intreaty no perswasion can prevail with them to make this so reasonable so necessary a change not but that they acknowledge it needful to be done but they are unwilling to do it yet they would enjoy all the pleasures of sin as long as they live and then they hope at their death or some little time before it to do all the business of their Souls But alas Heaven is too high to be thus jumped into the way to it is a long and leasurely ascent which requires time to walk The hazards of such deferring are more largely spoken of in the discourse of Repentance I shall not here repeat them but desire the Reader seriously to lay them to heart and then surely he will think it seasonable counsel that is given by the wise man Ecclus 5. 7. Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day PRIVATE DEVOTIONS For Several OCCASIONS London Printed for T. Garthwait at the little North Door of St. Pauls CHRISTIAN READER I Have for the help of thy devotions set down some FORMS of PRIVATE-PRAYER upon several occasions If it be thought an omission that there are none for Families I must answer for my self that it was not from any opinion that God is not as well to be worship'd in the Family as in the Closet but because the providence of God and the Church hath already furnish'd thee for that purpose infinitely beyond what my utmost care could do I mean the PUBLICK LITURGY or COMMON-PRAYER which for all publick addresses to God and such are family-Prayers are so excellent and useful that we may say of it as David did of Goliah's sword 1 Sam. 21. 9. There is none like it DIRECTIONS for the MORNING As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning lift up thy heart to God in this or the like short Prayer LORD As thou hast awaked my body from sleep so by thy grace awaken my soul from sin and make me so to walk before thee this day and all the rest of my life that when the last trumpet shall awake me out of my grave I may rise to the life immortal through Jesus Christ. WHEN thou hast thus begun suffer not without some urgent necessity any worldly thoughts to fill thy mind till thou have also payd thy more solemn devotions to Almighty God and therefore during the time thou art dressing thy self which should be no longer then common decency requires exercise thy mind in some spiritual thoughts As for example Consider to what temptations thy business or company that day are most like to lay thee open and arm thy self with resolutions against them or again consider what occasions of doing service to God or good to thy neighbour are that day most likely to present themselves and resolve to embrace them and also contrive hoâ— thou maist improve them to the uttermost But especially it will be fit for thee to examine whether there have any sin escaped thee since thy last nights examination If after these considerations any farther leisure remain thou maist profitably imploy it in meditating on the general resurrection whereof our rising from our beds is a representation and of that dreadful judgment which shall follow it and then think with thy self in what preparation thou art for it and resolve to husband carefully every minute of thy time towards the fitting thee for that great account As soon as thou art ready retire to some private place and there offer up to God thy Morning Sacrifice of Praise and Prayer PRAYERS for the MORNING At thy first kneeling down say O Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner Lord I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to thee by Jesus Christ. A THANKSGIVING O Gracious Lord whose mercies endure for ever I thy unworthy servant who have so deeply tasted of them desire to render thee the tribute of my humblest prayses for them In thee O Lord I live and move and have my being thou first madest me to be and then that I might not be miserable but happy thou sentest thy Son out of thy bosome to redeem me from the power of my sins by his grace and from the punishment of them by his blood and by both to bring me to his glory Thou hast by thy mercy caused me to be born within thy peculiar fold the Christian Church where I was early consecrated to thee in Baptism and have been partaker of all those spiritual helps which might aid me to perform that Vow I there made to thee and when by my own willfulnesse or negligence I have failed to do it yet thou in thy manifold mercies hast not forsaken me but hast graciously invited me to repentance afforded me all means both outward and inward for it and with much patience hast attended and not cut me off in the acts of those many damning sins I have committed as I have most justly deserved It is O Lord thy restraining grace alone by which I have been kept back from any the greatest sins and it is thy inciting and assisting grace alone by which I have been enabled to do any the least good therefore not unto me not unto me but unto thy name be the praises For these all other thy spiritual blessings my Soul doth magnify the Lord all that is within me praise his Holy Name I likewise praise thee for those many outward blessings I enjoy as Health Friends Food and Raiment the comforts as well as the necessaries of this life for those continual protections of thy hand by which I and mine are kept from dangers and those gracious deliverances thou hast often afforded out of such as have befallen me and for that mercy of thine whereby thou hast sweetned and alayed those troubles thou hast not seen fit wholy to remove For thy particular preservation of me this night and all other thy goodness towards me Lord grant that I may render thee not onely the fruit of my lips but the obedience of my life that so these blessings here may be an earnest of those richer blessings thou hast prepared for those that love thee and that for his sake whom thou hast made the Authour of eternal Salvation to all that obey him even Jesus Christ. A CONFESSION O Righteous Lord who hatest iniquity I thy sinful creature cast my self at thy feet acknowledging that I most justly deserve to be utterly abhorred and forsaken by thee for I have drunk iniquity like water gone on in a continued course of sin and rebellion against thee daily committing those things thou forbiddest and leaving undone those things thou commandest mine heart which should be an habitation for thy Spirit is become a cage of unclean birds of foul and disordered affections and out of this abundance of the heart my mouth speaketh my
of danger thou hast not the less but the greater cause to magnify God who hath by his protection so guarded thee that not so much as the fear of evil hatâ— assaulted thee And therefore omit not to pay him the tribute of humble thankfulness as well for his usual and daily preservations as his more extraordinary deliverances And above all endeavour still by the considerations of his mercies to have thy heart the more closely knit to him remembring that every favour received from him is a new engagement upon thee to love and obey him PRAYERS for NIGHT. O Holy blessed and glorious Trinity three persons and one God have mercy upon me a miserable sinner Lord I know not what to pray for as I ought O let thy Spirit help my infirmities and enable me to offer up a spiritual Sacrifice acceptable unto thee by Jesus Christ. A CONFESSION O MOST Holy Lord God who are of purer eyes then to behold iniquity now shall I abominable wretch dare to appear before thee who am nothing but pollution I am defiled in my very nature having a backwardness to all good and a readiness to all evil but I have defiled my self yet much worse by my own actual sins and wicked customes I have transgrest my duty to thee my neighbour and my self and that both in thought in word in deed by doing those things which thou hast expresly forbidden and by neglecting to do those things thou hast commanded me And this not onely through ignorance and frailty but knowingly and wilfully against the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of my own conscience to the contrary And to make all these out of measure sinful I have gone on in a daily course of repeating these provocations against thee notwithstanding all thy calls to and my own purposes and â—owes of amendmeut yea this very day I have not ceased to add new sins to all my former guilts Here name the Particulars And now O Lord what shall I say or how shall I open my mouth seeing I have done these things I know that the wages of these sins is death but O thou who willest not the death of a sinner have mercy upon me work in me I beseech thee a sincere contrition and a perfect hatred of my sins and let me not daily confess and yet as daily renew them but grant O Lord that from this instant I may give a bill of divorce to all my most beloved â—lusts and then be thou pleased to marry me to thy self in truth in righteousness and holiness And for all my past sins O Lord receive a reconciliation accept of that ransom thy blessed Son hath paid for me and for his sake whom thou hast set forth as a propitiation pardon all my offences and receive me to thy favour And when thou hast thus spoken peace to my soul Lord keep me that I turn not any more to folly but so establish me with thy grace that no temptation of the world the Divel or my own flesh may ever draw me to offend thee that being made free from sin and becoming a servant unto God I may have my fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. A THANKSGIVING O Thou Father of mercies who art kind even to the unthankful I acknowledg my self to have abundantly experimented that gracious property of thine for notwithstanding my daily provocations against thee thou still heapest mercies and loving kindness upon me All my contempts and despisings of thy spiritual favours have not yet made thee withdraw them but in the riches of thy goodness and long-suffering thou still continuest to me the offers of grace and life in thy Son And all my abuses of thy temporal blessings thou hast not punished with an utter deprivation of them but art still pleased to afford me a liberal portion of them The sins of this day thou hast not repayed as justly thou might'st by sweeping me away with a swift destruction but hast spared and preserved me according to the greatness of thy mercy Here mention the particular mercies of that day What shall I render unto the Lord for all these benefits he hath done unto me Lord let this goodness of thine lead me to repentance and grant that I may not only offer thee thanks and praise but may also order my conversation aright that so I may at the last see the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Here use the Prayer for Grace and that of Intercession appointed for the Morning For PRESERVATION O Blessed Lord the Keeper of Israel that neither slumbrest nor sleepest be pleased in thy mercy to watch over me this night keep me by thy grace from all works of darkness and defend me by thy power from all dangers grant me moderate and refreshing sleep such as may fit me for the duties of the day following And Lord make me ever mindful of that time when I shall lye down in the dust and because I know neither the day nor the hour of my Masters coming grant me grace that I may be always ready that I may never live in such a state as I shall fear to dye in but that whether I live I may live unto the Lord or whether I dye I may dye unto the Lord so that living and dying I may be thine through Jesus Christ. Vse the same concluding prayer as in the Morning As thou art putting off thy clothes thiâ—k with thy self that the time approaches that thou must put off thy body also and then thy soul must appear naked before Gods judgment feat and therefore thou hadst need be careful to make it so clean and pure by repentance and holiness that he who will not look on iniquity may graciously behold and accept it Let thy bed put thee in mind of thy grave and when thou lyest down say O Blessed Saviour who by thy precious death and burial didst take away the sting of death and power of the grave grant me the joyful fruits of that thy victory and be thou to me in life and death advantage I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of truth IN the ANCIENT CHURCH there were besides morning and night Four other times every day which were called HOURS OF PRAYER and the zeal of thosâ— first Christians was such as made them constantly observed It would be thought too great a strictness now in this lukewarm age to enjâ—yn the like frequency yet I cannot but mention the example and say that for those who are not by very necessary business prevented it will be but reasonable to imitate it and make up in publick and private those FOUR TIMES of PRAYER besides the OFFICES already set down for MORNING and NIGHT and that none may be to seek how to exer I se their devotions at these
