Father hath given you all things F. S. N. Be strong in Iesus Christ who calls and inuites you by his Prophets Apostles and Evangelists to resort and freely to make towards him saying you that thirst come unto the great fountaine come unto me all you that travell and are heavie laden and I will ease you F. S. N. Believe stedfastly that Iesus Christ hath discharged and set you free from all your sins and hath reconciled you unto God his Father Vnto whom in all humilitie and repentance say from the bottom of your heart LOrd God Almighty have mercy upon me a poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his death passion be pleased to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands F. S. N Bee of good hope For assuredly he will receive your soule as his for his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake who is the Saviour and Redeemer of all those that believe in him Moyses and all the Prophets have testified that all Nations shall receive salvation and blessednes by Iesus Christ The Apostles and Evangelists do testifie that Iesus Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and to give his life for the redemption of many for he hath shed his bloud for the remission of sinnes Believe then and doubt not in any wise for Iesus Christ hath made you cleane from all your sinnes having promised that all they that shall believe in him and in his Father that sent him shall have eternall life and shall not come into judgement but shall passe from death unto life Well then F. S. N. take a good courage in Iesus Christ For he hath loved you and washed you from your sinnes in his bloud Have then this stedfast faith to fight valiantly against the adversarie use no other buckler to defend your selfe withall but this precious bloud of Iesus Christ which by vertue of his Death and Passion hath reconciled you unto God his Father unto whom in great humility and repentance offer up this Prayer O Lord God Almighty have mercy upon me a poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his Death and Passion be graciously pleased to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands F. S. N. Let this be your hope stedfast faith that that good God full of all mercy will receive your soule as his into his hands for his Sonne Iesus Christs sake For there is no other Name under heaven given unto men wherby we must be saved nor is there salvation in any other but in Iesus Christ Arme your self then indeed with this gracious Iesus Christ for he hath done all for you he hath fulfilled the Law for you he hath overcome all for you Well then F.S.N. cheer up your self in God be you ever unmooveable in this lively faith follow and imitate you the holy Patriarks Prophets and Apostles who are all saved in this faith who assure you all of them that the adversarie can no wayes hurt you For your suit is won by Iesus Christ who is both your Iudge and Advocat together Wherfore say evermore in this stedfast faith that though I should walke thorow the midst of the shadow of death yet would I feare no manner of evill For thou Lord God art with me F. S. N. Also cease not to say from the bottome of your heart in great humility and repentance LOrd God Almighty have mercy upon me poore miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and Saviour his sake and by the merit of his Death and Passion let it please thee to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands So be it A singular Prayer for a person greatly afflicted with sicknes which seemeth to approach nearer to death then to life With a short Catechisme purposely made to instruct the sicke and to make him contemplate by faith the great mysterie of our redemption Eccles c. 18. v. 19.20 Vse Physicke ere ever thou be sick before judgement examine thy selfe and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy NOw the Lord admonisheth us to pray continually especialy when we are touched with his rods wherefore all kinsfolks and faithfull friends that visit the sick person ought not only to visit and be carefull for the body but withall to seek and ask for the spirituall physick for his Soule This must he do by good prayers confession of sinnes and Christian exhortation according to the Word of God without which man cannot live and to this end that all things may be done in good order and with zeale First of all it is meet to cast downe himselfe before the Majestie of God and to call upon him by beginning Our helpe is in the Name of the Lord c. Then to present unto him the generall confession of sinnes and consequently this present prayer as it followeth O Lord God Almighty and Father of mercy we are here assembled together in the Name of thy welbeloved Son our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ thorow whom we are bold to present our selves before thee to call upon thy holy Name having our sole refuge unto thy Soveraigne and transcendent goodnes which we not only desire to be sensible of and to tast in our selves but also in the necessitie of thy poore creature here afflicted with corporall sicknes and with the affliction and calamity of mind We know Lord that justly thou visitest and chastnest him with thyrods to make him to understand thy fatherly affection But thy great mercies which thou hast used towards our fathers are not extinguisht nor exhausted For thou art that great eternall God gracious and mercifull that never changest with whom there is no variablenes nor shadow of change Thy holy Word teacheth us most evidently that the whole earth is full of thy mercies which are farre above thy justice Wheâ—fore Lord mitigate thy rigour towards thy creature have pity and compassion on him for thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake Looke not upon his sins but looke upon the face of thy Christ who hath fully satisfied thee for him by offering up unto thee that great sacrifice of his body upon the Crosse We beseech thee then O most gracious God full of mercy to make him sensible of thy grace which thou hast never denied to thy children And because thou art our eternal Father well knowing whatsoeveâ— is needfull and expedient for our salvation We pray not unto thee to lengthen unto him his life or to abridge it for we repose our selves upon thy holy will whereunto onely we desire to be conformable Thou art wise without counsell to dispose of thy creature according to thy good pleasure That if it shal be thy pleasure to call him hence who is he that shal be able to resist thee But if it be thy good pleasure to send him health againe who is he that shall reprehend
for me As accursed upon the tree of the Crosse to free me from the curse eternall wherunto Adam had obliged me This my Saviour Iesus Christ was truly buried to burie all my sinnes with him to the end they might not be imputed unto me before God It is my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ which went downe into hell suffering extream temporall anguish to deliver me from the eternall The Minister All this that you have now confessed of Iesus Christ was it sufficient to save you The Sicke No According as the holy Scriptures ought in every thing to be fulfilled For what had it profited me that Iesus Christ was borne crucified dead buried and went downe into hell for me only unlesse he had risen againe Wherefore I believe and confesse that my Lord my Head and Saviour Iesus Christ is risen againe from the dead to make me to rise againe with him as one of his meaner members unto life eternall The Minister Consequently it is written that he ascended up into heaven being now set downe at the right hand of God his Father But what doth this his ascention benefit you The Sicke My Lord my Head and Saviour Iesus Christ is ascended up into heaven to cause me to ascend thither after him for where the Head is there are the members also And I believe that being set downe at the right hand of God his Father he is my Advocat intereessor and onely Mediator with him assuring me exceedingly that none can hurt me seeing that Iesus Christ is my Advocate and Iudge both together Wherfore I have no occasion to feare the day of his judgment when he shall come to judge the quick and the dead For I believe and confesse in stedfast faith that there is neither judgment nor condemnation to them that are faithfull members of Iesus Christ The Minister Who hath given you the grace to understand and know all these things The Sicke It is by the grace of the Holy Ghost one only God with the Father and the Sonne by whose means we receive all the goods and gifts which are offered us in Iesus Christ The Minister Seeing you have already confessed that you are a member of Iesus Christ it thence followeth that you are withall incorporated into his Church which you must believe to be Holy Catholique and Vniversall The Sicke I do assuredy believe the Holy Catholique Church washâ— and cleansed with the Precious Bloud of Iesus Christ for the which in the greatest humility I render him thanks that he hath affoorded me the grace to be one of the meanest members of his Church being baptized into his Name he hath made me to live in the communion unity and love of the same by having instructed me in his holy Word and fed me with his true Body steeped in his precious Bloud into the hope of eternall life The Minister Well go to seeing you are so well founded upon the lively Rocke which is Iesus Christ in knowing so well your selfe you must confesse and acknowledge the principall good which you have received from this good Iesus Christ The Sicke It is very reasonable for I would not be ingratefull in not acknowledging the goods and gifts which I have received from God Wherefore I confesse that I poore miserable sinner have offended without end and without ceasing the goodnesse and justice of God having transgressed all thy holy Commandements In the doing wherof I have deserved death and eternall damnation Neverthelesse appealing to Gods mercy I cry him mercy and do believe and confesse without all manner of doubt or wavering that full and perfect forgivenes of all my sinnes is graunted me by the sole merit of the Death and Passion of my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ in the effusion of his precious Bloud wherein I assure my self to be sufficiently and entirely washed and purged which is the most transcendent good and contentment that I could ever have received and such is my faith wherein I will live and die by the helpe of the grace of Gods Holy Spirit The Minister Seeing you have received so great a good from God by the means of his Sonne Iesus Christ it is fitting also that you do his commandement For even as he hath pardonned you and remitted all your sinnes in like manner must you pardon heartily all those which may have offended you Otherwise you walk not according to God Sick In this thing I have knowne the Law of Iesus Christ to be the singular sacred and perfect Law commanding us to love our neighbours friends and enemies as our selves Wherefore I also intreat all those to whom I have done wrong or said wrong to pardon me as heartily as I pardon all them that have offended me desiring to do them all good offices of love and kindnes as to my good brethren and friends The Minister Now sith it is ordained by God that all men shall die we cannot resist his ordinance rather we ought evermore to conforme our selves to his holy will Wherefore my brother you must not think it strange if I declare unto you the same which the good Prophet Esay declared unto King Ezechias