against it and presently broke it and then I tyed my self up with vows then was tempted and then I yielded by little little till I was willingly lost again and my vows fell ofâ— like cords of vanity Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin And yet O Lord I have another heap of sins to be unloaded My secrets sins O Lord are innumerable sins I noted not sins that I willingly neglected sins that I acted upon willfull ignorance and voluntary mispersuasion sins that I have forgot and sins which a diligent and a watchful spirit might have prevented but I would not Lord I am confounded with the multitude of them and the horrour of their remembrance though I consider them nakedly in their direct appearances without the deformity of their unhandsome and aggravating circumstances but so dressed they are a sight too ugly an instance of amazement infinite in degrees and insufferable in their load And yet thou hast spared me all this while and hast not thrown me into Hell where I have deserved to have been long since and even now to have been shut up to an eternity of torments with insupportable amazement fearing the revelation of thy day Miserable man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin Thou shalt answer for me O Lord my God Thou that Prayest for me shalt be my Iudge The Prayer Thou hast prepared for me a more healthful sorrow O deny not thy servant when he begs sorrow of thee Give me a deep contrition for my sins a hearty detestation and loathing of them hating them worse then death with torments Give me grace intirely presently and for ever to forsake them to walk with care and prudence with fear and watchfulnesse all my dayes to doe all my duty with diligence and charity with zeal and a never fainting spirit to redeem the time to trust upon thy mercies to make use of all the instruments of grace to work out my salvation with fear and trembling that thou mayest have the glory of pardoning all my sins and I may reap the fruit of all thy mercies and al thy graces of thy patience and long-suffering even to live a holy life here and to reign with thee for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Ad Sect. 6. Special devâ—tions to be used upon the Lords-day and the great Festivalls Of Christians In the Morning recite the following forme of Thanksgiving upon the special Festivalls adding the commemoration of the special blessing according to the following prayers adding such prayers as you shall choose out of the foregâ—ing Devotions 2. Besides the ordinary and publick duties of the day if you retire into your closet to read and meditate after you have performed that duty say the song of S. Ambrose commonly called the Te Deum or We praise thee c then add the prayers for particular graces which are at the end of the former Chapters such and as many of them as shall fit your present needs and affections ending with the Lords prayer This form of devotion may for variety be indifferently used at other times A forme of thanksgiving with a recital of publick and private blessings To be used upon Easter-day Whit-sunday Ascension-day and all Sundayes of the year but the middle part of it may be reserved for the more solemn Festivals and the other used upon the ordinary as every mans affections or leisure shall determine I. Ex Liturgiâ S. Basilii magnâ ex parte O Eternal Essence Lord God Father Almighty Maker of all things in Heaven and Earth it is a good thing to give thanks to thee O Lord and to pay to thee all reverence worship and devotion from a clean and prepared heart and with an humble spirit to present a living and reasonable sacrifice to thy holinesse and Majesty for thou hast given unto us the knowledge of thy truth and who is able to declare thy greatnesse and to recount all thy marvellous works which thou hast done in all the generations of the world O Great Lord and Governour of all things Lord and Creator of all things visible and invisible who sittest upon the throne of thy glory and beholdest the secrets of the lowest abysse and darknesse thou art without beginning uncircumscribed incomprehensible unalterable and seated for ever unmoveable in thy own essential happinesse and tranquillity Thou art the Father of our Lord JESU SCHRIST who is Our Dearest and most Gracious Saviour our hope the wisdom of the Father the image of thy goodnesse the Word eternal and the brightnesse of thy person the power of God from eternal ages the true light that lightneth every Man that cometh into the World the Redemption of Man and the Sanctification of our Spirits By whom the holy Ghost descended upon the Church the holy Spirit of truth the seal of adoption the earnest of the inheritance of the Saints the first fruits of everlasting felicity the life-giving power the fountain of sanctification the comfort of the Church the ease of the afflicted the support of the weak the wealth of the poor the teacher of the doubtful scrupulous and ignorant the anchor of the fearful the infinite reward of all faithful souls by whom all reasonable and understanding creatures serve thee and send up a never-ceasing and a never-rejected sacrifice of prayer and praises and adoration All Angels and Archangels all Thrones and Dominions all Principalities and Powers the Cherubins with many eyes and the Seraphinâ— covered with wings from the terror and amazement of thy brightest glory These and all the powers of Heaven do perpetually sing praises and never-ceasing Hymns and eternal Anthems to the glory of the eternal God the Almighty Father of Men and Angels Holy is our God Holy is the Almighty Holy is the Immortal Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory Amen * With these holy and blessed Spirits I also thy servant O thou great lover of souls though I be unworthy to offer praise to such a Majesty yet out of my bounden duty humbly offer up my heart and voice to joyn in this blessed quire and confesse the glories of the Lord. * For thou art holy and of thy greatnesse there is no end and in thy justice and goodnesse thou hast measured out to us all thy works Thou madest man out of the earth and didst form him after thine own image thou didst place him in a garden of pleasure and gavest him laws of righteousnesse to be to him a seed of immortality O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnesse and declare the wonders that he hath done for the children of men For when man sinned and listned to the whispers of a tempting spirit and refused to hear the voice of God thou didst throw him out from Paradise and sentest him to till the Earth but yet left nor his condition without remedy but didst provide
