou leave us to our selves for then we perish Forsake us not oh God at any time through our whole lives nor suffer us to depart from thee but keep us ever stedfast and unwearied in well doing Wean our hearts from this world and all the comforts thereof make us always sensible that we are hasting away hence into eternity and prepare us for that time when we must e're long be called away thither Help us now to live in such frequent serious thoughts of death that it may not be terrible nor hurtful when it comes Now make us wise to set our affections on things above and to lay up for our selves a treasure in the heavens that when all things here below shall fail we may then be received into those everlasting habitations which thou hast provided for them that love thee With us shew mercy to the whole world Let the Gospel of thy Son run and be glorified throughout all the earth make it known to heathens and Infidels and let it be obeyed by all that are called Christians Let all Popish darkness ignorance and Idolatry with all other errours and heresies be driven away by the light and truth of thy pure Gospel and let the coming of Christ in glory be hastned Be merciful to these nations wherein we live and grant we may be so humbled and reformed that we may be pardoned and spared Be gracious to our dread Soveraign and all his Royal Relations enrich them with the graces of thy holy Spirit and make all our Magistrates faithful and zealous in punishing and suppressing wickedness and in promoting vertue and godliness Let thy blessing be upon the faithful Preachers of thy Gospel encrease daily their number and let their labours be blest and succeeded Let all our differences be so compos'd that we may live in peace and love and with one heart and one mouth may glorifie thee our God Bless our Friends and Relations and make them thy faithful servants Visit in mercy all the children of affliction whatever their particular necessities and burthens are whether of soul or body do thou seasonably and suitably comfort and relieve them And now oh God since through thy good providence thou hast brought us to the beginning of another day afford us we beseech thee thy gracious presence throughout the same Let thy blessing be upon us in our lawful Callings and endeavours Preserve us and all ours if it be thy will from all bodily dangers especially we beg that we may be kept from sin the worst of evils Where-ever we are or whatever we are doing keep us sensible of thy eye that is ever upon us that in all companies and employments we may approve our selves to thee in well doing and make us ever watchful against all sin and the temptations that lead to it As we now have prayed to thee in the Morning so let us remain in thy fear and service all the day long And do thou so guide us this day and all our days here on earth by thy counsel that we may at last be received to thy Glory And all we humbly beg for the Lord Jesus our dear Saviours sake with whose words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art c. EVENING PRAYER for a Family OH Eternal and ever-blessed God thou art the maker and Lord of all things who dost uphold the world by thy power and govern it with infinite wisdome and justice and we are the workmanship of thy hands who depend upon thy providence and in thee live move and have our beings From thy bounty we are daly supplied with mercies for our bodies and through thy patience it is we have yet leave to wait on thee and to seek from thee grace and glory for our immortal souls Oh what are we vile sinners that thou shouldst have such regard to us and so earnestly invite us to thy service who deserve not so much as to live on thy earth or once to appear in thy presence And 't is onely through thy forbearance of us that we have not long since met with the just wages of our sins in those eternal torments from which there is no recovery For we confess our selves to be by nature children of wrath even as others being stained with that foul Leprosy and pollution of sin which was derived from our first Parents But so little sense have we had of the evil and danger of this our estate that we have even taken the direct course to make our selves more miserable by adding daily our own actual sins to this corruption of our natures Oh how justly may we blush and be confounded in our selves when we look back upon our carriage in the world from our childhood and youth up even until now How much of this our time have we spent in sin and vanity but how little in thy service In every place and condition of life that we have been we may easily remember the many sins we have been guilty of but how little have we made it our business to obey thy laws and honour thy name either by doing good to others or getting good to our own souls We had soon learnt in words to acknowledge that we were made to serve thee our God but in works we have denyed and disobeyed thee We have been very forgetful of thee and of thy authority over us and have lived as if we owed thee no service as if we thought thou hadst no regard to our actions now nor wouldst ever call us to a reckoning for them hereafter Though in our infancy we were baptized into thy name and thereby bound to serve thee all our days in newness of life yet we have often broke this Covenant which we then entred into Instead of performing our vows to renounce this world and its pomps and vanities with the flesh and the lusts thereof we have been most eager lovers and followers of the world and have made provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Oh how often hath the temptation of some worldly profit or carnal sensual pleasure drawn us to cross thy will and wound our own consciences and to endanger the damning