saying unto him from the Lord Set thy house in order for thou shalt die not live This good advice ought to stirre you up thorowly to set your selfe in good order spiritually in your conscience And that is first of all to convert and turne you unto God to bewaile your sinnes as that good King did To implore his mercy in begging pardon at his hands and saying alwayes in your heart Lord God be propitious and mercifull unto me poor miserable sinner for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake my Lord and Saviour And then you must not forget your house and familie which you ought so well to set in good order and so to dispose of by a good testament and last will that it may remaine in peace and tranquillitie after you But the better to give you to understand how to dispose aright and to set in order your house it is that you give unto every one what belongeth unto him without defrauding of any man that you leave your wife endow'd with what is due to her your children and kinsfolkes in good agreement and charitie that after your decease they may have no occasion to fall to dissention and division This being done you must quite forget all worldly eares and affection to the world which passeth away withall the concupiscence thereof But he that doth the will of God abideth for ever Touching your children you are only their naturall father for a time but God is perpetually their Spirituall Father having them in his holy keeping and protection to preserve and sustaine them to keep and deliver them from all evill whilst they will but walk in his wayes Besides in that you are a Christian regenerate in the holy Sacrament of Baptisme long since you knew that we have not here any Citie of continuance for we looke for a better
thou hast so graciously preserved us unto this present houre by reason of our sinnes our life is exposed to an infinitnes of inconveniences and in the mean time we still subsist and are filled with thy good things Our being and our welbeing Lord we should hold it of thee we ow it to thy free grace and meere mercy to thee alone for the same be all glory for evermore But O our most gracious God it is most necessary for us that thou continue thy gracious favours unto us otherwise what thou hast hitherto done for us would turn to our confusion Leave us not then for then we shall perish thou hast created and redeemed us not to destroy us but that we might have eternall life Shed forth then upon us thy more especiall favours and above all the grace of thy holy Spirit Thou that hast washt us from our sins in the precious bloud of thy Sonne Sanctifie also our soules by thy Word and according to thy promise For Lord shall we enjoy Iesus Christ and his benefits without our serving of thee without magnifying of thee And what honour shall we render unto thee or what acknowledgment unlesse thou thy self confer upon us both the will and hability of performance The will and desire to honour thee We already have of thy free grace give us also the power of performance Give it us Lord with efficacy and according to thy good pleasure graunt it unto us and at the most humble and fervent request which we make unto thee for the same Give us not over neither to the malice of our enemies nor to our own perversnes let neither of them hinder us in thy service nor let us not give them any subject of dishonoring thee let our example serve for our conversion That they seeing the holines of our lives may lose their wils to hurt us and may gain an affection to know thee aright to acknowledg thee O God according to thy Truth according to their duty Let us not O Lord abuse our health and present prosperity Grant we may imploy them to the glorifying of thee and to the advancement of thy work with faithfulnes and every one according to his vocation whereunto thou hast called us above all that in the midst of our greatest repose we may prepare our selves for afflictions to the houre of death and for the fruition of our eternall rest When thou shalt visit vs with thy rods that it may be in thy mercy and for our amendment when thou shalt call us that it may be in thy grace and for our salvation whether in prosperity or in adversity whether sound or sick whether living or dying we may evermore confesse thy truth and do nothing which may be unworthy of our profession nothing which not seriously testifies our repentance for our sinnes our desire of thy grace our seeking of thy glory the peace of our soules the comfort of our consciences and the assurance of our salvation in thy welbeloved Sonne IESVS CHRIST In his Name we further pray thee to conferre the same good things on all our kinsfolks and friends call unto thee those that know thee not and strengthen those that already have thy feare Establish maintaine every where and make effectuall the Ministerie of thy Word for the conversion consolation of al thine Elect and for the enlarging of thy glory of the Kingdome of Iesus Christ Keep our King and all His grant Him a long Raigne in thy feare and for the good of of thy Church Let his subjects O Lord and above all we who are instructed by thy Gospell render unto him and unto all our Superiours all obedience unto which thy Word obligeth us Make thine own sensible of the bitternes of thine afflictions rejoyce them also in the sweetnesse of thy comforts so moderate and terminate thy corrections that they may be wholsome unto them Above all we beseech thee for them which have need of thy succours in this Church deny them not thine assistance heare their prayers and ours comfort them and deliver them that they and we may praise thee solacing our selves in thy goodnes And because O God it is onely our sins which are able to hinder us from hoping to receive from thee that which we ask of thee as thou pardonest us our sins in thy Son graunt us grace voluntarily to renounce all iniquitie so shal not the course of thy grace be interrupted so shall we have experience both in our prayers of the Truth of thy promises and in our whole life Yea even unto the last gasp therof the continuance of thy fatherly mercy in the same thy welbeloved Sonne in whose Name c. A Prayer for him who after he hath beene worthily prepared to receive the holy Communion approcheth to the Lords Table 9. O My God O my Father I have had experience of thy mercy in the whole course of my life especially since thou gavest me the knowledge of thy Truth and of my salvation and at this present time Lord thou openest before me the treasure of all thy riches thou presentest and offer'st unto me whole Iesus Christ with all his benefits Seeing then O God of my salvation seeing thou wilt that I should obey thy Word that I should draw neare unto thy Table Alas suffer not nor permit that it shal be to my condemnation But O good God far be it from me that I should admit any such feare For thou hast touched my heart with serious repentance I am right sensible that thou strengthenest my faith and reachest forth unto me thy hand thy selfe to receive me this day thou that art the Authour of my salvation O happy day wherein I protest before thee to detest my sinnes to renounce mine iniquity to be admitted unto the participation of the Sacrament of the New Testament Good God give me now the grace to shew forth the death of my Saviour grant that in his sufferings I may discern how great was thy wrath how exact thy justice against our sinnes seeing that to blot them out thou hast not spared thine owne Sonne Graunt also I may acknowledg thankfully thy infinite mercy towards us in that for us thine enemies thou hast given unto death the just thine onely Sonne But Lord give me to admire the never to be paralel'd love which thy Sonne beareth me in that he hath undergone both my sins and thy wrath to affoord unto me the food of eternall life O how wonderfull art thou in thy bounties Seeing that this day thou wilt by visible and sacred signes augment my joy and present to the view of mine eyes thy celestiall and invisible graces At this instant thou wilt give me an assured pledge of my conjunction with Iesus Christ And by him with thee O my Father as also with thy holy Spirit Now shall I be assured that Christ is in me and I in him O excellent Vnion sith it bringeth to passe that I have peace with thee
that Iesus Christ taketh upon him all my evill and bestoweth on me all his benefits that he quickneth me by his Holy Spirit that I am united unto all the faithfull that nothing shall separate me from thy love that none shall pluck me neither out of the hands of my Saviour nor out of the bosome of his Church I feare neither my sins for behold here the bloud of my Saviour which blotteth them out nor thy wrath for loe here the seale of my reconciliation with thee nor the Devill for behold here Christ who hath overcome Nor death for this day I receive the Sacrament of life everlasting this day is promise made unto me and the scale of it is given me that the heavens are opened unto me that my habitation shal be in the house of God for ever Lord increase my faith Lord raise up my heart unto thee graunt that unto thy glory graunt that unto salvation I may comprehend the excellency and the benefit of these things and that thence I may take up a firm resolution to renounce the world to walk therein as a pilgrim as keeping on my way towards my Saviour to draw unto him my neighbours to edifie them by mine example to adhere to thy Truth to continue their profession thereof against the rage and against the subtilties of all the enemies of thy Truth to my singular comfort even unto the last gasp of my life Amen A Thanksgiving to be rendred unto God after we have been partakers of the holy Communion 10. LOrd my God how is my soule ravisht in contemplation of the good things which thou commest to give me thy poore servant Alas Lord I am farr lesse then the least of thy mercies and then all the truth thou usest towards me it is thou that assurest me that thy Sonne that thine onely Sonne died for me It is thou that hast given me the seales of thine inviolable Covenant But what say I the seales O God thou knowest what ardor I feele at this present within me an assured testimonie that Iesus Christ is come to dwell in my heart by the precious faith thou hast given me Yea Lord I feele that he dwelleth in me I feele he engraveth in my heart the efficacie of his death and passion he died once upon the Crosse for my sinnes But he liveth for ever in my heart for my salvation I know it I beleeve it with as much certainty as with truth I have been partaker of the outward signes of thy grace O let my soule enjoy so great repose against her enemies O let it have an unspeakeable contentment in thy mercy As Iesus Christ died for me let Iesus Christ live in me O God it is so for thou wilt have it so for I am sensible of it and my faith is greatly strengthened Surely Lord thou wilt be my God for ever for thou art with me thou givest me the bread of life thou cloathest me with the innocency and righteousnes of thy Son O good God finish in me thine own work thou hast rescued me out of the dangers of eternall death thou hast assured me of most happy rest graunt me Lord yet this period unto my prayer that I may not repay thee with ingratitude that I may not die in sin but may live to righteousnes that I may deny my selfe may edifie my neighbours may consecrate my self to thy glory that in the sobriety righteousnes and religion of my life I may affect nothing so heartily have nothing so often before mine eyes as my leaving of this