Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
spirit_n	eternal_a	life_n	soul_n	7,461	5	5.0564	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23775	The whole duty of man laid down in a plain way for the use of the meanest reader divided into XVII chapters : one whereof being read every Lords day, the whole may be read over, thrice in the year, necessary for all families : with private devotions.; Whole duty of man	Allestree, Richard, 1619-1681.; Fell, John, 1625-1686.; Sterne, Richard, 1596?-1683.; Henchman, Humphrey, 1592-1675.; Pakington, Dorothy Coventry, Lady, d. 1679.	1659 (1659)	Wing A1170_PARTIAL; Wing A1161_PARTIAL; ESTC R22026	270,427	508

thy blessed will be done I cast my self O Lord at thy feet do with me what thou pleasest Try me as silver is tried so thou bring me out purified And Lord make even my flesh also to subscribe to this resignation that there may be nothing in me that may rebel against thy hand but that having perfectly supprest all repining thoughts I may cheerfully drink of this cup. And how bitter soever thou shalt please to make it Lord let it prove medicinal and cure all the diseases of my soul that it may bring forth in me the peaceable fruit of righteousness That so these light afflictions which are but for a moment may work for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Jesus Christ. A Thanks giving for Deliverance O BLESSED Lord who art gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness and repentest thee of the evil I thankfully acknowledge before thee that thou hast not dealt with me after my sins nor rewarded me according to my iniquities My rebellions O Lord deserve to be scourged with Scorpions and thou hast corrected them only with a gentle and fatherly Rod neither hast thou suffered me to lie long under that but hast given me a timely and a grcaious issue out of my late distresses O Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity Thou hast smitten and thou hast healed me O let these various methods of thine have their proper effects upon my soul that I who have felt the smart of thy chastisements may stand in awe and not sin and that I who have likewise felt the sweet refreshings of thy mercy may have my heart ravished with it and knit to thee in the firmest bands of love and that by both I may be preserved in a constant entire obedience to thee all my days through Jesus Christ. Directions for the time of Sickness WHEN thou findest thy self visited with Sickness thou art immediately to remember that it is God which with rebukes doth chasten man for sin And therefore let thy first care be to find out what it is that provokes him to smite thee and to that purpose Examine thine own heart search diligently what guilts lie there confess them humbly and penitently to God and for the greater security renew thy Repentance for all the old sins of thy former life beg most earnestly and importunately his mercy and pardon in Christ Jesus and put on sincere and zealous resolutions of forsaking every evil way for the rest of that time which God shall spare thee And that thy own heart deceive thee not in this so weighty a business it will be wisdome to send for some godly Divine not only to assist thee with his prayers but with his counsel also And to that purpose open thy heart so freely to him that he may be able to judge whether thy Repentance be such as may give thee confidence to appear before Gods dreadful Tribunal and that if it be not he may help thee what he can towards the making it so And when thou hast thus provided for thy better part thy Soul then consider thy Body also and as the Wise man saith Ecclu● 38. 12. Give place to the Physician for the Lord hath created him Use such means as may be most likely to recover thy health but always remember that the success of them must come from God and beware of Asa's sin who sought to the Physicians and not to the Lord 2 Chro. 6. 12. Dispose also betimes of thy temporal affairs by making thy Will and setting all things in such order as thou meanest finally to leave them in and defer it not till thy sickness grow more violent for then perhaps thou shalt not have such use of thy Reason as may fit thee for it or if thou have it will be then much more seasonable to imploy thy thoughts on higher things on the world thou art going to rather then that thou art about to leave we cannot carry the things of this world with us when we go hence and it is not fit we should carry the thoughts of them Therefore let those be early dispatched that they may not disturb thee at last A Prayer for a sick Person O MERCIFUL and Righteous Lord the God of health and of sickness of life and of death I most unfeignedly acknowledg that my great abuse of those many days of strength and welfare which thou hast afforded me hath most justly deserved thy present visitation I desire O Lord humbly to accept of this punishment of mine iniquity and to bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him And O thou merciful Father who designest not the ruine but the amendment of those whom thou scourgest I beseech thee by thy grace so to sanctifie this correction of thine to me that this sickness of my body may be a means of health to my soul make me diligent to search my heart and do thou O Lord enable me to discover every accursed thing how closely soever concealed there that by the removal thereof I may make way for the removal of this punishment Heal my soul O Lord which hath sinned against thee and then if it be thy blessed will heal my body also restore the voice of joy health unto my dwelling that I may live to praise thee and to bring forth fruits of repentance But