thou hast so graciously preserved us unto this present houre by reason of our sinnes our life is exposed to an infinitnes of inconveniences and in the mean time we still subsist and are filled with thy good things Our being and our welbeing Lord we should hold it of thee we ow it to thy free grace and meere mercy to thee alone for the same be all glory for evermore But O our most gracious God it is most necessary for us that thou continue thy gracious favours unto us otherwise what thou hast hitherto done for us would turn to our confusion Leave us not then for then we shall perish thou hast created and redeemed us not to destroy us but that we might have eternall life Shed forth then upon us thy more especiall favours and above all the grace of thy holy Spirit Thou that hast washt us from our sins in the precious bloud of thy Sonne Sanctifie also our soules by thy Word and according to thy promise For Lord shall we enjoy Iesus Christ and his benefits without our serving of thee without magnifying of thee And what honour shall we render unto thee or what acknowledgment unlesse thou thy self confer upon us both the will and hability of performance The will and desire to honour thee We already have of thy free grace give us also the power of performance Give it us Lord with efficacy and according to thy good pleasure graunt it unto us and at the most humble and fervent request which we make unto thee for the same Give us not over neither to the malice of our enemies nor to our own perversnes let neither of them hinder us in thy service nor let us not give them any subject of dishonoring thee let our example serve for our conversion That they seeing the holines of our lives may lose their wils to hurt us and may gain an affection to know thee aright to acknowledg thee O God according to thy Truth according to their duty Let us not O Lord abuse our health and present prosperity Grant we may imploy them to the glorifying of thee and to the advancement of thy work with faithfulnes and every one according to his vocation whereunto thou hast called us above all that in the midst of our greatest repose we may prepare our selves for afflictions to the houre of death and for the fruition of our eternall rest When thou shalt visit vs with thy rods that it may be in thy mercy and for our amendment when thou shalt call us that it may be in thy grace and for our salvation whether in prosperity or in adversity whether sound or sick whether living or dying we may evermore confesse thy truth and do nothing which may be unworthy of our profession nothing which not seriously testifies our repentance for our sinnes our desire of thy grace our seeking of thy glory the peace of our soules the comfort of our consciences and the assurance of our salvation in thy welbeloved Sonne IESVS CHRIST In his Name we further pray thee to conferre the same good things on all our kinsfolks and friends call unto thee those that know thee not and strengthen those that already have thy feare Establish maintaine every where and make effectuall the Ministerie of thy Word for the conversion consolation of al thine Elect and for the enlarging of thy glory of the Kingdome of Iesus Christ Keep our King and all His grant Him a long Raigne in thy feare and for the good of of thy Church Let his subjects O Lord and above all we who are instructed by thy Gospell render unto him and unto all our Superiours all obedience unto which thy Word obligeth us Make thine own sensible of the bitternes of thine afflictions rejoyce them also in the sweetnesse of thy comforts so moderate and terminate thy corrections that they may be wholsome unto them Above all we beseech thee for them which have need of thy succours in this Church deny them not thine assistance heare their prayers and ours comfort them and deliver them that they and we may praise thee solacing our selves in thy goodnes And because O God it is onely our sins which are able to hinder us from hoping to receive from thee that which we ask of thee as thou pardonest us our sins in thy Son graunt us grace voluntarily to renounce all iniquitie so shal not the course of thy grace be interrupted so shall we have experience both in our prayers of the Truth of thy promises and in our whole life Yea even unto the last gasp therof the continuance of thy fatherly mercy in the same thy welbeloved Sonne in whose Name c. A Prayer for him who after he hath beene worthily prepared to receive the holy Communion approcheth to the Lords Table 9. O My God O my Father I have had experience of thy mercy in the whole course of my life especially since thou gavest me the knowledge of thy Truth and of my salvation and at this present time Lord thou openest before me the treasure of all thy riches thou presentest and offer'st unto me whole Iesus Christ with all his benefits Seeing then O God of my salvation seeing thou wilt that I should obey thy Word that I should draw neare unto thy Table Alas suffer not nor permit that it shal be to my condemnation But O good God far be it from me that I should admit any such feare For thou hast touched my heart with serious repentance I am right sensible that thou strengthenest my faith and reachest forth unto me thy hand thy selfe to receive me this day thou that art the Authour of my salvation O happy day wherein I protest before thee to detest my sinnes to renounce mine iniquity to be admitted unto the participation of the Sacrament of the New Testament Good God give me now the grace to shew forth the death of my Saviour grant that in his sufferings I may discern how great was thy wrath how exact thy justice against our sinnes seeing that to blot them out thou hast not spared thine owne Sonne Graunt also I may acknowledg thankfully thy infinite mercy towards us in that for us thine enemies thou hast given unto death the just thine onely Sonne But Lord give me to admire the never to be paralel'd love which thy Sonne beareth me in that he hath undergone both my sins and thy wrath to affoord unto me the food of eternall life O how wonderfull art thou in thy bounties Seeing that this day thou wilt by visible and sacred signes augment my joy and present to the view of mine eyes thy celestiall and invisible graces At this instant thou wilt give me an assured pledge of my conjunction with Iesus Christ And by him with thee O my Father as also with thy holy Spirit Now shall I be assured that Christ is in me and I in him O excellent Vnion sith it bringeth to passe that I have peace with thee
