Vertues as to call drunken carousing drinking of healths spilling innocent blood Valour Gluttony Hospitality Covetousness Thriftiness Whoredom loving a Mistress Simony Gratuity Pride Gracefulness Dissembling Complement Children of Belial Good Fellows Wrath Hastiness Ribaldry Mirth So on the other side to call Sobriety in words and actions Hypocrisie Alms-deeds Vain-glory Devotion Superstition Zeal in Religion Puritanism Humility Crouching scruple of Conscience Preciseness c. And whilst thus we call evil good and good evil true Piety is much hindred in her progress And thus much of the first hindrance of Piety by mistaking the true sence of some special places of Scripture and grounds of Christian Religion The second hindrance of Piety 2. The evil example of great Persons The practice of whose prophane lives they preferr for their imitation before the Precepts of God's holy Word So that when they see the greatest Men in the State and many chief Gentlemen in their Country to make neither care nor Conscience to hear Sermons to receive the Communion nor to sanctifie the Lord's Sabbath c. but to be Swearers Adulterers Carousers Oppressors c. Then they think that the using of these holy Ordinances are not matters of so great moment for if they were such great and wise Men would not set so little by them Hereupon they think that Religion is not a matter of necessity And therefore where they should like Christians row against the stream of impiety towards Heaven they suffer themselves to be carried with the multitude down right into Hell thinking it impossiâ—le that God will suffer so many to be damned Whereas if the good of this world had not blinded the eyes of their minds the Holy Scriptures would teach them that Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called c. but that for the most part the poor receive the Gospel and that few rich men shall be saved And that howsoever many are called yet the chosen are but few Neither did the multitude ever save any from damnation As God hath advanced men in greatness above others so doth God expect that they in Religion and Piety should go before others otherwise greatness abused in the time of their Stewardship shall turn to their greater condemnation in the day of their accounts At what time sinful great and mighty men as well as the poorest slaves and bond-men shall wish that the Rocks and Mountains may fall upon them and hide them from the presence of the Judge and from his just deserved wrath It will prove but a miserable solace to have a great company of great Men partakers with thee of thine eternal torments The multitude of sinners doth not extenuate but aggravate sin as in Sodom Better it is therefore with a few to be saved in the Ark than with the whole world to be drowned in the flood Walk with the few godly in the Scriptures narrow path to Heaven but crownd not with the godless multitude in the broad way to Hell Let not the examples of irreligious great men hinder thy repentance for their greatness cannot at that day exempt themselves from their own most grievous punishment The third hindrance of Piety 3. The long escape of diserved punishment in this life Because sentance saith Solomon is not speedily executed against an evil worker therefore the hearts of the children of men are fully set in them to do evil not knowing that the bouâ—tifulness of God leadeth them to repentance But when his patience is abused and man's sins are ripened his Justice will at once both begin and make an end of the sinner and he will recompence the slowness of his delay with the grievousness of his punishment Though they were suffered to run on the score all the days of their life yet they shall be sure to pay the utmost farthing at the day of their death And whilst they suppose themselves to be free from Judgment they are already smitten with the Heaviest of God's Judgments a heart that cannot repent The stone in the reins or bladder is a grievous pain that kills many a man's body but there is no disease to the stone in the heart whereof Nabal died and which killeth millions of Souls They refuse the trial of Christ and his Cross but they are stoned by Hell's Executioner to eternal death Because many Nobles and Gentlemen are not smitten with present judgment for their outrageous Swearing Adultery Drunkenness Oppression prophaning of the Sabbath and disgraceful neglect of God's Worship and Service they begin to doubt of Divine Providence and Justice Both which two Eyes they would as willingly put out in God as the Philistines bored out the eyes of Sampson It is greatly therefore to be feared lest they will provoke the Lord to cry out against them as Sampson against the Philistines By neglecting the Law and walking after their own hearts they put out as much as in them lieth the eyes of my Providence and Justice Lead me therefore to these chief Pillars whereupon the Realm standeth that I may pull the Realm upon their heads and be at once avenged on them for my two eyes Let not God's patience hinder thy repentance but because he is so patient therefore do thou the rather repent The fourth hindrance of Piety 4. The presumption of God's mercy For when Men are justly convinced of their sins forthwith they betake themselves to this Shield Christ is merciful so that every sinner makes Christ the Patron of his sin as though he had come into the world to bolster sin and not to destroy the works of the Devil Hereupon the carnal Christian presumeth that though he continueth a while longer in his sin God will not shorten his days But what is this but to be an implicite Atheist Doubting that either God seeth not his sins or if he doth that he is not just for if he believeth that God is just how can he think that God who for sin so severely punisheth others can love him who still loveth to continue in sin True it is Christ is merciful but to whom only to them that repent and turn from iniquity in Jacob. But if any man bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace although I walk according to the stubbornness of mine own heart thus adding drunkenness to thirst the Lord will not be merciful unto him c. O mad Men who dare bless themselves when God pronounceth them accursed Look therefore how far thou art from finding repentance in thy self so far art thou from any assurance of finding mercy in Christ. Let therefore the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous his own imaginations and return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he is very ready to forgive Despair is nothing so dangerous as presumption For we read not in all