bewailing and forsaking whatever we have formerly been guilty of it is then most certain that all the afore-mentioned benefits of Christ belongs to us 24. And now you see how little reason you have to cast off the care of your Souls upon a conceit they are past cure for that it is plain thâ—y are not Nay certainly they are in that very condition which of all others make them fittest for our care If they had not been thus REDEEMED by CHRIST they had been then so hopeless that care would have been in vain On the other side if his Redemption had been such that all men should be saved by it though they live as they list we should have thought it needless to take care for them because they were safe without it But it hath pleased God so to order it that our care must be the means by which they must receive the good even of all that Christ hath done for them 25. And now if after all that God hath done to save these souls of ours we will not bestow a little care on them our selves we very well deserve to perish If a Physician should undertake a patient that were in some desperate disease and by his skill bring him so far out of it that he were sure to recover if he would but take care of himself and observe those rules the Physician set him would you not think that man weary of his life that would refuse to do that So certainly that man is weary of his soul wilfully casts it away that will not consent to those easy conditions by which he may save it 26. You see how great kindness God hath to these souls of ours the whole Trinity Father Son and Holy-Ghost have all done their parts for them The Father gave his only Son The Son gave himself left his glory and endured the bitter death of the cross meerly to keep our souls from perishing The Holy-Ghost is become as it were our attendant waites upon us with continual offers of his grace to enable us to do that which may preserve them Nay he is so desirous we should accept thâ—se offers of his that he is said to be grieved when we refuse them Eph. 4. 30. Now what gâ—eater disgrace and affront can we put upon God then to dispise what he thus values that those souls of ours which Christ thought worth every drop of his blood we should not think worth any part of our care We use in things of the world to â—ate them according to the opinion of those who are best skilled in them now certainly God who made our souls â—ist knowes the worth of them and since he prizes them 〈◊〉 high let us if it be but in reverence to him be aâ—â—amed to neglect them Especially now that they are 〈◊〉 so hopeful a condition that nothing but our own â—arelesnesse can possibly destroy them 27. I have now briâ—fly gone over those four motives of care I at first proposed which are each of them such as â—â—â—ver misses to stir it up towards the things of this world and I have also shewed you how much more reasonable nay necessary it is they should do the like for the Soul And now what can I say more but conclude in the words of Isaiah 46. 8. Remember this and shew your selvs men That is deal with your Soul as your reason teaches you to do with all other things that concern you And sure this common Justice binds you to for the Soul is that which furnishes you with that reason which you exercise in all your worldly business and shall the Soul it self receive nâ— benefit from that reason which it affords you This is aâ— if the Master of a family who provides food for his servants should by them be kept from eating any himself and so remain the onely starved creature in his house 28. And as Justice tyes you to this so Mercy doth likewise you know the poor Soul will fall into endlesse and unspeakable miseries if you continue to neglect it and theâ— it will be too lâ—te to consider it The last refuge you caâ— hope for is Gods mercy but that you have despised and abused And with what face can you in your greatest neeâ— beg for his mercy to your Souls when you would not as ford them your own No not that common Charity 〈◊〉 considering them of bestowing a few of those idle hours you know not scarce how to passe away upon them 29. Lay this to your hearts and as ever you hope so Gods pity when you most want it be sure in time to pity your selves by taking that due care of your preciouâ— Souls which belongs to them 30. If what hath been said have perswaded you to 〈◊〉 so necessary a duty my next work will be to tell you 〈◊〉 this care must be imployed and that in a word is in thâ— doing of all thâ—se things which tend to the making 〈◊〉 Soul happy which is the end of our care and what thâ—â— are I come now to shew you PARTITION I. Of the DUTY of MAN by the Light of Nature by the Light of Scripture of FAITH the Promises of Hope of Love c. THe benefits purchased for us by Christ are such as will undoubtedly make the soul happy for eternal happiness it self is one of them but because these benefits belong not to us till we perform the Condition required of us whoever desires the happiness of his soul must set himself to the performing of that condition what that is I have already mentioned in General That it is the hearty honest endeavour of obeying the whole Will of God But then that Will of God containing under it many particulars It is necessary we should also know what those are That is what are the several things that God now requires of us our performance whereof will bring us to everlasting happiness and the neglect to endless misery 2. Of these things there are some which God hath so stamp't upon our souls that we Nâ—turally knew them that is we should have known them to be our duty though we had never bin told so by the Scripture That this is so we may see by those heathens who having never heard of either Old or New Testamâ—nt do yet acknowledg themselves bound to some General duties as to worship God to be just to honour their Parents and the like And as S. Paul saith Rom 2. 15. Their consciences do in those tbings accuse or excuse them That is tell them whether they have done what they should in those particulars or no. 3. Now though Christ have brought greater light into the world yet he never meant by it to put out any of that Natural light which God had set up in our souls Therefore lâ—t me here by the way advise you not to walk contrary even to this lesser light I mean not to venture on any of those Acts which meer natural conscience will tell you are sins 4.
one of these though in the former we are 2. And first for that which is to be done before S. Paul tells us it is examination 1 Cor. 11 28. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. But before I proceed to the particulars of this examination I must in the general tell you that the special business we have to do in this Sacrament is to repeat and renew that covenant we made with God in our Baptisme which we having many wayes grievously broken it pleases God in this great mercy to suffer us to come to the renewing of it in this Sacrament which if we do in sincerity of heart he hath promised to accept as and to give us all those benefits in this which he was ready to bestow in the other Sacrament if we had not by our own fault forfeited them Since then the renewing of our Covenant is our business of this time it followes that these three things are necessary towards it First that we understand what that covenant is Secondly that we consider what our breaches of it have bin and Thirdly that we resolve upon a strict observance of it for the rest of our life And the trying our selves in every one of these particulars is that examination which is required of us before we come to this Sacrament 3. And first we are to examine whether we understand what this Covenant is this is exceeding necessary as being the foundation of both the other for it is neither possible to discover our past sins nor to settle purpose against them for the future without it Let this therefore be your first business Trie whether you rightly understand what that Covenant is which you entered into at your Baptisme what be the mercies promised on Gods part and the duties on yours And because the Covenant made with each of us in Baptisme is only the applying to our particulars the Covenant made by God in Christ with all mankind in general you are to consider whether you understand that if you do not you must immediately seek for instruction in it And till you have means of gaining better look over what is briefly said in the entrance to this treatise concerning the second Covenant which is the foundation of that Covenant which God makes with us in our Baptisme And because you will there find that obedience to all Gods Commands is the condition required of us and is also that which we expresly vow in our Baptisme it is necessary you should likewise know what those Commands of God are Therefore if you find you are ignorant of them never be at rest till you have got your self instructed in them and have gained such a measure of knowledg as may direct you to do that Whole Duty of Man which God requires And the giving thee this instruction is the only aim of this Book which the more ignorant thou art the more earnestly I shall intreat thee diligently to read And if thou hast heretofore approacht to this holy Sacrament in utter ignorance of these necessary things bewail thy sin in soe doing but presume not to come again till thou have by gaining this necessary knowledg fitted thy self for it which thou must hasten to do For though no man must come to the Sacrament in such ignorance yet if he wilfully continue in it that will be no excuse to him for keeping from this holy Table 4. The second part of our examination is concerning our breaches of this Covenant and here thou wilt find the use of that knowledg I spake of For there is no way of discovering what our sins have bin but by trying our actions by that which should be the rule of them the Law of God When therefore thou settest to this part of examination remember what are the several branches of thy duty and then ask thy own heart in every particular how thou hast performed it And content not thy self with knowing in general that thou hast broken Gods Law but do thy utmost to discover in what particulars thou hast done so Recal as well as thou canst all the passages of thy life and in each of them consider what part of that duty hath bin transgrest by it And that not only in the grosser act but in word also nay even in thy most secret thoughts For though mans Law reaches not to them yet Gods doth so that whatever he forbids in the act he forbids likewise in the thoughts and desires and sees them as cleerly as our most publick acts This particular search is exceedâ—ng necessary For there is no promise of forgiveness of any sin but only to him that confesseth and forsaketh it Now to both these it is necessary that we have a distinct and particular knowledg of our sins For how can he either confess his sin that knows not his guilt of it or how can he resolve to forsake it that discerns not himself to have formerly cleaved to it Therefore we may surely conclude that this examination is not only useful but necessary towards a full and compleat repentance for he that does not take this particular view of his sins will be likely to repent but by halves which will never avail him towards his pardon nothing but an entire forsaking of every evil way being sufficient for that But surely of all other times it concerns us that when we come to the Sacrament our repentance be full and compleat and therefore this strict search of our own hearts is then especially necessary For although it be true that it is not possible by all our diligence to discover or remember every sin of our whole lives And though it be also true that what is so unavoidably hid from us may be forgiven without any more particular confession then that of Davids Psalm 19. 12. Cleanse thou me from my secret faults yet this will be no plea for us if they come to be secret only because we are neglâ—gent in searching Therefore take heed of deceiving thy self in this weighty business but search thy soul to the bottom without which it is impossible that the wounds thereof should ever be throughly cured 5. And as you are to inquire thus narrowly concerning the several sorts of sins so also must you concerning the degrees of them for there are divers circumstances which increase and heighten the sin Of this sort there are many As first when we sin against knowledg that is when we certainly know such a thing to be a sin yet for the present pleasure or profit or whatever other motive adventure of it This is by Christ himself adjudged to be a great heightning of the sin He that knows his Masters will and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes Luke 12. 47. Secondly when we sin with deliberation that is when we do not fall into it of a sudden ere we are aware but have time to consider
of it this is another degree of the sin But thirdly a yet higher is when we do it against the resistances and checks of our own conscience when that at the time tells us this thing thou oughtest not to do Nay layes before us the danger as well as the sin of it yet in spight of these admonitions of conscience we go on and commit the sin this is a huge increase of it such as will raise the lest sin into a most high provocation For it is plain a sin thus committed must be a wilful one and then be the matter of it never so light it is most hainous in Gods eyes Nay this is a circumstance of such force that it may make an indifferent action that is in it self no sin become one For though my conscience should erre in telling me such a thing were unlawful yet so long as I were so perswaded it were sin for me to do that thing for in that case my will consents to the doing a thing which I believe to be displeasing to God God who judges us by our will not our understandings imputes it to me as a sin as well as if the thing were in it self unlawful therefore surely we may conclude that any thing which is in it self sinful is made much more so by being committed against the checks of conscience A fourth aggravation of a sin is when it hath bin often repeated for then there is not only the guilt of so many more Acts but every Act grows also so much worse and more inexcusable We alwayes judg thus in faults committed against our selves we can forgive a single injury more easily then the same when it hath bin repeated and the oftner it hath bin so repeated the more hainous we account it And so surely it is in faults against God also Fifthly the sins which have bin committed after vows and resolutions of amendment are yet more grievous for that contains also the breaking of those promises Somewhat of this there is in every wilful sin because every such is a breach of that vow we make at Baptisme But besides that we have since bound our selves by new vowes if at no other time yet surely at our coming to the Lords Supper that being as was formerly said purposely to repeat our vow of Baptisme And the more of these vowes we have made so much the greater is our guilt if we fall back to any sin we then renounced This is a thing very well worth weighing therefore examine thy self particularly at thy approach to the Sacrament concerning thy breaches of former vowes made at the holy Table And if upon any other occasion as sickness trouble of mind or the like thou hast at any time made any other call thy self to a strict account how thou hast performed them also and remember that every sin committed against such vowes is besides its own natural guilt a perjury likewise Sixthly a yet higher step is when a sin hath bin so often committed that we are come to a custome and habit of it and that is indeed a high degree 6. Yet even of habits some are worse then others as first if it be so confirmed that we are come to a hardness of heart have no sense at all of the sin or secondly if we go on in it against any extraordinary means used by God to reform us such as sickness or any other affliction which seemes to be sent on purpose for our reclaiming Or thirdly if all reproofs and exhortations either of Ministers or private friends work not on us but either make us angry at our reprovers or set us on defending the sin Or Lastly if this sinful habit be so strong in us as to give us a love to the sin not only in our selves but in others if as the Apostle saith Rom. 1. 