worldly Troubles let me have Peace with thee and with mine own Conscience And whilst thy Comforts do refresh my Soul by thy Grace strengthening me I shall better bear any other Misery which thou shalt give my Enemies leave to inflict upon my Body and persevere faithfully to serve and patiently to suffer for thee till thou shalt Graciously take me out of their Hands to thine Everlasting Rest and Mercy for Jesus Christ's sake Amen 6. A Prayer for Graces needful for him at the Tryal when he is to be judged for his Stedfastness to Gods Truth or Righteousness O! Blessed Lord if by thy wise ordering 〈◊〉 I meekly submit I shall be carried from the place of Cusâ—ody to the place of Tryal or of further Examination do tho vouchsafe to go along with me When I am question'd teach me what I shall say that I may answer so honestly as not to offend or dishonour thee and so prudently as not to prejudice my self nor bring Trouble on any other Righteous Persons for their bearing a good Affection to Righteous Things Give me presence of mind and clearness of Spirit in appearing before all Tribunals and wisdom and readiness in answering all Questions Let my Carriage be without Fear or Confusion or any evil or insincere Arts in all things acceptable unto thee and becoming my Person and Condition Suffer me not to be made a Sacrifice by the Fears or Forgetfulness the mis-representations or false Accusations of Witnesses nor by the Fetches and false colours of Council nor by the partiality or misguided Zeal of Judges and Juries Or if thou hast otherwise determined and I must fall enable me Good Lord to bear thy Will And tho' my Blood which is shed in this Cause be vile in the sight of Men let it be acceptable and of a sweet smell in thy Sight for my Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 7. Prayers after Sentence of Condemnation is past upon him for his Stedfastness to the same EJACULATIONS THE Cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it Joh. 18. 11. Not my Will O! my God but thine be done Luk. 22. 42. Lord I thank thee for counting me worthy to receive this Sentence for the sake of thy Righteousness Lord lay not this Sin to their Charge Acts 7. 60. Forgive them for they know not what they do Luk. 23. 34. A short Prayer upon his receiving the Sentence LOrd I meekly submit to this heavy Sentence yea I thank thee for it and Glory in this shame since it comes upon me for my Love unto thy ways And I humbly pray thee to look upon their Ignorance for their excuse than upon their Blood-Guiltiness for their punishment If they understood the ways of thy Righteousness they would not shed my Blood for keeping stedfast to the same But now they think alass to serve and please thee by slaying me Father forgive them for they know not what they do And bring them timely to see their Errors and thoroughly to repent thereof That they who now in their misguided Zeal for thee are my Enemies may yet however at length be Loving and Happy Sharers with me of thine Everlasting Mercies through the Merits of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen A Longer Prayer afterwards O! Righteous Lord since thou art pleased to call me to give Testimony to thy Righteousness with my Blood I am content to do it Yea I thank thee O! Father that thou hast counted me worthy to lay down my Life for thy sake But as thou tryest me to the utmost sâ— strengthen me to the utmost I most humbly beseech thee that in this highest and last Service I may shew stedfast Faith in thee and Charity towards my Persecutors and meet my Death with that constancy and devout Chearfulness which befits one who is pasing thro' the Red Sea to the Heavenly Canaan and laying down his Life for thy Cause Tho' I stand Condemned and viliâ—ied among Men for this adherence to thy ways yet I humbly hope that thou O! my God wilt acquit and lovingly accept me And if I have thy Approbation my Heart shall rejoyce therein and account it enough for me whatever the World thinks of me Shew them their Error and our Uprightness O! Lord in standing firm to these points for which we suffer But if we cannot satisfie them that the way for which they persecute our Souls is Innocent and Holy let it however satisfie us that so it is and that so it will be â—ouâ—d and declared by thee before all thine elect Angels when tâ—ou shalt appear in thy dreadful Majesty to pass Sentence both upon our way and theirs And to the clearing of that Day and the Tryal of thy Righteous Tribunal do we humbly commit our Cause and Sufferings Where our Hope is that thou Blessed Jesu wilt Graciously own and receive both tho' they disdainfully reject them And that thou Righteous Father for Jesus sake wilt both pardon the real Guilt of our other Sins and openly clear us of the fancied Guilt of these ways wherewith our Persecutors do falsly asperes thy Truths and Reproach us Which grant O! merciful Lord that we may all comfortably expect in our Lives and comfortably find at our Deaths for thy dear Son and our only Saviour Jesus Christs sake Amen After this he may at any time use such of the Prayers as he likes best in the preceding Office for Sufferers for Righteousness to exercise and strengthen his Faith his Patience his Charity or other Graces proper for his Circumstances or to assist him in making Intercessions for others 8. A Prayer for Dying without Fear O! Almighty and most merciful Father perfect thy Strength in my Weakness and support thy Frail and most unworthy Servant in this last and greatest Service which I have now to pay thee of laying down my Life and leaving all that is dear unto me in this World for thy Cause Oh! let not me dishonour the Cause and Truths for which I suffer by shewing any mis-becoming Fears or unwillingness to suffer 'T is not my mistrust of the Righteousness of this Cause O! my God but the Conscience of my other Sins and of the common Errors of my Life from the Rule of thy Holy Commandments which makes me at all afraid to appear at thy Righteous Bar. But cleanse thou me from all my Sins by the Blood of my dearest Lord and then I may meet Death with an humble Confidence and Triumph over it I know O! blessed Lord that when Sin and Guilt which are the Sting of Death are taken out there is still an aversion in Nature which is common to us all against this Change and which found place in our Blessed Lord himself But let the Influences of thy Grace though not wholly purge off this averseness yet subdue and over rule it in my Spirit Possess my Mind more with the Righteousness of the Cause for which I dye and with the
