that I am brought out of the base Bondage of Sin and Satan to partake of the glorious liberty of thy Children thorough Jesus Christ in whose Holy Name and Words I further pray unto thee saying Our Father c. Another MOst gracious God and mercifull Father who art no Respecter of Persons but in every place and station he that feareth thee and worketh Righteousness is accepted of thee In an humble Sence of thy Soveraign greatness and my own meanness and unworthiness I cast down my self at the Footstool of thy Grace begging Pardon and Forgiveness of my manifold Sins and Iniquities That I have no more chearfully and faithfully obey'd thy Commands and theirs thou hast set over me Give me Grace for the future to be thy and their faithfull Servant Let me disdain no Office but shew all mildness pliableness reverence and fidelity to him though harsh and froward accounting him worthy of all Honour as bearing the Image of thy Soveraignty a Contempt of him being a Contempt of thy Majesty Bless him and his and all his Affairs Make me so carefull and circumspect in all the Particulars of my Duty that neither he nor any other may suffer through my Ignorance or Neglect and that at the last Day when the Servant shall be free from his Master thou may'st say unto me well done good and faithfull Servant enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord for his sake who to set me free from the slavery of the Devil humbled himself made himself of no Reputation and is now exalted at thy Right-hand in whose holy Name and Words I further pray Our Father c. Duties of the Aged BE Examples of Wisdom Gravity and Holiness to the Younger and draw forth those Treasures of Knowledge and Experience which you have been so long in laying up to instruct the Ignorant and warn the Unexperienced and Ungodly that are about you Tell them what you have or might have suffered by the Deceits of Sin the Danger of Temptation and Delay what Comfort you have found in God the Scriptures and a Holy Life and how good he hath been unto you Be not peevish or froward to those about you but patient under all the Infirmities and Inconveniences of Old Age. Be blessing God for your former days of strength health and ease and for that endless undisturbed Rest he hath provided for you Let the Ancient Mercies and Experiences of God's Love through all your Lives be fresh upon your Minds and inkindle your Love and Thankfulness Delight and Comfort and help you to submit to Uneasiness and Death Be accurate in examining the state of your Soul and making your Calling and Election sure Be frequent and particular in reflecting upon your past life that you may be deeply humbled for all your Sins and thankfull for being preserved from those you might and others have fallen into Redeem with double Diligence your little Remains of Time set a great value on every moment of it lose none in Idleness or unnecessary things being always doing or getting some good and that with all your might Let your Thoughts of Death and Preparation for it be as if it were just at Hand Their Prayer OFather of Lights and of all Consolation from Everlasting to Everlasting thou art God a never-failing Support an Eternal Reward to thy persevering Followers thy old Disciples I have lived upon thee and by thee all my days thou hast been my help from my Youth cast me not off now in the Time of old Age forsake me not when my strength faileth O pardon the Follies of my Childhood the Miscarriages of my riper Years that I have done and receiv'd so little Good spent so little Time in it and so much in Vanity Give me grace to husband and improve the Remainder of my few Sands for my Eternal Advantage Amidst the Infirmities of my Body preserve me from Covetousness Frowardness Impatience whatsoever Vices are so frequently found in old Age. Grant I may be sober grave temperate sound in Faith in Charity in Patience a Teacher of good things Let my former Experiences of thy Goodness learn me still to trust in thee not to be distrustfull of thy Providence nor negligent of my Duty Let not my Graces wither but flourish more and more with my declining Days nor my Zeal for thy Glory cool but be inflamed with the decay of my bodily Heat That bringing forth fruit in old Age I may go to my Grave as a Shock of Corn in its Season meet for Glory and in the joyfull Expectation of a happy Resurrection thorough Jesus Christ to whom be all Glory Honour and Praise now and for ever Amen Another I Humbly prostrate my self before thee who art the High and Lofty one that inhabitest Eternity in a deep Sence of my manifold Sins and Iniquities that I have lived so unprofitably unto others so careless of my own Soul so much without Thee my God in the World It 's a Wonder of thy Mercy that thou hast not cut me off in the midst of my days that have so long cumbered the ground but afforded me so much space to prepare my self for a happy Eternity O wash away all my Sins in and by the Blood of Jesus the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World and that lives for ever to make intercession for us And help me to spend my short Span of Time to the best Advantage So quicken and actuate O Spirit of Life this sluggish Soul that the last part of my Race may be run with more Vigour likelier to the Heavenly Imployment than all the rest have been The more my outward Sences decay vouchsafe the quicker and livelier Sence of thy past-loving Kindness and endless Love and of those good things thou hast laid up for me to support and refresh me now all the Comforts of this Life fail and the years are come wherein I have no pleasure in them That having no other Burden but that of old Age my Soul may be still magnifying of thee and my Flesh also may rest in Hope When this crazy earthly Tabernacle is dissolved let me have a Building of God an House not made with Hands Eternaâ— in the Heavens through Jesus Christ in whose Holy Name and Words I conclude my Imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Duties of the Young LEarn to understand the Covenant and Vow which by others you made in Baptism with God the Father Son and Holy-Ghost your Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier and Renew it in your own Persons Resolvedly renounce the Devil and all his works and absolutely resign up your selves to God Openly with Thankfulness own so great a Blessing and your Duty thereupon the Happy Covenant you are engaged in and live in the Comfort and Performance of it all your days Remember God demandeth his Right so soon as you are capable of understanding it and that you are entered into a place not of Happiness or Continuance but of Tryal and Preparation for
in thee and thy gracious Promises fervent Affections unto thee and all that bears thy Image and Likeness Let us be filled with the joyfull Exercises of Faith and Love Praise and Thanksgiving to which we are invited Let us sensibly feel the Death of Christ to be sweet and pleasant refreshing and strengthening unto our Souls as we shall the Creatures of Bread and Wine unto our Bodies Let us Take and Eat the Elements in a thankfull Remembrance that his Body was broken and given and his Blood shed for us Let our Taking Eating and Drinking be significations of our receiving and applying Christ with all his Benefits unto our own Soul's Comfort and Advantage upon thine own Terms as made Man for us and a Sacrifice for our Sins Let every Grace of thy Holy Spirit be sutably acted and increased by thee That we may go from strength to strength from one degree of grace to another be more inabled chearfully to do and suffer thy Will untill Grace be perfected in Glory through Jesus Christ our great High-priest Sacrifice and Alter to whom with thy Blessed Majesty and Holy Spirit be all Glory Honour and Praise now and evermore Amen At the Sacrament THis Sacrament is a visible Representation of the Sacrifice our Redeemer made upon the Cross to the Father for our Sins to keep up the Remembrance of it and affect us with it and to profess our Confidence in a crucified Christ for the Pardon of our Sins Acceptance of our Persons and all our Performances In him I see Divine Anger appeased his Justice satisfied our Debt paid O what hath our Lord done for our sake How hath he ascertained his good Will to our Nature by assuming it into his own Person when we might have expected rather that it should have been an Abomination to him Those amazing difficulties and discouragements that stood in the way of his Kindness could not hinder or diminish it He hath endured the Cross and despised the shame for the love wherewith he loved us Giving sensible demonstrations that it was easier to him to suffer such Torments than to see us perish and to abide all the Despites Indignities Contradictions of Sinners than to forbear to save them O astonishing undeserved Kindness We could plead nothing of our own except provocation and perversness could pass for desert then indeed we had been great Meriters How great therefore is the depth of that Wisdom and how is that Goodness to be adored that when Heaven and Earth was at so great a distance found out a way for Reconciliation 'T was righteous with the provoked Majesty of Heaven and Earth to execute speedily upon me the Sentence against Evil-doers But behold him offering by his Ambassador Terms of Peace and Amity to proclaim and seal a perpetual Agreement and Reconciliation This Sacrament seals Remission of Sins to all that perform the Conditions of the Covenant O unmerited unthought of Mercy Favour and Kindness towards a Stranger a Rebel an Enemy That can do nothing to oblige him that hath done so much to incense him that 's so unworthy of him so unmeet unprepared to receive him to entertain him to be so nigh unto him But O Infinite Condescention the high and lofty one that inhabiteth Eternity dwells in the humble and contrite Heart that trembles at his Word O take possession of thine own which thou hast so dearly purchased by thy own Blood let that cleanse me from all Sin When you receive the Bread THis is the Bread that came down from Heaven and giveth life unto the World which I receive as a sacred Memorial of his exceeding Love his painfull Sufferings as a Seal of those gracious Terms of Mercy he hath thereby purchased who suffered the Punishment due unto me died for my Sins rose again for my Justification and ever lives to make intercession for me Who can sufficiently admire and praise thee O mercifull Lord for this thy condescending goodness in taking upon thee our Nature standing in our stead making thy Soul an offering for our Sins Glory be to God on high for Peace between Heaven and Earth for his Good-will towards Men. I do this in remembrance of thee most mercifull Saviour who remembredst us in our low our lost Estate becamest our Surety paidst our Debt pacifiedst