31. We do not only do the things but take pleasure in them that do them and therefore intice and draw as manâ— as we can into the same sins with us Then it is risen to the highest step of wickedness and is to be look't on as the utmost dâ—gree both of sin and danger Thus you see how you are to examine your selves concerning your sins in each of which you are to consider how many of these heightning circumstances there have bin that so you may aright measure the hainousness of them 7. Now the end of this examination is to bring you to such a sight of your sins as may truly humble you make you sensible of your own danger that have provoked so great a Majesty who is able so sadly to revenge himself upon you And that will surely even to the most carnal heart appear a reasonable ground of sorrow But that is not all it must likewise bring you to a sense and abhorrence of your baseness and ingratitude that have thus offended so good and gracious a God that have made such unworthy and unkinde returnes to those tender and rich mercies of his And this consideration especially must melt your hearts into a deep sorrow and contrition the degree whereof must be in some measure answerable to the degree of your sins And the greater it is provided it be not such as shuts up the hope of Gods Mercy the more acceptable it is to God who hath promised not to despise a broken and contrite heart Psal. 51. 17. And the more likely it will be also to bring us to amendment For if we have once felt what the smart of a wounded Spirit is we shall have the lesse mind to venture upon sin again 8. For when we are tempted with any of the short pleasures of sin we may then out of our own experience set against them the sharp pains and terrors of an accusing conscience which will to any that hath felt them be able infinitely to outweigh them Endeavour therefore to bring your soul to this melting temper to this deep unfeigned sorrow and that not only for the danger you have brought upon your self for though that be a consideration that may and ought to work sadness in us yet where that alone is the motive of our sorrow it is not that sorrow which will avail us for pardon and the reason of it is clear for that sorrow proceeds only from the love of our selves we are sorry because we are like to smart But the sorrow of a true penitent must be enjoyned also with the love of God and that will make us grieve for having offended him though there were no punishment to fall upon our selves The way then to stir up this sorrow in us is first to stir up our love of God by repeating to our selves the many gracious Acts of his mercy towards us particularly that of his sparing us and not cutting us off in our sins Consider with thy self how many and how great provocations thou hast offered him perhaps in a continued course of many years wilful disobedience for which thou mightst with perfect
justice have bin ere this sent quick into Hell Nay possibly thou hast before thee many examples of less sinners then thou art who have bin suddenly snatcht away in the midst of their sins And what cause canst thou give why thou hast thus long escaped but only because his eye hath spared thee And what cause of that sparing but his tender compassions towards thee his unwillingness that thou should'st perish This consideration if it be prest home upon thy soul cannot chuse if thy heart be not as hard as the neather Milstone but awake somewhat of love in thee towards this gracious this long-suffering God and that love will certainly make it appear to thee that it is an evil thing and a bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord Ier. 2. 19. That thou hast made such wretched requitals of so great mercy it will make thee both ashamed and angry at thy self that thou hast bin such an unthankful creature But if the consideration of this one sort of mercy Gods forbearance only be such an engagement and help to this Godly sorrow what will then be the multitude of those other mercies which every man is able to reckon up to himself and therefore let every man be as particular in it as he can call to mind as many of them as he is able that so he may attain to the greater degree of true contrition 9. And to all these endeavours most be added earnest prayers to God that he by his holy spirit would shew you your sins and soften your hearts that you may thorowly bewail and lament them 10. To this must be joyned an humble confession of sins to God and that not only in general but also in particular as far as your memory of them will reach and that with all those heightning circumstances of them which you have by the forementioned examination discovered Yea even secret and forgotten sins must in general be acknowledged for it is certain there are multitudes of such so that it is necessary for every one of us to say with David Psal. 19. 12. Who can understand his errors cleanse thou me from my secret faults When you have thus confest your sins with this hearty sorrow and sincere hatred of them you may then and not before be concluded to feel so much of your disease that it will be seasonable to apply the remedy 11. In the next place therefore you are to look on him whom God hath set forth to be the propitiation of our sins Rom. 3. 25. Even Iesus Christ that Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world Io. 1. 29. And earnestly beg of God that by his most precious blood your sins may be washed away and that God would for his sake be reconciled to you And this you are to believe will surely be done if you do for the rest of your time forsake your sins and give your selves up sincerely to obey God in all his commands But without that it is vain to hope any benefit from Christ or his sufferings And therefore the next part of your preparation must be the setting those resolutiâ—ns of obedience which I told you was the third thing you were to examine your selves of before your approach to the holy Sacrament 12. Concerning the particulars of this resolution I need say no more but that it must answer every part and branch of our duty that is we must not only in general resolve that we will observe Gods Commandments but we must resolve it for every Commandment by it self and especially where we have found our selves most to have failed heretofore there especially to renew our resolutions And herein it neerly concerns us to look that these resolutions be sincere and unfeigned and not only such slight ones as people use out of custome to put on at their coming to the Sacrament which they never think of keeping afterwards For this is a certain truth that whosoever comes to this holy Table without an entire hatred of every sin comes unworthily and it is as sure that he that doth intirely hate all sin will resolve to forsake it for you know forsaking naturally followes hatred no man willingly abides with a thing or person he hates And therefore he that doth not so resolve as that God the searcher of hearts may approve it as sincere cannot be supposed to hate sin and so cannot be a worthy receiver of that holy Sacrament Therefore trie your resolutions thorowly that you deceive not your selves in them it is your own great danger if you do for it is certain you cannot deceive God nor gain acceptation from him by any thing which is not perfectly hearty and unfeigned 13. Now as you are to resolve on this new obedience so you are likewise to resolve on the meanes which may assist you in the performance of it And therefore consider in every duty what are the means that may help you in it and resolve to make use of them how uneasy soever they be to your flesh so on the other side consider what things they are that are likely to lead you to sin and resolve to shun and avoid them this you are to do in respect of all sins whatever but especially in those whereof you have formerly bin guilty For there it will not be hard for you to find by what steps and degrees you were drawn into it what company what occasion it was that ensnared you as also to what sort of temptations you are aptest to yeild And therefore you must particularly fence you self against the sin by avoiding those occasions of it 14. But it is not enough that you resolve you will do all this hereafter but you must instantly set to it and begin the course by doing at the present whatsoever you have opportunity of doing And there are several things which you may nay must do at the present before you come to the Sacrament 15. As first you must cast off every sin not bring any one unmortified lust with you to that Table for it is not enough to purpose to cast them off afterwards but you must then actually do it by with-drawing all degrees of love and affection from them you must then give a bill of divorce to all your old beloved sins or else you are no way fit to be married to Christ. The reason of this is clear For this Sacrament is our spiritual nourishment now before we can receive spiritual nourishment we must have spiritual life for no man gives food to a dead person But whosoever continues not only in the act but in the love of any one known sin hath no spiritual life but is in Gods account no better then a dead carkass and therefore cannot receive that spiritual food It is true he may eat the bread and drink the wine but he receives not Christ but in stead of him that which is most dreadful the Apostle will tell you what 1 Cor. 11. 29. He
eates and drinks his own damnation Therefore you see how great a necessity lies on you thus actually to put off every sin before you come to this Table 16. And the same necessity lies on you for a second thing to be done at this time and that is the putting your soul into a heavenly and Christian temper by possessing it with all those graces which may render it acceptable in the eyes of God For when you have turned out Satan and his accursed train you must not let your soul lie empty if you do Christ tells you Luke 11. 26. He will quickly return again and your last estate shall be worse then your first But you must by earnest Prayer invite into it the holy Spirit with his graces or if they be in some degree there already you must pray that he will yet more fully possess it and you must quicken and stir them up 17. As for example you must quicken your humility by considering your many and great sins your Faith by mediating on Gods promises to all penitent sinners your love to God by considering his mercies especially those remembred in this Sacrament his giving Christ to die for us and your love to your neighbour nay to your enemies by considering that great example of his suffering for us that were enemies to him And it is most particularly required of us when we come to this Table that we copy out this pattern of his in a perfect forgiveness of all that have offended us and not only forgiveness but such a kindness also as will express it self in all offices of love and friendship to them 18. And if you have formerly so quite forgot that blessed example of his as to do the direct contrary if you have done any unkindness or injury to any person then you are to seek forgiveness from him and to that end first acknowledg your fault and secondly restore to him to the utmost of your power whatsoever you have deprived him of either in goods or credit This reconciliation with our brethren is absolutely necessary towards the making any of our services aceptable with God as appears by that precept of Christ Mat. 5. 23 24. If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Where you see that though the gift be already at the Altar it must rather be left there unoffered then be offered by a man that is not at perfect peace with his neighbour And if this charity be so necessary in all our services much more in this where by a joynt partaking in the same holy mysteries we signifie our being united and knit not only to Christ our head but also to each other as fellow-members And therefore if we come with any malice in our hearts we commit an act of the highest Hypocrisie by making a solemn profession in the Sacrament of that charity and brotherly love whereof our hearts are quite void 19. Another most necessary grace at this time is that of devotion for the raising whereof we must allow our selves some time to withdraw from our worldly affaires and wholy to set our selves to this business of preparation one very especial part of which preparation lyes in raising up our soules to a devout and heavenly temper And to that it is most necessary that we cast off all thoughts of the world for they will be sure as so many clogs to hinder our soules in their mounting towards heaven A special exercise of this devotion is prayer wherein we must be very frequent and earnest at our coming to the Sacrament this being one great instrument whereby we must obtain all those other graces required in our preparation Therefore be sure this be not omitted for if you use never so much endeavour besides and leave out this it is the going to work in your own strength without looking to God for his help and then it is impossible you should prosper in it For we are not able of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3. 5. Therefore be instant with him so to assist you with his grace that you may come so fitted to this Holy Table that you may be partakers of the benefits there reached out to all worthy receivers 20. These and all other spiritual graces our Souls must be clothed with when we come to this Feast for this is that wedding garment without which whosoever comes is like to have the entertainment mentioned in the parable of him who came to the marriage without a wedding garment Mat. 22. 13. who was cast into utter darkness where is weeping and gnashing of teeth for though it is possible he may sit it out at the present and not be snatcht from the Table yet St. Paul assures him he drinks damnation to himself and howsoever it may fall on him is uncertain But it is sure it will if repentance prevent it not and as sure that when ever it does come it will be intolerable for who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings Isa. 33. 14. 21. I shall add but one thing more concerning the things which are to be done before the Sacrament and that is an advice That if any person upon a serions view of himself cannot satisfy his own Soul of his sincerity and so doubts whether he may come to the Sacrament He do not rest wholly on his own Judgement in the case For if he be a truly humblâ—d Soul it is likely he may judge too hardly of himself if he be not it is odds but if he be left to the satisfying of his own doubts he will quickly bring himself to pass too favourable a sentence Or whether he be the one or the other if he come to the Sacrament in that doubt he certainly plunges himself into further doubts and scruples if not into sin On the other side if he forbear because of it if that fear be a causeless one then he groundlesly absents himself from that Holy Ordinance and so deprives his Soul of the benefits of it Threfore in the midst of so many dangers which attend the mistake of himself I would as I said before exhort him not to trust to his own judgement but to make known his case to some discreet and Godly Minister and rather be guidâ—â— by his who will probably if the case be duely and without any disguise discovered to him be better able to judge of him then he of himself This is the councel the Church gives in the exhortation before the Communion where it is advised that if any by other means therefore mentioned cannot quiet his own conscience but require farther counsel and comfort than let him go to some discreâ—t and learned Minister of Gods Word and open his grief that he