if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise disposed if thou have determined that this sickness shall be unto death I beseech thee to fit prepare me for it give me that sincere and earnest repentance to which thou hast promised mercy and pardon wean my heart from the world and all its fading vanities and make me to gasp and pant after those more excellent and durable joys which are at thy right hand for ever Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and in all the pains of my body in all the agonies of my spirit let thy comforts refresh my soul and enable me patiently to wait till my change come And grant O Lord that when my earthly house of this Tabernacle is dissolved I may have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens And that for his sake who by his precious blood hath purchased it for me even Jesus Christ. A THANKSGIVING for RECOVERY O GRACIOUS Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh in whose hand my time is I praise and magnifie thee that thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption and restored me to health again it is thou alone O Lord that hast preserved my life from destruction thou hast chastned and corrected me but thou hast not given me over unto death O let this life which thou hast thus graciously spared be wholy consecrated to thee Behold O Lord I am by thy mercy made whole O make me strictly careful

strangers as acquaintance but more particularly those to whom we have any especial Relation either publick as our Governours both in Church and State or private as Parents Husband Wife Children Friends c. We are also to pray for all that are in affliction and such particular persons as we discern especially to be so Yea we are to pray for those that have done us injury those that despightfully use us and persecute us for it is expresly the command of Christ Mat. 5 44. And that whereof he hath likewise given us the highest example in praying even for his very crucifiers Luk. 23. 34. Father forgive them For all these sorts of persons we are to pray and that for the very same good things we beg of God for our selves that God would give them in their several places and callings all spiritual and temporal blessings which he sees wanting to them and turn away from them all evil whether of sin or punishment 8. The fifth part of Prayer is Thanksgiving that is the Praising and Blessing God for all his mercies whether to our own persons and those that immediately relate to us or to the Church and Nation whereof we are members or yet more general to all mankind and this for all his mercies both spiritual and temporal In the Spiritual first for those wherein we are all in common concerned as the giving of his Son the sending of his Spirit and all those means he hath used to bring sinful men unto himself Then secondly for those mercies we have in our own particulars received such are the having been born within the pale of the Church and so brought up in Christian Religion by which we have been partakers of those precious advantages of the Word and Sacraments and so have had without any care or pains of ours the means of eternal life put into our hands But besides these there is none of us but have received other spiritual mercies from God 9. As first Gods patience and long-suffering waiting for our Repentance and not cutting us off in our sins Secondly his calls and invitations of us to that repentance not only outward in the ministry of the Word but also inward by the motions of his Spirit But then if thou be one that hath by the help of Gods grace been wrought upon by these calls and brought from a profane or worldly to a Christian course of life thou art surely in the highest degree tyed to magnifie and praise his goodness as having received from him the greatest of mercies 10. We are likewise to give thanks for Temporal blessings whether such as concern the publick as the prosperity of the Church or Nation and all remarkable deliverances afforded to either or else such as concern our particulars such are all the good things of this life which we enjoy as Health Friends Food Raiment and the like also for those minutely preservations whereby we are by Gods gracious providence kept from danger and the especial deliverances which God hath given us in time of greatest perils It will be impossible to set down the several mercies which every man receives from God because they differ in kind and degree between one man and another But it is sure that he which receives least hath yet enough to imploy his whole life in praises to God And it will be very fit for every man to consider the several passages of this life and the mercies he hath in each received and so to gather a kind of List or Catalogue of them at least the principal of them which he may alwayes have in his memory and often with a thankful heart repeat before God 11. These are the several parts of Prayer and all of them to be used both publickly and privately The publick use of them is first that in the Church where all meet to joyn in those prayers wherein they are in common concerned And this where the prayers are such as they ought to be we should be very constant at there being an especial blessing promised to the joynt requests of the faithful and he that without a necessary cause absents himself from such publick prayers cuts himself off from the Church which hath alwayes been thought so unhappy a thing that it is the greatest punishment the Governours of the Church can lay upon the worst offender and therefore it is a strange madness for men to inflict it upon themselves 12. A second sort of Publick Prayer is that in a Family where all that are members of it joyn in their common