reconciledst an offended God enduredst the Cross underwentst the Shame who after thou hadst by thy self purged our Sins sat down at the Right-hand of the Majesty on high where thou pleadest our Cause and preservest in thy Favour all those that sincerely wait upon thee and serve thee Let not O let not this unspeakable Mercy and Kindness be ever forgotten by me O keep such a lively Sence thereof upon my Soul as may inflame me with Love unto thee delight in thee a continual Care to please thee to do all I can for thee let nothing blot out the Remembrance of this thy Love unto me let every thing mind me of it untill I come to be for ever with thee When you receive the Cup. BEhold the Blood of the Covenant between God and Sinners shed for the Remission of my Sins as well as for any others by my Lord and my God who loved me and gave himself for me Unto him that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen Adored be thy Infinite Wisdom Love and Mercy in our Redemption that left us not as the faln Angels to perish without a Remedy but took upon him our Nature that he might die for our Sins That thou invitest and bringest us into a Covenant of Amity and Kindness who canst not be injured by our Enmity who hast no need of our Friendship who art no more benefited by us than the Sun is by darting its Beams on a grain of Dust on a polluted Creature on a corrupted Carcass with whom it 's as easie to breath us into Hell as to breath out one kind invitation to us Worthless vile Wretch am I that deserves to be utterly abhorred forsaken rejected by him who is become my reconciled most mercifull Father my God in Covenant who will subdue and pardon mine Iniquities who knows what I have need of here and will give it who will assist accept of and bless my sincere Endeavours for which he hath given me his Word his Oath his Seal who cannot lye which shall never be broken O my God I praise and magnifie thee for this thy Infinite Eternal Goodness this inexpressible Love Let such a deep and lasting Sence thereof rest upon my Soul that it may be my great Satisfaction and Pleasure to meditate upon and commemorate it my dissatisfaction to be long diverted from it O hasten the day when I shall have nothing else to do but to sing thy Praise to celebrate it world without End In the mean time I offer up my Soul and Body all that I
the Poor who are your Care and Charge your Coffer is their Treasury Succor most where least means to support or possibility to Requite Let more Grace and Need challenge your favour before private Obligations Stay not till provoked or necessitated by others to Works of Charity but consult and contrive the most proper and effectual ways for it And upon the first suggestion of a fitting Occasion freely comply with it preventing being asked exceedingly inlarges a kindness An ingenious man may pay dear for it when put to buy it with Solicitation To be liberal on all good Occasions is your Duty and may of Right and Justice be required of you For your Encouragement God is pleased to stile them Gifts and Loans which he engages to requite But they are Rent Tributes Debts upon the due Payment of which you hold your Possessions and upon the neglect or non-payment you forfeit your Right to them When there 's any good Occasion offered for your Bounty that 's the Time of paying your Rent your Tribute and God requires it of you Indeed the Help we afford any man is given to our own Flesh And 't is the common Interest of all Mankind to unite all their Endeavours in chasing away the Troubles and Discomforts of Humane Life To remove the Thorns and Briers that are upon the Face of the Earth and to turn it into a Paradise And think not a few Scraps will serve the Poor while you heap up for your Children and fare deliciously every day It 's part of a good Steward to see all in the Family liberally provided for He 's a Niggard to himself that scants his Beneficence to those whose very cold Water shall not go unrewarded He that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly 'T is basely sordid not to remember his Servants by more than a mean Distribution who loads us daily with his Benefits With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again Inconsiderate men that let fall only a few drops of Charity upon famished Poverty God gives them Hundreds by the year and they carry single Pence in their Pockets or Farthings to buy off the Clamours of Conscience or to be seen of Men. Hypocritical Alms is gilded Coin and shall be nailed to the Post of Derision and pronounced base in the Day of Judgment by him who values our Affections more than Gifts The Common Friend as well as Father of all Men is not so partial to provide Pomps and Luxuries for some while he leaves others destitute of the necessary supports of life Though he hath not dispensed so immediately to the Poor he gives them Bills of Assignment upon the Plenty of the Rich a Right to be supply'd by them And it 's much better to want than with hold from the Owner This Honour and Happiness is not every one's to have God his Debtor who saith to every Charitable Person If that Poor Man or Woman owe thee any thing set it on my Account I have writ it with mine own Hand He that hath pity upon the Poor lendeth unto the Lord (l) Pr. 19 17. I will repay it When we are dead and gone our Posterity gather wealth buried in the ground of Piety or cast upon the Water of Adversity Alms never wasted any man's Estate to himself or his but encreased and secured it I never met with any that could say he was the Poorer nay not the Richer for it but that such Distributions like our Saviour's Loaves among the four Thousand leaves behind them more Baskets of Fragments for their Heirs to give away than their Principal was in quantity which the Father so expended Do good to your selves saith the Italian Proverb 't will be better for you to have the Poor follow your dead Corps with their Acknowledgments of your Charity than to have the Town talk that you left Thousands behind you in your Chest A Gift to the Poor is a Loan to a sure Pay-Master a Child's Portion put into God's Hand to keep for it He will enquire for your Children that he may shew Kindness to them for your sake O their cruel Hard-heartedness that will rather suffer the Temple of God to be ruined than supported by necessary Portions It shall be e'er-long upbraided to them by their Judge that himself was hungry and they gave him no meat who gave his Body and Blood to feed them and quench their Thirst Denied a Rag to cover his Nakedness who would have cloathed their Souls with the Robe of his Righteousness that they might not be naked in that Day This is it he takes so tenderly that his Brethren for whom he died whom he lodges in his Bosome the Partners of his Spirit and Coheirs of his Inheritance should be denied Relief and suffered to go away ashamed unpitied It 's a sufficient Reward to relieve any of his Members yea Christ himself who observes every hand stretched out to his Relief and will at last make no difference between the good Usage he receives in his Natural and Mystical Body and punish with as much Severity those that persecute him in the Poor as that nailed him to the Cross Their Payer ALmighty Lord God the great Proprietor and Soveraign of the World unto whom all the Inhabitants of the Earth are as nothing less than nothing and Vanity Thy Service is perfect Freedom and in keeping thy Commands is great Reward In all Humility I bow down my Soul before thee in the Sence of that Infinite Distance that is between thy Blessed Majesty and thy worthless unworthy Creature Thou art the great God and I a despicable Creature and so thou mayest justly despise me thou art a Holy God and I a sinfull Creature and so thou may'st justly condemn me But O glorifie the Freeness of thy Grace in pardoning all my Sins and the Power of thy Grace in turning me wholly to thy self and inabling me to serve thee faithfully all my Days with a Holy Indifferency as to the things of this Life and a hearty Endeavour to secure Heaven let nothing divert me from making that not only my Refuge but my Choice and to improve to thy Glory what I have received from thy Bounty Let me contemn whatsoever is vile and honour those that fear thee Let my delight be with the Saints and those that excell in Virtue Keep me from the Snares Temptations and Dangers of Riches from having my good things my Portion in this life Amidst the Affairs of it let me reserve the Zeal and Fervour of my Affections for thy self And labour not for the Meat that perisheth but for that which endureth to Eternal life so use the World that I may enjoy thee my God and so pass thorough things Temporal that I lose not the Joys that are Eternal Make me a faithfull Dispenser of what thou hast committed to me and ever mindfull of my great Account that whilst others shall be surpriz'd with Horror and Astonishment for their mis-improving Earthly things I
Conscience Repeat and Do the worâ— of the Minister again Make Conscience oâ— Teaching and Provoking others Piâ—â— Careless Ignorant Souls God usually Blessâ— the Grace that 's Improved in doing hiâ— Service The Lord's Supper THis Sacrament is so Called with Reference to the Time of its first Institution and Administration at our blessed Lord and â—aviour's last Supper Immediately before his Passion shewing whereunto it Related for 〈◊〉 Remembrance of him the Chief Subject and Inward part of it It is 1 A standing Memorial of his great Love in offering up his Life a Sacrifice for our Sins and a Seal of the Covenant of Grace 2 A Commemoration of his Passion and Sacrifice the Benefits of which are were assured to every worthy Receiver 3 A Renewing and Confirmation of the Vow â—â—ve made in Baptism to be his faithful Servants unto our Lives end 4 To testifie our Inion with him and Communion with one â—nother 5 A Seal and means of our Spiritual nourishment and growth in the mystical Body of Christ the Church and of our being strengthned with Divine Grace and Refreshed highly satisfied and pleased with the sence of God's Love and Mercy through the Sufferings of our Blessed Redeemer as the Pallat is with wholsom agreeable food The Body and Blood of Christ is signified by the Bread and Wine All the Spiritual Change is wrought by the Faith of the Receiver not the intention or words of the Giver to him that believes they are the very Body and Blood of Christ who as in his Sufferings as undertaking and accomplishing our Reconciliation with God accepted in full Discharge for all our Sins iâ— Received by the Believing Soul for its life and support Comfort and well-being to all Eternity The Ministers Consecrating them so setting them a part from a Common to a Spiritual Use signifies God's setting hiâ— Son apart to the work of our Redemption Breaking of the Bread and pouring