the sweet and refreshing Comforts of this Rest and Peace O! Lord let us never forget this great Mercy nor abuse it Let us not grow Careless or Corrupt by the Blessings of Peace or run into Earthly Affections and Dependencies and contract such Dross as may need a second time to be brought through the Furnace But keep us sober and purged and purified in our Hearts and Minds and maintain in us â—uch a Godly Zeal and watchful diligence under the same as will make use of the blessed Opportunities of Peace for going on with more constancy and with less hindrance and disturbance in thy Service And make us learn O! Gracious God by our past Suffering and Experience of thy Goodness to keep improved in Faith and Patience Having found thee so faithful in our necessity give us Grace to relye upon thee Let us not cast away our confidence nor grow weary in well doing knowing that in due time we shall reap if we faint not Oh! that the sweet Remembrance of thy Mercies may ever fill our Hearts with Love and our Tongues with Praise Oh! that it may make us careful in well doing and confident of thy Faithfulness and Care over us whilst we commit our Souls unto thy keeping in holding to thy ways through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen AN OFFICE FOR Prisoners for Righteousness SCRIPTURES Psal. 7. Act. 5. from v. 18. Mat. 10. Psal. 10. Act. 16. from v. 18. 1 Pet. 4. from v. 12. 1. YE shall be Betrayed both by Parents and Brethren and Kinsfolk and Friends and some of you shall they cause to be put to Death And they shall lay Hands on you and deliver you up into Prisons and ye shall be brought before Kings and Rulers for my Names sake And it shall turn to you for a Testimony But there shall not an Hair of your Head perish In your Patience possess ye your Souls And Meditate not before what ye shall answer But settle in your Hearts that I will give you a Mouth and Wisdom which all your Adversaries shall not be able to gain say or resist Luk. 21. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19. Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints Ps. 116. 15. What mean ye to weep and to break mine Heart For I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Act. 21. 13. He that loveth his Life shall lose it and he that hateth his Life in this World shall keep it unto Life Eternal Joh. 12. 25. 2. THE Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his Prisoners Psal. 69. 33. Deliver me from my Persecutors for they are stronger than I. Bring my Soul out of Prison that I may praise thy Name Psal. 142. 6 7. Deliver me O! Lord from the evil man preserve me from the Men of Violence Keep me O! Lord from the Hands of the Wicked who have proposed to overthrow my Goings For the Proud have hid a Snare for me and Cords they have spread a Net by the way-side they have set Gins for me They have sharpned their Tongues like a Serpent Adders Poyson is under their Lips Psal. 140. 1 3 4 5. In the work of the Gospel I suffer trouble as an evil Doer even unto Bonds but the word of God is not bound 2 Tim. 2. 9. For many of the Brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my Bonds are much more bold to speak the word without Fear Phil. 1. 14. 3. REmember my Bonds Col. 4. 18. Remember those that are in Bonds as bound with them Heb. 13. 3. Ye had compassion on me in my Bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods whilst ye became Companions of those that were made a gazing-Stâ—ck by Reproaches and Afflictions Heb. 10. 33 34. I would have retained Onesimus with me that in thy stead he might have ministred to me in the Bonds of the Gospel Philem. 13. Be not thou ashamed of the Testimony of our Lord nor of me his Prisoner but be thou partaker of the Afflictions of the Gospel according to the Power of God 2 Tim. 1. 8. Both in my Bonds and in the Confirmation and Defence of the Gospel ye are all Partakers of my Grace Phil. 1. 7. I was in Prison and ye came unto me In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Mat. 25. 36 40. 4. An Hymn of Thanksgiving for Deliverance upon a Trial or out of Pâ—ison IF it had not been the Lord who was on my side when Men rose up against me Then they had swallowed me up quick when their Wrath was kindled against me Then the proud Waters had gone over my Soul Psal. 124. 2 3 5. The Sorrows of Death compassed me and the Floods of ungodly Men made me afraid Psal. 18. 4. They compassed me about like Bees they thrust sore at me that I might fall but the Lord helped me Psal. 118. 12 13. And I had the Sentence of Death in my self that I should not trust in my self but in God which raiseth the Dead 2 Cor. 1. 9. But blessed be the Lord who hath not given me as a Prey unto their Death My Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler the Snare is broken and I have escaped Ps. 124. 6 7. He sent down his Hand from above and delivered me out of the great Waters from the Hands of strange Children Whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their Right Hand is a Right Hand of Falshood Ps. 144. 7 8. He delivered me from my strong Enemy and from them which hated me for they were too strong for me He brought me forth also into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me Psal. 18. 17 19. The Lord is my Strength and my Song and is become my Salvation The Lord is on my side I will not fear what Man can do unto me I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord Psal. 118. 6 14 17. 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 This Doxology may likewise be used at the end of the several proceeding Collections of Scriptures in this Office for Prisoners for Righteousness as also at the end of the several Collections of Scripture in the former Office for those who suffer for Righteousness when these Collections are read not only for Instruction but Devotionally as Hymns to God Prayers 1. A General Prayer for all Prisoners O! Almighty and Everlasting God thou seest the Streights and Sorrows which I endure in this place and how unable I am to help my self or to bring about my own Deliverance But the less Hope and Support I have in my self the more I look up unto thee and place my Trust in thy Mercy And when my own care can avail