that Iesus Christ taketh upon him all my evill and bestoweth on me all his benefits that he quickneth me by his Holy Spirit that I am united unto all the faithfull that nothing shall separate me from thy love that none shall pluck me neither out of the hands of my Saviour nor out of the bosome of his Church I feare neither my sins for behold here the bloud of my Saviour which blotteth them out nor thy wrath for loe here the seale of my reconciliation with thee nor the Devill for behold here Christ who hath overcome Nor death for this day I receive the Sacrament of life everlasting this day is promise made unto me and the scale of it is given me that the heavens are opened unto me that my habitation shal be in the house of God for ever Lord increase my faith Lord raise up my heart unto thee graunt that unto thy glory graunt that unto salvation I may comprehend the excellency and the benefit of these things and that thence I may take up a firm resolution to renounce the world to walk therein as a pilgrim as keeping on my way towards my Saviour to draw unto him my neighbours to edifie them by mine example to adhere to thy Truth to continue their profession thereof against the rage and against the subtilties of all the enemies of thy Truth to my singular comfort even unto the last gasp of my life Amen A Thanksgiving to be rendred unto God after we have been partakers of the holy Communion 10. LOrd my God how is my soule ravisht in contemplation of the good things which thou commest to give me thy poore servant Alas Lord I am farr lesse then the least of thy mercies and then all the truth thou usest towards me it is thou that assurest me that thy Sonne that thine onely Sonne died for me It is thou that hast given me the seales of thine inviolable Covenant But what say I the seales O God thou knowest what ardor I feele at this present within me an assured testimonie that Iesus Christ is come to dwell in my heart by the precious faith thou hast given me Yea Lord I feele that he dwelleth in me I feele he engraveth in my heart the efficacie of his death and passion he died once upon the Crosse for my sinnes But he liveth for ever in my heart for my salvation I know it I beleeve it with as much certainty as with truth I have been partaker of the outward signes of thy grace O let my soule enjoy so great repose against her enemies O let it have an unspeakeable contentment in thy mercy As Iesus Christ died for me let Iesus Christ live in me O God it is so for thou wilt have it so for I am sensible of it and my faith is greatly strengthened Surely Lord thou wilt be my God for ever for thou art with me thou givest me the bread of life thou cloathest me with the innocency and righteousnes of thy Son O good God finish in me thine own work thou hast rescued me out of the dangers of eternall death thou hast assured me of most happy rest graunt me Lord yet this period unto my prayer that I may not repay thee with ingratitude that I may not die in sin but may live to righteousnes that I may deny my selfe may edifie my neighbours may consecrate my self to thy glory that in the sobriety righteousnes and religion of my life I may affect nothing so heartily have nothing so often before mine eyes as my leaving of this world And whilst thou preservest me therein O God as long as thou keepest me in the same I may expect with all thine Elect the most blessed hope and appearance of the glory of the great God which is our Saviour Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory from this time and for evermore Amen A Confession 11. O Lord God Eternall and Almighty Father we confesse and acknowledge unfainedly before thy sacred Majestie we are poore miserable sinners conceived and born in iniquity and corruption inclined unto evill doing unprofitable unto every good work and that by our sins we transgresse continually and without ceasing all thy holy Commandements In doing wherof we purchase to our selves by thy just judgment destruction and utter ruine Yet Lord we are displeased with our selves for having displeased offended thee we condēn ourselves our sins with true repentance humbly praying thy grace may relieve our misery and calamity Have mercy then upon us O God and most gracious Father and full of mercy for Iesus Christs sake thy Sonne our Lord. And blotting out our sins and blemishes inlarge in us and increase daily the graces of thy Holy Spirit that we acknowledging heartily all our unrighteousnes may bee toucht with true displeasure which may beget in us sound repentance which mortifying us unto all sinne may bring forth the fruits of righteousnesse and innocency which may be acceptable and wel pleasing unto thee thorough the same Iesus Christ thy welbeloved Sonne our Saviour Amen A Morning Prayer 12. O Lord God Eternall Father seeing it hath pleased thee to bring us safely unto this present day be pleased also to give us grace we may passe the same without offending thee and what ere we shall do say or think may be to the glory and praise of thy Name and edification of our neighbours And look not Lord upon our infirmities upon our sinnes and on our unthankfulnesse But looke upon thine accustomed goodnes and according to the same turn not away thy face from us but ever hold us up by thy hand that we fall not from thee at all and let not those threatnings which thou hast pronounced against them that have knowne thee and have not glorified thee as they ought fall upon us But Lord hold us ever in thy feare and forsake us not teach us to do thy will and give us the will and the power to do it for without thee we can do nothing Above all Lord make us alwayes with our whole hearts imbrace the memory and the merit of the death of thy Sonne And especially when the houre of our owne death shall come graunt that in the same we may have such faith recourse and assurance that we may be in the ranke of those which die in the Lord. And even then also graunt us that we may leave this world without all discontent thereat and that all our desire may be to be with thee Also Lord thou hast taught us to pray that thy Kingdome may come be pleased to advance forward the same and in so doing touch our Kings heart and the hearts of his Councill and illuminate them with thy brightnesse that thou maist be King and rule every where And that thine enemies may be made thy footstoole looke downe Lord in mercy upon all the poore afflicted ones persecuted and oppressed especially for thy Word Deliver them O good God as
as the last of our dayes shal be the first of our rest Yet that the death of the righteous is the sun-set of their woes and the sun-rising of their felicities but herewithall it may be also unto us an example to contemne this world where we do but offend thee to breath after with our whole hearts the celestiall Ierusalem wherein we shall injoy with Iesus Christ our Spouse unspeakeable and eternall pleasures whose excellencies surpasse all understanding according to that holy promise which he hath made us to be gone up thither there to prepare us a place to be with him injoying eternall glory Expecting then that most happy houre when thou wilt call us out of this world and where our salvation which is shut up in hope shal be fully revealed unto us Inable us powerfully to comprehend the excellencie of our Calling and what are the riches of thy glory in that heavenly inheritance of thy Saints and what the excellent greatnes of that power is to us ward that believe thorow operation of the power of thy strength which thou hast effectually exprest in thy Sonne Iesus Christ when thou raisedst him from the dead and madest him sit at thy right hand in heavenly places above all principalitie and power strength and dominion and above every name which is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come To the end that being strengthened and corroborated in the inward man we might walk on as becommeth that Calling whereunto we are called in all humilitie and meeknes and with a patient mind bearing with one another in deare love being carefull to keepe the Vnitie of the Spirit in the Bond of peace seeing we are called into the hope of our Calling To thee O great God Father of all which art above all amongst all and in us all with thy Sonne in the unitie of the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever Amen Vnto him that feareth God to die is to be borne FINIS A PRAYER to be said in the Morning at our Vprising O Most glorious God most gracious Father and most mercifull Saviour seeing it hath pleased thee to graunt me the gracious favour to have passed this night and to come unto this present day be likewise graciously pleased to adde herewith also unto me the benefit and abilitie to imploy the