out the Wine signifies the Sufferings Christ endured for us His giving them to the Communicants signifies God's giving his Crucified Son to and for every Believing Receiver a their Redeemer and Saviour His saying Take Eat c. fignifies God's Will for applying Christ unto our selves Before we Receive we must Prepare our selves by examining and awakening our Knowledge of the Principles of Religion particularly of the Sacrament Our Faith Repentance of all our Sins Our sincere Obedience which we must fully Resolve upon else we are false and play the Hypocrites with God in the Covenant we are going to renew and Seal Our love to God and the Brethren Our Forgiveness of all Men and Charity to them Our Sins and wants sueing for Pardon and Supply Our earnest desire after the Graces of the Spirit Renewing the Exercise of them by serious Meditation and Earnest Prayer Taking a strict account of the Miscarriages of our Hearts and lives as to God and Man and our selves in publick and secret and being deeply humbled for them especially since the last renewal of our Covenant with God cleansing our selves from every new Pollution seriously considering all the Work we are going to do and all the Mercies we are going to Receive and what Graces and Exercises of them are necessary to all this In Receiving our Behaviour must be humble and reverent as to the outward Gesture of our Bodies and inward frame of our Souls We must seriously mind the Elements and Actions and the things signified represented exhibited thereby We must Meditate on Christ's Death so Disgraceful so painful for us grieving for hating loathing our Sins the Cause of it Hungering and Thirsting after him and the Benefits purchased by him Applying the Promises of the New Testament which is of full force through the Death of the Testator wholly Trusting our miserable Souls upon him as our All-sufficient Help and Saviour Drawing nourishment and all needful supplies from Him in whom all fulness Dwells Rejoycing in and giving thanks for his Love Renewing our Covenant mingling all with Faith and most indeared love to him and his Servants with a firm Resolution of future Obedience and unfeigned Consent to our Covenant with him After Receiving we must Examine our selves as to our Carriage and Behaviour Mourn for our Defects in Preparation and Performance be Earnest for Pardon by after Pains endeavour to obtain the Benefits of the Ordinance Be very Thankful for any Assistance and Enlargement labouring to retain the sweet relish still upon our Spirits Encourage our selves in Attendance upon God in this and all other Duties Endeavour to draw more and more Virtue from Christ for Crucifying our Inordinate Desires Irregular Passions and Affections and every thing displeasing to him Be very watchful against Sin and Carnal Security that we let not In his and our Enemy but preserve our Souls his Temple clean and undefiled Carefully perform our Vows and keep the Covenant we have Renewed and Sworn to A Prayer before or at the Sacrament LOok down from Heaven the Habitation of thy Holiness and Glory most gracious Father upon a vile sinfull worthless Creature that desires in all Abasement and Humility to prostrate himself before thee To serve thee is my highest Honour and to enjoy thee my greatest Happiness yet how apt am I to look upon thy Service as my Burden And how oft do I draw near unto thee with my Lips and seem to honour thee with my Mouth when my Heart is far from thee Which of thy Mercies have I not abused Which of thy Corrections have I not despised or been impatient under Which of thy Sabbaths have I not prophaned Which of thine Ordinances have I not polluted Which of thy Promises or Threatnings have I not slighted undervalued disbelieved Which of thy Commandments have I not broken in Thought Word or Deed Wherefore I abhor my self and repent in Dust and Ashes God be mercifull to me a Sinner Thou mayest justly inflict upon me all the Curses that are writ in thy Law and give me my Portion with Hypocrites and Unbelievers But there is Mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared that my Sins may be pardoned and my Soul saved Thou hast exalted thy Son to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance unto Israel and Remission of Sins He came not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance O for his sake pardon all mine Iniquities accept of me graciously and love me freely look favourably upon me be mercifull unto me as thou usest to do unto those that love and fear thy Name Receive me into thy favour Give me an unfeigned Consent and the necessary Conditions of my Right to that Covenant which I am going to have sealed unto me by thee Let Christ be formed in me and altogether desirable unto me Indue me and all that celebrate thy love at this Institution with sutable dispositions and qualifications for so solemn an Ordinance a through Sence of our own vileness and deserts and of thy Infinite love and goodness A stedfast belief
light Burden which cost the Son of God his life to obtain Heaven upon an intolerable Load and to be had on easier Terms That God should have only the faint and feeble Services of our last Hour for his Mercies vouchsafed to us all our Days That he should accept of such a Commutation for the Obedience due to him as a Death-Bed-Repentance a few Sighs and Groans Tears Promises Scatterings of Devotion in exchange for all our Duties sufficient to expiate a whole life of Impiety with a Breath to retract all the dishonour we have done him in it As if he had made us to take the delights he most abhors and after all to give us such a stupendious Reward From the Word of God Men have no Promise to warrant such a Confidence if they have let them shew it if they have not they must thank or rather condemn themselves for bringing themselves into a Condition without the Covenant without a promise hopeless and miserable And oh how miserablâ— must he needs be that lies upon the brink of Eternity incountering the throws and horrors oâ— an imminent Dissolution the doubts of what wiâ—â— become of him in another World the fears oâ— Hell the uproars of a guilty Conscience whom God hath left to the Boiling Sea of his own Terrors and thrown him out no Anchor of Hope THE Whole Duty OF A CHRISTIAN c. Of the Scriptures THE Scriptures contain a Continued History of the Church from the beginning to the end of the World and all things necessary to be known believed and â—ractised for Moses and the Prophets deliâ—ered whatsoever God requiâ—ed them (a) Deu. 4.2 Mal. 4.4 and Christ made â—nown the last and full Will â—f his Father (b) Mat. 28.20 John 14.26 15.15 to his Apostles who faithfully delivered what â—hey received of Him (c) Act. 20.27 1 Joh. 1.3 As to â—he substance of it 't was ever â—he same The Apostles saying none other things than thosâ— which the Prophets and Mosâ— did say should come (d) Act. 26.22 Anâ— a woe is denounced against thosâ— that shall add to or take awaâ— from it (e) Gal. 1.8.9 Rev. 22.18.19 Their Divine Authority appears from theiâ— wonderful preservation the Testimony anâ— constancy of Believers in all Ages thâ— Heavenliness and Efficacy of the Matter 〈◊〉 the simplicity sincerity and agreement 〈◊〉 the Pen men Miracles wrought to coâ—firm them their Antiquity being mucâ— Antienter than any other writing thâ— malice of the Devil and wicked men against them together with the testimonâ— of the Spirit in the Hearts of the Faithful At first Moral duties to God and Maâ— were Engraven on Mens Hearâ— (f) Rom. 2.14.15 and other things carried dowâ— by faithful tradition But wheâ— Men were much multiplied the lives shortened and greatly degenerated that the Divine Will might be an Infallibâ—â— standard of true Doctrine and preserv'd uâ— corrupt to the end of the World it was coâ—mited to writing by God hiâ—self (g) Ex. 31.18 by Moses at Gods coâ—mand (h) Ex. 34.27 by Holy men whoâ— he stirred up and inspired (i) 2 Pet. 1.21 oâ— after another according to the necessity 〈◊〉 â—he times by degrees so much in all Ages â—s was sufficient until the whole Canon was â—nished The Old Testament is divided into Moses or the Law and the Prophets (k) Mat. 7.12 Luke 16.29 and 24.27 because penned by them â—nd delivered to the Church of â—e Jews The New Testament â—as writ by the Evangelists and Apostles â—e Originals kept in the Churches they â—lanted and compos'd into one Volume as 〈◊〉 suppos'd by St. John the last of the Apoâ—les as the Old Testament by Ezra Neheâ—iah Malachi the last of the Prophets They were writ in Hebrew the mother â—nguage of the Jews and Greek the most â—ommon language of the Gentiles And as â—e first Edition so after-Translations ought 〈◊〉 be in the vulgar Tongue to be underâ—ood and read of all who are to Live and â—e Judged by them They were written for our Learning and Comfort (l) Ro. 15.4 to be a Lamp â—nto our Feet and a light unto â—ur Paths (m) Ps 119.105 to give wisdom â—nd understanding to the simâ—le (n) Ps 19.7 are profitable for Doâ—trine for reproof for correâ—tion for instruction in Righteousâ—ess (o) 2 Tim. 3.16 Ignorance of them is â—he mother of error not of devotion (p) Mat. 22.29 hid only to those thâ— are lost (q) 2 Cor. 4.3 We are theâ— fore to give attention to reaâ—ing (r) 1 Tim. 4.13 to search the Scripture (s) Joh. 5.39 to have them dwell richâ— in us in all knowledge (t) Col. 3.16 delight and meditate in the day and night (u) Psal 1.2 such as 〈◊〉 are commended (w) Act. 17 11. 2 Tim. 3.15 2 Pet. 1.19 and blâ—sed is he that readeth and 〈◊〉 that heareth the words of tâ—â— Prophesie (x) Reve. 1.3 Of God THat he is appears from the wondâ—â— of Creation and Providence the Hâ—mony and regular order of the World â—â—cay and corruption of things in it the â—â—veral vicissitudes of Night and Day Summâ— and Winter the production natural Aâ—ons agreement and Instinct of Irration Creatures the unanimous consent of Natioâ— the practice of Satan the admirable contâ—vance and offices of the Body the hopes aâ— fears troubles and peace of the Soul in tâ—â— we are not satisfied with the knowledge aâ— possession of any thing below but are 〈◊〉 thirsting after something the knowledge aâ— enjoyment of which gives satisfaction God is a Spirit Omniscient Omnipreâ—nt alone in of and to himself Self-sufâ—cient All-sufficient Invisible Omnipoâ—ent Incomprehensible Unchangeable Eterâ—al Infinite in Glory Blessedness Wiseâ—ome Power Holiness Mercy Justice â—oodness and Truth having most Soveâ—ign Dominion over us and to whom is â—ue the obedience of all his Creatures Many things are spoken of him and ascriâ—ed to him in Condescention to our weak apacities after the manner of men but â—ust be understood according to the nature â—f God As by his Eye is meant his knowldge watchful providence Favour By the Apple of is Eye that which is dear unto him By his â—â—rm Power and Strength By stretching out his â—and putting forth his Power to help or deâ—roy By his being weary that he cannot enâ—ure Sin By sleep his silence forbearing to â—elp or punish By his being a Rock c. his â—rotection c. His Attributes are several representatiâ—ns of that one perfection which is himself â—nd are either Incommunicable such as canâ—ot be given to any Creature as Omniâ—esent Omniscient c. or Communicable â—cause some parts or resemblances of them â—e found in his Creatures as Wisedom â—oodness Mercy c. Of the Trinity THe Trinity is one God in three distin persons or three persons in the Goâ— head yet but one God none before nâ— greater than another They are not three sâ—veral substances but three distinct subâ— stences or three
