Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God look down from Heaven the habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory with Mercy upon us miserable sinners and purifie we beseech thee our carnal Hearts enlighten our Understandings and exalt our Affections to a pious Contemplation of thy glorious Attributes to a Religious sense and admiration of all thy wonderful Works and condescending gracious Benefits to Mankind Thus let us learn in the profoundest Reverence to adore and magnifie thy holy Name And thus let us bless and praise thee for our Reason and Senses Health and Strength Food and Raiment with all the temporal Comforts and Necessaries of this Life Particularly for the Mercies of this Day c. But most especially for thy spiritual Blessings and for the Fountain and Foundation of them all thy miraculous and inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for all the means of grace and hope of glory O Father of mercies thou art kind even to the unthankful yea thus must we ever acknowledge our selves to have abundantly experimented that gracious goodness of thine For notwithstanding our daily Provocations against thee thou still heapest mercy and loving kindness upon us All our Contempts and Despisings of thy spiritual Favours have not yet made thee withdraw them but in the riches of thy goodness and long-suffering thou still continuest to us the offers of grace and life in thy Son And all our abuses of thy temporal Blessings thou hast not punished with an utter deprivation of them but art still pleased to afford us a liberal portion of them The Sins of this day thou hast not repay'd as justly thou might'st by sweeping us away with a swift destruction but hast spared and preserved us according to the greatness of thy mercy Here mention all particular Blessings What shall we render unto the Lord for all these benefits he hath done unto us Lord let this goodness of thine lead us to Repentance and grant that we may not only offer thee thanks and praise but may also order our Conversations aright that so we may at last see the Salvation of God Grant that we may render thee not only the fruit of our lips but the obedience of our lives that so these Blessings here might be an Earnest of those richer Blessings thou hast prepared for them that love thee in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee mercifully grant O God that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts to withstand the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God And thus may it please thee to endow our Souls with these heavenly Graces and Vertues of Faith Hope Love Sincerity Devotion Humility Fear Trust Thankfulness Contrition Meekness Chastity Temperance Contentedness Diligence Justice Charity and perseverance in all good O thus be pleased to make us partakers of thy Kingdom of Grace here and Glory hereafter And thus reign in our hearts by thy Graces now that thou mayest receive us into thy blissful Mansions above Oh! let there be always Oyl in our Vessels and our Lamps burning ready to attend our glorious Bridegroom at the uncertain hour of his coming either to Death or Judgment And O everlasting God who hast constituted and ordain'd the Services of Angels and Men in a wonderful order mercifully grant that as thy holy Angels alway do thee Service in Heaven so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on Earth And that we may ever imitate their chearful and absolute obedience to thy Commands till we are translated hence to sing with them the everlasting Hallelujahs And O Almighty God who seest that we have no power of our selves to help our selves in thy bountiful goodness provide for us daily and keep us both outwardly in our Bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may constantly be supported in both and may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the Body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul O continue ever to feed our Souls with the due and solemn administration of thy holy Word and Sacraments and with all those happy means of Grace and Salvation thou hast blessed us with in the Communion of thy holy Church which enable us to observe thankfully and devoutly especially in thy visible publick Worship O may all both Priests and People unanimously and piously offer up the constant Sacrifices of Praise and Prayer duly celebrate thy Sabbaths and holy Days and frequently approach as worthy Guests to thy holy Table thus often commemorating and beseeching thee O Christ O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World to grant us thy peace and have mercy upon us and never remove thy Candlestick from us miserable Sinners And be thou pleased to provide for our Bodies Food and Raiment with whatever else thou seest convenient and necessary for our well-being here giving us grateful and contented hearts for all and guiding us in such a right use of all as may tend most to thy honour and glory and our eternal welfare And O Merciful God who hast made all Men hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all them that are Penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all Mercy perfect Remission and Forgiveness and thus O Lord we beseech thee to Absolve us from our Offences that we may be deliver'd from the Bonds of those Sins which by our frailty