What then did Christ intend in becoming the Redeemer of mankind A. To deliver men from under the guilt and power of sin and to save them from misery and restore them to the love and favour of God Q. How did he bring to pass this great work A. Becoming man he lived a most holy and afflicted life by his doctrine and example shewing to men their duty and died a shameful painful death upon the Cross that he might purchase for us pardon of sin with grace to heal our natures and sit us for glory Q. By whom was Christ put to death A. Through the malice and procurement of the Iews he was condemned to be crucified by Pontius Pilate a Roman Governour the Iews being then in subjection to the Romans Q. But why did God spare man who had sinned and lay such sufferings on his innocent and beloved Son A. Because by this means he discovered his infinite mercy to mankind and yet in a way that gave great honour to his justice an atonement being made for sin and a ransome paid that the sinner might be redeemed Q. How is it for the honour of God not to pardon sin without an Atonement A. When God had made a law and threatned misery to the transgressours if he had given no testimony of his displeasure upon the transgression of it the world would have been apt to call his wisdome and holiness in question to slight his authority and be more bold to sin against him Q. How then do the sufferings of Christ vindicate the holiness and justice of God A. In that they do fully discover the horrid evil of sin and the holiness and justice of God in his hatred of it who would grant no pardon without the death of so glorious a person Q. What is the proper effect of this Consideration A. To make men sensible of their danger and humbled for their sins and thereupon to hate and forsake them Q. How doth the death of Christ engage us to Repentance and Obedience A. The infinite love of God and the Redeemer herein revealed is apt to make men love so good a God and to be careful to please him Q. What farther motive doth it afford hereto A. The consideration of what Christ himself suffered for our sakes only may assure us that dreadful vengeance will fall upon all those who reject this Saviour and must in their own persons suffer for their sins which consideration may well work upon all that love themselves to forsake their sins Q. For whom did Christ die A. Christ died for all men that they might be saved upon condition of their believing in him and so he is Lord of all as having bought them with his blood and hath full power of ruling judging and disposing of them Q. But who shall be actually saved by Christ A. Only they who upon hearing the Gospel perform the condition therein required of Believing in him Q. What plainly is meant by this Believing in Christ which is of so great necessity to our salvation A. Hereby is meant that we must so effectually believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Saviour of the world as to become heartily willing to be saved by him in the way appointed in his Gospel Q. What way hath he appointed in the Gospel for our obtaining of salvation A. That we should unfeignedly repent us of all our sins obey his commands imitate his example and for his sake alone hope for mercy and salvation from the free grace of God Q. Is it not enough then for our salvation to believe that our sins shall be pardoned and to rely upon Christ for this pardon A. No for unless we forsake our sins all our confidence and reliance upon Christ is but sond presumption since he is the Author of eternal salvation onely to those that obey him Q. What then are Obedience and Holiness as necessary as Faith A. Yes they are absolutely necessary since without holiness we shall never see God nor can we be put into a state of justification but by that faith which if life be continued will certainly produce obedience Q. When may a man be said to be in a state of justification A. When he is so far brought into the favour of God that according to the rule and tenour of the Gospel if he should die in that estate he should not be condemn'd for his sins Q. And is there any thing beside a reliance on Christs merits necessary to put us at first into this state of justification A. Yes there is also required of us Repentance for sin with a sincere resolution to lead an holy life which is as necessarily included in a right reliance on Christ as a resolution to follow the directions of a Physician is included in our relying on him for our recovery Q. Are we then to account obedience the meritorious cause of our justification A. No by no means nor Faith neither for that is to be ascrib'd purely to the sufferings of Christ only our dependance upon him and resolution