and the Honey-comb Moreover by them is thy servant taught and in keeping of them there is great reward Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret faults Keep thy servant also from presumtuous sins left they get the dominion over me so shall I be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my Redeemer 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 The Song of Zachary BLessed be the Lord God of Israel for he hath visited and redeemed his people Luke 1. 68. And hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us in the House of his Servant David As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us To perform the mercy promised to our Forefathers and to remember his holy Covenant To perform the Oath which he sware to our Forefather Abraham that he would give us That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies might serve him without fear In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life And thou Child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways To give knowledge of Salvation to his people for the remission of their sins Through the tender mercy of our God whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace 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 BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord who hast shewed me the light of thy countenance and hast delivered me from the darkness and dangers of this night and refreshed me with quiet sleep and raised me up again as it were from the grave and restored me to life and the joyful light of another day Give me grace to make it a resurrection to newness of life also that I may spend this day and all that thou shalt yet be pleased to add to it in thy Service to the Glory of thy Name and the Good of my own Soul O Lord blot out as a nightmist mine iniquities and scatter my sins as a morning cloud Isai 44. 22. Grant that I may become a Child of the Light and of the Day that I may walk soberly chastly and honestly as in the day Open thou mine eyes that I may see incline my heart that I may affect and order my steps that I may walk and run in the way of thy Commandements Hold me fast and keep me close by thee Guide me with thy Hand Uphold me when I am falling lift me up when I am down Reduce me when I go astray and hedge in my way that I find not the path to follow after vanity Keep me in all my ways and defend me from all the dangers and evils of this day O Lord preserve my going out and coming in from this time for evermore And now O Lord I offer up my self a living Sacrifice unto thee beseeching thee mercifully and graciously to receive me Cleanse me from all my Pollutions heal all my infirmities and sanctifie all the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Body to thy service this day that in all my thoughts words and works I may always have an eye to that Supreme end of my Creation and so order the whole course of my life that I may be always ready and prepared for death and that severe account which I must one day make unto thee that so I may do it with joy and not with sorrow and receive that Crown which thou hast promised to them that persevere unto the end Heb. 13. 17. And with my self I commend unto thee all whom any bond of Nature or Freindship or Religion commands me to pray for especially and all that have at any time done good to me thou O Lord do good to them and reward them seven-fold into their bosom Preserve us O Lord from all evil O Lord I beseech thee keep our Souls keep us from falling and present us faultless before the presence of thy Glory at that day And the Peace of God which passeth all understanding keep our hearts and minds in the Knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. And the Blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost be with us this day the rest of our lives and for evermore Amen OF PUBLICK PRAYER AT THE THIRD HOVR Psal 119. 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way Even by ruling himself after thy Word Psal 111. 10. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom A good understanding have all they that do thereafter The praise of it endureth for ever NOW as Private Prayer hath this Promise of our Saviour that being performed in the Closet secretly it shall yet be rewarded openly so much more when two or three are gathered together in his Name hath he promised to be in the midst of them and hear their requests This therefore being the usual Hour wherein the Publick Service of the Church is every day to be celebrated this Private Form is far from any purpose to supplant the use or pretence to supply the want of that Which though it be now by the Children of this generation shamefully east out of the House of God yet certainly all true Children of the Church will receive it into their own Houses and make their Family their Congregation But they that want even this Convenience also may yet at least perform their part of the Publick Duty in the Privacy of their Closet and comfort themselves with this Consideration that the Prayers which are sent up from never so divers aud distant places on Earth yet all meet together in the High Court of Heaven The following Form therefore is intended for no more than a Preparation to the Publick And so likewise at the Fifth Hour whereon the Evening Service of the Church is to be celebrated THE THIRD HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Third Hour of the Day About IX in the Morning HEar my Prayer O God and hide not thy self from my Petition OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power