Camp against their Enemies they should dig a hole with a paddle and cover their excrements his reason is For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst oâ— thy Camp to deliver thâ—e and to give thee thine Enemies before thee therefore thy host shall be holy that he see no filthy thing in thee and turn away from thee If he will have Men to be so holy in time of war in the Field how much more holiness expecteth he at our hands in time of peace in our houses therefore saith Zophar in Job If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hand towards God to pray if iniquity be in thy hand put it far away and let no wickedness dwell in thy Tabernacle For as Esay saith If there be any uncleanness in our hands that is any sin whereof we have not repented tho' we stretch not our hands unto him and make many prayers the Lord will hide his eyes from us and will not hear our prayers Therefore before thou prayest let God see that thy heart is sorrowful for thy sin and that thy mind is resolved through the assistance of his grace to amend thy faults And then having washed thy self and adorned thy body with apparâ—l which beseemeth thy calling and the Image of God which thou bearest shut thy chamber-door and kneel down at thy bed-side or some other convenient place and in reverent manner lifting up thy heart together with thy hands and eyes as in the presence of God who seeth the inward intention of thy soul offer up unto God from the Altar of a contrite heart thy prayer as a morning-sacrifice through the mediation of Christ in these or the like words A Prayer for the Morning O Most mighty and glorious God full of incomprehensible Power and Majesty whose glory the very heaven of heavens is not able to contain look down from heaven upon me thine unworthy servant who here prostrate my self at the footstool of thy Throne of Grace But look upon me O Father through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ thy beloved Son in whom only thou art well pleased For of my self I am not worthy to stand in thy presence or to speak with mine unclean lips to so holy a God as thou art For thou know'st that in sin I was conceived and born and that I have lived ever since in iniquity so that I have broken all thy holy Commandments by sinful motions unclean thoughts evil words and wicked works omitting many of those duties of Piety which thou requirest for thy service and committing many of those vices which thou under the penalty of thy displeasure hast forbidden Here thou maist confess unto God thy secret sins which do most burthen thy conscience with the circumstances of the time place person and manner how it was committed saying But more especially O Lord I do here with grief of heart confess unto thee c. And for these my sins O Lord I stand here guilty of thy curse with all the miseries of this life and everlasting torments in hell fire when this wretched life is ended if thou shouldest deal with me according to my deserts Yea Lord I confess that it is thy mercy which endureth for ever and thy compassion which never fails that is the cause that I have not been long ago consumed But with thee O Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption In the mutitude therefore of thy Mercy and confidence in Christ's Merits I intreat thy divine Majesty that thou wouldst not enter into judgment with thy servant neither be extreme to mark what I have hitherto done amiss for if thou dost then then can no flesh be justified in thy sight nor any living stand in thy presence But be thou merciful unto me and wash away all the uncleanness of my sin with the merits of that precious blood which Jesus Christ hath shed for me And seeing that he hath born the burthen of that curse which was due to my transgressions O Lord deliver me from my sins and from all those judgments which hang over my head as due unto me for them and separate them as far from thy presence as the East is from the West bury them in the burial of Christ that they may never have power to rise up against me to shame me in this life or to condemn me in the world which is to come And I beseech thee O Lord not only to wash away my sins with the blood of thine immaculate Lamb but also to purge my heart by thy holy Spirit from the dross of my natural corruption that I may feel thy Spirit more and more killing my sin in the power and practice thereof so that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee the everlasting God in righteousness and holiness this day And give me grace that by the direction and assistance of the same thy holy Spirit I may presevere to be thy faithful and unfeigned servant unto my life's end that when this mortal life is ended I may be made a partaker of immortality and everlasting happiness in thy heavenly kingdom In the mean time O Lord whilst it is thy blessed will and pleasure that I may continue to spend and end that small number and remnant of days which thou hast appointed for me to live in this vale of misery Teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom and as thou dost add days unto my life so good Lord I beseech thee add repentance and amendment to my days that as I grow in years so may I increase in grace and favour with thee and all thy people And to this end give unto me a supply of all those graces which thou knowest to be wanting in me and necessary for me with an increase of all those good gifts wherewith thou hast already endowed me that so I may be the better enabled to lead such a godly life and honest conversation as that thy Name may thereby be glorified others may take good example by me and my soul may more chearfully feed on the peace of a good conscience and be more replenished with the joy of the Holy Ghost And hear O Lord according to my bounded duty I give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all those Bessings which of thy goodness thou hast bestowed upon me And namely for that thou hast of thy free love according to thine eternal purpose elected me before the foundation of the world was laid unto salvation in Jesus Christ for that thou hast created me after thine own Image and hast begun to restore that in me which was lost in our first Parents for that thou hast effectually called me by the working of thy Spirit in the preaching of the Gospel
day 5. Praying for rest and protection that night 6. Remembering the state of the Church the King and the Royal Posterity our Ministers and Magistrates and all our Brethren visited or persecuted 7. Lastly commending thy self and all thine to his gracious custody All which thou maist do in these or the like words A Prayer for the Evening O Most gracious God and loving Father who art about my bed and knowest my down-lying and mine up-rising and art near unto all that call upon thee in truth and sincerity I wretched sinner do beseech thee to look upon me with the eyes of thy mercy and not to behold me as I am in my self For then thou shalt see but an unclean and defiled creature conceived in sin and living in iniquity so that I am ashamed to lift up mine eyes to heaven knowing how grievously I have sinned against heaven and before thee For O Lord I have transgressed all thy Commandments and righteous Laws not only through negligence and infirmity but oftentimes through willful presumption contrary to my knowledge yea contrary to the motions of thy Holy spirit reclaiming me from them so that I have wounded my conscience and grieved thy Holy Spirit by whom thou hast sealed me to the day of redemption Thou hast consecrated my soul and body to be the temples of the Holy Ghost I wretched sinner have defiled both with all manner of pollution and uncleanness My eyes in taking pleasure to behold vanity mine ears in hearing impure and unchaste speeches my tongue in leasing and evil speaking my hands are so full of impurity that I am ashamed to lift them up unto thee and my feet have carried me after mine own ways my understanding and reasoning which are so quick in all earthly matters are only