world And whilst thou preservest me therein O God as long as thou keepest me in the same I may expect with all thine Elect the most blessed hope and appearance of the glory of the great God which is our Saviour Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory from this time and for evermore Amen A Confession 11. O Lord God Eternall and Almighty Father we confesse and acknowledge unfainedly before thy sacred Majestie we are poore miserable sinners conceived and born in iniquity and corruption inclined unto evill doing unprofitable unto every good work and that by our sins we transgresse continually and without ceasing all thy holy Commandements In doing wherof we purchase to our selves by thy just judgment destruction and utter ruine Yet Lord we are displeased with our selves for having displeased offended thee we condēn ourselves our sins with true repentance humbly praying thy grace may relieve our misery and calamity Have mercy then upon us O God and most gracious Father and full of mercy for Iesus Christs sake thy Sonne our Lord. And blotting out our sins and blemishes inlarge in us and increase daily the graces of thy Holy Spirit that we acknowledging heartily all our unrighteousnes may bee toucht with true displeasure which may beget in us sound repentance which mortifying us unto all sinne may bring forth the fruits of righteousnesse and innocency which may be acceptable and wel pleasing unto thee thorough the same Iesus Christ thy welbeloved Sonne our Saviour Amen A Morning Prayer 12. O Lord God Eternall Father seeing it hath pleased thee to bring us safely unto this present day be pleased also to give us grace we may passe the same without offending thee and what ere we shall do say or think may be to the glory and praise of thy Name and edification of our neighbours And look not Lord upon our infirmities upon our sinnes and on our unthankfulnesse But looke upon thine accustomed goodnes and according to the same turn not away thy face from us but ever hold us up by thy hand that we fall not from thee at all and let not those threatnings which thou hast pronounced against them that have knowne thee and have not glorified thee as they ought fall upon us But Lord hold us ever in thy feare and forsake us not teach us to do thy will and give us the will and the power to do it for without thee we can do nothing Above all Lord make us alwayes with our whole hearts imbrace the memory and the merit of the death of thy Sonne And especially when the houre of our owne death shall come graunt that in the same we may have such faith recourse and assurance that we may be in the ranke of those which die in the Lord. And even then also graunt us that we may leave this world without all discontent thereat and that all our desire may be to be with thee Also Lord thou hast taught us to pray that thy Kingdome may come be pleased to advance forward the same and in so doing touch our Kings heart and the hearts of his Councill and illuminate them with thy brightnesse that thou maist be King and rule every where And that thine enemies may be made thy footstoole looke downe Lord in mercy upon all the poore afflicted ones persecuted and oppressed especially for thy Word Deliver them O good God as
varietie of formes wherewith thou hast distinguisht them and as thou now bringest upon the earth the brightnes of the day and of the Sun bring also Lord upon my soule the brightnes of thy holy Spirit that according to the mesure that my arms shal be imployed for the maintenance of my body the thoughts of my soule may be engaged in the invocating of thy holy grace thorow the conduct wherof wee may walke so on thorough the wayes of this sensuall and corruptible world that I may not go astray from the celestiall and incorruptible That if my senses deceived by the pleasing baites and delicious objects which offer themselves in the world would seduce my reason hold them back Lord by the hope of pleasures infinitely greater which are proposed to them which live according to thy holy will and by the feare of the paines 〈◊〉 number 〈◊〉 â—â—out measure which 〈◊〉 them that forsake the way of thy commandements to follow that of their flesh And seeing that to lead me to thy mercy thou hast been pleased that the Author of light that eternall wisedome came downe upon earth and there abode for a time that he might converse amongst us to light the lamp of our soules by the fire of thy holy Word Infuse Lord by the same bounty the cleare light which thou hast put therein by the operation of thy holy Spirit that in thy wedding day we finding our selves adorned with the wedding garment of thy grace we may be led into the participation of thy celestiall glory A Prayer for the Evening 19. LOrd in as much as thine unsearchable wisdome hath been pleased to divide our whole life into labour and rest and every one of our dayes into light and darknes and yet appointest them both to serve thy glory Now at this houre that it hath pleased thee to shut in this day and to call me from my labour to sleepe I lift up my hands unto thee and offer unto thee for an Evening Sacrifice my heart and my tongue and revolving and ruminating in my thoughts that favour wherewith thou hast from morning unto this evening sustained my life conducted my actions guided my steps directed my hands governed my thoughts turned away the temptations of the world I forme in my voice in the best manner I am able a thanksgiving and song of praise to thy infinite goodnesse And therefore albeit I know well that in my works there is a great deale more want then good yea not to file upon the account but that which proceedeth from my self the whole must needs be damnable I conjure thy sacred mercy that it will make them acceptable by powring forth on them that infinite grace which thy deare Son hath purchased for the world which alone giveth perfection and sanctification unto all the actions of men Now that I go to yeeld my eyes unto sleepe graunt my body may take rest in bed my soule withall may repose in the bosome of thy Son Iesus Christ And thy Holy Spirit watching over me may remove far away froÌ„ me all unclean concupiscences foolish imaginations and uncouth dreames and deliver me from all feare saving from that of thy sacred and severe judgment and so moderate the course of my sleep that repairing my strength of body it may not lull it asleep in idlenes but let me awake at a fit houre and exercise my self in holy prayer thus all the dayes of my life sliding on one after another untill it shall please thee to change this temporall into an eternall rest thorow the intercession of him that hath purchased as with the price of his bloud our SAVIOVR IESVS CHRIST Amen A Prayer for our finall obtaining of victorie by Iesus Christ. 20. O Almighty God sith we are filled with so many concupiscences which must needs pollute the pure and sacred gifts of thy Holy Spirit graunt we may take in good part the chastisements which thou sendest us to tame and bring under the said concupiscences and that as we acknowledg thee to be our shepheard we may yeeld up our selves to be governed by thy shepheards staffe profiting daily under thy chastisements and tasting in thy severitie of thy bounty that we may not be discouraged but walking on forward thorow mis-reports and disgraces yea even thorow the midst of death for thy Names sake that we may rejoyce in thee esteeming all things losse for the price of the knowledge of thy Sonne who giveth the same Spirit that hath sanctified us which also strengtheneth us That being partakers of that unction of the Holy Ghost we may withall be partakers of the victorie of thy Sonne IESVS CHRIST A Prayer for the preservation of the Church 21. ETernall Lord God strong pitifull mercifull slow to anger abundantly plentifull in thy free mercy and truth keeping Covenant to a thousand generations taking away iniquity transgression and sin We beseech thee that we may find favour before thine eyes pardon our iniquities and our sins and possesse us fill us with thy Spirit in wisdome in understanding in knowledge teach us that which we are to do so that we may apply our hearts to thy Word and may not hold on our course of sinning nor follow the multitude to do evill But that we may seriously obey thy voice keep thy covenant may be ranked amongst all people thy most precious jewell although all the earth is thine and we are unto thee a kingdome of Priests and an holy Nation dwell thou in the midst of us and be our God Preserve our houses and when thou shalt passe thorow the countrey â—o strike and to exercise judgement let there be no wound unto destruction among us bedeaw with the bloud of the Lamb our threshold and both our doore-posts look upon that bloud and passe by the doore and suffer not the destroyer to enter into our houses to strike that we may know thou puttest a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites Graunt thy children may grow and increase into exceeding great abundance may be multiplied and reinforced mightily so that even the earth may be replenished with them and the more it shall afflict them the more they may multiplie in all abundance Be moved with compassion towards them which sigh and crie let their crie come up unto thee looke downe upon their affliction Another Prayer for the Church 22. LOrd thou takest no pleasure in the death of a sinner but hadst rather that he should turne from his way and live Powre not forth thy furie upon us heape not thy wrath upon us judge us not after our wayes but let thine eye spare us and have compassion upon us for we are thy sheep the sheep of thy pasture and thou art our God Hide not then thy face from us but powre forth thy Spirit upon us Graunt we may have all but one heart and put into us a new spirit Take from us our heart of stone give us a heart of flesh that we may walk in
