or the other according to His Majecties gracious Declaration concerning ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS THE Ordinary Publick-Worship ON THE LORDS-DAY The Congregation being reverently composed let the Minister first crave Gods assistance and acceptance of the Worship to bee performed in these or the like words ETERNAL Incomprehensible and Invisible GOD infinite in Power Wisdome and Goodness dwelling in the Light which no man can approach where thousand thousands minister unto Thée and ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Thee yet dwelling with the humble and contrite and taking pleasure in thy People Thou hast consecrated for usâ—…a new and living way that with boldness wée may enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus and hast bid us séek Thée while thou mayest be found Wée come to Thée at thy call and worship at thy Footstool Behold us in thy tender Mercies Despise us not though unworthy Thou art greatly to be feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be had in Reverence of all that are about thée Put thy fear into our hearts that with Reverence wée may serve Thée sanctifie us that thou mayest be sanctified of us when wée draw nigh Thée Give us the Spirit of Grace and Supplication to help our infirmities that our prayers may be faithful fervent and effectual Let the desire of our souls bée to Thée Let us draw néer Thée with our hearts and not only with our lips and worship Thée who art a Spirit in Spirit and Truth Let thy Word be spoken and heard by us as the Word of God Give us attentive hearing Ears and opened beleeving understanding hearts that wee may no more refuse thy calls nor disregardthy merciful cut-stretched-hand nor sleight thy Counsels and Reproofs but be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of Fools Put thy Laws into our hearts and write them in our minds and let us bee all taught of God Let thy Word bee unto us quick and powerful a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the hearts mighty to pull down strong-holds casting down imaginations and reasonings and every high thing that advanceth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Let us magnifie Thée with thanksgiving and triumph in thy Praise Let us rejoyce in thy Salvation and glory in thy holy Name Open thou our lips O Lord and let our mouths shew forth thy praise And let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts bee acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord and onely Saviour Amen Or thus when Brevity is necessary O Eternal Almighty and most gracious God Heaven is thy Throne and Earth is thy Footstool holy and reverend is thy Name Thou art praised by the heavenly Hosts and in the Congregation of thy Saints on Earth and wilt bee sanctified in all that come nigh unto Thee Wée are sinful and unworthy dust but being invited by Thée are bold through our blessed Mediator to present our selves and our supplications before Thée Receive us graciously help us by thy Spirit let thy Fear bee upon us let thy Word come unto us in power and bée received in love with attentive reverent and obedient minds Make it to us the savour of life unto life Cause us to be fervent in Prayer and joyful in thy Praises and to serve Thée this day without distraction that wee may finde that a day in thy Courts is better than a thousand and that it is good for us to draw néer to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Amen Next let one of the Creeds bee read by the Minister saying In the Profession of this holy Christian Faith wee are here assembled I beleeve in God the Father c. I beleeve in one God c. And sometimes Athanasius Creed The Ten Commandements God spake these Words and said c. For the right informing and affecting the People and moveing them to a penitent beleeving confession some of these sentences may bee read GOd created man in his Image By one man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God God so loved the world that hee gave his only begotten Son that whosoever beleeveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Hee that beleeveth on him shall not bee condemned but hee that beleeveth not is condemned already because hee hath not beleeved in the name of the only begotten Son of God And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil For every one that doth evil hateth the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should bee reproved Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law beeing made a curse for us Except a man be born of water and of the spirit hee cannot enter into the Kingdome of God That which is born of the Flesh is Flâ—sh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit Verily I say unto you except yee bee converted and become as little Children yee shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven Say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn yee turn yee from your evil waies for why will yee dye oh house of Israel I say unto you there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over a sinner that repenteth I will arise and go to my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to bee called thy Son The Confession of Sin and Prayer for Pardon and Sanctification O Most Holy Righteous and Gracious God who hatest all the workers of iniquity and hast appointed death to bée the wages of sin but yet for the glory of thy mercy hast sent thy Son to be the Saviour of the world and hast promised forgiveness of sin through his blood to all that beléeve in him and by true Repentance turn unto Thée and that whosoever confesseth and forsaketh his sin shall have mercy Wée confess that wée are vile and miserable sinners being conceived in sin by nature children of wrath and transgressors from the womb All wée like shéep have gone astray and turned every one to his own way Thou madest us and not wée our selves Thou boughtest us with a price and wée are not our own and therefore wée should have wholly given up our selves unto Thée and have glorified Thée with our souls and bodies as being Thine What ever wée did should have been done to thy glory and to please Thée in the obeying of Thy Will But wee have displeased and dishonoured Thée and turned from Thée exalting séeking and pleasing
spirit of the humble and the heart of the Contrite ones for thou wilt not contend for ever neither wilt thou bee alwaies wroth for the spirit would fail before thée and the soul which thou hast made Look down in tender mercy on the affliction of this thy Servant O Lord rebuke him not in thy wrath neither chasten him in thy hot displeasure All his desire is before thée and his groaning is not hid from thée Have mercy upon him O Lord for hée is weak O Lord heal him whose boues and soul is vered In death there is no remembrance of thée In the grave who shall give thée thanks Remember that wée are but flesh a Wind that passeth away and cometh not again wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble Remember not the Iniquities of his youth or his transgressions look upon his Afffiction and his pain and forgive all his sins Though the sorrows of death do compass him about yet if it bée for thy glory and his good recover him and let him live and praise thy name Rebuke his sickness direct unto such means as thou wilt bless In the time of his trouble wée call upon thée do thou deliver him and let him glorifie thée however shew him the sin that doth offend thée let him search and try his waies and confess and turn from his Inquity and let it bée good for him that hée was afflicted Let this bée the fruit of it to purge and take away his sin That being chastened of the Lord hée may not bée condemned with the world And though chastisement for the present séemeth not to bée joyous but grievous yet afterwards let it yéeld the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to this thy Servant that is exercised therein In the mean time O Lord bée thou his Portion who art good to the Soul that séeketh thée and waiteth for thée Let him patiently and silently bear thy yoak let him hope and quietly wait for thy salvation Considering that thou wilt not cast off for ever that thy anger is but for a moment but in thy favour is Life Wéeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning and that whom thou lovest thou chastenest and scourgest every son whom thou receivest and that if hée indure Chastening thou dealest with him as a Son If hée bée recovered let him devote himself entirely to thy glory That when thou hast put off his sackcloath and mourning and girded him with gladness hee may speak thy praise and give thée thanks If hée receive the sentence of death in himself let it cause him to trust in thée that raisest the dead knowing that as thou didst raise up the Lord Jesus thou wilt raise him up also by Jesus Therefore suffer not his hope to faint but though his outward man perish yet let his inwardman bée renewed from day to day and let him live by faith and look at the things which are not séen even at the excéeding eternal weight of glory Let him bée found in Christ not having his own righteousness but that which is of God by faith Restrain the tempter and deliver thy servant from the sinful fears of death by Christ who through death destroyed the Devil that had the power of death That hée may finde that death hath lost his sting and Triumph over it by Faith in him through whom wée are made more than Conquerers That by faith and love his soul may now ascend with Christ that ascended unto his Father and our Father and to his God and our God and is gone to prepare a place for us and hath promised that where hée is there his servants shall bée also That they may behold the glory which thou hast given him Magnifie thy self in his Body