blind and stupid when I come to meditate or discourse of spiritual and heavenly things my memory which should be the treasury of all goodness is not so apt to remember any thing as those things which are vile and vain Yea Lord by woful experience I find that naturally all the imaginations of the thoughts of mine heart are only evil continually And these my sins are more in number than the hairs upon mine head and they have grown over me like a loathsom leprosie that from the Crown of my head to the sole of my feet there remains no part which they have not infected They make me seem vile in mine own eyes how much more abominable must I then appear in thy sight And the custom of sinning hath almost taken away the conscience of sin and pulled upon me such dullness of sense and hardness of heart that thy judgments denounced against my sins by the faithful Preachers of thy Word do not terrifie me to return unto thee by unfeigned repentance for them And if thou Lord shouldest but deal with me according to thy justice and my desert I should utterly be confounded and condemned But seeing that of thine infinite mercy thou hast spared me so long and still waitest for my repentance I humbly beseech thee for the bitter death and bloody passion sake which Jesus Christ hath suffered for me that thou wouldest pardon and forgive unto me all my sins and offences and open unto me that ever streaming fountain of the blood of Christ which thou hast promised to open under the New Testament to the penitent of the house of David that all my sins and uncleanness may be so bathed in his blood buried in his death and hid in his wounds that they may never be more seen to shame me in this life or to condemn me before thy Judgment-seat in the World which is to come And for as much O Lord as thou know'st that it is not in man to turn his own heart unless thou dost first give him grace to convert and seeing that it is as easie with thee to make me righteous and holy as to bid me to be such O my God give me grace to do what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt and thou shalt find me willing to do thy blessed will And to this end give unto me thine Holy Spirit which thou hast promised to give to the world's end unto all thine Elect people And let the same thy holy Spirit purge my heart heal my corruption sanctifie my nature and consecrate my soul and body that they may become the temples of the Holy Ghost to serve thee in righteousness and holiness all the days of my life that when by the direction and assistance of thy holy Spirit I shall finish my course in this short and transitory life I may chearfully leave this world and resign my soul into thy Fatherly hands in the assured confidence of enjoying everlasting life with thee in thine heavenly Kingdom which thou hast prepared for thine elect Saints who love the Lord Jesus and expect his appearing In the mean while O Father I beseech thee let thy holy Spirit work in me such a serious repentance as that I may with tears lament my sins past with grief of heart be humble for my sins present and with all mine endeavour resist the like filthy sins in time to come And let the same thy holy Spirit likewise keep me in the Vnity of thy Church lead me in the truth of thy Word and preserve me that I never swerve from the same to Popery nor any other errour or false worship And let thy Spirit open mine eyes more and more to see the wondrous things of thy Law and open my lips that my mouth may daily defend thy truth and set forth thy praise Increase in me those good gifts which of thy mercy thou hast already bestowed upon me and give unto me a patient spirit a chast heart a contented mind pure affections wise behaviour and all other graces which thou feest to be necessary for me to govern my heart in thy fear and to guide all my life in thy favour that whether I live or die I may live and die unto thee who art my God and my Redeemer And here O Lord according as I am bound I render unto thee from the Altar of my humblest heart all possible thanks for all those blessings and benefits which so graciously and plentuously thou hast bestowed upon my soul and body for this life and for that which is to come namely for mine Election Creation Redemption Vocation Justification Sanctification and Preservation from my child-hood until this present day and hour and for the firm hope which thou hast given me of my Glorification Likewise for my health wealth food raiment and prosperity and more especially for that thou hast defended me this day now past from all perils and dangers both of body and soul furnishing me with all necessary good things that I stand in need of And as thou hast ordained the day for
in the state of Corruption no man living can sanctifie a Sabbath in that spiritual manner that he should but that he commits many breaches thereof in his Thoughts Words and Deeds humbly crave pardon for thy defects and reconcile thy self unto God with this or the like Evening Sacrifice A Private Evening Prayer for the Lord's-day O Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabbath suffer me who am but dust and ashes to speak unto thy most glorious Majâ—sty I know that thou art a consuming â—ire I acknowledge that I am but withered stubble My sins are in thy sight and Satan stands at my right-hand to accuse me for them I come not to excuse but to judg my self worthy of all those judgments which thy Justice might most justly inflict upon me a wretched Creature for my sins and transgressions The Number of them is so great the Nature of them is so grievous that they make me seem vile in mine own eyes how much more loathsome in thy sight I confess they make me so far from being worthy to be called thy Son that I am altogether unworthy to have the Name of thy meanest Servant And if thou shouldest but recompence me according to my desert the Earth as weary of such a sinful burthen should open her mouth and swallow me up like one of Dathan's Family into the bettomless pit of Hell For if thou didst not spare the natural branches those Angels of glorious Excellency but hurldst them down from the heavenly Habitations into the pains of hellish darkness to be kept unto damnation when they sinned but once against thy Majesty and didst expel our first Parents out of Paradise when they did but transgress one of thy Laws alas what vengeance may I expect who have not offended in one sin only heaping daily un upon sin without any true repentance drinking iniquity as it were water ever pouring in but never pouring out any filthyness and have transgressed not one but all thy holy laws and commandments Yea this present day which thou hast straitly commanded me to keep holy to thy praise and worship I have not so religiously kept and observed nor prepared my soul in that holiness and chastity of heart as was fit to meeâ— thy blessed Majesty in the holy assembly of the Saints I have not attended to the preaching of thy Word nor to the administration of thy Sacraments with that humility reverence and devotion that I should For tho' I was present at those holy exercises in my body yet Lord I was overtaken with much drowsiness And when I was awake my mind was so distracted and carried away with vain and worldly thoughts that my â—oul seemed to be absent and oâ—â— of the Church