and nothing but Affliction will make them wise justly art thou moved now at length to visit thy People in this Land with Persecutions after we had first turned a deaf ear to all the Calls of thy Mercy and had long abused the blessings of peace There is need O God of our sufferings to keep up a Reverence for thy Justice and to reclaim us from our iniquities and this fiery Tryal comes to purge us from our dross and to chastize us for our past Offences as well as to prove our present Obedience and Constancy to thy Holy Laws Our Peace O! Holy Father had made us loose and contentious and our Plenty had served chiefly to maintain Pride Luxury And the worldly Endowments about Religion had stoln our Affections away from it and instead of continuing thankful true to thee our hearts grew covetous and ambitious after them and preferr'd and took up with them for their Portion We are O! Lord a stubborn and a stiff-necked People still lifting up our selves against thee and against thy Vice-gerents We are given to Hypocrisie and take delight in Lyes Oppression and Rapine are to be found in our dwellings and Drunkenness and Adultery have grown common and fashionable Wickednesses have set up without shame in our streets Thy pure Worship and Service had been grievously and shamefully neglected or carelesly and indevoutly attended before it was given up to be persecuted amongst us And thine Holy Things have been desiled thy Ministers have been despised and evil intreated and thy Sacred and Dreadful Name has been commonly horribly prophaned by rash and false Oaths and by the most presumptuous terrible Imprecations Our Works O! Great and Righteous God have been Works of Iniquity and when thou hast called us we have not hearkened unto thee when thou hast smitten us we have not repented but have dealt proudly and hardned our necks against thy Word To us therefore O! Lord belongeth shame and sorrow and confusion of face and thou art Righteous in all that thou hast brought upon us Our sufferings are far below our deserts and we must needs justifie thee and condemn our selves But to thee O! God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though we have rebelled against thee And we return unto thee with true contrition and hearty repentance for all our Iniquities that thou mayest have Mercy upon us Oh! for the sake of thy Dear Son 's most pretious Blood pardon all our sins and purifie our souls Perfect our repentance and bring us home intirely to thy self and prevent all our back-slidings Help our slow and sloathful souls to be quick and vigorous and our drowsy spirits to be watchful in the ways of Righteousness Help thou us Good Lord for we are not able to help our selves and thou alone art our help And when our sufferings have by thy help and Grace reduced us to our duty we shall then O! Holy Father thankfully receive any Losses for Righteousness sake and look on all the violent attempts of the Enemy as so many instances and messengers of thy Mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen 2. Out of the Office of Commination O! most Mighty God and Merciful Father who hast Compassion upon all Men and hatest nothing that thou hast made who wouldest not the death of a sinner but that he should rather turn from his sin and be saved mercifully forgive us our Trespasses receive comfort us who are grieved and wearyed with the Burden of our sins Thy Property is always to have Mercy to thee alone it appertaineth to forgive sins Spare us therefore good Lord spare thy People whom thou hast redeemed enter not into judgment with thy servants who are vile earth and miserable sinners But so turn thine Anger from us who meekly acknowledge our vileness and truly repent us of our faults and so make hast to help us in this world that we may ever live with thee in the world to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 2. Prayers under Persecutions as they are Tryals of our Obedience and bring upon us Losses for Righteousness I. A General Prayer for Mercies Qualifications needful in Suffering-times O Blessed Jesus Who now callest us out to bear thy Cross and to suffer Afflictions for thy sake who sufferedst a most ignominious Death for ours bring none of us to suffer till thou hast first prepared us for it nor let us suffer more or longer than thou wilt enable us willingly and thankfully to endure Let not any among us O! Lord come to suffer for our own follies nor be afraid to suffer for thy Righteousness And give us all Grace to live according to thy Precepts that we may all have Courage and Comfort in suffering for them Let us not take liberty to transgress some duties of our Holy Religion whilst we suffer for others nor ever hope to recommend our selves or our sufferings to thy merciful acceptance without studying to be intire in our godly care and having an eye to all thy Laws And when our Afflictions press most upon us let the Graces and Comforts of thy Holy Spirit abound most in us Whatever else we lose thereby let us not lose Truth and a good Conscience Preserve us steadfast in the belief of thy Heavenly and Oppressed Truths undaunted in the Profession of them Grant us patience to bear thy Cross and not grow faint or weary and meekness to bear our Persecutors and not grow angry and bitter of spirit and Charity to forgive their Wrongs and to overcome their evil with good Strengthen our Faith of thy Heavenly Joys to recompence all these earthly sufferings and of thy never-failing Help and Grace to assist and support us under them and to deliver us from the same in thy due time Let the greatness of our distresses drive us to be more constant and earnest in our Prayers And as fast as Afflictions come from our Persecutors let succours and supports still come from thee O! Let us always have thy strength to bear us up and find thee an help at hand in our greatest needs and then our patience and godly steadfastness shall triumph over all the malice of our Persecutors And suffer us not O! Father of Mercies to be dashed to pieces in this storm swallowed up in these waves But in thy tenderness to our infirmities after we have suffered a while send us ease Shorten the days of these sufferings and hasten thy coming for our Deliverance and bring us at length to everlasting rest and peace in thy Heavenly Kingdom through JESVS CHRIST our Lord. Amen 2. A Prayer Out of the Litany O! God Merciful Father that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart nor the desire of such as be sorrowful Mercifully assist our Prayers which we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities whensoever they oppress us and graciously hear us that those evils which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man worketh