are the enemies of our soules But following the Apostles counsel to obtaine the victorie in this Spirituall battell we must resist constantly by faith For the victorie which overcommeth the world it is our faith which is a certaine and assured knowledge of the love of God towards us according as by his Gospell he declareth himselfe to be our Father and Saviour by the meanes of Iesus Christ Having then such a firm faith for your principall foundation know ye and confesse unfainedly before the Majestie of God that you are a poore and a miserable sinner conceived and borne iniâ—niquitie corruption prone unto the doing of evill unprofitable unto every good thing and that by your sinnes you have transgressed without end and uncessantly the holy commandements of God In the committing whereof you have purchased and brought by his just judgement ruine and destruction upon your selfe Notwithstanding you are sorry and grieved in your selves for having offended him and do condemne your selves and your sinnes with true repentance desiring that Gods grace may help and relieve your calamitie Pray then in this firm faith if you cannot with mouth speak it in your heart that God our most gracious and most mercifull Father enter not into judgment nor into an account with you but would be pleased to have pitie on you in the name of his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and that he would blot out your sinnes and blemishes by the merit of the death and passion of the same Iesus Christ in whose Name offer up unto him his holy Prayer which he hath taught us saying from your heart Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdome come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as wee forgive them that trespasse against us and leade us not into temptation but deliver us from evill For thine is the kingdome the power and the glory for ever ever AmeÌ„ F. S. N. Acknowledge from the bottome of your heart your unrighteousnes be sorry for your sinnes repent uncessantly and the kingdome of God will draw neare unto you Acknowledge there is no righteousnesse no innocencie nor any good works of yours nor in you But rather as the children of wrath conceived and born in the sinne of old Adam you deserve death and eternall damnation Notwithstanding let not this nor all the sinnes of the world when you should have committed them affright you For Iesus Christ the true Sonne of the eternall God is made true man conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the holy Virgin to sanctifie and cleanse you He suffered under Pontius Pilate many afflictions injuries and outrages making himselfe a servant and captive to set you in full libertie Iesus Christ was crucified as accursed upon the tree of the Crosse to deliver you from the eternall curse Iesus Christ died shedding forth his bloud his precious bloud to wash you to redeem you to deliver and wholly set you free from the death of hell and from the power of Satan Iesus Christ was buried in the grave to burie all your sins which he tooke away and blotted out Iesus Christ descended into hell insuffering extreame sorrowes to free you from all the paines and sorrowes of death Iesus Christ rose againe from the dead to cause you to rise againe in your owne body and unto glorious immortalitie Iesus Christ ascended into heaven to make you to ascend up thither after him Iesus Christ sitteth at the right hand of God his Father Almighty being your Advocate and Intercessor towards him and the attonement of all your sinnes We look for his comming to judge the quick and the dead to render unto every one according to his works But unto his faithfull ones that believe in him he will not impute their sinnes but having entirely justified them by his grace will make them raigne with him in his heavenly throne for ever F. S. N. Such is the great mysterie of our redemption which by the working of the grace of the Holy Ghost you mâ—sâ— firmly believe was wroughâ— for your salvation And doubt not but that by the merit of Iesus Christ the head of his Church you are a member incorporated into the same returning him thanks in great humilitie that he hath been so gracious unto you to have graunted you the happines to have lived in the communion and company of his faithfull ones for having fed you with his Word with his Body and Bloud acknowledging as being fully assured the great mercy of God in the remission of all your sinnes which is made over unto you in Iesus Christ who will raise you up againe at the last day to make you raigne with him in life everlasting which he hath promised unto all those which believe in him being baptised into his name Now F. S. N. seeing you have this faith doubt you not to receive the promise of Faith for God is true he cannot lie as man Sooner shall heaven and earth perish But the Word of God shall abide for ever God is your Father and Creator you are his creature and the worke of his hands He hath not made you to destroy you for he is the Saviour of all men and will not the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live Wherefore I declare unto you in the Name of God that out of his great goodnesse and mercy he gives you full pardon and forgivenesse of all your sins thorow the sole merit of his Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord in the shedding of his precious bloud for he is the propitiation not only for all your sins but for all the sins of the world F. S. N. Iesus Christ saith with his own mouth that all things are possible unto him that believeth Believe then without doubting at all that Iesus Christ putting on our flesh was made true man wherin he died for you having taken upon him all your sinnes in his body to abolish and blot them out Set before and present unto God the precious death of his Sonne Iesus Christ and for the merit of the same death and Passion ask his mercy in saying from the bottome of your heart in great humilitie and repentance O Lord God Almighty be mercifull unto me a poore and miserable sinner for thy deare Sonne my Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ his sake and by the merit of his Death and Passion be graciously pleased to receive my soule which I commend into thy hands F. S. N. Put your whole assured trust and confidence in God For seeing he is for you none shal be against you for Iesus Christ who is the Lamb without spot or blemish hath overcome all for you He offered up himselfe once for you and by the same sole oblation hath wholly abolished all your sinnes He hath abrogated made void and forcelesse your follie unrighteousnesse abomination and obligation With this good Lord Iesus Christ God the
thee For all things are in thy hand and nothing is done without thy will and holy providence Yet Lord if out of thy grace thou prolong unto him his dayes thy rod shall serve him for a chastisement to amend him and to convert him unto thee and we together with him will render unto thee thanks and praises But if thy will be determined to make him passe hence into a better life wee beseech thee for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake to forget all his sins and transgressions which thou hast been pleased to blot out and towaâ—â— away by the effusion of his precious bloud be graciously pleased thorow the merit of the Death and Passion of thy Sonne to receive his soule into thy hands when as thou wilt call him out of this world Lord God despise not the work of thine owne hands for behold here thy poore creature as it were wholly overwhelmed who calleth upon thee out of the depth of all these evills presenting unto thee his sad and penitent soule with his dejected and humbled heart which we beseech thee to be pleased to accept as well pleasing unto thee for thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lords sake in whose Name thou hast promised to heare our requests Wherefore Lord we beseech thee to receive us into thy holy protection to illuminate our hearts and understandings to addresse our selves unto thee to call upon thy holy Name as thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord hath taught us to pray unto thee for the relieuing of all our necessities saying Our Father which art in heaven c. Finally O God most gracious Father full of mercy be pleased evermore to support us by thy grace and power that by the infirmity of our flesh we fall not away And because that of our selves we are so fraile that we are not able to continue firm one minute of time graciously strengthen us by thy Holy Spirit and arme us with thy graces that we may bee enabled to persevere constantly in the faith without which it is not possible to please thee Bee graciously pleased then to confirme and establish us daily in the same whereof we will make confession with heart and mouth I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Prayers being ended notice shal be taken how the sicke person doth and hee may bee asked how he feeleth himselfe touching the state of his health with gracious talke and Christian Speeches But if it appeare that he decline and no token of recoverie appeare a while after a fit time shall be chosen to speak unto the said sicke person and to aske him whether he be not willing to heare talk of God and to hearken to his Word Whilst he is still in perfect memorie So that if he be inclinable to entertaine discourse concerning God the short Catechisme following shall be begun A SHORT CATEchisme which is not onely to instruct the sicke but also to refresh his memorie with the great mysterie of our Redemption For the better understanding and retaining whereof in his latter dayes he ought to make confession of his faith before the assistance of the faithfull whereof one of them in the Ministers absence must question him as followeth The Minister F. S. N. EVery man that rightly knows himselfe and is not ignorant of his owne condition and qualitie certainly he ought to acknowledge that although he was created after the image and likenesse of God neverthelesse he is conceived and borne in the sinne of old Adam whereby he is made a poore and miserable sinner ignorant inconstant and full of iniquitie and consequently subject unto all miseries afflictions adversities and finally unto death all which sinne hath caused which God not willing to leave unpunished daily afflicts us for or to speake more properly hee chastiseth us in this world that he might not condemne us with the world Wherefore F. S. N. be patient in your sicknesse and you shall possesse your soule in spirituall ioy Acknowledge your sins and accuse you your selfe before the Majestie of God whom you must looke up unto and behold by faith making confession thereof with heart and mouth before this whole assistance for it is written that wee believe with the heart unto justification and confesse with the mouth unto salvation Hearken then unto the questions which I will now propound unto you and answer them faithfully according to that understanding which you have received of the Lord. Which if you cannot answer by reason of your weakenesse and hinderance of your sicknesse I will answer for you and it shal be sufficient for you to give us to understand your heart and constancie of your faith in which you must live and die Go to then I demand of you wherefore and to what end were you created in this world The Sicke To know God The Minister Was it necessary for youâ—â— know God The sicke Yes verily For seeing he is my soveraigne good without the knowledge of him I had been more miserable then the bruit beasts The Minister Seeing you know God you well know that he is power wisedome and infinite goodnesse one God alone in three persons Father Sonne and Holy Ghost He is that one God whom Abraham Isaac and Iacob worshipped in spirit and truth hee is that one God Eternall who created heaven and earth and all things that are therein not such the knowledge of God which you have The Sicke Yes The Minister But can such and this simple knowledge of God conduct and guide you straight to eternall life The Sicke Very hardly For it is life eternall to confesse and know one onely God and him whom he hath sent his onely eternall Sonne our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ The Minister Why is it necessarie for you to confesse and know the Lord Iesus Christ The Sicke Because in Iesus Christ I must recover all that I have lost in my selfe by reason of the sinne of old Adam in whom I am borne and conceived Wherfore it hath been behooffull for my salvation that Iesus Christ true God and true man being clothed with our flesh should give unto me of his free grace all that which I had lost in Adam The Minister It is very well said Behold why Iesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary to purge and sanctifie you For absolutely contrary hereunto him you are conceived and borne in sinne and of sinfull parents Why do you not confesse that without Iesus Christ you had remained a poore miserable sinner in eternall death The Sicke Yes assuredly But I believe and confesse that that good Iesus Christ hath reconciled me unto God his Father The Minister But how hath he reconciled you unto God his Father The Sicke By his Death and Passion in the shedding forth of his precious Bloud for to deliver me from all eternall paines This good Iesus Christ hath suffered for me under Pontius Pilate many afflictions injuries and troubles Iesus Christ it is that was crucified