seeth not therefore the land is full of blood and the city full of perversenesse What a childe would do in the eye of his Father and a Pupil before his Tutor and a Wife in the presence of her Husband and a servant in the sight of his Master let us alwayes do the same for we are made a spectacle to God to Angels and to men we are alwayes in the sight and presence of the Allseeing and Almighty God who also is to us a Father and a Guardian a Husband and a Lord. Prayers and Devotions according to the religion and purposes of the foregoing Considerations I. For grace to spend our time well O Eternal God who from all eternity doest behold and love thy own glories and perfections infinite and hast created me to do the work of God after the manner of men and to serve thee in this generation and according to my capacities give me thy grace that I may be a curious and prudent spender of my time so as I may best prevent or resist all temptations and be profitable to the Christian Common-wealth and by discharging all my duty may glorifie thy Name Take from me all slothfulnesse and give me a diligent and an active spirit and wisdom to choose my imployment that I may do works proportionable to my person and to the dignity of a Christian and may fill up all the spaces of my time with actions of religion and charity that when the Devil assaults me he may not finde me idle and my dearest Lord at his sudden coming may finde me busie in lawful necessary and pious actions improving my talent intrusted to me by thee my Lord that I may enter into the joy of my Lord to partake of his eternal felicities even for thy mercie sake and for my dearest Saviours sake Amen Here follows the devotion of ordinary dayes for the right imployment of those portions of â—ime which every day must allow for religion The first prayers in the Morning as soon as we are dressed Humbly and reverently compose your self with heart lift up to God and your head bowed and meekly kneeling upon your knees say the Lords Prayer after which use the following Collects or as many of them as you shall choose Our Father which art in Heaven c. I. An act of adoration being the song that the Angels sing in Heaven HOly Holy Holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Heaven and Earth Angels and Men the Aire and the Sea give glory and honour and thanks to him that sitteth on the throne who liveth for ever and ever All the blessed spirits and souls of the righteous cast their crowns before the throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Great and marvellous are thy works O Lord God Almighty Just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Thy wisdom is infinite thy mercies are glorious and I am not worthy O Lord to appear in thy presence before whom the Angels hide their faces O Holy and Eternal Jesus Lamb of God who wert slain from the beginning of the world thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every nation and hast made us unto our God Kings and Priests and we shall reigne with thee for ever Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Amen II. An act of thanksgiving being the song of David for the Morning SIng praises unto the Lord O ye saints of his and give thanks to him for a remembrance of his holinesse For his wrath indureth but the twinkling of an eye and in his pleasure is life heavinesse may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning Thou Lord hast preserved me this night from the violence of the spirits of darknesse from all sad casualtyes and evil accidents from the wrath which I have every day deserved thou hast brought my soul out of hell thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit thou hast shewed me marvellous great kindesse and hast blessed me for ever the greatnesse of thy glory reacheth unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds Therefore shall every good man sing of thy praise without ceasing O my God I will give thanks unto thee for ever Allelujah III. An act of oblation or presenting our selves to God for the day MOst Holy and Eternal God Lord and Soveraigne of all the creatures I humbly present to thy divine Majesty my self my soul and body my thoughts and my words my actions and intentions my passions and my sufferings to be disposed by thee to thy glory to be blessed by thy providence to be guided by thy counsel to be sanctified by thy spirit and afterwards that my body and soul may be received into glory for nothing can perish which is under thy custody and the enemy of souls cannot devour what is thy portion nor take it out of thy hands This day O Lord and all the dayes of my life I dedicate to thy honour and the actions of my calling to the uses of grace and the religion of all my dayes to be united to the merits and intercession of my holy Saviour Jesus that in him and for him I may be pardoned and accepted Amen IV. An act of repentance or contrition FOr as for me I am not worthy to be called thy servant much lesse am I worthy to be thy son for I am the vilest of sinners and the worst of men a lover of the things of the world and a despiser of the things of God proud and envious lustful and intemperate greedy of sin and impatient of reproof desirous to seem holy and negligent of being so transported with interest fool'd with presumption and false principles disturb'd with anger with a peevish and unmortified spirit and disordered by a whole body of sin and death Lord pardon all my sins for my sweetest Saviours sake thou who didst dye for me Holy Jesus save me and deliver me reserve not my sins to be punished in the day of wrath and eternal vengeance but wash away my sins and blot them out of thy remembrance and purifie my soul with the waters of repentance and the bloud of the crosse that for what is past thy wrath may not come out against me and for the time to come I may never provoke thee to anger or to jealousie O just and dear God be pitiful and gracious to thy servant Amen V. The prayer or petition BLesse me gracious God in my calling to such purposes as thou shalt choose for me or imploy me in Relieve me in all my sadnesses make my bed in my ficknesse give me patience in my sorrows confidence in thee and grace to call upon thee in all temptations O be thou my