Comforter Thou art the King of Glory O Christ Thou art the Everlasting Son of the Father When thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man Thou dist not abhor the Virgins womb When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of Death Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the Glory of the Father We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge We therefore pray Thee help thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed deemed with thy precious blood Make them to be numbred with thy Saints in Glory everlasting O Lord save thy people and bless thine heritage Govern them and lift them up for ever Day by day we magnifie Thee And worship thy Name ever world without end Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without sin O Lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us O Lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our Trust is in thee O Lord in the have I trusted let me never be confounded WE humbly beseech Thee O Father mercifully to look upon our infirmities and for the glory of thy Names sake turn from us all those evils that we most justly have deserved and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy and evermore serve Thee in holiness and pureness of living to thy Honour and Glory through our only Mediator and advocate Jesus Christ our Lord Amen NOW the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the bloud of the everlasting Covenant make us perfect in every good work to do his will working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen THE FIFTH HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Ninth Hour of the Day About III. After-Noon Preparative to the Publick 1 Thess 5. 2 3. 4. The day of the Lord so cometh as a Thief in the night For when they shall say Peace and Safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them as Travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape But ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief ENter not into judgment with thy servant O Lord for in thy fight shall no man living be justified Psal 143. 2. OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from Evil. For Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 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 Psal 39. I Said I will take heed to my ways that I offend not in my tongue I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle while the ungodly is in my sight I held my tongue and spake nothing I kept silence yea even from good words but it was pain and grief to me My heart was hot within me and while I was thus musing the fire kindled and at last I spake with my tougue Lord let me know mine end and the number of my days that I may be certified how long I have to live Behold Thou hast made my days as it were a span long and mine age is even as nothing in respect of Thee and verily every man living is altogether vanity For man walketh in a vain shadow and disquieteth himself in vain he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall gather them And now Lord what is my hope truly my hope is even in Thee Deliver me from all mine offences and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish I became dumb and opened not my mouth for it was thy doing Take thy plague away from me I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin Thou makest his beauty to consume away like as it were a Moth fretting a garment every man therefore is but vanity Hear my prayer O God and with thine ears consider my calling hold not thy peace at my tears For I am a stranger with Thee and a sojourner as all my fathers were O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more seen Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the begininng is now and ever shall be world without end Amen O God from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works do proceed work in us thy unprofitable servants both to will and to do that the Glory of both may return to Thee the giver of every good and perfect gift through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen NOW unto Him that is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his Glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our Saviour be Glory and Majesty Dominion and Power now and for ever Amen THE SIXTH HOUR OF PRAYER AT THE Twelfth or Last Hour of the Day About VI. in the Evening Deut. 32. 29. O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Job 14. 1 2. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not PRaise the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Which forgiveth all thy sin and healeth all thy infirmities Which saveth thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from Evil. For Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord open thou my lips And my mouth shall shew forth thy praise 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 Psal 90. LOrd Thou hast been our refuge from one generation to another Before the mountains were brought forth or ever the earth and the world were made Thou art God from everlasting and world without end Thou turnest man to destruction again thou sayest come again ye children of men For a thousand years in thy sight are
the rest of our lives and for evermore Amen OF SOLEMN REPENTANCE NOW beside this daily and ordinary Confession and Repentacne it were good to set apart some particular times once a week on Fridays or at least once a month for a more solemn Humiliation In which you may proceed by these several steps I. Take an exect survey of the state of your Soul Examine your self strictly and search into every corner of your heart Recollect and reckon up particularly as far as you can remember all the several sins and abominations of your past life especially since your last solemn Account Represent every one in his own colours with all the several circumstances of aggravation and odiousness you can call to mind II. Labour to get a true and through sight and sense of the vileness and misery of your condition Consider in what a dangerous and deplorable state you had been if God should have taken you away in this course without Repentance And hereupon you cannot but acknowledge and magnifie his mercy and long-suffering that notwithstanding all these provocations he hath yet forborn you thus long and now by his goodness leads you to Repentance Rom. 2. 