I have not so duly as I should meditated with my self nor conferred with my Family upon those good instruâ—ctions which we have heard and received out of thy holy Word by the publick Ministry For default whereof Satan hath stoln the most part of those instructions out of my heart and I wretched creature have forgotten them as though they had never been heard And my family doth not thrive in knowledge and sanctification under my government as they should Though I know where many of my poor brethren live in want and necessity and some in pain and comfortless yet I have not remembred to relieve the one with my Alms nor the other with Consolations but I have feasted my self and satisfied mine own Lusts. I have spent the most part of the day in idle talk vain sports and exercises Yea Lord I have c. And for all these my sins my Conscience cries guilty thy Law condemns me and I am in thy hand to receive the sentence and curse that is due to the wilful breach of so holy a Commandment But what if I am by thy Law condemned Yet Lord thy Gospel assures me that thy mercy is above all thy works that thy grace transcends thy Law and thy goodness delighteth there to reign where sins do most abound In the multitude therefore of thy Mercies and for the Merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour I beseech thee O Lord who despiseth not the sighings of a contrite heart nor desirest the death of a penitent sinner to pardon and forgive me all those my sins and all the errors of this day and of my whole life and free my soul from that curse and Judgment which is due unto me for them Thou that didst justifie the contrite Publican for Four Words of confession and received'st the Prodigal Child when he had spent all the stock of thy grace into favour upon his repentance pardon my sins likewise O Lord and suffer me not to perish for my transgressions O spare me and receive me into thy favour again Wilâ— thou O Lord reject me who hast received all Publicans Harlots and Sinners that upon repentance sued to thee for grace Shall I alone be excluded from thy mercy Far be it from me to think so for thou art the same God of mercy unto me that thou wast unto them and thy compassions never fail Wherefore O Lord deal not with me after my merits but according to thy great mercy Execute â—ot thy severe Justice against me a sinner but exercise thy long-sufferance in forbearing thine own creature I have nothing to present unto thee for a satisfaction but only those Bloody Wounds bitter Death and Passion which thy blessed Son my only Saviour hath suffered for me Him in whom only thou art well pleased I offer unto thee for all my sins wherewith thou art displeased Him my Mediator the Request of whose Blood speaking better things than that of Abel thy mercy can never gain-say Illuminate my understanding and sanctifie my heart with thy holy Spirit that it may bring to my remembrance all those good and profitable lessons which this day and at other times have been taught me out of thy holy Word that I may remember thy Commandments to keep them thy Judgments to avoid them aâ—d thy sweet Promises to rely upon them in time of misery and distress And now O Lord I resign my self to thy most holy Will O receive me into thy favour and so draw me by thy grace unto thy self that I may as well be thine by love and imitation as by calling and creation and give me grace so to keep holy thy Sabbaths in this life as that when this life is ended I may with all thy Saints and Angels celebrate an eternal Sabbath of joys and praise to the honour of thy most glorious Name in thy heavenly Kingdom for evermore Amen And then calling thy Family together shut up the Sabbath with the Meditations and Prayers before prescribed for thy Family And the Lord will give thee 〈◊〉 Night a more sweet and quiet rest than ordinary and prosper thee the better in all the labours of the week following Thus far of the ordinary
Blood And by the frequent use of this Communion Paul will have us to make a shew of the Lord's death till he come from Heaven and till we as Eagles shall be caught up into the air to meet him who is the blessed Carkase and Life of our Souls Thirdly The spiritual Graces are likewise two the Body of Christ as it was with the feeling of God's anger due to us crucified and his blood as it was in the like sort shed for the remission of their sins They are also in number two but in use one viz. whole Christ with all his benefits offered to all and given indeed to the faithful These are the Three integral parts of this blessed Sacrament the Sign the Word and the Grace The Sign without the Word or the Word without the Sign can do nothing and both conjoyned are unprofitable without the Grace signified but all Three concurring make an effectual Sacrament to a worthy Receiver Some receive the outward Sign without the spiritual Grace as Judas who as Austin saith received the bread of the Lord but not the bread which was the Lord. Some receive the spiritual Grace without the outward Sign as the Saint-Thief on the Cross and innumerable of the faithful who dying desire it but cannot receive it through some external impediments but the worthy Receivers to their comfort receive both in the Lord's-Supper Christ chose Bread and Wine rather than any other Elements to be the outward Signs in this blessed Sacrament first because they are easiest for all sorts to attain unto Secondly to teach us that as man's temporal life is chiefly nourished by bread and cherished by wine so are our Souls by his body and blood sustained and quickned unto eternal Life Christ appointed Wine with the Bread to be the outward Signs in this Sacrament to teach us first that as the perfect nourishment of Man's Body consists both of meat and drink so Christ is unto our Souls not in part but in perfection both salvation and nourishment Secondly that by seeing the Sacramental Wine apart from the Bread we should remember how all his precious blood was spilt out of his blessed body for the remission of our sins The outward signs the Pastor gives in the Church and thou dost eat with the mouth of thy body the spiritual grace Christ reacheth from Heaven and thou must eat it with the mouth of thy Faith 3. Of the Ends for which this holy Sacrament was ordained The excellent and admirable Ends or Fruits for which this blessed Sacrament was ordained are seven Of the first End of the Lord's-Supper 1. To keep Christians in a continual remembrance of that propitiatory sacrifice which Christ once for all offered by his death upon the Cross to reconcile us unto God Do this saith Christ in remembrance of me And saith the Apostle As oft as ye shall eat this bread and drink this cup ye do shew the Lord's death till he come And he saith that by this Sacrament and the Preaching of the Word Jesus Christ was so evidently set forth before the eyes of the Galatians as if he had been crucified among them for the whole action representeth Christ's death the breaking of the bread blessed the crucifying of his blessed body and the pouring forth of the sanctifyed wine the shedding of his holy blood Christ was once in himself really offered but as oft as the Sacrament is celebrated so oft is he spiritually offered by the faithful Hence the Lord's Supper is called a propitiatory Sacrifice not properly or really but figuratively because it is a memorial of that propitiatory Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Cross. And to distinguish it from that real Sacrifice the Fathers call it the * unbloody Sacrifice It is also called the Eucharist because that the Church in this Action offereth unto God the Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for her Redemption effected by the true and only expiatory Sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross. If the sight of Moab's King sacrificing on his walls his own son to move his Gods to rescue his 2 King 3. 