we have committed especially this Day c. O Lord we bewail all these our manifold Sins and Wickednesses which we from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty most justly provoking thy Wrath and Indignation against us O Lord mercifully relieve us by the comfort of thy Grace and grant unto us and to all thy Faithful People Pardon and Peace that we may be cleansed from all our Sins and serve thee with a quiet Mind And thus too we pray thee O God to enable us entirely to forgive at all times as we desire to be forgiven to do in all things as we would be done by and so to love one another that all Men may know us to be Christ's Disciples O thus may our Light so Shine before Men that they may see our Good Works and Glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Thus O Lord Jesus come quickly and deliver us by the Mystery of thy Holy Incarnation by thy Holy Nativity and Circumcision by thy Baptism Fasting and Temptation By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy Pretious Death and Burial by thy Glorious Resurrection and Ascention and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost And Good Lord Deliver us In all time of our
that we be not overcome by them but may when thou shalt call us to it resist even unto Blood striving against sin that we being faithful unto death thou mayest give us the Crown of Life O remember not Lord our iniquities nor the iniquities of our Fore-fathers neither take thou vengeance of our Sins but spare us good Lord spare thy People whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious Blood Spare us good Lord and deliver us from all Evil and Mischief from Sin from the crafts and assaults of the Devil from thy Wrath and from everlasting Damnation from all blindness of Heart from Pride Vain-Glory and Hypocrisie from Envy Hatred and Malice and all Uncharitableness from Fornication and all other deadly Sin and from the deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil from Lightning and Tempest from Plague Pestilence and Famine from Battel and Murder and from sudden Death from all Sedition Privy Conspiracy and Rebellion from all false Doctrine Heresie and Schism from hardness of Heart and contempt of thy Word and Commandment good Lord deliver us O Lord our heavenly Father Almighty and Everlasting God who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us we pray thee in the same with thy mighty Power and grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be order'd by thy governance to do always that which is righteous in thy sight And vouchsafe O Lord we beseech thee to direct sanctifie and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the ways of thy Laws and in the Works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Almighty and everlasting God who by thy holy Apostles hast taught us to make Prayers and Supplications and to give thanks for all Men we humbly besseech thee most mercifully to receive these our Prayers which we offer to thy Divine Majesty beseeching thee to inspire continually the Universal Church with the Spirit of Truth Unity and Concord And grant that all they that do confess thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word and live in Unity and godly Love We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings Princes and Governours and especially thy Servants William and Mary our King and Queen that under them we may be godly and quietly govern'd And grant unto their whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under them that they may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintainance of God's true Religion and Vertue Give grace O heavenly Father to all Bishops and Curates more particularly to those under whose care thou hast placed us that they may both by their Life and Doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word and rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments And to all thy People give thy heavenly grace and especially to us and ours all sorts of Relations Friends Benefactors and even to our Enemies that with meek hearts and due reverence we may ever hear and receive thy holy Word and Ordinances truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our Life And we most humbly beseech thee of thy goodness O Lord to comfort and succour all them who in this transitory Life are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other Adversity especially our afflicted Friends c. And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy Servants departed this Life in thy faith and fear beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good Examples that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly Kingdom Grant this O Father for Jesus Christ's sake our only Mediator and Advocate Amen Hear us and graciously answer our Petitions for thou art the good King over all the Earth whose Power is infinite and art able to do for us above all that we can ask or think and to whom belongeth the Glory of that good thou workest in us or for us Therefore Blessing Honour Glory and Power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne to our God for ever an ever Amen All this O God and whatsoever thou knowest best for us in respect both to this life and that which is to come we do earnestly and penitently beg through the satisfactory Merits and Intercession and in the sacred Name and Words of our glorious Redeemer as himself hath taught and commanded us when we pray to say Our Father which art in Heaven c. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen Holy Vows and Meditations GOOD Prayers never came weeping home I am sure I shall receive either what I ask or what I should ask It is the basest Love of all others that is for a Benefit for herein we love not another so much as our selves Tho' there were no Heaven O Lord I would love thee now there is one I will esteem it I will desire it Yet still I will love thee for thy goodness-sake thy self is reward sufficient As it is a happy necessity that enforceth to good so is that next happy which hinders from Evil. Not only commission makes a Sin a Man is guilty of all the Sins he hateth not If I cannot avoid all I will yet hate all Sin and abstain from all Appearance of Evil. I will loath every Evil for it's own sake I will do good but not trust to it If it be well-accepted it is well if not my thanks is with God I will not be more afraid of doing good things amiss than of being proud when I have well performed them The Godly sow in Tears and reap in Joy the Seed-time is commonly waterish and lowring I will be content with a wet Spring so I may be sure of a clear and joyful Harvest Nothing shall more joy me than my inward Quietness Whatever become of my Body Reputation or Estate here I will ever labour to find somewhat added to the Stature of my Soul In having I will account that my good which doth me good I account it the only valour to remit a wrong and will applaud it to my self as Right Noble and Christian that I might hurt and will not If it be ill with me on Earth it is well my Torment is so short and so easie I will not be so covetous to hope for two Heavens Henceforth I will envy none but a good Man and I will pity nothing so much as the prosperity of the Wicked An Evening Prayer for Family or Closet c. Lord we call upon thee haste thee unto us and consider our voice when we cry unto thee Let our Prayers be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifting up of our hands be an Evening Sacrifice Psal 141.1 2. O Holy Blessed and
Thirdly Those who plead Conscience for their separation and set up distinct Communions of their own Secondly Those who profess to live in Communion with the Church of England and yet are too notoriously guilty of some great miscarriages in Publick Worship Such as these 1st The forsaking the Communion of their Parish Churches without just cause for it Secondly Irreverence in Worship 2dly The neglect of a due attendance on the Publick Prayers of the Church Fourthly The neglect of the Publick Administration of Baptism Fifthly That they neglect or refuse to submit their Children and Servants to publick instructions Sixthly That eithr never receive the Lord's Supper or very rarely The very naming of these things says he must needs convince all Men who have any Sense of Religion how seasonable this Discourse is for there was never any Age wherein there was more need of it And since Religion has so great an Influence upon the government of Mens Lives the neglect or miscarriage of Publick Worship does not only tend to Corrupt Mens manners but has a very ill Aspect upon publick Affairs which you may read in P. 17 18. And so for entire satisfaction in all these particulars I refer you to the excellent Book it self Proceeding to recount some few more scand lous Offenders herein as those who dishonour God defame and injure their Neighbour and defile and ruin their own Souls Bodies and Estates by the commission of such heinous Transgressions as these viz. Blasphemy Perjury common swearing and Cursing propharation of the Lords Day disobedience to Parents either Natural Civil Ecclesiastical or Oeconomical Murder Envy Revenge Malice or any manner of uncharitableness Fornication Adultery Theft Lying Deceit covetousness Oppression Injustice Luxury Pride Drunkenness and any intemperance c. Now here we may observe that there are no Vices or sins more positively and expresly forbidden and condemn'd than these both in all natural and reveal'd Religion in all the Morals of the Ancient Heathens throughout the Old and New Testamen and in our Ecclesiastical Civil and Common Laws particularly ever since Kings and Queens have become Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers to our Church have interwoven her in the Security and Priviledges of the State or Common-wealth and thus freed her from the burning fury and violence of Persecutions insomuch that thus now it becomes the more indispensible duty of all that are in Authority truly and indifferently to minister Justice to the punishment of all such wickedness and vice and to the maintenance of God's true Religion and Vertue which if neglected nothing can be more satal to a sinful Nation since nothing can more daringly provoke Heavens vengeance upon it And now too may we not justly conclude that those persons who will break through all these Sanctions bid defiance to all the dictates of right reason and the sacred injunctions both of God and Man by continuing in those notorious impieties presumptuously or desperately in despight of Justice are the greatest Enemies in the World not only to their own Souls and private concerns but to their Neighbourhood round them