thou hast broken rejoyce As then thou didst that favour unto the Israelites even then when they were in the desarts to make them to tast of the fruits of the terrestriall Canaan to the end to incourage them to make them to walk on forward with boldnesse towards the Land of Promise So Lord give unto this sick person and unto us that are in the wildernesse of this world an assurance of the forgivenes of our sins in the bloud of thy Welbeloved who was wounded for our trespasses and bruised for our iniquities peace in our consciences a continuall acknowledgment of thy favours a firm reliance on thy love and joy in our soules which are the fruits of the Celestiall Canaan to the end that relishing that sweetnes we may aspire with zeale and courage towards the end of our Spirituall Calling in Iesus Châ—â—st to be filled not with 〈◊〉 and hony but with 〈◊〉 beams of thy glorious 〈◊〉 and with the rivers of thâ— pleasures with thee for evermore For in possessioâ— of thee great God we shall possesse all things and in thee and thorow thee we shal be all radiant with thy glory and shining as the brightnes of the firmament and as the Sun which shineth in his strength And during this small time which remains for us to live in this world give uâ— grace that thorow good works we may make sure 〈◊〉 Vocation and Election to the end that thus doing 〈◊〉 â—ntrance into the eterâ—â—â—â—â—ingdome of our Saviour Iesus Christ may be abâ—ndâ—ntly accommodated unto us bearing evermore in â—â—nd those words of thy Sonne Iesus Christ that he that shall persevere and shall overcome shal be clothed with white garments and I will not blot his name out of the booke of life But I will confesse his name before my Father and before his Angells And to the end we may receive death which is the end of our miseries in good part make us seriously to think on the future resurrection of our bodies for as this day according as thy Prophet Amos teacheth us shal be a day of darknes not of brightnes of heavines not of joy of destruction not of salvation to the wicked so shall it be the acceptable day of the Lord for the good for as thy Son our Saviour teacheth us we ought to lift up our heads and to rejoyce in that day because our redemption is neare In that day shall it be according to thy Prophet Malachie that the register or book of remembrance which is written before thee of them which think of thy Name shal be opened If King Assuerus had in his Palace a Booke of the worthy exploits of his subjects wherein he found written the good deeds of Mardochâ— to recompence it and shalt not thou have O great King by whom the Kings of the earth raigne Thy book of life and retribution wherin are writ the names of thy children whom by a singular prerogative thou hast adopted for such in thy Son Iesus Christ David surely knew this mysterie when as in his sorest afflictions he said unto thee Lord thou tellest my wanderings my tears are in thy bottle are they not in thy Book Now to the end we may bee acceptable to thee whilst we are incompassed with this mortall flesh graunt us the grace to live in this present world soberly justly and religiously expecting that happy day of the last resurrection and appearing of thy deare Son our Saviour Iesus Christ who in the same shall transforme our vile bodies to the end they may be made like to his glorious body according to the effectuall power wherby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Vnto thee O great God thorow thy Son Iesus Christ in the Vnity of the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen 2. Another Prayer when the sicke is neare unto death 35. O Lord our good God and Father who out of thy great goodnes daily showrest downe upon us a sea of bounty and blessings and who hast in thy hand rest and labour health and sicknes life and death We poore sinners setling our selves upon the assurance of thy goodnes which is continually ready to relieve those that resort thereunto in the interim of their grievous assaults unto the blessed haven of thy sacred mercy We are bold in the name of this sick person who fighteth against death to lift up our hearts and our eyes towards thee to the end that thy favour and grace may serve unto him for a starre of light and a guide in that voyage which his soule maketh from earth to heaven and from this mortall life unto the immortall to persist firmly in the faith even unto the end without being terrified or shaken by temptation illusion or by any other stratageme of the enemie Thou art O great God the light of all them that hope in thee and who leddest thy people Israel thorow the ghastly wildernes by a pillar of fire in the dark night therfore we beseech thee to enlighten with thine assistance and holy protection this thy childe in the darkesome passage of death And surely Lord experience shewes us that when humane means seeme most to faile us then is it that thou keepest nearest unto thine to comfort them with thy right hand handling them with thy helpfull hand with gentle and cherishing fomentations and that thou makest them sensible that the point of their extreame need is the opportunitie of thy succours And therefore is it that now the heart of this sicke person sobbeth that his eyes are duskish and heavy his eares deafe his mouth dry and juycelesse and as the outward man falleth in him it would please thee to give him strength in his inward man and to fill his soule with gladnes and joy in that last conflict making him powerfully to relish those celestiall gifts which are laid up for us in heaven by the merits of thy deare Sonne our Saviour who to make us to live againe in heaven after he had by his death reconciled us unto thee ascended into heaven there to prepare a place for us In the interim then of this small time which remaines for this thy child to live in this world give him grace that his spirit may alwayes acknowledge thee that his heart may adore thee whilst he shall breath that he may be assured stedfastly that in the end of his mortall sweat he may find unspeakable happines with his bride-groome Iesus Christ unto whom with thee in the unitie of the Holy Ghost be honour and glorie for ever Amen 3. Another prayer in distres 36. LOrd God and Father of all mercy that sentest from heaven an Angell to comfort thy Son when in the depth of his Passion bearing our sorrowes and loaden with our griefs wounded for our offences and bruised for our iniquities his soule was heavie even unto death We beseech thee from the bottome of our hearts to comfort this thy sick child whom thou hast regenerated and incorporated
into thy welbeloved Sonne acknowledg Lord the mark of thine adoption in him We know O God of inestimable puritie that our sinnes drive us back far away from thee But thy deare Sonne who is made for us by thee wisdome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption not only washeth us with his bloud to becom acceptable unto thee but withall maketh giveth us entrance into thy Sanctuary boldnes by his death to approch with assurance to the throne of thy grace to be heard in due time Graunt grace unto this sick person to free the point of death with an holy and Christian resolution Redouble his courage at that present houre that his soule is upon the point to behold thy face wherein is fulnesse of joy And amidst the violent dartings of those sighs which accompanie the last acts of his life give him perfect clearâ—esse of judgement accompanied with calmenesse of spirit evermore to acknowledge his true and only God that drawes him out of the desarts of this world to live happy in the Heavenly Ierusalem and who withdrawes him out of the bottomlesse depths of wretchednes to bring him to live in heaven heaped with eternall blessings Command thy holy Angels which thou incampest round about those that feare thee and which watch for the welfare and safety of thy children that they beare the soule of this thy servant up into heaven the sacred Temple of thy glory most gloriously resplendant with happinesse and honour where he shall clearely see that which his spirit adores here below and where he shall injoy that divine and celestiall harmonie which the blessed Spirits make unto thee uncessantly and the eternall joyes which cannot be valued and where he shall live in continuall admiration of those incomprehensible bounties in the presence of his Spouse thy beloved Sonne Iesus Christ To whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for evermore So be it 4. Another Prayer to bee said when the Sicke is in extremity 37. O Lord our good God and most mercifull Father who being overcome with the bowels of thy tender mercies hast sent down thy beloved Sonne to save sinners and hast been pleased that this thy Sonne was bound to loose us condemned to absolve and free us that he died to give us life yea that he was made a curse to the end that we might be made a blessing of God in him We beseech thee to graunt this grace unto this sick person to repose and relye himselfe on the certainty of faith for the full remission of his sinnes upon that entire and perfect satisfaction which thy deare Sonne whose bloud was once offered up to abolish the sinnes of many hath made unto theâ— upon the Crosse For it is certaine that thou wilt not the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live Thou bruisest not in thy displeasure those that thou hast redeemed by his death thou dost not precipitate into that eternall gulfe those whom thou hast ingrafted and regenerated in that great Mediator and Saviour of the world when as calling upon thy mercy they shal be converted with their whole heart unto thee That when Satan our adversarie who like a roaring Lion goeth about us endeavouring to devoure us maketh himself a party against this sick person in this his last conflict setting before him the checkroule and catologue of his sinnes and thy rigorous judgment to astonish and to precipitate him into despaire give him grace to shield and ward himselfe as with a target and buckler to repell and beat back the fierie darts of that enemie with the truth and assurance that the bloud of thy Sonne Iesus cleanseth from all sinne Fortifie then and animate O God of invincible power and our firme hope this thy child with the strength of thy Holy Spirit at this present houre that his soule being disburdened of the miseries which presse him yea set free from the captivitie of his body is ready to go unto thee And in that houre wherin the earth claimeth in his person what we have borrowed of her have pitie Lord on thine owne image and despise not the works of thy hands Behold Lord the teares the plaints the sighes the groanes and the contrition of the heart of this sicke person and our prayers that we may acknowledge in his person thy clemency the mother of our hope thy succours the source of our life and that indeed thou art our sacred and saving refuge And as for us which remaine in this vale of miserie graunt us this grace that as thy people being captive in Babilon had the comfort to direct and lift up their eyes towards Ierusalem the place wherein thou didst manifest unto them thy glorious and gracious presence that even so amidst the captivitie of this world where we see nothing but confusion and where vice raigneth and thy honour is dis-esteemed