discompose my duty or turn me from the wayes of thy Commandements O let thy Spirit dwell with me for ever and make my soul just and charitable full of honesty full of religion resolute and constant in holy purposes but inflexible to evil Make me humble and obedient peaceable and pious let me never envy any mans good nor deserve to be despised my self and if I be teach me to bear it with meeknesse and charity V. GIve me a tender conscience a conversation discreet and aâ—fable modest and patient liberal and obliging body a chaste and healthful competency of living according to my condition contentednesse in all estates a resigned will and mortified affections that I may be as thou wouldst have me and my portion may be in the lot of the righteous in the brightnesse of thy countenance and the glories of eternity Amen Holy is our God * Holy is the Almighty * Holy is the Immortal Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath have mercy upon me A form of Prayer for the evening to be said by such who have not time or opportunity to say the publick prayers appointed for this office I. O Eternal God Great Father of Men and Angels who hast established the Heavens and the Earth in a wonderful order making day and night to succeed each other I make my humble addresse to thy Divine Majesty begging of thee mercy protection this night ever O Lord pardon all my sins my light and rash words the vanity and impiety of my thoughts my unjust and uncharitable actions and whatsoever I have transgressed against thee this day or at any time before Behold O God my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins in the frailty and sinfulnesse of my flesh exposed to every temptation and of it self not able to resist any Lord God of mercy I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy grace such as may be sufficient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders that as I have formerly served my lust and unworthy desires so now I may give my self up wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life II. BLessed Lord teach me frequently and sadly to remember my sins and be thou pleased to remember them no more let me never forget thy mercies and do thou still remember to do me good Teach me to walk alwayes as in thy presence Ennoble my soul with great degrees of love to thee and configne my spirit with great fear religion and veneration of thy holy Name and laws that it may become the great imployment of my whole life to serve thee to advance thy glory to root out all the accursed habits of sin that in holinesse of life in humility in charity in chastity and all the ornaments of grace I may by patience wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Amen III. Teach me O Lord to number my dayes that I may apply my heart unto wisdom ever to remember my last end that I may not dare to sin against thee Let thy holy Angels be ever present with me to keep me in all my wayes from the malice and violence of the spirits of darknesse from evil company and the occasions and opportunities of evil from perishing in popular judgements from all the wayes of sinful shame from the hands of all mine enemies from a sinful life and from despair in the day of my death Then O brightest Jesu shine gloriously upon me let thy mercies and the light of thy Countenance sustain me in all my agonies weaknesses and temptations Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual Guide and of receiving the holy Sacrament let thy loving spirit so guide me in the wayes of peace and safety that with the testimony of a good conscience and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment I may depart this life in the unity of the Church in the love of God and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Saviour Amen Our Father c. Another form of Evening Prayer which may also be used at bed-time Our Father c. I Will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help My help cometh of the Lord which made heaven and earth He will not suffer thy foot to be moved he that keepeth thee will not slumber Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep The Lord is thy keeper the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand The sun shall not smite thee by day neither the moon by night The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth for evermore Glory be to the Father c. I. VIsit I beseech thee O Lord this habitation with thy mercy and me with thy grace and salvation Let thy holy Angels pitch their tents round about and dwell here that no illusion of the night may abuse me the spirits of darknesse may not come neer to hurt me no evil or sad accident oppresse me and let the eternal spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body filling every corner of my heart with light and grace Let no deed of darknesse overtake me and thy blessing most blessed God be upon me for ever through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen II. INto thy hands most blessed Jesu I commend my soul and body for thou hast redeemed both with thy most precious blood So blesse and sanctifie my sleep unto me that it may be temperate holy and safe a refreshment to my wearied body to enable it so to serve my soul that both may serve thee with a never failing duty O let me never sleep in sin or death eternal but give me a watchful a prudent spirit that I may omit no oportunity of serving thee that whether I sleep or wake live or die I may be thy servant and thy childe that when the work of my life is done I may rest in the bosom of my Lord till by the voice of the Archangel the trump of God I shall be awakened and called to sit down and feast in the eternal supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lamb of God for the honour of thy mercies and the glory of thy name O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Amen III. BLessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus who hath sent his Angels and kept me this day from the destruction that walketh at noon and the arrow that flyeth by day and hath given me his Spirit to restrain me from those evils to which my own weaknesses and my evil habits and my unquiet enemies would easily betray me Blessed and for ever hallowed be thy name for that never ceasing showre os blessing by which I live and am content and blessed and provided for in all necessities and set forward in my duty and way to heaven * Blessing honour