27. moved the assailing Kings to such pity that they ceas'd the assault and raised their siege how should the spiritual sight of God the Father sacrificing on the Cross his only begotten Son to save thy soul move thee to love God thy Redeemer and to leave sin that could not in justice be expiated by any meaner ransom Of the second end of the Lord's Supper 2. To confirm our Faith For God by this Sacrament doth signifie and seal unto us from Heaven that according to the promise and new covenant which he hath made in Christ he will truly receive into his grace and mercy all penitent believers who duly receive this holy Sacrament and that for the merits of the death and passion of Christ he will as verily forgive them all their sins as they are made partakers of this Sacrament In this respect the holy Sacrament is called The seal of the new Covenant and remission of sins In our greatest doubts we may therefore receiving this Sacrament undoubtedly say with Samson's Mother If the Lord would kill us he would not have received a burnt-offering and a meat-offering at our hands neither would he have shewed us all these things nor would at this time have told us such things as these Of the third end of the Lord's Supper 3. To be a pledge and symbol of the most near and effectual communion which Christians have with Christ. the Cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ that is a most effectual sign and pledge of our Communion with Christ This union is called abiding in us joyning to the Lord dwelling in our hearts and set forth in the holy Scriptures by divers Similes 1. Of the Vine and branches 2. Of the head and body 3. Of the foundation and building 4. Of one Loaf confected of many Grains 5. Of the matrimonial union 'twixt Man and Wife and such like And it is threefold betwixt Christ and Christians The first is natural betwixt our Humane Nature and Christ's Divine Nature in the Person of the Word The second is mystical betwixt our Persons absent from the Lord and the Person of Christ God and Man in one mystical Body The third is celestial betwixt our Persons present with the Lord and the Person of Christ in a body glorified These three Conjunctions depend each upon other For had not our Nature been first Hypostatically united to the Nature of God in the second Person we could never have been united to Christ in a Mystical Body And if we be not in this life though absent united to Christ by a Mystical Union we shall never have Communion of glory with him in his
are always in my sight Oh what a wretched sinner am I void of all goodness by nature and full of evil by sinful custom Oh what a world of sin have I committed against thee whilst thy long-sufferance expected my conversion and thy blessings wooed me to repentance Yet O my God seeing it is thy property more to respect the goodness of thine own nature than the deserts of sinners I beseech thee O Father for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake and for the merits of that all saving death which he hath voluntarily suffered for all which believe in him Have mercy upon me according to the multitude of thy mercies turn thy face away from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities Cast me not out of thy presence neither reward me according to my deserts For if thou dost reject me who will receive me or who will succour me if thou dost forsake me But thou O Lord art the helper of the helpless and in thee the fatherless findeth mercy for though my sins be exceeding great yet thy mercy O Lord far exceedeth them all neither can I commit so many as thy grace can remit and pardon Wash therefore O Christ my sins with the vertue of thy precious Blood especially those sins which from a penitent heart I have confessed unto thee but chiefly O Lord for Christ his sake forgive me And seeing that of thy love thou didst lay down thy life for my ransom when I was thine enemy Oh save now the price of thine own Blood when it shall cost thee but a smile upon me or a gracious appearance in thy Father's sight in my behalf Reconcile me once again O merciful Mediator unto thy Father for though there be nothing in me that can please him yet I know that in thee and for thy sake he is well pleased with all whom thou acceptest and lovest And if it be thy blessed Will remove this sicknes from me and restore me to my former health again that I may live longer to set forth thy glory and to be a comfort to my friends which depend upon me and to procure to my self a more setled assurance of that heavenly inheritance which thou hast prepared for me And then Lord thou shalt see how religiously and wisely I shall redeem the time which heretofore I have so lewdly and prophanely spent And to the end that I may the sooner and the easier be delivered from this pain and sickness direct me O Lord I beseech thee by thy divine providence to such a Physician and helper as that by thy blessing upon the means I may recover my former health and welfare again And good Lord vouchsafe that as thou hast sent this sickness unto me so thou wouldst likewise be pleased to send thy holy Spirit into my heart whereby this present sickness may be sanctified unto me that I may use it as thy School wherein I may learn to know the greatness of my misery and the riches of thy mercy that I may be so humbled at the one that I despair not of the other and that I may so renounce all confidence of help in my self or in any other creature that I may only put the whole rest of my salvation in thy all sufficient merits And forasmuch as thou knowest Lord how weak a vessel I am full of frailty and imperfections and that by Nature I am angry and froward under every Cross and Affliction O Lord who art the giver of all good gifts arm me with patience to endure thy blessed will and pleasure and of thy mercy lay no more upon me than I shall be able to endure and suffer Give me grace to behave my self in all patience love and meekness unto those that shall come and visit me that I may thankfully receive and willingly embrace all good counsels and consolations from them and that they may likewise see in me such a good example of Patience and hear from me such godly lessons of comfort as may be arguments of my Christian faith and profession and instructions unto them how to behave themselves when it shall please thee to visit them with the like affliction of sickness I know O Lord I have deserved to die and I desire not longer to live than to amend my wicked life and in some better measure to set forth thy glory Therefore O Father if it be thy blessed will restore me to health again and grant me a longer life But if thou hast according to thine eternal decree appointed by this