let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee Psal 33.22 O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded Psal 71.1 EXPLANATION The Church in appointing Hymns observes punctually the rule of the Apostle Colos 3.16 and from the practice of Christ and his Apostles who sung Hymns together Mat. 26.30 probably to teach and instruct us to do the like may the Antiquity of them in the Christian Church be derived We have not only Christ's example for it and the Apostles command for it but we read of it practised in the Church of Alexandria which was founded by St. Mark St. Ambrose brought Hymns into the Church of Millain God saith Jerom is delighted with Morning and Evening Hymns St. Augustine as we read in the Life of him was very much afflicted a little before his death as for the decay of other things in Religion and in the publick worship of God so that the Hymns and Lauds used to be sung to God were lost out of the Church Those Hymns were either said or sung but more properly sung because Hymns are Songs of Praise and it was the practice to sing them both in the Jewish Psal 47.6 and Christian Church Mat. 26.30 for singing enflames and enlivens the minds and affections of the hearers and such musick by pleasing the affections and delighting the minds of men makes the Service of God more delectable and less tedious And for this reason is Church-Service so intermixed with Lessons Psalms and Prayers and like the garment of the Spouse Psal 45. made up of such variety that by this variety our devotions may be carried on with the more chearfulness and the greater appetite and without any fastidiousness Standing was the usual posture for the saying or singing of Hymns for it is indeed the most proper posture for thanksgiving or laud Psal 134.1 2. 2 Chron. 7.6 and this erection of our bodies doth most properly express the elevation of our hearts in joy praises and Eucharist unto God The forementioned Hymn called Te Deum laudamus was composed as it is said by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine which they used to sing Anthem-wise and the occasion of its composition was St. Augustine's Conversion and Baptism in both which St. Ambrose was most happily instrumental But be the Author who it will the Structure though Humane is complete and the materials of it are Divine and it is worthily enough vouchsafed a place in our constant Service for its Antiquity for its consonancy with Scripture for having the Churches both warrant and approbation for the contents of it which are most Christian hugely advantageous for the heightning of Devotion and promoting of Religion wherein is acknowledged the Power and Majesty of God the Father the Divinity and Humanity of God the Son his Incarnation Passion Resurrection Ascension Exaltation to Glory and Power committed to him for to guide rule preserve and govern his Church and wherein also is asserted the Divinity of God the Holy Ghost and there is nothing in the whole Hymn but what is very agreeable to Scripture Some exception may be made against this expression in it When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death thou didst open the kingdom of Heaven to all believers But what can justly be found fault with in this expression by it we do not express this to be our meaning as if we thought that the departed Saints were not in a state of bliss and happiness before Christ's Ascension but our meaning is rather that Christ by his Ascension prepared a greater and more complete state of bliss for those that are his meriting their going to it by his Death and making the way passable by his Resurrection and Ascension John 3.13 John 14.2 3. Heb. 9.8 12. Heb. 10.19 20. Heb. 11.40 for by this means he procured greater Grace for them here greater Glory for them hereafter Whatever he did or suffer'd the end was to open the kingdom which our sins had shut up which he opened most liberally at his Ascension and after he had overcome the sharpness of death for then he took a local possession of Glory for the use of all that are his Be the state of the Saints departed before what it will yet what God bestowed upon their Souls was procured by Christ's Death Resurrection and Ascension which followed after as also the Glorification of their bodies is most certainly to follow the Exaltation of his whither the glory of the Head is gone before the hope of the Body is to follow after and when our bodies and souls come to be glorified together then shall we be in our complete and perfect bliss Glory be to the Father is not enjoyned to be used at the end of this Hymn because it is it self almost nothing else but that Doxology enlarged RUBRICK Or this Canticle Benedicite omnia opera Domini O All ye works of the Lord bless ye the Lord praise him and magnifie him for ever Psal 145.10 O ye Angels of the Lord bless ye the lord praise him c. Psal 148.2 O ye Heavens bless ye the Lord praise him c. Psal 148.4 O ye waters that be above the Firmament bless ye the Lord praise him c. Psal 148.4 O all ye powers of the Lord bless ye the Lord c. Psal 150.1 O ye Sun and Moon bless ye the Lord c. Psal 148.3 O ye Stars of Heaven bless ye the Lord c. Psal 148.3 O ye showres and dwe bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.8 Psal 148.4 O ye winds of God bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.18 Psal 148.8 O ye fire and heat bless ye the Lord c. O ye Winter and Summer bless ye the Lord c. Psal 74.17 O ye dews