Isa 53.9 Matt. 12.40 â—o sanctifie our Burial to â—weeten and perfume the Grave to us that in the strong Holds and Fortress of Death He might overcome and loose the Sorrows and Bonds of Death (r) Acts 2.24 1 Cor. 15.55 c. V. He Descended into Hell the third Day hâ— Arose again from the Dead Christ so humbled Himself that he was deprived of his Natural Life in the Estate of the Dead and under the Power of Death for Three Days that it might appear he was truly Dead but no longer that his Body might not seâ— Corruption (s) Matt. 12.40 17.23 John 2.19 Acts 2.31 He arose the third Day being the First Day of the Week for our Justification and quickening iâ— Grace as our Head as a Pledge and Means of our Resurrection as an Evidence Divine Justice was fully satisfied the Deâ— paid in that the Judge released him out oâ— Prison VI. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty Having continued upon Earth forty Day after his Resurrection to assure his Disciple of it and instruct them in all things pertaining to their Preaching the Gospel Having finished his Work on Earth over come and Triumphed over His and our Enemies Before many Witnesses he was â—isibly taken up into Heaven where in â—ur Nature and as our Head he is Advanâ—ed by the Father to the Height of all Majesty Power Dominion Honour Digâ—ity and Glory next unto Himself Haâ—ing Authority to Rule as King over all â—â—ings in Heaven and Earth making Conâ—nual Intercession for us that for his Pleâ—ary Satisfaction all his Members Persons â—nd Services may be accepted of God who â—eing the Father Almighty is both Willing â—nd Able to grant the same VII From Thence He shall Come to Judge the â—ick and the Dead At the last Day He â—all Descend from Heaven in great Power â—â—d Glory when He shall sit upon his â—hrone and all then alive and that Dyed â—efore shall be summon'd and stand before â—im and be Judged by the Law of Nature â—d Covenant of Grace When Sentence â—all be pronounced of Absolution to the â—â—ghteous first then of Conâ—mnation upon the Wickâ— (t) Mat. 25.41 c. VIII I Believe in the Holy Ghost Or Holy â—irit who proceedeth or is as it were â—â—eathed forth from the Father and the Son Who Inspired the Prophets and Apâ— stles works in us and assists us in thâ— which is good IX The Holy Catholick Church the Communiâ— of Saints I Believe that Christ hath a Sâ—ctified People Dispersed through and â—â—parated from the Rest of the World stylâ— the Catholick General or Universal Churâ—â— Called out of an Estate of Sin and Miseâ—â— into an Estate of Grace and Salvation aâ—â— Engaged to Holiness in Heart and Lifâ— Being that Body whereof Christ is tâ— Head Militant on Earth Triumphant Heaven X. The Forgiveness of Sins I believe theâ— is Pardon to be obtained Reconciliatiâ— to an offended God and Satisfaction maâ— to a Just God a Discharge from the Gâ— of all Sin Acquittance from the Challeâ— of the Law and Constituting us Righted before God through the Undertaking aâ— Merits of our Redeemer for all who Râ—pent forsake their Sins Believe in him aâ— thankfully subject themselves to all the Pâ—cepts of the Gospel XI The Resurrection of the Body I Belieâ— that at the Day of Judgment there shâ—â— be a general Resurrection both of the Jâ— â—â—d Unjust Their Bodies raised up and united to their Souls 1. The Just the Spirit of Christ and by virtue of Resurrection their Union with him as â—â—eir Head and as their Merciful Saviour â—â—d Redeemer Their Bodies shall be raiâ—â— Spiritual Incorruptible and like unto 〈◊〉 Glorious Body out of their Beds of â—â—st with great Joy and Triumph to be â—own'd with Everlasting Glory and shall â—â—ne as the Sun in the Firmament 2. The â—dies of the Wicked shall be raised in dishoâ—ur by him as an offended Judge and all come forth as out of their Prisons â—th great Fear and Trembling Horrour â—â—d Astonishment as so many Malefactors 〈◊〉 Execution as so many ugly loathsom â—rcasses to look upon Their Faces gaâ—ering Blackness and Darkness They shall â—ise to Everlasting Shame and Confusion of â—â—ce as well as to Everlasting Condemnation â—â—d Torment XII And the Life Everlasting I Believe there a future State after this Life of Endless appiness or Misery according to mens â—â—oce here of Good or Evil Life or Death â—hich God hath set before them either to â—â—turn and live or go on and perish everâ—stingly Amen I thereby acknowledge and â—â—fess stedfastly to believe the undoubâ— Truth and Certainty of this Creed in â—â—neral and of every Article thereof in â—â—ticular and to live answerable to this â—â—lief The Ten Commandments THey are a perfect Platform Summaâ— or Abridgement of the Law of Natâ— or Moral Law at first writ on Man's Heaâ— expounded by the Prophets and Apostâ— and are divided into Two Tables The 1 â—â—spects our Duty immediately to God whâ—â— to be worshipped for the true God in wâ—â— manner how we are to use and honâ—â— his Name the set Time of his publick Wâ—â—ship The Summ of this Table is Thou shâ—â— love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart 〈◊〉 with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind I 2 respects our neighbour his Honour a Dignity Life Chastity Wealth good Naâ—â— Propriety The Summ of this is Thou shâ—â— love thy Neighbour as thy self or whatsoeâ—â—â— you would that Men should do you do you e ven so to them this is the Law and the â—â—phets (v) Matt. 7.12 and 22 37 39. For understanding Them we must â—â—serve 1 The Law is Spiritual read the Powers of the Soul as well as Action of the Body 2 Where any Duty is â—â—manded the contrary Sin is forbidden 〈◊〉 where any Sin is forbidden the contraâ—â— Duty is commanded 93. In all Duties â—â—manded and Sins forbdden all of the â—e kind together with all the Causes â—â—ans Occasions Appearances Provocatiâ—â— thereunto are also commanded and forâ—â—en 4 What 's forbidden and comâ—â—ded our selves we ought to endeavour â—ay be avoided and eprformed by others Thou is used in every PRecept shewâ—â— God speaks to All and to all alike to â—â—y one in particular as if he named him Name â—he Preface contains the Reasons of our â—â—ing them â—s 1. His Surpeam Soveraignty over I am the Lord so we owe him all â—â—dience as we are his Creatures and Subâ—â— His Interest and Propreity inus Thy 〈◊〉 particular Engagern ent and Enâ—â—ment In such a manner as to none â—â—rs by taking us into Covenant a â—â—al Relationto himvelf His redeeming and delivering us out â—â—hraldom Which brought thee out of â—â—nd of Egypt A Place h of Servitude 〈◊〉 by how much Sin is worse than Suffering the Devil and his Angels power aâ—â—malice surpasses Pharaoh's and his Taâ—â— masters everlasting Troments in Hell â—â—ceed Temproal pains in the Brick-kill Fâ—nace
Burdensom Prepare for the worst If it come the labour 's well bestow'd if not well lost Think not every day will be a wedding-day In Matrimony God marries Comforts and Crosses together as well as Man and Wife such shall have trouble in the flesh (o) 1 Cor. 7.28 Study to please not to be pleased then all the fault you find will be with your selves Let all your strife be which shall love and please God and one another most and upon any difference who shall first seek for Reconciliation Construe words and Actions in the best sence Stifle little things Abstain from whatsoever is found contrary to each other A Prudent observation of each others Tempers and forbearance of what may provoke will prevent many fallings out Think not much less do any thing that may tend to lessen but whatsoever may knit what God hath Tied with his own Hand If Passion arise in one let the other be silent If Satan hath sown Discord sleep not until the Tares be plucked up Two Cholerick Persons living together many years were never heard to fall out because said one of them being asked when one was angry t'other had the wisdom to forbear Cross not each other in the spring Tide of Passion but stay till ebbing Water then mildly argue it and that not so much to condemn one another as to acquit your self we are more Tractable in Cold than Hot Blood it portends Ill luck when two Fire-Balls meet Be helpfull to each other's Health Comfort and Advantage as to your Bodies Estate good Names Souls Bear one anothers Burdens Personal and Domestical Discover not but bear with one anothers Infirmities yet so as to quicken one anothers Graces and not to suffer Sin upon you Share in each others Joys and Sorrows Jointly endeavour to make the Weight of the Family the more tolerable the Load is lightned by carrying it evenly equally Speak one to not one of another It ought to be so amongst Christians much more York-fellows Debate it between your selves not before your Families or Strangers 'T is a lessening of your selves when standers-by take notice of your Grievances Dissents between Man and Wife are uncomely Differences intolerable I would suffer much before I would make my Complaint to another They are ill Birds that defile their own Nests In case of Correction or Rebuking any of the Family though there be an Errour in the Application let not one Yoke fellow contradict the other before the offending Party but debate the Mistake when you are alone least you abate due Fear and Reverence and teach others to despise your Discipline and your selves 'T is not safe for one Yoke-fellow to receive an Appeal from any of the Family nor to take the Rod out of the other's hand Improve your Conjugal Converse for Spiritual Ends. Let not the Body Rob the Soul nor the Elder serve the Younger Redeem the Time that you may bless God you ever met and not as too many do Curse one another for silently advancing each others Ruine So when the Land-flood of youthfull violent Affections is dried up the Fountain of Spiritual Love will still run with a more sober and moderate but more constant and lasting stream Season your Natural Society with Spiritual Communion in secret serving God and you 'll avoid the Surfeit of Society which choaketh Love Reckon your selves one anothers more than your own and the Lord 