sickness to call for me out of this transitory life I resign my self into thy hands and holy pleasure thy blessed will be done whether it be by life or by death Only I beseech thee of thy mercy forgive me all my sins and prepare my poor soul that by a true faith and unfeigned repentance she may be ready against the time that thou shalt call for her out of my sick and sinful body O heavenly Father who art the hearer of prayers hear thou in heaven this my prayer and in this extremity grant me these requests not for any worthiness that is in me but for the merits of thy beloved Son Jesus my only Saviour and Mediator for whose sake thou hast promised to hear us and to grant whatsoever we shall ask of thee in his Name In his Name therefore and in his own words I conclude this my imperfect Prayer saying Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed by thy Name c. Having thus reconciled thy self unto God in Christ 1. Let thy next care be to set thy House in order as Esay advised King Hezekias making thy last Will and Testament if it be not already made If it be made then peruse it confirm it and for avoiding all doubts and contention publish it before Wittnesses that if God call for thee out of this life it may stand in force and unalterable as thy last Will and Testament and so deliver it locked or sealed up in some Box to the keeping of a faithful Friend in the presence of honest Witnesses 2. But in making thy Testament take a Religious Divine's Advice how to bestow thy Benevolence and some honest Lawâ—er 's counsel to continue it according to Law Dispatch this before thy sickness doth â—â—crease and thy memory decay lest otherwise thy Testament prove a dotement and so be another man's fancy rather than thy Will 3. To prevent many inconveniences let me recommend to thy discretion two things 1. If God hath blessed thee with any competent state of wealth make thy Will in thy health-time It will neither put thee farther from thy goods nor hasten thee sooner to thy Death but it will be a greater ease to thy mind in freeing thee from a great trouble when thou shalt have most need of quiet for when thy House is set in order thou shalt be better enabled to set thy Soul in order and to dispose of thy
of the sacred names of God but we should thereby be put in mind of his goodness unto us and of our duties unto him And then should we find how comfortable a thing it is to do every thing in the Name of God A phrase usual in every man's tongue but the true comfort thereof through ignorance known to few men's hearts It is a great Wisdom and an unspeakable matter for the strengthening of a Christian's Faith to know how in the mediation of Christ to invocate God by such a Name as whereby he hath manifested himself to be most willing and best able to help and succour him in his preseâ—t need or adversity The ardent desire of knowing God is the surest testimony of our love to God and of Gods favour to us Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deilver him I will set him on high because he hath known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him c. And it is a great strengthening of faith with understanding to begin every action in the Name of God Thus far of the nominal Attributes The real Attributes are of two sorts either absolute or relative The absolute Attributes are such which cannot in any sort agree to any Creature but to God alone These are two simpleness and infiniteness Simpleness is that whereby God is void of all composition division multiplication accidents or parts compounding either sensible or intelligible so that whatever he is he is the same essentially It hinders not God's simpleness that he is three because God is three not by composition of parts but by co-existence of Persons Infiniteness is that whereby all things in God are void of all measure limitation and bounds above and beneath before and after From these two do necessarily flow three other Absolute Attributes 1. Vnmeasurableness or ubiquity whereby he is of infinite extension filling heaven and earth containing all places and not contained of any space place or bounds and being no where absent is every where present There are four degrees of God's â—resence the first is universal by which God is repletively every where inclusively no where Secondly Special by which God is said to be in Heaven because that there his Power Wisdom and Goodness is in a more excellent manner seen and enjoyed as also because that usually he doth from â—hence pour forth his Blessings and Judgments Thirdly more special by which God dwelleth in his Saints Fourthly more special and altogether singular by which the whole fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in Christ bodily 2. Vnchangeableness whereby God is void of all change both in respect of his Essence and Will. 3. Eternity whereby God is without beginning of days or end of time and without all bounds of precession or succession Thus far of the absolute Attributes now of the relative or such which have reference to the Creatures Those are five 1. Life 2. Vnderstanding 3. Will. 4. Power 5. Majesty 1. THe Life of God is that by which as by a most pure and perpetual Act he not only liveth of himself but is also that ever and over-flowing Fountain of life from which all Creatures derive their lives so as that in him they live move breath and have their being And because only his Life differs not from his Essence therefore God is said only to have Immortality 1 Tim. 6. 16. 2. The Vnderstanding or Knowledge of God is that whereby by one pure act he most perfectly knoweth in himself all things that ever were are or shall be Yea the thoughts and imaginations of Mens hearts This Knowledge of God is either general by which God knoweth simply all things eternally the good by himself the evil by the good opposite to it imposing to things contingent the Lot of contingency and to things necessary the Law of necessity And thus knowing all things in and of himself he is the cause of all the knowledge that is in all both Men and Angels Or secondly special called the knowledge of approbation by which he particularly knoweth and graciously acknowledgeth only his Elect for his own Vnderstanding also contains the Wisdom of God by which he most wisely created all things of nothing in number measure and weight and still ruleth and disposeth them to serve his own most holy purpose and glory 3. The Will of God is that whereby of necessity he willeth himself as the soveraign good and by willing himself willeth most freely all other good things which are out of himself The Will of God though in it self it be but one as in his Essence yet in respect of the diversity of Objects and Effects it is call'd in the Scriptures by divers names as 1. Love whereby is meant God's eternal good Will whereby he ordaineth his Elect to be freely saved through Christ and bestoweth on them all necessary graces for this life and that to come taking pleasure in their persons and services 2. Justice is Gods constant Will whereby he recompenseth Men and Angels according to their works punishing the impenitent according to their deserts called the justice of his wrath and rewarding the faithful according to his promises called the justice of his Grace 3. Mercy which is God's mere Good Will