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A58095
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A rational method of daily religion consisting of four new offices of ordinary devotion; and a practical directory concerning the reasonableness and use of them. By a Divine of the Church of England.
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Divine of the Church of England.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing R305; ESTC R220657
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34,136
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144
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and his Father grant these Petitions 4. Give me Grace O Father of Lights to add to my Faith Fortitude and to Fortitude Temperance and to Temperance Piety and to Piety Lowliness and to Lowliness Charity To be subject to the higher Powers to render to all their Dues to esteem the Laborers in thy Vineyard for their Works sake to live up to my Light and to walk honestly as in the day to please my Neighbour to Edification to bear the Infirmities of the Weak and the Reproaches of the Wicked to resist the Devil mortifie the Body and be one Spirit with the Lord. This I beg for the sake of Christ Jesus hear me therefore O my God 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and all thy Soul and all thy Mind and all thy Strength This is the First and Great Commandment and I cannot but own my God that it is most Holy and Just and Good Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self This is the next and like unto it 6. But Lord who is sufficient for these things Where is the Man that liveth and transgresseth not these Laws O therefore Lord enter not into Judgment with me but for Christ's sake pardon my manifold Violations of thy Laws and for the future I beseech thee fortifie me with a plentiful Portion of thy Grace and Spirit Henceforward I will not receive the former in vain nor quench the latter but will love my God with a Supream Love entirely and constantly and my Neighbour as my self and my self according as my Love of God shall recommend me So help my God CLASS V. Office of Charity PART I. The Gratulatory of the Church Triumphant HAppy are those Spirits that wait on God's Throne and do continually minister with Halelujahs to the Holy Holy Holy God and the Lamb for ever and ever Happy and Blessed are those Saints who live in the Regions of inaccessible Light where neither Moral nor Natural Death hath any place Happy indeed are they that are made eternal Priests and Kings to God and are above the need of Care and Watching gratulated be their Joy May it be mine and mine theirs in the eternal Salvation of my Soul 2. A Heavenly Aspiration My Soul is a thirst for the Living God This is the Communion which my Soul is inflam'd with Longings after O that I had Wings like a Dove then should I flee away and be at rest When shall I gratulate and be gratulated there O that I may be united to my God! When shall my Exile be at an end When shall I see and know him as I am seen and known O that I were certify'd that I am a true Son and Servant of God that I might long to be dissolv'd and say How long Lord how long holy and true The Submission But be this as the Lord will whose it is to appoint the number of the Days of his Servant if so be that while Days do not commence Eternity I may number them and be wise and fit my self for my great Change This is my Desire Lord regard it this shall be my Endeavour Lord further it PART II. Intercession for the Church Militant 1. MAy the Creator of all Universes both visible and invisible visit the dark parts of the Earth with the glorious Beams of the Sun of Righteousness that the Knowledge of Christ crucify'd may fill the Earth as the Waters cover the Sea Let the People praise thee O God yea let all Peoples Nations and Languages praise thee 2. And oh that those Countries which enjoy the Gospel may not slander it so shamefully by the black and blasphemous Lives of its Professors Lord grant that the Power of thy Gospel may display the Lustre of its native Brightness Simplicity and Purity in our Lives 3. Restore I beseech thee Beauty and Discipline Soundness of Faith genuine Ordinances and Decency and Perfection of Worship to all Ecclesiastical Bodies professing Christianity And to this end give to them such true Christian Ingenuity as that they may all severally and unanimously own lament and reform their different Excesses and Defects that as there is but one true Christ and but one true Christianity