4. III. Strive to be seriously affected with a true and hearty sorrow for having so hainously offended so good and gracious a God Stedfastly resolve to forsake all these abominations wherewith you have thus grieved his holy Spirit But be sure this be done sincerely withou reserving to your self any other darling sin Though it seem never so small though it be never so dear to you yet spare it not for any respect Though it be to you as your right hand or your right eye yet pluck it out or cut it oâ—â— and cast it from you Mat. 5. 29 30. It is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed than to be cast whole into everlasting fire Mat. 18. 8. Mat. 9. 43. 45. 47. God will have all or none he will not be content with a part though never so great a part IV. Apply your self to God by a lively faith in his promises of mercy and pardon in the bloud of Jesus Christ Pour out your soul before him in an humble Confession of all your sins and abominations Beseech and importune him for the grace of godly sorrow which may work in you true Repentance 2 Cor. 7. 10. Implore his mercy and pardon in the merits and satisfaction of his dear Son Jesus Christ V. Offer up your self wholly into his hands with a promise and vow of new life and more diligent performance of your duty And desire the gracious in fluence of his Holy Spirit as well for a seal of your Pardon as to excite and assist and enable you to perform his will for the future VI. And though it be impossible for you to make restitution or satisfaction to God for the wrongs and affronts which in every single sin you have offered to his Glory yet to shew the sincerity and readiness of your will according to your Power set your self with most diligence to the performance of those Duties wherein you have been most defective And act a kind of holy revenge upon those sins of which you have been most gulity by setting your self most zealously to the practice of the contrary vertues VII And this your reconciliation to God it will be fit I may say necessary to make your peace with the world By making restitution and satisfaction to all that you have wronged by desiring pardon of those you have offended and likewise by freely Pardoning all that have offended or injured you And if all this be done sincerely and uprightly as is required on your part doubtless God is faithful that hath promised and will not fail in the performance of his part A GENERAL FORM OF CONFESSION O Lord the Great and Dreadful God keeping the Covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep his Commandments we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments By our impious and godless thoughts of Thee our confidence in the arm of flesh by placing our affections on earthly things and neglecting to love and delight in Thee by presuming of thy mercies and yet continuing in our sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day Dan. 9. 7. By our want of reverence to thy Service not considering the awfulness of thy Presence and that honour due to Thee in thy House by our formal and hypocritical worship by open profanation and sacriledge by shews and Pretences of piety to cover our worldly and wicked designs We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By our vain and rash oaths blasphemies and perjuries by our execrations on our selves our brethren and our enemies We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By undervaluing thy publick Service and neglecting to bear a part in it by mispending that time either there or elswhere in wanton or worldly thoughts or imployments by not keeping the Spiritual Sabbath unto Thee in serving Thee truly all the days of our lives by not duly observing the times of Festivity or Fasting appointed by just Authority We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By not duly acknowledging thine ordinance and authority in the persons of our Superiours by speaking evil of dignities and reviling the Rulers of thy people by groundless jealousies and suspicions mis-judging and censuring their actions by being as a people that strive with their Priests and not submitting our selves to those who by thy appointment watch over our souls by neglecting those committed to our charge not correcting those sins which have cried loud for examplary punishment We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By rash anger malice hatred revenge and the bloudy effects thereof by uncharitable contentions and divisions factions and animosities by cruelty and unmercifulness and communicating in the sins of bloud We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By the manifold sins of uncleanness by seeking or not avoiding the occasions thereof by idleness intemperance and drunkenness by immodest words and gestures by shameless boasting or not blushing at those sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By thefts rapines and oppressions by vexatious suits practised and countenanced by exactions and unjust gains in bargaining by defrauding the
labourer of his hire by want of due care in expending what we have and a good conscience in acquiring more We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By lying detraction and contumely by censuring and rash judgment by false witness and perverting the course of justice We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By uncontentedness and desiring change in our estates by giving our selves over to lustful covetous and inordinate affections by neglecting acts of Charity and doing as we would be done to and not doing our duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased Thee to call us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By fretting our selves because of the ungodly and being envious against the evil-doer by not loving our enemies not blessing them that curse us not doing good to them that hate us nor praying for those that despightfully use us and persecute us We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By presuming to do evil that good may come thereof by placing piety in opinions by straining at Gnats and swallowing of Camels scrupling at things indifferent and making no conscience of known sins We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By running