against us be brought to nought and by the providence of thy goodness they may be dispersed that we thy servants being hurt by no persecutions may ever more give thanks unto thee in thy Holy Church thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Particular Prayers I. For Integrity and not seeking to any evil ways for Help OH Almighty Lord thou hast reserved us for days when he that will depart from evil is like to make himself a Prey But grant me Grace to esteem no Loss comparable to that of Innnocency and of a good Conscience nor to harbour any fear like to that of thy displeasure and of the intolerable and eternal pangs of Hell-fire Let thy Laws O! my God direct all my steps in my greatest dangers Keep me more studious in all my Counsels of what is lawful for me than of what seems safe and serviceable in my necessity And never suffer me to stoop to any sin in hopes thereby to put by fleshly trouble or to serve any worldly turn In thy Providence O! Father of Mercies lyes all my safety and protection And Oh! that I may ever commit my self to that protecting Providence by keeping close to thy Commandments Oh! that I may never in any case forsake them but always look upon that as the ready way to have thee forsake me Whatever streights or dangers encompass me the ways of my duty O! Lord are the surest ways of thy mercy and of my own safety And Oh! that I may find them to be ways of preservation and deliverance at present and of everlasting peace and joy in the end through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen II. For Constancy in Persecuted Duties 1. Against being turned aside by Worldly Dangers or Losses O! Almighty and Everlasting God Keep me constant to thy Truths and Precepts amidst all these violent Persecutions which are ready to come upon me for the same Oh! that I may stand fast in thy ways and be nothing terrified by the Adversaries thereof That I may stand fast in the evil day and contend earnestly for the Faith Let me not grow weary of well-doing or of godly suffering nor wax faint in a good Cause Enable me to stand to my duty at all hazards and to be ready if the will of God be so to witness it unto Bonds yea or even to seal it with my blood and to dye for thee as thou Blessed Saviour hast done for me Let not the fear of men make me forsake thee nor let my love of this World make me throw up my blessed hopes of a better Nor give me up for the sake of any Losses or Terrors to fall from my duty or to deny thee before men that thou mayst not finally deny me before the Angels which are in Heaven Oh! that I may never leave thee Oh! Holy Jesu because thou art a Man of Sorrows But give me Grace with Moses always to prefer the Afflictions of the godly when they are persecuted before the Joys of the wicked and to choose to be among those who suffer for Righteousness rather than among those who seem best to thrive and prosper in the ways of violence Oh! that I may not grudge to take up the Cross when that is in my way to win the Crown nor to endure a short tribulation for the Kingdom of Heaven which thou art ready to give to all that faithfully serve and suffer for thee thro' our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen II. Against being shaken in mind or scandalized 1. By the Defection of others or by Variety of Opinions O Almighty and most Merciful God! keep me from being any ways unsettled or shaken in mind about the way of thy Truth and of thy Righteousness Oh! that thy Judgments may not make us harbour any suspition of the Truth of our Holy Faith but make us see that they all come upon us to try how far we can suffer for it or to punish us because we have not been true to it They are sent O! Righteous Lord to punish the Loosness and Wickedness of our Lives amidst the Orthodoxy and Holiness of our Professions And let not any other Persons unsteadfastness in thy ways how great or numerous soever they be cause me to waver or once think of varying from the same Oh! that I may never follow weak minds in their fickleness and inconstancy nor worldly minds in Varying Belief and Professions according as they are blown about with every blast of worldly Interest or Convenience Let me not think the worse of thy Truths because others forsake them Nor run in to those who prefer the ways of worldly ease before the ways of innocence Nor grow weary of the ways of everlasting Life because others setting more by worldly enjoyments are ready to exchange them when there is hopes of present security thereby for ways of everlasting death Thy Truth O! Lord are everlasting and still the same And Oh! that my Belief and Love thereof may always be one and the same too for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. Or By a Reverence of any Mens Persons ESpecially O! Lord let not my reverence of any Mens Persons cause me to erre from the way of thy precepts Let not them carry me against my own Knowledge Nor suffer me to ascribe more Authority or to have more Belief in their Examples than in the plain Voice of thy Word or in the clear common Notions of Right and Wrong and of Natural Conscience If they would have me shut mine eyes against this Light let me no longer reverence or give ear to them Yea Though an Angel from Heaven should come and preach against the same let me not believe him Let God be true though they be held Lyars And let these Monitors be ever firmly thought to speak right though the most admired Persons gainsay it and both act and speak wrong Make me know O! God that thy plain Word and the known and received Dictates of Natural Honesty and Conscience are always true and faithful but that every man even the best of men are lyable to fail Let me ever bear in mind that good men may alter and lose their goodness but that evil and unrighteous things do not alter nor can ever lose their unrighteousness So that whensoever a good man falls to do a manifestly evil and unrighteous thing his doing it can onely make us think the worse of his Person but is not in any wise to make us think better of the unrighteous Action Teach me O! Lord that it is thy Law and not their Example which is to be my Rule That I am thy servant not theirs and am to hearken unto thee not unto them and to call no man Master upon earth in opposition to thee my great Master who art in Heaven Oh! therefore let thy Truths O! my God and not other mens practice be my Guide and let thy approbation and acceptance not their