same wholly and altogether unto thy service in such sort that I may neither thinke say nor doe any thing but what may bee well pleasing unto thee And comply with the obedience unto thy blessed will and pleasure That so all my words may tend to the glory of thy Name and edification of my neighbours And as it hath pleased thee to make thy Sunne to shine upon the earth to inlighten our bodies so likewise be pleased by the bright beames of thy Spirit to illuminate my understanding â—nd my heart to direct and guide me in the saving way of thy righteousnesse so that unto whatsoever I apply my selfe evermore my principall end and Intention may bee to walk in thy feare to serve and honour thee expecting all my happinesse and welfare from thy onely blessing that so I may take nothing in hand but what is agreeable to thy blessed Will and Commandements As also that so travelling for the body and this present life that I may ever looke further namely unto that heavenly life which thou hast promised unto thy children Yet so Lord that it may please thee both in body and soule to bee my protector strengthening me against all the temptations of the Devill and delivering me from all dangers which may befall mee And because it is nothing to begin well unlesse it be seconded with perseverance Reâ—â—â—â—me not onely for this day into thy sacred protection but even for the whole course of my life coâ—tinâ—e and daily augment and increase in thee thy Heaâ—â—â—ly Grace â—ntill thou hast brought me unto the full fruition of thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord who is the true Sunne of 〈◊〉 soules that shineth day and night without end and for ever And that I may obtaine these graces from thee bee pleased to forget all my sinnes past and by thy infinite mercies to forgive mee them as thou hast promised unto all them that by faith in Iesus Christ the Sonne of thy love accompanied with true repentant sorrow for their sinnes heartily seeke thy mercie in the pardon of their sinnes by Iesus Christ to whom with thee and thy Holy Spirit one true and everliving God bee all honour and glory now and for evermore Amen A PRAYER TO 〈◊〉 said before going to bed O Lord God sith it hath pleased thee to create the night for the rest of man as thou hast ordained him the day for his travell Graunt me the grace so to take rest this night in body as that my soule may alwayes watch unto thee and that my heart may be raised up in thy love and that I may so cast off and lay asâ—de all earthly cares that I may bee refreshed as mine infirmitie shall require that I never forget thee but that the remembrance of thy bounty and grace may remaine evermore so deepely imprinted in my memorie that by that means my conscience may have as well her spirituall rest as the body taketh his And withall let not my sleepe bee excessive inordinately to please the ease of the flesh but onely to satisfie the frailtie of nature the better to dispose me to thy service Be also pleased to keep me unpolluted in my body as in my minde And to preserve mee against all dangers that my sleep may bee to the glory of thy Name And seeing there hâ—th not a day passed whâ—â—â— I have not many wayes ofâ—â—â—â—â—â— thee according as I am a poorâ— wretched sinner even as all a now covered by the darkenesse which thou sendest upon the earth graunt likewise all my sinnes may bee buried thorow thy mercy that by them I may not bee deprived of the light of thy countenance Heate mee most gracious God and loving Father for Iesus Christ his sake Amen THE MANNER of questioning those that are to bee received to the Supper of our LORD IESVS CHRIST Question IN whom believest thou Answer In God the Father in Iesus Christ his Sonne and in the Holy Ghost Q The Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are they more then one God A. No. Q Must we serve God according to hi◠〈◊〉 or according to the traditions of â—â—n A. We must serve him according to his Commandements and not according to the commandements of men Q. Canst thou fulfill Gods Commandements of thy selfe A No. Q. Who is it then taht fulfill them in thee A. The Holy Ghost Q And when God hath given thee his Holy Spirit canst thoâ— perfectly fulfill them A. No in no wise Q And yet God curseth and reiecteth all those that doe not perfectly and entirely fulfill his Commandements A. It is true Q By what meanes then canst thou be saved and delivered from the curse of God A. By the Death and Passion of our Lord Iesus Christ Q How by the meanes of his Death and Passion A. Because by his Death he hath purchased us life and hath reconciled us unto God his Father Q. Vnto whom prayest thou A. Vnto God Q In whose name prayest thou A. In the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ who is our Mediator and Intercessor Q. How many Sacraments are there in the Christian Church A Two Q. Which are they A. Baptisme and the Lords Supper Q. What is the signification of Baptisme A. It hath two parts For our Lord doth therein set forth unto us the remission of our sins and then our regeneration or spirituall renewing Q. And what signifâ—â—th the Sâ—pper A. It setteth forth unto vs that by the Communion of the Body and bloud of our Lord Iesus Christ our soules are nourished in the hope of eternall life Q What do the Bread and Wine set forth unto us in the Lords Supper A. They set forth unto us that the Body and Bloud of Iesus Christ have such vertue and strength unto our soules as Bread and Wine have unto our bodies Q Conceivest thou that the Body of Iesus â—hrist is inclosed and contained uâ—der the Bread and his Bloâ—d under the Wine A. No Q Where then must we seeke Iesus Christ to have the fruition of him A. In heaven in the glory of God his Father Q What is the meanes to come unto heaven where Iesus Christ is A. It is faith Q. We must then have true faith before we can have the right use of this holy Sacrament A. So we must Q. And how can we come by this faith A We attaine unto it by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in our hearts and assureth us of the Promises of God which are made unto us in the Gospell FINIS
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
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
thanks unto thee for the same But if it be thy will yet to continue any longer or even to augment unto him this sicknes grant it may be alwayes for his good and give increase of strength and of constancie to be able to beare these thy trials with a calme and meek mind without any impatiencie or grudging and that thus in these truly christian testimonies of his faith and Patience thou maist be glorified and his neighbours edified and comforted And that even he also by this experience had of the miseries of the world and of this life may be taught to wean his heart and affections from them to raise them up heartily unto the meditation and diligent search of that repose and incomprehensible happines which is set before us in heaven and in everlasting life Grant also Lord the like graces unto all others that are sick and afflicted Comfort them and strengthen them as thou knowest shal be needfull for them and above all give them power evermore with a true and lively faith to embrace thy mercy in Iesus Christ therein to find matter of consolation Heare us Father of grace for the same thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord his sake as we humbly beseech thee in that forme of prayer which he himselfe hath commanded us to offer up unto thee Our Father which art in heaven c. And because Lord that without faith we cannot please thee we beseech thee so to increase the