and frosts bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.16 O ye frost and cold bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.16 17. O ye ice and snow bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.16 17. O ye nights and days bless ye the Lord praise him c. Psal 74.16 O ye light and darkness bless ye the Lord praise him c. Psal 104.19 20. O ye lightnings and clouds bless ye the Lord c. Job 38.25 34 35. O let the earth bless the Lord yea let it praise him c. Psal 67.6 O ye mountains and hills bless ye the Lord praise him c. Psal 148.9 O all ye green things upon the earth bless ye the Lord c. Psal 147.8 Psal 148.9 O ye wells bless ye the Lord c. Psal 104.10 O ye seas and flouds bless ye the Lord Job 38.8 9 10 11. O ye Whales and all that move in the waters bless ye the Lord Gen. 1.21 O all ye fowls of the air bless ye the Lord Psal 148.10 O all ye beasts and cattel bless ye the Lord Psal 148.10 O ye children of men bless ye the Lord Psal 107.8 O let Israel bless the Lord praise him c. Psal 135.19 O ye
return not like the Dog to lick up our vomit again or like the Swine to our former pollutions 2 Pet. 2.22 and so become the fouler for our once being cleansed and be drowned in that Holy Laver which was designed for our preservation Lastly as Christ was tempted and that he might overcome the Tempter did for our sake and in part for our example too Fast even to a miracle so we are to pray unto God for his Grace to direct and assist us in all our Temptations that we may use such abstinence as to bring our flesh in subjection to the Spirit and ever obey the Godly motions of Gods holy Spirit living in righteousness and true holiness to the praise and glory of him Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried The great end and design of Christ's coming into this world was that he might suffer and by his sufferings make satisfaction to Divine Justice for man's sin He did not suffer because he was himself a sinner but because he became a Surety for us who are so He suffered for our sins not for his own He being righteous died for us who are unrighteous 1 Pet. 2.21 22. this he did for our sake and for our example and encouragement He hath given us in himself an example of enduring the highest afflictions which example so far as imitable is to be imitated and transcribed by us 1 Pet. 2.21 From the manner of his death we are taught the great doctrine of Mortification to put off the body of the sins of the flesh Col. 2.11 to destroy the body of sin Rom. 6.6 to put our sinful habits to a contumelious death to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts and in so doing to conform our selves exactly to the sufferings of Christ through all the gradations of it that so we may be planted with him in the likeness of his death Rom. 6.5 As a consultation was held against Christ as he was apprehended examined accused condemned shamed and crucified so strictly and severely should we deal with our Old man our whole body of sin we should consult deliberately about its execution chuse our most sober seasons for the doing of it when we are in the calmest temper of Soul and we are to proceed orderly to act against sin to apprehend it to stop every course and habit of it in its career we are to examine it by the Word of God by the commands of Christ in all its variations from and oppositions to them This done we are to accuse it and in so doing to aggravate it with all the heightning circumstances of guilt and danger Then by a solemn full consent of all the faculties we are to condemn this dangerous Malefactor to spit upon it with contempt and scorn to give it up to be crucified never to revive again to any vital actions Neither are we to be thus severe against our single habit of sin only but against the whole body of sin and all its parts and members Again from the manner of Christ's death we are instructed further to take up our Cross voluntarily and chearfully when it is laid upon us to follow Christ in his sufferings and to conform our selves really to the image of our crucified Saviour for if we are thus partakers of his sufferings we shall be also partakers of his enjoyments He went by the Cross to his Crown passed through ignominies and sufferings into his Glory so should we Again he was dead that by his dying he might destroy death and sanctifie the state of death to all his Servants Death lost its sting in his side and so became to all who are his but as a calm sleep Lastly he was buried to shew that he was really dead and as his body was removed out of sight so we are to put all our sinful habits like dead bodies out of the way that they may neither offend nor infect others He continued some time in the Grave to note unto us the reality and continuance of our mortified state and that we should not only once for all repent and mortifie but keep in our Souls a continued death unto sin sincere and unfeigned till we are risen again to the other Diviner life to live unto Godliness as he rose again to live unto God He descended into Hell the third day he rose again from the dead Here began Christ's exaltation after his abasement and diminution His descent into Hell was the first part of his advancement As his body not separated from his Divinity rested in the Grave so his Soul united to his Divinity had something further to do He descended not to suffer but to conquer As he overcame the World on Earth Death in the Grave so he triumphed over