is declared In the fourth Commandement hee proclaims himself the Maker of Heaven and Earth for in memory of Gods rest from the work of six dayes the seventh was hallowed into a Sabbath and the keeping it was a confessing GOD to bee the great Maker of Heaven and Earth and consequently to this it also was a confession of his goodnesse his Omnipotence and his Wisdom all which were written with a Sun beam in the great book of the Creature So long as the Law of the Sabbath was bound upon Gods people so long GOD would have that to be the folemn manner of confessing these attributes but when the Priesthood being changed there was a change also of the Law the great duty remain'd unalterable in changed circumstances We are eternally bound to confesse God Almighty to be the Maker of Heaven and Earth but the manner of confessing it is chang'd from a rest or a doing nothing to a speaking something from a day to a symbol from a ceremony to a substance from a Jewish rite to a Christian duty we professe it in our Creed we confesse it in our lives we describe it by every line of our life by every action of duty by faith and trust and obedience and we do also upon great reason comply with the Jewish manner of confessing the Creation so far as it is instrumental to a real duty We keepe one day in seven and so confesse the manner and circumstance of the Creation and we rest also that we may tend holy duties so imitating Gods rest better then the Jew in Synesius who lay upon his face from evening to evening and could not by stripes or wounds be raised up to steer the ship in a great storm Gods rest was not a natural cessation hee who could not labour could not be said to rest but Gods rest is to be understood to be a beholding and a rejoycing in his work finished and therefore we truly represent Gods rest when we confesse and rejoyce in Gods works and Gods glory This the Christian Church does upon every day but especially upon the Lords day which she hath set apart for this and all other Ofâ—ices of Religion being determined to this day by the Resurrection of her dearest Lord it being the first day of joy the Church ever had And now upon the Lords day we are not tyed to the rest of the Sabbath but to all the work of the Sabbath and we are to abstain from bodily labour not because it is a direct duty to us as it was to the Jews but because it is necessary in order to our duty that we attend to the Offices of Religion The observation of the Lords day differs nothing from the observation of the Sabbath in â—he matter of Religion but in the manner They differ in the ceremony and external rite Rest with them was the principal with us it is the accessory They differ in the office or forms of worship For they were then to worship God as a Creator and a gentle Father we are to adde to that Our Redeemer and all his other excellencies and mercies and though we have more natural and proper reason to keep the Lords day then the Sabbath yet the Jews had a Divine Commandement for their day which we have not for ours but we have many Commandements to do all that honour to GOD which was intended in the fourth Commandement and the Apostles appointed the first day of the week for doing it in solemne Assemblies and the manner of worshipping God and doing him solemn honour and service upon this day we may best observe in the following measures Rules for keeping the Lords day and other Christian Festivals 1. When you go about to distinguish Festival dayes from common do it not by lessening the devotions of ordinary dayes that the common devotion may seem bigger upon Festivals but on every day keep your ordinary devotions intire and enlarge upon the Holy day 2. Upon the Lords day wee must abstaine from all servile and laborious workes except such which are matters of necessity of common life or of great charity for these are permitted by that authority which hath separated the day for holy uses The Sabbath of the Jewes though consisting principally in rest and established by God did yeeld to these The labour of Love and the labours of Religion were not against the reason and the spirit of the Commandement for which the Letter was decreed and to which it ought to minister And therefore much more is it so on the Lords day where the Letter is wholly turned into Spirit and there is no Commandement of God but of spiritual and holy actions The Priests might kill their beasts and dresse them for sacrifice and Christ though born under the law might heal a sick man and the sick man might carry hâ—s bed to witnesse his recovery and confesse the mercy and leap and dance to God for joy and an Ox might be led to water and an Asse be haled ouâ— of a ditch and a man may take physick and he may eat meat and therefore there were of necessity some to prepare and minister it and the performing these labours did not consist in minutes and just determined stages but they had even then a reasonable latitude so onely as to exclude unnecessary labour or such as did not minister to charity or religion And therefore this is to be enlarged in the Gospel whose Sabbath or rest is but a circumstance and accessory to the principal and spiritual duties Upon the Christian Sabbath necessity is to be served first then charity and then religion for this is to give place to charity in great instances and the second to the first in all and in all cases God is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth 3. The Lords day being the remembrance of a great blessing must be a day of joy festivity spiritual rejoycing and thanksgiving and therefore it is a proper work of the day to let your devotions spend themselves in singing or reading Psalms in recounting the great works of God in remembring his mercies in worshipping his excellencies in celebrating his attributes in admiring his person in sending portions of pleasant meat to them for whom nothing is provided in all the arts and instruments of advancing Gods glory the reputation of religion in which it were a great decency that a memorial of the resurrection should be inserted that the particular religion of the day be not swallowed up in the general And of this we may the more easily serve our selves by rising seasonably in the morning to private devotion and by retiring at the leisures and spaces of the day not imployed in publick offices 4. Fail not to be present at the publick hours and places of prayer entring early and cheerfully attending reverently and devoutly abiding patiently during the whole office piously assisting at the prayers and gladly also hearing the Sermon and at no hand omitting to