applause be my recompence thro' the Merits of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 3. A Prayer for Faith O! Almighty and most Merciful Father who both seest sendest all these sufferings which are come upon us from the Adversaries of thy Truth give me Grace to live by Faith in thee and not by fear of them and in all my Actions under the same to order my self as one who regardeth what thou promisest and not what they threaten Though I converse in the midst of them and they are full of rage yet keep me ever mindful O! Lord that their Malice cannot hurt me more than Satans Instruments could touch Job till thou givest them leave Whatsoever they devise against me it will come to nothing till thy time and my hour is come So that however they threaten I know I am secure till thou callest me out to suffering And since I shall suffer nothing from them but at thy time and under thy direction in the midst of all this fear and danger I rest my Soul O! my God upon thy care and cheerfully resign my self to thy protection and good pleasure And if it seem good to thee to send some sufferings thou O! Merciful Father wilt graciously suit my Tryals to mine Infirmities Thou wilt order me no more than by thy Grace I shall be able to bear and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain If thou tryest me it will be only for a season Thy Grace will take off their Violence before it has driven me beyond mine Innocence nor wilt thou suffer the Rod of the wicked to rest upon the back of the Righteous till they are wearied out thereby to put forth their hand unto Iniquity And when thou hast brought me into my troubles make me believe assuedly O! my God that thou wilt not leave me there Tho' I am in no wise sufficient for them of my self thy Grace shall be sufficient for me for thy strength is made perfect in our weakness Still as I need thee O! Father thou wilt be with me Thou wilt strengthen me by thy succours when my Burdens grow too heavy for me Thou who sendest me tribulations wilt send me comfort in them and make my consolations abound by Christ as my sufferings abound for him And make all the sorrows which I endure to work for thy greater Glory and my greater good in thy due time And Oh! that in the mean while I may look steadfastly from the Cross to the Crown and be firm in the belief and expectation that they who patiently suffer for Christ shall be sure to reign with him Set the joy before me that for its sake I may willingly endure the â—ross and despise the shame And hold my eyes fast on the exceeding weight of Glory which shall Recompence our present Ignominy and on the things eternal wherewith thou wilt repair our Loss of Temporal for our Lord Jesus Christs sake Amen 4. A Prayer for Trust in God O! Almighty and most Merciful Father whilst I walk here in the midst of fear and danger I humbly and cheerfully trust my self to thy care I place my safety in an humble confidence in thee and come to meet these difficulties and prepare to bear them not in any vain presumption of my own strength which alas at best is but weakness no nor of any earthly supports but onely in the Name and Power of the Lord my God Lord I trust to thee who art able to save me and hast promised to help me I trust to thee who lovest to be trusted and hast always been true to me and never failest those that trust in thee I look for all my succours and deliverances from thy Grace and am not hasty to fix times to thy Providence or to set bounds to my own patience but am contented yea thankful to receive them in thine own way and at thine own time even at thy set-time of sending them Oh! help me therefore O! my God for thy Faithfulness and thy Mercies sake and let me not be disappointed of my hope for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 5. Against trusting more in other things than in God and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances GRant O! Gracious Lord that under all our tryals troubles we may be duely sensible of the vanity and inconstancy of all earthly supports Oh! that we may never depart from thee to trust in them Nor give over our patient looking up to thee and thy wise Providence whose Ways and Methods are far above out of our reach to presume on our own vain fancies and bold surmises and lean to our own understandings Lord give us not up to feed on wind which serves not to preserve us but only to puff us up Nor to turn aside from regarding thy sure Promises to support our selves delude one another with lyes vain confidences and to warm our selves at imaginary Fires and walk in the Light of those Sparks which are not of thine but onely of our own kindling Let us not rest our hearts O! God and place our confidence in any Arm of Flesh for there is no trust in them For surely men are vanity yea to be layd in the ballance with thee they are altogether lighter than vanity We cannot know all that is in their hearts and they dayly and suddenly change their minds and purposes or their power fails and they cannot bring their devices to pass For where they are the most fixt on things and seem best prepared for them 't is not their device O! Lord but thy purpose which shall stand in a moment thou breakest all their measures And in a little time they turn to their dust and in that very day all their thoughts perish They are no staff of support O! God but a staff of reed to lean upon and will break and run into our hands and pierce them when we lay our weight upon them Teach us then O! Father in looking upon them not to look off from thee and to consider them even the best of them only as means of thy Care and good Providence which can preserve and deliver us without them by a thousand other ways tho' there is not any of them that can profit us without thee And make us all to look upon thee as the Lord from whom cometh our help and in whose sole Grace and Mercy we repose our intire and chiefest Trust through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen 6. Prayers for Patience 1. In easie and unwearied endurance O! Almighty most gracious God who suitest thy Gifts to our Necessities in these suffering-times give me a suffering spirit and enable me to bear hardship as a good Souldier of Jesus Christ. Endue me with such patience under the same as no heaviness or length of my Tryals shall overcome Let me not be driven by