supplications and this also ought to be very carefully attended to first by the Master of the Family who is to look that there be such prayers it being as much his part thus to provide for the Souls of his Children and Servants as to provide food for their Bodies Therefore there is none even the meanest housholder but ought to take this care If either himself or any of his Family can read he may use some prayers out of some good book if it be the Service Book of the Church he makes a good choice if they cannot read it will then be necessary they should be taught without Book some form of prayer which they may use in the Family for which purpose again some of the Prayers of the Church will be very fit as being most easie for their memories by reason of their shortness and yet containing a great deal of matter But what choice soever they make of prayers let them be sure to have some and let no man that professes himself a Christian keep so heat henish a Family as not to see God be daily worshipped in it But when the Master of a Family hath done his duty in this providing it is the duty of every member of it to make use of that provision by being constant and diligent at those Family-Prayers 13. Private or secret Prayer is that which is used by a man alone apart from all others wherein we are to be more particular according to our particular needs then in publick it is fit to be And this of private Prayer is a duty which will not be excused by the performance of the other of publick They are both required and one must not be taken in exchange for the other And whoever is diligent in publick prayers and yet negligent in private it is much to be feared he rather seeks to approve himself to men then to God contrary to the command of our Saviour Mat. 6. who enjoynes this private prayer this praying to our Father in secret from whom alone we are to expect our reward and not from the vain praises of men 14. Now this duty of Prayer is to be often performed by none seldomer then Evening and Morning it being most necessary that we should thus begin and end all our works with God and that not only in respect of the duty we owe him but also in respect of

Soul O save me for thy mercies sake O go not from me for trouble is hard at hand and there is none to help I stretch forth my hands unto thee my Soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land Draw nigh unto my soul and save it O deliver me because of my enemies For my Soul is full of trouble and my life draweth nigh unto hell Save me from the Lions mouth hear me from among the horns of the Unicorns O set me up upon the rock that is higher then I for thou art my hope and a strong Tower for me against the enemy Why art thou so heavy O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his countenance The Lord shall make good his loving kindness towards me yea thy mercy O Lord endureth for ever despise not then the work of thine own hands O GOD thou art my God early will I seek thee My Soul thirsteth for thee my flesh also longeth after thee in a barren and drie land where no water is Like as the hart desireth the water brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God My Soul is a thirst for God even for the living God when shall I come to appear before the presence of God How amiable are thy dwellings O Lord of Hosts My Soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the Courts of the Lord my flesh and my heart rejoyce in the living God O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I flye away and be at rest O send out thy light and thy truth that they may lead me and bring me unto thy Holy Hill and to thy dwelling For one day in thy Courts is better then a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tents of wickedness I should utterly have fainted but that I believed verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Thou art my helper and my redeemer O Lord make no long tarrying EJACULATIONS O LORD of whom may I seek for succour but of thee who for my sins art justly displeased Yet O Lord God most Holy O Lord most Mighty O Holy and most Merciful Saviour deliver me not into the bitter pains of eternal death Thou knowest Lord the secrets of my heart shut not up thy merciful eyes to my prayer but hear me O Lord Most Holy O God most Mighty O Holy and Merciful Saviour thou most worthy Judge eternal suffer me not at my last hour for any pains of death to fall from thee Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy child yet O Lord do not thou cast off the bowels and compassions of a Father but even as a father pittieth his own children so be thou merciful unto me Lord the prince of this world cometh O let him have nothing in me but as he accuseth do thou absolve he lays many and grievous things to my charge which he can too well prove I have nothing to say for my self do thou answer for me O Lord my God O Lord I am cloathed with filthy garments and Satan stands at my right hand to resist me O be thou pleased to rebuke him and pluck me as a brand out of the fire cause mine iniquities to pass from me and cloth me with the righteousness of thy Son Behold O God the Divel is coming towards me having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time O save and deliver me lest he devour my soul like a Lion and tear it in pieces while there is none to help O My God I know that no unclean thing can enter into thy Kingdom and I am nothing but pollution my very righteousnesses are as filthy rags O wash me and make me white in the blood of the Lamb that so I may be fit to stand before thy Throne Lord the snares of death compass me round about O let not the pains of hell also take hold upon me but