which can secure a Soul of Happiness so we may all glorifie thee the same God and Father of us all with one Mind and with one Mouth 4. Look down O Lord I beseech thee from the Habitation of thy Glory with a special Eye of Favour on this Church and Kingdom which thou hast so long bless'd with many signal Mercies and preserv'd in such amazing and endearing Methods of Providence Pardon our great and crying Abuses of the same and wherein soever all Orders of Men amongst us in our own and the days of our Forefathers have fallen short of the Glory of God let it not any longer I pray thee be laid to our charge Put a stop to that Latitude of Life and Opinion which divides and corrupts us O Lord reform us if we are still reformable that we may not be deliver'd over into the Will of our Enemies whose Mercies are cruel 5. Guard with the Guardianship of thy Holy Angels the Sacred Person of William our King grant that all his Designs and Vndertakings may be so truly Christian and Honourable that they may prove in the end successful Let no Weapon form'd against him prosper and whensoever the number of his Days on Earth shall be fulfill'd grant that he may be found such a Conquerour of all his spiritual and temporal Enemies as may make Death to him a kind Translation of his Soul into a World of glorious Spirits Bless him in his Royal Relatives and especially Catherine the Queen-Dowager her Royal Highness the Princess Ann of Denmark Counsel O Lord our Counsellors and teach our Senators true Wisdom Plant a true Affection for the Welfare of true Piety and these Kingdoms in all the Nobility Judges and Inferior Magistrates that Righteousness may run down like a mighty Stream and there may be no Complaints of Oppression in our Streets 6. Showr down a very liberal Portion of thy Spirit on all that are separated to wait at thine Altar give them all a commanding Sense of their own Insufficiency of themselves and Sufficiency in and by Christ to turn many to Righteousness of the great Dignity of their Office of the infinite Value of Souls and that Blood which was shed for them and of the Greatness of their Trust and of that Account which at the last Day will be exacted from them Enflame them with a genuine Zeal from above for thy Glory that their Loins may be always girt for every good Enterprize which may promote the Plantation of New Colonies of Souls in Heaven Adorn them with Meekness and Prudence Circumspection and Humility that they may be burning and shining Lights in this perverse Generation that so they may recover the drooping Credit of their Sacred Function and manifest it to be no less Honourable in the sight of God
Supream Mercy of the Supream Majesty manifested in the Death and Resurrection of his Son I have deliberately in many Instances committed Impiety against my God and Saviour Iniquity against his Creation and Impurity against my own Soul and Body * Here you may confess particular Sins as I have at such a time and under such and such circumstances Yea this very day have I provok'd the Lord to Jealousie by the addition of a new Sin or Sins to my former crying Offences so like a Brute so like a Devil nay worse than either Brute or Deviâ— have I been before thee For nâ— Brute ever spurn'd at Conscience nor did ever any Devil trample upon Redemption Sinful Man alone is that Monster of Ingratitude that fights both against Light and a Jesus at once 3. Wrath and Vengeance Shame and Confusion ineffable Anguish and Bitterness of Soul Blackness and Darkness for ever Communion with Devils and all the Damn'd unquenchable Flames and disregarded Cries even the ever-gnawing and never consuming Envy of a Judas and laps'd Angels is O Lord I must acknowledge the true Portion of my corrupted Nature and the just Reward of this or these and all my other sinful Deeds All this I must own O Lord and all the known and unknown terrible Ingredients of Hell belongs to all who have forgot God and Crucify'd the Son of God afresh and therefore also unto me O God who have thus again sinn'd with so high a hand against thee and after all thy long-suffering and condescension have still presum'd by new Sins to make my self a Derision to Devils a Burden to my self a Traitor to Christ and a noisom Spectacle to God and Holy Angels nay for ought that I know the Dregs of thy Fury ought to be drunk by so vile and villainous a Soul if thou wert extream to mark what has been done amiss 4. But tho' to me belongeth Damnation yet to the Lord belongs Compassion for the Lord is God and not Man and as is his Majesty such is