Satan in Hell and within the Territories of his own Kingdom he went into Satans quarters and openly shewed him the Victory which by death he had gotten over him over death it self and over all the Powers of darkness However certain it is that he remained some time in the state of the dead his living Soul being separated from his dead body This Article of Christ's descent is as true as all the rest though perhaps not so capable as the rest of any binding interpretation to be put upon it Therefore we pass this part of the Article by and come to the latter part The third day he rose again from the dead that is within the space of less then seventy two hours and before his body saw corruption he rose again that flesh which he laid down in the Grave he by his own power raised up again from the Grave As his dying shewed his Humanity so his rising again declared his Divinity by which Resurrection of his not only his Godhead was demonstrated Rom. 1.4 but the all-sufficient Sacrifice of his death and passion for sin was fully evidenced and declared for had there remained but one sin unsatisfied for which he came to make satisfaction for that one sin might have kept him from rising The Resurrection of Christ shewed that a full satisfaction was made for sin by his death 1 Cor. 15.17 Again Christ's Resurrection is the ground of ours as Adam brought death into the world to kill us so Christ brought Resurrection into the world to give us life 1 Cor. 15.22 Christ is risen as the Head we shall follow as the Members Christ is risen as the First-fruits we shall follow as the Harvest Again the Resurrection of Christ is a proof of our Justification before God for he is to be considered as a publick person both in his Death and in his Resurrection Rom. 4.25 Lastly his Resurrection from the Grave should mind us of our Resurrection from sin which brought him to it Our actual rising to new life is as necessary as mortification as Christ rose from the dead to dye no more so we being dead to sin should rise to newness of life and live unto God Rom. 6.10 11. As he after
terrours by night and of the Pestilence walking in darkness and therefore Evening and Night Prayers are certainly a good defensative against both What remains of the Evening Service is the same with that of the Morning and concludes in the same manner Hereunto is added by way of Appendix these following Paraphrases 1. A Paraphrase upon Psal 95. Vers 1. THe great God of Heaven is he from whom all our deliverance and strength doth come O let us uniformly joyn in praising and glorifying his Name Vers 2. Let us make our daily constant addresses to him with all the acknowledgments and expressions of thankful hearts Vers 3. For he is the Supreme God of Heaven and Earth the only super-eminent Monarch over all Powers and Dignities to whom Angels in Heaven are Ministers and the mightiest Princes upon the Earth are Vice-gerents Vers 4. The bowels and bottom of the Earth are in his disposal and so are the loftiest and stoutest Hills by which it is also intimated that the meanest and lowest men or creatures on Earth are particularly ordered by his providence in all that befalls them here and the mightiest men in the world are bounded and governed by him Vers 5. It is he that framed the whole Orb of the Sea and dry Land and so contrived them the one within the bowels of the other that they should not incommode each the other but both together make up one useful Globe for men and all other creatures to inhabit Vers 6. O let us joyntly adore praise and pray unto him and make the members of our bodies partners and witnesses of the real devotion of our hearts let us joyn inward and outward reverence together in the most submiss and lowliest gestures thereby signifying and expressing the sincere humility of our Souls which is a tribute most justly due to him who is the great Lord and Creator of all Vers 7 8. And although we have often rebelled against him and so have often deserved his dereliction and as often smarted for it yet if now at length we shall be wrought upon by his calls and warning and perform unto him sincere obedience he is most ready to accept us to take us into his care and protection and to secure us from all our enemies Vers 9. But let not us like our provoking fore-fathers who being delivered by him sinned yet more against him after we have so liberally tasted of his power goodness and long-sufferance and after his many gracious calls afforded us to Repentance rebell against him and provoke his wrath by imitating them in their ingratitude and impenitence Vers 10 11. For fourty years together wherein for their sins God detained and perplexed them in the wilderness they did frequently provoke God to indignation and made him resolve that they were a stupid Idolatrous people preferring the worship of false Gods and Devils before the obedience and worship of him the only true God of Heaven and Earth therefore being as it were tired out with their continued provocations God obliged himself by an Oath irreversibly that of the many thousands which came out of Aegypt only two persons who were grown up to be men should enter the Land of Promise O let not us follow them in their sins lest we follow them also in their punishments and so fall short of Heaven as they did of Canaan 2. A Paraphrase upon Benedictus Luk. 1. vers 68. Vers 68. ALl glory honour and praise be unto the great Lord and gracious God of his chosen people and select