though I find trouble and heaviness yet O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul. O dear Jesus who hast bought me with the precious price of thine own blood challenge now thy purchase and let not all the malice of Hell pluck me out of thy hand O blessed high Priest who art able to save them to the utmost who come unto God by thee save me I beseech thee who have no hope but on thy merits and intercession O God I confess I have defaced that Image of thine thou didst imprint upon my Soul yet O thou faithful Creator have pity on thy creature O Jesu I have by my many and grievous sins crucified thee afresh yet thou who prayedst for thy persecutors intercede for me also and suffer not O my Redeemer my soul the price of thy blood to perish O Spirit of grace I have by my horrid impieties done despight to thee yet O Blessed Comforter though I have often grieved thee be thou pleased to succour and relieve me and say unto my soul I am thy salvation Mine eyes look unto thee O Lord in thee is my trust O cast not out my soul. O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded O Blessed Lord who scourgest every Son whom thou receivest let me not be weary of thy correction but give me such a perfect subjection to thee the Father of Spirits that this chastisement may be for my profit that I may thereby be partaker of thy holiness O thou Captain of my Salvation who wert made perfect by sufferings sanctifie to me all the pains of body all the terrors of minde which thou shalt permit to fall upon me Lord my sins have deserved eternal torments make me chearfully and thankfully to bear my present pains chasten me as thou pleasest here that I may not be condemned with the world Lord the waters are come in even unto my soul O let thy Spirit move upon these waters and make them like the pool of Bethesda that they may cure whatsoever spiritual disease thou discernest in me O Christ who first sufferedst many and grievous things and then enteredst into thy glory make me so to suffer with thee that I may also be glorified with thee O dear Jesus who humblest thy self to the death of the Cross for me let that death of thine sweeten the bitterness of mine When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the Kingdome of heaven to all believers I believe that thou shalt come to be my Judge I pray thee therefore help thy servant whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood Make me to be numbred with thy Saints in glory everlasting Thou art the resurrection and the life he that believeth in thee though he were dead yet shall he live Lord I believe help thou my unbelief My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength

excess yet it is possible there may be one on the other hand men may deny their bodies that which they necessarily require to their support and well being This is I believe a fault not so common as the other yet we sometimes see some very niggardly persons that are guilty of it that cannot find in their hearts to borrow so much from their chests as may feed their bellies or cloth their backs and that are so intent upon the world so moiling and drudging in it that they cannot afford themselves that competent time of sleep or recreation that is necessary If any that hath read the former part of this Discourse be of this temper let him not comfort himself that he is not guilty of those excesses there complained of and therefore conclude himself a good Christian because he is not intemperate for whoever is this covetous creature his abstaining shall not be counted to him as the vertue of temperance for it is not the love of temperance but wealth that makes him refrain And that is so far from being praise-worthy that it is that great sin which the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 6. 10. is the root of all evil such a mans body will one day rise in judgement against him for defrauding it of its due portion those moderate refreshments and comforts which God hath allowed it This is an Idolatry beyond that of offering the children to Moloch Lev. 20. 3. they offered but their children but this covetous wretch sacrifices himself to his god Mammon whilest he often destroys his health his life yea finally his Soul too to save his purse I have now done with the second head of duty that to our selves contained by the Apostle under the word soberly PARTITION X. Of DUTIES to our NEIGHBOURS Of JUSTICE Negative Positive Of the sin of MURTHER Of the Hainousness of it the Punishments of it and the strange Discoveries thereof Of Maiming wounds and stripes § 1. I Come now to the third part of Duties those to our Neighbour which is by the Apostle summed up in gross in the word righteousness by which is meant not onely bare justice but all kind of charity also for that is now by the law of Christ become a debt to our neighbor and it is a piece of unrighteousness to defraud him out of it I shall therefore build all the particular duties we ow to our neighbor on those two general ones Justice and Charity 2. I begin with JUSTICE whereof there are two parts the one Negative the other Positive the negative justice is to do no wrong or injury to any The positive justice is to do right to all that is to yield them whatsoever appertains or is due unto them I shall first speak of the negative justice the not injuring or wronging any Now because a man is capable of receiving wrong in several respects this first part of justice extends it self into several branches answerable to those capacities of injury A man may be injured either in his Soul his body his possessions or credit and therefore this duty of negative justice lays a restraint on us in every of these That we do no wrong to any man in respect either of his Soul his body his possessions or credit 3. First This JUSTICE tyes us to do no hurt to his Soul and here my first work must be to examine what harm it is that the soul can receive it is we know an invisible substance which we cannot reach with our eye much less with our swords and weapons yet for all that it is capable of being hurt and wounded and that even to death 4. Now the Soul may be considered either in a natural or spiritual sense in the natural it signifies that which we usually call the mind of a man and this we all know may be wounded with gries or sadness as Solomon saith Prov. 15. 