withstand not thy tender of that Peace which is a Pearl of such great Price Verily Verily my Lord and my God now I may and ought and will laud and address thee tho' it be with Trembling and Confusion For as Dread belongs unto Creatures and Sinners so doth Confidence belong unto the Immaculate the Eternal and only Begotten Son of God CLASS II. Expressions of Praise both by way of Recital and Address 1. GLory therefore be to God Condescension to his Creatures Grace and Mercy Peace and Purgation Redemption and Forgiveness to me a Sinner May the Good God who pardoneth Iniquity Transgression and Sin accept the Incense of a lowly Heart 2. Great is the Lord and marvellous worthy to be prais'd there there are no bounds of his Greatness 3. He is Wonderful in Counsel Mighty in Working Glorious in Holiness Fearful in Praises He dwells in inaccessible Light The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him His Kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom His Dominion lasteth longer than Ages Ten thousand times ten thousand and Thousands of thousands of Glorious Spirits are the awful Retinue of the Lord God 4. The Heavens declare the Glory of God the Firmament shews his Handy-work One Day tells another and one Night certiâ—â—es another 5. Thou Lord in the beginning didst lay the Corner-stone of the Earth when the Morning-Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for Joy All the Beasts of the Forest are thine and so are the Cattel on a thousand Hills 6. Fearfully and Wonderfully hast thou made Man and O that my Soul did ponder it well Thine Eyes did see my Substance when I was yet imperfect and in thy Everlasting Book were all my Members written Day after Day were they a fashioning To this Day are they preserv'd by thy hand 7. Every Morning thy Loving Kindness is renew'd I laid me down and slept and rose again for the Lord sustain'd me O how dear are thy Counsels unto me O God O how great is the summ of them * Here particular Mercies may be inserted 8. How should I count them They are more in number than I can conceive Whenever I awake they are present with me Have I not for this reason remembred thee on my Bed and thought upon thee when I was waking Now do I sing and always will sing of thy Mercies betimes in the Morning even unto thee O my strength for thou art my Refuge and my mercifuâ— God CLASS IV. The Dedicatory THis Day I dedicate my self Spirit Soul and Body to thy Spirit Honour and Service and do resign all my Care and Concerns to the Direction and Influence of thy Providence and am dispos'd chearfully to embrace all the Dispensations of thy Fatherly Goodness Thus will I by thy Grace and Assistance throughout my whole Life wait upon thee in Holiness that I may at last behold thy Power and Glory everlasting 2. I hate and abhor all my past evil ways and from the depth of my Soul do renounce mine own Wickedness * Here you may confess your Constitution Sin or other Sins O that I may obtain Victory over my whole Body of Sin and live Then shall Jesus be my Jesus indeed and say Soul Be of good cheer thy sins are forgiven thee and at the Great Day declare before Angels and Saints and Devils and the Desperate Thy monstrous iniquities are blotted out They shall not be thy ruine Thou shalt live for I dy'd for the penitent 3. Hence 't is O Lord that my Soul hangs upon thee To this purpose with extreme Thirst of Soul I seek thy Strength and thy Face O therefore do thou who delight'st not in the Desolation but divine Resurrection of Humane Spirits chear and replenish me with the Light of thy Countenance for without thee we must needs be desolate CLASS V. Acts of Daily Petition for God's Protection and Blessing LORD I have dedicated my Judgment to thee O shew me the way that I should walk in I lift up my Soul unto thee Lord sanctifie it I have devoted my Spirit Lord separate the Light from the Darkness thereof and refine it with the fiery Baptism of the Holy Ghost that thy Will may be the Magnet of mine Lord I beseech thee set a Watch over my Heart and Lips that my Words and Meditations may please thee 2. O that all my Actions and Intentions and Discourses may be begun and govern'd and ended in thy Fear so shall the Lord prosper my Handy-work so shall my Studies thrive under his Blessing and all my Resolutions be establish'd O that the Disposals of my Heavenly Father be they grateful or ungrateful to Flesh and Blood may find their Ends answer'd by my