Blessedness of coming to live with thee for ever after I am dead than with the pains of Death it self And whatever Terror it would otherwise strike into me let it arm my Spirit and sweeten all to think that I die for thee and that I die to be received into thine Eternal Mercy Lord perfect and accept my Repentance and pardon all my Sins and give me Patience and Presence of Mind to the last Let me die like a Christian with Faith and Charity willingly giving up my Life for a Testimony to thy ways and pouring out my Soul in Devotion towards thee and in Prayers for my persecutors till from my Body it shall pass into the Arms of thy Mercy and there be comfortably received by thee thro' the Merits and Mediation of my only Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen 9. Short Prayers for the Condemned Prisoner for Righteousness in his last Extremities or at other times as he sees cause 1. O! Merciful Father I throw my self upon thy Mercy and most undeserved Favour as a poor wretched Sinner I infinitely need it and most earnestly desire it And I humbly hope for the same to pardon all the Sins and Follies of my Life and to accept this Offering of my Death thro' the abundance of thy Grace and thro' the sole Merits and Mediation of my blessed Lord and only Saviour Jesus Christ Amen 2. LOrd now the World is casting of me off I seek to thee to take me in Do not thou reject me when they do for I am thy Servant Receive me for I am coming to thee Receive me for thou callest me Receive me lovingly O! my dear God for I dearly love thee and am forsaking all to injoy thee I have nothing dearer to me in this World than my Life and that I am now making thee an humble Present of and parting with it for thy Cause And in this Oblation of my self be thou pleased O! blessed Jesu first to wash me with thy Blood and to dress me with the Graces of thy Spirit that I may be an holy and acceptable Offering And then do thou vouchsafe O! Holy Father Graciously to accept the same for thy dearest Son and my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 3. O! Jesu forgive me all my Sins and forgive all my Persecutors and grant them timely and true Repentance Now I am suffering for thy Cause let me be sure of thy Support and Assistance Now I am brought to dye for the ways of thy Righteousness let them have Honour Service by my Death Make it to work Godly Zeal and Stedfastness in thy Followers and Relenting and remorse in their Persecutors and to carry me to those most joyful and happy Mansions which thou hast prepared for all those who faithfully serve and suffer for thee in thy Fathers Kingdom Amen 10 A Thanksgiving for Deliverance when he is brought upon his Tryal for the Cause of Righteousness or for his being set at Liberty BLessed be thy Name O! Almighty Father who hast delivered me out of the Hands of those who â—ought my Life and hast set my Feet in a large Room Thou hast delivered the poor from him that was too strong for him Thou hast delivered him who served thee and counted not his own Life so dear to him as the shewing his Love and Fâ—delity unto thy Laws Thou hast delivered him because he loved thy Name and put his whole Trust in thee Lord I will be glad and rejoyce in thy Salvation I will ever praise thy Love and Goodness which is abundant in kindness and Succors towards those who fear thee and are ready to expose their own Pesons in thy Cause I will ever magnifie thy Faithfulness which hath not suffered thy Care of me to slacken nor thy sure word and promises to fail And I will ever Reverently and Thankfully adore thy Widom and Power and Justice which turn the Councels of the Wicked into Foolishness and take the crafty in their own Snares which crown thy Servants Heads with Joy and Glory but cover their Enemies with Grief and Shame which shew plainly unto all who are willing to see the same that it is extream folly to fight against thee and that they are in the sure way of Safety and Happiness who make thee their Strength and place their chiefest Security and advantage in thy good providence and gracious Promises and in keeping stedfast to thy ways And let all those that love thee O! Lord rejoyce and be glad in thee Make them Triumph in thy Righteousness and trust themselves to thy Care But put thine Enemies and mine in fear that they may sin no more And bring them to repent of their persecuting thee and thy Servants that they may not be brought to suffer for the same in the Day of Vengeance And keep me ever mindful O! blessed Father of this most merciful Deliverance that I may spend all the Days of that Life which thou hast now renewed to me in thy Service and learn thereby evermore to trust thee yea tho' the Pit be ready to shut her Mouth upon me and to place my chiefest comfort and safety in keeping stedfast to thy Laws which will be sure either to make my Sufferings end here in present Deliverance or to recompence them hereafter with unspeakable and everlasting Joys throuh the Merits and Mediation of my only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen FINIS The Contents of the Office for those who suffer for Righteousness THe Introduction Page 1. Scriptures for Receiving Persecutions 1. As Chastisements of former Offences p. 9. 2. As Tryals of Obedience and as bringing Losses for Righteousness Which are to be received with 1. Contentedness and Thankfulness p. 11. 2. Free Confession of Christ and his Truths p. 13. 3. Integrity and Prudent Caution p. 14. 4. Stedfastness and Constancy p. 16 5. Faith p. 17. 6. Trust in God p. 20. 7. Against Trusting more in other Things than in God and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances p. 22. 8. With Patience p. 25. 9. With Prayers and unwearied Devotion p. 28. 10. With Charity towards Persecutors p. 29. and 11. towards Persecuted p. 33. 12. Motives to Suffer p. 36. 13. For Deliverance from Persecution p. 39. 14. For Trust in God to be preserved under the Same and Delivered from them p. 41. 15. An Hymn of thanksgiving for Deliverance from Persecutions p. 42. Prayers under Persecutions 1. As Chastisements of Offences a Penitent Prayer p. 47. Another out of the Office of Comminat p. 50. 2 As Tryals of Obedience and bringing Losses for Righteousness A General Prayer for Mercyes and Qualifications needful in Suffering Times p 51. Another out of the Litany p. 54. Particular Prayers for 1. Integrity and not Seeking to evil ways for Help p. 54. 2. Constancy in Persecuted Dutyes Against being 1. Turned aside by worldy Dangers or Losses p. 56. 2. or Shaken in mind or Scandalized 1. By Defection of others or variety of Opinions