13. By sorrow of heart the spirit is broken Therefore whoever does causlesly afflict or grieve his neighbour he transgresses this part of justice and hurts and wrongs his soul. This sort of injury malicious and spiteful men are very often guilty of they will do things by which themselves reap no good nay often much harm onely that they may vex and grieve another This is a most savage inhumane humour thus to take pleasure in the sadness and afflictions of others and whoever harbours it in his heart may truly be said to be possest with a Devil for it is the nature only of those accursed spirits to delight in the miseries of men and till that be cast out they are fit onely to dwell as the possest person did Mar 5. 2. Among graves and tombs where there are none capable of receiving affliction by them 5. But the Soul may be considered also in the spiritual sense and so it signifies that immortal part of us which must live eternally either in bliss or woe in another world And the Soul thus understood is capable of two sorts of harm First That of sin Secondly That of Punishment the latter whereof is certainly the consequent of the former and therefore though God be the inflicter of punishment yet since it is but the effect of sin we may justly reckon that he that draws a man to sin is likewise the betrayer of him to punishment as he that gives a man a mortal wound is the cause of his death therefore under the evil of sin both are contained so that I need speak onely of that 6. And sure there cannot be a higher sort of wrong then the bringing this great evil upon the Soul sin is the disease and wound of the Soul as being the direct contray to Grace which is the health and soundness of it Now this wound we give to every Soul whom we do by any means whatsoever draw into sin 7. The wayes of doing that are divers I shall mention some of them whereof though some are more direct then others yet all tend to the same end Of the more direct ones there is first the commanding of sin that is when a person that hath power over another shall require him to do something which is unlawful an example of this we have in Nebuchadnezzars commanding the worship of the golden Image Dan. 3. 4. and his copy is imitated by any parent or master who shall require of his childe or servant to do any unlawful act Secondly there is counselling of sin when men advise and perswade others to any wickedness Thus Jobs wife counselled her husband to curse God Job 27. And Achitophel advised Absolom to go into his Fathers concubines 2 Sam. 16. 21. Thirdly there is enticing and alluring to sin by setting before men the pleasures or profits they shall reap by it Of this sort of enticement Solomon gives warning Prov. 1. 10. My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not if they say Come with us let us lay wait for blood let us lurk

that thou wilt deliberately choose death thou wilt surely practice according to that sentence of thy understanding I shall add no more on this first part of Charity that of the Affections I proceed now to that of the Actions And this endeed is it whereby the former must be approved we may pretend great charity within but if none break forth in the Actions we may say of that Love as Sa●nt James does of the Faith he speaks of that it is dead Jam. 2. 20. It is the loving in deed that must approve our bearts before God 1 Jo. 3. 18. Now this love in the Actions may likewise fitly be distributed as the former was in relation to the four distinct capacities of our brethren their Souls their Bodies their Goods and Credit The Soul I formerly told you may be considered either in a naturall or spirituall sense in both of them Charity binds us to do all the good we can As the Soul signifies the mind of a man so we are to endeavour the comfort and refreshment of our brethren desire to give them all true cause of joy cheerfulnes especially when we see any under any sadness or heaviness then to bring out all the cordialls we can procure that is to labour by all Christian and fit means to chear the troubled spirits of our brethren to comfort them that are in any heaviness as the Apostle speakes 2. Cor. 1. 4. But the Soul in the spirituall sence is yet of greater concernment and the securing of that is a matter of much greater moment then the refreshing of the mind only in as much as the eternall sorrows and sadnesses of Hell exceed the deepest sorrows of this life and therefore though we must not omit the former yet on this we are to employ our most zealous charities Wherein we are not to content our selves with a bare wishing well to the Souls of our brethren this alone is a sluggish sort of kindness unworthy of those who are to imitate the great Redeemer of Souls who did and suffered so much in that purchase No we must add also our endeavour to make them what we wish them to this purpose 't were very reasonable to propound to our selves in all our conversings with others that one great designe of doing some good to their souls If this purpose were fixt in our minds