inheritance for he hath performed his promise so often made to them by his gracious Visitation in bringing them out of Aegypt formerly by a temporal deliverance which did pre-figure a greater deliverance to be wrought by Christ the promised Messias who is shortly to be born Vers 69. Of David's Family and invested with all power honour glory dignity and triumph to be a King Ruler and eminent deliverer of his people whose Kingdom is not Secular but Spiritual Vers 70 71. Of whom honourable mention is made by all the holy Prophets of God speaking of him as with one mouth from the beginning of that age which was before the coming of the Messias unto this present time The end of whose coming is to save us from all our spiritual enemies sins and dangers by taking upon him our nature and in it performing perfect unsinning obedience by dying upon the Cross for us and by giving us precepts and rules by their own inward goodness most agreeable to our reasonable nature for the purifying of our affections and for teaching and instructing us to lead pure lives Vers 72. By all which God hath made good his signal promise of mercy made to the holy Fathers and Patriarchs wherein both themselves and their Seed were highly concerned Vers 73. Especially that great and gracious Covenant of mercy which he made to Abraham and his Seed in a Spiritual sense and ratified and confirmed by the Sanction of an Oath Vers 74 75. Namely that he would give us power ability and grace in and from the Messias revealed to obey and attend him in a sincere performance of all duties to God and man and chearfully and constantly to persevere therein being by him rescued and secured from all dangers of enemies without us though not altogether from those which may be founded in our selves in our own negligences and miscarriages Vers 76. And thou Child meaning John the Baptist shalt be a wonderful person and extraordinary Prophet of God for thou shalt foretell Judgments on the Nations if they repent not speedily and in a signal manner shalt point out Christ being his immediate fore-runner and shalt preach Repentance and amendment of life thereby to fit and prepare men for him Vers 77. Teaching all men that in Christ there is a possibility for sinners to obtain Salvation and to have their sins pardon'd upon their Repentance and New life Vers 78. Which is a special act of compassion and signal mercy in God through which mercy the Messias who is called the Day-spring by the Prophets is come from Heaven to visit us and to abide amongst us Vers 79. And to shine forth to blind ignorant mortals and obdurate worldlings who lived in a state of sin and death and to bring them and us into the way of Sanctity and Holiness which leads to Salvation and life eternal 3. A Paraphrase upon Psal 100. Vers 1 2 O Let all the people in the world bless worship and praise and offer up their Prayers and Supplications to the great God of Heaven let them resort daily to his Sanctuary and constantly attend his Service and account it the most estimable and delectable task and the most renowned and most glorious imployment which they can possibly undertake Vers 3. For this is the only way to converse with the great and glorious and omnipotent Creator of all things to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are to him we
2.5 One not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the Manhood into God Heb. 2.16 Gal. 4.4 John 1.24 One altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of person â—or as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man so God and Man is one Christ Christ the Mediator of the new Covenant of Grace and glorious Instrument of mans salvation and restauration was to suffer in that Flesh which had sinned that he might make satisfaction for the sin of it Now as God he could not suffer therefore was he Man that he might be liable to sufferings as Man he would have sunk under his sufferings therefore was he God that he might be the better enabled to endure them a satisfaction was to be made by man to God for mans sin and therefore was he both God and Man his Manhood made him capable of sufferings and his Godhead made his sufferings meritorious Now for the union of the two Natures in this one Person who was to suffer and by his sufferings to make a full satisfaction to God for mans sin I know not how it could possibly better be illustrated then by the rational Soul and the brutish Flesh united together for the making up of one man The Leviathan who derides the Illustration because he really believes not the Union nor the happy effects of it is as monstrous a scoffer at Christian Religion as â—ucian who indeed derided the Union but might be very well pleased for ought I know with the Illustration if so happy as to be acquainted with it Who suffered for our salvation descended into Hell rose again the third day from the dead Heb. 9.24 25 26 27 28. 1 Pet. 4.1 1 Pet. 2.21 22 23 24. 1 Pet. 4.18 19. Ephes 4.9 Act. 2.31 32. 1 Cor. 15.3 4. Christ saith Ambrose was woâ—â—ded in me and for me he sorrowed for me who had nothing in himself to sorrow for The curse of briars and thorns which our sins had platted into a Crown was removed to his brows We raised the Tempest and he was the Jonah cast over-board for to appease it whom Death and the Grave like a great Whale swallowed up but cast up again the third day upon the Land He ascended into Heaven he sitteth on the right hand of the Father God Almighty from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead Ephes 4.8 9 10. Heb. 12.2 Act. 10.42 Act. 17.31 Let us saith holy Augustine look upon him ascending believe in him absent hope for his coming again and by his secret mercy feel him present with us though absent from us present by Faith though absent by Sense spiritually present though corporally absent At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works Rom. 14.9 10. 