to obey him both which do ever follow upon a true faith are required as the condition of this our justification Q. What more is required of us to continue us in this state and that we may be justified and saved at the day of judgment A. Even the actual performance of these resolutions in living an holy life and persevering therein to the end is the necessary condition of our continuance in Gods favour and of our compleat justification and salvation at the last day Q. What mean you by that Phrase that Christ descended into Hell A. I thereby understand his remaining under the power of death his soul being all this while in an invisible state as the souls of dead men are Q. How long did he thus remain under the power of death A. Till the third day on which he rose again from the dead Q. How long did he remain on earth after his Resurrection A. Fourty days only to give assurance of his Resurrection and to instruct his Disciples after which he ascended into the highest heavens Q. What mean you by his sitting at the right hand of God A. His being exal ed as Mediatour to divine dominion and glory all things being delivered into his hands by the Father Q. When will he fully manifest and declare his power A. When at the last day he shall come in power and glory to judge the world Q. Who are the quick and the dead A. All that shall then be found alive and all that had been dead before Q. For what are they to be judg'd A. For all actions done in the body whether good or bad open or secret Q. For what end must there be this future judgment A. That God the righteous governour of the world may be glorified in his condemning and punishing the wicked in his
And does that sign agree to that Sect who absurdly call themselvos Romane Catholicks A. Less than to any other Sect whatever for they are bound by the definitions of Popes Councils which if they contradict they cannot be Papists to judge all men damn'd that are not of their Sect thereby condemning many millions of Christians far better than themselves which horrid uncharitableness is enough to keep wise men from amongst them Q. Are the Churches which be reformed from Popish innovations parts of the Catholick Church of Christ A. Yes and the best and soundest parts thereof agreeing in all matters of substance with the Church of Christ in all ages and nations of the world Q. How prove you that A. In that these reformed Churches as particularly our Church of England do profess to hold nothing as necessary to salvation which is not contained in the holy Scriptures which same Scriptures are received and believ'd by all other Christian Churches who do thereby approve of all that we hold as necessary Q. But why did these reformed Churches at first depart from Communion with the Church of Rome A. Because the Romish Church imposed such new fangled doctrines and practises as were plainly contrary to the word of God and therefore it was in those things to be departed from by all those who would conform themselves to the ancient Church as it was settled by Christ and his Apostles Q. What mean you by Communion of Saints A. That Communion which Saints have with God and Christ their Head by partaking of his Holy Spirit and with one another in their mutual likeness and love and in their assembling together for the worship of God Q. What mean you by saying you believe the Forgiveness of Sins A. I hereby profess to believe that they who repent of their sins trust in and obey the Lord Jesus shall for his sake find God so gracious to them as to free them from that condemnation and punishment to which their sins made them liable Q. What mean you by Resurrection of the Body A. I hereby profess to believe that at the last day God will raise up all that were dead and change those that are then alive and that they shall appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ. Q. What mean you by Life everlasting A. I do hereby profess my belief of a future state after this life wherein the Righteous shall enjoy everlasting happiness and the wicked shall be sentenced into everlasting torments Q. But does it not seem very harsh to think that God should punish any the worst of sinners with everlasting torments A. No not when we consider what graciou terms were proposed to them for their obtaining of glory and escaping of this misery and how they themselves did wilfully refuse the offers of grace when they knew this misery would follow upon that refusal Q. What then is safest for us all to do in this case A. So to believe and fear these terrible threatnings of Christ as to take the only sure way to escape them by obeying his commands rather than to quarrel with them or presume they will prove false So much for the Articles of your Belief HAve you also a brief Summary of the whole duty of man in reference to is practice A. Yes the ten commandments Q. Rehearse the first A. I am the Lord thy God which brought the out of the land of AEgypt out of the house of bondage Thou shalt have no other Gods before me Q. What learn you from the first commandment and the Preface set before it A. I hence learn that we are bound to acknowledge that God who is our Maker Owner and the giver of all our mercies to be the only true and living God and to behave our selves toward him accordingly Q. How doth it beseem us creatures to behave our selves toward this our God A. We are bound to love him with our highest love to put our whole confidence in him to reverence admire and rejoyce in him to pray to him and praise him to obey all his commands without grudging and to submit to all his providences without murmuring or repining Q. Which is the second Commandment A. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments Q. What are we taught in the second Commandment A. The second Commandment teacheth us to worship God according to his own appointment and to take special heed that we make not any image or picture of him nor give religious worship to an Image upon any pretence whatsoever Q. What reason do you find given for the engaging our obedience to this Command A. The reason here given is that God is a jealous God who therefore will not suffer himself to be dishonoured by mens making and worshipping any thing as an Image of him but will severely punish such idolaters and their posterity whilst the true lovers and worshippers of him shall be plenteously rewarded even to many generations Q. What other reason do you find given in the repetition of the Law Deut. 4. 12 15 16. c. A. We there find this farther added that when God spake to the children of Israel they only heard a voice but saw no similitude or bodily shape and therefore it is unreasonable to make any image or resemblance of him Q. How ought we then to conceive of God when we worship him A. We ought not to conceive of him under any bodily shape but as a spiritual Being infinitely wise and powerful holy just and good who fills both heaven and earth with his presence and in his essence is unsearchable Q. What is the third commandment A. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain Q. What are we taught in the third Commandment A. The third Commandment enjoyns us to have so great reverence for God as not to take his name in vain Q. Who are they that take Gods name in vain A. Chiefly they who dare swear falsly by the name of God and they also who in their passion or ordinary discourse break forth into swearing Q. What Rule hath Christ given for our ordinary communication that we may avoid swearing A. That we should barely affirm or deny a thing using yes or no or the like expressions without oaths or imprecations Q. Is it enough to justifie these common oaths that some men will not as is pretended believe others except
of men we desire to render humble and hearty praise to thy divine Majesty Yea blessed and for ever praised be thy name oh God that thou hast not only shewn much mercy to our bodies but hast also made abundant provision for the everlasting welfare and happiness of our precious souls Most fully hast thou declared to the world both in thy word and by thy works that thou hast no delight in the death of sinners but hadst rather that they would turn and live For even then when we were fallen from thee and from that blessed estate wherein our first Parents were created and so stood liable to thy wrath and to everlasting damnation then wast thou pleased to take pity on us when none else in heaven or earth did pity or could relieve us Even then didst thou give thine own Son Iesus Christ from heaven to be our Saviour and Redeemer to teach us thy will to give us thy Spirit and to die for our sins that as many as believe on him and obey him should not perish but have everlasting life Oh what manner of love is this which thou the Father hast shewn and which thy Son Iesus hath shewn to us worthless creatures to us vile sinners The sense of our own unworthiness may justly encrease our admiration of thy kindness and when we consider all this thy goodness great cause we have to humble our souls before thee in the remembrance of our own sinful and most unsuitable carriage toward thee the God of love We did indeed bring along into the world with us sinful natures and inclinations for in sin we were conceived and brought forth in iniquity And alas how many sins have we committed since we came to the use of our Reason Though thou hast always been doing us good yet like foolish and unthankful wretches we have returned evil for good We have been far from loving thee and trusting in thee as beseems thy creatures but rather have we wasted our love upon the vain and fading enjoyments of this present world in them have we delighted and in them have we placed our confidence Though we have called thee our Maker and Owner yet have we not quietly and patiently submitted to thy will as we are therefore bound because we are thy own But very ready we have been both to murmur and repine at thy providences when they have gone cross to our carnal desires and to find fault with thy laws as if they were too strict and severe because they are contrary to our foolish sensual inclinations Oftentimes have we neglected the duties of thy worship mis-spent and profaned thy Holy day and have look'd on prayers Sermons and Sacraments as burthensome and needless things And very trifling and careless have we been in those duties we have performed not duly considering what an holy and glorious God thou art with whom we have