we may have our eyes towards thee as on the sole object and subject of our joy and rejoycing seeing in thy face is the fulnes of joy and at thy right hand are perfect pleasures for evermore Even so O thou God of inestimable bounty and goodnes and who hast chosen us out of the world to follow thy holy will we beseech thee that when thou shalt call us out of this world to place our soules in the company of those who by faith have overcome Kingdomes have done righteousnesse and have obtained the promises and who are written in the Booke of Life of the Lamb. In the meane time O Lord arme us with patience and in the midst of our troubles make us sensible by a lively feeling that our light affliction which is transient and soone over produceth in us a waight of glory wonderfully excellent and that leaving by death these visible things which are but of small continuance we shall injoy those that are now invisible to our eyes which are abiding for ever in Iesus Christ and by Iesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory for ever Amen 5. A Prayer when the sick is in some grievous perplexitie 38. O God and Father of all mercy who art wise in thy counsels true in thy word and admirable in thy works yea who keepest thy deare children as the apple of thine eye In as much as now we see that now it is even at this time that it wil be thy pleasure to withdraw this thy sick child out of this mortall world We beseech thee enter not into account with him to punish him nor reprove him in thy displeasure neither chasten him in thy wrath But remember Lord he hath beene called in thy Church and in the number of thine Elect to be washed and sanctified by thy grace in the name of Iesus Christ thy deare Sonne who took upon him our griefs and hath undergone the burden of our sorrowes that by his wounds we might receive health whereof his baptisme hath beene the badge Wash then Lord who art in
drawne dry thy arme is not shortened nor thine eare growne heavie of hearing but our iniquities are they which make this sepation between thee and us which take thou away by thy mercy and by the intercession of our Saviour Iesus Christ It is thou that hast crusht the Dragon and bruised the head of that old Serpent and who by the blood of thy Covenant hast drawne us out of the pit where there was no water having vanquished hell by the death of thy Sonne thou then great God that hast pluckt us from out the talons of the Divell wilt thou not deliver us from the hands of men thou which hast saved us from hell wilt thou not deliver us from the power of the world O Eternall Lord thou wilt do it and wilt not forsake us but rather having chastised us in measure thou wilt make us sensible of thy comforts and wilt cause to shine upon us thy face in ioy and in salvation least wee faint thorow our infirmity and least we be overcome through the length and hardnesse of the temptation for so also Lord hast thou promised and thy promises are certain thy word more firm then heauen and earth thou hast promised us by the mouth of thine own Sonne not to forsake us and to be with us even to the end of the world thou numberest our haires thou receivest our sighes thou puttest up our teares into thy bottles he that toucheth thy children toucheth the apple of thine eye thou causest thine Angels to pitch their camps about them that feare thee deare and precious is their death in thy presence Doe then O God according to thy word and let the Angell of thy face march before us let thy protection be round about us as a wall of fire thou that stillest the waves of the sea and the insurrections of the people and which holdest the hearts of Kings in thine hands as the rivers of waters curbe the furie of the people and give unto our King thoughts of peace estrange farre from him the Counsels of violence frustrate the expectation of our enemies who alreadie have devoured us in hope dissipate their counsels thou that surprisest the wise in their subtilties which knowest the depths of Satan and piercest with thine eyes into the counsels of the sonne of perdition whom thou wilt discomfite with the breath of thy mouth and wilt beate downe all power which opposeth it selfe against thine but if our iniquities beare witnesse against us and make us unworthy to see so excellent a worke do it for thine owne sake for though we be unworthy to be heard thou art worthy to be glorified wherefore suffer not Satan to triumph and reioyce at the dissipation of thy Church and that thy holy Name is without punishment blasphemed Awake then O God thy jealousie and the blustering motions of thy fatherly affections unbare and tucke up the arme of thy holinesse and let the ends of the earth see thy salvation remember thy ancient compassions and thy covenant with thy people Remember the bloud of thy children spilt in abundance which cryeth for vengeance from the earth We confesse indeed that we have need to be humbled and that thy Church hath need to be purged againe and therefore it is that thou takest the fanne into thy hand to repurge thy floore and raisest the wind of persecution which serveth to carry away chaffe and to expell hypocrites But withall O good God amidst this tribulation the weak do faint and the good are oppressed and partake in the affliction and Idolatrie gathereth strength and the night of ignorance groweth thicker and thy holy Name is blasphemed and the doctrine of salvation trampled under foot by thy adversaries Therefore is it that we beseech thee O Father of mercie that if thou wilt afflict us that we may not fall into the hands of men but that we may fall into thine owne hands for thy compassions are great for men hate us not for that we have offended thee but because wee defend thy quarrell and because thy Name is called upon by us and renouned upon us the blood-suckers thirst after our blood not to ease the patient but to satisfie their lust Above all things O God and most gracious Father continue unto us thy word and afflict us rather with all other manner of affliction in this life then to take from us that light sith it is the testimonie of thy favor towards us our priviledge amongst all people and the way to come to thy kingdome that our children may be instructed therein and mâ—y be heires of thy Coveâ—â—nt after us and that our dayes may be finished in thy favour may be followed with an age wherin thy truth may shine forth againe and the kingdome of thy Sonne Iesus Christ may take a great increase and by preserving unto us this preaching of the Gospell in the purity thereof give it efficacie in our hearts and breake not in thy anger the strength of this spirituall bread Rather Lord make the feare of this light incite and rowse us up to make our profit thereof and to redeeme the time and to further and carrie us on forward in this way whilst we have the light and let evils wherewith thou visitest us be wholesome remedies unto us and an instruction for our soules and let them serve to recollect our faith and to draw from out our hearts fervent prayers and that the deliverance which it shal please thee to graunt us may make us know thy fatherly love towards us which shall accompanie us the rest of our dayes till we be retired out of this vale of miserie to put us in possession of thy kingdome that we may leave after us thy Church peaceable the breaches of thy house repaired and thy service purely establisht to the glory of thy great Name and the salvation of many by thy Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen Es c. 26. v. 12. 13. Lord thou wilt ordaine peace for us for thou also hast wrought all our workes in us O Lord our God other Lords besides thee have had dominion over us but by thee onely will we make mention of thy name Ver. 20. Come my people enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doores about thee hide thy selfe as it were for a little moment untill the indignation be overpast Morning Prayer 2. O Our good God and gracious Father we thy poore creatures present our selves before thy face acknowledging that we are great sinners who cease not to offend thee in thought word and deed ingratefull for thy benefits full of diffidence and incredulitie more affectioned to the things of this world then unto thy service But there is mercie with thee for thou lovest not the death of a sinner but that he should convert and live and hast given us thine own Sonne that we beleeving in him might not perish but have life everlasting Thou hast commanded us to call upon thee with promise to give us
then I have loved heaven I preferred the preservation of my goods before the setting forth of thy glory earthly repose before eternall happinesse Alas Lord what punishments am I worthy of What torments have I deserved For my conscience accuseth me my sinnes call for vengeance against me and surely if the wages of the least of our sinnes be eternall death and if it be impossible for me to number my sinnes or to conceive the enormiousnesse of them how O thou God of vengeance how whilst I consider my selfe in my selfe shall I expect from thee with unspeakeable feare eternall and infinite punishments Yet O gracious God thy word teacheth us and experience witnesseth to us that thou wilt not the death of a sinner but that he turne unto thee and live so also hast thou thy selfe found out in thine eternall counsell the meanes of our deliverance and hast in the fulnesse of time sent into the world the eternall Sonne of thy love thy darling even he in whom thou art well pleased thou hast establisht him a Saviour and Redeemer for all those that hope in him by converting them unto thee He was made for us wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption his bloud cleanseth us from all sinne he was despised to raise us unto glory he hath taken our nature to make us partaker of his he was borne the Sonne of Man to make us the Children of God he was full of sorrow to fill us with happinesse he was wounded for our sins and bruised for our iniquities upon him was laid the penaltie which brought us peace and by his bruises are we healed he came into the world to lead us to heaven he died to give us life he rose againe for our justification To conclude Lord thou so lovedst the world that thou gavest that spotlesse Lamb to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have life everlasting And seeing O my God and Father of mercy that out of thy speciall favour it hath pleased thee in the midst of my errour even in mine infidelitie ingratitude to take pitie on me to give me thy knowledg and the resolution to follow thy Gospell seeing thou hast endued me with true faith in thy Sonne seeing thou hast touched my heart wherefore Lord shall I not have accesse unto thee with confidence Why shall I not approch with assurance to the throne of thy grace to obtaine mercy and to be releeved by thee in due time For though I be miserable art not thou mercifull If I be unrighteous wilt thou not cloath me with the righteousnesse of my Saviour Mine iniquitie amazeth me but thy goodnesse assureth me my unworthinesse estrangeth me from thee but the worthinesse of thy Sonne recalleth me back inviteth me and conducteth me to thee unto thee that art the God of my salvation that hast redeemed my soule from death that hast purchased me life everlasting and most happy O my God how great is my comfort how excellent the joy how precious and unspeakeable the repose which my soule enjoyeth in the meditation of these things Vnto thee onely then it is that I now addresse my selfe as