Rod of the Wicked rest upon the Lot of the Righteous lest they put forth their hand unto Iniquity Shorten the days of these Sorrows and make hast to help and deliver us And work that Deliverance if it please thee by the Conviction rather than by the destruction of our Enemies for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen 3. Prayers for a Kingdom when in any Time or Place it happens to labour under Persecutions for any part of Gods Truth or way of Righteousness Or when it is torn to pieces by Intestine Divisions about the same 1. O! Almighty and most Merciful God have Mercy upon this most wretched and sinful Land and exalt the greatness of thy Mercy by curing the Height of our Misery And in the first place purge our Sins O! Lord which are the chief cause of all our Sorrows and which are the heaviest Plague that we lye under tho' alass we are least sensible thereof Oh! give us not up to a Reprobate mind and a seared Conscience Let thy Correction open all our Eyes to see and abhor all that iniquity and ungodliness which calls aloud to thee for Vengeance Oh! that we may see what it is to be false and faithless to God and Man to forsake thee in our Distress and seek to unrighteous ways for Refuge That we may lay to heart all that Hypocrisie and Prophaneness all that shedding of Innocent Blood all that Violence whereof our hands are full and the Spoils and Oppressions and other Wickednesses which have reign'd amongst us And by these foretasts of Sorrows which we have already felt in the course of these Iniquities Grant O! Lord that we may be struck with Terror of those insupportable Plagues and after-reckonings which are yet to come if we continue in the same And that we may learn thereby to Sin no more but apply our selves faithfully to seek and serve thee that we may be fit for thine Eternal Mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 2. AND when thou hast cleared us of the Guilt then Deliver us O! Gracious Lord from the Curse of our Transgressions Let not Power be employed to suppress thy Truths or a Righteous Cause but to support them Let not violence be able to force the Seat of Justice nor to hinder or pervert the due and free course thereof Bless the Labours of all those who seek to have Truth and Equity take place and to plant and settle Peace on Righteousness And set thy Face against them whose hearts and hands are set on ways of unjust Violence and publick Disturbance Turn their hearts O! God to be in love with Peace and Justice Or if still they will be obstinate against the same weaken their hands that they may not be able to hinder us of the speedy and happy influence and settled enjoyment thereof Bind up our breaches O! Father and make all our unnatural broils and bloodshed cease We are a People shaken to pieces do thou settle us We are all in confusion do thou bring us into order We are broken by our Sins Oh! do thou repair and heal us by restoring us to ways of Righteousness Our guilt and misery have made us heartless and void of courage Oh! let Innocence and the light of thy Countenance raise our Spirits We lye comfortless in our Iniquities Oh! Oh! Let thy Spirit reform us and then speak comfort to us Heal all the Sores of our Souls and then lighten our Earthly Burdens Keep Life in this exhausted Kingdom which is ready to faint and daily encrease it in the same and settle us once more in Justice and Holiness Peace and Safety for Jesus Christ's sake Amen 4. Prayers for the Church when in any any Time or Place it is called to suffer Persecution for Truth or Righteousness 1. A general Prayer for things needful to the same in such Times of Persecution O! Almighty Lord who hast purchased to thy self a Church with thine own Blood look in Mercy â—pon the same however Distressed â—ro ' all the World Especially upon â—â—at part thereof which languisheth in this Land and suffer not the Adversary to lay it wasâ—e or utterly to deface it after thou hast paid so dear for it Let not either Superstition or immoral Wickedness Corrupt and Prophane thy Worship nor let Schism any longer tear thy Body to pleces Let not vile Men go on to make Religion a Cover and Pretence for acting against moral Honesty and Justice lest the Hypocrisie of some beget Atheism in others and lest thereby loose Men be tempted to think and take occasion to say That there is nothing under any Professions of Religion but serving Worldly ends because they can see nothing else under theirs Oh! That Truth and Righteousness may be set up in thy Church and that Love and Unity may be set up in our Hearts That we may once more hear the Voice of Joy and Peace and receive Beauty for Ashes Pity a Church O! Blessed Lord which has long maintained Truth of Doctrin and Purity of Worship in the Nation and which has openly professed and bore out the Doctrin of patient Suffering for Righteousness and not resorting to any evil means for Relief in the Eyes of Men. Pity those who suffer and are in danger to be destroyed for their stedfast adhering to these thy ways when others generally fall off from them and set themselves violently to persecute the same And hear their Crys who mourn in Sion and are afflicted for the Dishonour that is brought upon thy Name and for all the Violences which are done to an Holy Religion Preserve them Holy FATHER by thy Power and give them not up to the VVill of their Oppressors But stir up thy Strength and come and help us Give us Constancy against the Errors of our Persecutors and in thy good time give us rest from their Violence for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen The Collect for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity GRant O! Lord we beseech thee that the Course of