most convenient for me Give me such a Spirit of Piety and Devotion that I may take great delight in thy Worship and Service both in publick and private Fill me with such love to my Blessed Saviour and with such thankfulness for his love in dying for Sinners that I may go with more delight to the Holy Communion for the good of my Soul than to the richest Feast that is made for my Body Help me O God to shew my love to thy blessed Self by true love and charity to my Neighbours Make me tractable and obedient to my Governours both in Church and State peaceable and gentle toward all Men dealing with them so justly and truly as I my self desire to be dealt with Make me tender and compassionate and ready to do all the good I can to others and let thy Grace enable me freely to forgive those that do evil to me as I my self hope for mercy and forgiveness from thee my God And help me always to live soberly and temperately purely and chastly in Heart and Life and with great meekness and humility in the sense of my own unworthiness and manifold imperfections O Lord grant that my Heart may be fill'd with earnest longings and desires after those Graces which now with my lips I pray for and help me to shew my sincerity by diligent endeavours daily to grow in all Grace and goodness and to perfect Holiness in thy Fear Make me watchful over my self and all my ways that I may carefully avoid all occasions of sin and may check the first motions thereto in my own Heart Keep me always deeply sensible of thy Presence that I may walk humbly with thee my God and approve my self to thee in well-doing Wean my Heart from all things here below and prepare me for my departure hence into a better World Help me always to live in such a religious and holy manner as will be most for my comfort at Death and Judgment Strengthen my Belief of the precious Promises and dreadful Threatnings of the Gospel and let this Belief rule and govern me in my whole Conversation O that I may never be guilty of so much folly and madness as to lose the eternal and unspeakable joys of Heaven and throw my self into the eternal torments of Hell for any of the profits or pleasures of sin that are but for a moment Do thou O Lord by thy holy Spirit ever keep upon my mind such a fresh and lively sense of the reasonableness of Religion and of the mischief and folly of all sin and wickedness that no temptations of Satan no allurements of the World or the Flesh may hinder me from my Duty nor draw me into any known sin but do thou ever strengthen and assist me by thy Grace and guide me by thy Counsel till thou shalt bring me to thy self in Glory Neither do I pray for my self alone but for all Mankind beseeching thee to send the Light of thy Gospel into all the dark Corners of the Earth and grant that they who do enjoy it may walk in all holy obedience thereto Be merciful to these Kingdoms pardon our sins and reform us from them Heal all our divisions continue our mercies and make us truly thankful for them Bless the King's Majesty with the Royal Family and all those that are in authority under him and grant to me and all his Subjects grace to lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all godliness and honesty Bless the Ministers of thy holy Word and Sacraments and make them very diligent and very successful in their Endeavours Help us to bring forth such Fruit from the Blessings we enjoy that thy Gospel and the Ordinances thereof may be continued to us and to the Generations after us Shew mercy to all that are afflicted whether in Soul or Body and preserve those that travel on their lawful Occasions by Land or by Sea Bless all my Friends and Relations particularly all that belong to this Family and help us all to live in the fear and love of thee our God and in peace and charity one with another Let thy blessing and good presence be with me thy unworthy Servant now and at all times at my down-lying and up-rising in my going out and coming in be thou my God and my guide even to the death and my eternal portion when time shall be no more And accept O God of my unfeigned desires to bless and raise thy glorious Name for all thy Mercies and Favours to my self and to all Men. I bless thee for my Reason and Senses my Health and Strength Food and Raiment and all the Comforts of this Life but above all I praise thee for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for all the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory And I beseech thee give me that due sense of all thy Mercies that my Heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most holy Name and Words I continue to pray as he hath taught us in his Gospel saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with me now and evermore Amen FINIS
O then let his patience and all his goodness at last have this happy effect upon us let it lead us to true Repentance and ever hereafter engage us to diligence and constancy in his service Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. 2 To which purpose consider again that this was the end for which God sent his Son Jesus into the World even to seek and save us lost and miserable sinners to bring us to Repentance and newness of life that so we might be restored to the love and favour of God which we had lost by sinning against him Our first Parents Adam and Eve were created in a very holy and happy Estate but they fell from it by sinning against God and so came all misery into the World And then did our Heavenly Father take pity on us and sent his own Son out of his bosom to be our Saviour and Redeemer to reform us from our Sins and so to deliver us from misery First he will make us Holy and then we shall be made Happy For as man lost his happiness by disobeying Gods command so he must recover it by becoming obedient to his will in all things To this end hath the Lord Jesus fully revealed Gods will to us when we were in ignorance and darkness He hath given us holy precepts for the rule of our Life And made most rich and precious promises to perswade us to our duty and denounced