into open profaneness under colour of avoiding Superstition by guiding our conscience by humours and phansies and not by the certain rules of thy Law by having itching ears and heaping to our selves Teachers and by having mens persons in admiration because of advantage We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By impatience under thy correcting hand not endeavouring our amendment by it and reflecting on our own sins as the causes of it by despising thy chastisements and not rejoycing in tribulations nor glorifying Thee that hast counted us worthy to suffer for righteousness sake We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousness belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day By our want and neglect of those necessary Christian duties of Humiliation and godly sorrow for sin of indignation and revenge upon our selves for it of confessing and forsaking of restitution and satisfaction to others and not by bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance We have provoked and rebelled against Thee O Lord righteousnnss belongs unto Thee but unto us confusion of face as at this day WHO can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse Thou us from these and from our secret sins Psal 19. 22. Try us O good God and search the ground of our hearts prove us and examine our thoughts Look well if there be any other way of wickedness in us and lead us in the way everlasting Psal 139. 23 24. Behold O Lord we are here before Thee in our sins we stand guilty of these and many more not only of all sorts but of all degrees also and we know and confess that the least of these deserves no less than the wages of eternal death But if Thou Lord shouldst be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord who may abide it If Thou shouldst thus severely proceed in judgment against us our spirits should fail before Thee and those souls which Thou hast made Deal thou with us therefore O Lord not after the multitude of our sins but according to the multitude of thy mercies Turn away thy face from our sins and behold that Son of thy Love in thine own bosom that doth not only intercede but hath satisfied not only request and intreat but even require and challenge Thee to have mercy upon us For his sake therefore we beseech Thee have this mercy upon us to make us capable of thy mercies Send down the dew of thy Heavenly grace that may melt and mollifie our frozen and stony hearts that we may see and confess and hate and forsake and sincerely repent us of all our past sins and abominations and turn from the evil of our former ways to Thee that art the Way the Truth and the Life John 14. 6. And then O Lord do Thou return to us also forgive the Debt which hath been discharged by the precious bloud of thy dear Son and seal to us our pardon by the gift of thy holy Spirit which for the time to come may prevent excite and enable us to walk before Thee in holiness and rigtheousness all our days that having cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light we may like valiant Soldiers fight that good fight against all temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil that having finished our course we may receive of Thee that crown of life which Thou hast promised to them that continue faithful unto death Rev. 2. 10. And all for his sake who by his death hath overcome death and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life To him with Thee and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory world without end Amen OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE Lords Supper AND THE PREPARATION Before it Psal 116. 12 13. What reward shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me I will take the cup of Salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord. Psal 26. 6. I will wash my bands in innocency so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. THere yet remains one principal piece of Devotion and that without which there is indeed no Devotion it being the Sacrifice in the Smoke of which our prayers must ascend up before him that sitteth on the Throne Now although God being himself a Spirit desires also to be worshipped in Spirit and in his own respect cares not for these outward and sensible performances yet because the minds of men being as it were shut up in this prison of the Body can receive little information or affection but what is conveyed to them by the Sense it hath pleased him to accommodate himself to our imperfection and infirmity and appoint certain Ceremonies or outward actions which working immediately upon the Senses are by them conveyed in unto the Soul and make on it a more powerful impression of that which is signified by those sensible actions Such are Looking up toward Heaven when we speak to God Kneeling when we pray to him Standing up when we praise him and Bowing at the mention of his Sacred Name such is the dipping in water and signing with the Cross in the Sacrament of Baptism and such is the receiving of Bread and Wine in this other of which we speak For though the
eating of Bread and drinking of Wine are in themselves actions so very ordinary that they are also very inconsiderable yet in this they are made use of to signifie to us the most extraordinary and excellent mercy that ever the Great King of Heaven bestowed upon his poor Subjects and Servants here on earth For I. It is the Commemoration of the death of his own only Son for the redemption of lost Mankind the wounding of his body signified by the breaking of Bread and the shedding of his Bloud by the pouring out of Wine II. Besides this it is also an Evidence of Gods reconciliation and favour to us and demonstration that we are in League and Amity with him in that we are admitted to his own Table to eat of his Bread and drink of his Cup. III. It is a means and instrument of conveying grace and strength to the Souls of Worthy Receivers IV. It is our Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all his mercies and blessings particularly temporal the good things of this