the sweet and refreshing Comforts of this Rest and Peace O! Lord let us never forget this great Mercy nor abuse it Let us not grow Careless or Corrupt by the Blessings of Peace or run into Earthly Affections and Dependencies and contract such Dross as may need a second time to be brought through the Furnace But keep us sober and purged and purified in our Hearts and Minds and maintain in us â—uch a Godly Zeal and watchful diligence under the same as will make use of the blessed Opportunities of Peace for going on with more constancy and with less hindrance and disturbance in thy Service And make us learn O! Gracious God by our past Suffering and Experience of thy Goodness to keep improved in Faith and Patience Having found thee so faithful in our necessity give us Grace to relye upon thee Let us not cast away our confidence nor grow weary in well doing knowing that in due time we shall reap if we faint not Oh! that the sweet Remembrance of thy Mercies may ever fill our Hearts with Love and our Tongues with Praise Oh! that it may make us careful in well doing and confident of thy Faithfulness and Care over us whilst we commit our Souls unto thy keeping in holding to thy ways through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen AN OFFICE FOR Prisoners for Righteousness SCRIPTURES Psal. 7. Act. 5. from v. 18. Mat. 10. Psal. 10. Act. 16. from v. 18. 1 Pet. 4. from v. 12. 1. YE shall be Betrayed both by Parents and Brethren and Kinsfolk and Friends and some of you shall they cause to be put to Death And they shall lay Hands on you and deliver you up into Prisons and ye shall be brought before Kings and Rulers for my Names sake And it shall turn to you for a Testimony But there shall not an Hair of your Head perish In your Patience possess ye your Souls And Meditate not before what ye shall answer But settle in your Hearts that I will give you a Mouth and Wisdom which all your Adversaries shall not be able to gain say or resist Luk. 21. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19. Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints Ps. 116. 15. What mean ye to weep and to break mine Heart For I am ready not to be bound only but to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus Act. 21. 13. He that loveth his Life shall lose it and he that hateth his Life in this World shall keep it unto Life Eternal Joh. 12. 25. 2. THE Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his Prisoners Psal. 69. 33. Deliver me from my Persecutors for they are stronger than I. Bring my Soul out of Prison that I may praise thy Name Psal. 142. 6 7. Deliver me O! Lord from the evil man preserve me from the Men of Violence Keep me O! Lord from the Hands of the Wicked who have proposed to overthrow my Goings For the Proud have hid a Snare for me and Cords they have spread a Net by the way-side they have set Gins for me They have sharpned their Tongues like a Serpent Adders Poyson is under their Lips Psal. 140. 1 3 4 5. In the work of the Gospel I suffer trouble as an evil Doer even unto Bonds but the word of God is not bound 2 Tim. 2. 9. For many of the Brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my Bonds are much more bold to speak the word without Fear Phil. 1. 14. 3. REmember my Bonds Col. 4. 18. Remember those that are in Bonds as bound with them Heb. 13. 3. Ye had compassion on me in my Bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods whilst ye became Companions of those that were made a gazing-Stâ—ck by Reproaches and Afflictions Heb. 10. 33 34. I would have retained Onesimus with me that in thy stead he might have ministred to me in the Bonds of the Gospel Philem. 13. Be not thou ashamed of the Testimony of our Lord nor of me his Prisoner but be thou partaker of the Afflictions of the Gospel according to the Power of God 2 Tim. 1. 8. Both in my Bonds and in the Confirmation and Defence of the Gospel ye are all Partakers of my Grace Phil. 1. 7. I was in Prison and ye came unto me In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Mat. 25. 36 40. 4. An Hymn of Thanksgiving for Deliverance upon a Trial or out of Pâ—ison IF it had not been the Lord who was on my side when Men rose up against me Then they had swallowed me up quick when their Wrath was kindled against me Then the proud Waters had gone over my Soul Psal. 124. 2 3 5. The Sorrows of Death compassed me and the Floods of ungodly Men made me afraid Psal. 18. 4. They compassed me about like Bees they thrust sore at me that I might fall but the Lord helped me Psal. 118. 12 13. And I had the Sentence of Death in my self that I should not trust in my self but in God which raiseth the Dead 2 Cor. 1. 9. But blessed be the Lord who hath not given me as a Prey unto their Death My Soul is escaped as a Bird out of the Snare of the Fowler the Snare is broken and I have escaped Ps. 124. 6 7. He sent down his Hand from above and delivered me out of the great Waters from the Hands of strange Children Whose Mouth speaketh Vanity and their Right Hand is a Right Hand of Falshood Ps. 144. 7 8. He delivered me from my strong Enemy and from them which hated me for they were too strong for me He brought me forth also into a large place he delivered me because he delighted in me Psal. 18. 17 19. The Lord is my Strength and my Song and is become my Salvation The Lord is on my side I will not fear what Man can do unto me I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord Psal. 118. 6 14 17. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World without end Amen This Doxology may likewise be used at the end of the several proceeding Collections of Scriptures in this Office for Prisoners for Righteousness as also at the end of the several Collections of Scripture in the former Office for those who suffer for Righteousness when these Collections are read not only for Instruction but Devotionally as Hymns to God Prayers 1. A General Prayer for all Prisoners O! Almighty and Everlasting God thou seest the Streights and Sorrows which I endure in this place and how unable I am to help my self or to bring about my own Deliverance But the less Hope and Support I have in my self the more I look up unto thee and place my Trust in thy Mercy And when my own care can avail
affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 2 Cor. 4. 17 18. 2. And fear not them which kill the body For not a sparrow shall fall on the ground without your Father Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many sparrows But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Mat. 10. 28 29 30 31. When ye do well and suffer for it hereunto were ye called 1 Pet. z. 20 21. It falls to none to be conformed to the image of his Son in sufferings but to them who are called thereto according to his purpose Rom. 9. 28 29. Whilst God continues his hedge about them Satan cannot touch them Job 1. 10. When he brings them under heaviness thro' manifold temptations 't is only for a season and if need be 1 Pet. 1. 6. When he permits their Persecutors to give them some trouble the remainder of wrath shall he restrain Psal. 76. 10. God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it 1 Cor. 10. 13. He is a very present help in trouble Psal. 46. 1. From him we shall obtain mercy and find grace to help in the most sitting season Heb. 4. 16. My Grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness 2 Cor. 12. 9. And since what they suffer is only according to the will of God let them that suffer commit the keeping of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4. 19. 6. With Trust in God The fear of man bringeth a snare but who so puteth his Trust in the Lord shall be safe Prov. 29. 25. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee Is. 26. 3. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is Jer. 17. 7. For he is a refuge for the oppressed a refuge in times of trouble Psal. 9. 9. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder he burneth the chariot in the fire Psal. 46. 9. Some trust in chariots some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our God We will rejoyce in thy salvation and in the name of our God will we set up our banners Psal. 20. 5 7. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes Psal. 118. 8 9. Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them Ps. 22. 4. Thou Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee Psal. 9. 10. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him Psal. 37. 40. He will arise and have mercy upon Sion when the time to favour her yea the set-time is come Ps. 102. 13. I the Lord will hasten it in its time Is. 60. 22. But if you will not believe surely you shall not be established Isa. 7. 9. And he that believeth shall not make hast Isa. 28. 16. 7. Against Trusting more in other things than in God and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances There is no King saved by the multitude of an host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by his great strength Ps. 33. 16 17. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills and from the multitude of mountains truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel Jer. 3. 23. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lye to be laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter than vanity Ps. 62. 9. Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of Is. 2. 22. Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help His breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day all his thoughts perish Psal. 146. 3. 4. Cursed be the man who trusteth in man saith the Lord and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desart and shall not see when good cometh but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness in a salt land and not inhabited Jer. 17. 5 6. But blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn aside to lyes Psal. 40. 4. Trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery Psal. 62. 10. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding Prov. 3. 5. For there is no wisdom nor understanding nor council against the Lord Prov. 21. 30. Who is among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Behold all ye that kindle a fire that compass your selves about with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled This shall ye have of my hand you shall lye down in sorrow Isa. 50. 10 11. 8. With Patience Endure hardship as a good souldier of Jesus Christ 2 Tim. 2. 3. If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Prov. 24. 10. Wait on the Lord and he shall save thee Prov. 20. 22. He that believeth will not make hast Isa. 28. 16. It is a good thing that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord Lam. 3. 26. Ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry Heb. 10. 36 37. The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity Ps. 125. 3. Behold the Husband-man waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it until he receive the early and the latter rain Be ye also patient stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh Take my Brethren the Prophets for an example of suffering affliction and of patience Behold We count them happy which endure You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy Jam. 5. 7 8 10 11. In your patience possess ye your souls Luk. 21. 19. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