and ready affection to forgive a penitent sinner notwithstanding all his sins and ill deserts 4. Goodness whereby God willingly communicateth his good with his Creatures and because he communicates it freely it is termed grace 5. Truth whereby God willeth constantly those things which he willeth effecting and performing all things which he hath spoken in his appointed time 6. Patience whereby God willingly forbeareth to punish the wicked so long as it may stand with his justice and until their sins be ripened Ad poenam tardus Deus est ad praemia velox Sed pensare solet vi graviore moram 7. Holiness whereby God's Nature is separated from all prophaneness and abhorreth all filthiness and so being wholly pure in himself delighteth in the inward and outward purity and chastity of his servants which he infuseth into them 8. Anger whereby is meant God's most certain and just Will in chastening the Elect and in revenging and punishing the Reprobate for the injuries they offer to him and his chosen and when God will punish with rigour and severity then it is termed Wrath temporal to the Elect eternal to the Reprobates 4. The Power of God is that whereby he can simply and freely do whatsoever he will that is agreeable to his nature and whereby as he hath made so he still ruleth heaven and earth and all things therein This Almighty power of God is either absolute by which he can will and do more than he willeth or doth Matth. 3. 9. and 20. 53. Rom. 9. 18. Or actual
by which God doth indeed whatsoever he will and hindreth whatsoever he will not have done Psal. 115. 3. 5. Majesty is that by which God of his own absolute and free authority reigneth and ruleth as Lord and King over all Creatures visible and invisible having both the right and propriety in all things as from whom and for whom are all things as also such a plenitude of Power that he can pardon the offences of all whom he will have spared and subdue all his Enemies whom he will have plagued and destroyed without being bound to render to any Creature a reason of his doing but making his own most holy and just Will his only most perfect and eternal Law From all these Attributes ariseth one which is God's soveraign blessedness or perfection Blessedness is that perfect and unmeasurable possession of joy and glory which God hath in himself for ever and is the cause of all the bliss and perfection that every creature enjoys in its measure There are other Attributes figuratively and improperly ascribed unto God in the Holy Scriptures as by an Anthropomorphosis the members of a man eyes ears Nostrils mouth hands feet c. or the senses and actions of man as seeing hearing smelling working walking striking c. By an Antropopatheia the affections and passions of a man as gladness grief joy sorrow love hatred c. or by an Analogie as when he is named a Lyon a Rock a Tower a Buckler c. Whose signification every Commentary will express Of all these Attributes we must hold these general Rules NO Attribute can sufficiently express the Essence of God because it is infinite and ineffable Whatsoever therefore is spoken of GOD is not GOD but serveth rather to help â—ur weak Understanding to conceive in â—uâ— Reason and to utter in our Speech â—he Majesty of his Divine Nature so far as â—e hath vouchsafed to reveal himself unto â—s in his Word 2. All the Attributes of God belong to very of the three Persons as well as to the Essence it self with the limitations of a â—ersonal propriety As the mercy of the Father is mercy begetting the mercy of the â—on is mercy begotten the mercy of the H. â—host is mercy proceeding and so of the rest 3. The Essential Attributes of God difâ—er not from his Essence because they are â—o in the Essence that they are the very Essence it self In God therefore there â—s nothing which is not either his Essence â—r Person 4. The Essential Attributes of God difâ—er not Essentially or Really one from anoâ—her because whatsoever is in God is â—ne most simple Essence and one admits no â—ivision but only in our reason and underâ—â—anding which being not able to know â—arthly things by one simple Act without â—he help of many distinct Acts must of â—ecessity have the help of many distinct Acts to know the incomprehensible GOD. Therefore to speak properly there are â—ot in God many Attributes but one only which is nothing else but the Divine Esâ—ence it self by what Attributes soever you all it But in respect of our reason they â—re said to be so many different Attributes for â—ur understanding conceives by the name of mercy a thing differing from that which is called justice The Essential Attributes of God are not therefore reallâ— separate 5. The Essential Attributes of God are no parts or qualities of the Divine Essence nor Accidents in the Essence nor a Subject but the very whole and entire Essence of God So that every such Attribute is no aliud aliud another and another thing but one and the same thing There are therefore no Quantities in God by which he may be said to be so much and so much nor Qualities by which he may be said to be such and such but whatsoever God is He is such and the same by his Essence By his Essence he is wise and therefore Wisdom it self By his Essence he is good and therefore Goodness it self by his Essence he is merciful and therefore Mercy it self By his Essence he is just and therefore Justice it self c. In a word God is greaâ— without quantity good true and just without quality merciful without passion aâ— act without motion every where present without sight without time the fiâ—st and the last the Lord of all Creatures from whom all receive themselves and aâ— the good they have yet neither needed nor receiveth he any increase of goodnesâ— or happiness from any other This is the plain description of God so far as he hath revealed himself to us in his Word This Doctrine of all other every true Practitioner of Piety must competently know and necessarily believe for four special uses 1. That we may discernour true and only God from all false Gods and Idols for the Description of God is properly known only to his Church in whom he hath thus graciously manifested himself 2. To possess our hearts with a greater awe of his Majesty whilst we admire him â—or his simpleness and infiniteness adore him for his unmeasurableness unchangeableness and Eternity seek wisdom from his underâ—tanding and knowledge submit our selves to his blessed will and pleasure love him for his â—ove mercy goodness and patience trust to his word because of his truth fear him for his Power Justice and Anger reverence him â—or his Holiness and praise him for his Blesâ—edness and to depend all our life on him who is the only Author of our Life Being â—nd all the good things we have 3. To stir us up to imitate the Divine â—pirit in his holy Attributes and to bear in some measure the image of his Wisâ—om Love Goodness Justice Mercy Truth â—atience Zeal and Anger against sin that â—e may be wise loving just merciful true â—atient and zealous as our God is 4. Lastly That we may in our Prayers â—nd Meditations conceive aright of his Diâ—â—ne Majesty and not according to those â—â—oss and blasphemous imaginations which naturally arise in Mens Brains as wheâ— they conceive God to be like an old Man sitting in a Chair and the blessed Trinity to bâ— like that tripartite Idol which Papists havâ— painted in their Church-Windows When therefore thou art to pray untâ— God let thine Heart speak unto him as tâ— that Eternal Infinite Almighty Holy Wise Just Merciful Spirit and moâ— Perfect indivisible Essence of three severâ—â— Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost wâ— being present in all places ruleth Heaveâ— and Earth understandeth all mens heart knoweth all mens miseries and is only able bestow on us all graces which we want and deliver all penitent sinners who with faithfâ— hearts seek for Christ's sake his help out all their afflictions and troubles whatsoever The ignorance of this true knowledgâ— of God maketh many to make an Idol the True God and is the only cause wâ—â— so