whether by life or death and safely bring him into thy glorious presence where is fulness of Joy and Everlasting pleasures through Jesus Christ our Life and Righteousness Amen A Prayer for Women drawing neer the time of Childe-bearing MOst merciful Father who hast justly Sentenced Woman that was first in the Transgression to great and multiplyed sorrows and particularly in sorrow to bring forth Children yet grantest preservation and reliefe for the propagation of Mankinde Bée merciful to this thy servant bée néer her with thy present help in the néedful time of trouble and though in Travel shée hath sorrow give her strength to bring forth Being delivered let her remember no more the Anguish for ioy that a Childe is born into the World Bless her in the fruit of her body and being safely delivered let her return thée hearty thanks and devote it and the rest of her life to thy service through Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen A Thanksgiving for those that are restored from Dangerous Sickness WEe thank thée O Most Gracious God that thou hast heard us when wée cryed unto thée for thy servant in his weakness and distress that thou hast not turned away our Prayer nor thy mercy from him wée cryed to thée and thou hast delivered and healed him thou hast brought him from the grave thou hast kept him alive that hée should not go down into the Pit thou hast forgiven his iniquity and healed his diseases thou hast redéemed his life from destruction and hast crowned him with loving kindeness and tender mercies thou hast not deprived him of the residue of his years thou hast repented thée of the Evil His Age is nor departed Thou hast renewed his youth and given him to sée man with the Inhabitants of the World And to sée the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the living day and night thy hand was heavy upon him but thou hast turned away thy wrath and hast forgiven the iniquity of his sin for this every one that is godly shall pray unto thée in a time of trouble 〈◊〉 Thou art a hiding place thou preservest us from trouble when our Flesh and our heart faileth us thou art the strength of our heart and our Portion for ever indéed Lord thou art good unto thine Israel Even to such as are clean of heart many are the afflictions of the Righteous but thou deliverest them out of all Though all the day long they bée afflicted and chastened every morning yet are they continually with thée Thou holdest them by the right hand thou art a present help in trouble when all the help of man is vain Let thy servant love thée because thou hast heard his voice and supplication Let him offer unto thée the sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay his vowes to the most high and take the Cup of Salvation and call upon thée all his daies let him bée wholly devoted to thy praise and glorifie thée in Soul and Body as being Thine and seasonably depart in peace unto thy glory through Jesus Christ our life and righteousness Amen A
threatenings and foretold him of thy certain terrible Judgements that hée might sly from the wrath to come but alas wée perceive not that hée repenteth or resenteth but hardeneth his heart against reproof as if hée were able to contend with thée and overcome thy power O let us prevail with thée for grace that wée may prevail with him for Penitent confession and reformation O Pitty a miserable sinner miserable as that hée laieth not to heart his misery nor Pittieth himself O save him from the Gall of Bitterness and from the Bonds of his Iniquity give him â—…tance unto life that hee may recover himself out of the snare of the Devil who is taken Captive by him at his Will Give him not up to a blinde minde to a seared conscience a heart that is past feeling nor to walk in his own counsels and after his own lusts Let him no longer despise the riches of thy Goodness and forbearance and long-suffering nor with a hardened impenitent heart treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of thy righteous Judgement who wist render to every man according to his Déeds even to them that are contentious and obey not the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil Let him bée sure that the judgement of God is according to truth against them that commit such things and let him not think in his impenitency to escape thy judgement O suffer him not when hée heareth the threatnings of thy Word to bless himself in his heart and say I shall have peace though I walk in the Imaginations of my heart and add sin to sin lest thy Anger and Jealousie smoke against him and thou wilt not spare him but blot out his name from under Heaven and all thy curses lye upon him and thou separate him to Evil even to the worm that dyeth not and to the fire that is not quenched O save him from his sins from his Impenitency and the Pride and stubborn ness of his heart O save him from the Everlasting Flames and from thy wrath which hée is the more in danger off because hée féeleth not and feareth not his danger Let him know how hard it is for him to kick against the Pricks and how woful to strive against his maker lay him at thy footstool in sackcloath and ashes in tears and lamentation crying out Woe unto mée that I have sinned and humbling his soul in true contrition and loathing himself and begging thy pardoning and healing grace and begging the Prayers and Communion of thy Church and resolving to sin wilfully no more but to live before thée in uprightness and obedience all his daies O let us prevail with thée for the Conversion of this Impenitent sinner and so for the saving of his soul from death and the hiding and pardoning of his sins that hée that is lost may bée found and hée that is dead may bée alive and the Angels of Heaven and wée thy unworthy servants here on Earth may rejoyce at his repenting let us sée him restored by thy grace that wée may joyfully receive him into our Communion and thou mayest receive him at last into thy Heavenly Kingdome and Satan may bée disappointed of his Prey for thy mercy sake through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour Amen A Form of Rejection from the Communion of the Church IEsus Christ the King and Law giver of the Church hath commanded that If a Brother trespass against us wee go and tell him his fault between him and us alone and if hee will not hear us wee shall then take with us one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every word may bee Established And if hee shall neglect to hear them that hee tell it to the Church and if hee neglect to hear the Church that hee bee to us a Heathen Man and a Publican Matth. 18. 15 16 17. And that wee keep not company if any that is called a Brother bee a Fornicator or Covaious or an Idolater or a Raylor or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such a one no not to eat 1 Cor 5. 11. And that wee withdraw our selves from every Brother that walketh disorderly and note him and have no company with him that hee may bee ashamed 2 Thess 3. 6. 14. According to these Laws of Christ wee have admonished this offending Brother who hath greatly sinned against God and grieved and injured the Church wee have earnestly prayed and patiently waited for his repentance but wee have not prevailed But after all hee continueth impenitent and will not be perswaded to confess and forsake his sin Wee do therefore according to these Laws of Christ Declare him unmeet for the Communion of the Church and reject him from it Requiring him to forbear it and requiring you to avoid him and wee leave him bound to the Judgement of the Lord unless his true Repentance shall prevent it A Form of Absolution and Reception of the Penitent THough you have greatly sinned against the Lord and against his Church and your own Soul yet seeing you humble your self before him and Penitently fly to Christ for mercy resolving to do so no more hear now the glad tidings of Salvation which I am commanded to declare unto you 1 John 2. 1 2. If any man Sin wee have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous And hee is the Propitiation for our sins 1 John 1. 9. If wee confess our sins hee is faithful to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Isa 55 6 7. Seek the Lord while hee may bee found Call upon him while hee is near Let the Wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and hee will have mercy upon him and to our God for hee will abundantly pardon Prov. 28. 13. Hee that covereth his sin shall not prosper but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Gal. 6. 1. Brethren if a man bee overtaken in a fault restore such a one in the spirit of meckness considering thy self least thou also bee tempted According to this word of Grace do loose the bonds here laid upon you and receive you again into the Communion of the Church requiring them to receive you and not upbraid you with your sin but rejoyce in your recovery And I do declare to you the pardon of all your sins in the Blood of Christ if your Repentance bee sincere And I exhort charge you that you beleevingly and thankfully accept this Great unspeakable mercy and that you watch more carefully for the time to come and avoid temptations and subdue the Flesh and accept reproofes and see