same in this thy servant and in us that he may be enabled even unto the last gasp of his life and we with him to persevere in the same and to be evermore readily disposed thereof to render unto thee a pure confession both with heart mouth as we now do I beleeve in God c. Such is his faith Lord and also ours give us grace both to live and die in the same thorow Iesus Christ thy Sonne our Lord who in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth raigneth with thee GOD eternally When there is some likelihood that the sickenesse will be mortall there must be added other consolations such as these following SIR You must ever be of good courage in the midst of this affliction wherewith God continueth to visit you in your body then you must know that he sends it you and continues it unto you but for your good and for the salvation of your soule To teach you by this meanes to come to a true knowledge of your selfe as being a poore sinner to detest more and more your sins to despise the world to lift up your selfe wholly unto God and to call upon him so much the more fervently with assurance to be heard according to his holy promises and to obtaine from him Christian constancie which is necessary for you in this triall The assurance of Gods mercy in Iesus Christ the foundation of all comfort NOW that which ought most to comfort you and to strengthen you with courage and patience which is that assurance which you must evermore take that God for his welbeloved Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord his sake embraceth you in his love and free gracious good will hath pardoned your sins hath adopted and received you into the number of his children to make you an heire of the kingdome of heaven by vertue of that purchase which Iesus Christ hath made for you by his death Such an assurance will ever make you certaine that nothing can befall you be it in life or be it in death which shall not be unto you a favour and a blessing from your heavenly father and which by consequence shall not be an helpe and a meanes ordained by his wise providence to advance and lead you unto a happy life This assurance comes from Faith TRue it is that this assurance we cannot take of our selves but it is this our good God who gives it us when by the power of his Holy Spirit and by his Word he creates in our hearts a true and a lively faith with the which we receive and appropriate to our selves the promises of his grace which he addresseth unto us in the preaching of his holy Gospell These promises briefly import thus much That God so loved the world that hee hath given his onely Sonne to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Iohn 3.16 If then God give you the grace to believe in his only Sonne and to embrace and lay hold on him for your Redeemer and Saviour as we gather you do by the profession you hitherunto have made thereof and do still make the same in the midst of his Church you may and ought to take from thence an holy assurance that God according to the infallible truth of his Word hath received you into his love that you shall not perish but you shall have eternall life Now this being so what can you be afraid of Rom. 8.30 31. If God bee for us who shal be against us He who hath not spared his onely Sonne but hath given him for us how shall he not also give us all other things with him He hath given us the greater namely his owne Sonne shall he denie you then the lesse to wit what ere may be necessary and expedient to keep you and to uphold you against all manner of evills both corporall and spirituall as well in life as in death Faith applieth unto every faithfull one the promises of the Gospell NOw this application I spake of which you ought to make of the promises of the Gospell to draw from them such an holy assurance it is necessarily to be looked for in faith For to believe in Iesus Christ is not to believe onely in the grosse that there is a Iesus Christ and that he that believeth in him hath eternall life and it is not enough to believe that the promises of the Gospell are true in general and out of us The Devill himselfe believeth indeed all this and yet hath no true faith for all that But to believe in Iesus Christ it is when the faithfull believeth that there is salvation in Iesus Christ for himself which the Devill cannot believe And true justifying faith and by which the just liveth consists properly in this that we apply unto our selves and that every one of us appropriate in his owne particular to himself the promises of salvation to be able to say every one in his owne behalfe that which Saint Paul said in the person of every faithfull man and woman Gal. 2.20 I live in the faith of the Sonne of God who hath loved me and who gave himselfe for me Also Tim. 1.2 I know in whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keepe that which I have committed unto him even unto that day And againe Rom. 8.37 38. I am assured that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things to come neither height nor depth nor any other creature shal be
Col. 2.15 dispoiled the principalities and powers of hell which hee openly led in show triumphing over them in the same I doubt not but this enemie of our salvation will performe his utmost against you to astonish and trouble our faith For as S. Peter saith 1. Pet. 5.8 9. Our adversarie the Devill goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devoure But Saint Peter addeth That we must resist him being strong in faith Resist you the Devill the same saith S. Iames ch 4.7 and hee will flye from you Now to resist and overcome him you must be furnished with the armour of God whereof S. Paul speaketh to the Ephesians chap. 6. ver 16. Taking above all as he saith the shield of faith by the which you may quench all the fierie darts of the Devill Against the apprehension of the judgement of God THere remaineth the feare you may happily take of the judgement of God before whom you must appeare But wheron now shall this apprehension be founded Seeing your sinnes shall not be imputed unto you seeing you shall not be condemned thereby unto death seeing it shall be to no purpose for Satan there to accuse you you being there absolv'd and justified by the grace of God This is the doctrine which S. Paul affords us Rom. 8.32.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect it is God that justifieth Who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Thus then you must indeed appeare before God but not as before a severe and rigorous judge but rather as before a mercifull and an appeased Father towards us in Iesus Christ By Iesus Christ I say whom you have himselfe for an Advocat and Intercessor with the Father Now he shall not be denied by the Father in his request for you by Iesus Christ whose member you are Now there is no condemnation to them that are in Iesus Christ saith Saint Paul Rom. 8.1 By Iesus Christ in the end in whom you believe Now he that believeth in me saith he hath eternall life and he shall not come into condemnation but rather is passed from death unto life Is not this then Sir your faith and firm beliefe that by the benefit of our Lord Iesus Christ you have the remission of your sins Iohn 5.24 That you are saved from eternall death and set free from the rigor of the judgment of God and that by consequent Satan cannot prejudice or bring you any hurt by his accusations and temptations and that your bodily death cannot but he happy and profitable to you every way One must also draw from the sicke a protestation of his charity towards his neighbour FInally Sir it being so that faith worketh by