Demeanor under and use of them 3. Arm me I beseech thee with the Armour of God that no presumptuous Sin may ever again get the Dominion over me Array my Soul with a competent Conformity of Mind to the Image of thy Son that I may grow in Grace and heavenly Experience that so this and every remaining Day of my short stay here may be reflected on with less Sorrow and more spiritual Joy in the Lord than the foregoing O may thy Loving Spirit lead me in the ways of Evangelical Righteousness so shall the Land of Righteousness be mine Inheritance and the God of Righteousness my Portion for ever CLASS VI. A Catholick Conclusion LOrd I beseech thee of thine infinite Compassion over-look my numerous Infirmities accept of this imperfect Sacrifice and of the following Expression of my Delight in the Joys of the Church Triumphant and of my Commiseration of all the Perils Straits and Necessities of thy Israel Militant here on Earth in the powerful Name and Words of thine only Son and Man's only Saviour JESUS CHRIST Our Father c. Noon-Office OF VIGILANCE AND CHARITY CLASS I. Vigilance excited by Expressions of a sense of Man's and the World's Vanity 1. VAnity of Vanities all is Vanity and Vexation of Spirit 2. God made Man upright little lower than the Angels and plac'd all sublunary Things under him But Man hath sought out many foolish Inventions and lets some Creature or other lord it over his Heart tho' they were all put under his feet 3. For the Lord look'd down from Heaven on the Children of Men to see if there were any seeking after God But oh how are they gone out of the way Destruction and Vnhappiness is in their ways The way to Reconciliation and Glory they neither see nor seek 4. Nay the humble Soul and his Care for Eternity is had in derision by them numerous are those Wretches which combine with the disorderly Tendencies of Birth and the Princes of Darkness to pluck him from his God CLASS II. Expressions of Trust in God and Holy Resolution 1. BUt my Soul shall not run any more after Idols neither shall their Scoffs make me draw back for I will seek the Kingdom of God and Christ and the Righteousness thereof 2. Seek seek I say O
my Soul the Lord and his Strength seek his Face evermore All other things when weigh'd in the Balance are found wanting God alone can be the Marrow and real Plenitude of a Spirit whose are infinite Worlds and all the Fulnesses of the same He and He alone can be an Enjoyment adaequate to a Will 3. O theresore Love the Lord who is the Heaven of Angels He is my stony Rock and my Defence my Saviour my God and my Might in whom I will trust my Buckler the Horn also of my Salvation I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised so wall I be safe from mine Enemies For whoso dwelleth under his Defence doth abide under the Shadow of the Almighty CLASS III. An Address to God for Spiritual Strength and Christian Violence in general GReat Creator of the Vniverse Benefactor of Angels Humbler of Devils and Restorer of Man Marvellous for Strength marvellous for Wisdom and marvellous for Goodness Thou hast promis'd to hear them that call upon thee faithfully in time of Trouble O do thou now say unto my Soul in this state of Difficulty I am thy Salvation Pity O Lord my darkned Mind cleanse a Heart stain'd with Sin Terrible Hosts thou seest O Lord do encompass my poor Soul Thousands fall beside me and thousands behind me and ten thousands round about me Thrones and Principalities plot against us and those whom we are too apt because of Sense to reckon our Best Friends do ensnare and betray us But alas tho' we are beleper'd with Guilt tho' we are near the Portals of Death and the Talons of Hell how apt are we to put the evil Day far from us Wherefore I beseech thee do thou by a Divine Power make me constantly sensible of Death and Judgment and the Tortures of the Damn'd invest my Soul with that Noble Violence wherewith the Kingdom of Heaven must be taken O my God I know thy Grace and that only is sufficient for me work in me therefore I beseech thee effectually in the inner Man by thy Spirit that I may habitually will and do according to thy gooâ— Pleasure so shall I be strong indeed even in the Lord and thâ— Power of his Might and be morâ— than Conqueror thro' Christ anâ— hold out to the end so shall I noâ— be dismay'd for any Terror by Night nor for the Pestilence thaâ— invisibly wounds at Noon so shalâ— I triumph the Triumphs of thy Saints and trample