dreadful threatnings to affright us from Wickedness And when we had deserved the Wrath of God for our sins then did Jesus Christ shed his most precious Blood to make Atonement for us and to obtain our pardon and forgiveness He dyed for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. And in his Gospel he has given full assurance of Gods good will to mankind that he will be merciful to us and pardon us if we truly repent of our sins and forsake them Thus hath Christ opened a door of hope for us to encourage us to return to God For if there had been no hopes of mercy we should never have been drawn to Repentance but even like the Devils themselves should have remained full of hatred and malice against God utterly despairing of relief from him But whilst the death of Christ does so much engage and encourage us to forsake our sins it gives not the least encouragement to our continuance in them Let us not think that Christ dyed for our sins that we might have liberty to live in them and yet be saved at the last No but he came to save us from our sins not in them He makes us blessed by turning us from our iniquities He dyed to redeem us from a vain and evil Conversation to purify our Hearts and reform our Lives and make us a peculiar People zealous of good works Matt. 1. 21. Act. 3. 26. Tit. 2. 14. 1 Pet. 1. 18. The death of Christ for us vile sinners shews the infinite love of God in finding out this way for our Salvation But then it shews also what an evil thing sin is and how hateful to God since he would not pardon us without the suffering of his own dear Son on our account And therefore if the consideration of all this does not bring us to hate and abhor our sins and to love and serve our God and Saviour we are never like to have any benefit by Christs death All our professions of loving him and believing in him will stand us in no stead without obeying him True saving Faith in Christ is that which works by love both to God and our Neighbour Christ accounts none to be his friends but those that keep his Commandments and to such only will he grant pardon and Salvation Gal. 5. 6. Joh. 15. 14. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Joh. 3. 8. Since then the ever-blessed Jesus the Son of God came down from Heaven became a Man and dyed a most painful death upon the Cross that he might save us from sin and misery shall we not accept of him as our Lord and Saviour who comes to deliver us from the power of the Devil and our own Lusts to make us the Children of God and heirs of Glory which is a thousand times greater deliverance than that of the Israelites from the Aegyptian bondage Will you not be moved by all that Christ has done and suffered for you Shall not his love constrain you to love him and to hate all sin which was the cause of his sufferings Will you tread under foot his most precious Blood and even crucifie him afresh and again put him to open shame Thus in some sort do wicked men use their Saviour whilst they go on in their sins which are so displeasing to him They that lie and cozen for a little gain what do they but with Judas sell away Christ for Money They that live in hatred and malice and do mischief to their Neighbours do in effect run the Spear into Christs side and drive Nails into his hands and feet And they that give themselves to Riot and Drunkenness do even mingle Gall and Vinegar for him to drink They do all that in them lies by their sinful pleasures to put him again into Agonies and Pains But on the other hand it is a delight to our Saviour to see us humbled for our sins and resolved to forsake them He will readily and effectually interceed for us with our heavenly Father who is most willing to receive returning Prodigals There is joy in Heaven when sinners on Earth repent Even this our return to God by true repentance is the best recompence we can make to our Blessed Saviour for all his pains and sufferings When the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand by the conversion of sinners he then sees the travel of his Soul and is satisfied Isa. 63. 10 11. And shall we not afford this satisfaction to our Redeemer who hath undergone so much for our sakes and still out of his tender love to our Souls follows us with such earnest invitations to come to him for life and happiness Could we deny him this most reasonable request if we saw him now in person standing before us beseeching us to turn and live And this he now does by his Spirit and by his Ministers But that leads me to the next 3 Consider therefore that this also was the end for which the Holy Ghost is given and all the means of grace afforded even to sanctifie our hearts and make us an holy and obedient People God knows the weakness and corruption of our Natures and therefore in great mercy he affords the assistance of his holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and purifie our hearts to renew and change our natures and guide us in ways of holiness here that so we may be fitted for eternal happiness with the most holy God in the life to come Joh. 3. 3 5. Rom. 8. 9. And for this end were the holy Scriptures written by men assisted
pleasant But be sure to set some time apart every day for solemn Prayer Very fit it is to begin the day with Prayer to God as soon as we rise out of Bed blessing his Name for our preservation and quiet rest begging his gracious Presence with us all the day that we may be kept from all evil especially from sin the worst of all And at the Evening let this be our last work before we lie down to sleep humbly to commit our selves to God by Prayer Psal. 92. 1 2. Exceeding useful it is for those who have Families to joyn together Morning and Evening in Prayer to God and in reading some part of his holy Word for which purpose there are many good Books of Devotion and though they have none of them yet they may use such of the Prayers of the Church as are proper for their purpose which are to be found in the Morning and Evening Service and in other places Before you sit down to Meat beg Gods blessing upon it and afterward return thanks for it But beside our Devotions in the Family or Closet our great Duty is to worship God in the publick Assemblies of his People which by no means we ought to forsake Heb. 10. 