charity and necessarily produceth it seeing it hath pleased God that you are at peace with him by faith you must also be at one and in peace with all your brethren and neighbours thorow true Christian charity And therefore tell us if you renounce from your heart all hatred rancour and enmity against all men without any exception and do desire the welfare and salvation of all in generall and of every one in particular as your very owne Yes I do Do you not forgive honestly and with a good heart all them who have any way whatsoever it be offended you as also reciprocally you do ask forgivenes of all them whom you have any way offended Yes Now Sir must we herewithall addresse our prayer unto God to the end it would please him to strengthen you in the faith which he hath given you and to make more and more to abound in you all graces it is your part to humble your selfe with us before him and to lift up unto him your heart to implore his mercy from the depth of your soule A Prayer for the sicke in whom there shal be likelihood of death O Lord our good God and mercifull Father we are indeed every way unworthy to lift up our eyes towards thee for the multitude and grievousnesse of our sinnes and transgressions wherewith we are tainted and blemished before thy face But it is not in the confidence of our owne worthinesse that we dare presume to present our selves at the feet of thy sacred Majestie but rather in the assurance of thy great compassions and the perfect obedience which thy deare Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord hath performed unto thee in our name with whose righteousnesse we beseech thee to cover and adorne us with thy grace that thorow him and in thy favour we may be reconciled and acceptable But now we beseech thee O good God be pleased particularly to impart this great mercy unto this thy poore child and servant cast downe under thy mighty hand a poore sinner indeed and such a sinner as should for ever remaine overwhelmed under the heavy waight and rigour of thy soveraigne justice if thou affoordest not him thy infinite mercy Graunt him grace more and more to enter into a serious examination and acknowledgment of his sinnes that thereby he may conceive a true detestation of them which may beget in him true repentance and may further him and put him on forward unto an entire and absolute deniall of himselfe to have his whole refuge unto thee and to thy mercy in the meane time receive him graciously Lord shew unto him a fatherly countenance establish him and comfort him say unto his soule I am he that is able to ensafe thee dispose his heart to receive patiently and with thankfulnesse this fatherly correction which thou sendest him and to resigne up wholly himselfe into thy hands to range himselfe peaceably unto whatsoe're it shall please thee out of thy sacred wisdome to ordaine for him Lord thou knowest better then he himself or we either whether is more expedient for him that he should live or die If thy good pleasure be he shall live let it be that he may live wholly unto thee So as that having well profited by these thy chastisements he may learn to love thee to honour and serve thee all the dayes of his life in the midst of thy Church by studying perpetually therein to bring forth the fruits of pietie and holines worthy of thy Gospell and beseeming the child of such a Father and the service of such a Master And so thou mayest be glorified in him and his neighbours edified But if otherwise it be thy will to take him out of this miserable world give him assurance that it shal be to put him in possession of thy heavenly kingdome which thou hast prepared for him before the foundation of the world and which thy Son hath purchased for him by the merit of his death To this end O Father of light from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift be pleased to give unto him a true and a lively faith wherewith he may seeke find and lay hold on
thy mercy for his sins and true righteousnes in the obedience of the same thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord who was delivered up unto death for our sinnes and rose againe for our justification Yea ascended into heaven to take possession thereof in our name and by that meanes give us accesse and entrance thither whence sinne had banished us Imprint in his heart by the Power of thy holy Spirit a full certainty of all these thy graces that thereby he may be enabled to repose himself peaceably in thy mercy and to overcome happily all temptations and crosses which Satan and his owne flesh would lay before him to trouble the serenitie and cleerenesse of his faith and the tranquillitie of his conscience Let not his sinnes then plunge him into despaire seeing they have been so fully payed and satisfied unto thy justice not by gold or silver but by the precious bloud of thy Christ as by that Lamb without spot and blemish Let not death affright him seeing that sinne being destroyed and abolisht in him which is the sting of death it may remaine unto him disarmed and without power to hurt him Yea that his soule being separated from his body by corporall death it shal be to go unto thee victorious and freed from the captivity of sin therby to tast thorow the fruition of it that blessed life which he hath not tasted of in this world but by hope leaving indeed his body in the earth but not for ever but rather to be refined transformed and made in due time conformable to the glorious body of his head by the benefit of his resurrection Let not Satan daunt him any more seeing he cannot hurt him but by sinne and death the dominion whereof he hath lost in his behalfe Assure him in the end that in vain that accuser shall lay ought to his charge at the throne of thy justice seeing that he being already absolved and justified by thy grace there is no Iudge that can condemn him Let it be thy good pleasure also O good God to shew thy fatherly mercy unto all other sicke persons comfort and strengthen them according as thou knowest they have need thereof And above all graunt them the grace to embrace evermore with a true and a lively faith thy mercie in Iesus Christ that therein they may find all matter of comfort Graunt also unto us all that grace Lord that by this example we may profit and learne to renounce the world and our selves to imploy those few dayes we have here below to live to meditate on thy wisdome to walk carefully in thy feare to weane our hearts from the vanities of this life to raise them up to the meditation and expectation of the celestiall life And to this end to be alwayes prepared and in a readinesse to appeare before thee in assurance to be entertained and received in thy great mercie even for thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord his sake In whose Name we beseech thee O Father of mercie to heare us and in all other which thou knowest better then we our selves to be necessarie for us and this for thy poore servant as we pray unto thee in that forme of prayer which he himselfe hath commanded us to offer up unto thee Our Father which art in heaven c. Lord increase that faith which thou hast planted in the heart of this thy servant and child defend him with it as with a strong shield wherewith he may be inabled to quench all the fierie darts of the evill one And graunt that persevering constantly in the same unto the last gaspe of his life he may evermore at the least in heart make thereof unto thee a pure and Christian confession as we will presently do both with heart and mouth I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Such is his Faith Lord as also ours give