and nothing but Affliction will make them wise justly art thou moved now at length to visit thy People in this Land with Persecutions after we had first turned a deaf ear to all the Calls of thy Mercy and had long abused the blessings of peace There is need O God of our sufferings to keep up a Reverence for thy Justice and to reclaim us from our iniquities and this fiery Tryal comes to purge us from our dross and to chastize us for our past Offences as well as to prove our present Obedience and Constancy to thy Holy Laws Our Peace O! Holy Father had made us loose and contentious and our Plenty had served chiefly to maintain Pride Luxury And the worldly Endowments about Religion had stoln our Affections away from it and instead of continuing thankful true to thee our hearts grew covetous and ambitious after them and preferr'd and took up with them for their Portion We are O! Lord a stubborn and a stiff-necked People still lifting up our selves against thee and against thy Vice-gerents We are given to Hypocrisie and take delight in Lyes Oppression and Rapine are to be found in our dwellings and Drunkenness and Adultery have grown common and fashionable Wickednesses have set up without shame in our streets Thy pure Worship and Service had been grievously and shamefully neglected or carelesly and indevoutly attended before it was given up to be persecuted amongst us And thine Holy Things have been desiled thy Ministers have been despised and evil intreated and thy Sacred and Dreadful Name has been commonly horribly prophaned by rash and false Oaths and by the most presumptuous terrible Imprecations Our Works O! Great and Righteous God have been Works of Iniquity and when thou hast called us we have not hearkened unto thee when thou hast smitten us we have not repented but have dealt proudly and hardned our necks against thy Word To us therefore O! Lord belongeth shame and sorrow and confusion of face and thou art Righteous in all that thou hast brought upon us Our sufferings are far below our deserts and we must needs justifie thee and condemn our selves But to thee O! God belongeth mercy and forgiveness though we have rebelled against thee And we return unto thee with true contrition and hearty repentance for all our Iniquities that thou mayest have Mercy upon us Oh! for the sake of thy Dear Son 's most pretious Blood pardon all our sins and purifie our souls Perfect our repentance and bring us home intirely to thy self and prevent all our back-slidings Help our slow and sloathful souls to be quick and vigorous and our drowsy spirits to be watchful in the ways of Righteousness Help thou us Good Lord for we are not able to help our selves and thou alone art our help And when our sufferings have by thy help and Grace reduced us to our duty we shall then O! Holy Father thankfully receive any Losses for Righteousness sake and look on all the violent attempts of the Enemy as so many instances and messengers of thy Mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen 2. Out of the Office of Commination O! most Mighty God and Merciful Father who hast Compassion upon all Men and hatest nothing that thou hast made who wouldest not the death of a sinner but that he should rather turn from his sin and be saved mercifully forgive us our Trespasses receive comfort us who are grieved and wearyed with the Burden of our sins Thy Property is always to have Mercy to thee alone it appertaineth to forgive sins Spare us therefore good Lord spare thy People whom thou hast redeemed enter not into judgment with thy servants who are vile earth and miserable sinners But so turn thine Anger from us who meekly acknowledge our vileness and truly repent us of our faults and so make hast to help us in this world that we may ever live with thee in the world to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 2. Prayers under Persecutions as they are Tryals of our Obedience and bring upon us Losses for Righteousness I. A General Prayer for Mercies Qualifications needful in Suffering-times O Blessed Jesus Who now callest us out to bear thy Cross and to suffer Afflictions for thy sake who sufferedst a most ignominious Death for ours bring none of us to suffer till thou hast first prepared us for it nor let us suffer more or longer than thou wilt enable us willingly and thankfully to endure Let not any among us O! Lord come to suffer for our own follies nor be afraid to suffer for thy Righteousness And give us all Grace to live according to thy Precepts that we may all have Courage and Comfort in suffering for them Let us not take liberty to transgress some duties of our Holy Religion whilst we suffer for others nor ever hope to recommend our selves or our sufferings to thy merciful acceptance without studying to be intire in our godly care and having an eye to all thy Laws And when our Afflictions press most upon us let the Graces and Comforts of thy Holy Spirit abound most in us Whatever else we lose thereby let us not lose Truth and a good Conscience Preserve us steadfast in the belief of thy Heavenly and Oppressed Truths undaunted in the Profession of them Grant us patience to bear thy Cross and not grow faint or weary and meekness to bear our Persecutors and not grow angry and bitter of spirit and Charity to forgive their Wrongs and to overcome their evil with good Strengthen our Faith of thy Heavenly Joys to recompence all these earthly sufferings and of thy never-failing Help and Grace to assist and support us under them and to deliver us from the same in thy due time Let the greatness of our distresses drive us to be more constant and earnest in our Prayers And as fast as Afflictions come from our Persecutors let succours and supports still come from thee O! Let us always have thy strength to bear us up and find thee an help at hand in our greatest needs and then our patience and godly steadfastness shall triumph over all the malice of our Persecutors And suffer us not O! Father of Mercies to be dashed to pieces in this storm swallowed up in these waves But in thy tenderness to our infirmities after we have suffered a while send us ease Shorten the days of these sufferings and hasten thy coming for our Deliverance and bring us at length to everlasting rest and peace in thy Heavenly Kingdom through JESVS CHRIST our Lord. Amen 2. A Prayer Out of the Litany O! God Merciful Father that despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart nor the desire of such as be sorrowful Mercifully assist our Prayers which we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities whensoever they oppress us and graciously hear us that those evils which the craft and subtilty of the devil or man worketh