A Petition for Peace with the REFORMATION OF THE LITURGY As it was Presented to the Right Reverend BISHOPS BY THE DIVINES Appointed by His Majesties Commission to treat with them about the alteration of it LONDON Printed Anno Dom. MDCLXI A Petition for Peace To the most Reverend Archbishop and Bishops and the Reverend their Assistants commissioned by His Majesty to treat about the Alteration of the Book of Common-Prayer The humble and earnest Petition of others in the same Commission Most Reverend Fathers and Reverend Brethren THe special Providence of God and His Majesties tender regard of the Peace and Consciences of His Subjects and his desire of their concord in the things of God hath put into our hands this opportunity of speaking to you as humble Petitioners as well as Commissioners on the behalf of these yet troubled and unhealed Churches and of many thousand souls that are dear to Christ on whose behalf wee are pressed in spirit in the sense of our duty most earnestly to beseech you as you tender the peace and prosperity of these Churches the comfort of His Majesty in the union of his Subjects and the peace of your souls in the great day of your accounts that laying by all former and present exasperating and alienating differences you will not now deny us your consent and assistance to those means that shall bee proved honest and cheap and needful to those great desirable ends for which wee all profess to have our offices and our lives The things which wee humbly beg of you are these 1. That you will grant what wee have here proposed and craved of you in our Preface Even your charitable interpretation acceptance of and consent unto the alterations and additions to the Liturgy now tendered unto you that being inserted as wee have expressed it may bee left to the Ministers choice to use one or other at his discretion upon His Majesties approbation according to his gracious declaration concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs And that seeing wee cannot obtain the form of Episcopal Government described by the late Reverend Primate of Ireland and approved by many Episcopal Divines wee may at least enjoy those benefits of Reformation in Discipline and that freedome from Subscription Oaths and Ceremonies which are granted in the said Declaration by the means of your charitable Mediation and Request 2. Seeing some hundreds of able holy faithful Ministers are of late cast out and not onely very many of their Families in great distress but which is of far greater moment abundance of Congregations in England Ireland and Wales are overspread with lamentable ignorance and are destitute of able faithful Teachers And seeing too many that are insufficient negligent or scandalous are over the Flocks not meaning this as an accusation of any that are not guilty nor a dishonourable Reflection on any party much less on the whole Church wee take this opportunity earnestly to beseech you that you will contribute your indeavours to the Removal of those that are the shame and burdens of the Churches and to the Restauration of such as may bee an honour and blessing to them And to that end that it bee not imputed to them as their unpardonable Crime that they were born in an Age and Country which required Ordination by Parochial Pastors without Diocesans And that Re-ordination whether absolute or hypothetical bee not made necessary to the future exercise of their Ministry But that an Universal Confirmation may bee granted of those ordained as aforesaid they being still responsible for any personal insufficiency or crime Were these two granted The Confirmation of the Grants in His Majesties Declaration with the liberty of the Reformed Liturgy offered you and the restoring of able faithful Ministers to a capacity to bee serviceable in the Church of God without forcing them against their consciences to bee Re-ordained how great would bee the benefits to this unworthy Nation How glad would you make the peoples hearts how thankful should wee bee for the cause of Christ and the souls of men to those that grant them and procure them being conscious that wee seek not great things for our selves or for our Brethren that wee are ambitious of no greater wealth or honour than our daily bread with such freedome and advantage for the labours of our Ministry as may most conduce to the success the increase of holiness and peace wee shall take the boldness to second these Requests with many of our reasons which wee think should prevail for your consent chusing rather to incur whatsoever censures or offence may by any bee taken against our necessary freedome of expression than to bee silent at such a time as this when thousands of the servants of the Lord that are either deprived of their faithful Teachers or in fears of losing them together with the freedome of their consciences in Gods worship do cry day and night to Heaven for help and would cry also in your ears with more importunate Requests if they had but the opportunity as now wee have And 1. Wee beseech you bear with us while wee remember you that you are Pastors of the flock of Christ who are bound to feed them and to preach in season and out of season and to bee laborious in the Word and Doctrine but are not bound to hinder all others from this blessed work that dare not use a Cross or Surplice or worship God in a form which they judge disorderly defective or corrupt when they have better to offer him Mal. 1. 13 14. Is it not for matter and phrase at least as agreeable to the holy Scriptures If so wee beseech you suffer us to use it who seek nothing by it but to worship God as neer as wee can according to his will who is jealous in the matters of his worship If indeed yours have more of strength and ours of weakness yet let not Fathers cast the children from the House of God because they are sick or weak and need the more compassion let not our Physicians resolve their Patients shall all bee famished or cast off whose temperature and appetites cannot agree to feed on the same dish with the same preparation and sauce Hee that thrice charged Peter as hee loved him to feed his Lambs and Sheep did never think of charging him to deny them food or turn them out of his fold or forbid all others to feed them unless they could digest such forms and ceremonies and superscriptions as ours 2. May wee presume to minde you that the Lord of the Harvest hath commanded us to pray that more Labourers may bee sent into the Harvest For still proportionably the Harvest is great and the Labourers are few Mat. 9. 37. And that the Lord hath not furnished them with his gifts in vain nor lighted these Candles to put under a Bushel but to bee set on a Candlestick that they may give light to all that are in the house Mat. 5. 15 And that there are few
be done till those that are strong do bear the infirmities of the weak and please not themselves but every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification instead of vilifying him or undoing him and till instead of casting each others out of the Church or Ministry on the account of things indifferent wee received one another as Christ received us to the glory of God Rom. 15. 1 2 6 7. and till wee are thus like-minded one towards another according to Christ Jesus vers 5. instead of being selfishly minded as men or maliciously as enemies 1 Cor. 3. 3. 1 Cor. 14. 20. Col. 3. 8. Titus 3. 3. If the very Babes were fed with the sincere Milk of the Word and all malice and guile and hypocrisie and envies and evil-speaking were laid aside it would prove the best way to their growth and a surer way to your present and eternal peace than casting them out because they cannot bear your burdens or digest some unnecessary things 1 Pet. 2. 1 2 3. How good and how happy a thing would it bee for Brethren to dwell together in unity Psal 133. 1. And as those that by one spirit are baptized into one body and know they have need of one another to contribute honour to the parts that lack it yea to bestow more abundant honour upon those members which wee think to be less honourable and more abundant comliness on the uncomely parts as knowing those members are necessary that seem to be more feeble If indeed wee would have no Schism in the body the natural way is for the members to have the same care one for another as suffering all with one that suffereth and rejoycing all with one that 's honoured 1 Cor. 12. 12 13 21 22 23 24 25 26. Take their sufferings as your own and you will not be hasty to bring them unto suffering It must be the Primitive Simplicity of Faith Worship and Discipline that must restore the Primitive Charity Unity and Peace and make the multitude of Beleevers to bee of one heart and of one soul and to converse with gladness and singleness of heart as having all things common Act. 4. 32. 2. 46. No such things as our controverted Impositions were then made necessary to the unity and concord of the members of the Church 18. And wee humbly offer to your consideration which way will most gratifie Satan in his cause and servants and which will most promote the work and interest of Jesus Christ The ungodly that have an inbred enmity to holiness and to the holy seed will bee glad to see so many of them suffer and glad under the shelter of your displeasure and afflictings to finde opportunity to reproach them and add affliction to affliction The common adversaries of our Religion and of the King and Kingdome will rejoyce to see us weakned by our Divisions and employed in afflicting or censuring one another and to see so many able Ministers laid aside that might do much displeasure to Satan by the weakening of his Kingdome and by promoting the Gospel and Kingdome of the Lord. And whether this will tend to the edification of the Saints and the pleasing of Christ wee have inquired before 19. And if what you stand for bee indeed of God this course of unmerciful imposition is the greatest wrong to it that you can easily bee drawn to unawars while somany truly fearing God are cast out or trodden down and tempted to think ill of that which themselves and the Church thus suffer by and when so many of the worst befriend this way because it gratifieth them it tendeth to make your Cause judged of according to the quality of its friends and adversaries And how great a hand this very thing hath had already in the dislike of that is befallen Diocesans Ceremonies and the Liturgie is a thing too generally known to need proof 20. Lastly wee repeat what formerly wee have said that the Holy Ghost hath already so plainly decided the point in controversie in the instance of meats and daies Rom 14. 