's more than one anothers Let your Fellowship together be such as you both in it may have Fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ whose Image and Superscription this Relation bears Be holy in all manner of Conversation Possess your Vessels in Sanctification and Honour Defile not the Marriage-Bed Be not drunk with your own Wine All things are sanctified by the Word and Prayer Be much in Prayer for and with one another you will then blame your selves not one another and be ashamed to jar considering you must shame your selves before God for it As to Children pray not only for due Parts Proportion and safe Delivery but Children sanctified that your Families may be the Enlargement of Christ's Kingdom and of the Houshold of Faith As God encreases your Relations enlarge your Requests for every one in particular Those Petitions will not suffice when you are many that did when you were one Make God's House as yours and yours as God's Join with Elkanah and Hannah in giving up your Children to God's Service and in going together to sacrifice (p) 1 Sa. 1.21.28 Account that the greatest Riches not which you lay up for your selves or yours but out for God He is mercifull and lendeth and his Seed is Blessed (q) Ps 37.26 Their Prayer O Thou that art the great Creator and wise Disposer of us and all things in Heaven and Earth who hast ordained Marriage for our good and made us two one Flesh We give thee all humble and hearty Thanks for preserving us in our single State so innocent and chast so free from Shame and Reproach For conducting us through the Temptations of this Life so mercifully so wisely for keeping us from the effects of thy Wrath and our own Infirmities O forgive whatsoever might cause thee to Imbitter this state unto us and accept us in the Beloved Indue us with a Spirit of Love of Kindness of Condescension and prevent whatsoever might Disturb our Happy Union Let our chief love and delight be grounded upon the Hopes we have of being Heirs together of the grace of Life Let us walk Hand in Hand to our Father's House in a chearful and faithful discharge of our respective Duties to each other and those Committed to us and be still provoking one another to Love and to good Works That after Death which shall e're long separate us for a little while we may with Comfort meet together where they neither Marry nor are given in Marriage but are as the Angels perpetually praising thee for all the Instances of thy Kindness and Endless Love Through Jesus Christ to whom with thy Blessed Majesty and Holy Spirit be all Honour Glory and Praise now and evermore Amen Another WE come unto thee most gracious God and merciful Father who in Infinite Wisdom and Goodness hast brought and united us together and do prostrate our Souls before thee in all Humility under a deep sense of our unworthiness and unbecoming Demeanure in thy sight O Pardon it unto us that we have liv'd no more to the great Ends of our coming into the World and into this state which thou Institutedst in Innocency Let it not be a state of Temptation or Sorrow by occasion of our Sins and Infirmities but of Holiness and Comfort as thou intendedst it to all that love and fear Thee Allay in us all sensual Bruitish love Purifie and sanctifie our Affections that we may not Dishonour or Pollute the Bed thou hast called Undefiled But use it so as Carnal Lust may be slacked and subdued not provoked
uncustomarily Put such Books into their hands as are meetest for them Imprint upon their Minds the greatest things not uncertain Opinions for Damning and Saving Points or uncharitableness hatred prejudices as to Parties but such solid substantial Principles as may have the largest greatest influences on the future Conduct and Government of their Lives according to their particular Tempers Dispositions Inclinations Possess their Minds with the fear of God and their Obligations to him as their Creator Redeemer Preserver Governor Speak always before them with great Seriousness Honour Reverence and Praise of the Holy Scriptures Holy Men and Holy things and with displeasure and loathing of every Vice and of vicious Men. So soon as capable bring them to publick Ordinances appointed for begetting and encreasing Grace and to which God hath promised his special Blessing (x) Ps 133.3 Teach them to do rather than to talk of Virtue and Religion put them upon the Practice and Exercise of it that gives the best the truest the perfectest Knowledge of any thing Intice them with Kindness and Rewards the way to Indear your Persons and Instructions Labour to make all sweet easie and pleasant to them Commend allure them into Goodness with all Attractive Encouragements that they may know and love not know and hate Goodness at once by thinking of the Severities wherewith it was accompany'd in their Minority Make Holiness appear to them the most necessary honourable gainful delightful amiable course of life and principal thing Win them to a liking and love of it and keep them from looking upon it as needless dishonourable hurtful or uncomfortable and from such Company as may encline them to think so Inure them to speak always with Honour Respect and Reverence to your selves and others Break them of their own wills Suffer them not to carry themselves Irreverently or Contemptuously towards any Tell them lovingly of the Excellency of Obedience Humility Submission Condescention and how it pleases God and man Let Necessary Correction be according to their Tempers and with Discretion Not in Passion that they may see not your Anger but Reason is the Cause Not so seldom as to make them fearless nor so frequent as to discourage or harden them For offending God rather than your selves Always shew them the Tenderness of your Love and that you do it for their good Take heed of an over-fondness or visible partiality If Nature make a difference it 's natural to help the weakest and a Virtuous carriage to increase Respect 'T is good to incourage Ingenuity but not to provoke Pride or Envy The over-Indulgence of Parents is the refuge of Vanity the bane of Children and provokes God to take them away Give them Countenance and convenient maintenance that they may not be tempted to indirect courses nor your Life be their Burden Keep things in your own power to Reward Duty that they may be beholden to you not you to them yet so gotten that a Blessing not a Curse may go along with them Train them up in a life of Diligence and Labour use them not to Ease and Idleness Chuse them such a Calling and Course of life as tends most to the good of Church and State and their own Souls Place them with those that may not hinder that nor undo your Care of them while with you Look out such a Match for them when you find it needful as is Pious and Prudent rather than Rich. Observe their Inclinations and counsel them by Arguments drawn for their own good rather than by your Authority Affections are rather to be led than driven Forced Marriages and Callings seldom Prosper Let your own Example teach them that holy heavenly blameless Tongue and Life you desire them to practice 't will be hard to perswade them against that their young fancies from drawing after your own Resemblance Great Reverence is due to Children Infancy that understands not words are led by Imitation of those that gave them being and on whom they depend Practice not what 's not Prudent or Expedient before them Such as they see your behaviour is will theirs be behind your back Woe to them who make their Children witnesses of their Impieties Every President of yours is as a Monument and Motive to Posterity In all this use great Care and Diligence Think not that God will make them wise and good because they are yours Young Plants must be often watered Line upon Line Precept upon Precept Good Principles must be Distill'd into these narrow Vessels that cannot take in much at once by degrees as they are capable It 's easie to palliate Nature but it requires long and constant Attendance thoroughly to cure and conquer it Joyn constant earnest Prayer for accompanying your Endeavours with the Divine Assistance and Blessing without which all 's Ineffectual Children of many Prayers seldom miscarry But whatever the success be you will have the Comfort of discharging your Duty Their Prayer MOst gracious and merciful Father who shewest Mercy to Thousands of those that love Thee and keep thy Commandments We give thee hearty Thanks for thy Tender Care of us all our Days and for so early preventing us by thy Grace and Inclining our Hearts unto thy Service Oh go on to be gracious to us and ours Forgive us all our Sins and lay them not to our to their Charge Take them into the Protection and Guidance of the same good Providence which hath been so bountiful to us so watchful over us all our dayes Implant in them all the graces of thy Holy Spirit and accompany all Instructions and Endeavours to that End with thy Blessing Mercifully provide for dispose of and place them in this world so as may further them in and render the ways of Virtue easie and pleasant to them Preserve them from the Dangers Allurements and Evils of the Age. Let them be sanctified even from the Womb and fear thee from their Youth all their Days We recommend them to thy never-failing Mercy and Compassion Be our and their God O let them live in thy sight and us be able at last to say Behold we and the Children God hath graciously given us thorough Jesus Christ to whom with thy Blessed Majesty and Holy Spirit be all Honour Glory and Praise now and for ever Amen Another ALmighty God who hast promised thy Spirit to us and our Children even to as many as the Lord our God shall call deny it not to us and ours Give us grace by good Counsels and Example to lead and bring them up in thy Faith and Fear Make us Spiritual as well as Natural Parents Let us see the Travel of our Souls in them and be satisfied Let them be Born again of Water and of the Spirit Season their Tender Age with thy Grace let it have early possession of them Take them into thy Care Charge and Covenant into the Bosom of thy true Church into the Arms of thy Mercy into a Right of the Promises into the