upon Dangers Death and Devils and keep a perpetual Jubilee with my God and his Christ CLASS IV. Prayers for particular Graces collected out of our Blessed Lord's Sermon on the Mount and St. Paul AND to the end O Lord I may be found in the Blessed Number of those who are Christ's Disciples indeed make me I beseech thee poor in Spirit a godly Mourner meek hungry and thirsty after Righteousness merciful pure in Heart dispos'd to promote Peace and Vnity ready to be persecuted for Righteousness sake and to rejoice when I am revil'd instead of reviling again O suffer no worldly Emulation to sway in my Heart and to taint my Fastings and Prayers Give me a Heavenly Prudence that my Light may shine before Men and I may nevertheless do many Good Works secretly looking for my Praise and Reward from thee Give me courage to pluck out my scandalous Eye and to cut off the scandalous Hand of my corrupt Nature and all Superfluity of Tongue and Thought for the mean Concerns of this Life O may thy Name never be utter'd without Reverence by me Suffer me not so to be angry with my Brother as to sin or to be a Judge but rather a Doer of thy Law Make me so mindful of my own Ingratitude and of that great Goodness which has nevertheless been continu'd by thee to me that in imitation of this thy great Perfection I may forgive bless and pray for mine Enemies Drive earthly Solicitude out of my Mind that my Distributions to the Necessities of the Saints laying up for me a Treasure in Heaven my Heart may be there also O illuminate my Mind that that Faculty which thou hast planted in me to be my Light may not by being dark it self overwhelm me all over with horrible Darkness I earnestly entreat thee to lay a deep Foundation of Faith within me that like a wise Builder I may build upon the Rock and be proof against Storms and Waves and Tempests always striving more and more earnestly to enter in at the strait Gate that I may bring forth the excellent Fruits of a Mind thoroughly chang'd and with diligence and trembling do those things which my Lord commands O that when my Lord comes when Death seizes me I may be found so doing O subject my Body to my Soul and my Soul entirely unto thee and erect and enlarge the Kingdom of God in it that it may be fill'd with an equitable Disposition of behaving it self so towards God and God Man Angels and Devils its Fellow Creatures and the whole subordinatâ— Creation as becomes a Christian and so be fill'd with Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Finally O Lord since thou hast promis'd it to those who ask it of thee with Faith and Purity Importunateness and Humility give me I beseech thee all Celestial Favours and truly valuable Bounties in that inestimable Gift of Gifts thy Holy Spirit Lord how shall our Souls be nurs'd for Heaven without the support of this Manna of the Seraphim Give me therefore thy Spirit I do again and again beseech thee else I perish to all Eternity Lord I trust in thee O let me not be confounded 2. O my God thy Mercies towards me are ineffable wherefore I present my Body which is daily fed and preserv'd by thy Bounty before thee O do thou so renew my Mind that it may be transform'd from the World to thy Likeness and make my Body and all my Actions in their Station wherein I am or hereafter may be plac'd by thy Providence a living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto thee and I may experimentally prove what is that good and acceptable Will of God 3. Awe me I beseech thee with a sense of thy Greatness and my own Meanness that I may not think of my self more highly than I ought to think supply me with Grace to have my Conversation in Heaven anâ— with all Men in all godly simplicity to love without dissimulation to abhor that which is evil and to stand fast in the Lord to prefer others in Honour before my self not to be slothful in Business to be fervent in Spirit to rejoice in the Hope to be patient in Tribulation and instant in Prayer to rejoice with them that rejoice to weep with them that weep in indifferent things to be of the same mind with others not to minâ— high things but to condescend not to be wise in my own Conceit not be overcome of evil but to overcome eviâ— with good For Christ his sake O my Father