against us be brought to nought and by the providence of thy goodness they may be dispersed that we thy servants being hurt by no persecutions may ever more give thanks unto thee in thy Holy Church thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Particular Prayers I. For Integrity and not seeking to any evil ways for Help OH Almighty Lord thou hast reserved us for days when he that will depart from evil is like to make himself a Prey But grant me Grace to esteem no Loss comparable to that of Innnocency and of a good Conscience nor to harbour any fear like to that of thy displeasure and of the intolerable and eternal pangs of Hell-fire Let thy Laws O! my God direct all my steps in my greatest dangers Keep me more studious in all my Counsels of what is lawful for me than of what seems safe and serviceable in my necessity And never suffer me to stoop to any sin in hopes thereby to put by fleshly trouble or to serve any worldly turn In thy Providence O! Father of Mercies lyes all my safety and protection And Oh! that I may ever commit my self to that protecting Providence by keeping close to thy Commandments Oh! that I may never in any case forsake them but always look upon that as the ready way to have thee forsake me Whatever streights or dangers encompass me the ways of my duty O! Lord are the surest ways of thy mercy and of my own safety And Oh! that I may find them to be ways of preservation and deliverance at present and of everlasting peace and joy in the end through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen II. For Constancy in Persecuted Duties 1. Against being turned aside by Worldly Dangers or Losses O! Almighty and Everlasting God Keep me constant to thy Truths and Precepts amidst all these violent Persecutions which are ready to come upon me for the same Oh! that I may stand fast in thy ways and be nothing terrified by the Adversaries thereof That I may stand fast in the evil day and contend earnestly for the Faith Let me not grow weary of well-doing or of godly suffering nor wax faint in a good Cause Enable me to stand to my duty at all hazards and to be ready if the will of God be so to witness it unto Bonds yea or even to seal it with my blood and to dye for thee as thou Blessed Saviour hast done for me Let not the fear of men make me forsake thee nor let my love of this World make me throw up my blessed hopes of a better Nor give me up for the sake of any Losses or Terrors to fall from my duty or to deny thee before men that thou mayst not finally deny me before the Angels which are in Heaven Oh! that I may never leave thee Oh! Holy Jesu because thou art a Man of Sorrows But give me Grace with Moses always to prefer the Afflictions of the godly when they are persecuted before the Joys of the wicked and to choose to be among those who suffer for Righteousness rather than among those who seem best to thrive and prosper in the ways of violence Oh! that I may not grudge to take up the Cross when that is in my way to win the Crown nor to endure a short tribulation for the Kingdom of Heaven which thou art ready to give to all that faithfully serve and suffer for thee thro' our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen II. Against being shaken in mind or scandalized 1. By the Defection of others or by Variety of Opinions O Almighty and most Merciful God! keep me from being any ways unsettled or shaken in mind about the way of thy Truth and of thy Righteousness Oh! that thy Judgments may not make us harbour any suspition of the Truth of our Holy Faith but make us see that they all come upon us to try how far we can suffer for it or to punish us because we have not been true to it They are sent O! Righteous Lord to punish the Loosness and Wickedness of our Lives amidst the Orthodoxy and Holiness of our Professions And let not any other Persons unsteadfastness in thy ways how great or numerous soever they be cause me to waver or once think of varying from the same Oh! that I may never follow weak minds in their fickleness and inconstancy nor worldly minds in Varying Belief and Professions according as they are blown about with every blast of worldly Interest or Convenience Let me not think the worse of thy Truths because others forsake them Nor run in to those who prefer the ways of worldly ease before the ways of innocence Nor grow weary of the ways of everlasting Life because others setting more by worldly enjoyments are ready to exchange them when there is hopes of present security thereby for ways of everlasting death Thy Truth O! Lord are everlasting and still the same And Oh! that my Belief and Love thereof may always be one and the same too for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. Or By a Reverence of any Mens Persons ESpecially O! Lord let not my reverence of any Mens Persons cause me to erre from the way of thy precepts Let not them carry me against my own Knowledge Nor suffer me to ascribe more Authority or to have more Belief in their Examples than in the plain Voice of thy Word or in the clear common Notions of Right and Wrong and of Natural Conscience If they would have me shut mine eyes against this Light let me no longer reverence or give ear to them Yea Though an Angel from Heaven should come and preach against the same let me not believe him Let God be true though they be held Lyars And let these Monitors be ever firmly thought to speak right though the most admired Persons gainsay it and both act and speak wrong Make me know O! God that thy plain Word and the known and received Dictates of Natural Honesty and Conscience are always true and faithful but that every man even the best of men are lyable to fail Let me ever bear in mind that good men may alter and lose their goodness but that evil and unrighteous things do not alter nor can ever lose their unrighteousness So that whensoever a good man falls to do a manifestly evil and unrighteous thing his doing it can onely make us think the worse of his Person but is not in any wise to make us think better of the unrighteous Action Teach me O! Lord that it is thy Law and not their Example which is to be my Rule That I am thy servant not theirs and am to hearken unto thee not unto them and to call no man Master upon earth in opposition to thee my great Master who art in Heaven Oh! therefore let thy Truths O! my God and not other mens practice be my Guide and let thy approbation and acceptance not their