be in vain in thee Let us walk Circumspectly not as Fools but as Wise Redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil. Make us more and more sensible of our frailty and mortality seeing these Earthly Tabernacles our Bodies shall be dissolved let us frequently and seriously consider what manner of Persons we ought to be in all Holy Conversation and Godliness Pity the Degeneracy of Mankind Visit the dark Corners of the Earth with the light of thy glorious Gospel Purge out of thy Church whatsoever is an offence and dishonour unto thee and indangers the Souls of Men. Bless us in these three Nations by turning every one of us from our Iniquities Indue our Soveraign with those Gifts and Graces of thy Spirit that are necessary for him as a King and as a Christian Let us and all his Subjects live under him quiet and peaceable lives in all Godliness and Honesty Make all our Ministers and Magistrates faithful and successful in encreasing and encouraging Holiness and Discountenancing Vice Let none of our Relations be Strangers unto thy self nor any of thine Afflicted Servants be forgotten by thee Relieve them as thou knowest best for them Recompence those that have shewed us Kindness do good to those that have done us Evil. We Praise thy holy Name for all thy Mercies for thy Care of us and Goodness to us this Day and all our Dayes Take Care of our Persons and of all thou hast Committed to us this Night Let us lye down in a sence of thy daily Kindness unto us and awake in asence of thy continual Care of us and do abundantly for us above what we can ask or think for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ the Righteous who hath taught us to Pray Our Father c. Servants Duties INwardly Esteem outwardly in works gesture and behaviour Honour and Reverence your Masters From which neither Age Sex Birth Breeding Condition Gifts or Means can free you Reveal not their Secrets and Infirmities Dishonour them not behind their backs Stand up for them speak respectfully to them and to others of them Preserve their Reputation and the Families Talk not to others of what is said or done at Home Give them no just occasion of distast Let as many Servants as are under the Yoke account their own Masters worthy of all Honour (c) 1 Tim. 6.1 Readily and sincerely obey their Commands please them well in all lawful and indifferent things not answering again (d) Tit. 2.9 The Master's place is to dispose of and order his own Business and the Servant to submit unto his will in it chearfully without grumbling at it or at their work or that they are Servants and not as those they serve 'T is uncomfortable to your selves and them that you go about your Business with heavy sowr looks and discontented Spirits forgetting you are serving the Lord while you are doing their work Be not slothfull careless negligent but faithfull diligent industrious in it not loytering or minding your own ease and pleasure A Burdensome Imployment is made easie by Custome and to a willing mind doth it self Labour to preserve and encrease their Estate to further and advance their Interest by all good and lawfull means Be provident frugal and wary for their Advantage and see nothing be lost damaged wasted or consumed through your default Beware of secret Theft of purloyning stealing giving lending making away any thing without their Consent Remember your Father Jacob and the Blessing upon him when a Servant who served with all his power was carefull Night and Day of what was committed to him and made good what was torn or lost (e) Gen. 31.39 And how those that improved their Master's Talent were commended and rewarded while the idle and unprofitable was cast into outward darkness (f) Matt. 25.14 c. Do your work well and as soon as you can knowing you and your Time is not your own Be as thrifty and carefull as if it were your own Concern and serve as you would have others serve you Let your Answers be true direct dutifull not sullen muttering saucy irreverent contradicting or disputing with them Beware of excusing any unwarrantable thing or adding one Sin to another by telling a Lye which is an Abomination to the Lord which his Soul abhors which he punishes in this World and that which is to come Bear with meekness patience and submission the sharpest Reproofs and Corrections though wrongfully inflicted without Cause God will vindicate your Cause if wronged and reward you Look upon your Condition as chosen for you by God and your selves as his Servants and your Work Allowance Provision and Restraints as his and do all as to him Pray daily for a Blessing upon him his Affairs the whole Family and your Labours A Godly Servant hath been an Eminent Blessing where he hath lived They are not worthy to partake of the Mercies of the Family that pray not endeavour not for them Servants be obedient unto them that are your Masters according to the Flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of Heart as unto Christ not with Eye-service as Men-pleasers but as the Servants of Christ doing the Will of God from the Heart With good-will doing service as to the Lord and not to Men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free (g) Ep. 6.5 c. Servants be subject to your Masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward for this is thank-worthy if a man for Conscience towards God endure grief suffering wrongfully For what glory is it if when ye be buffetted for your faults ye shall take it patiently But if when you do well and suffer for it ye take it patiently this is acceptable unto God for even hereunto were ye called c. (h) 1 Pet. 2.18 c. Their Prayer ALmighty Omniscient Omnipresent Lord God in all Humility I prostrate my Soul before thee acknowledging and adoring the Wisdom and Goodness of thy Providence in appointing every one his Station and disposing all things and Persons into their several Ranks Orders and Degrees some to command and others to obey for their mutual Help and Benefit I humbly submit to the State and Condition thou hast placed me in beseeching Thee to forgive me all my failings and disobedient Carriage towards thee and those thou hast set over me for his sake who though he was Lord of all took upon him the form of a Servant that by Obedience and Suffering he might procure the Salvation of all his Servants whether bond or free Give me a humble obedient contented Heart to serve thee and those thou hast obliged me unto diligently faithfully carefully with all chearfulness and gladness of Soul without repining murmuring envying or unwillingness Remembring I deserve not a Being upon Earth much less to be thy Servant Let me think my self happy therein and
is disabled from all other things is fit to Compleat that There 's little support and less satisfaction in declining years besides a sober Reflection on our former Innocency our leaving Sin when so much Temptation and vigour to Commit it Nothing can sweeten that Sower and Crabbed Age like the savour of a past good Life That Religion hath been the Imployment that God hath had the Strength and Affections of our first and best Age. As Virtue and Goodness is the Excellency of Youth so is it the Comfort and Crown of grey Hairs which are only Honourable and Comfortable when found in the way of Righteousness Be not deceived God is not mocked as a man Sows that shall he also Reap for he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap Corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting (k) Gal. 6.7 8. Their Prayer ALmighty and most merciful Father the great Creator of all things and Judge of all Men and of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity with Approbation I am altogether unworthy to speak unto thee or to receive any good from thee yet thou maintainest and preservest me and affordest me means of being Eternally Happy with thee O Pardon all my Sins for thy Mercy sake for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake A new Heart and a new Spirit do thou give me that I may love and delight in that which is Good and hate that which is Evil and cleanse my ways by taking heed thereto according to thy Word Let me make that my Rule and Counsellor Settle in me a constant Desire and Endeavour to fear serve and remember thee my Creator in the days of my youth to give thee the chief and strength of my Time and Affections Root out of my Soul all Pride and Haughtiness stubbornness wantonness and uncleanness Plant in me Reverence and Obedience to those that in Age or Authority are before or above me Give me a good understanding to keep thy Commandments at all times even unto the end Prepare me for every Condition for whatsoever thou hast designed for me and give me Grace to behave my self well-pleasing in thy sight in every Station and Relation Let me run with Patience and Chearfulness the Race that is set before me without being dismay'd or drawn aside from thee by whatsoever Temptations or Discouragements I shall meet with in thy Service looking unto Jesus who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross despised the Shame and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on High in whose Holy Name and Words I further Pray Our Father which art in Heaven c. Another O Thou that art the Author of my Being and the Foundation of my Happiness by whom I am Maintained and Preserved and without whom I am unable to Continue a moment alive in the Land of the living I desire to humble and loath my self in thy Presence for the degeneracy of my Nature the vileness of my Heart and sinfulness of my Life that I have so much forgotten and neglected thee and my Duty to thee and provoked thee to forsake me and to make me Eternally miserable It 's of thy Infinite mercy I am not consumed that as yet I have time and space to make my Peace with thee O Pardon me and be reconciled unto me in and thorough my Lord and Saviour and give me Grace to spend the Remainder of my days in thy Fear to thy Glory Make me more and more sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of this Life and of the Eternity of the next that e're long thou wilt bring every work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil. Let the Consideration thereof stir me up not to delay but to make hast to keep thy Testimonies to be Religious to purpose to serve thee in good Earnest not to live as most do but as thou requirest and obligest me to do and as e're long I shall wish I had done Let me not in a short life make way for Eternal misery but make it my Business to prepare my self to be happy for ever with thee that when so many Millions of careless Souls shall stand Trembling before the Judge of all the World I may be found in the number of those to whom he shall say Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World in whose Holy Name and Words I further Pray unto thee saying Our Father which art c. Duties of the Rich. DErive your Pedegrees and Dignities higher than Adam from Heaven The Body of Nobility consists in Blood the Soul in the Eminency of Virtue your Titles are vain if in that Inferiour to others Value not Rate not your selves by what God gives to his foes and denies his chiefest favourites the root and occasion of all our Miseries Esteem a great Estate less than a good Heart to use it and to be God's Servants a greater Honour than to have Potentates serve you Look on Prosperity as a Motive Engagement and Encouragement to Piety not a Privilege of loosness to satisfie Lust or display Vanity but of being better because