and Angels than 't is slighted by Men of scornful and licentious Minds and Manners Sublimate their Minds with a noble Degree of Sincerity that they may divide the Word without deceit and without reserve Set their Faces like a Flint against the reigning Impudence of the Age and against the unjust Reproaches of unreasonable and disorderly Men and in what respect soever they may sometimes happen to be partly too Just may they thereby be provoked to an Holy Jealousie over themselves O fortifie them with the Courage of a Baptist that they may denounce the Terrors of the Lord against all Impiety without partiality or respect of Persons rebuking Vice boldly both in season and out of season with that spiritual Majesty and Authority and that degree of Faith and Faithfulness which becomes the Embassadors of Christ and the Stewards of the Mysteries of the Gospel O send skilful and laborious Husbandmen into thy Vineyard in the midst of our great distress Furnish all Bishops with a wise and discerning Spirit that they may lay hands suddenly on no Man but stock the Church with such Holy and Judicious such Active and Orthodox Priests as may honourably and manfully employ the Power of the Keys put to shame and silene all Gainsayers and win many Strangers nay even profest Enemies over to Christ that so having cultivated the Seeds of Heaven in themselves and others they may stand with great Joy before Christ's Tribunal and save both their own and the Souls of them who are committed to their Care Lord of thy abundant and unbounded Goodness do thou hasten this Enlargement of thy true Invisible Church O how long how long O our God shall it be before the great Affairs of Eternity prosper in their hands 7. Do thou so prosper the Education of our Youth in our Universities and other Seminaries of Learning that the Publick Spiritedness Profound Learning and Generous Piety of our Posterity may shame the Selfishness conceited Ignorance and Degeneracy of this present Generation 8. Give to Children Servants and all Inferiors Docility and Submission and to all Parents Masters and Benefactors the Gift of wise Inspection and Conduct that their Management of those that are under them may not fail of thy Blessing and the making them prove Blessings to themselves and the whole Community in their several Stations Vocations and Relations 9. Reward all that have done me good with the Rewards of the better sort Pardon and pacifie all that have wrong'd or slander'd me Blast all malicious Intrigues and breathe kindly on all laudable Endeavours 10. Sanctifie all Afflictions to all afflicted Persons and as soon as the ends of thy Fatherly Goodness have been answer'd do thou speedily deliver them 11. Finally I laud and magnifie thy Holy Name in the behalf of my Country for all thy Mercies conferr'd on me in my National Capacity 12. Lord pardon my manifold Infirmities and accept of this poor Tribute of Worship in the Mighty Name of Christ and concluded with that compleat Form of Prayer which he himself hath taught us Our Father c. Evening Offices OF Daily Repentance CLASS I. A PRAYER Proper to be us'd before the Evening Office of Self-Reflection 1. INcomprehensible Soveraign of the World thou art encircled with Light with thee there can be no Darkness for the Dahkness and Light to thee are both alike The highest Heights and the deepest Depths even Angels and Devils Heaven and Hell are naked before thee How much more then the Hearts of the Children of Men. 2. The Great and Good God print a firm and lively Sense of this All-searchingness of his Nature on my Mind that by being always mindful of the piercing Consciousness of him with whom I have to do I may always act and speak and intend as in the Presence of the Highest and by a profound Reverence of thy unspotted Purity and unlimitted Presence I may be excited to make it the great Business of my Life to cleanse my self daily more and more from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 3. Particularly I intreat God at this time to enlarge my Conscience with the Presence of that Spirit which searcheth the very Depths of God that I may dexterously apply the Maxims of my Blessed Lord to the state of my Soul and pass an impartial Sentence upon my Behaviour this day O place me in a clear Light to my self O enable me to re-call to my Memory all the Actions Words and Thoughts that not the least Rebellion may be overlook'd I know O Lord to what a gracious and wonderful Being I offer this Request all Natures lie dissected in thy infinite Mind how therefore should any Crevise of my Soul be hid from thee Vniversal Knowledge is the Lord's and to Him alone it