25. Suffer not your selves therefore by any Pretences whatever to be drawn away either by Papists or Sectaries from the publick Worship of God as it is now by Law established in the Church of England But see that you duly resort to your Parish Churches and that not only on Holy-days but on the Week-days when you have opportunity and leisure More especially see that you constantly frequent the Church on the Lord's Day if not hindered by sickness or some other very great and urgent Cause Let not that Excuse keep you from Church which would not keep you from the Market Bring as many of your Family along with you as can possibly be spared Come to the very beginning of Service and stay quietly till the end of it not running away before the Blessing as many careless People rudely do as if they were glad to get away as from a Prison Behave your selves with all due reverence both of body and mind considering the Majesty of that God in whose presence you stand before whom the very Angels vail their faces Always kneel at your Prayers if there be convenience or stand at least Psal. 95. 6. Above all look well to the temper of your Soul and keep up an awful sence of the great God to whom you are praying and mind well what is said as you go along with the Prayers and offer up your desires to God otherwise though you may speak much you do not pray at all Avoid all vain and wandring thoughts as much as possible When you joyn in the Confession of Sins think of your own particular faults and be deeply humbled for them and be unfeignedly thankful for all God's mercies whilst you are praising his Name and earnestly long after that Grace you pray for Attend with care and reverence to God's Word when it 's read from the Desk and also to the preaching and explaining of it from the Pulpit that you may both be diligent hearers and faithful doers of the Word Neglect not the Church in the Afternoon though you should live where there is no Sermon Catechising may be as useful to you and this ought to be in all places And besides that you will hear the holy Scriptures read and have the benefit of the publick Prayers When you come from Church spend not the remainder of the day in sports and idleness much less in drinking and gaming as too many do but if you have a Family let some time be spent with them in praying in reading God's Word and some good Book and let Children and Servants be instructed in their Catechism Examine them about what they have heard that so it may make them more attentive and do you meditate on the same that it may sink into your Heart Works of mercy and necessity may be done on the Lord's Day but by no means allow your selves in any needless Labours nor in travelling upon the Road or wandring about to make idle Visits God allows us six days in the Week for our own Employments let us devote the Lord's Day to his service readily and cheerfully When the Sacrament of Baptism is administred do you attend to it Remember your own Engagement by having received it in your Infancy and resolve to live answerably thereto Joyn in Prayer for God's blessing on the Children then received into the Church And when you bring your own Children to be baptized see that you do most sincerely give them up to God and devote them to his Service with firm Resolutions to bring them up in his fear if God spare your Lives and theirs and earnestly pray for his Grace to be given in to their Souls And those to whom you stand as Sureties you ought to do your utmost toward their good Education in the knowledge of God and Religion according to the Charge given you especially if the Parents die or prove negligent And pray beware of a very wicked practice which is common in some places that after a Child is baptized the Neighbours that are invited spend the rest of the day in Riot and Drunkenness forgetting that even now they renounced the lusts of the Flesh those who stood at the Font and all the rest are under the same obligation Whenever you are invited by your Minister to the holy Communion do not willingly neglect the Invitation but come with a thankful Heart to keep up the remembrance of Christ's love in dying for sinners according to his express Command Luk. 22. 19. Take care to prepare your selves by true repentance for all your former sins and stedfast purposes by God's grace throughly to forsake the same See that you be in perfect Charity with all Men freely forgiving those who have offended you and offering satisfaction to those whom you have offended If after this they will not be reconciled that 's not your fault but theirs and therefore may not keep you from the Sacrament Stay not away out of a Pretence that you want time to prepare your self For a constant holy Life is the best Preparation If you are fit for Prayers you are fit for the Communion Do not think that the Communion is only for rich People The Souls of the poor are as precious as the rich and as much concerned in Christ's death and they have as much cause to remember it and seek after the benefits of it If you have not Money to offer at the Collection see that you offer up your selves to God and that will be of more value Complain not that you want Clothes and therefore you absent both from the Church and Communion but see that you come in the Wedding Garment required in the Gospel with humble penitent thankful Hearts and then you will be welcome Guests at Christ's Table For