it that is whensoever thy obedience to any command of his shal lay thee open to those sufferings But in the mean time to resolve never again to make any league with his enemies to entertain or harbour any sin in thy brest But if there have any such hitherto remained with thee make this the season to kill and crucify it offer it up at this instant a sacrifice to him who was sacrificed for thee and particularly for that very end that he might redeem thee from all iniquity Therefore here make thy solemn resolutions to forsake every sin particularly those into which thou hast most frequently fallen And that thou mayest indeed perform those resolutions earnestly beg of this crucified Saviour that he will by the power of his death mortify and kill all thy corruptions 28. When thou art about to receive the consecrated bread and wine remember that God now offers to seal to thee that New Covenant made with mankinde in his Son For since he gives that his Son in the Sacrament he gives with him all the benefits of that Covenant to wit pardon of sins fanctifying grace and a title to an eternal inheritance And here be astonished at the infinite goodness of God who reaches out to thee so precious a treasure But then remember that this is all but on condition that thou perform thy part of the Covenant And therefore settle in thy Soul the most serious purpose of obedience and then with all possible devotion joyn with the Minister in that short but excellent prayer used at the instant of giving the Sacrament The body of our Lord c. 29. So soon as thou hast received â—ffer up thy devoutest praises for that great mercy together with thy most earnest prayers for such assistance of Gods Spirit as may enable thee to perform the vow thou hast now made Then remembring that Christ is a propitiatiâ—n not for our sins onely but also for the sins of the whole world let thy charity reach as far as his hath done and pray for all mankind that every one may receive the benefit of that sacrifice of his commend also to God the estate of the Church that particularly whereof thou art a member And forget not to pray for all to whom thou owest obedience both in Church and State and so go on to pray for such particular persons as either thy relations or their wants shall present to thee If there be any collection for the poor as there alwayes ought to be at this time give freely according to thy ability or if by the dâ—fault of others there be no such collection yet do thou privately design something towards the relief of thy poor brethren and be sure to give it the next fitting opportunity that offers it self All this thou must contrive to do in the time that others are receiving that so when the publick prayers after the administration begin thou mayst be ready to joyn in them which thou must likewise take care to do with all divotion thus much for thy behaviour at the time of receiving 30. Now followes the third and last thing That is what thou art to do after thy receiving That which is immediately to be done is as soon as thou art retir'd from the Congregation to offer up again to God thy Sacrifice of praise for all those precious mercies conveyed to thee in that holy Sacrament as also humbly to intreat the continued assistance of his grace to enable thee to make good all those purposes of obedience thou hast now made And in whatsoever thou knowest thy self most in danger either in respect of any former habit or natural inclination there especially desire and earnestly beg his aid 31. When thou hast done thus do not presently let thy self lose to thy worldly carâ—s and businesse But spend all that day either in mediâ—ating praying reading good conferences or the like so as may best keep up that holy flame that is enkindled in thy heart Afterwards when thy calling requires thee to fall to thy usual affaireâ— do it but yet still remember that thou hast a greater business then that upon thy hands that is the performing of all those promises thou so lately madest to God and therefore whatever thy outward imployments are let thy heart be set on that keep all the particulars of thy resolution in memory and whenever thou art tempted to any of thy old sins then consider this is the thing thou so solemnly vowedst against and withal remember what a horrible guilt it will be if thou shouldst now wilfully do any thing contrary to that vow Yea and what a horrible mischief also it will be to thy self For at thy receiving God and thou enteredst into Covenant into a league of friendship and kindness And as long as thou keepest in that friendship with God thou art false all the malice of men or divels can do thee no harm For as the Apostle saith Rom. 8. 31. If God be for us who can be against us But if thou breakest this league as thou certainly dost if thou yeild to any wilful sin then God and thou are enemies and if all the world then were for thee it could not avail thee 32. Nay thou wilt get an enemy within thine own bosome thy conscience accusing and upbraiding thee and when God and thine own conscience are thus against thee thou canst not but be extremely miserable even in this life besides that fearful expectation of wrath which awaites thee in the next Remember all this when thou art set upon by any temptation and then sure thou canst not but look upon that temptation as a cheat that coâ—es to rob thee of thy peace thy God thy very soul. And then surely it will appear as unfit to entertain it as thou wouldst think it to harbour one in thy house who thou knowest came to rob thee of what is dearest to thee 33. And let not any experience of Gods mercy in pardonning thee heretofore incourage thee again to provoke him for besides that it is thy highest degree of wickedness and unthankfulness to make that goodness of his which should lead thee to repentance an incouragement in thy sin besides this I say the oftner thou hast bin pardoned the less reason thou hast to expect it again because thy sin is so much the greater for having bin committed after so much mercy If a King have several times pardoned an offender yet if he still return to the commission of the same fault the King will at last be forced if he have any love to Justice to give him up to it Now so it is here God is as well just as merciful and his justice will at last surely and heavily avenge the abuse of his mercy and there cannot be a greater abuse of his mercy then to sin in hope of it so that it will prove a miserable deceiving of thy self then to presume upon it
till that be done 3. The second part of prayer is petition That is the begging of God whatsoever we want either for our Souls or bodies For our Souls we must first beg pardon of sins and that for the sake of Jesus Christ who shed his blood to obtain it Then we must also beg the grace and assistance of Gods Spirit to enable us to forsake our sins and to walk in obedience to him And herein it will be needful particularly to beg all the several vertues as faith love zeal purity repentance and the like but especially those which thou most wantest And therefore observe what thy wants are and if thou beest proud be most instant in praying for humility if lustful for chastity and so for all other graces according as thou findest thy needs And in all these things that concern thy Soul be very earnest and importunate take no denial from God nor give over though thou do not presently obtain what thou suest for But if thou hast never so long prayed for a grace and yet findest it not do not grow weary of praying but rather search what the cause may be which makes thy prayer so ineffectual see if thou do not thy self hinder them perhaps thou prayest to God to enable thee to conquer some sin and yet never goest about to fight against it never makest any resistance but yeâ—ldest to it as oft as it comes nay puttest thy self in its way in the road of all temptations If it be thus no wonder though thy prayers avail not for thou wilt not let them Therefore amend this and set to the doing of thy part sincerely and then thou needest not fear but God will do his 4. Secondly We are to petition also for our bodies That is we are to ask of God such necessaries of life as are needful to us while we live here But these onely in such a degree and measure as his wisdom sees best for us we must not presume to be our own câ—rvers and pray for all that wealth or greatness which our own vain hearts may perhaps desire but onely â—or such a condition in respect of outward things as he sees may most tend to those great ends of our living here the glorifying him and the saving of our own Souls 5. A third part of prayer is Deprecation that is when we pray to God to turn away some evil from us Now this evil may be either the evil of sin or the evil of punishment The evil of sin is that we are especially to pray against most earnestly begging of God that he will by the power of his grace preserve us from falling into sin And whatever sins they are to which thou knowest thy self most inclined there be particularly earnest with God to preserve thee from them This is to be done daily but then more especially when we are under any present temptation in danger of falling into any sin In which case we have reason to cry out as St. Peter did when he found himself sinking save Lord or I perish humbly beseeching him either to withdraw the temptation or strengthen us to withstand it neither of which we can do for our selves 6. Secondly We are likewise to pray against the evil of punishment but principally against spiritual punishments as the anger of God the withdrawing of his grace and eternal damnation Against these we can never pray with too much earnestness but we may also pray against temporal punishments that is any outward affliction but this with submission to Gods will according to the example of Christ Mat. 26. 39. Not as I will but as thou wilt 7. A fourth part of prayer is intercession that is praying for others This in general we are to do for all mankind as well strangers as acquaintance but more particularly those to whom we have any especial relation either publick as our Governours both in Church and State or private as Parents Husband Wife Children Friends c. We are also to pray for all that are in affliction and such particular persons as we discern especially to be so Yea we are to pray for those that have done injury those that despightfully use us and persecute us for it is expresly the command of Christ Mat. 5. 44. and that whereof he hath likewise given us the highest example in praying even for his very crucifiers Luc. 23. 34. Father forgive them For all these sorts of persons we are to pray and that for the very same good things we beg of God for our selves that God would give them in their several places and callings all spiritual and temporal blessings which he sees wanting to them and turn away from them all evil whether of sin or punishment 8. The fifth part of prayer is thanksgiving That is the praising and blessing God for all his mercies whether to our own persons and those that immediatly relate to us or to the Church and Nation whereof we are members or yet more general to all mankind And this for all his mercies both spiritual and temporal In the spiritual first for those wherein we are all in common concerned as the giving of his Son the sending of his Spirit and all those means he hath used to bring sinful men unto himself Then secondly for those mercies we have in our own particulars received such are the having been born within the pale of the Church and so brought up in Christian Religion by which we have been partakers of those precious advantages of the word and Sacraments and so have had without any care or pains of ours the means of eternal life put into our hands But besides these there is none of us but have received other spiritual means from God 9. As first Gods patience and long-suffering waiting for our repentance and not cutting us off in our sins Secondly his calls and invitations of us to that repentance not only outward in the ministry of the word but also inward by the motions of his Spirit But then if thou be one that hath by the help of Gods grace been wrought upon by these calls and brought from a prophane or worldly to a Christian course of life thou art surely in the highest degree tyed to magnifie and praise his goodness as having received from him the greatest of mercies 10. We are likewise to give thanks for temporal blessings whether such as concern the publick as the prosperity of the Church or Nation and all remarkable deliverances offered to either or else such as concern our particulars such are all the good things of this life which we enjoy as health friends food rayment and the like also for those minuitly preservations whereby we are by Gods gracious providence kept from danger and the especial deliverances which God hath given us in time of greatest perils It will be impossible to set down the several mercies which everyman receives from God because they