the grace to live and die in the same thorough Iesus Christ thy Sonne our Lord who in the unitie of the Holy Ghost liveth and raigneth with thee God eternally Amen If the sicke person continue long time and yet alwayes with appearance of danger of death it shal be good to repeate unto the sicke now and then some of the aforesaid consolations but especially those which serve to assure him and to strengthen him against the temptations and combats of conscience And if happily the sicke person bee troubled with raving and fond imaginations or otherwise be not of perfect memorie and good understanding to heare any long discourse in a continued speech there shal not be used unto him other then short sentences such short questions as these here following also such as these or others the like And but talking to him by respits and some pauses interposed SIr you must take a good heart It is the fatherly hand of God which visits you for your good and welfare For unto them that love God all things do work together for their good Lift up your heart unto God to confesse unto him your sinnes and offences and to imbrace by faith his mercy in Iesus Christ which he hath promised unto all those that repent and believe in him Have you not alwayes a good assurance in the mercie of God and a stedfast faith in Iesus Christ your Saviour Yes Do you not believe that Iesus Christ died for your sinnes and rose againe for your justification Rom. 4.25 Yes Believe you not that he hath been made unto you by the Father wisdome righteousnes sanctification and redemption 1. Cor. 1.30 I do Do you not believe that you are freely justified by the grace of God thorow the redemption which is in Iesus Christ Yes According to your faith doubt not but God will free you and securely protect you from perdition and give you everlasting life For God gave his Sonne that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but rather have everlasting life Iohn 16. Feare not death seeing by faith you imbrace Iesus Christ who is your life I am saith he the resurrection and the life He that believeth in me although he were dead he shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me he shall never die Iohn 11.25.26 If your sinnes trouble and disquiet you have recourse ever by faith unto Iesus Christ and you shall find rest for your soule Come unto me saith he Matth. 11.28 you that labour and are heavie laden and I will ease you Feare not the rigour of Gods justice For there is no condemnation to them that are in Iesus Christ So saith the Apostle S. Paul Rom. 8.1 And who is he saith he Rom. 8.32.33 who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifies who is he that shall condemne It is Christ which died or rather which is more which is risen againe who also is at the right hand of God and who maketh intercession for us Be not loath to leave this miserable life which as S. Iames saith chap. 4.14
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
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
have of him the Son of God himself tels us That as we have denied him before men hee will denie us also before his Father and will bee ashamed of us and that worthily Luk. 9.26 Let us hold then the confession of our hope without varying for any thing whatsoever According as Saint Paul teacheth us Heb. 10. And with him we say Neither that which is present nor that which is to come nor height nor depth poverty nor nakednes persecution affliction nor death nor life shall separate us from the love of Christ Rom. 8.34 Prepare alwaies in every place and before all men to give a reason and an account to every one of the hope that is in us Peter 1.3 Yea as true faithfull ones let us take especially our neighbours by the hands saying to them let us go up let us ascend up to the mountaine unto the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach us his wayes Esa 4. And let us stir up one another unto charity and to good works Mic. 2. Not forsaking the assembly of the faithfull For as Saint Paul saith if we sin willingly after we have received the knowledge of the truth Heb. 10. There remaines no sacrifice for that sin but a fearfull expectation of judgment and the vengeance of fire which shall devoure the adversaries Setting before us that if any one had despised the Law of Moyses he was put to death without any mercy and thence concludes how much more grievous torments shall he deserve that shall esteem the bloud of the Sonne of God as a thing of no holines thorow the which he had been sanctified and had done injury to the Spirit of Grace Yea but what say you to this that by making open profession of this knowne truth men shall deprive themselves of the favour and good will of the great ones It is a course that will bring an untimely issue to our best designes and we shall run a hazard to fall from our honours yea we shall be in danger to be brought to the lowest ebb of the greatest misery the ordinary condition of those that will be followers of Iesus Christ and some will say more they who earne me the bread which my family eats will not henceforth serve me and what shall then my condition be how shall I live It is here high time to sound the alarum the combat is at hand but before we give the on-set let us take better notice of our enemies to wit the world and the flesh Shall we demaund of him that maketh warre upon us the things that are fit to destroy him No no this were all one as if we should cast flax into fire to quench it To shelter our selves then from the first encounter of the assault let us set our selves in battell-array with Daniel Sidrach and Abednego let us march forward in their steps and use the same weapons with the Martyrs Ephes 6.11 Let us have our loynes girt about with truth and have on the brest-plate of righteousnes and let us have our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospell of Peace and above all let us take the shield of Faith and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God Let us deny our selves to follow Christ as every true Christian ought so shall we passe thorow the greatest conflict which shall present it selfe if he encounter himself and we shall remaine conquerors as they have done that have known and withall have followed the will of the Lord and not the sensualitie of the flesh and the world A gift of God which he giveth to them that aske it in faith without wavering Iames 1.6 They know that the Almighty curseth the man that maketh flesh his arme and that trusts in man Ieremy 7.2 That surely men of high degree are vanitie Psal 62.9 and a lye and that he that shall put into the ballance the grandes of the earth against nothing shall find them yet lighter then nothing Wherfore they have not expected salvation from any other but from the highest relying wholly and trusting in him only And see we not also indeed that there is no Monarch so great but God when he pleaseth out of hand brings him to nothing Want we proofs for the uncertainty of the performance of mans promises Now when it was in his owne power to perform which he never hath but as it is given him from above shall there be any found that saith he hath not found as much by expâ—rience The thing is too too frequent So also do we not see that not only it is in vaine but withall draweth down the wrath of God upon himself that depends on man how great or mighty soever he be in appearance Let us then forgo for ever such a thing Psalme 60.11 Give us helpe from trouble for vaine is the helpe of man And following Davids counsell let us ever put our trust in God alone he is good and gracious to will what shall