this World may be so peaceably ordered by thy Governance that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all Godly Quietness through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen 2. Prayers for particular Graces or Blessings when at any time or any where it is violently broken or pressed by Persecutions to forsake the way of God's Truth or Righteousness 1. Prayers for its Purity and Integrity 1. O! Father of Mercies who seest all the Back-slidings and Calamities of thy poor Church amongst us pity its misery and possess it with such a Spirit as is fit to enliven and actuate thy Body Oh! Keep it in thy Truth and save it from Heresie and false Doctrines either about Faith or Practice Give it not up to teach Errors for Advantage or to justifie unlawful ways for worldly Ends and Securities Nor suffer it to suit its Doctrines to secular Turns or to change Religious Principles as it shall be driven thereto by worldy Necessities Fix
Blessedness of coming to live with thee for ever after I am dead than with the pains of Death it self And whatever Terror it would otherwise strike into me let it arm my Spirit and sweeten all to think that I die for thee and that I die to be received into thine Eternal Mercy Lord perfect and accept my Repentance and pardon all my Sins and give me Patience and Presence of Mind to the last Let me die like a Christian with Faith and Charity willingly giving up my Life for a Testimony to thy ways and pouring out my Soul in Devotion towards thee and in Prayers for my persecutors till from my Body it shall pass into the Arms of thy Mercy and there be comfortably received by thee thro' the Merits and Mediation of my only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen 9. Short Prayers for the Condemned Prisoner for Righteousness in his last Extremities or at other times as he sees cause 1. O! Merciful Father I throw my self upon thy Mercy and most undeserved Favour as a poor wretched Sinner I infinitely need it and most earnestly desire it And I humbly hope for the same to pardon all the Sins and Follies of my Life and to accept this Offering of my Death thro' the abundance of thy Grace and thro' the sole Merits and Mediation of my blessed Lord and only Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. LOrd now the World is casting of me off I seek to thee to take me in Do not thou reject me when they do for I am thy Servant Receive me for I am coming to thee Receive me for thou callest me Receive me lovingly O! my dear God for I dearly love thee and am forsaking all to injoy thee I have nothing dearer to me in this World than my Life and that I am now making thee an humble Present of and parting with it for thy Cause And in this Oblation of my self be thou pleased O! blessed Jesu first to wash me with thy Blood and to dress me with the Graces of thy Spirit that I may be an holy and acceptable Offering And then do thou vouchsafe O! Holy Father Graciously to accept the same for thy dearest Son and my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 3. O! Jesu forgive me all my Sins and forgive all my Persecutors and grant them timely and true Repentance Now I am suffering for thy Cause let me be sure of thy Support and Assistance Now I am brought to dye for the ways of thy Righteousness let them have Honour Service by my Death Make it to work Godly Zeal and Stedfastness in thy Followers and Relenting and remorse in their Persecutors and to carry me to those most joyful and happy Mansions which thou hast prepared for all those who faithfully serve and suffer for thee in thy Fathers Kingdom Amen 10 A Thanksgiving for Deliverance when he is brought upon his Tryal for the Cause of Righteousness or for his being set at Liberty BLessed be thy Name O! Almighty Father who hast delivered me out of the Hands of those who â—ought my Life and hast set my Feet in a large Room Thou hast delivered the poor from him that was too strong for him Thou hast delivered him who served thee and counted not his own Life so dear to him as the shewing his Love and Fâ—delity unto thy Laws Thou hast delivered him because he loved thy Name and put his whole Trust in thee Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy Salvation I will ever praise thy Love and Goodness which is abundant in kindness and Succors towards those who fear thee and are ready to expose their own Pesons in thy Cause I will ever magnifie thy Faithfulness which hath not suffered thy Care of me to slacken nor thy sure word and promises to fail And I will ever Reverently and Thankfully adore thy Widom and Power and Justice which turn the Councels of the Wicked into Foolishness and take the crafty in their own Snares which crown thy Servants Heads with Joy and Glory but cover their Enemies with Grief and Shame which shew plainly unto all who are willing to see the same that it is extream folly to fight against thee and that they are in the sure way of Safety and Happiness who make thee their Strength and place their chiefest Security and advantage in thy good providence and gracious Promises and in keeping stedfast to thy ways And let all those that love thee O! Lord rejoyce and be glad in thee Make them Triumph in thy Righteousness and trust themselves to thy Care But put thine Enemies and mine in fear that they may sin no more And bring them to repent of their persecuting thee and thy Servants that they may not be brought to suffer for the same in the Day of Vengeance And keep me ever mindful O! blessed Father of this most merciful Deliverance that I may spend all the Days of that Life which thou hast now renewed to me in thy Service and learn thereby evermore to trust thee yea tho' the Pit be ready to shut her Mouth upon me and to place my chiefest comfort and safety in keeping stedfast to thy Laws which will be sure either to make my Sufferings end here in present Deliverance or to recompence them hereafter with unspeakable and everlasting Joys throuh the Merits and Mediation of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen FINIS The Contents of the Office for those who suffer for Righteousness THe Introduction Page 1. Scriptures for Receiving Persecutions 1. As Chastisements of former Offences p. 9. 