of secular imployments must come onely they must leave their secular thoughts and affections behinde them and then come and converse with God If any man be well grown in grace he must needs come because he is excellently disposed to so holy a feast but he that is but in the infancy of piety had need to come that so he may grow in grace The strong must come lest they become weak the weak that they may become strong The sick must come to be cured the healthful to be preserved They that have leisure must come because they have no excuse They that have no leisure must come hither that by so excellent religion they may sanctifie their businesse The penitent sinners must come that they may be justified and they that are justified that they may be justified still They that have fears and great reverence to these mysteries and think no preparation to be sufficient must receive that they may learn how to receive the more worthily and they that have a lesse degree of reverence must come often to have it heightned that as those Creatures that live amongst the snowes of the Mountains turne white with their food and conversation with such perpetual whitenesses so our souls may be transformed into the similitude and union with Christ by our perpetual feeding on him and conversation not onely in his Courts but in his very heart and most secret affections and incomparable purities Prayers for all sorts of Men and all necessities relating to the several parts of the vertue of Religion A Prayer for the Graces of Faith Hope Charity O Lord God of infinite mercy of infinite excellency who hast sent thy holy Son into the world to redeem us from an intolerable misery and to teach us a holy religion and to forgive us an infinite debt give me thy holy Spirit that my understanding and all my faculties may be so resigned to the discipline and doctrine of my Lord that I may be prepared in minde and will to dye for the testimony of Jesus and to suffer any affliction or calamity that shall offer to hinder my duty or tempt me to shame or sin or apostacy and let my faith be the parent of a good life a strong shield to repell the fiery darts of the Devil and the Author of a holy hope of modest desires of confidence in God and of a never failing charity to thee my God and to all the world that I may never have my portion with the unbelievers or uncharitable and desperate persons but may be supported by the strengths of faith in all temptations and may be refreshed with the comforts of a holy hope in all my sorrows and may bear the burden of the Lord and the infirmities of my neighbour by the support of charity that the yoak of Jesus may become easy to me and my love may do all the miracles of grace till from grace it swell to glory from earth to heaven from duty to reward from the imperfections of a beginning and little growing love it may arrive to the consummation of an eternal and never ceasing charity through Jesus Christ the Son of thy love the Anchor of our hope and the Author and finisher of our faith to whom with thee O Lord God Father of Heaven and Earth and with thy holy Spirit be all glory and love and obedience and dominion now and for ever Amen Acts of love by way of prayer and ejaculation to be used in private O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary because thy loving kindnes is better then life my lips shall praise thee Psal. 63. I am ready not only to be bound but to dye for the name of the Lord Jesus Acts 23. How amiable are thy Tabernacles thou Lord of Hosts my soul longeth yea even fainteth for the courts of the Lord My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will still be praising thee Psal. 84. O blessed Jesu thou art worthy of all adoration and all honour and all love Thou art the Wondeâ—ful the Counsellor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of peace of thy government and peace there shall be no end thou art the brightnesse of thy Fathers glory the expresse image of his person the appointed Heir of all things Thou upholdest all things by the word of thy power Thou didst by thy self purge our sins Thou art set on the right hand of the Majesty on high Thou art made better then the Angels thou hast by inheritance obtain'd a more excellent name then they Thou O dearest Jesus art the head of the Church the beginning and the first born from the dead in all things thou hast the preheminence and it pleased the Father that in thee should all fulnesse dwell Kingdoms are in love with thee Kings lay their crowns and scepters at thy feet and Queens are thy handmaids and wash the feet of thy servants A Prayer to be said in any affliction as death of children of husband or wife in great poverty in imprisonment in a sad and disconsolate spirit in temptations to despair O Eternal God Father of Mercyes and God of all comfort with much mercy look upon the sadnesses and sorrowes of thy servant My sins lye heavy upon me and presse me sore and there is no health in my bones by reason of thy displeasure and my sin The waters are gone over me and I stick fast in the deep mire and my miseries are without comfort because they are punishments of my sin and I am so evil and unworthy a person that though I have great desires yet I have no dispositions or worthiness towards receiving comfort My sins have caused my sorrow and my sorrow does not cure my sins and unless for thy own sake and merely because thou art good thou shalt pity me relieve me I am as much without remedy as now I am without comfort Lord pity me Lord let thy grace refresh my Spirit Let thy comforts support me thy mercy pardon me and never let my portion be amongst hopelesse and accursed spirits for thou art good and gracious and I throw my self upon thy mercy Let me never let my hold go do thou with me what seems good in thy own eyes I cannot suffer more then I have deserved and yet I can need no relief so great as thy mercy is for thou art infinitely more merciful then I can be miserable and thy mercy which is above all thy own works must needs be far above all my sin and all my misery Dearest Jesus let me trust in thee for ever and let me never be confounded Amen Ejaculations and short meditations to be used in time of sickness and sorrow or danger of