and to the publick good of any Church and State As on the other side the truest and best Friends to all are the Godly Righteous and sober persons for may we not find innumerable instances hereof both in reading and observation how God Almighty has recall'd his angry Rod upon the Prayers and Tears of the Righteous or Penitent and has destroy'd whole Cities People and Kingdoms yea and once a whole World for the persisting obstinate wickedness of them that dwelt therein allowing the Just the salvation of their own Souls only And now Lastly to refer the prosecution of these Remarks and exhortations to the Conclusion and to proceed to our Meditation May we not all easily apprehend this chief cause of that stiff-necked and general Iniquity which overspreads our Land viz. The want of consideration of divine Thought or Meditation which renders us rash head-strong and precipitate and even meer unthinking and irrational Animals not but that we are some way reasonable and thoughtful but in that we fix our Minds upon wrong Objects upon meer earthly things and place our treasure and hearts here below madly suffering our selves to be deluded by empty Charms fatal Nothings the fading and transitory Wealth Honour Pleasure and Vanities of this Sublunary World and all the while neglecting the more solid Joys and Raptures of an Immaterial Soul the true Exertion of her Faculties and Powers the right use of that soaring Reason and improvement of that divine Image stampt upon us in our Creation which alone ennobles our Natures and distinguishes us from the Beasts that perish and which alone can render us amiable in the sight of our Heavenly Father and consequently make us truly happy both here and hereafter Oh! this therefore let us all learn and experience in divine Meditation beginning it with the great fundamental Duty of Repentance a Duty always necessary and incumbent upon the best of us since none can pretend to be so Just or Holy as to need no repentance Hereto then I beg your diligent attention Most heartily praying for the Illuminations and Aids of the Holy Ghost to make the words of our Mouth and the Meditations of our Heart always acceptable to God and beneficial to his Church New Prayers AND MEDITATIONS FOR Fast Days c. AWake up my Soul and consider whence thou art What is thy business here and whither thou must go The Entrance Consider whose Image thou bearest after whose likeness and by whom wast thou Created And call to mind what Laws and Commands thine Almighty Father hath imprinted upon and reveal'd unto thee and then remember thy frequent and innumerable Transgressions with the folly and danger thereof Add to this some thoughts of thy great Creators infinite Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice Mercy how wonderfully hath he contriv'd for thy Felicity With what amazing Condescension hath himself wrought thy Redemption and how he daily calls upon thee for a reasonable and blessed performance of thine own Engagements And now he thus invites thee upon the most gracious terms to fly into the Arms of his Eternal Love And yet how sloathful and backwards thou art How blind and deformed dost thou make thy self And how rebellious loathsome and ungrateful dost thou prove Oh think then what will be the fatal consequences of this stupidity and madness See the roaring Lyon ready to devour thee behold Death the Wages of sin coming to arrest thee and look down upon the Bottomless Gulph of Hell gaping for thee and thus think how thou canst escape their dreadful Jews How thou canst avoid their Terror Sting and endless Tortures but by speedily hearkning to thy Lords merciful Voice immediately turning from thy evil Ways presently bewailing thy Fall and Misery lamenting in dust and ashes and thus exercising timely and unfeigned Repentance Awake then quickly thou drowsie polluted Soul rouse up thy corrupted understanding and
depraved Will lay thy self prostrate before the Throne of Grace cry mightily to God for Pardon and Mercy and begin now to wash off thy filthiness in the Tears of Penitence fly to the laver of Regeneration and pray for divine help in the due knowledge and performance hereof and for this end consider my Soul what is this Repentance is it not a Sorrow for sin A due sense and acknowledgment with an utter abhorrence of all Impiety 2. The descrip and division and an entire Reformation of Life Is it not a Mourning in a more doleful manner than was heretofore signifyed by the external signs of Sackcloth and Ashes And is it not a weeping an inward roaring disquietness and grief with stronger crying and Tears then can be express'd by rending the Hair and Garments and besmearing the Face For this is a rending of the Heart afflicting the Mind and Soul creating such a troubled Spirit such a broken and contrite Heart as God may not despise and thus true and sincere Repentance consists of these three Parts Confession Contrition and firm Resolution of Amendment with actual Deeds of a new and throughly Reformed Life O set about this then betimes and view thy necessary Obligations and Incouragements hereto do not the Commands of thy Creator and Redeemer at all move thee 3. The Causes Does not Love Justice and Gratitude compell thee to this Duty Will not the experienc'd Abomination and Odiousness the ridiculous Folly and Vanity the sordid