believe life everlasting but also Edo vitam eternam I eat life everlasting And indeed this is the true Tree of life which God hath planted in the midst of the Paradise of the Church And whereof he hath promised to give every one that overcometh to eat And this Tree of life by infinite degrees excelleth the Tree of life that grew in the Paradise of Eden for that had his root in the Earth this from Heaven that gave buâ— life to the Body this to the Soul that did but preserve the life of the living this restoreth life to the dead The leaves of this tree heal the nations of believers and it yields every month a new manner of fruit which nourisheth them to life everlasting Oh blessed are they who often eat of this Sacrament at least once every month taste anew of this renewing fruit which Christ hath prepared for us at his Table to heal our infirmities and to confirm our belief of life everlasting Of the seventh end of the Lord's-Supper 7. To bind all Christians as it were by an oath of fidelity to serve the one only true God and to admit no other propitiatony sacrifice for sins but that one real sacrifice which by his death Christ once offered and by which he finishâ—d the sacrifices of the Law and effected eternal Redemption and Righteousness for all believers And so to remain for ever a publick mark of profession to distinguish Christians from all Sects and false Religions And seeing that in the Mâ—ss there is a strange Christ adored not he that was born of the Virgin Mary but one that is made of a Wafer Cake and that the offering up of this breaden god is thrust upon the Church as a Propitiatory Sâ—crifice for the quick and the dead all true Christians upon the danger of wilful perjury before the Lord Chief Justice of heaven and earth are to detest the Mass as the Idol of Indignation which is most derogatory to the all-sufficient world-saving merits of Christ's Death and Passion For by receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper we all swear that all real Sacrifices are ended by our Lord's death and that his body and blood once crucified and shed is the perpetual food and nourishment of our Souls 2. How to consider thine own unworthiness A Man shall best perceive his own unworthiness by examining his life according to the Ten Commandments of Almighty God Search therefore what duties thou hast omitted and what vices thou hast committed contrary to every one of the Commandments remembring that without repentance and God's mercy in Christ the Curse of God containing all the miseries of this life and everlasting torments in hell fire when this is ended is due to the breach of the least of God's Commandments And having taken a due survey both of thy sins and miseries retire to some secret place and there putting thy self in the sight of the Judge as a guilty malefactor standing at the Bar to receive his Sentence bowing thy knees to the earth smiting thy breast with thy fists and â—edewing thy cheeks with thy tears confess thy sins and humbly ask him mercy and forgiveness in these or the like words An humble confession of sins to be made unto God before the receiving of the holy Communion O God and heavenly Father when I consider the goodness which thou hast ever shewed unto me and the wickedness which I have committed against heaven and against thee I am ashamed of my self and confusion seems to cover my face as a veil for which of thy Commandments have I not transgressed O Lord I stand here guilty of the breach of all thy holy Laws For the love of my heart hath not so intirely cleaved unto thy * Majesty as to vain and earthly things I have not feared thy judgments to deterr me from sins nor trusted to thy promises to keep me from doubting of my temporal or from despairing of mine eternal state I have made the rule of thy divine worship to be what my mind thought fit not what thy Word prescribed finding my heart more prone to remember my blessed Saviour in a painted Picture of Man's device rather than to be behold him crucified in his Word and Sacraments after his own ordinance Where I should never use thy Name whereat all knees do bow but with religious reverence nor any part of thy worship without due preparation and zeal I have blasphemously abused thy holy Name to rash and customary oaths yea I have used oaths by thy sacred name as false covers of my filthy sins And I have been present at thy Service oft-times more for ceremony than conscience and to please Men more than to please thee my gracious God Where I should sanctifie thy Sabbath-day by being present at the publick exercises of the Church and by meditating privately on the word and works of God and by visiting the sick and relieving of my poor brethren alas I have thought those holy Exercises a burden because they hindred my vain sports yea I have spent many of thy Sabbaths in my own prophane Pleasures without being present at any part of thy divine worship Where I should have given all due reverence to my Natural Ecclesiastical and Politick Parents I have not shewed that measure of duty and affection to my Parents which their care and kindness hath deserved I have not had thy Ministers in such singular love for their works sake as I ought but I have taunted at their zeal and hated them because they reproved me justly And I have carried my self contemptuously against thy Mâ—gistrates and Ministers though I knew that it is 〈◊〉 ordinance that I should be obedient unto them Where I should be slâ—w to wrath and ready to forgive offences and not 〈◊〉 the Sun to go down upon my wrath but to 〈◊〉 good for evil loving my very enemies for thy sake I alas for one sorry word have burst out into open rage and harbouring thoughts of mischief in my heart I have preferred to feed on mine own malice rather than to eat of thy holy Supper Where I should keep my Mind from all filthy lusts and my Body from all uncleanness O Lord I have defiled both and made my Heart a Cage of all impure thoughts and my Mind a very stâ—e of the unclean Spirit Yea the remedy which thou Lord hast ordained for incontinency could not contain me within the bounds of Chastity for by doting on beauty whose grounds is but dust Satan hath bewitched my flesh to lust after strange flesh Where I should have lived in uprightness givâ—ng every Man his due being contented with mine own Estate and living consâ—ionably in my lawful Calling should be ready according to mine Ability to lend and give unto the Poor O Lord I have by oppression extortion bribes cavillation and other indirect dealings under