to confesse my sinnes so also to acknowledge thy mercie as to condemne my selfe so withall to find absolution in thy Sonne If to be sorrowfull and to grieve for my sinnes so also to rejoyce and to comfort my selfe in thy bounty who shall lay any thing to my charge Is it not thou which justifiest me Who shall condemne me seeing that Christ died for me Seeing he is risen againe seeing that for me he is at thy right hand making request for my salvation and quest conservation Nothing O my God shall separate me from the love thou bearest me and seeing thou hast loved me in thy Sonne I shall in all things be more then victorious But what shall I render unto thee O Lord unto thee that hast delivered my soule from death mine eyes from teares and my feet from sliding Vnto thee O Lord that hast loosed the bands of death which compassed me about Vnto thee that hast converted and turned into joy the sorrowes of the grave which had overtaken me What shall I render unto thee O Eternall Lord for all thy benefits conferred upon me I will take the cup of salvation I will call upon thy Name I will pay my vowes before the people I am thy servant thou hast unloosed my bands I will sacrifice unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving I will offer unto thee the fruit of my lips I will confesse thy Name thou hast purchased me with a price I will glorifie thee in my body and in my soule I am thine unto thee therefore will I present my selfe as a lively and holy sacrifice that may be pleasing and acceptable unto thee To this end O my God I crave strength from thee the conduct of thy Spirit thou hast already given me a will to serve thee produce O Lord in me not onely the will but withall perfect it with efficacie and according to thy good pleasure Of my selfe I can do nothing to thy glorie I perceive not the things which are of thy Spirit all the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are altogether continually evill the wisdome the desires of the flesh is enmitie against thee It will not it cannot be subject to thy Law and yet by thy Spirit thou hast already given me the beginning of my regeneration Yet Lord though I will the thing that is good yet find I not the meanes to performe the same I do not the good that I would but I do the evill that I would not do It is to thee then that I have my recourse thou art the Author of every good gift the fountaine of life lyeth in thee in thy cleare light we see clearely and from thee onely is all our sufficiencie illuminate me by thy Spirit that being directed by the same I may render unto thee the service which I owe in the acknowledgment of all thy benefits Give me grace that to serve thee I may do nothing but what may be acceptable to thee that I may frame my selfe not unto mine owne fancie but according to thy will that I may do not what seemes good unto my selfe but what thou approovest that I may performâ— not mine owne designes but thy will not mine owne intentions but thy commandements not my will but thy Word Graunt I may propound unto my selfe for my end not the vanitie of the world but thy glory not my reputation but the manifestation of thy holy Name not my establishment on earth but the advancement of thy truth and of thy Church Give me to serve thee not unwillingly and by constraint but freely and with a good heart that I may be pricked forward not by the rigour of Menaces and the chastisements of thy Law but incited by the sweetnesse of the promises and benefits of thy Gospell that I may be not possessed with the Spirit of
most assured that I am unworthy of thee I will love thee O my God and give me grace to put my whole trust and confidence in thee onely and so to repose and relie upon thy goodnesse and holy providence that from thee onely almighty and most gracious I may hope for and expect patiently whatsoever is expedient and necessary for me Cursed be the man that trusteth in man that maketh flesh his arme and whose heart withdraweth it selfe from the Lord It is better Lord to cleave unto thee then to trust in the Princes of the people Let worldlings and the reprobate live full of diffidence and distrust let them be bereau'd of judgement in their adversitie let them be daunted and forlorne in the first difficultie that befalls them let them have recourse to unlawfull meanes and those that are forbidden by thy Word As for me O God of my salvation in thee only will I place my hope that I may not be confounded Yea rather thus beholding with a setled and fixed eye what ere shall come to passe I shall abide stedfast as the mountaine of thy holines But O my God horrid should my condemnation be if I hoorded up in my heart the precious gift of thy knowledge how inexcusable my proceeding if I should boast of thy feare of thy love without my testifying thereof in my outward actions I beseech thee then so to strengthen me that I may shew forth by an holy conversation that it is thou Lord that sanctifiest me by thy spirit Touch my soule worke so in my heart and in my conscience that I may be freed from hypocrisie that my religion may not be a cloke to vaile from men the irregularitie of my passions the violence of mine affections but that being well ordered in my mind from thence as out of a purified fountaine may flow forth the streames of all sorts of good works agreable to thy Word meet for thy glory and profitable to my neighbours befitting my Vocation and unto my salvation To this end O Lord I beseech thee that thou wilt be pleased to give me courage to testifie what I have in my heart by my outward actions that I may glorifie thee every where and upon all occasions in making free and publike profession of thy Truth That I may not be ashamed of thy Word that I may not passe by thy bountie in silence but that I may shew forth thy strength even from thee Lord that hast called me out of darknesse into thy marvelous light that with my mouth I may give unto thy works praise conformable to the judgment and approbation I have already made of them in my soule that I may never cease to magnifie thee and that my heart may take no other pleasure but to see thee glorified in the world For if even the livelesse creatures celebrate thee why should I thorow ingratitude be mute in the acknowledgment of thy benefits Wherefore Lord hast thou given me a tong but chiefly to serve as an instrument to blesse and praise thee And that I may speak nothing but what may tend to thy glory Let me not take thy Name in vaine nor give my self to evill speaking nor detraction let no rotten speech go forth of my mouth but let all my talke tend to edification Moreover O Lord give and enable me to confesse not only in prosperity and whilst all things smile upon me according to the world but even in the greatest adversity that even in the midst of persecution if it please thee not to exempt me from the same I may answer alwayes with meeknes and reverence every one that shall demaund of me a reason of the hope that is in me I know Lord that very great is my weaknesse but is thy hand shortened or lesse strong for me then for the rest of thy children Is it thou that art pleased to perfect thy strength in our weaknes and infirmity Thou wilt give me then the constancie and that perseverance which shall be necessary for me that without feare and without being troubled I may be happy in suffering for righteousnes Give me grace also that all my actions may be void of vanity and presumption accompanied and seasoned with humility and reverence that I may humble my selfe under thy mighty hand that the world may see I wholly depend on thy goodnes and mercy that I hold my life being and all things of thee only that thou only hast the power to do with me thy poore and miserable creature what shall seem good unto thee And seeing thou hast given me to feare thee and to love thee give me also the strength to do what thou hast commanded me to avoid what thou hast forbidden me enable me to order my life according to thy commandements thou hast given us in thy Law As also Lord in that which displeaseth thee it may be seen that I have thy feare and that I have thy love whilst I do that which thou requirest of me Thy feare shall estrange me from that familiarity which hath no place but amongst companions and shall containe me within that respect which I ow unto thee and thy love shall exempt me from that feare which shall euer ceaze upon thine enemies Lastly O my God above all the things which in all humility I desire of thee I beseech thee that often thou wouldst often graunt the leasure and desire to call upon thee as thou now hast done Thou dost familiarly speak to me by thy Word graunt that I may confidently speak to thee by my prayers that often I may withdraw my selfe apart that I may shut my self up in my closet to impart unto thee my griefs to confesse unto thee my sinnes to bewaile before thee my poverty and my miserie and to implore from thee thine assistance and thy mercy For Lord prayer wil be unto me an unspeakable comfort as an evident testimonie that thou hast not left me to my self that I am in the number of thy children that thou wilt blesse me and powre forth upon me thy mercy and after I have called upon thee I shall carry my self in my vocation with much more zeale standing upright with thee I will not feare the world having discharged my conscience in thy presence I will march with my head born aloft having carefully recommended my self unto thy guidance I shall have rest in my soule and shal be most assured that notwithstanding the rage and subtilty of all mine enemies which are also thine thou wilt give me to continue faithfully my life in thy feare and end it in thy holy favour even then when out of this vale of misery thou wilt receive me into thy glory unto everlasting and most happy rest Another Prayer 8. O Lord our gracious God and almighty Father as thou hast alwaies thy hand opē to do us good thy wil is that our mouthes likewise should be so heartily to render unto thee thanksgiving Now then we praise and blesse thee for that