bee expedient for vs mightie in his power true and immutable in his promises to accomplish them And let every one of us say with him Psal 28.7 He is my shield and fortitude my buckler in distresse My hope my help my hearts reliefe my song shall him confesse To dive yet deeper into this matter Thou that fearest thine honours and art afraid that thy earthly goods will leave thee after the which thou so breathest and barkest thou verifiest that which cannot but be most true That it is impossible that a man should serve God and riches Luke 16.14 He which is truth it self spake it But it shall not be amisse to set a glasse before thee that thou maist see how thou art disfigured and that thou mayst know thine own deformity if thou hast sight enough to discern it O foole that seekest after and prisest at so high a rate the glory and treasures of the earth as if therin consisted thy happines horrible Idolatrie If thy soule be required of thee this night what shall become of the totall And put the case thou livest the longest age of man that length is but a moment What profit have they gain'd by it whom thou hast seen go before thee who are now in the grave Psalme 90. thinkest thou they are much more happy therby Alas the danger is great 't is contrary Luke 18.24 For it is a very hard thing for the rich to enter into the Kingdome of heaven What hope therof wilt thou draw from out of that which St. Iames saith ch 5.2 Weepe you rich men howle for your miseries which shall come upon you your riches are corrupted your garments moath-eaten your gold and silver is cancred and the rust of them shall be a witnesse against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire Tim. 6 9 Then what shall make thee desire abundance For they that will be rich fall into temptation into the snares of the Devill and into many
you ask it fervently with a true and lively faith in the name of his welbeloved Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord doubt not but that according to his promises he heares you yea from this very time forward he is neare unto you and fils your soule with holy consolations strengthening you with patience and even solacing you as much as he shall know it to bee necessary for you and by that meanes by so much the more will he oblige you to rejoyce and solace your selfe in his goodnes and to glorifie his holy Name by thanksgiving And this is it which he saith himself unto you and unto whomsoever is afflicted as you are call upon me when thou shalt be oppressed and then will I helpe thee and thou shalt honour me for the same Would you not then have us now addresse our prayers altogether joyntly with you that it would please him to assist you with his grace Yes A Prayer for the sicke in whom there shal be no appearance or signe of death LORD our good God and mercifull Father we prostrate our selves in all humilitie at the feet of thy Divine Majestie to acknowledg that which is but too true that we are utterly unworthy of any grace or mercy from thee and are worthy of the lower-most hell if thou shouldst deale with us in the rigour of thy justice by reason of the numberlesse number of our sinnes and offences wherewith we feele and confesse our selves tainted and guilty before thee But we beseech thee that having regard to thy great and infinite goodnes thou wilt be mercifull unto us poore sinners and be mercifull unto us for thy deare Sonne Christ Iesus sake our Lord looking upon us not in our selves but rather in the person of that Sonne of thy love as members of his body reconciled unto thy Majestie thorow the benefit of his death And as thou art the Father of Mercy and God of all consolation rich in compassion and free grace towards all them that call upon thee and put their trust in thee We beseech thee be graciously pleased to shew unto us thy plenteous mercy both towards us and generally upon us all that now call upon thee for thy grace and particularly towards the person of this thy child and servant lying on this his bed of infirmity Give him to acknowledge in the first place that he is not strucke by any other hand but by thine that he may learne to submit himselfe unto and under the same in all humility and obedience And to this end let him remember that it is a fatherly and a sweet hand which strikes not to destroy but rather to save and who after he hath wounded healeth and quickeneth by the same wounds which he hath made Make him to seele that he is a poore and miserable sinner not onely to be issued forth of that masse of corruption out of which we are all sprung in Adam but also and chiefly because that after it pleased thee to give him the grace to know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Iesus Christ in whom abideth eternall life manifesting unto him by that meanes thy free adoption in thy welbeloved reconciling him to thy self and so having done him the honor to hold the rank and place to be one of the number of thy children and servants in the midst of thy Church he hath not duly acknowledged these abundant riches of thy mercy to love and serve thee with his whole heart as he ought to have done in renouncing the world and in denying himself even as our ingratitudes are infinite by which we fight ordinarily against thy bountifulnes and grace O God and Father touch him then in his heart with a lively sense of all his infirmities and offences that without any way flattering of himself he may escape and be freed from condemnation before thy sacred Majestie may acknowledge that unto thee belongeth justice and to himselfe confusion of face may be altogether displeased at and wholly deny himselfe and may confesse that justly and by good right thou dost lay upon him thy chastisements and that if thou shouldst deale with him according to his deserts thou shouldest utterly overwhelme him under the unsupportable waight of thy justice and shouldst cast him into the bottomlesse depth of eternall death But withall make Lord this acknowledgment to serve onely to humble him and not to precipitate him into the gulfe of despaire and that he being on the one side beaten downe and dejected to the earth by thy mighty hand not so much by the sense of this sicknes as in the sense and feeling of his sins he may on the other side by the same hand of thine be succoured relieved and raised up againe in firm hope thorow the consideration of this thy incomprehensible mercy out of which thou hast given us so precious so rich a pledge as thy deare Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord whom thou hast not spared but rather hast given him up unto death yea unto the ignominious and accursed death of the crosse to redeeme us from the ignominy and curse of sin Graunt Lord that this thy poore servant may have his whole refuge there excite and strengthen his faith by the which he may seek and find in that death and entire obedience of thy Sonne the expiation of all his sinnes and disobediences and may firmely imbrace and lay hold on his perfect righteousnes with the which being prepared and cloathed he may find peace with thee and boast himselfe in and of the hope of thy glory even in the very midst of his troubles And that thus the sorrowes of the curse wherewith thou visitest him in his body may be sweetened thorow the rest and contentment of his soule that if it be thy good pleasure to raise him up againe from this sicknes and to prolong his dayes as thou doest not thereof as yet bereave him of good hope give him grace to use them aright to thy glory and that perpetually nourishing the memory of this gracious favour received from thee it may serve to consecrate the remainder of his life to serve and honour thee with so much the greater affection and zeale And to this end give him to receive this sicknes as a fatherly chastisement comming from thy hand to awaken and to withdraw him from his sinnes and to make him take up an holy resolution by thy grace all the dayes of his life thorowly to make a deep impression in his memory of his duty and of that obedience whereunto hereby he stands obliged unto thee to walk in thy feare more purely and more affectionately for the time to come then he hitherto hath done Blesse unto him the remedies which thou permittest him to use whereby to receive ease in his disease moderate the sharpnes of his griefs and shorten the course of them if thou knowest it to be expedient for him that thereby he may have a subject of glorifying thee and of rendring