2 Cor. 5.10 And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire Mat. 25.46 This is the only expressed rule and instance by which Christ means to judge the world according to their works respectively be they good or bad they who do good shall receive good and they who are the doers of evil shall meet with a retribution that is answerable Rom. 2.5 6 7 8 9 10 11. It was the saying of the learned Seneca That it is God-like for one mortal to be helpful to another and this saith he is the way to Eternity Undoubtedly the last Judgment shall proceed if not according to the merit yet according to the quality of our works it shall go well with the righteous ill with the wicked This is the Catholick Faith which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved It is a currant Tradition that the forementioned Creed was composed by Athanasius yet Learned men for some reasons have strongly opposed this Tradition But be the Author who he will it is undoubtedly ancient and contains in it the principal Mysteries of Christian Faith therefore doth the Church approve of it and admits it into her Liturgy It is appointed to be said upon certain days because the select Scriptures made choice of for those days do treat much of that which this Creed endeavours to explain viz. the Trinity in the Godhead and the Incarnation of God Neither did the Author whoever he was impose this as I suppose as a summary of Faith to be believed by others in those precise terms wherein it is expressed only published it with confidence to declare his own belief and to shew what he himself held as point of Doctrine touching the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Godhead and the Incarnation of Christ Neither is the rigid sentence of damnation which is implicitely contained in it to be extended to all who believe not every particular in it in the terms wherein they are expressed for all cannot understand them but it is designed only against those who deny the substance of this Creed the Doctrine of the Trinity the Divinity and Humanity of Christ and the union of his two Natures in one Person For this is undoubtedly a Catholick Doctrine to be believed by all who profess Christianity without the believing of which so far as cleared and revealed to us no man can be saved For how is it possible for those persons to come to Salvation who by a mis-belief oppose the ways means and methods whereby they are to be brought unto it Now Glory be to the Father Son and Holy Ghost is very properly set at the close of this Creed because it is before proved and cleared in the Greed that the Father is God the Son God and the Holy Ghost God and Divine glory and worship belongs to all and is to be paid to all by all Christians as it was from the begâ—nning of the Christian Religion professed under that name and title RUBRICK Here followeth the Litany or general supplication to be sung or said after Morning Prayer upon Sundays Wednesdays and Fridays and at other times when it shall be commanded by the Ordinary O God the Father of heaven have mercy upon us miscrable sinners God is the Father of the Rain the Father of the Dew Job 38.28 and the Father of Lights Jam. 1.17 the great Father of the stupendious works of the Creation and the very Heathens themselves have acknowledged him so to be therefore we who are his Creatures and have deviated from the Law of his Creation do petition him to have mercy upon us and to pardon our deviations He is the great and glorious God who made Heaven and Earth Psal 124.8 whose goodness we have abused and therefore upon our bended knees desire his mercy to pardon those abuses and vile affronts which we have done unto him saying with holy David Have mercy upon us O God according to thy loving kindness Psal 51.1 Neither let any persons think it strange that Have mercy upon us is so often repeated in this Litany for it is agreeable to Scripture
Psal 136. 1 Chron. 16.41 and to the practice of Primitive Christians to appeal to and to magnifie the mercies of God upon all needful occasions and to beg his mercy of pardon particularly for those sins which we are guilty of and for which we stand in need of pardon The like allocations are to be met with in all the Liturgies extant O God the Father c. O God the Son Redeemer of the world have mercy upon us miserable sinners As we have deviated from the Law of Creation so from the Law of Redemption which is the greater deviation and renders us the more inexcusably guilty therefore do we petition our Redeemer the only begotten Son of God whom he sent into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved John 3.16 17. Gal. 3.13 Gal. 4.4 5. Heb. 2.9 1 Pet. 1.18 19. that he would have mercy upon us and procure unto us pardon for those breaches which we have made against the Law of our Redemption O God the Son c. O God the Holy Ghost proceeding from the Father and the Son have mercy upon us miserable sinners As we have sinned against the Law of Creation and Redemption so against the rule of Sanctification