the Kings gate On the other side the peaceable spirâ—t that can quietly passe by all injuries and affronts enjoyes a continual calm and is above the malice of his enemies for let them do what they can they cannot rob him of his quiet he is firm as a rock which no stormes or windes can move when the furious and revengeful man is like a wave which the least blast tosses and tumbles from its place But besides this inward disquiet of revengeful men they often bring many outward calamities upon themselves they exasperate their enemies and provoke them to do them greater miâ—chiefs nay oftentimes they willingly run themselvs upon the greatest miseries in pursuit of their revenge to which 't is ordinary to see men sacrifice Goods Ease Credit Life nay soul it self not caring what they suffer themselves so they may spite their enemy so strangly does this wretched humour besott and blind men On the contrary the meek person he often melts his adversary pacifies his anger A soft answer turns away wrath saith Solomon Pro. 15. 1. And sure there is nothing can tend more to that end but if it do happen that his enemy be so inhumane that he misse of doing that yet he is still a gainer by all he can suffer For first he gains an opportunity of exercising that most Christian grace of charity and forgivenesse and so at once of obeying the command and imitating the example of his Saviour which is to a true Christian spirit a most valuable advantage and then secondly he gains an accession and encrease to his reward hereafter And if it be objected that that is not to be reckoned in to the present pleasure of the duty I answer that the expectation and belief of it is and that alone is a delight infinitely more ravishing then the present enjoyment of all sensual pleasures can be The fourth consideration is the danger of not performing this duty of which I might reckon up divers but I shall insist only on that great one which contains in it all the rest and that is the forfeiting of our own pardons from God the having our sins against him kept still on his score and not forgiven This is a consideration that methinks should afright us into good nature if it do not our malice is greater to our selves then to our enemies For alas what hurt is it possible for thee to do to another which can bear any comparison with that thou doest thy self in loosing the pardon of thy sins which is so unspeakable a mischief that the Divel himself with all his malice cannot wish a greater 't is all he aimes at first that we may sin and then that those sins may never be pardoned for then he knows he has us sure enough Hell and damnation being certainly the portion of every unpardoned sinner besides all other effects of Gods wrath in this life consider this and then tell me what thou hast got by the highest revenge thou ever actedst upon another 'T is a devilish phrase in the mouth of men that revenge is sweet But is it possible there can be even to the most distemper'd palate any such sweetnesse in it as may recompence that everlasting bitternesse that attends it 'T is certain no man in his wits can upon sober judging imagine there is But alas we give not our selves time to weigh things but suffer our selves to be hurryed away with the heat of an angry humour never considering how dear we must pay for it like the silly Bee that in anger leaves at once her sting and her life behind her the sting may perhaps give some short pain to the flesh it sticks in but yet there is none but discerns the Bee has the worst of it that payes her life for so poor a revenge so it is in the greatest acts of our malice we may perhaps leave our stings in others put them to some present trouble but that compared with the hurt redounds to our selves by it is no more then that inconsiderable pain is to death Nay not so much because the mischiefs that we bring upon our selves are eternal to which no finite thing can bear any proportion Remember then whensoever thou art contriving and plotting a revenge that thou quite mistakest the mark thou thinkest to hit thy enemy and las thou woundest thy self to death And let no man speak peace to himself or think that these are vain terrors and that he may obtain pardon from God though he give none to his brethren For he that is truth it self has assured us the contrary Mat. 6. 15. If ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your trespasses And least we should forget the necessity of this duty he has inserted it into our daily Prayers where we make it the condition on which we beg pardon from God Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us What a heavy curse then does every revengeful person lay upon himself when he sayes this Prayer he does in effect beg God not to forgive him and 't is too sure that part of his Prayer will be heard he shall be forgiven just as he forgives that is not at all This is yet farther set out to us in the parable of the Lord and the servant Mat. 18. the servant had obtained of his Lord the forgivenesse of a vast debt ten thousand talents yet was so cruel to his fellow servant as to exact a poor triflng summ of an hundred pence upon which his Lord recals his former forgiveness and charges him again with the whole debt and this Christ applies to our present purpose ver 35. So likewise shall my heavenly father do unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every man his brother their trespasses One such act of uncharitablenesse is able to forfeit us the pardon God hath granted us and then all our sins return again upon us and sink us to utter ruine I suppose it needlesse to heap up more Testimonies of Scripture for the truth of this these are so cleere as may surely serve to perswade any man that acknowledg Scripture of the great and fearful danger of this sin of uncharitableness The Lord possess all our hearts with such a just sense of it as may make us avoid it The Last consideration I shall mention is that of gratitude God has shewed wonderful mercies to us Christ has suffered heavy things to bring us into a capacity of that mercy and pardon from God And shall we not then think our selvs obliged to some returns of thanfulness If we will take the Apostles judgment he tels us 2 Cor. 5. 15. That since Christ dyed for us all 't is but reasonable that we should not henceforth live unto our selves but unto him that dyed for us Indeed were every moment of our life consecrated to his immediate service 't were no more then common gratitude requires and far less then such inestimable
do upon some other In which case Christ tels us he that forsakes not all that he hath cannot be his Dâ—sciple 7. But secondly this is sure a vain supposition God having particularly promised the contrary to the charitable that it shall bring blessings on them even in these outward things The liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself Prov. 11. 25. He that giveth to the poor shall not lack Prov. 28. 27. And many the like texts there are so that one may truly say this objection is grounded in direct unbelief The short of it is we dare not trust God for this giving to the poor is directly the puting our wealth into his hands He that giveth to the poor lendeth unto the Lord Pro. 19. 17. And that too on solemn promise of repayment as it followes in that verse that which he hath given will he pay him again It is amongst men thought a great disparagement when we refuse to trust them it shews we either think them not sufficient or not honest How vile an affront is it then to God thus to distrust him nay indeed how horrid blasphemy to doubt the security of that for which he has thus expresly past his word who is Lord of all and therefore cannot be insufficient and who is the God of truth and therefore will not fail to make good his promise Let not then that infidel fear of future want contract and shut up thy bowels from thy poor brother for though he be never likely to pay thee yet God becomes his surety and enters bond with him and will most assuredly pay thee with encrease Therefore 't is so far from being damage to thee thus to give that it is thy great advantage Any man would rather chuse to put his money into some sure hand where he may both improve and be certain of it at his need then to let it lye unprofitably by him especially if he be in danger of thieves or other accident by which he may probably loose it Now alas all that we possesse is in minutely danger of loosing innumerable accidents there are which may in an instant bring a rich man to beggery he that doubts this let him but read the story of Job and he will there find an example of it And therefore what so prudent course can we take for our wealth as to put it out of the reach of those accidents by thus lending it to God where we may be sure to find it ready at our greatest need and that too with improvement and encrease in which respect it is that the Apostle compares alms to seed 2 Cor. 9. 10. We know 't is the nature of seed that is sown to multiply and encrease and so does all our acts of mercy they return not single and naked to us but bring in their sheaves with them a most plenteous and bountiful harvest God deals not with our alms as we too often do with his graces wrap them up in a napkin so that they shall never bring in any advantage to us but makes us most rich returns and therefore we have all reason most cheerfully yea joyfully to set to this duty which we have such invitations to as well in respect of our own interests as our neighbours needs 8. Secondly We must give seasonably 't is true indeed there are some so poor that an Almes can never come unseasonably because they alwayes want yet even to them there may be some special seasons of doing it to their greater advantage for sometimes an Almes may not onely deliver a poor man from some present extremity but by the right timeing of it may set him in some way of a more comfortable subsistance afterward And for the most I presume 't is a good Rule to dispense what we intend to any as soon as may be for delays are hurtful oftentimes both to them and our selves first as to them 't is sure the longer we delay the longer they groan under the present want and after we have designed them a relief 't is in some degree to defer injoying of it for so long we prolong their sufferings you wil think him a hard hearted Phisician that having a certain cure for a man in pain should when he might presently apply it make unnecessary delayes and so keep the poor man still in torture and the same it is here we want of the due compassion if we can be content our poor brother should have one hour of unnecessary suffering when we have present opportunity of relieving him or if he be in such an extremity of want yet whatever we intend him for his greater comfort he loses so much of it as the time of the delay amounts to Secondly in respect of our selves t is ill to defer for thereby we give advantage to the temptations either of Satan or our own covetous humour to disswade us from it Thus it fares too often with many Christian duties for want of a speedy execution our purposes coole and never come to act so many resolve they will repent but because they set not immediately upon it one delay succeeds another and keeps them from ever doing it at all and so 't is very apt to fall out in this case especially with men who are of a covetous temper and therefore they of all others should not trust themselves thus to delay 9. Thirdly We should take care to give prudâ—ntly that is to give most where it is most needed and in such a manner as may do the receiver most good Charities do often miscarry for want of this care for if â—e give at all adventures to all that seem to want we may sometimes give more to those whose sloth and lewdnesse is the cause of their wan then to those who best deserve it and so both encourage the one in their idlenesse and disable our selves from giving to the other Yet I doubt not such may be the present wants even of the most unworthy that we are to relieve them but where no such pressing need is we shall do best to chuse out the fitter objects of charity such are those who either are not able to labour or else have a greater charge then their labour can maintain and to those our alms should be given also in such a manner as may be most likely to do them good the manner of which may differ according to the circumstances of their condition it may to some be best perhaps to give them by little and little to others the giving it all at once may tend more to their benefit and sometime a seasonable loan may do as well as a gift and that may be in the power sometimes of those who are not able to give but little But when we thus lend on charity we must lend freely without use and also with a purpose that if he should prove unable to pay we will forgive so much of the principal as