to do Thou indeed hast commanded us to love our neighbours as our selves but we through the sinful and excessive love of our selves and our own concernments have been very much wanting in the duties of justice and charity to others Much of our precious time we have wasted in idleness and vanity in unprofitable and sinful company and too frequently we have abused thy good creatures for the satisfaction of our own base lusts Often have we given way to our own unruly passions and sinful inclinations breaking thy laws and grieving thy Spirit merely for the tasting those pleasures of sin that are but for a season And these deeds of darkness these sins of ours we have committed in the open light of thy Gospel contrary to the plain commands of thy word which we have often read and heard yea contrary to the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of our own consciences which we have felt within us Most justly therefore mightest thou pour out the hottest of thy fury upon us as having been of those disobedient servants who have known thy will and yet have not done the same Nor can we expect any other than to be made infinitely and eternally miserable if thou should'st deal with us after our deservings But there is yet through thy grace a door of hope open for us thou thy self hast provided a refuge to which poor sinners in this life-time may fly for safety and comfort For thou oh most merciful Father hast promised that thou wilt for thy Son Iesus sake have mercy on all those who are truly grieved for their sins humbly confessing and speedily for saking the same Now we must needs acknowledge those thy conditions of mercy are exceeding equal and gracious and most just it is we should perish for ever if we refuse the same For we cannot oh God in reason expect that our sins should be pardoned if we wilfully continue in them Nor can we ever hope that Christ should be our Saviour if we do not own and obey him as our Lord Nor can we look for the joys of heaven whilst we walk in those ways of wickedness which lead to Hell and damnation Oh wilt thou then make us sincerely willing to do what we our selves own to be so just and reasonable that we may not dare in an hardned and impenitent manner to go on in those ungodly courses which we are convinced are so dangerous and mischievous Let not our own vile lusts nor the temptations of Satan our malicious enemy prevail with us to reject our blessed Saviour and that eternal life which he purchast by his death and now offers to us in the Gospel How shall we then escape if we neglect so great salvation Or what shall we plead for our selves at the last great day if we that are called Christians should be found depisers of Christ How justly may he then destroy us not only as enemies but as Mockers and may give us our portion in the hottest place of the burning Lake with Hypocrites and unbelievers Wherefore we do now most humbly and earnestly beseech thee oh thou Father of mercies and God of all grace give us not up to such a reprobate mind and feared conscience but together with enlightned minds give us such soft and tender hearts that we may look back on the sins we have committed with shame and sorrow and may cast away from us even our most pleasant sins with bitter loathing and hatred never more to be reconciled to them And for thy Son Iesus sake be thou merciful to us own us as thy Redeemed ones and make us partakers of those great mercies and blessings which he hath purchast for all his faithful servants For his sake alone we beg from thee the forgiveness of our sins a freedome from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation And we do also beseech thee by him to deliver us from the evil of this present world even from the snares of the Devil and from the power of our own corruptions that no sin may reign in our mortal bodies so that we should yield obedience thereunto
of our precious souls And this whilst we have taken on us the name of Christians and have profest to believe all that is revealed in the Gospel Whilst we our selves have spoken much against sin and of the mischief and danger of it yet have we securely allowed our selves in it and have neglected those very duties which we have confest to be just and reasonable and for our own greatest good Whilst we have seemed to contemn this world as vanity our chief business hath been to seek after it and whilst we have spoke much of the joys of heaven and with our tongues have extoll'd them yet we have taken little pains to make sure of them by walking in those ways of holiness which can only bring us to the enjoyment of them Yea these and such like confessions as these have we often made before thee and yet still have continued in the very same temper of mind and course of life which we acknowledge to be so exceeding sinful and dangerous as if we thought it enough for us to condemn our ways without reforming them to confess our sins without forsaking them The very sins of our prayers themselves the hypocrisie we have therein been guilty of is enough for our condemnation Often have we prayed that thou wouldst vouchsafe to keep us without sin and yet presently we our selves have carelesly and wilfully run into it and when