15. that it seemeth strange to us that yet it should remain a Controversie A weak Brother that maketh an unnecessary difference of meats and daies is not to bee cast out but so to bee received and not to bee troubled with such doubtful disputations Despising and judging the servants of the Lord whom hee receiveth and can make to stand and that upon such small occasion is unbeseeming true Beleevers vers 1 2 3 4 5. All should bee here left to the full perswasion of their own minde vers 5. Both parties here acknowledgeth the soveraignty of Christ and in observing or not observing such things they do it all to him vers 6 7 8 9. his judgement should affright us from despising or judging one another vers 10 11 12. instead of judging others wee should judge it our duty that none of us put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in his Brothers way vers 13. If wee grieve those that esteem that unclean which we do not wee walk not charitably destroy not the work of God nor him for whom Christ died by your indifferent things vers 14 15 20. It is evil to him that judgeth it to be evil vers 14 20. Do you beleeve these things to bee indifferent have this belief to your self before God and condemn not your selves in that which you allow vers 22. your Brother is damned if hee practise doubtingly for whatsoever is not of Faith is sin vers 23. and you drive him upon damnation Wee may well conclude then that it is good even your selves to avoid such things unnecessary by which your Brother stumbleth is offended or made weak vers 21. Much more to forbear the forcing them upon him which those that the Apostle reproveth did not attempt It is the Kingdome of God that wee must all promote and that Kingdome consisteth not in meat or drink but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost And hee that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and should bee approved of men vers 17 18. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may Edifie another verse 19. If you say Rulers imposition maketh indifferent things cease to be indifferent Wee answer 1. They are not indifferent in the judgement of dissenters though they bee so in yours 2. Paul was a Ruler of the Church himself and yet would deny his own Liberty rather than offend the weak so far was hee from taking away the liberty of others 1 Cor. 8. 13. And it is to the Church of Rome and Corinth and so to the Pastours as well as the rest that Paul thus writeth Wee beseech you therefore plead not Law against us when our request is that you will joyn with us in Petitioning to his Majesty and the Parliament that there may bee no such Law The Apostles and Elders Act. 15. 28. declare unto
our selves Thou art the King of all the world and Thy Laws are holy iust and good But wée have denied Thée our due subjection and obedience being unruly and self-willed minding the things of the flesh and making provision for its lusts Wée have staggered at Thy Word through unbeléef and have not fully placed our trust and hope in Thée Wée have rather feared man that is dust and can but kill the body than Thée that canst destroy both soul and body in Hell Thou art infinitely good and love it self yet have wée not fully taken Thée for our portion nor loved Thée with all our heart and soul and might nor mads Thée our full desire and delight But wée have inordinately loved our selves and the world and the things of the world and lived by sense when wée should have lived by Faith and cared and laboured for the food that perisheth when wée should have laboured for the one thing néedful and that which indureth to everlasting life wée have béen slothful servants yéelding to temptations ashamed of our duty losing our precious time when wee should have béen fervent in spirit serving the Lord cleaving to Thée with full resolution redéeming the time and with diligence making sure our Calling and Election Wée have not with due holiness and reverence drawn neer Thée and used thy holy Name thy Worship and thy Day Wée have dishonoured and disobeyed our Superiours and neglected our Inferiours Wée have béen guilty of not loving our Neighbours as our selves and not doing to others as wée would they should do to us but have sought our own against their welfare not forbearing and forgiving not loving our enemies as wee ought nor following peace nor studying to do good to all according to our power Wee have sinned secretly and openly in thought word and déed ignorantly and presumptuously in passion and upon deliberation against thy Precepts Promises and Threats against thy mercies and thy judgements under thy patience and in thy sight against our consciences our purposes and our covenants when wée were hasting to death and judgement for which through all our lives wée should have prepared Thou hast commended thy wonderful love towards us in giving thy Son to dye for sinners to reconcile us to Thée while wée were enemies and all things being made ready thou hast sent thy Messengers to invite us to come in preaching to us the glad tidings of salvation and fréely offering us pardon and life in Jesus Christ but wee have made light of it and neglected this great Salvation and made excuses or too long delaies undervaluing our Redeemer his blood and merits his offered grace and endless glory rejecting his holy Doctrine and Example resisting his Spirit Ministers and Wrod Wee have sinned O Lord against Thée and against our own souls and are not worthy to be called thy children Wée have deserved everlasting wrath to us belongeth confusion but mercy and forgiveness unto Thée Have mercy upon us O God according to the multitude of thy Mercies Heal our souls that have sinned against Thée and enter not into judgement with thy servants Hide thy face from our sins and blot out all our iniquities Cast us not away from thy presence and avenge not upon us the quarrel of thy Covenant Wash us in the blood of the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world Accept us in thy Beloved Son who was made a curse for us and was wounded for our transgressions that wée might bee healed by his stripes Turn us O God of our salvation and cause thy face to shine upon us Give us Repentance unto life cause us to loathe our selves for all the evils that wée have committed Give us that broken contrite Spirit which thou wilt not despise Create in us a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within us Take out of us the old and strong heart and give us a new and tender heart Give us the Spirit of thy Son and bee our God and let us bée thy People Enlighten our understandings to know the wonderful things of thy Law the dimensions of thy love in Christ the mysteries of thy Kingdome and the riches of the glory of thy Inheritance in the Saints and that wee may approve the things that are excellent and may escape the snares of the Devil and may hate every false way Shed abroad thy love in our hearts by thy holy Spirit and cause us so to love Thee that nothing may separate us from thy love Put thy fear into our hearts that wee may never depart from Thee Cause us to seek first thy Kingdome and its Righteousness and as those that are risen with Christ to seek the things that are above and to lay up a treasure in Heaven and let our hearts and conversations bee there mortifie our earthly inclinations and desires Crucifie the world to us and us unto the world by the Cross of Christ Cause us to live by Faith and look at the things that are unseen and use the world as not over-using it seeing the fashion of it passeth away striving to enter in at the strait gate and running so as to obtain let us no longer live the rest of our time to the lusts of men but to the will of God studying in all things to please Thee and to bee accepted of Thee let us not seek our own wills but the will of him that called us yea let us delight to do thy will O God let our delight bee in thy Law and let us meditate therein day and night cause us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soverly and righteously and godly in this present world as obedient children not fashioning our selves to the former lusts of our ignorance but as hee that hath called us is holy let us be holy in all manner of conversation Cause us to love one another with a pure heart fervently forbearing and forgiving one another if any have a quarrel against other even as Christ forgave us Give us the wisdome which is first pure and then peaceable In our eyes let a vile person bee contemned but let us honour them that fear the Lord. Cause us to walk circumspectly without offence and to bee zealous of good Works to love our enemies and not to give place to wrath and in patience to possess our souls Help us to deny our selves and take up our Cross and follow Christ esteeming his reproach to bee greater riches than the treasures of the world that having suffered with him wee may also bee glorified with him Though wee must bee tempted help us to overcome and bee faithful unto the death and then let us receive that Crown of Life through the merits and intercession of Christ Jesus our Lord and onely Saviour in whose comprehensive words wee summ up our Requests saying as hee hath taught us Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed bee thy Name Thy Kingdome come c. Or thus when Brevity is