does belong Such Knowledge is too wonderful for Man What Creature is there that can attain unto it The Knowledge of my self Lord is the subject oâ— my Petition a Knowledge which is most necessary for and which with thy Blessing is attainable by me O Witness of all my Ways thy Wisdom can impart to me this Gift thy Goodness will not suffer thee to let such an useful Pursuit go without a Blessing O therefore I beseech thee make the Method of my Pursuit acceptable in thy sight and so prosper it whatever things thou think'st fit to keep secret suffer not any wilful sin to lie hidden from me and if my present Recollection discovers any wilful Sin or Sins that has been hitherto undiscern'd by me do thou direct and enable me so to bewail and lament it or them and whatsoever new Guilt of this Day may be charg'd upon me by my Conscience as never to sink under the everlasting Terrour of the Flame or the Horrour of the Dark where there is endless Weeping and gnashing of Teeth O bow down thine Ear to this humble Desire even for Jesus Christ his sake to whom with thee Father and the Holy Ghost all Honour Praise and Glory as by Mights and Thrones Principalities and Dominions Angels and Archangels and all the Triumphant Host above so by me be ascrib'd for ever and ever Amen CLASS II. After the careful Application of that daily Method of Self-Examination prescrib'd in the Directory if your Conscience accuses you of any wilful Sin or Sins committed the Day past or brings to memory any Sin or Sins of a longer Date which you never solemnly unsinn'd by Repentance use this following Form THE First Evening Office OF Daily Repentance for Deliberate Sin 1. GReat and Terrible God! the Scepter of thy Kingdom is a Scepter of Equity for thou art of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity with delight Thy Wrath is insupportable and tames the most Haughty of Apostate Spirits Who can withstand the Judgment who can grapple with the extream Justice of the Most High 2. And yet sottish and ungrateful Wretch that I am I have departed from my God and liv'd as tho' I could escape his eyes In spight of the
for the Enjoyment of a God to discipline its Thoughts To be choice in the Motions of my Will To make the Body know its original distance from the Soul To resist the Faction of Hell To be always on its Guard when it converses with its frail and treacherous Fellow-creatures To be a wise Steward of Time To have a mean Opinion of my self and this flowing State To keep close and constant correspondence with Heaven by frequent Prayer and Praise and holy Hungrings and Thirstings after the Beatifick Vision And in a word to use its utmost skill and all possible care to file and burnish and enrobe my Soul with all those beauteous Fruits of the Spirit which are the ground-work of the Happiness of a Man That so it may be conquer'd throughout endless Ages by the Brightness and Love of God and obtain a Place among the innumerable the eternal and inconceivably glorious Conquerors and Kings and Priests of God With this Hope return to thy Rest O my Soul The Lord guide the Lord strengthen thee and bring thee to the Haven where thou would'st be Amen for Christ his Sake A Practical Directory CHAP. I. Modestly defending clearly explaining and affectionately pressing the regular use of this New Method of Daily Devotion IT being very fitting that the Reasonableness of a Daily Method of Devotion which professes to be entirely new after so many Volumes of this Nature should be demonstrated It being likewise as fitting that those who mean well tho' they know little should not only be furnished with suitable helps to Devotion but also with a clear Explanation of pious helps by any person who offers them such Assistance that they may not pray only with Chearfulness and Affection but also with that clear Understanding which is a valuable Gift of the Spirit and recommendation of our Addresses to God as well as the other two And lastly it being very fitting that the faint hands and hearts should be animated and lifted up which the best dispos'd persons may sometimes stand in need of I have thought fit by the Adviee of some good Christians and my own Commiseration of the Ignorance of some illiterate and mine own and others Sluggishness now I have by God's Blessing finished this small part of a large Body of Devotions to add a practical Directory wherein by God's help I shall I. Give a short and clear Account concerning