constant Practice of Faith and Patience Meekness and Charity and of a Heart mortified to this World and full of the Thoughts and Hopes of a better Give them Grace O! Lord to watch over thy People with willing Minds and with unwearied Diligence Oh! that they may Rule them prudently and skilfully as wise Guides And feed them faithfully as good Shepherds Oh! that they may wholly apply themselves to Preach thy Word and to administer thy pure Worship and Saâ—rament to comfort the Afflicted â—o strengthen the Feeble-minded â—o confirm those that Stand and to raise up those that are faln to quicken the Indifference and Lukewarmness of some and to curb and bridle the inordinate Heat and undue Passions and Violence of others And let them not think of quitting the trust and Charge of Ministring to Souls when the Wolf approacheth or leave of caring for thy Flock to take care of themselves But keep them ever mindful O! Holy Jesu that thou art the true Shepherd who gavest thy Life for the Sheep and that as thy true Followers and faithful Ministers they must be diligent at such times in Ministring to their wants and attend upon the same at all hazards Let them shew then that they love thee by feeding thy Sheep Enable them to shew perfect Love which â—asteth out Fear And give them Grace to speak thy word and to do thy work with Boldness and Uprightness neither fearing the Faces of their Persecutors nor tolerating and muchless feeding the Diseases or Vices of their Flocks but remembring always that in thy Church they preside and Minster for thee and as they who are to give an Account for Souls Possess their Hearts O! God with such vigilant Care and Love for Souls and Holy Zeal and Godly Courage and Prudence as is requisite for Men iu their High Trusts and Stations and under the present wants and Difficulties of thy Church And be with them in all they do and in all they suffer for thy Cause for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake Amen 2. COmfort up their Spirits also O! Lord with the visible Effects and good Fruits of their Labours and Sufferings among thy People But whatever success they meet withal let them not desist from thy Service nor fall to do thy Work negligently but when there is the least appearance of their working good up others let it however satisfie and support them that they have thereby shown their Fidelity and Love to thee and have delivered their own Souls And keep them from all vain Janglings O! thou Blessed Spirit of Love and Peace and from falling into desires of vain-Glory or Emulation among themselves Let them not defile their own Spirits or disparage thy Cause by turning aside to vent humane Passions or to seek or serve any worldly ends But in all their Labours and Sufferings for thy Church help them to approve themselves pure and sincere as Men whose great care and chief business is to serve thee and to watch for the Good of Souls And whilst they are watching for thy People Lord let thy good Providence watch over them When thy Service and the neâ—ds of Souls do most endanger and expose them let them be safe in thy keeping Put by the Malice and Machinations of their Enemies and give them Patience and unwearied Perseverance under all their Difficulties and Distresses Support and Comfort them under the same at present and turn them all in the end to the furtherance of thy Truth and to the encrease of their own Everlasting Peace and Happiness through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen 4. A Prayer for both Clergy and People O! Lord whilst thou art trying us with Losses and Worldly Sorrows make us easie under the same and careful to bear them with Patience and raised Affections But let us not betake our selves to Pride and self-pleasing and to feed those corrupt Passions which our Afflictions should purge out nor ever fall to seek or think of great things here for our selves Oh! that our Tribulations may teach us to be humble and to mortifie our own Passions Oh! that our worldy Sorrows may cure and turn us from being any longer fond of this World and from feeding our selves with any vain and ensnaring Hopes or Desires thereof And that whilst we are daily crossed in our Fleshly Desires we may cease to be any longer bent upon our own Wills and may in all things resign our selves up to thine Let not our Persecutions O! Gracious God be lost upon us nor let us be unprofitable Schollars in the School of Affliction Let it not be justly chargeable on us that Tribulations could not mend us nor the fiery Trial resine our Spirits and purge away our Dross But bring us by our Sufferings to know our selves and to set light by all Earthly things and to take up with thee for our Portion and with the Sure and Blessed Hopes of thine Everlasting Mercies thro' the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 5. A Prayer for the Churches Defence and Deliverance from Persecutions UNder all its Wants and Backslidings Sorrows and Distresses look thou upon thy Church O! Lord and support and deliver it Many are they who Combine against it and great is their Power and Vigilant and Earnest is their Care and Endeavour to suppress and destroy it And against all their Assaults it has no other Defence but thy Grace and good Providence Do not thou forsake it then O! God for it flies to thee and rests on thee alone for Succor Maintain it for it is thine own Cause And if it be cast down thine Enemies and theirs will tryumph Take the Matter therefore into thine Hand for no other is sufficient for it and thou art most concerned therein Bring it safe through this Fiâ—ry Trial and let it not be consumed thereby but as Gold is only purged and putrified of its Dross Give it a Cure O! Lord of all its Errors and Impurities and quietness in the End from Persecutions and Grace not to grow careless or be Corrupted by days of Ease but to improve the same in doing thee Honour and Service with more Freedom and fewer Interruptions thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 15. A Thanksgiving for any Comfortable Cessation or for Rest and Ease from Persecution BLessed be thy Great and Glorious Name O! Father of Mercies and God of all Comforts for the comfort of these days of ease from our former Tribulations Thou hast in great pity considered our Frailty and Weakness and hath not suffered the Rod of the Persecutors to lie too heavy or rest too long upon oâ—r Backs Thou hast not been Deaf to our Desires when we called upon thee nor suffered our Hopes in thy Gracious Promises to â—ail Thou hast fulfilled thy Word unto thy Servants who served and suffered for thee in Confidence thereof and hast made the Wicked to cease from troubling us and exchanged the Fiery Trial of their ungodly Violence for