World the fruits of the Earth which we here offer unto him under these two Principal of Bread and Wine Of Frequent Receiving THis then being a Service so acceptable to God and so beneficial so necessary for men it were but reason to expect that all good Christians would shew themselves ready and forward to the performance of it And accordingly in the first Age of the Church when Religion and Zeal were in their youth and vigour it was the good custom to celebrate this Sacrament if not every day as it is thought yet at least every Lords day But afterward as Piety began to grow more dull and Love more cold it was by little and little brought down to once a Month. And this Order still remains in the Church of God though now somewhat disturbed by prevailing Sectaries among us And at those times the Supper is appointed to be made ready and the Table furnished for all such as can think fit to spare so much time from their worldly business to come to the Marriage-feast of the great King of Heaven For herein they are yet left to more liberty and not necessarily required to come oftner than thrice a year And truly such is the negligence of many who yet would be accounted Christians that they are not ashamed to stretch this libetty to the utmost Yea and it were well if even then they would come meetly provided and had not more respect to the Shame of the World than to the Honour of God or their own Good Certainly any sober Christian cannot consider without shame and indignation how much Mankind are fallen from their first love But that which is ordinarily brought for an excuse is in it self so unworthy and unreasonable that it makes this Neglect yet more abominable and intolerable And indeed it is somewhat worse than that for which those invited in the Gospel received a severe Censure There it was they were taken up with their several Affairs one had bought a farm or a Yoke of oxen another had married a wife and therefore they could not come But here one is engaged in such a sin which he hath no mind to leave yet another is not in charity and in general they are not prepared and therefore they cannot that is they will not come Such is the ridiculous madness of men in this barbarous and brutish Age that they can think fit to excuse and justifie one fault by pretending more and greater But if you are not prepared to meet your Saviour at his Table to celebrate the memorial of his Mercy how would you appear before him at his Seat of Judgment to which yet you know not but you may be sooner called If therefore you could wish to be always provided for Death which often comes suddenly always uncertainly think not much to bestow a little time in preparing your self for this Sacrament as often as you may have an opportunity of receiving it And those which in these days of Captivity have not that convenience of receiving from the hands of them who have authority to give it may yet do well not to omit the Duty of Preparation Let them do that which they can and for that which they cannot God will accept the will for the deed Of Preparation THE best Preparation to this holy Duty is a continued habit of holy living and frequent meditation upon Heaven and Heavenly things particularly the great mercies of God in the Bloud of Jesus Christ But because the minds of men cannot be always so intent and circumspect but that they need some more solemn Excitations and Exercises it will be requisite to set apart some few days before to be imployed more particularly in this business I. Therefore Examine your self and inquire strictly into the state of your Soul and take a view of your whole Life especially since the time of your last Recieving Observe and consider how you have performed this duty formerly whether worthily or unworthily and what good or ill effect it hath wrought in you what progress you have made in Grace and Goodness or whether you grow worse and worse in sin and what are the Causes and Occasions of either II. Confess and humble your self before God and earnestly intreat and contend for his mercy and pardon and reconciliation and grace and favour in the Merits of Jesus Christ that he will wash you from all your Pollutions in his Bloud and cloath you in the White robe of his Righteousness that so having on a Wedding garment you may be a welcom Guest to his Table And here solemnly renew that Promise and vow which you formerly made in that other Sacrament of Baptism and repeated since every time you have received this That you will forsake Sin and Satan and cleave to the Lord your God with all your heart and by the assistance of his gracious Spirit walk before him uprightly and serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of your Life III. Consider that you are now to communicate not only with God but also with the congregation of your fellow Christians and that the Rule and Essential Character by which you are to know and declare that you love God is that you love your brother also I John 4. 21. Therefore take care to reconcile your self with the World by freely forgiving and meekly desiring forgiveness and endeavouring to restore and establish peace and charity and brotherly kindness aud right understanding between your self and all with whom you have had any kind of difference IV. Recollect and raise up your thoughts from the earth and worldly things and devoutly meditate on heavenly and spiritual matters such as 1. The Creation and Fall of Mankind and the great Miseries which we were thereby engaged in 2. The inestimable Mercy and Goodness of God in bestowing his own only Son for our redemption and restoring us again to a capacity and hope of his heavenly good things