of thy glories I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart secretly among the faithful and in the congregation * For salvation belongeth unto the Lord and thy blessing is upon thy servant But as for me I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple * For of thee and in thee and through thee and for thee are all things Blessed be the name of God from generation to generation Amen A â—hort Form of thanksgiving to be said upon any special deliverance as from Châ—ld-birth from Sickness from baâ—â—el or imminent danger at sea or Land c. O most merciful and gracious God thou fountain of all mercy and blessing thou hast opened the hand of thy mercy to fill me with blessings and the sweet effects of thy loving kindnesse thou feedest us like a Shepherd thou governest us as a king thou bearest us in thy arms like a nurse thou doest cover us under the shadow of thy wings and shelter us like a hen thou O Dearest Lord wakest for us as a Watchman thou providest for us like a Husband thou lovest us as a friend and thinkest on us perpetually as a careful mother on her helplesse babe and art exceeding merciful to all that fear thee and now O Lord thou hast added this great blessing of deliverance from my late danger here name the blessing it was thy hand and the help of thy mercy that relieved me the waters of affliction had drowned me and the stream had gone over my soul if the spirit of the Lord had not moved upon these waters Thou O Lord didst revoke thy angry sentence which I had deserved and which was gone out against me Unto thee O Lord I ascribe the praise and honour of my redemption I will be glad and rejoyce in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble and hast known my soul in adversity As thou hasâ— sâ—râ—ad thy hand upon me for a covering so also enlarge my heart with thankfulnesse and fill my mouth with praises that my duty and returns to theâ— may be great as my needs of mercie are and let thy gracious favours and loving kindnesâ—e endure for ever and ever upon thy servant and grant that what thou hast sown in mercy may spring up in duty and let thy grace so strengthen my purposes that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in anger and thy anger break me into pieces but let me walk in the light of thy favour and in the paths of thy Commandments that I living here to the glory of thy name may at last enter into the glory of my Lord to spend a whole eternity in giving praise to thy exalted and ever glorious name Amen We praise thee O God we knowledge thee to be the Lord * All the earth doth worship thee the Father Everlasting * To thee All Angels cry aloud the Heavens and all the powers therein * To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry * Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth * Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory * The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee * The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee * The noble army of Martyrs praise thee * The holy Church throughout all the world doth knowledge thee * The Father of an infinite Majesty * Thy honourable true and only Son * Also the Holy Ghost the Comforter * Thou art the King of glory O Christ. * Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father * When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man thou didst not abhor the Virgins womb * When thou hadst overcome the sharpnesse of death thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all Believers * Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father * We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge * We therefore pray thee help thy servants whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood * Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting * O Lord save thy people and blesse thine heritage * Govern them and lift them up for ever * Day by day we magnifie thee * And we worship thy name ever world without end * Vouchsafe O Lord to keep us this day without â—in * O Lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us * O Lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee O Lord in thee have I trusted let me never be confounded Amen A Prayer of thanksgiving after the receiving some great blessing as the birth of an Heir the successe of an honest designe a victory a good harvest c. O Lord God Father of mercies the fountain of comfort and blessing of life and peace of plenty and pardon who fillest Heaven with thy glory and earth w th thy goodnes I give thee the most earnest most humble and most enlarged returnes of my glad and thankful heart for thou hast refreshed me with thy comforts and enlarged me with thy blessing thou hast made my flesh and my bones to rejoyce for besides the blessings of all mankinde the blessings of nature the blessings of grace the support of every minute and the comforts of every day thou hast opened thy bosom and at this time hast powred out an excellent expression of thy loving kindnesse here name the blessing What am I O Lord and what is my Fathers house what is the life and what are the capacities of thy servant that thou should'st do this unto me * that the great God of men and Angels should make a special decree in Heaven for me and send out an Angel of blessing and instead of condemning and ruining me as I miserably have deserved to distinguish me from many my equals and my betters by this and many other special acts of grace and savour Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and powreth his benefits upon us He is our God even the God of whom cometh salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape death Thou hast brought me to great honour and comforted me on every side Thou Lord hast made me glad through thy works I will rejoyce in giving praise for the operation of thy hands O give thanks unto the Lord and call upon his name tell the people what things he hath done As for me I will give great thanks unto the Lord and praise him among the multitude Blessed be the Lord God even the Lord God of Israel which only doth wondrous gracious things And blessed be the name of his Majesty for ever and all the earth shall be filled with his Majesty Amen Amen Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. A Prayer to be said on the Feast of Christmas or the birth of our bleâ—sed Saviour Iesus the same also may be said upon the Feast of the Annunciation and Purification of the B. Virgin