which was set us when we were dedicated to God in Baptism and consecrated to Gods service by the Holy Spirit therefore do we petition God the Holy Ghost who was sent down after the Son went up to comfort us John 14.16 to teach and instruct us John 14.26 and to confirm the truth of Christ and the verity of Christian Religion John 15.26 and to seal all those who sincerely embrace it unto the day of complete Redemption Ephes 4.30 that he would pardon those sins whereby we have grieved him and those many offers and tenders of grace which he hath made unto us and we have obstinately rejected and refused O God the Holy Ghost c. O holy blessed and glorious Trinity three Persons and one God have mercy upon us miserable sinners As we have broken the Law of Creation transgressed the Law of Redemption and violated the sacred rules of our Sanctification and so have made our selves unhappily guilty by our miscarriages and misdoings against all the three Persons in the Godhead therefore do we petition them all to have mercy upon us and to pardon our misactings O holy blessed c. Remember not Lord our offences nor the offences of our fore-fathers neither take thou vengeance of our sins spare us good Lord spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious bloud and be not angry with us for ever This is agreeable to Scripture wherein we pray that God would make good his promise to us and remember our sins and iniquities no more Heb. 10.17 that he would not punish the fathers sins upon the children in the same sense as he himself hath threatned in the second Commandment Exod. 20.5 We read of the like form of prayer Ezra 9.7 Nehem. 1.6 Joel 2.17 and we plead the price of our Redemption mentioned 1 Pet. 1.19 to move God to remove his anger from us that it may not rest upon us according to those pious expressions which we meet with Psal 85.4 5 6. From all evil and mischief from sin from the crafts and assaults of the devil from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation Good Lord deliver us The summe of this petition is contained in the Lords Prayer and all the rest of the petitions in this Litany may easily be reduced to it From all blindness of heart from pride vain-glory and hypocrisie from envy hatred and malice and all uncharitableness Good Lord deliver us This is all agreeable to Scripture which mentions in express terms the very sins which we here pray to be delivered from Blindness of heart Ephes 4.18 Pride 1 John 2.16 Vain-glory Gal. 5.26 Hypocrisie Mat. 6.5 Envy hatred malice and uncharitableness Fphes 4.31 From fornication and all other deadly sin and from all the deceits of the world the flesh and the devil Good Lord deliver us We have Scripture-warrant for all that is contained in this petition touching Fornication 1 Cor. 6.18 and other deadly sins 1 John 5.16 Now they which are usually accounted of as deadly sins though by the general practice of them they may seem otherwise are these Pride which is opposite to Humility Covetousness which is opposite to Liberality Luxury which is opposite to Chastity Envy which is opposite to Gentleness Gluttony which is opposite to Temperance Anger which is opposite to Patience Sloth which is opposite to the devout and earnest serving of God These are called the seven deadly sins not because we judge any other sin in its own nature to be venial and not deadly but because they are so deeply rooted in our nature that it is a very hard matter to mortifie them and therefore do we pray to be delivered from them and from the deceits of the world the flesh and the Devil the grand Enemâ—es of our Christianity which we renounce and bâ—d dâ—hance to in our Baptism For to be intangled with the world is to be drawn from God 1 John 2.15 and to live after the flesh and to be carnal minded is death and to be at enmity with God Rom. 8.6 7. and to be taken in the Devils snares is a very dangerous thing and a very great blessing and happiness to be freed from them 2 Tim. 2.26 From lightning and tempest from Plague Pestilence and Famine from battel and murder and from sudden death Good Lord deliver us When we pray to be delivered from lightning and tempest our meaning is that we may be delivered from the dangers of the whole year arising many times and falling upon us by Lightning in Summer and by Tempest in Winter and when we pray to be delivered from sudden death our meaning is that we may not die such a death as God hath threatned to and usually inflicts upon the wicked Psal 50.22 Psal 73.18 Prov. 1.27 but that we may die comfortably with renewed Faith Repentance Reconciliation and setting of our houses in order that our death may neither be untimely nor unprovided for but that it may be after the common manner of men having nothing in it extraordinary but piety We desire that we may not be snatched away suddenly nor perish and come to fearful ends that we may not die like Absalom Judas Corah Dathan Abiram Ananias and Sapphira all which died fearful and unusual deaths but that we may die comfortably as Jacob Moses Joshua David who leisurably ended their lives in peace and prayer for the mercies of God to come upon their posterities For however there is no condemnation to the Elect and those who are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 yet it may so fall out that some of the Elect themselves may die with more scandal less joy of conscience and enjoy less joys of Heaven then other of their brethren From all