thee For all things are in thy hand and nothing is done without thy will and holy providence Yet Lord if out of thy grace thou prolong unto him his dayes thy rod shall serve him for a chastisement to amend him and to convert him unto thee and we together with him will render unto thee thanks and praises But if thy will be determined to make him passe hence into a better life wee beseech thee for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake to forget all his sins and transgressions which thou hast been pleased to blot out and towaâ—â— away by the effusion of his precious bloud be graciously pleased thorow the merit of the Death and Passion of thy Sonne to receive his soule into thy hands when as thou wilt call him out of this world Lord God despise not the work of thine owne hands for behold here thy poore creature as it were wholly overwhelmed who calleth upon thee out of the depth of all these evills presenting unto thee his sad and penitent soule with his dejected and humbled heart which we beseech thee to be pleased to accept as well pleasing unto thee for thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake in whose Name thou hast promised to heare our requests Wherefore Lord we beseech thee to receive us into thy holy protection to illuminate our hearts and understandings to addresse our selves unto thee to call upon thy holy Name as thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord hath taught us to pray unto thee for the relieuing of all our necessities saying Our Father which art in heaven c. Finally O God most gracious Father full of mercy be pleased evermore to support us by thy grace and power that by the infirmity of our flesh we fall not away And because that of our selves we are so fraile that we are not able to continue firm one minute of time graciously strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit and arme us with thy graces that we may bee enabled to persevere constantly in the faith without which it is not possible to please thee Bee graciously pleased then to confirme and establish us daily in the same whereof we will make confession with heart and mouth I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Prayers being ended notice shal be taken how the sicke person doth and hee may bee asked how he feeleth himselfe touching the state of his health with gracious talke and Christian Speeches But if it appeare that he decline and no token of recoverie appeare a while after a fit time shall be chosen to speak unto the said sicke person and to aske him whether he be not willing to heare talk of God and to hearken to his Word Whilst he is still in perfect memorie So that if he be inclinable to entertaine discourse concerning God the short Catechisme following shall be begun A SHORT CATEchisme which is not onely to instruct the sicke but also to refresh his memorie with the great mysterie of our Redemption For the better understanding and retaining whereof in his latter dayes he ought to make confession of his faith before the assistance of the faithfull whereof one of them in the Ministers absence must question him as followeth The Minister F. S. N. EVery man that rightly knows himselfe and is not ignorant of his owne condition and qualitie certainly he ought to acknowledge that although he was created after the image and likenesse of God neverthelesse he is conceived and borne in the sinne of old Adam whereby he is made a poore and miserable sinner ignorant inconstant and full of iniquitie and consequently subject unto all miseries afflictions adversities and finally unto death all which sinne hath caused which God not willing to leave unpunished daily afflicts us for or to speake more properly hee chastiseth us in this world that he might not condemne us with the world Wherefore F. S. N. be patient in your sicknesse and you shall possesse your soule in spirituall ioy Acknowledge your sins and accuse you your selfe before the Majestie of God whom you must looke up unto and behold by faith making confession thereof with heart and mouth before this whole assistance for it is written that wee believe with the heart unto justification and confesse with the mouth unto salvation Hearken then unto the questions which I will now propound unto you and answer them faithfully according to that understanding which you have received of the Lord. Which if you cannot answer by reason of your weakenesse and hinderance of your sicknesse I will answer for you and it shal be sufficient for you to give us to understand your heart and constancie of your faith in which you must live and die Go to then I demand of you wherefore and to what end were you created in this world The Sicke To know God The Minister Was it necessary for youâ—â— know God The sicke Yes verily For seeing he is my soveraigne good without the knowledge of him I had been more miserable then the bruit beasts The Minister Seeing you know God you well know that he is power wisedome and infinite goodnesse one God alone in three persons Father Sonne and Holy Ghost He is that one God whom Abraham Isaac and Iacob worshipped in spirit and truth hee is that one God Eternall who created heaven and earth and all things that are therein not such the knowledge of God which you have The Sicke Yes The Minister But can such and this simple knowledge of God conduct and guide you straight to eternall life The Sicke Very hardly For it is life eternall to confesse and know one onely God and him whom he hath sent his onely eternall Sonne our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ The Minister Why is it necessarie for you to confesse and know the Lord Iesus Christ The Sicke Because in Iesus Christ I must recover all that I have lost in my selfe by reason of the sinne of old Adam in whom I am borne and conceived Wherfore it hath been behooffull for my salvation that Iesus Christ true God and true man being clothed with our flesh should give unto me of his free grace all that which I had lost in Adam The Minister It is very well said Behold why Iesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary to purge and sanctifie you For absolutely contrary hereunto him you are conceived and borne in sinne and of sinfull parents Why do you not confesse that without Iesus Christ you had remained a poore miserable sinner in eternall death The Sicke Yes assuredly But I believe and confesse that that good Iesus Christ hath reconciled me unto God his Father The Minister But how hath he reconciled you unto God his Father The Sicke By his Death and Passion in the shedding forth of his precious Bloud for to deliver me from all eternall paines This good Iesus Christ hath suffered for me under Pontius Pilate many afflictions injuries and troubles Iesus Christ it is that was crucified