overcome evil by doing of good If another strike us we may not strike again if he rail upon us and revile us we must not return the same ill Language but either by silence or by gentle and soft answers endeavour to appease his wrath For the Rule is not to deal with others as they deal with me but as I in reason desire to be dealt with and another Man's fault will not excuse mine If he do me an injury I must not be judge in my own Cause nor take upon me to revenge it but in weighty Cases may fly to the Magistrate for relief But upon no account whatever may we bear any grudge or hatred in our Hearts against any Man though never so wicked or never so much our enemy but we must pity him and pray for him that God would give him a better mind If ever we hope to find mercy with God and have our trespasses forgiven we must forgive those that offend us as we learn from the Lord's Prayer and many most plain places of Scripture See Matth. 5. 44 c. Matth. 18. 21. to the end Rom. 12. 14. to the end We must shew meekness and gentleness to all men and never willingly say or do any thing to provoke another to anger nor should we be easily provoked but very easily appeased and reconciled It 's very sad to consider what wretched and miserable Lives many of the poorer sort lead by their continual brawling and scolding quarrelling and contending with one another and sometimes when they have scarce Money to buy Bread they 'l throw it away in vexatious Law-Suits meerly out of Spite and Revenge And the People of this Rank ought especially to beware of envying those that are in better Condition than themselves We ought to have that true kindness and good will for all Men that we should be glad of their prosperity though we our selves be in affliction as on the other hand we ought to have great compassion for those in misery though we be in prosperity And let such that are in want take heed that their Necessities put them upon no unlawful Course for their Relief Particularly beware of stealing any thing though of a small value By degrees it 's to be feared you will go on to greater matters and so may bring your selves to shame and punishment in this World as well as that to come The best way to avoid this is to be very diligent in your lawful Calling as the Apostle directs in that place before named Eph. 4. 28. If you are not able to work it 's lawful to beg But by no means betake your selves to this lazy unprofitable Life of begging if you are able to subsist by any other lawful course He that will not work when he can deserves not to eat But rather than either steal or starve you may seek for Relief from your Neighbour's Charity But do not go about to deceive him by borrowing what you know you are never like to pay for this is downright cheating Rather deal plainly and make known your Necessities If you trust in God and do your duty he will take care of you And though you may be in straits sometimes yet still you will find a supply And to prevent your poverty let me especially warn you against that common bruitish sin of Drunkenness which brings both this and many other mischiefs along with it as I have before told you Indeed it hinders every thing that 's good and leads Men into all manner both of sin and misery This Vice it is that makes more Beggars than any other cause Wherefore if you have any regard to your Families any love to Soul or Body avoid all riot and excess Eat and drink moderately as may tend to keep you best in health and make you most fit for the service of God and your own Callings And lastly beware of that filthy sin of Whoredom which very often goes along with Drunkenness and as often brings the curse of God both upon Men's Bodies and Estates And to keep you innocent avoid idleness as well as intemperance And flie from all lewd and wicked company where you are in danger of being enticed and ensnared and do not so much as allow your selves in any unclean thoughts or desires nor in filthy Discourses or in any wanton carriage and behaviour For the preventing of all wickedness in this kind God hath allowed Marriage which is said to be honourable in all but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge Hib. 13. 4. Wherefore let them who are in that state keep strictly true to their Marriage Vow And all both Married and Single preserve both Body and Soul so chast and pure that the holy Spirit of God may now dwell in their hearts and they may be fit to dwell for ever in the presence of the most holy God And thus I have briefly given you an account wherein consists that holiness of life to which all Christians are obliged by the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour and by their Baptismal Vow which binds them to keep his Precepts and to follow his Example who himself lived in the same holy manner that he taught and hath commanded all that say they abide in him to walk as he walked 1 Joh. 2. 6. The summ of all you have in few words which the Gospel teaches even that we should deny ungodliness and all wordly lusts and live soberly righteously and piously in the World Tit. 2. 11 12. And now let me again beseech you seriously to consider whether it has been your care to live such holy and good lives yea or no. And whereinsoever your Conscience does accuse you that you have neglected the duties God has commanded or committed those sins which he hath forbidden do you humbly acknowledge and confess the same to Almighty God with true godly sorrow for the same earnestly begging Mercy and Pardon for Christs sake who dyed on the Cross for sinners and through whom all that confess and forsake their sins shall find mercy Wherefore do you henceforward resolve by his Grace that you will forsake your sins and amend your lives and make it your chief business to keep Consciences void of offence toward God and Man not allowing your selves in any known sin nor in the wilful neglect of any known Duty Do not object against this and say that it is impossible to lead such an holy Life For thousands in the World of all Ranks and Conditions have done it in all Ages by the assistance of God's Grace which you shall never want if you seek it earnestly and improve it diligently And though there may at first be some difficulty in leaving an ill course yet by degrees it will grow easie and you will then find nothing so sweet and pleasant as Religion and Vertue And do not I beseech you fancy that it is not for poor people to think of being so Religious and godly that this is only for the Rich who have