we have been begging that the rest of our lives might be pure and holy we have strait-way gone and polluted our selves with impure and ungodly actions And after we have gone from the hearing and reading of thy holy word we have quickly forgotten and disobeyed it What then shall we say unto the most righteous God or wherewith shall we excuse our selves For alas our transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins they do testify against us And if thou shouldst now be extream to mark what we have done amiss and to deal with us accordingly how then shall we appear in thy presence or whether shall we flee from thy wrath But oh thou that art the Preserver of men ever ready to shew mercy to the humble and penitent look on us poor sinners with an eye of pity and tender compassion And do thou now work in our souls that unfeigned sorrow for the sins we stand guilty of that we may be fitted for mercy and pardon that so iniquity may not be our ruine We come to thee oh God in the most blessed and prevailing name of thy Son Jesus through him our Prince and our Saviour begging both repentance and remission of sins For his sake turn from us thy wrath and receive us into thy favour Let his precious blood which he shed for sinners cleanse us from all unrighteousness And oh that this love which he hath shewn in dying for us may prevail with us to trust our souls with him to love him and obey him that so he may become to us the Author of eternal salvation Oh Lord grant we may never be so wickedly disingenuous and perverse as to encourage our selves in sin because Christ died for sinners as if we might therefore hate him because he hath loved us but make us ever so duly sensible of the ends of his death that we may entirely give up our selves to him who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie us to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Do thou graciously enable us by our holy and unblameable walking to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things and let this grace of thine which hath appeared to the world bringing salvation teach us to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts and to lead righteous sober and godly lives whilst we are in this present evil world To this end we beseech thee oh God through thy Son Jesus to shed abroad thy holy Spirit into our hearts and thereby to cleanse us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that we may perfect holiness in thy fear Sanctifie us throughout both in body and soul that we may be holy in heart and life even in all manner of conversation Take off our affections from all things here below and six them on thy blessed self and the glory that is above that we may never be so foolish as to expect happiness from riches pleasures friends or any worldly comforts which are daily decaying and dying away but let us ever trust in and depend upon thee the living God who givest us all the good things we enjoy and who alone canst make us perfectly happy in the enjoyment of thy self for ever Whilst we are here in our travail through the world we only beg of thee such a measure of outward comforts as thou seest most convenient for us and ours Let us have thy blessing with whatever we enjoy and give us patient and contented minds under all thy dealings with us Make us faithful in obeying thy Command first to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and then we know thy promise shall be fulfilled that all other things shall be added to us so as thou seest will be best for us To thy will oh God we desire humbly to resign up our selves and all our affairs only do thou keep us continually in thy fear and favour and then deal with us as seems good in thy sight Encrease in us a sincere love to all men that we may carefully perform our duty to them doing good to all to the utmost of our power but never doing any kind of hurt or wrong to any either in thought word or deed Lord preserve us from envying the richest or despising the poorest and keep us ever free from hatred malice uncharitableness and from all desire of revenge Let thy grace so curb our passion and change our corrupt natures that we may not render evil for evil but may always study to overcome evil with good Whenever we receive injury from others do thou enable us from the heart so to forgive them as we for Christs sake hope to be forgiven by thee Let us all in this Family live in peace and love and in the fear of thy great name faithfully performing our duties one to another in our several Relations Help us oh heavenly Father to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear as Pilgrims and strangers abstaining from those fleshly lusts which war against our souls that laying aside every weight and hindrance we may with patience run the holy Race that is set before us Keep us always mindful of that everlasting state toward which we are daily tending that we may spend this short life as beseems those who know that Death is hasting upon us and that after death comes judgment when thou the righteous God wilt call us to an account for all our deeds done in the body and wilt accordingly dispose of us either to happiness or misery for ever Oh Lord make us in good