we should then discern perhaps many opportunities which now we overlook of doing something towards it The brutish ignorance of one would call upon thee to endeavour his instruction the open sin of another to reprehend admonish him the faint and weak vertue of another to confirm and incourage him Every spirituall want of thy brother may give thee some occasion of exercising some part of this Charity or if the circumstances be such that upon sober judging thou think it vain to attempt any thing thy self as if either thy meanness or thy unacquaintedness or any the like impediment be like to render thy exhortations fruitless yet if thou art industrious in thy Charity thou mayest probably find out some other instrument by whom to do it more successfully There cannot be a nobler study then how to benefit mens Souls and therefore where the direct means are improper 't is fit we should whet our wits for attaining of others Indeed 't is a shame we should not as industriously contrive for this great spirituall concernment of others as we do for every worldly trifling interest of our own yet in them we are unwearied and trye one means after another till we compass our end But if after all our serious endeavours the obstinacy of men do not suffer us or themselves rather to reap any fruit from them if all our wooings and intreatings of men to have mercy on their own Souls will not work on them yet be sure to continue still to exhort by thy example Let thy great care and tenderness of thy own Soul preach to them the value of theirs and give not over thy compassions to them but with the Prophet Jer. 13. 17. Let thy Soul weep in secret for them and with the Psalmist Let rivers of waters run down thy eyes because they kept not Gods Law Psal. 119. 136. Yea with Christ himself weep over them who will not know the things that belong to their peace Luk 11. 42. And when no importunities with them will work yet even then cease not to importune God for them that he will draw them to himself Thus we see Samuel when he could not diswade the people from that sinful purpose they were upon yet he professes notwithstanding that he will not cease praying for them nay he lookt on it as so much a duty that it would be sin to him to omit it God forbid sayes he that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you 1 Sam. 12. 23. Nor shall we need to fear that our prayers will be quite lost for if they prevail not for those for whom we pour them out yet however they will return into our own bosomes Psal. 35. 13 we shall be sure not to miss of the reward of that Charity In the second place we are to exercise this Active Charity towards the bodies of our Neighbours we are not only to compassionate their pains and miseries but also to do what we can for their ease and relief The good Samaritan Luke 10. had never been proposed as our pattern had he not as well helped as pitied the wounded man 'T is not good wishes no nor good words neither that avail in such cases as St. James tells us If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto them Depart in peace be ye warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give him not those things that are needful for the body what doth it profit Jam. 2. 15. 16. No sure it profits them nothing in respect of their bodies and it will profit thee as little in respect of thy Soul it will never be reckoned to thee as a Charity This releeving of the bodily wants of our brethren is a thing so strictly required of us that we find it set down Mat. 25. as the especiall thing we shall be tried by at the Last Day on the omission whereof is grounded that dreadful sentence ver 41. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And if it shall now be asked what are the particular acts of this kind which we are to perform I think we cannot better inform our selves for the frequent and ordinary ones then from this Chapter where are set down these severals the giving meat to the hungry and drink to the thirtty harbouring the stranger clothing the naked and visiting the sick and imprisoned By which visiting is meant not a bare coming to see them but so coming as to comfort and relieve them for otherwise it will be but like the Levite in the

Sacrifice acceptable to thee by Jesus Christ. A THANKSGIVING O Gracious Lord whose mercies endure for e-ever I thy unworthy servant who have so deeply tasted of them desire to render thee the tribute of my humblest praises for them In thee O Lord I live and move and have my being thou first madest me to be and then that I might not be miserable but happy thou sendest thy Son out of thy bos●me to redeem me from the power of my sins by his Grace and from the punishment of them by his Blood and by both to bring me to his glory Thou hast by thy mercy caused me to be born within thy peculiar fold the Christian Church where I was early consecrated to thee in Baptism and have been partaker of all those spiritual helps which might aid me to perform that Vow I there made to thee and when by my own wilfulness or negligence I have failed to do it yet thou in thy manifold mercies hast not forsaken me but hast graciously invited me to repentance afforded me all means both outward and inward for it and with much patience hast attended and not cut me off in the acts of those many damning sins I have committed as I have most justly deserved It is O Lord thy restraining grace alone by which I have been kept back from any the greatest sins and it is thy inciting and assisting grace alone by which I have been enabled to do any the least good therefore not unto me not unto me but unto thy name be the praises For these and all other thy spiritual blessings my soul