me and what ever good work thou hast wrought in me be pleased to accomplish and perform it until the day of Christ. Lord thou seest my weakness and thou knowest the number and strength of those temptations I have to struggle with O leave me not to my self but cover thou my head in the day of battel and in all spiritual combats make me more then conquerour through him that loved me O let no terrours or flatteries either of the world or my own flesh ever draw me from my obedience to thee but grant that I may continue stedfast unmoveable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord and by patient continuance in well-doing seek and at last obtain glory and honour and immortality and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. A brief Paraphrase of the LORDS PRAYER To be used as a Prayer Our FATHER which art in Heaven O Lord who dwellest in the highest heavens thou art the Author of our being thou hast also begotten us again unto a lively hope and carryest towards us the tenderness and bowels of a most compassionate father O make us to render to thee the love and obedience of children and that we may resemble thee our father in heaven that place of true delight and purity give us a holy disdain of all the deceitful pleasures and foul pollutions of this world and so raise up our minds that we may alwayes have our conversation in heaven from whence we look for our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Hallowed be thy Name Strike such an awe into all our hearts that we may humbly reverence thee in thy Name which is great wonderful and holy and carry such a sacred respect to all things that relate to thee and thy worship as may express our reverence of thy great Majesty Let all the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee 2. Thy Kingdome Come Establish thy throne and rule for ever in our souls and by the power of thy grace subdue all those rebellious corruptions that exalt themselves against thee they are those enemies of thine which would not that thou shouldst reign over them O let them be brought forth and slain before thee and make us such faithful subjects of this thy Kingdome of Grace that we may be capable of thy kingdome of glory and then Lord Jesus come quickly 3. Thy Will be done in earth c. Enable us by thy grace cheerfully to suffer thy will in all thy inflictions and readily to perform it in all thy commands give us of that heavenly zeal to thy service wherewith the blessed Angels of thy presence are inspired that we may obey thee with the like fervor and alacrity and that following them in their obedience we may be joyned with them to sing eternal praises in thy Kingdome to God and to the Lamb for ever 4. Give us this day our daily bread Give us that continual supply of thy grace which may sustein and nourish our souls unto eternal life And be thou pleased also to provide for our bodies all those things which thou seest fit for their support through this our earthly pilgrimage and make us cheerfully to rest on thee for them first seeking thy Kingdome and the righteousness thereof and then not doubting but all these things shall be added unto us 5. Forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them c. Heal our souls O Lord for we have sinned against thee let thy tender mercies abound towards us in the forgiveness of all our offences And grant O Lord that we may never forfeit this pardon of thine by denying ours to our brethren but give us those bowels of compassion to others which we stand in so much greater need of from thee that we may forgive as fully and finally upon Christs Command as we desire to be forgiven for his merits and intercession 6. Lead us not into Temptation but deliver c. O Lord we have no strength against those multitudes of temptations that daily assalt us onely our eyes are upon thee O be thou pleased either to restrain them or assist us and in thy faithfulness suffer us not to be tempted above that we are able but in all our temptations make us a way to escape that we be not overcome by them but may when thou shalt call us to it resist even unto blood striving against sin that being faithful unto death thou mayest give us the crown of life For thine is the Kingdome the Power c. Hear us and graciously answer our petitions for thou art the great King over all the earth whose Power is infinite and artable to do for us above all that we can ask or think and to whom belongeth the Glory of all that good thou workest in us or for us Therefore blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne to our God for ever and ever Amen PIOUS EJACULATIONS Taken out of the Book of PSALMS For PARDON of SIN HAve mercy on me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds My misdeeds prevail against me O be thou merciful unto my sins Enter not into judgment with thy servant for in thy sight shall no man living be justified For thy names sake O Lord be merciful unto my sin for it is great Turn thee O Lord and deliver my soul O save me for thy mercies sake For GRACE TEach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart to thee that I may fear thy name Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me O let my heart be found in thy statutes that I be not ashamed Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not to covetousnesse Turn away mine eyes least they behold vanity and quicken thou me in thy way I am a stranger upon earth O hide not thy Commandments from me Lord teach me to number my dayes that I may apply my heart unto Wisdome For the LIGHT of Gods COUNTENANCE LOrd why abhorrest thou my soul and hidest thy face from me O hide not thou thy face from me nor cast thy servant away in displeasure Thy loving kindnesse is better then life it self Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me Comfort the Soul of thy servant for unto thee O Lord do I lift up my Soul THANKSGIVING I Will alwayes give thanks unto the Lord his praise shall ever be in my mouth Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live I will praise my God whilest I have my being Praised be God which hath not cast out my prayer nor turned his mercy from
confusion of face eternally But to thee O Lord God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though I have rebelled against thee O remember not my sins and offences but according to thy mercy think thou upon me O Lord for thy goodness Thou sentest thy Son to seek and to save that which was lost behold O Lord I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost O seek thy servant and bring me back to the Shepherd and Bishop of my Soul let thy Spirit work in me a hearty sense and detestation of all my abominations that true contrition of heart which thou hast promised not to despise And then be thou pleased to look on me to take away all iniquity and receive me graciously and for his sake who hath done nothing amiss be reconciled to me who have done nothing well wash away the guilt of my sins in his blood and subdue the power of them by his grace and grant O Lord that I may from this hour bid a final adieu to all ungodliness and worldly lusts that I may never once more cast a look toward Sodom or long after the flesh pots of Egypt but consecrate my self intirely to thee to serve thee in Righteousness and true Holiness reckoning my self to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord and blessed Saviour This PENITENTIAL PSALM May also fitly be used PSAL. 51. HAve mercy upon me O God after thy great goodness according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences Wash me throughly from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin For I knowledg my faults and my sin is ever before me Against thee onely have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justisted in thy saying and clear when thou art judged Behold I was shapen in wickedness and in sin hath my mother conceived me But loe thou requirest truth in the inward parts and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly Thou shalt purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean thou shalt wash me and I shall be whiter then snow Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice Turn thy face from my sins and put out all my misdeeds Make me a clean heart O God and renew a right Spirit within me Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me O give me the comfort of thy help again and stablish me with thy free Spirit Then shall I teach thy wayes unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto thee Deliver me from blood guiltiness O God thou that art the God of my health and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness Thou shalt open my lips O Lord and my mouth shall shew thy praise For thou desirest no sacrifice else would I give it thee but thou delightest not in burnt-ofâ—ering The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit a broken and contrite heart O God shalt thou not despise O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the walls of Ierusalem Then shalt thou be pleased with the Sacrifice of righteousness with the burnâ—-â—fferings and oblations then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end Amen PRAYERS BEFORE the receiving of the blessed SACRAMENT O Most merciful God who hast in thy great goodness prepared this spiritual feast for sick and famished Souls make my desires and gaspings after it answerable to my needs of it I have with the prodigal wasted that portion of grace thou bestowedst upon me and therefore do infinitely want a supply out of this treasury But O Lord how shall such a wretch as I dare to approach this holy table I am a dog how shall I presume to take the childrens bread or how shall this spiritual Manna this food of Angels be given to one who hath chosen to feed on husks with swine nay to one who hath already so often trampled these precious things under foot either carelesly neglecting or unworthily receiving these holy mysteries O Lord my horrible guiltiness makes me tremble to come and yet makes me not dare to keep away for where O Lord shall my polluted Soul be washed if not in this fountain which thou hast opened for sin and for uncleanness Hither therefore I come and thou hast promised that him that cometh to thee thou wilt in no wise cast out This is O Lord the blood of the New Testament grant me so to receive it that it may be to me for remission of sins And though I have so often and so wretchedly broken my part of that Covenant whereof this Sacrament is a seal yet be thou graciously pleased to make good thine to be merciful to my unrighteousness and to remember my sins and mine iniquities no more and not onely so but to put thy lawes into my heart and write them in my mind and by the power of thy grace dispose my soul to such a sincere and constant obedience that I may never again provoke thee Lord grant that in these holy mysteries I may not only commemorate but effectually receive my blessed Saviour and all the benefits of his passion And to that end give me such a preparation of soul as may qualify me for it give me a deep sense of my sins and unworthiness that being weary and heavy laden I may be capable of his refreshings and by being suppled in my own tears I may be the fitter to be washed in his blood raise up my dull and earthly mind from groveling here below and inspire it with a holy zeal that I may with spiritual affection approach this spiritual feast and let O Lord that infinite love of Christ in dying for so wretched a sinner inflame my frozen benummed soul and kindle in me that sacred fire of love to him and that so vehement that no waters may quench no floods drown it such as may burn up all my dross not leave one unmortified lust in my soul and such as may also extend it self to all whom thou hast given me command and example to love even enemies as well as friends Finally O Lord I beseech thee to cloth me in the wedding garment and make me though of my self a most unworthy yet by thy mercy an acceptable guest at this holy tabâ—e that I may not eat and drink my own condemnation but may have my pardon sealed my weaknesses repaired my corruptions subdued and my soul so inseparably united to thee that no temptations may ever be able to dissolve the union but that being begun here in grace it may be consummated in glory Grant this O Lord for thy dear Sons sake Jesus Christ. ANOTHER O BLESSED Jesus who once offeredst up thy self for me upon the Cross and now offerest thy self to me in the Sacrament let not I beseech thee my
impenitence and unworthiness frustrate these so inestimable mercies to me but qualifie me by thy grace to receive the full benefit of them O Lord I have abundant need of thee but am so clog'd with guilt so holden with the cords of my sins that I am not able to move towards thee O lose me from this band wherewith Satan and my own lusts have bound me and draw me that I may run after thee Lord thou seest daily how eagerly I pursue the paths that lead to death but when thou invitest me to life and glory I turn my back and forsake my own mercy How often hath this feast been prepared and I have with frivilous excuses absented my self or if I have come it hath been rather to defie then to adore thee I have brought such troops of thy professed enemies unrepented sins along with me as if I â—ame not to commemorate but renew thy passion crucifying thee afresh and putting thee to open shame and now of what punishment shall I be thought worthy who have thus trampled under foot the Son of God and counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing yet O merciful Jesu this blood is my onely râ—â—â—ge O let this make my atonement or I perish eternally wherefore didst thou shed it but to save sinners neither can the merit of it be overwhelmed either by the greatness or number of sins I am a sinner a great one O let me find its saving efficacy Be merciful unto me O God be merciful to me for my soul trusteth in thee and in the clefts of thy wound shall be my refuge until thy fathers indignation be overpast O thou who hast as my high Priest sacrificed for me intercede for me also and plead thy meritorious sufferings on my behalfe and suffer not O my Redeemer the price of thy blood to be utterly lost And grant O Lord that as the sins I have to be forgiven are many so I may love much Lord thou seest what faint what cold affections I have towards thee O warm and enliven them and as in this Sacrament that transcendent love of thine in dying for me is shewed forth so I beseech thee let it convey such grace into me as may enable me to make some returns of love O let this divine fire descend from heaven into my soul and let my sins be the burnt offering for it to consume that there may not any corrupt affection any accursed thing be shelterd in my heart that I may never again defile that place which thou hast chosen for thy temple Thou dyedst O dear Jesu to redeem me from all iniquity O let me not again sell my self to work wickedness but grant that I may approach thee at this time with most sincere and fixed resolutions of an entire reformation and let me receive such grace and strength from thee as may enable me faithfully to perform them Lord there are many old habituated diseases my soul groanes under Her mention thy most prevailing corruptions And though I lye never so long at the pool of Bethesda come never so often to thy table yet unless thou be pleased to put forth thy healing vertue they will still remain uncured O thou blessed Physician of souls heal me and grant I may now so touch thee that every one of these loath some issues may immediately stanch that these sicknesses may not be unto death but unto the glory of thy mercy in pardoning to the glory of thy grace in purifying