necessary O Most great most iust and gracious God thou art of purer eyes than eo behold iniquity thou condemnest the ungodly impenitent and unbeleevers but hast promised mercy through Jesus Christ to all that repent and beleeve in him Wee confess that wee were conceived in sin and are by nature Children of wrath And have all sinned and come short of the glory of God In our Baptisme thou tookest us into the bond of the holy Covenant but wee remembered not our Creator in the daies of our youth with the fear and love and obedience which wee owed thee not pleasing and glorifying thee in all things nor walking with thee by faith in an Heavenly conversation nor serving thee fervently with all our might but fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the Carnal minde Wee have neglected and abused thy Holy Worship thy Holy Name and thy Holy Day Wee have dishonoured our superiours and neglected our inferiours Wee have dealt unjustly and uncharitably with our Neighbours not loveing them as our selves nor doing to others as wee would they should do to us wee have not sought first Thy Kingdome and Righteousness and been contented with our dayly bread but have been careful ond troubled about many things neglecting the one thing necessary Thou hast revealed thy wonderful love to us in Christ and offered us pardon and salvation in him but wee made light of it and neglected so great salvation and resisted thy Spirit Word and Ministers and turned not at thy reproof Wee have run into temptations and the sin which wee should have hated wee have committed in thy sight both secretly and openly ignorantly and carelesly rashly and presumptuously against thy precepes thy promises and threats thy mercies and thy judgements our transgressions are multiplied before Thee and our sins testifie against us if Thou deal with us as wee deserve Thou wilt cast us away from thy presence into Hell where the worm never dieth and the fire is not quenched But in thy mercy thy Son and thy Promises is our hope Have mercy upon us most merciful Father Bee reconciled to us and let the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse us from all our sins Take us for thy children and give us the Spirit of thy Son Sanctifie us wholly shed abroad thy love in our hearts and cause us to love Thee with all our hearts O make thy face to shine upon thy servants save us from our sins and from the wrath to come make us a peculiar people to Thee zealous of good works that wee may please Thee and shew forth thy praise Help us to redeem the time and give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure Give us things necessary for thy service and keep us from sinful discontent and cares And seeing all these things must bee dissolved let us consider what manner of persons wee ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness Help us to watch against temptations and resist and overcome the Flesh the Devil and the World and being delivered out of the hand of all our enemies let us serve Thee without fear in holiness and righteousness before Thee all the daies of our life Guide us by thy Counsel and after receive us into thy glory through Jesus Christ our onely Saviour Amen Here use the Lords Prayer as before For the strengthening of Faith and raising the Penitent some of these sentences of the Gospel may bee here read Hear what the Lord saith to the absolution and comfort of Penitent Beleevers THe Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you if yee return unto hine If any man sin wee have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and hee is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole World Bee it known unto you men and Brethren that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that beleeve are justified from all things from which they could not bee justified by the Law of Moses Where sin abounded grace did much more abound That as sin reigned unto death even so might grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If wee walk in the light as hee is in the Light wâ—â— have fellowship one with another And the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin If wee say that wee have no sin wee deceive our selves and the truth is not in us If wee confess our sin hee is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Come unto mee all yee that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of mee for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall finde rest unto your souls For my yoak is easie and my barden is light Whosoever will let him take of the Water of life freely All that the Father hath given mee shall come to mee and him that cometh to mee I will in no wise cast out I will bee mercifull to their unrighteousness and their sins and Iniquities I will remember no more Hear also what you must Bee and Do for the time to come if you would bee Saved NOw if any man have not the Spirit of Christ hee is none of his If any man bee in Christ hee is a new Creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new There is no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit For they that are after the flesh do minde the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit For to bee carnally minded is death but to bee spiritually minded is life and peace For the Carnal minde is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can bee So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God For if yee live after the Flesh yee shall die but if through the spirit yee mortifie the deeds of the body you shall live Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God But the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no Law And they that are Christs have crucyfied the flesh with the affections and lusts Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wanionness not in strife and envying But
night Make him as an Angel of God to discera between good and evil that in his eyes a vile person may be contemned due hee may honour them that fear the Lord that his eyes may bee upon the faithful of the Land that they may dwell with him and they that are perfect in the way serve him Remove the Wicked from before him that his Throne may bee established in Righteousness and grant that under him wee may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty And when hee hath finished his course on Earth let him inherit a Crown of Righteousness and reign with Christ for ever Bless the Queen Mother the Illustrious Prince James Duke of York and the rest of the Royal Family endue them with thy Holy Spirit inrich them with thy heavenly Grace and make them blessings in their Generation Endue the Lords of His Majesties Counsel and all the Nobility the Judges and all the Magistrates of the Land with Wisdome from above that they may rule as in thy fear and iudge Righteous Judgement and may take heed what they do as iudging not for man but for the Lord that Justice may run down as Water and Righteousness as a mighty stream Let all His Maiesties Subiects duly submit to him and obey him not only for wrath 〈◊〉 for conscience sake Let all his Kingdâ—mes bee the Kingdâ—mes of the Lord and of his Son Christ that God may dwell amongst us and if it may bee said of them The Lord bless thee O Habitation of Justice and Mountain of Holiness For Thine O Father with the Son and Holy Ghost is the Kingdome and Power and Glory for ever Amen The General Prayer OMost Holy Blessed and Glorious Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost Three Persons and One God our Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier our Lordâ— our Governour and Father hear us and have mercy upon 〈◊〉 miserable sinners O Lord our Saviour God and man 〈◊〉 who having assumâ—… our nature by thy sufferings and death and burial wast made 〈◊〉 Ransome to take away the sins of the World who being raises from the dead ascended and glorified art made Head over all things to the Church which thou gatherest justifiest sanctifiest rulest and preservest and which at thy coming Thou wilt raise and judge to endless Glory Wee beseech Thee to hear us miserable sinners make sure to us our Calling and Election our unfeigned Faith and Repentance that being justified and made the Sons of God wee may have Peace with him as our Reconciled God and Father Let thy holy Spirit sanctifie us and dwell in us and cause us to deny our selves and to give up our selves entirely to Thee as being not our own but Thine As the World was created for thy Glory let thy Name bee glorified throughout the World Let Self-love and Pride and Uain-glory bee destroyed cause us to love Thee fear Thee and trust in Thee with all our hearts and to live to Thee Let all the Earth subject themselves to Thee their King Let the Kingdomes of the World become the Kingdomes of the Lord and of his Christ Let the Atheists Idolaters Mahometans Jews and other Infidels and ungodly People bee converted Send forth meet Labourers into the Harvest and let the Gospel bee preached throughout all the World Preserve and bless them in thy Work Sustain in patience and seasonably deliver the Churches that are oppressed by Idolaters Infidels Mahometans or other enemies or by the Roman Papal 〈◊〉 Unite all Christians in Jesus Christ the true and onely universal Head in the true Christian and Catholick Faith and Love cast out Heresies and Corruptions heal divisions let the strong receive the weak and bear their Infirmities Restrain the spirit of Pride and Cruelty and let nothing bee done in strife or vain-glory Keep us from Atheism Idolatry and Rebellion against Thee from Infidelity Ungodliness and Sensuality from Security Presumption and Despair Let us delight to please Thee and let thy Word bee the Rule of our Faith and Lives let us love it and understand iâ— and meditate in it day and night Let us not corrupt or neglect thy Worship nor take thy Holy Name in vain keep us from Blasphemy Perjury prophane Swearing Lying contempt of thy Ordinances