irksome drudgery the manifest Evils Mischiefs and dangers and even the self-punishment of sin force thee to Repent Or may not the most benigh and bountiful Offers of heavenly Grace and assistance the assured hopes of Gods favour here and glory hereafter or the inevitable privation of these in insuportable Misery and an Eternity of Torments drive thee to work out thy own Salvation with fear and Trembling Oh will neither the greatest benefits the most earnest invitations and charming Inducements on the one hand nor the dreaded displeasures certain Vengeance and Terrours of the Lord on the other perswade thee Or dost thou not remember thy Baptismal Vows and repeated Promises and Resolutions with thy manifold breaches thereof adding the worse of Perjury Rebellion and Treachery to the black and dismal Catalogue of thine innumerable transgressions But further do not Nature and Conscience check and inform thee Do not the invisible Motions and secret whisperings of the Blessed Spirit instruct and reprove thee And do not the sacred Ordinances of God and his Church whereof thou art a sworn Member or the ordinary visible means of Grace and Salvation in the solemn Administration of God's holy Word Rites and Sacraments remind thee of all And do not thus thy lawful Pastors and Teachers those Stewards of the unfathomable Mysteries and Embassadors of Heaven cry aloud lift up their Voices like Trumpets and call frequently upon thee to turn from thy Evil Ways and live Enough enough I groan under the intolerable weight of sin my bones are broken my heart is contrite my Spirit Heavy my flesh 4. The Effects my wounds stink and are corrupt I am abominable and loathsome I abhor my self in dust and ashes in great bitterness and anguish I cry unto the Lord I call upon my blessed Physician for ease comfort and freedom for help and Pardon I loath the mire which I have been long wallowing in I run with horrour and amazement from the fatal Precipice which I was tumbling down I have laid hold upon the Horns of the Altar and fled to the Sanctuary and now methinks I am almost rap'd up into the third Heaven I am risen from death I am flying in Ahrahams Bosom I admire and love the Life of the Saints and I long to be triumphant with them above Since now my God thou hast mercifully cleansed and heal'd me thou hast purg'd me with Hyssop thou hast wash'd me and made me whiter than Snow yea thou hast made me hear of joy and gladness in turning thy Face from my misdeeds blotting out my Transgressions with thy Blood nailing them to thy Cross and renewing in me a clean Heart and a right Spirit therefore will I rejoice in thy Salvation I will love thy gracious Precepts and in love will I ever obey thy holy good and just Laws O stablish me with thy free Spirit that I may teach thy Ways unto the Wicked and Sinners shall be converted unto thee O satisfie me with the Pleasures of thy House let me dwell in thy Temple and wait at thine Altar yea thus let me live that I may never be disappointed of my hope O come Lord Jesus come quickly and let thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven But Lord what is Man that thou shouldest be thus mindful of him 5. The Subjects and Adjuncts or the Son of Man that thou shouldest so regard him Man whom thou didst make after thine own Image didst indow with Innocence seat in paradise and gavest him Dominion over all the works of thy hands yet Man who so soon fell and was so wretchedly tempted to a fatal sin by the miserable Serpent Man who thus brought the Devil sin Death and Hell with all Temporal and Eternal Curses and Plagues upon himself Yet Man whom thou hast prodigiously thro' meer Compassion and infinite loving kindness redeem'd O Father by the Incarnation and Blood of thine own eternal and only begotten Son and Man of whom thou requirest no more than Faith and Repentance and a godly righteous sober living according to thy most reasonable and upright Laws which alone can render him happy both here and hereafter For is not Godliness O my Soul profitable unto all things having the promise of the Life that now is and of that which is to come and yet O Man why dost thou sin why dost thou remain still disobedient and prove the only Rebel of the whole Creation Dost thou not know that God is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity Dost thou not see the Devil prevailing upon the weakness of thy Flesh alluring thee with Worldly Vanities enslaving and fettering thee only to secure thy Soul and Body for his eternal Torments dost thou not perceive thy barbarous Ingratitude in making thy dear Saviour bleed afresh by thy blasphemy prophaneness irreligion by thy Covetousness uncharitableness oppression cruelty prodigality worldly-mindedness by thy Luciferian pride arrogance presumption hypocrise Schism Heresie Ambition Lust Rage Intemperance with all the Brutal Vices Diabolical Villanies and innumerable wilful Transgressions daily and impenitently perpetrated in the World Why dost thou not cast off this old Man Why dost thou not seek to be renewed O seek to the Lord to heal thee of these Ulcers and to expell these torturing Feavers hast thou not the means before thee canst thou not fast and pray without which this kind goeth not forth canst thou not abstain and mortify and bring thy Body in Subjection to thy Soul canst thou not deny