take a death-bed sigh or groan and a few unprofitable tears and promises in exchange for all our duty If these motives joyned together with our own interest even as much as felicity and the sight of God and the avoyding the intolerable pains of Hell and many intermedial judgements comes to will not move us to leave 1. The filthinesse and 2. The trouble and 3. The uneasinesse and 4. The unreasonablenesse of sinne and turn to God there is no more to be said we must perish in our folly SECT X. Of preparation to and the manner how to receive the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper THe celebration of the holy Sacrament is the great mysteriousnesse of the Christian religion and succeeds to the most solemn rite of natural and Judaical religion the Law of sacrificing For God spared mankinde and took the sacrifie of beasts together with our solemn prayers for an instrument of expiation But these could not purifie the soul from sin but were typical of the sacrifice of something that could But nothing could do this but either the offering of all that sinned that every man should be the anathema or devoâ—ed thing or else by some one of the same capacity who by some superadded excellency might in his own personal sufferings have a value great enough to satisfie for all the whole kinde of sinning persons This the Son of God JESUS CHRIST God and Man undertook and finished by a Sacrifice of himself upon the Altar of the Crosse. 2. This Sacrifice because it was perfect could be but one and that once but because the needs of the world should last as long as the world self it was necesâ—ary that there should be a perpeâ—ual ministery established whereby this one sufficient sacrifice should be made eternally effectual to the several new aâ—iâ—ing needs of all the world who should desire it or in any sence be capable of it 3. To this end Christ was made a Priest for ever he was initiated or consecrated on the crosse and there began his Priesthood which was to last till his coming to judgement It began on earth but was to last and be officiated in Heaven where he sits perpetually representing and exhibiting to the Father that great effective sacrifice which he ofâ—ered on the crosse to eternal and never failing purposes 4. As Christ is pleased to represent to his Father that great Sacrifice as a means of atonement and expiation for all mankinde and with special purposes and intendment for all the elect all that serve him in holinesse so he hath appointed that the same ministery shall be done upon earth too in our manner and according to our proportion and therefore hath constituted and separated an order of men who by shewing forth the Lords death by Sacramental representation may pray unto God after the same manner that our Lord and high â—riest does that is offer to God and represâ—nt in this solemn prayer and Sacrament Christ as already offered so sending up a gracious instrument whereby our prayers may for his sake and in the same manner of intercession be offered up to God in our behalf and for all them for whom we pray to all those purposes for which Christ dyed 5. As the Ministers of the Sacrament do in a Sacramental manner present to God the sacrifice of the crosse by being imitators of Christs intercession so the people are sacrificers too in their manner for besides that by saying Amen they joyn in the act of him that ministers and make it also to be their own so when they eat and drink the consecrated and blessed Elelements worthily they receive Christ within them and therefore may also offer him to God while in their sacrifice of obedience thanksgiving they present themselves to God with Christ whom they have spiritually received that is themselves with that which will make them gracious and acceptable The offering their bodies and souls and services to God in him and by him and with him who is his Fathers well-beloved and in whom he is well pleased cannot but be accepted to all the purposes of blessing grace and glory 6. This is the sum of the greatest mystery of our Religion it is the copy of the passion and the ministration of the great mystery of our Redemption and therefore whatsoever intitles us to the general priviledges of Christs passion all that is necessary by way of disposition to the celebration of the Sacrament of his passion because this celebration is our manner of applying or using it The particulars of which preparation are represented in the following rules 1. No Man must dare to approach to the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper if he be in a state of any one sin that is unlesse he have entred into the state of repentance that is of sorrow and amendment lest it be said concerning him as it was concerning Iudas the hand of him that betraieth me is with me on the Table and he that receiveth Christ into an impure soul or body first turns his most excellent nourishment into poyson and then â—eeds upon it 2. Every communicant must first have examined himself that is tried the condition and state of his soul searched out the secret Ulcers enquired out its weaknesses and indiscretions and all those aptnesses where it is exposed to temptation that by finding out its diseases he may finde a cure and by discovering its aptnesses he may secure his present purposes of future amendment and may be arm'd against dangers and temptations 3. This examination must be a Man 's own act and inquisition into his life but then also it should leade a Man on to run to those whom the Great Physician of our souls Christ Jesus hath appointed to minister physick to our diseases that in all dangers and great accidents we may be assisted for comfort and remedy for medicine and caution 4. In this affair let no Man deceive himself and against such a time which publick Authority hath appointed for us to receive the Sacrament weep for his sins by way of solemnity and ceremony and still retain the affection but he that comes to this feast must have on the Wedding garment that is he must have put on Iesus Christ and he must have put off the old man with his affections and lusts and he must be wholly conformed to Christ in the image of his minde For then we have put on Christ when our souls are clothed with his righteousnesse when every faculty of our foul is proportioned and vested according to the patern of Christs life And therefore a Man must not leape from his last nights Surfet and Bath and then communicate but when he hath begun the work of God effectually and made some progresse in repentance and hath walked some stages and periods in the wayes of godlinesse then let him come to him that is to minister it and having made known the state of his soul he is to be admitted but to