and from false unworthy and unreverent thoughts and speeches of God or holy things and from the neglect and prophanation of thy Holy Day Put it into the hearts of the Kings and Rulers of the World to submit to Christ and rule for him as Nursing-Fathers to his Church and save them from the temptations that would drown them in sensuality or would break them upon Christ as a Rock of offence by engaging them against his holy Doctrine Waies and Servants Have mercy on thy Servant Charls our King protect his Person illuminate and sanctifie him by thy Spirit that above all things hee may seek thine honour the encrease of Faith and holy Obedience to thy Laws and may govern us as thy Minister appointed by Thee for the terrour of evil doers and the praise of them that do well that under him wee may live a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty Have mercy upon all the Royal Family upon the Lords of the Counsel and all the Nobility the Judges and other Magistrates of these Lands Let them fear Thee and hee Ensamples of Piety and Temperance haters of Injustice Covetousness and Pride and Defenders of the Innocent in their eyes let a vile person bee contemned but let them honour them that fear the Lord. Let every soul bee subject to the Higher Powers and not resist Let them obey the King and all in Authority not only for wrath but for conscience sake Give all the Churches able holy faithful Pastors that may soundly and diligently preach thy Word and guide the Flocks in waies of Holiness and Peace over-seeing and ruling them not by constraint but willingly not for filthy lucre but of a ready minde not as being Lords over thy Heritage but the Servants of all and Ensamples to the Flock that when the chief Pastor shall appear they may receive the Crown of Glory Let the people know those that are over them in the Lord and labour among them preaching to them the Word of God let them highly esteem them in love for their works sake account them worthy of double honour and obey them in the Lord. Let Parents bring up their Children in Holy Nurture that they may remember their Creatour in the daies of their youth and let Children love honour and obey them Let husbands love their Wives and guide them in knowledge and holiness and let Wives love and obey their Husbands Let Masters rule their servants in thy fear and servants obey their Masters in the Lord. Kéep us from Murders and violence and injurious passionate words and actions Kéep us from Fornication and all uncleanness from Chambering and wantonness from Lustful thoughts
sins and renounce the Flesh the Devil and the World and consent to the Covenant of Grace giving up your self to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost as your Creator and Reconciled Father your Redeemer and your Sanctifier Ans I do Or thus rather if the Parent bee fit to utter his own Faith Quest Do you remain stedfast in the Covenant which you made in Baptism your self Ans Repenting of my sins I do renounce the Flesh the Devil and the World and I give up my self to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost my Creator and Reconciled Father my Redeemer and my Sanctifier Quest Do you present and dedicate this Childe unto God to bee baptized into this Faith and solemnly ingaged in this Covenant unto God the Father Son and Holy Ghost against the Flesh the Devil and the World Ans It is my desire or I do present and dedicate him for this end Quest Do you here solemnly promise that if God continue it with you till it bee capable of Instructions you will faithfully indeavour to acquaint this Childe with the Covenant in which hee was here by you ingaged and to instruct and exhort him to perform this Covenant as ever hee looks for the blessings of it or to escape the curses and wrath of God that is That hee renounce the Flesh the World and the Devil and live not after them And that hee beleeve in this One God in Three Persons the Father Son and Holy Ghost his Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier That hee resign himself to him as his absolute Owner and obey hâ—m as his Supream Governour and love him as his most gracious Father hoping to injoy him as his Felicity in Endless Glory Ans I will faithfully indeavour it Quest Will you to this end faithfully endeavour to cause him to learn the Articles of the Christian Faith the Lords Prayer and the ten Commandements and to read or hear the holy Scriptures and to attend on the Publick Preaching of Gods Word Will you endeavour by your own Teaching and Example and Restraint to keep him from wickedness and train him up in a holy life Answ I will faithfully endeavour it by the help of God Then let the Minister pray thus or to this sense O Most merciful Father by the first Adam sin entred into the world and death by sin and wée are all by nature Children of Wrath But thou hast given thy only Son to bée the séed of the Woman the Saviour of the World the Captain of our Salvation to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and to wash us in his blood and reconcile us unto thée and to renew us by the Holy Ghost and to bruise Satan under our féet In him thou hast established the Covenant of grace and hast appointed this Holy Sacrament of Baptism for our solemn Entrance into the Bonds of the Covenants and stating us in the blessings of it which thou extendest to the faithful and their séed Wée dedicate and offer this Childe to thée to bée received into thy Covenant and Church Wée beséech thée to accept him as a member of thy Son and wash him in his blood from the guilt of Sin as the Flesh is washed by this water Bée reconciled to him and take him for thy Childe renew him to the Image of thy Son make him a fellow Citizen with the Saints and one of thy Houshold Protect him and provide for him as thy own and finally preserve him to thy Heavenly Kingdome through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Amen Then the Minister shall ask of the Parent the name of the Childe to bee Baptized and naming him shall either dip him under the water or else pour water upon his face if hee cannot be safely or conveniently dipt and shall use these words without Alteration I Baptise thée in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And hee shall thus Declare THis Childe is now received by Christs appointment into his Church and solemnly entred into the holy Covenant and engaged if heâ— lives to the use of Reason to rise with Christ to newness of life as being buried with him by Baptism and to bear his Cross and confess Christ crucified and faithfully to fight under his Banner against the Flesh the Devil and the World and to continue his Faithful Souldier and Servant to the death that hee may receive the Crown of Life Then hee shall give Thanks and Pray WEe thank thée most merciful Father that when wée had broken thy Law and were condemned by it thou hast given us a Saviour and life in him and hast extended thy Covenant of Grace to Beleevers and to their â—éed and hast now received this Childe into thy Covenant and Church as a member of Christ by this Sacrament of Regeneration Wée beséech thée let him grow up in Holiness and when hee comes to years of discretion let thy spirit reveal unto him the mysteries of the Gospel and the riches of thy love in Jesus Christ and cause him to renew and perform the covenant that hée hath now made and to resign himself and all that hée hath entirely unto thée his Lord to bée subject and obedient to thée his Governour and to love thée his Father with all his heart and soul and might and adhere unto thée and delight in thée as the Portion of his soul desiring and hoping to enjoy thée in everlasting Glory Save him from the Lusts and Allurements of the Flesh the temptations of the Devil and the Baits of the pleasure profit and honour of the world and from all the Corruptions of his own heart and all the hurtful violence of his Enemies Kéep him in Communion with the Saints in the love and use of thy word and worship Let him deny himself and take up his Cross and follow Christ the Captain of his Salvation and bée faithful unto the death and then receive the Crown of life through Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen Then use this Exhortation or the like to the Parents YOu that have devoted this Childe to God and ingaged it in Covenant to him must bee thankful for so great a mercy to the Childe and must be faithful in performing what you have promised on your parts in instructing and educating this Childe in the Faith and Fear of God that hee may own and perform the Covenant now made and receive all the Blessings which God hath promised Hear what God hath made your duty Ephes 6. 4. Fathers provoke not your Children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Prov. 22. 6. Train up a childe in the way hee should go and when he is old he will not depart from it Prov. 19. 15. The Rod and Reproof give Wisdome but a Childe left to himself bringeth his Mother to shame Deut. 6. 5 6 7. Thou shalt love thy Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might