doth magnifie the Lord and all that is within me praise his holy Name I likewise praise thee for those many outward blessings I enjoy as health friends food and raiment the comforts as well as the necessaries of this life for those continual protections of thy hand by which I and mine are kept from dangers and those gracious deliverances thou hast often afforded out of such as have befallen me and for that mercy of thine whereby thou hast sweetned and all●yed those troubles thou hast not seen sit wholly to remove for thy particular preservation of me this night and all other thy goodness towards me Lord grant that I may render thee not only the fruit of my lips but the obedience of my life that so these blessings here may be an earnest of those richer blessings thou hast prepared for those that love thee and that for his sake whom thou hast made the Author of Eternal Salvation to all that obey him even Jesus Christ. A CONFESSION O Righteous Lord who hatest iniquity I thy sinful creature cast my self at thy feet acknowledging that I most justly deserve to be utterly abhorred and forsaken by thee for I have drunk iniquity like water gone on in a continued course of sin and rebellion against thee dayly committing those things thou forbiddest and leaving undone those things thou commandest mine heart which should be an habitation for thy spirit is become a cage of unclean birds of foul and disordered affections and out of this abundance of the heart my mouth speaketh my hands act so that in thought word and deed I continually transgress against thee Here mention the greatest of thy sins Nay O Lord I have despised that goodness of thine which should lead me to Repentance hardning my heart against all those means thou hast used for my amendment And now Lord what can I expect from thee but judgment and fiery indignation that is indeed the due reward of my sins But O Lord there is mercy with thee that thou may est be feared O fit me for that mercy by giving me a deep and hearty Repentance and then according to thy goodness let thy anger and thy wrath be turned away from me look upon me in thy Son my blessed Saviour and for the merit of his sufferings pardon all my sins And Lord I beseech thee by the power of thy grace so to renew and purifie my heart that I may become a new creature utterly forsaking every evil way and living in constant sincere universal obedience to thee all the rest of my days that behaving my self as a good and faithful servant I may by thy mercy at the last be received into the joy of my Lord Grant this for Jesus Christ his sake A PRAYER for GRACE O Most gracious God from whom every good and perfect gift cometh I wretched creature that am not able of my self so much as to think a good thought beseech thee to work in me both to will and do according to thy good pleasure inlighten ●● 〈◊〉 that I may know thee and let me not be barren or unfruitful in that knowledg Lord work in my heart a true faith a purifying hope and an unfeigned love towards thee give me a full trust on thee zeal for thee reverence of all things that relate to thee make me fearful to offend thee thankful for thy mercies humble under thy corrections devout in thy service sorrowful for my sins and grant that in all things I may behave my self so as befits a creature to his Creator a servant to his Lord enable me likewise to perform that duty I owe to my self give me that meekness humility and contentedness whereby I may always possess my soul in patience and thankfulness make me diligent in all my duties watchful against all temptations perfectly pure and temperate and so moderate in my most lawful injoyments that they never become a snare to me make me also O Lord to be so affected towards my neighbour that I never transgress that royal Law of thine of loving him as my self grant me exactly to perform all parts of justice yielding to all whatsoever by any kinde of right becomes their due and give me such bowels of mercy and compassion that I may never fail to do all acts of charity to all men whether friends or enemies according to thy command and example Finally I beseech thee O Lord to sanctifie me throughout that my whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory for ever Amen INTERCESSION OBlessed Lord whose mercy is over all thy works I beseech thee to have mercy upon all men and grant that the precious ransome which was paid by thy Son for all may be effectuall to the saving of all Give thy inlightning grace to those that are in darkness and thy converting grace to those that are in sin look with thy tenderest compassions upon the Universal Church O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the walls of Jerusalem unite all those that profess thy Name to thee by Purity and Holiness and to each other by Brotherly love Have mercy on this desolate Church and sinful Nation thou hast moved the Land and divided it heal the sores thereof for it shaketh make us so truly to repent