so polluted a wretch O Christ hear me and grant I may now approach thee with such humility and contrition love and devotion that thou maist vouchsafe to come unto me and abide with me communicating to me thy self and all the merits of thy passion And then O Lord let no accusations of Satan oâ— my own conscience amaze or distract me buâ— having peace with thee let me also have peace in my self that this wine may make glad this bread of life may strengthen my heart and enable me cheerfully to run the way of thy Commandments Grant this merciful Saviour I beseech thee for thine own bowels and compassions sake EjACULATIONS to be used at the LORDS TABLE LOrd I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof I have sinned what shall I do unto thee O thou preserver of men Here recollect some of thy greatest sins If thou Lord shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it But with the Lord there is mercy and with him is plenteous Redemption Behold O Lord thy beloved Son in whom thou art well pleased Hearken to the cry of his blood which speaketh better things then that of Abel By his Agony and bloody Sweat by his Cross and Passion good Lord deliver me O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world grant me thy Peace O Lamb of God which takest away the sins of the world have mercy upon me Immediately before Receiving THou hast said that he that eateth thy flesh and drinketh thy blood hath eternal life Behold the servant of the Lord be it unto me according to thy word At the Receiving of the Bread BY thy Crucified Body deliver me from this body of death At the Receiving of the Cup. O let this blood of thine purge my conscience from dead works to serve the living God Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean O touch me and say I will be thou clean After Receiving WHat shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me I will take the Cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Therefore blessing honour glory and power be to him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Thanksgiving after the Receiving of the Sacrament OThou Fountain of all goodness from whom every good and perfect gift cometh and to whom all honour and glory should be returned I desire with all the most fervent and inflamed affections of a grateful heart to blesse and praise thee for those inestimable mercies thou hast vouchsafed me Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him as to send thy beloved Son to suffer such bitter things for him But Lord what am I the worst of men that I should have any part in this atonement who have so oft despised him and his sufferings O the height and depth of this mercy of thine that art pleased to admit me to the renewing of that Covenant with thee which I have so often so perversly broken that I who am not worthy of that daily bread which sustains the body should be made partaker of this bread of life which nourishes the Soul and
enable me I beseech thee willingly and cheerfully to embrace it thou seest O Lord I am fallen into dayes wherein he that departeth from evil maketh himself a Prey O make me so readily to expose all my outward concernments when my obedience to thee requireth it that what falls as a prey to men may by thee be accepted as a sacrifice to God Lord preserve me so by thy grace that I never suffer as an evil doer and then O Lord if it be my lot to suffer as a Christian let me not be ashamed but rejoyce that I am counted worthy to suffer for thy name O thou who for my sake enduredst the cross and despisedst the shame let the example of that love and patience prevail against all the tremblings of my corrupt heart that no terrors may ever be able to shake my constancy but that how long soever thou shalt permit the rod of the wicked to lye on my back I may never put my hand unto wickedness Lord thou knowest whereof I am made thou remembrest that I am but flesh and flesh O Lord shrinks at the approach of any thing grievous It is thy Spirit thy Spirit alone that can uphold me O stablish me with thy free Spirit that I be not weary faint in my mind And by how much the greater thou discernest my weakness so much the more do thou shew forth thy power in me and make me O Lord in all temptations stedfastly to look to thee the author and finisher of my faith that so I may run the race which is set before me and resist even unto blood striving against sin O dear Jesus hear me and though Satan desire to have me that he may winnow me as wheat yet do thou O blessed Mediator pray for me that my faith fail not but that though it be tryed with fire it may be found unto praise and glory and honour at thy appearing And O Lord I beseech thee grant that I may preserve not only constancy towards God but charity also towards men even those whom thou shalt permit to be the instruments of my sufferings Lord let me not fail to imitate that admirable meekness of thine in loving and praying for my greatest persecutors and do thou O Lord overcome all their evil with thy infinite goodness turn their hearts and draw them powerfully to thy self and at last receive both me and mine enemies into those mansions of peace and rest where thou reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost one God for ever A Prayer in time of Affliction O JUST and holy Lord who with rebukes doest chasten man for sin I desire unfeignedly to humble my self under thy mighty hand which now lyes heavy upon me I heartily acknowledg O Lord that all I do all I can suffer is but the due reward of my deeds and therefore in thy severest inflâ—ctions I must still say Righteous art thou O Lord and upright are thy judgments But O Lord I beseech thee in judgment remember mercy though my sins have enforced thee to strike yet consider my weakness and let not thy stripes be more heavy or more lasting then thou seest profitable for my soul correct me but with the Chastisement of a father not with the wounds of an enemy and though thou take not off thy rod yet take away thine anger Lord do not abhor my soul nor cast thy servant away in displeasure but pardon my sins I beseech thee and if yet in thy fatherly wisdome thou see fit to prolong thy corrections thy blessed will be done I cast my self O Lord at thy feet do with me what thou pleasest Trye me as silver is tryed so thou bring me out purified And Lord make even my flesh also to subscribe to this resignation that there may be nothing in me that may rebel against thy hand but that having perfectly supprest all repining thoughts I may cheerfully drink of this cup. And how little soever thou shalt please to make it Lord let it pâ—ove medicinal and cure all the diseases of my soul that it may bring forth in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness That so these light afflictions which are but for a moment may work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Jesus Christ. A Thanksgiving for Deliverance O BLESSED Lord who art gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil I thankfully acknowledg before thee that thou hast not dealt with me after my sins nor rewarded me according to my iniquities My rebellions O Lord deserved to be scourged with scorpions and thou hast corrected them only with a gentle and fatherly rod neither hast thou suffered me to lâ—e long under that but hast given me a timely and a gracious issue out of my late distress O Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity Thou hast smitten and thou hast healed me O let these various methods of thine have their proper effects upon my soul That I who have felt the smart of thy chastisements may stand in awe and not sin and that I who have likewise felt the sweet refreshings of thy mercy may have my heart ravished with it and knit to thee in the firmest bands of love and that by both I may be preserved in a constant entire obedience to Thee all my dayes through Jesus Christ. Directions for the time of Sickness WHEN thou findest thy self visited with sickness thou art immediately to remember that it is God which with rebukes doth chasten man for sin And therefore let thy first care be to find out what it is that provokes him to smite thee and to that purpose examine thine own heart search diligently what guilts lie there confess them humbly and penitently to God and for the greater sâ—â—urity renew thy repentance for all the old sins of thy former life beg most earnestly and importunately his mercy and pâ—rdâ—n in Christ Iesus and put on sincere and zealous resolutions of forsaking every evil way for the rest of that time which God shall spare thee And that thy 〈◊〉 heart deceive thee not in this so weighty a business it will be wisdom to send for some godly Divine not onely to assist thee with his Prayers but with his counsel also And to that purpose open thy heart so freely to him that he may be able to judg whether thy repentance be such as may give thee confidence to appear before Gods dreadful Tribunal and that if it be not he may help thee what he can towards the making it sâ— And when thou hast thus provided for thy better part thy soul then consider thy body also and as the Wise man saith Eccl. 38. 12. Give pâ—aâ—e to the Physician for the Lord hath created him Vse such means as may be most likely to recover thy health but alwayes remember that the successe of them must come from
there had been none of us alive at this day to implore thy mercy But thou art a gracious God slow to anger and hast proceeded with us with much patience and long suffering thou hast sent thy judgments to awake us to repentance and hast also allowed us space for it But alas we have perverted this mercy of thine beyond all the former we return not to him that smiteth us neither do we seek the Lord we are slidden back by a perpetual backsliding no man repenteth him of his wickedness or saith what have I done 'T is true indeed we fear the rod we dread every suffering so that we are ready to buy it off with the foulest sin but we fear not him that hath appointed it but by a wretched obstinacy harden our necks against thee and refuse to return And now O God what balm is there in Gilead that can cure us who when thou wouldst heal us will not be healed we know thou hast pronounced that there is no peace to the wicked and how shall we then pray for peace that still retain our wickedness ' This this O Lord is our forest disease O give us medicines to heal this sickness heal our souls and then we know thou canst soon heâ—l our land Lord thou hast long spoken by thy word to our ears by thy judgments even to all our senses but unless thou speak by thy Spirit to our hearts all other cals will still be uneffectual O send out this voice and that a mighty voice such as may awake us out of this Lethargy thou that didst call Lazarus out of the grave O be pleased to call us who are dead yea putrified in trespasses and sins and make us to awake to righteousness And though O Lord our frequent resistances even of these inward calls have justly provoked thee to give us up to the lusts of our own heart yet O thou boundless ocean of mercy who art good not only beyond what we can deserve but what we can wish do not withdraw the influence of thy grace and take not thy holy Spirit from us Thou wert found of those that sought thee not O let that act of mercy be repeated to us who are so desperately yet so insensibly sick that we cannot so much as look after the Physician and by how much our case is the more dangerous so much the more soveraign remedies do thou apply Lord help us and consider not so much our unworthiness of thy aid as our irremediable ruine if we want it save Lord or we perish eternally To this end dispense to us in our temporal interest what thou seest may best secure our spiritual if a greater degree of outward misery will tend to the cureing our inward Lord spare not thy rod but strike yet more sharply Cast out this Devil though with never so much foaming and tearing But if thou seest that some return of mercy may be most likely to melt us O be pleased so far to condescend to our wretchedness as to afford us that and whether by thy sharper or thy gentler methods bring us home to thy self And then O Lord we know thy hand is not shortned that it cannot save when thou hast delivered us from our sins thou canst and wilt deliver us from our troubles O shew us thy mercy and grant us thy salvation that being redeemed both in our bodies and spirits we may glorifie thee in both in a cheerful obedience and praise the name of our God that hath dealt wonderfully with us through Jesus Christ our Lord. A Prayer for This Church O Thou great God of recompences who turnest a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickednesse of theâ— that dwel therein thou hast most justly executed that fatal sentence on this Church which having once been the perfection of beauty the joy of the whole earth is now become a scorn and derision to all that are round about her O Lord what could have been done to thy vineyard that thou 〈◊〉 not done in it and since it hath brought forth nothing but wild grapes it is perfectly just with thee to take away the hedg thereof and let it be eaten up But O Lord though our iniquities testifie against us yet do thou it for thy Names sake for our backslidings are many we have sinned against thee O the hope of Israel the Saviour thereof in time of trouble why shouldst thoâ— be as a stranger in the land as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to carry for a night Why shouldst thou be as a man astonied as a mighty man that cannot save Yet thou O Lord art in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not deprive us of what outward enjoyments thou pleasest take from us the opporâ—unities of our Luxury and it may be a mercy but O take not from us the means of our reformation for that is the most direful expression of thy wrath And though we have hated the light because our deeds were evil yet O Lord do not by withdrawing it condemn â—s to walk on still in darkness but let it continue to shine till it have guided our feet into the way of peace O Lord arise stir up thy strength and come and help us and deliver not the soul of thy turtle dove this disconsolate Church unto the multitude of the enemy but help act O God and that right early But if O Lord our rebellions have so provoked thee that the Ark must wander in the wilderness til all this murmuring generation be consumed yet let not that perish with us but bring it at last into a Canaan and let our more innocent posterity see that which in thy just judgment thou denyest to us In the mean time let us not cease to bewail that desolation our sins have wrought to think upon the stones of Sion and pity to see her in the dust nor ever be ashamed or afraid to own her in her lowest and most persecuted condition but esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt and so approve our constancy to this our afflicted mother that her blessed Lord and head may own us with mercy when he shall come in the glory of thee his father with the holy Angels Grant this merciful Lord for the same Jesus Christ â—is sake A Prayer for the Peace of the Church LOrd Jesus Christ which of thine almightiness madest all creatures both visible and invisible which of thy godly wisdome governest and settest all things in most goodly order which of thine unspeakable goodness keepest defendest and furtherest all things which of thy deep mercy restorest the decayed renewest the fallen raisest the dead vouchsafe we pray thee at last to cast down thy countenance upon thy well-beloved Spouse the Church but let it be that amiable and merciful countenance wherewith thou pacifiest all things in heaven in earth and whatsoever is above heaven and under the earth vouchsafe to cast upon us those tender