thanks unto thee for the same But if it be thy will yet to continue any longer or even to augment unto him this sicknes grant it may be alwayes for his good and give increase of strength and of constancie to be able to beare these thy trials with a calme and meek mind without any impatiencie or grudging and that thus in these truly christian testimonies of his faith and Patience thou maist be glorified and his neighbours edified and comforted And that even he also by this experience had of the miseries of the world and of this life may be taught to wean his heart and affections from them to raise them up heartily unto the meditation and diligent search of that repose and incomprehensible happines which is set before us in heaven and in everlasting life Grant also Lord the like graces unto all others that are sick and afflicted Comfort them and strengthen them as thou knowest shal be needfull for them and above all give them power evermore with a true and lively faith to embrace thy mercy in Iesus Christ therein to find matter of consolation Heare us Father of grace for the same thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord his sake as we humbly beseech thee in that forme of prayer which he himselfe hath commanded us to offer up unto thee Our Father which art in heaven c. And because Lord that without faith we cannot please thee we beseech thee so to increase the same in this thy servant and in us that he may be enabled even unto the last gasp of his life and we with him to persevere in the same and to be evermore readily disposed thereof to render unto thee a pure confession both with heart mouth as we now do I beleeve in God c. Such is his faith Lord and also ours give us grace both to live and die in the same thorow Iesus Christ thy Sonne our Lord who in the unity of the Holy Ghost liveth raigneth with thee GOD eternally When there is some likelihood that the sickenesse will be mortall there must be added other consolations such as these following SIR You must ever be of good courage in the midst of this affliction wherewith God continueth to visit you in your body then you must know that he sends it you and continues it unto you but for your good and for the salvation of your soule To teach you by this meanes to come to a true knowledge of your selfe as being a poore sinner to detest more and more your sins to despise the world to lift up your selfe wholly unto God and to call upon him so much the more fervently with assurance to be heard according to his holy promises and to obtaine from him Christian constancie which is necessary for you in this triall The assurance of Gods mercy in Iesus Christ the foundation of all comfort NOW that which ought most to comfort you and to strengthen you with courage and patience which is that assurance which you must evermore take that God for his welbeloved Sonne Iesus Christ our Lord his sake embraceth you in his love and free gracious good will hath pardoned your sins hath adopted and received you into the number of his children to make you an heire of the kingdome of heaven by vertue of that purchase which Iesus Christ hath made for you by his death Such an assurance will ever make you certaine that nothing can befall you be it in life or be it in death which shall not be unto you a favour and a blessing from your heavenly father and which by consequence shall not be an helpe and a meanes ordained by his wise providence to advance and lead you unto a happy life This assurance comes from Faith TRue it is that this assurance we cannot take of our selves but it is this our good God who gives it us when by the power of his Holy Spirit and by his Word he creates in our hearts a true and a lively faith with the which we receive and appropriate to our selves the promises of his grace which he addresseth unto us in the preaching of his holy Gospell These promises briefly import thus much That God so loved the world that hee hath given his onely Sonne to the end that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Iohn 3.16 If then God give you the grace to believe in his only Sonne and to embrace and lay hold on him for your Redeemer and Saviour as we gather you do by the profession you hitherunto have made thereof and do still make the same in the midst of his Church you may and ought to take from thence an holy assurance that God according to the infallible truth of his Word hath received you into his love that you shall not perish but you shall have eternall life Now this being so what can you be afraid of Rom. 8.30 31. If God bee for us who shal be against us He who hath not spared his onely Sonne but hath given him for us how shall he not also give us all other things with him He hath given us the greater namely his owne Sonne shall he denie you then the lesse to wit what ere may be necessary and expedient to keep you and to uphold you against all manner of evills both corporall and spirituall as well in life as in death Faith applieth unto every faithfull one the promises of the Gospell NOw this application I spake of which you ought to make of the promises of the Gospell to draw from them such an holy assurance it is necessarily to be looked for in faith For to believe in Iesus Christ is not to believe onely in the grosse that there is a Iesus Christ and that he that believeth in him hath eternall life and it is not enough to believe that the promises of the Gospell are true in general and out of us The Devill himselfe believeth indeed all this and yet hath no true faith for all that But to believe in Iesus Christ it is when the faithfull believeth that there is salvation in Iesus Christ for himself which the Devill cannot believe And true justifying faith and by which the just liveth consists properly in this that we apply unto our selves and that every one of us appropriate in his owne particular to himself the promises of salvation to be able to say every one in his owne behalfe that which Saint Paul said in the person of every faithfull man and woman Gal. 2.20 I live in the faith of the Sonne of God who hath loved me and who gave himselfe for me Also Tim. 1.2 I know in whom I have believed and am perswaded that he is able to keepe that which I have committed unto him even unto that day And againe Rom. 8.37 38. I am assured that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things to come neither height nor depth nor any other creature shal be
thy mercy for his sins and true righteousnes in the obedience of the same thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord who was delivered up unto death for our sinnes and rose againe for our justification Yea ascended into heaven to take possession thereof in our name and by that meanes give us accesse and entrance thither whence sinne had banished us Imprint in his heart by the Power of thy holy Spirit a full certainty of all these thy graces that thereby he may be enabled to repose himself peaceably in thy mercy and to overcome happily all temptations and crosses which Satan and his owne flesh would lay before him to trouble the serenitie and cleerenesse of his faith and the tranquillitie of his conscience Let not his sinnes then plunge him into despaire seeing they have been so fully payed and satisfied unto thy justice not by gold or silver but by the precious bloud of thy Christ as by that Lamb without spot and blemish Let not death affright him seeing that sinne being destroyed and abolisht in him which is the sting of death it may remaine unto him disarmed and without power to hurt him Yea that his soule being separated from his body by corporall death it shal be to go unto thee victorious and freed from the captivity of sin therby to tast thorow the fruition of it that blessed life which he hath not tasted of in this world but by hope leaving indeed his body in the earth but not for ever but rather to be refined transformed and made in due time conformable to the glorious body of his head by the benefit of his resurrection Let not Satan daunt him any more seeing he cannot hurt him but by sinne and death the dominion whereof he hath lost in his behalfe Assure him in the end that in vain that accuser shall lay ought to his charge at the throne of thy justice seeing that he being already absolved and justified by thy grace there is no Iudge that can condemn him Let it be thy good pleasure also O good God to shew thy fatherly mercy unto all other sicke persons comfort and strengthen them according as thou knowest they have need thereof And above all graunt them the grace to embrace evermore with a true and a lively faith thy mercie in Iesus Christ that therein they may find all matter of comfort Graunt also unto us all that grace Lord that by this example we may profit and learne to renounce the world and our selves to imploy those few dayes we have here below to live to meditate on thy wisdome to walk carefully in thy feare to weane our hearts from the vanities of this life to raise them up to the meditation and expectation of the celestiall life And to this end to be alwayes prepared and in a readinesse to appeare before thee in assurance to be entertained and received in thy great mercie even for thy deare Son Iesus Christ our Lord his sake In whose Name we beseech thee O Father of mercie to heare us and in all other which thou knowest better then we our selves to be necessarie for us and this for thy poore servant as we pray unto thee in that forme of prayer which he himselfe hath commanded us to offer up unto thee Our Father which art in heaven c. Lord increase that faith which thou hast planted in the heart of this thy servant and child defend him with it as with a strong shield wherewith he may be inabled to quench all the fierie darts of the evill one And graunt that persevering constantly in the same unto the last gaspe of his life he may evermore at the least in heart make thereof unto thee a pure and Christian confession as we will presently do both with heart and mouth I believe in God the Father Almighty c. Such is his Faith Lord as also ours give the grace to live and die in the same thorough Iesus Christ thy Sonne our Lord who in the unitie of the Holy Ghost liveth and raigneth with thee God eternally Amen If the sicke person continue long time and yet alwayes with appearance of danger of death it shal be good to repeate unto the sicke now and then some of the aforesaid consolations but especially those which serve to assure him and to strengthen him against the temptations and combats of conscience And if happily the sicke person bee troubled with raving and fond imaginations or otherwise be not of perfect memorie and good understanding to heare any long discourse in a continued speech there shal not be used unto him other then short sentences such short questions as these here following also such as these or others the like And but talking to him by respits and some pauses interposed SIr you must take a good heart It is the fatherly hand of God which visits you for your good and welfare For unto them that love God all things do work together for their good Lift up your heart unto God to confesse unto him your sinnes and offences and to imbrace by faith his mercy in Iesus Christ which he hath promised unto all those that repent and believe in him Have you not alwayes a good assurance in the mercie of God and a stedfast faith in Iesus Christ your Saviour Yes Do you not believe that Iesus Christ died for your sinnes and rose againe for your justification Rom. 4.25 Yes Believe you not that he hath been made unto you by the Father wisdome righteousnes sanctification and redemption 1. Cor. 1.30 I do Do you not believe that you are freely justified by the grace of God thorow the redemption which is in Iesus Christ Yes According to your faith doubt not but God will free you and securely protect you from perdition and give you everlasting life For God gave his Sonne that whosoever shall believe in him shall not perish but rather have everlasting life Iohn 16. Feare not death seeing by faith you imbrace Iesus Christ who is your life I am saith he the resurrection and the life He that believeth in me although he were dead he shall live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me he shall never die Iohn 11.25.26 If your sinnes trouble and disquiet you have recourse ever by faith unto Iesus Christ and you shall find rest for your soule Come unto me saith he Matth. 11.28 you that labour and are heavie laden and I will ease you Feare not the rigour of Gods justice For there is no condemnation to them that are in Iesus Christ So saith the Apostle S. Paul Rom. 8.1 And who is he saith he Rom. 8.32.33 who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect It is God that justifies who is he that shall condemne It is Christ which died or rather which is more which is risen againe who also is at the right hand of God and who maketh intercession for us Be not loath to leave this miserable life which as S. Iames saith chap. 4.14