a liberal portion of them The sins of this day thou hast not repayed as justly thou might'st by sweeping me away with a swift destruction but hast spared and preserved me according to the greatness of thy mercy Here mention the particular mercies of that day What shall I render unto the Lord for all these benefits he hath done unto me Lord let this goodness of thine lead me to repentance and grant that I may not only offer thee thanks and praise but may also order my conversation aright that so I may at the last see the salvation of God through Jesus Christ. Here use the Prayer for Grace and that of Intercession appointed for the Morning For PRESERVATION OBlessed Lord the Keeper of Israel that neither slumbrest nor sleepest be pleased in thy mercy to watch over me this night keep me by thy grace from all works of darkness and defend me by thy power from all dangers grant me moderate and refreshing sleep such as may fit me for the duties of the day following And Lord make me ever mindful of that time when I shall lie down in the dust and because I know neither the day nor the houre of my Masters coming grant me grace that I may be always ready that I may never live in such a state as I shall fear to die in but that whether I live I may live unto the Lord or whether I die I may die unto the Lord so that living and dying I may be thine through Jesus Christ. Use the same concluding prayer as in the Morning As thou art putting off thy clothes think with thy self that the time approaches that thou must put off thy body also and then thy Soul must appear naked before Gods judgment Seat and therefore thou hadst need be careful to make it so clean and pure by repentance and holiness that he who will not look on iniquity may graciously behold and accept it Let thy Bed put thee in mind of thy Grave and when thou lyest down say O Blessed Saviour who by thy precious death burial didst take away the sting of death and power of the grave grant me the joyful fruits of that thy victory and be thou to me in life and death advantage I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for it is thou Lord only that makest me dwell in safety Into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed it O Lord thou God of truth IN the ANTIENT CHURCH there were besides morning and night four other times every day which were called HOURS OF PRAYER and the zeal of those first Christians was such as made them constantly observed It would be thought too great a strictness now in this lukewarm age to enjoyn the like frequency yet I cannot but mention the example and say that for those who are not by very necessary business prevented it will be but reasonable to imitate it and make up in publick and private those FOUR TIMES of PRAYER besides the OFFICES already set down for MORNING and NIGHT and that none may be to seek how to exercise their devotions at these times I have added divers COLLECTS for several Graces whereof every man may use at each such time of prayer so many as his zeal and leisure shall point out to him adding if he please one of the confessions appointed for morning or night and never omitting the LORDS PRAYER But if any mars state of life be really so busie as will not allow him time for so long and solemn devotions yet certainly there is no man so overlayed with business but that he may sinde leisure oftentimes in a day to say the LORDS PRAYER alone and therefore let him use that if he cannot more But because it is the Character of a Christian Phil. 3. 20. That he hath his conversation in heaven it is very fit that besides these set times of Prayer he should divers times in a day by short and sudden EJACULATIONS dart up his soul thither And for this sort of devotion no man can want leisure for it may be performed in the midst of business the Artisicer at his work the Husbandman at his Plough may practice it Now as he cannot want time so that he may not want matter for it I have thought it not unuseful out of that rich store-house the BOOK of PSALMS to furnish him with some texts which may very fitly be used for this purpose which being learned by heart will always be ready at hand to imploy his devotion and the matter of them being various some for Pardon of sin some for Grace some for the light of Gods countenance some for the Church some for Thanksgiving c. every man may fit himself according to the present need and temper of his soul. I have given these not as a full collection but only as a taste by which the Readers appetite may be raised to search after more in that Book and other parts of holy Scripture COLLECTS for several GRACES For FAITH O Blessed Lord whom without Faith it is impossible to please let thy spirit I beseech thee work in me such a Faith as may be acceptable in thy ●ight even such as worketh by love O let me not rest in a dead ineffectual Faith but grant that it may be such as may shew it self by my works that it may be that victorious Faith which may enable me to overcome the world and conform me to the Image of that Christ on whom I believe that so at the last I may receive the end of my Faith even the salvation of my soul by the same Jesus Christ. For HOPE O Lord who art the hope of all the ends of the earth let me never be destitute of a well grounded hope nor yet possest with a vain presumption suffer me not to think thou wilt either be reconciled to my sins or reject my repentance but give me I beseech thee such a hope as may be answerable to the only ground of hope thy promises and such as may both incourage and enable me to purifie my self from all filthiness both of flesh and Spirit that so it may indeed become to me an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast entring even within the vail whither the forerunner is for me entred even Jesus Christ my High Priest and blessed Redeemer For THE LOVE of GOD. O Holy and gracious Lord who art infinitely excellent in thy self and infinitely bounti●ul and compassionate towards me I beseech thee suffer not my heart to be so hardned through the deceitfulness of sin as to resist such charms of love but let them make deep and lasting impressions on my soul. Lord thou art pleased to require my heart and thou only hast right to it O let me not be so sacrilegiously unjust as to alienate any part of it but enable me to render it up whole and entire to thee But O my God thou seest it is already usurped the world with its