Breach of Confidence from all Faithless or strained and false Accusations as thou canst turn or defeat the Malice of my Foes And to thee O! merciful Father do I trust that neither my Foes shall have their Wills in working of my Ruin nor the weakness of my Friends shall carry them against their Wills to do the same And oh as thou art my Confidence so let me be thy Care Keep me safe here under thy custody and receive me at last to thine Everlasting Mercy for thy blessed Son and my only Saviour Jesus Christ's sake Amen 3. A Prayer for Graces at such times under his Sufferings and Persecutions for any ways of Truth and Righteousness IN the mean time O! Righteous Lord whatsoever thou hast appointed for me in this Tryal I am content to bear it And give me Strength and Ability to bear it yea though it proceed to Blood I resign my self up to thy good pleasure therein I humbly and meekly submit to it as it is thy doing and as it is infinitely my Deserving and own thy Judgment upon me for my Sins to be most Just and Righteous therein But then Holy Father I most earnestly intreat thee that I may have all my Punishment in this World but rest with thee in thy Heavenly Kingdom Yea as my Tryal is a Suffering for thy Righteousness I thankfully receive it at thine Hand But then O! my God whilst I am tried for thee do thou shew forth thy Power and the abundance of thy Grace in me Grant me a Serene Patience calmly to bear my Sufferings and contentedly and quietly to wait the end thereof Give me Courage and constant Presence of Mind to behave my self undauntedly and Prudence to act and answer in all things wisely and becomingly Give me Faith in thy power and promises to hold on without Fainting in sure Expectation of thy Succors and to endure all without weariness in Confidence of thy joyful and eternal Recompences Fill me with an inflexible Integrity and Constancy in my Duty that I may not waver therein at any time much less fall from it or from any Precepts thereof to rid my self out of my own great Troubles or to bring any desired Events to pass Yea fill me with such Constancy in thy ways as will not suffer me how long soever the Rod of the Unrighteous rests upon me to put forth my Hand unto Iniquity And give me Charity after thine own Example O! blessed Jesâ— freely to forgive my Malicious Enemies or Frail and Faithless Friends and heartily to pray for them tho' they continue to persecute me Whilst thou keepest on my Trials deny me not these Graces O! merciful Lord nor any others which thou seest needful for me that I may acquit my self well and acceptably under the same for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake Amen 4. A Prayer for a Mind raised above Earthly Things O! Father of Mercies raise my Mind by these Afflictions above the Love of all Earthly Things Yea even of those things which I have lavishly spent most time upon and have been the most inordinately fond of I see now and make me daily to see it more and more how vain and unprofitable they are when the evil day comes And oh what I may learn thereby and learn it perfectly to fix mine Eyes and Heart on thee who hast deserved more of me infinitely than I can express to thee and who canst always help and comfort me and wilt never leave me especially not then when I am driven to thee for Succour and find the greatest Need to have thee stand by me Make my Duty good Lord to become my Delight and Heavenly things my Treasure For they are Comforts in Distress stable Comforts that will accompany us to the Block or the Grave and beyond them and will not fail to make us infinitely and for ever happy in thy Presence Which Grant O! Heavenly Father to me a wretched Sinner for the sake of my dearest Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen 5. A Prayer for Peace with God and a quiâ—t Conscience ABove all O! blessed Lord let me have the Comforts of thy holy Spirit and a clear and quiet Conscience to support me under all these hard Tryals Shew me all my Sins and give me Grace intirely to repent of them and to be perfectly set against the same But assure me at the same time of thy Mercies towards all true penitent Sinners and make me see O! Gracious Father that for Christ's sake thou art not only willing but desirous and joyful to receive them yea to run out and meet them as the tender Father did the Returning Prodigal And as for my Sins O! God tho' with the Prodigal I have gone far and have lost my self in evil ways yet by thy Grace I am come also with him heartily to return from mine Offences I am weary of my Sins and am earnestly desirous to forsake them Tho' I have been lamentably careless in times past yet now my sincere desire and full purpose is to shew a Godly care and diligent endeavour against the same for the time to come And I humbly depend upon thy Grace and trust to thy precious promises thereof to perfect and give strength to my sincere Endeavours Look upon me therefore O! Father and give me the Comfort to look upon my self as one who though he has been an offending is now become a Returning Son Lot not my Sins rise up against me after once I have truly repented of them Let them not be able to provoke thy wrath or to trouble my Conscience But make me know that however offensive I was in the ways of my Wickedness thro' the Blood of thy Son I am acceptable to thee in the ways of my Repentance And that my Sins however provoking whilst I lay in them give thee no more provocation after once I return from them Yea tho' great and strong in themselves yet that after true Repentance they are not too great for my Saviour's Merits or for thy Mercies not too grievous for thy Goodness to forgive or too strong for thy Grace to cure I am ready O! my God to return to thy Laws not only in doing what they call for but if thy Will be so in suffering for the same Yea if thou callest me to it I desire not to leave the way of Righteousness for any hazards but to suffer for it even unto Blood And tho' I know O! Righteous Lord that it is not enough to die a Martyr for one precept if I allow my self at the same time to live a known Transgressor of others Yet give me the Comfort to look on Martyrdom as a sort of Baptism as thou blessed Jesu wast pleased to style it when thou spakest of thine own and like it to purge and wash away our Sins if at the same time when we are suffering for one Duty we are inwardly resolved and prepared in Heart to observe all Lord in the midst of my