3. The incomparable love of Christ in that he vouchsafed to be born meanly to live in poverty and contempt to die in shame and torment and endure those pains which were due to us for our sins that he might redeem and rescue us from both These and such like are to be remembred and considered with joy and thanks and praise Prayers before the Sacrament NOW for particular Forms of Prayers Meditations and other Exercises of Devotion before and at and after the holy Sacrament the many books designed peculiarly to that purpose will abundantly furnish you with such and these short ones following will not hinder the use of them Before the Sacrament DEpart from me for I am a sinful Man O Lord Luke 5. 8. I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof For the House of my Soul which thou hadst made a fit Temple for thy Holy Spirit to inhabit in I have defaced and defiled with all manner of pollutions and abominations It is become a den of ravenous beasts and a cage of unclean Birds and every corner so crowded with filthiness that Thou wilt not find where to lay thy head Luke 9. 58. But Thou O Lord which despisest not a penitent Sinner but hast promised to dwell with the humble and contrite spirit I beseech Thee cast me not away from thy presence but cast out all profaneness and uncleanness out of my heart and remove every thing that may offend the pure eyes of thy Glory and the holiness of thy Presence and then O Lord vouchsafe to come and enter in and dwell there and abide with me for ever Behold O Lord I am before Thee in my sins clothed with filthy garments and Satan standing at my right hand accusing me and bringing my transgressions into remembrance before Thee with loud clamours for justice against me O Lord I acknowledge and confess my self guilty and that I have deserved the utmost of thy wrath and indignation But O Lord I appeal from thy seat of Judgment to thy Throne of Grace and Mercy humbly beseeching Thee to rebuke and repel the malicious Accuser of thy servants and hearken to the intercession of our Advocate in thine own bosom For his sake have mercy upon me and pardon my offences and blot out the Hand-writing that is against me and put away all mine iniquities and drown them in the depth of the Sea Wash me throughly from all my pollutions in that fountain which Thou hast opened for Judah and Jerusalem to purifie in and then cloath me in that white robe of thy Sons righteousness the Wedding-garment requisite at this Feast and admit me to thy Table which Thou hast prepared for thy children And grant O Lord that when I have tasted of these thy Heavenly dainties I may no more return like the Dog to his vomit nor as the Sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire but I may keep my self unspotted from the world and walk before Thee in all purity and holiness And now O Lord Thou invitest and exhortest me to come to thy holy Table O my God I know mine own unworthiness yet in the multitude of thy mercies I will humbly approach to thine Alter beseeching Thee to behold me not with a severe but a gracious eye Thou knowest the earnest desire of my Soul be thou pleased to pass by the weakness of the flesh and accept the willingness of the spirit and grant that I may now receive this holy Sacrament to the Honour and Glory of thy Name and the Good and comfort and Salvation of my own Soul The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God the Lord God of his Fathers though he be not according to the Purification of the Sanctuary Before the Bread O Blessed Lord God who hast given us thine only Son to lay down his life for our Sins and his flesh for the food and nourishment of our Souls purge and purifie my vile and sinful Soul that it may be a fit habitation for his pure unspotted and precious Body and that no unclean thing may presume to enter where his holy feet have trod from henceforth for ever After the Bread BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord my God who hast vouchsafed to feed me with that Bread from Heaven the Flesh of thy dear Son grant that in the strength of this food I may walk before thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life till I come to the Mount of God the holy Hill where thine Honour and our Rest dwelleth Before the Cup. O Blessed Lord God who hast given the Bloud of thine only Son to be shed for our sins and to refresh and restore our weary gasping Souls cleanse and sanctifie me O Lord that I may receive this cup with a pure heart and not with polluted lips to the eternal comfort and refreshment of my Soul After the Cup. BLessed be thy holy Name O Lord my God who hast vouchsafed me to drink of this Fountain of Living Water the precious bloud of thy dear Son grant that this holy Cup may be an Antidote and Preservative against all sin and evil and may keep my Soul in health and strength to the end of my days An Hymn O Lord who didst not despise nor forsake Man transgressing thy commandment and falling But as a tender-bowell'd Father didst visit him sundry ways Giving him that great and precious Promise concerning the Blessed quickning Seed Opening unto him a door of Faith and Repentance unto life And in the fulness of time sending the same Christ to take the Seed of Abraham And by the oblation of his life to fulfill the obedience of the Law And by the sacrifice of his Death to take away the curse thereof By his death to redeem the World And by his Resurrection to quicken the same Who didst all things to this end to bring back Mankind to thee that he might be partaker of the Divine Nature and Eternal Glory Who diddest attest the Truth of thy Gospel By many and manifold Miracles By the ever-memorable Conversation of thy Saints By their supernatural patience under torments By the most wonderful Conversion of the whole World unto the Obedience of Faith without Strength Rhetorick or Force Blessed praised and hallowed be thy Name the Mention and Memory and all the Monuments thereof both now and for ever Amen After the Sacrament LOrd what is Man that thou art mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him Psal 144. 3. What is thy Servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I 2 Sam. 9. 8. The Dogs eat of the crums that fall from their Masters Table but thou hast fed me with the Bread of thy Children and given me to drink of thine own Cup. Thou hast fed me in a green pasture and leadest me forth beside the waters of comfort Psal 23. 2. O taste and see how gracious the