a vile price and to wash the feet of him that took moneâ— for thy life and to give to him and to all thy Apostles thy most holy Body and Blood to become a Sacrifice for their sins even for their betraying and denying thee and for all my sins even for my crucifying thee afresh and for such sins which I am ashamed to think but that the greatnesse of my sins magnifie the infinitenesse of thy mercies who didst so great things for so vile a person Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus who being to depart the World didst comfort thy Apostles powring out into their ears and hearts treasures of admirable discourses who didst recommend them to thy Father with a mighty charity and then didst enter into the Garden set with nothing but Bryers and sorrowes where thou didst suffer a most unspeakable agony until the sweat strain'd through thy pure skin like drops of blood and there didst sigh and groan and fall flat upon the earth and pray and submit to the intolerable burden of thy Fathers wrath which I had deserved and thou sufferedst Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus who hast sanctified to us all our natural infirmities and passions by vouchsafing to be in fear and trembling and sore amazement by being bound and imprisoned by being harrassed and drag d with cords of violence and rude hands by being drench d in the brook in the way by being sought after like a thief and us'd like a sinner who wert the most holy and the most innocent cleaner then an Angel and brighter then the Morning-Star Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus and blessed be that loving kindnesse and pity by which thou didst neglect thy own sorrows and go to comfort the sadnesse of thy Disciples quickning their dulnesse incouraging their duty arming their weaknesse with excellent precepts against the day of trial Blessed be that humility and sorrow of thine who being Lord of the Angels yet wouldest need and receive comfort from thy servant the Angel who didst offer thy self to thy persecutors and madest them able to seiz thee and didst receive the Traytors kisse sufferedst a veil to be thrown over thy holy face that thy enemies might not presently be confounded by so bright a lusâ—re and wouldest do a miracle to cure a wound of one of thy spiteful enemies and didst reprove a zealous servant in behalf of a malicious adversary and then didst go like a Lamb to the slaughter without noise or violence or resistance when thou couldest have commanded millions of Angels for thy guard and rescue Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus and blessed be that holy sorrow thou didst suffer when thy Disciples fled and thou wert left alone in the hands of cruel men who like evening Wolves thirsted for a draught of thy best blood and thou wert led to the house of Annas and there asked insnaring questions and smitten on the face by him whose ear thou hadst but lately healed and from thence wert dragged to the house of Cajaphas and there all night didst endure spittings affronts scorn contumelies blowes and intolerable insolencies and all this for man who was thy enemy and the cause of all thy sorrows Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus and blessed be thy mercy who when thy servant Peter denied thee and forsook thee and forswore thee didst look back upon him and by that gracious and chiding look didst call him back to himself and thee who wert accused before the High Priest and rail'd upon and examined to evil purposes and with designes of blood who wert declar'd guilty of death for speaking a most necessary and most profitable truth who wert sent to Pilate and â—ound innocent and sent to Herod and still found innocent and wert arrayed in white both to declare thy innocence and yet to deride thy person and wert sent back to Pilate and examined again and yet nothing but innocence found in thee and malice round about thee to devour thy life which yet thou wert more desirous to lay down for them then they were to take it from thee Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus and blessed be that patience and charity by which for our sakes thou wert content to be smitten with canes and have that holy face which Angels with joy and wonder do behold be spit upon and be despised when compar'd with Barabbas and scourg'd most rudely with unhallowed hands till the pavement was purpled with that holy blood and condemned to a sad and shameful a publick and painful death and arayed in Scarlet and crown'd with thorns and strip'd naked and then cloth'd and loaden with the crosse and tormented with a tablet stuck with nails at the fringes of thy garment and bound hard with cords dragged most vilely and most piteously till the load was too great and did sink thy tender and virginal body to the earth and yet didst comfort the weeping women and didst more pity thy persecutors then thy self and wert grieved for the miseries of Jerusalem to come forty years after more then for thy present passion Lord what is man c. Blessed be thy Name O holy Jesus and blessed be that incomparable sweetnesse and holy sorrow which thou sufferedst when thy holy hands and feet were nailed upon the crosse and the crosse being set in a hollownesse of the earth did in the fall rend the wounds wider and there naked and bleeding sick faint wounded and despised didst hang upon the weight of thy wounds three long hours praying for thy persecutors satisfying thy Fathers wrath reconciling the penitent thief providing for thy holy and afflicted mother tasting vineger and gall and when the fulnesse of thy suffering was accomplished didst give thy soul into the hands of God and didst descend to the regions of longing souls who waited for the revelation of this thy day in their prisons of hope and then thy body was transfixed with a spear and issued forth two Sacraments Water and blood and thy body was compos'd to burial and dwelt in darkness 3 dayes and 3 nights Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of man that thou thus visitest him The prayer Thus O blessed Jesu thou didst finish thy holy passion with pain and anguish so great that nothing could be greater then it except thy self and thy own infinite mercy and all this for man even for me then whom nothing câ—uld be more miserable thy self onely excepted who becamest so by undertaking our guilt and our punishment And now Lord who hast done so much for me be pleased onely to make it effectual to me that it may not be uselesse and lost as to my particular lest I become eternally miserable and lost to all hopes and possibilities of comfort All this deserves more