I come before with an importunity and earnestness answerable to those pressing wants I have to be supplied and with such a fixedness and attention of mind as no wandring thoughts may interrupt that I may no more incur the guilt of drawing neer to thee with my lips when my heart is far from thee or have my prayers turned into sin but may so ask that I may receive seek that I may find knock that it may be opened unto me that from praying to thee here I may be translated to the praising thee eternally in thy glory through the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ. For HUMILITY O Thou High and Lofty one that inhabitest Eternity yet art pleased to dwell with the humble spirit pour into my heart I beseech thee that excellent grace of Humility which may utterly work out all those vain conceits I have of my self Lord convince me powerfully of my own wretchedness make me to see that I am miserable and poor and blind and naked and not onely dust but sin that so in all thy dispensations towards me I may lay my hand upon my mouth and heartily acknowledge that I am less then the least of thy mercies and greater then the greatest of thy Judgements And O Lord grant me not onely to walk humbly with my God but even with men also that I may not onely submit my self to thy rebukes but even to those of my fellow Christians and with meekness receive and obey their admonitions And make me so to behave my self towards all that I never do any thing through strife or vain-glory and to that end grant that in lowliness of mind I may esteem every other man better then my self and be willing that others should esteem them so also that I neither nourish any high opinion of my self nor covet one among others but that despising the vain praise of men I may seek that praise which cometh from thee onely That so in stead of those mean servile Arts I have used to recommend me to the esteem of men I may now imploy all my industry and care to approve my self to thee who resistest the proud and giveth grace to the humble grant this O Lord for his sake who humbled himself unto the death of the Corss Jesus Christ. For the FEAR of GOD. O Glorious Majesty who onely art high and to be feared possess my Soul with a Holy awe and reverence of thee that I may give thee the honour due unto thy Name and may bear such a respect to all things which relate to thee that I may never prophane any Holy thing or sacrilegiously invade what thou hast set apart to thy self And O Lord since thou art a God that wilt not clear the guilty let the dread of thy justice make me tremble to provoke thee in any thing O let me not so misplace my fear as to be afraid of a man that shall die and of the Son of mâ—n who shall be made as grass and forget the Lord my Maker But replenish my Soul with that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom which may be as a bridle to all my brutish appetites and keep me in a constant conformity to thy Holy will Hear me O Lord I beseech thee and put this fear in my heart that I may not depart from thee but may with fear and trembling work out my own Salvation through Jesus Christ. For TRUST on GOD. O Almighty Lord who never failest them that trust on thee give me grace I beseech thee in all my difficulties and distresses to have recourse to thee to rest and depend on thee thou shalt keep him O Lord in perfect peace whose mind is staid on thee O let me alwayes rest on this firm Pillar and never exchange it for the broken reeds of worldly succours suffer not my heart to be overcharged with cares of this life taking thought what I shall eat or drink or wherewithall I shall be clothed but grant that having by honest labour and industry done my part I may cheerfully commit my self to thy providence casting all my care upon thee and being careful for nothing but to be of the number of those whom thou ownest and carest for even such as keep thy Testimonies and think upon thy Commandments to do them That seeking first thy Kingdom and the righteousness thereof all these outward things may be added unto me in such a measure as thy wisdom knowest best for me grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake For THANKFULNES O Most Gracious and Bountiful Lord who fillest all things living with good and expectest no other return but praise and thanksgiving let me O Lord never defraud thee of that so easy tribute but let my heart be ever filled with the sense and my mouth with the acknowledgment of thy mercies It is a joyful and a pleasant thing to be thankful O suffer me not I beseech thee to loose my part in that Divine pleasure but grant that as I daily receive blessings from thee so I may daily from an affectionate and devout heart offer up thanks to thee and grant that not onely my lips but my life may shew forth thy praise by consecrating my self to thy service and walking in Holiness and Righteousness before thee all the dayes of my life through Jesus Christ my Lord and blessed Saviour For CONTRITION O Holy Lord who art a merciful embracer of true penitents but yet a consuming fire towards obstinate sinners how shall I approach thee who have so many provoking sins to inflame thy wrath and â—o little sincere repentance to incline thy mercy O be thou pleased to soften and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine that I may heartily bewail the iniquities of my life strike this rock O Lord that the waters may flow out even flouds of tears of wash my polluted conscience My drowzy Soul hath too long slept securely in sin Lord awake it though it be with thunder and let me rather feel thy terrours then not feel my sin Thou sentest thy blessed Son to heal the broken hearted but Lord what will that avail me if my heart be whole O break it that it may be capable of his healing vertue and grant I beseech thee that having once tasted the bitterness of sin I may flye from it as from the face of a serpent and bring forth fruits of repentance in amendment of life to the praise and glory of thy grace in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer For MEEKNES O Blessed Jesu who wert led as a sheep to the slaughter Let I beseech thee that admirable example of Meekness quench in me all sparks of anger and revenge and work in me such a gentleness and calmness of spirit as no provocations may ever be able to disturb Lord grant I may be so far from offering the least injury that I may never return the greatest any otherwise then with prayers and kindness that I who have so many talents to be
forgiven by thee may never exact pence of my brethren but that putting on bowels of mercy meekness long-suffering thy peace may rule in my heart and make it an acceptable habitation to thee who art the Prince of peace to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit be all honour and glory for ever For CHASTITY O Holy and immaculate Jesus whose first descent was into the Virgins womb and who doest still love to inhabite only in pure virgin hearts I beseech thee send thy Spirit of purity to cleanse me from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit my body O Lord is the Temple of the Holy Ghost O let me never pollute that Temple with any uncleanness And because out of the heart proceed the things that defile the man Lord grant me to keep my heart with all diligence that no impure or foul thoughts be harboured there but enable me I beseech thee to keep both body and Soul pure and undefiled that so I may glorify thee here both in my body and spirit and be glorified in both with thee hereafter For TEMPERANCE O Gracious Lord who hast in thy bounty to mankind afforded us the use of thy good creatures for our corporal refreshment grant I may alwayes use this liberty with thankfulness and moderation O let me never be so enslaved to that brutish pleasure of the taste that my Table become a snare to me but give me I beseech thee a perfect abhorrence of all degrees of excess and let me eat and drink onely for those ends and according to those measures which thou hast assigned me for health and not for luxury And Lord grant that my pursuits may be not after the meat that perisheth but after that which endureth to everlasting life that hungring and thirsting after righteousness I may be filled with thy grace here and thy glory hereafter through Jesus Christ. For CONTENTEDNES O Merciful God thy wisdom is infinite to choose and thy love forward to dispence good things to us O let me alwayes fully and intirely resign my self to thy disposals have no desires of my own but a perfect satisfaction in thy choices for me that so in whatsoever estate I am I may be therein content Lord grant I may never look with murmuring on my own condition nor with envy on other mens And to that end I beseech thee purge my heart of all covetous affections O let me never yield up any corner of my Soul to Mammon but give me such a contempt of these fading riches that whether they increase oâ— decrease I may never set my heart upon them But that all my care may be to be rich towards God to lay up my treasure in Heaven that I may so set my affections on things above that when Christ who is my life shall appear I may also appear with him in glory Grant this O Lord for the merits of the same Jesus Christ. For DILIGENGE O Lord who hast in thy wisdom ordained that man should be born to labour suffer me not to resist that design of thine by giving my self up to sloth and idleness But grant I may so imploy my time and all other talents thou hast intrusted me with that I may not fall under the sentence of the slothful and wicked servant Lord if it be thy will make me some way useful to others that I may not live an unprofitable part of mankind but however O Lord let me not be useless to my self but grant I may give all diligence to make my calling and election sure My Soul is beset with many and vigilant adversaries O let me not fold my hands to sleep in the midst of so great dangers but watch and pray that I enter not into temptation enduring hardness as a good souldier of Jesus Christ till at last from this state of warfare thou translate me to the state of triumph and bliss in thy Kingdom through Jesus Christ. For JUSTICE O Thou King of righteousness who hast Commanded us to keep judgement and do Justice be pleased by thy grace to cleanse my heart and hands from all fraud and injustice and give me a perfect integrity and uprightness in all my dealings O make me ever abhor to use my power to oppress or my skill to deceive my brother and grant I most strictly observe that sacred rule of doing as I would be done to that I may not dishonour my Christian profession by an unjust or fraudulent life but in simplicity and godly sincerity have my conversation in this life never seeking to heap up treasures of wickedness but preferring a little with righteousness before great revenues without right Lord make me exactly careful to render to every man what by any sort of obligation becomes his due that I may never break the bond of any of those relations thou hast placed me in but may so behave my self towards all that none may have any evil thing to say of me That so if it be possible I may have peace with all men or however I may by keeping innocency and taking heed to the thing that is right have peace at the last even peace with thee through Jesus Christ our Lord. For CHARITY O Merciful Lord who hast made of one blood and redeemed by one ransome all Nations of men let me never harden my bowels against any that partake of the same nature and redemption with me but grant me an Universal Charity towards all men Give me O thou Father of compassions such a tenderness and meltingness of heart that I may be deeply affected with all the miseries and calamities outward or inward of my brethren and diligently imploy all my abilities for their succour and relief O let not an unchristian self-love possess my heart but drive out that accursed spirit and let thy Spirit of love enter and dwell there and make me seek not to please my self but my Neighbour for his good to edification even as Christ pleased not himself Lord make me a faithful steward of all those talents thou hast committed to me for the benefit of others that so when thou shalt call me to give an account of my stewardship I may do it with joy and not with grief grant this merciful Lord I beseech thee for Jesus Christ his sake For PERSEVERANCE O Eternal and unchangeable Lord God who art the same yesterday and to day and for ever Be thou pleased to communicate some small ray of that excellence some degree of that stability to me thy wretched creature who am light and unconstant turned about with every blast my understanding is very deceivable O establish it in thy truth keep it from the snares of seducing spirits that I may not be led away with the errour of the wicked and fall from my own stedfastness my will also O Lord is irresolute and wavering and doth not cleave stedfastly unto God my goodness is but as the morning cloud as the early dew it passeth away O strengthen and confirm