person bee able and willing let him before the Congregation give the foresaid account at large of his Knowledge Faith and Obedience But if through backwardness or disability for publick speech hee shall refuse it let him make the same Profession privately to the Minister and own it in the Assembly when the Minister shall declare it and ask him whether hee owns it But unless it bee in case of some extraordinary natural Imperfection and disability of utterance let him at least openly recite the Creed and profess his consent to the Covenant with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Let the Minister of every Parish keep a double Register one of the Names of all that are there baptized another of the Names of all that are approved upon their foresaid credible Profession and so admitted into the number of Communicants or that have a certificate of such Approbation regularly elsewhere performed And if Confirmation bee continued let His Majesties Declaration bee observed requiring That Confirmation bee rightly and solemnly performed by the Information and with the consent of the Minister of the place Let no Minister bee inforced to admit any himself to the Lords Supper who hath been clancularly and irregularly approved Those that after this Approbation prove scandalous offenders shall not by the Minister be suffered to partake of the Lords Table until they have openly declared themselves to have truly repented and amended their former naughty lives Of the Celebration of Matrimony BEfore the Solemnizing of Marriage between any Persons their purpose of marriage shall bee published by the Minister three several Lords daies in the Congregation at the place or places of their most usual abode respectively And of this Publication the Minister who is to joyn them in marriage shall have sufficient Testimony before hee proceed to Solemnize the Marriage The Parents consent being first sufficiently made known At the Celebration the Minister shall either by a Sermon or other Exhortation open to them the Institution Ends and Use of Marriage with the conjugal Duties which they are faithfully to perform to each other And then shall demand of them whether it bee their desire and purpose to bee joyned together in the Bond of the Marriage-Covenant and if they answer affirmatively hee shall say to them I require and charge you as you will answer at the dreadful day of Judgement when the secrets of all hearts shall bee disclosed that if either of you do know any Impediment by Preconâ—ract or otherwise why you may not lawâ—ully bee joyned together in marriage you discover it and proceed not If no Impediment bee discovered by them or others hee shall Proceed to Pray MOst merciful Father who hast ordained Marriage for mutual help and for the increase of mankinde with a legitimate Issue and of the Church with a Holy séed and for prevention of uncleanness Bless thy own Ordinance to these persons that entring this state of Marriage in thy fear they may there â—â—tirely devote themselves unto thée and bée faithful in all conâ—…gal Affections and duties unto each other and if thou bless them with Children let them bee devoted unto thée and accepted as thine own and blessed with thy grace and educated in thy fear Subdue those corruptioins that would make their lives unholy or uncomfortable and deliver them from temptations to impiety worldlyness unquietness discontent or disaffection to each other or to any Unfaithfulness to thée or to each other make them meet helps to each other in thy fear and in the lawful management of the affairs of this World Let them not hinder but provoke one another to love and good to works and foreséeing the day of their separation by death let them spend their daies in a Holy Preparation and live here together as the Heirs of life that must reâ—oyce at the great marriage day of the Lamb and live for ever with Christ and all the Holy Angels and Saints in the presence of thy glory Amen The Woman if shâ—e bâ—e under Parents or Governours being by one of them or some deputed by them given to bâ—e married the Man with his Right hand shall take the Woman by the Right hand and shall say I. A. do take thée B. to bée my Married Wife and do promise and Covenant in the presence of God and before this Congregation to bée a loving and faithful Husband to thée till God shall separate us by death Then the Woman shall take the Man by the Right hand with her Right hand and say I. B. do take thée A. to bée my Married Husband and I do promise and Covenant in the presence of God and before this Congregation to bée a loving obedient and faithful Wife unto thée till God shall separate us by death Then let the Minister say These two persons A. and B. being lawfully married according to Gods Ordinance I do pronounce them Husband and Wife And those whom God hath conjoyned let no man put asunder Next hee may read the duty of Husbands and Wives out of Eâ—hes 5. 2. Coll. 4. 2. 1 Pet. 3. and Psalm 128. or some other Pertinent Psalm may bee said or sung And let the Minister exhort them to their several duties and then Pray MOst merciful Father let thy Blessings rest upon these Persons now joyned in lawful Marriage Sanctify them and their Conversations their Family Estates and 〈◊〉 unto thy Glory Furnish them with love to thée and to each other with méekness patience and contentedness Let them not live unto the Flesh but unto the spirit that of the spirit they may reap Everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Amen Then let him Conclude with a Benediction GOd Almighty the Creator Redéemer and Sanctifier bless you in your Souls and Bodies Family and Affairs and preserve you to his Heavenly Kingdome Amen The Visitation of the Sick and their Communion THe Visitation of the Sick being a private duty and no part of the Pubâ—ick Liturgy of the Church and the case of the Sick being so exceeding various as to soul and body and it being requisite that Ministers bee able to suiâ— their Exhortations and Prayers to the Condition of the Sick let the words of such Exhortations and Prayers bee left to their Prudence So urgent is the necessity of the Sick and so seasonable and advantagious the opportunity that Ministers may not negligently over-pass them but in love and tenderness instruct them according to their several Conditions Endeavouring the Conversion of the ungodly the strengthening of the weak and comforting such as need Consolation directing them how to improve their afflictions and helping them to bee sensible of the evil of sin the negligences and miscarriages of their lives the vanity of the World their necessity of a Saviour the sufficiency of Christ the Certainty and Excellency of the Everlasting Glory Exhorting them to repentance and to faith in Christ and to set their affections on the things above And if
bee a Communion of the Church in the Lords Supper Let the Pastor require him to forbear and not suffer him to partake of the Lords Table If yet the offender remain impenitent let the Pastor openly declare him â—â—meet for the Communion of the Church and require him to abstain from it and require the Church to avoid Communion with him And let him binde him by the denounciations of the threatings of God against the impenitent But before this is done let no necessary consultation with other Pastors or concurrence of the Church bee neglected And after let there bee place for due appeals and let Ministers consent to give account when they are accused of Mal-administration But if after private Admonition while the offence is such as requireth not publick confession the Sinner bee penitent let the Minister privately apply to his Consolation the promises of the Gospel with such cautelous prudence as is most suitable to his condition And if hee repent not till after publick admonition or that the scandall bee so great and notorious as that a publick confession is necessary let him at a seasonable time appointed by the Pastor with remorse of conscience and true contrition confels his sin before the Congregation and heartily lament it and clear the honour of his Christian profession which hee had stayned and crave the prayers of the Church to God for pardon and reconciliation through Christ and also crave the Ministerial Absolution and restauration to the Communion of the Church and profess his resolution to do so no more but to live in new obedience to God desiring also their prayers for Corroborating and preserving grace It is only a credible profession of repentance that is to bee accepted by the Church The foregoing Cautious must bee carefully observed in such confessions that they bee not made to the injuring of the Magistrate or of the Church or of the reputation of others or of the Life Estate or Liberty of the offender or to any other shame than is necessary to the manifesting of his repentance and the clearing of his Profession and the Righting of any that hee hath wronged and the honour and preservation of the Church When hee hath made a credible profession of repentance It is the Pastors duty Ministerially to declare him pardoned by Christ but in conditional terms If his repentance be sincere And to absolve him from the censureof non Communion with the Church if he was under such a censure before his penitence and to declare him meet for their Communion and to encourage him to come and require the Church to entertain him into their Communion with gladness and not upbraid him with his fall but rejoyce in his recovery and endeavour his confirmation and preservation for the time to come And it is his duty accordingly to admit him to Communion and theirs to have loving Communion with him All which the penitent person must beleevingly lovingly joyfully receive But if any by Notorious perfidiousness or frequent Covenant breaking have forfeited the Credit of their words or have long continued in the sin which they do confess so that their forsaking it hath no proof The Church then must have testimony of the Actual Reformation of such as these before they may take their Professions and promises as credible Yet here the difference of persons and offences is so great that this is to bee much left to the Prudence of Pastors that are present and acquainted with the persons Circumstances of the Case In the transacting of all this these following Forms to bee varied as the variety of Cases do require may bee made use of A Form of Publick Admonition to the Impenitent A. B. you are convict of gross and scandalous sin you have been admonished and intreated to repent The promises of mercies to the Penitent and the threatnings of God against the Impenitent have not been concealed from you wee have waited in hope for your repentance as having Compassion on your soul and desiring your Salvation But wee must say with grief you have hitherto disappointed us Wee are certain from the Word of God that you must bee penitent if ever you will bee pardoned and that except you repent you shall everlastingly perish Luke 13. 