daily growth in Grace II. I shall consider how Closet-Devotion contributes to it III. What Method of daily Closet-Devotion contributes most liberally to it therein shewing the Reasonableness of this new Method of Devotion in general IV. I shall lay open the Structure of each particular Office and the Reasonableness of it V. I shall add two or three necessary Cautions VI. I shall conlude with some suitable Practical Exhortations CHAP. II. Of Daily Growth in Grace SInce the Real Christian 's daily Religion of the end is to grow in Grace 't is necessary in the first place to speak something concerning Growth in Grace I will therefore first shew what Growth in Grace is and secondly how a Man may know whether he grows in Grace Grace is any Degree of Beauty and Strength of Soul which is more than natural There are Degrees of Knowledge and Liberty of Will which we enjoy by Nature and are essential to the bare existence of a Nature which is partly spiritual These Degrees are the Gift of God and such as our Souls cannot lose unless they cease to be In short they are such Degrees of Light and Liberty which are consistent with a spiritual Nature's being in a state of Vncreatur'dness tho' not of Vncreatedness Now the Death of Adam and Devils not consisting in a cessation from being but a deprivation of so much Light and vigorous Rectitude of Will as is necessary to make a spiritual Creature happy Man may be and is born with certain Portions of Light and Vigour of Will which we call natural and are the issue of God's bare willing our Existence and yet nevertheless be in a state of Damnation Consequently this being consistent with the Enmity of God who will'd by an eternal Decree whether we will or no our Existence and the Existence of all spiritual Natures to be eternal but not to be eternally happy by an unconditional Decree of the same extent that which is eminently call'd the Grace of God is his Tender to us by and thro' Christ of that more than natural Degree of Light and Rectitude of Will whereby a Man is plac'd in a state of Evangelical Fitness for the eternal Complacency of God in the said Nature improv'd This Complacency of God in the said Nature improv'd arising from the said Degrees of Knowledge and Rectitude of Will is that real Immortality which Lucifer lost in Heaven and Adam forfeited in Paradise Hence 't is that both the General Capableness of human Nature's receiving this degree of Light and Liberty by Christ and also the more wise and industrious individual Partakers of the said redeemable Nature their Acquisition thereof are both call'd Grace because 't is extraordinary Compassion and Gift a greater than the Gift of a Creator only the Gift of such a degree of Light is call'd Illumination because the former degree of Light is Darkness in comparison with this and the latter degree of Scope of Will is call'd the Liberty of the Sons of God because the narrow degree of its natural Scope is a Prison when compar'd with supernatural Scope For a Devil and a meer natural Man have both of them some degrees of Knowledge and Scope and consequently of Light and Liberty otherwise they would cease to be susceptible of a Hell for 't is Heaven discern'd in themselves according to their primitive Capacity that causes that Anguish and Envy which arises from their Reflection on their foolish and ungrateful abuse of Opportunity So then a state of Grace as 't is us'd in the New Testament is a state of supernatural Light in the Soul of Man together with at least as much Rectitude of Will as is necessary to recover the Favour of God Now growth in this Grace is as essential to the flourishing Condition of the Divine supernatural Life of a Christian Soul during its continuance here it being an Human Soul's state of Adolescence as growth in heighth and bulk of Body is essential to the thriving Condition of the Animal Life till the Body has commenc'd Manhood And this growth in Grace is the Soul 's encreasing in Faith Magnanimity Heavenly-mindedness Humility Purity Charity and all such-like Divine Principles and internal Habits that are proper to regenerate Souls and are exerted in the external Exercises of forgiving Injuries prudent Provision for our Bodies and Dependents oral Prayer and Praise and the like external Subjects of the Gospel-Precepts From this account of Growth in Grace we may easily know secondly when we grow in Grace For since Grace is a state of universal Rectitude of Soul