his Mercy For doubtless were thy Ways as our Ways or thy Thoughts like our Thoughts doubtless were not the Bowels of God larger in extent than the wide and deep Sea doubtless were it it impossible for fallen Man to find a favourable access to the Throne of Grace and to be reconcil'd to his offended Maker thou wou'dst never have sent thy eternal Begotten Son into this disorderly Portion of thy World For wherefore O Lord did he shed his infinitely precious Blood if Blood and Vapour and Smoak if showres of fierce and flaming Brimstone if eternal exile of Spirit Soul and Body from thee be the irreversible Fate of poor Man and he be not capable of a repentance which is more acceptable than the Repentance of Devil and those Souls who are departed this Life even a Repentance unto everlasting Life which is never to be repented of 5. Wherefore Heavenly Father since I make use of the Name of no less a Person than the Christ of God and the Jesus of Men since he is as mighty to soften and save as thou art to destroy since his Merits are as charming to thy Goodness as thy Rage is formidable to us let not the Dread Majesty of the Heavens and Earth and all that are therein take up the Weapons of his Anger against me tho' a vain Man which has not shew'd himself a Man venture to expostulate with his Maker and his Judge and to take unto himself Words and say Wilt thou enter into Controversie with a Worm Is there no difference betwixt the Strength of a Devil and a Man Is not Christ a potent Saviour Shall not thy Mercy have its Triumphs as well as thy Justice O Lord hearken O Lord be gracious O Lord forgive Lord hide not thy face from me but from my Sins O Lord most Holy O God most Mighty most Merciful God and Saviour suffer me not to fall into the bitter Pains of eternal Death O Preserver of Men do thou draw nigh unto me for as I have sinn'd so I return and draw nigh unto God I know now that 't is not in vain still to repent and therefore I humble my self and supplicate thee for thy Pardon I level my self with the Worms of the Earth under the Scepter of thy Grace I confess and grieve and hide my self in the Rock Christ Jesus for fear of the Lord and the Glory of his Majesty I come not Lord of mine own head or in mine own Name but by the Direction and in the Name of the great High Priest I beseech thee forgive me O speak peace to my Soul say to the Mempest within me Be still O do thou so wonderfully bless and be merciful unto me as to shew me the light of thy Countenance O that my Soul could hear thee saying I am reconcil'd thy Prayers and thy Tears are regarded my nâ—e Could I but believe in the Lord Jesus and repent effectually there would be no room for doubt for surely those Words are the Motto of that Cross on which Jesus Christ gave up the Ghost 6. O therefore I beseech thee do thou spare me a while till my Soul has thro' Christ recover'd that Strength which by my Sin I have lost 'T is not for the sake of living here that I desire a continuance of Life but that I may have an opportunity once more of enrobing my self with Divine Graces that I may be a Partaker of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light to look on the Lamb of God that was slain for returning Sinners hear the Sighs of a broken Heart supply me with a practical Faith work in my Mind an effectual Change from all Unrighteousness to a steddy flourishing fruitful Habit of universal Holiness make me truly lowly in Heart a zealous Imitator of Christ fight my Battels against the Hosts of Hell and bring me at last I entreat thee to thy everlasting Kingdom 7. With this Hope I will labour to purifie my self and do commit my self with all my Fellow-Creatures especially my particular Friends and Enemies to the kind Influences of thy Grace and thy protection this Night Grant that my Sleep may be wholesom and temperate that I may rise early the next Morning to renew my Thanks to thee for thy continu'd forbearance and to offer my Vows of Gratitude in all sincerity Let not my being now inspir'd with this soft Temper of Soul puff me up or make me less aware of the deceitfulness of Sin But may the Grace Mercy and Peace which I enjoy now from God the Father thro' Christ by being husbanded with Vigilance and Humility usher me into the Regions of Glory Amen Amen so be it for Christ his sake In his Name and Words I conclude my Address together with my Thanks to thee for all thy Mercies Our Father c. CLASS III. THE Wary Christian's EVENING OFFICE OF Daily Repentance for Sins of Infirmity 1. MY Lord and my God Glory be to thy