3 5. Act. 5. 31. Luke 12. 47. To acquaint you publickly with this and yet here to offer you mercy from the Lord is the next duty laid upon us for your recovery O! blame us not if knowing the terrours of the Lord wee thus perswade you and are loath to leave you in the power of Satan and loath to see you cast out into perdition and that your blood should bee required at our hands as not having discharged our duty to prevent it Bee it known unto you therefore that it is the God of Heaven and Earth the great the jealous and the terrible God whose Lawes you have broken and whose Authority you dispise you refuse his government who is coming with ten thousands of his Saints to execute judgement upon all and to convince all that are ungodly of their ungodly Deeds and speeches who hath told us that evil shall not dwell with him The Foolish shall not stand in his sight Hee hateth all workers of Iniquity Jude 14 15. Psalm 5. 4 5. The ungodly shall not stand in judgement nor sinners in the Congregation of the Righteous Psalm 1. 5 6. God hath not made his Lawes in vain Though the wicked contemn God and say in their hearts hee will not require it Psalm 10. 13. Yet their damnation slumbereth not they are reserved to the day of judgement to bee punnished 2 Pet. 2. 3 9. And hee seeth that their day is coming Psalm 37. 13. If men cut off the lives of those that break their laws will God bee out-faced by the pride and stubborness of sinners Hee will not you shall know hee will not Hee threatneth not in jest Who hath hardened himself against him and hath prospered Job 9. 4. Are you not as chaffe and stubble and is not our God a consuming Fire Psalm 1. 4. Isa 5. 24. Heb. 12. 19. If Briers and Thorns bee set against him in Battel will hee not go through them and burn them up together Isa 27. 4. Can your heart endure or your hands bee strong in the day when God shall deal with you It is the Lord that hath spoken it and hee will do it Ezek. 22. 14. What will you do when you must bear wich the pains of Hell from God that now can scarce endure to bee thus openly plainly warned of it If wee to please you should bee silent and betray you do you think the God of Heaven will fear or flatter you or bee unjust to please a worm Do you provoke the Lord to Jealousie are you stronger than hee 1 Cor. 10. 22. O man for your souls sake let not Satan abuse your understanding and sin befool you must you not die And doth not Judgement follow when all
and these words which I command thee this day shall bee in thy heart and thou shalt reach them diligently unto thy Children and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in the house and when thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest down and when thou risest up Joshuah saith Josh 24. 15. As for mee and my house wee will serve the Lord. And Paul saith of Timothy 2 Tim. 3. 15. From a Childe thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto Salvation through Faith which is in Christ Jesus Then say to the People thus or to this sense YOu have heard Beloved how great a dignity we were advanced to in our Baptism to how great duty wee are all ingaged O search and try whether you have kept or broken the Convenant which you made and have lived according to the dignity of your Calling And if any of you bee Atheists Unbeleevers or Ungodly and love not God above all and neglect Christ and his Salvation and are yet unsanctified and live after the Flesh the Devil and the World which you here renounced As you love your souls bewail your perfidious Convenant-breaking with God Trust not the water of Baptism alone if you are not born again of the Spirit also you cannot enter into the Kingdome of God Joh. 3. 5 6. Baptism will not save you if you have not the answer of a good conscience unto God 1 Pet. 3. 21. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his Rom. 8. 9. Much less those wretches that hate Sanctification and despise and scorn a holy life when they were by Baptism engaged to the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier Can you think to bee saved by the Covenant which you keep not O no! your perfidiousness aggravateth your sin and misery Eccles 5. 4 5. When thou vowest a vow to God defer not to pay it for hee hath no pleasure in Fools Pay that which thou hast vowed better it is that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay O bless the Lord that it is a Covenant of such Grace which is tendred to you that yet upon true Repentance and Coversion even your Covenant-breaking shall bee forgiven And therefore penitently cast down your selves before the Lord and beleevingly cast your selves on Christ and yeeld to the teachings and sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost yet know the day of your Visitation and forsake the Flesh the Devil and the World and turn to God with all your hearts and give up your selves intirely to your Creator Redeemer and Sanctifier and hee will have mercy upon you and will abundantly pardon you But if you still live after the Flesh you shall dye And if you continue to neglect this great Salvation there remaineth no more Sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement and Fire which shall devour the Adversaries Let no Children bee privately baptized nor any Minister forced to baptize them any where besides in the Publick Assembly unless upon some special weighty cause if there be occasion for baptizing the Adult let the Minister accordingly sute his expressions Of Catechizing and the Approbation of those that are to bee admitted to the Lords Supper SEEing none can bee saved at years of discretion that do not actually beleeve and personally give up themselves in Covenant to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Therefore as Parents must do their parts so Ministers must catechize the Ignorant and Diligently labour to cause them both to learn the Form of wholsome words even the Lords Prayer and the ten Commandements and some brief yet full and sound Catechism and to understand the meaning of them and to engage their hearts into the love of God and a holy Obedience to his Laws To this end let the Minister either every Lords Day before the Evening Prayers or at some convenient hour or on some other day of the week as oft as hee can examine publickly such as are not admitted to the Lords Supper and take an account of their learning and understanding the Creed the ten Commandements the Lords Prayer and the Catechism And let him by questioning and explication help them to understand them And let such of the several Families of the Parish come in their turns when they are called by the Minister to bee thus Catechized Also let the Minister either go to their houses or rather appoint the persons aforesaid in their courses at a certain hour and place in the Church or any other fit place to come to him for personal Instructions where hee may confer with those that are unmeet to bee catechized Publickly or unwilling to submit to it and there with humble prudent serious Instruction and Exhortation let him indeavour to acquaint them with the substance of Christian-Faith and Duty and to help them to make sure their Calling and Election and to prepare for Death and Judgement and exhort them to love and to good works and warn them lest they bee hardened through the deceltfulness of sin But let him not in publick or private meddle with Impertinencies or spend the time about smaller matters or singular Opinions nor sift people to know things unfit or unnecessary to bee disclosed nor meddle with matters that do not concern him as a Minister to inquire after But help them to learn and understand and practise the Christian Religion expressed in the Catechism The Catechism LEt none be admitted by the Minister to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper till they have at years of discretion understood the meaning of their Baptismal Covenant and with their own mouths and their own consent openly before the Church ratified and confirmed and also promised that by the Grace of God they will evermore endeavour themselves faithfully to observe and keep such things as by their own mouth and confession they have assented to And so being instructed in the Christian Religion do openly make a credible Profession of their own Faith and promise to bee obedientt o the Will of God A Profession is credible when it is made understandingly seriously voluntarily deliberately and not nullified by contradiction in Word or Deed And that Profession is incredible that is made ignorantly ludicrously forcedly rashly or that is nullified by verbal or practical contradiction And it must bee practice first that must make words credible when the person by perfidiousness hath forfeited his Credit It is not private persons onely but the Pastors of the Church that must approve of this Profession Therefore before any are admitted to the Lords Supper they shall give a good account of their Knowledge Faith and Christian Conversation conformable thereunto unto the Pastors of their respective Congregations or else shall produce a certificate that they have been approved or admitted to the Lords Supper in another Congregation of which they were members and that by an allowed Minister upon such approved Profession as aforesaid If the