more observ'd and your offences Exemplary You cannot be good or bad alone Hate Sin though grown into Credit and Fashion Cobwebs are never the more esteemed that grow over a Chair of State Beware of Pride Sloath Idleness fulness of Bread Time-wasting Sports and Recreations Curiosity Wantonness Tyranny and Oppression Let Lust fare never the better for all your Riches you are called to Self-denial Mortification Fasting and humbling your selves as well as the meanest Labour to see God's special love in Common Mercies often look up to and think of him with Praise and Thankfulness as the Author and Donor of all the goods you enjoy wean your Hearts from them be sensible of their short Continuance and secure to your selves true spiritual durable Riches Live as Dying Men with your Graves and Windingsheet always in your Eye Frequent the Indigent Sick and Dying and consider how insignificant the world is to them and will be to you Thoroughly understand the Dangers Temptations and snares of Riches and how much you have to answer for That you are but Stewards not Owners accountable for all your Comings in and Layings out Let your fruitfulness to God and the Publick be proportionable to your Possessions Do as much more good than others as you are better furnished Let your Servants be more religiously Instructed and Governed and have more time for serving God and your selves more Imploy'd therein than those that work for their daily Bread Be Sober and Temperate in using your Estates Invade not the right of the Poor suffer not Riot and Covetousness to feed upon their Portion Cut off all superfluous and exorbitant Expences that the stream of Charity may run the fuller into that one Channel the Providence of God hath cut out for it
with undaunted undismayed Courage and Constancy under all the Uneasinesses of a rugged way Lift up the Hands that hang down and strengthen the feeble Knees Let the weak say I am strong and the lame Man leap as an Hart (e) Heb. 12.10 Isa 35.3 c. These are the Days of Conflict and Conquest that admit not of Repose untill the Evening when he that hath been eminently good chearfully patient constant and couragious under great Disadvantages and Discouragements shall be proportionably rewarded When all Distempers and the Causes of them shall be wholly removed No more Hospitals nor Diseases No more seeking for or need of Cure or Remedy when the Mountebank's Stage shall be pulled down and all Physicians of no value The Doctor and Apothecary consulted no more They shall give over acting Experiments upon afflicted Mortals And the great Physician of Soul and Body who himself took our Infirmities and bare our Sicknesses (f) Mat. 8.17 perfected his undertaken Cure And God shall wipe away all Tears from their Eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things that disturbed them are passed away (g) Rev. 21.4 The thoughts the belief of this is the chief Refuge and Delight of all true Christian Sufferers Whilst this Cordial is next their Hearts they are healthfull secure and satisfied The Comfort of that day heals and redresses all their Wounds their Wrongs their Injuries Asswages and allays all their Pains and Perplexities expells all melancholy Thoughts banishes all Sadness from their Hearts stills all their Murmurings and Complaints stifles innumerable Sighs stops Rivers of unprofitable Tears from flowing from the Afflicted raises the Minds of the Miserable and Unfortunate supports and refreshes the Spirit of Heaviness makes the Cross of Christ a light Burden As being both consistent with his love and the Effects of it influential upon their Happiness Prayers for the Sick O Thou great Creator and Wise Disposer of all things in whose Hands are our lives and breath and all our ways in all Humility we prostrate our Souls before thee acknowledging it of thy Infinite Mercy and Goodness that we have access unto thee and may find acceptance with thee in and through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for his sake pardon all our Sins and receive us into thy Favour In much Mercy and tender Compassion O thou that delightest not in the Miseries of thy Creatures regard this thine afflicted Servant Thou woundest and thy Hands make whole thou bringest down to the Grave and raisest up again Direct to proper means we humbly beseech thee and accompany those used for his health with thy Blessing Speak the Word and thy Servant shall be healed If it may stand with thy good Pleasure let him not die but live and declare the Works of the Lord However fit him for whatsoever thou hast designed for him Give him a true Sence of and Repentance for all his Sins and a well-grounded Faith in our great Redeemer of Souls Sanctifie this thy fatherly Visitation to him let the sickness of his Body tend to the health and good of his Soul Mitigate his Pains increase his Patience Give him a quiet contented resigned Spirit unto thy blessed Will Lay no more upon him than thou wilt inable him to bear let thy Grace be sufficient for him In the multitude of his thoughts within him let thy Comforts delight his Soul When his Body returns to the Earth as it was let his Spirit return unto God that gave it and be glorified together with thy self thorough Jesus Christ our Lord in whose Blessed Name and Words we further pray Our Father c. Another ALmighty and most Mercifull Father the God of the Spirits of all Flesh thou sendest forth thy Breath and we live thou recallest it and we die and return to our dust O pardon unto us we humbly intreat thee our unthankfulness for our former health and all thy Mercies that we have made so little use of the same for thy Glory Give us grace for the future to be more sensible of more fruitfull under them In particular look with an eye of favour on this thy suffering Servant Let thy Power appear in his weakness strengthen him on his Bed of languishing make all his Bed in his sickness Rebuke remove his Distempers in love to his Soul deliver him from the Pit of Corruption and cast all his sins behind thy Back Let not his sickness be unto Death but thy Glory if it may stand with thy good pleasure but if thou hast otherwise determin'd fit and prepare him for thy self As his outward Man decays let his in ward Man be renewed day by day Take him not hence untill thou hast made him meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in life Give him an easie and comfortable Passage out of this Vale of Misery and receive him to the Eternal enjoyment of thy self in Heaven And give all of us grace in Health to provide and prepare for sickness in our most prosperous and best Estate to consider how frail we are in a full perswasion of thy unerring Providence over us and Infinite love towards us let us resign our selves intirely unto thee resolving by thy gracious Assistance to rest satisfied with thy Appointment That we may rejoyce in hope of that Immortal Life and Happiness when thou shalt wipe away all Tears from our Eyes and there shall be no more Death neither Sorrow nor Crying nor any more Pain but that after Death hath parted us we may meet together and acknowledge with Eternal Praises thy wise and mercifull Providence which by ways contrary to our desires hath brought us to endless and undisturbed Rest through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with thy blessed Majesty and Holy Spirit be all Honour Glory and Praise now and for ever Amen Another EVer blessed Lord the Father of Mercies and God of all Consolation who art not willing any should perish but that all should come to Repentance We praise and adore thee for thy Patience forbearance and goodness to us all our days that we have enjoyed so much Health and Ease Peace and Plenty so many Mercies to sweeten our Passage through this Vale of Tears O forgive our Ingratitude for our Abuse of thy Bounty and Kindness to us and be at Peace with us in and through our Lord and Saviour and for the time to come give us grace to carry our selves well-pleasing in thy sight In particular we now recommend unto thee this thy Servant beseeching it may please thee to restore him unto Health unto thee no Cure is difficult no Case desperate but all things possible O command create Deliverance direct to sutable means and super-add thy Blessing to them O spare him that he may recover strength before he goes hence and be no more But however thou dealest with him let it be in love and mercy unto him pardon all his Sins
am and have unto thee to be sanctified guided saved disposed of by thee Beseeching thee to make me willing and obedient patient and contented humble and submissive chearfull and believing stedfast and unmoveable in thy Service unto the End Let me approve my self actually reconciled unto thee by my Hatred of my Enmity with Sin which made the first Separation between thee and us and for which thy Son was made a Sacrifice and be afraid of offending thee not only because thou hast Power to punish but because of thy Love wherewith thou hast loved me And the Conditions of our Peace which are so reasonable so comfortable that we repent of and forsake our Crimes Receive thy Son as our Mediatour serve thee which are such desirable Priviledges our Happiness as well as our Duty O make good the gracious Promises of the Covenant unto me that thou wilt be my God forgive my Sins give me a new Heart sanctifie my Nature put thy fear within me that I shall never depart from thee that thou wilt never leave me nor forsake me O free me from the listlesness and backwardness of my Will to give up my self wholly unto thee who so willingly gavest thy Son an offering for my Sins Let this Love make us more and more affectionate in our Attendance upon thee to approach thee with Alacrity and Delight that wa' st so solicitous and at so much Cost to be at Peace with us to combine all our Thoughts and Affections together to serve thee who hast done so much to reduce us honourably and successfully unto thy ever blessed self With great Thankfulness let me accept of the smartest Dispensation and be contented in every Condition now I am reconciled Meekly enduring the Chastisements of a Father since they are all for my Profit since I am not like to feel his Stroaks as a Judge Blessed is he whose Iniquities are pardoned unto whom the Lord imputeth not Sin Let me never more harbour any hard thoughts of thee after so signal a Discovery of thy self in thy Son If so willing and desirous to make Reconciliation by his Blood for our Sins when they lay before thee in their crimson Aggravations much more on a particular fall that we are truly humbled for How can we refuse Peace so tenderly and importunately offered by Thee who shuts out none that shut not out themselves Art more willing to receive us into favour to embrace us than we to go to thee to receive thee Extend thy Mercy O Father of