2. As Tryals of Obedience and as bringing Losses for Righteousness Which are to be received with 1. Contentedness and Thankfulness p. 11. 2. Free Confession of Christ and his Truths p. 13. 3. Integrity and Prudent Caution p. 14. 4. Stedfastness and Constancy p. 16 5. Faith p. 17. 6. Trust in God p. 20. 7. Against Trusting more in other Things than in God and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances p. 22. 8. With Patience p. 25. 9. With Prayers and unwearied Devotion p. 28. 10. With Charity towards Persecutors p. 29. and 11. towards Persecuted p. 33. 12. Motives to Suffer p. 36. 13. For Deliverance from Persecution p. 39. 14. For Trust in God to be preserved under the Same and Delivered from them p. 41. 15. An Hymn of thanksgiving for Deliverance from Persecutions p. 42. Prayers under Persecutions 1. As Chastisements of Offences a Penitent Prayer p. 47. Another out of the Office of Comminat p. 50. 2 As Tryals of Obedience and bringing Losses for Righteousness A General Prayer for Mercyes and Qualifications needful in Suffering Times p 51. Another out of the Litany p. 54. Particular Prayers for 1. Integrity and not Seeking to evil ways for Help p. 54. 2. Constancy in Persecuted Dutyes Against being 1. Turned aside by worldy Dangers or Losses p. 56. 2. or Shaken in mind or Scandalized 1. By Defection of others or variety of Opinions
affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. 2. And fear not them which kill the body For not a sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many sparrows But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Mat. 10. 28 29 30 31. When ye do well and suffer for it hereunto were ye called 1 Pet. z. 20 21. It falls to none to be conformed to the image of his Son in sufferings but to them who are called thereto according to his purpose Rom. 9. 28 29. Whilst God continues his hedge about them Satan cannot touch them Job 1. 10. When he brings them under heaviness thro' manifold temptations 't is only for a season and if need be 1 Pet. 1. 6. When he permits their Persecutors to give them some trouble the remainder of wrath shall he restrain Psal. 76. 10. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10. 13. He is a very present help in trouble Psal. 46. 1. From him we shall obtain mercy and find grace to help in the most sitting season Heb. 4. 16. My Grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12. 9. And since what they suffer is only according to the will of God let them that suffer commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4. 19. 6. With Trust in God The fear of man bringeth a snare but who so puteth his Trust in the Lord shall be safe Prov. 29. 25. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee Is. 26. 3. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is Jer. 17. 7. For he is a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in times of trouble Psal. 9. 9. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder he burneth the chariot in the fire Psal. 46. 9. Some trust in chariots some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God We will rejoyce in thy salvation and in the name of our God will we set up our banners Psal. 20. 5 7. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes Psal. 118. 8 9. Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them Ps. 22. 4. Thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee Psal. 9. 10. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Psal. 37. 40. He will arise and have mercy upon Sion when the time to favour her yea the set-time is come Ps. 102. 13. I the Lord will hasten it in its time Is. 60. 22. But if you will not believe surely you shall not be established Isa. 7. 9. And he that believeth shall not make hast Isa. 28. 16. 7. Against Trusting more in other things than in God and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances There is no King saved by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength Ps. 33. 16 17. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel Jer. 3. 23. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lye to be laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter than vanity Ps. 62. 9. Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Is. 2. 22. Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help His breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day all his thoughts perish Psal. 146. 3. 4. Cursed be the man who trusteth in man saith the Lord and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desart and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited Jer. 17. 5 6. But blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn aside to lyes Psal. 40. 4. Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery Psal. 62. 10. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding Prov. 3. 5. For there is no wisdom nor understanding nor council against the Lord Prov. 21. 30. Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Behold all ye that kindle a fire that compass your selves about with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled This shall ye have of my hand you shall lye down in sorrow Isa. 50. 10 11. 8. With Patience Endure hardship as a good souldier of Jesus Christ 2 Tim. 2. 3. If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24. 10. Wait on the Lord and he shall save thee Prov. 20. 22. He that believeth will not make hast Isa. 28. 16. It is a good thing that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. 26. Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10. 36 37. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity Ps. 125. 3. Behold the Husband-man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter rain Be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Take my Brethren the Prophets for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Behold We count them happy which endure You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy Jam. 5. 7 8 10 11. In your patience possess ye your souls Luk. 21. 19. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