Mercies to all Mankind Give Repentance unto Sinners increase of Grace and Strength to all thy Servants reduce those that are out of the way raise up those that are fallen confirm and strengthen those that stand relieve and comfort all that are in distress pity the Follies the Degeneracies of Mankind deliver them from their Sins and from their Miseries Hear the daily Prayers and Groans of thy Holy Catholick Church and every Member of the same enlighten those that are out of it with the Knowledge of thy Truth make us in these three Nations a Holy People a Habitation of Righteousness a Place where thy Honour dwells Reward and Recompence all our Friends grant Forgiveness and Charity to all our Enemies continue good Will among our Neighbours support the Sick in Faith and Patience be with those who are leaving the World fit them and us for a better receive the Souls which thou hast redeemed with thy Son 's most precious Blood to whom with thy blessed Majesty and Holy Spirit be all Glory Honour and Praise now and for ever Amen A Prayer after the Sacrament ALL possible Praise and Thanks be given unto thee most gracious God and mercifull Father for all the Instances of thy Goodness unto me for my Health Peace Safety Food and Rayment the Society Kindness and love of Friends Success of my Labours and good Endeavours after the things of this life and a better for all the Blessings I have enjoy'd for preserving me from those Evils I have deserved and escaped for the means of Grace the Assistances of thy Holy Spirit any Inclinations towards thee any care to please thee any fear of offending thee for the Fountain and Foundation of them all the Lord Jesus Christ for thy wonderfull Love in sending him to save us from Sin and Misery to reveal and lead us to Eternal Happiness and for giving me this Day the Pledges and Assurances of the same My highest Praises fall infinitely short of thy most Excellent Majesty and I am ashamed of the most affectionate Thanks I can render unto thee for those inestimable Benefits thou hast conferr'd upon me and so long continued unto me How much Cause then have I to be abased for my shamefull Disobedience forgetfulness of thee and Ingratitude to thee to whom I owe all I have in this World or hope for in the next I humbly implore thy tender Mercies in the forgiveness of all my sins for his sake who hath born the Burden of them and satisfied thy Justice for them Let me have such a lively sence of thy marvellous love and of my Redeemer's sufferings always possessing my Soul as may oblige me for ever unto thee Constrain me to love thee to obey thee to trust in thee to be always content with the Portion thy Wisdom and Love allots unto me and to rejoyce in the midst of all the Troubles of this Life now thou hast given me the Earnest the Pledges of my Eternal Salvation Preserve in me a constant sence of the great value of my Soul for which he hath paid so dear and a great Esteem of that Purity and Holiness for the restoring of which he was obedient to the Death of the Cross Let the same mind be in me that was in Christ Let that Lowliness and Humility Tenderness and Compassion Love and Meekness Heavenly-mindedness and Submission Holiness and Delight to do thy Will Patience and Forgiveness that shone in his Life and Sufferings appear also in mine That living in the Imitation of his Holy Example I may be made partaker of the Benefits of his Death and Passion his gracious undertakings for me Let me live in the daily Thoughts and Praise of his exceeding love Let it be the Care and Business of my life to serve please and enjoy thee for ever Let many be daily brought in to understand and partake of this great Salvation purchased by our Redeemer let him be made known and faithfully obey'd all the World over Enlarge reform unite thy Church more especially in these three Nations let every Member of it be sanctified supported and saved by thee Let all of us that have waited upon thee this Day at this solemn Ordinance be pardoned and accepted in the beloved be mindfull of the Vows and Engagements that are upon us Let us love one another as Christ hath loved us and given himself for us and live as thy Redeemed ones that have tasted how good the Lord is and
will be unto us we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies let us serve thee without fear in Holiness and Righteousness all our Days through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose Holy Name and Words I further pray Our Father c. How to Prepare for a Comfortable Death I. BE sure your State and Condition your Nature Disposition and Inclinations are changed That you have an Interest in Christ the only Ark that can carry us safe to shore after that General Shipwrack made in Adam An inward principle of Piety and Holiness a renewed Soul a reconciled mind to God and True goodness which is nothing else but an Harmony or Right order of Heart and Life That you are possessed of the Sanctifying Spirit made partaker of the Divine Nature and Image Temper and Dispositions resembling Him in his Imitable Perfections of Justice Truth Goodness Kindness Clemency Bounty Benevolence c. Absolutely and Intirely resigned and devoted to him without Reserve or Exception to be govern'd wholly by his Laws You are then reconciled to God you have the Judge for your Friend and Advocate and the Earnest of your Future Inheritance He deserves not the Name of a Christian saith St. Jerom who lives in such a state in which he would not die Good men neglecting clearing up their Evidences and Hopes Their Claim and Title to Heaven hath made them live Comfortless and die Heartless 'T is dreadful entering Eternity upon loose Hopes and fluid Peradventures To die and not to know how we shall speed in another world To fall into the Hands of Death as the Lepers into the Syrians not knowing whether we shall meet with Kindness or Cruelty like that dying Philosopher Dibius vixi Anxius morior nescio quo vado But what is it to be put into the Bill of Mortality when our Names are written in the Book of Life where Guilt is Removed Death is disarmed We may well desire to be dissolved when we know our Redeemer liveth That He shall be our Judge who hath taken upon Him our Flesh who hath given us his Spirit upon whom we have fixed our Expectations of Happiness for whom we have suffered from this vile world whom we always looked on as our Treasure and Portion whose coming we have so long looked for and desired who hath the Keys of Heaven Hell and Death our Friend our Brother our Husband our Head He will not endure to have his own Members cast off He will never disown those that shall be found in Him He will vindicate his own Claim and Title to us He will not lose his own Purchase not deny his own work not condemn us for that Debt himself hath undertaken to pay for whom He came to be Surety was Sentenced Condemned and Suffered There is no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (d) Rom. 8.1 If upon Gospel grounds our Hearts Condemn us not but Testifie we are reconciled to Him we may be sure He is reconciled to us and may have Confidence in the Day of Judgment II. In your several places and stations Imploy well your Talents your Trust your Stewardship your Time fill up every space of it by well spending it Do all the good you can while you are Here not only by a daily Exercise of Publick and Private Devotion but by being in any kind useful and beneficial to others which is a great part of our Business in this world by a Charitable helping the necessitous and distressed allaying their Sorrows removing their Burdens supporting them under their Calamities by all Offices of Kindness and Friendship hindering Injurious Contentions promoting Love Peace good will amongst Men by furthering their welfare by being Courteous and Affable long-suffering mild easie to be intreated and reconciled of a Benign Compassionate Sympathizing Temper assisting and standing up for the injured and oppressed Contributing as much as we can that every one may live as Happily by us and be as good as may be More especially doing good to Mens Souls by seasonable frequent Reproofs and Admonitions good Advice and Example to bring them into love with Goodness and Virtue and Rescue them from the Dominion of Sin and Satan and an Intollerable Damnation A good and generous man is Ambitious and heartily glad of an Opportunity to save a Man's Life or Estate when in Danger but He that 's an Instrument of Anomer's Eternal Salvation saves the most precious thing in the world and furthers his own (e) Dan. 12.3 Jam. 5.19 We may do a great deal of good in a little Time Husbanded well and suffering none of it to be swallowed up without endeavouring to do some real good to our selves or others We account Him Happy that 's taken hence whilest He 's well Imploy'd and every man wishes to Die so we cannot choose the Circumstances of our own Death but may certainly make it Comfortable by imploying our selves so that when God shall call us we cannot be accused of any gross mis-spence of our Time or the neglecting any Opportunity of doing or receiving good the Providence of God hath put into our Hands One of the most principal Rules of solid Devotion saith St. Cyprian is that we let not pass the least occasion of serving God III. Exercise Charity and Mercy according to your Opportunities and Abilities Alms delivers from Death (f) Isa 1.17 Dan. 4.27 Ecl. 3.9 Tob. 4.10 Come up for a Memorial before God (g) Act. 10.4 Charity covers the multitude of Sins (h) 1 Pet. 4.8 Forgiving others Intitles us to the Pardon of our Offences (i) Mat. 6.14.15 We can challenge no Reward from God for our Duty because the Service of our whole Lives is Antecedently due to him and we Receive all from him but a good life qualifies and disposes us for that Happiness He hath promised to Holy and pure Souls and no Grace or Virtue more immediately prepares and fits us for it than works of Mercy which are like to have a greater Influence on the last Day 's Proceedings than most are aware of (k) Lu. 12.33 and 16.9 1 Tim. 6.17 c. All the Actions of Men shall be brought to account but Christ Representing to us the process of the last Judgment and instancing only in Works of Mercy (l) Mat. 25.32 c. signifies at least thus much to us that he hath a peculiar Regard to those in acquitting or condemning men at that Day He looks upon the Performance or Neglect as Redounding upon himself and Intimates there 's something peculiar in the Exercise or Neglect of this Grace to intitle us to his favour or expose us to his wrath The marble-hearted Cruelty of wicked men is the only thing mentioned that makes the Bill be found against them whilst the Righteous are strangely surpriz'd when told they had shewed savour to their Judge to him that sat on the Throne whom they had never seen in