the least let thine O! thou blessed Helper of the Helpless appear the most for me Give me a Body O! my God fit to bear the Inconveniences of this close place and Grace to be content therewith Whilst I lie up here let me not want necessary Provisions nor repine at the meanness thereof Suit the lowness of my Desires to the hardship of my Circumstances and let the greatness of my study and care be to do Justice and shew Temperance and Self-denials not to please my self or to gratifie my own Carnal Ease and Appetites Whilst I am here kept apart from my former acquaintance Grant O! Lord that I may carefully retire into my Self and call mine own ways to remembrance And Oh! that I may amend whatsoever is amiss there and set all so streight with thee that I may delight to look into my own Heart and to search out my own Spirit Lord now thou hast left me nothing else to do make me apply my self wholly to the one thing necessary To grow in Holy Reverence and Devotion of Spirit in the study of dealing justly and fairly with all who are any way concerned with me in Humility apud mortified Affections in Patience and Contentedness Oh! plant and fill my Soul with all Heavenly Virtues and make bright all the cloudy and dark parts thereof with the Rays of thy divine Image And then O! my God I shall see something of thee as oft as I look into my self and learn to be pleased with my own Company though others are kept from me And in whatsoever want I am of other Comforts grant O! Father of Mercies that both here and ever hereafter I may have the Comfort of thy Presence When all else are taken from me do not thou forsake me Though I dwell in a disconsolate Room let thy Spirit dwell with me Let thy Law at all times direct me and let the Sense of thy Love comfort me And after thou hast Graciously improved this Melancholy Restraint to wean me from vain and carnal Delight and to set my Soul free in thy good time O! my refuge and strength deliver me out of this Prison and set my Body too at Liberty for my dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen The Prisoner for Righteousness may use the preceding Prayers for Integrity for Constancy in persecuted Duties for Faith for Trust in God for Patience for Charity towards Persecuters c. in the foregoing Office for Sufferers â—or Righteousness as he sees cause And for more particular Circumstances and needs of such as are Prisoners for the same they may express the Devotion of their Spirit in these Prayers following 2. Particular Prayers 1. A Prayer for the Prisoner for any part of Truth or Righteousness to use in his Family O! Father of Mercies who takest the Poor and Helpless under thine own more immediate and especial care when thou takest those from them whose part it is under thee to take care of them shew the Riches of thy Grace and Loving-kindness I humbly intreat thee to my Dear Wife and Children Guide them always by thy Holy Spirit and watch over them with an indulgent providence Keep them obedient to Councel and continue them under the Blessing of her care Preserve them from Want and protect them from Danger and make them a mutual Comfort and Support to each other And in the midst of all my Troubles continue both her and them a constant Comfort and Refreshment to me thy poor unworthy Servant And let me not O! Gracious God make them unhappy Or if we suffer in common for standing off from prevailing Violence and because we will not concurr or stake in with the wicked Actings of an unrighteous Generation let none of us repine at such Sufferings but look upon them as Afflions that are willing to be embraced yea rather Triumphantly to be rejoyced in I humbly desire O! Father that may all trust thee with our selves and cheerfully rest upon thy Faithfulness to make up to us any Losses which shall befal us on such accounts Thy good Providence is a great and blessed portion in such cases as praised be thy Name thy Saints have found in all times by joyful Experience And to that good Providence O! my God do I trust It shall always be my Hope and Confidence and oh that as it is the truest Blessing so it may ever be the happy portion both of me and mine thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 2. Prayers for the Prisoner for Truth or Righteousness to use for himself 1. A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies and Prosecutors when at any time or any where he is put in Prison for any Parts of Truth or Righteousness O! Merciful God who art the Helper of the Helpless and a Refuge for the oppressed in the Day of their Troubles be thou my Fortress and Help against my Persecutors They are mine Enemies O! Lord for thy sake and therefore set themselves thus violently against me because they cannot drive me to leave thee And I have no visible way left to appease their Hatred because I dare not forsake a jsut Cause or go along with them in speaking and acting against that which is right And these mine Enemies are many and Mighty and they persecute me violently and have laid a Trap for my Soul and there is none to help me But though I can neither appease their Hatred nor withstand it yet thou O! Lord canst alter it at thy Pleasure or if they persist therein thou canst disappoint them And to thee do I flee and look for Succour Help me therefore O! my Ged for in thee do I trust Help thou me for I have none else to help me for Deceitful are the Promises and vain is the help of Men. Make haste to help me for Trouble is hard at Hand Turn the Hearts of mine Enemies for seeking my Life or if they will persevere therein bring to nought their evil Purposes Forgive them Gracious Father and bring not them into such a Pâ—t as they have digged for me But Preserve me from falling into it and from being lost in the Depth thereof for my dearest Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. A Prayer for Deliverance from Frail and Faithless Friends when they are brought in at such Times to accuse him for the same YEA O! Gracious Father not only the Envy and Malice of mine Enemies but the weakness of my own familiar Friends is made use of to destroy me And a violent Temptation is laid before them to compass their own Safety by joyning to compass my Fall But the Hearts of all Men O! Almighty Lord are in thine Hand Thou canst at thy Pleasure fortifie the fearful and fix the wavering and unresolved Spirit and give Fidelity Honour and Conscience such Power with them as shall prevail over their corrupt Fears and worldly Interests Thou canst as easily strengthen the weakness of my Friends and keep them from