occasions of Delight gives more light to our Knowledge more heat to our Affections and more life to our Devotion Repentance and holy Living wherewith we ought to begin proceed and end every Year and Day to our last hour Thus may we grow to be as we ought Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth and out of a right estimation of all earthly Things into a sweet fruition of invisible Comforts In a word thus we see our Saviour with Stephen talk with God as Moses and are ravish'd with St. Paul into Paradice and so qualify'd for the eternal Hallelujahs above A Morning Prayer for Family or Closet extracted out of the Whole Duty of Man and our holy Liturgy c. and composed according to that most excellent Form which our Lord Jesus hath taught and left us Mat. 6.9 O Thou that hearest Prayer unto whom all Flesh should come have thou respect unto the Prayers of thy Servants and to our Supplications O Lord our God to hearken unto the cry and to the Prayers which thy Servants pray before thee this day 1 King 8.28 O Lord who dwellest in the highest Heavens thou art the Author of our Being thou hast also begotten us again unto a lively Hope and carryest towards us the tenderness and Bowels of a compassionate Father O make us to render to thee the Love and Obedience of Children and that we may resemble thee our Father in Heaven that place of true Delight and Purity give us an holy Disdain of all the deceitful Pleasures and foul Pollutions of this World and so raise up our Minds that we may always have our Conversation in Heaven from whence we look for our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Strike such an awe in our Hearts that we may humbly reverence thee in thy Name which is great wonderful and holy and carry such a sacred respect to all things that relate to thee and thy Worship as may express our Reverence to thy great Majesty Let all the People praise thee O God yea let all the People praise thee in a firm Belief due Sense and grateful Acknowledgment of all thy wonderful Works of Providence particularly let us praise thee for our common Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life but above all for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for the happy and visible means of Grace and hope of Glory so miraculously continued to us within the Pale of an holy Communion in the due Administration of thy sacred Word and Ordinances And now thus more particularly O Father of Mercies let us thine unworthy Servants render thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness as to all Men so to us and ours day and night here mentioned particular Blessings both spiritual and temporal For these and all thy gracious Wonders of the right hand and the left tending to this life and a better let our Souls magnifie the Lord and all that is within us praise his holy Name Establish thy Throne and rule for ever in our Souls and by the power of thy grace subdue those Rebellious Corruptions that exalt themselves against thee they are those Enemies of thine which would not thou shouldst reign over them O let them be brought forth and slain before thee and make us such faithful Subjects of this thy Kingdom of Grace that we may be capable of thy Kingdom of Glory and Lord Jesus come quickly Enable us by thy grace chearfully to suffer thy will in all thy Afflictions and readily to perform it in all thy Commands give us of that heavenly Zeal to thy Service wherewith the blessed Angels of thy presence are inspired that we may obey thee with the like fervour and alacrity and that following them in their Obedience we may be join'd with them to sing eternal Praises in thy Kingdom to God and to the Lamb for ever And O merciful God who hast made all Men and hatest nothing that thou hast made nor wouldest the death of a sinner but rather that he should be converted and live have mercy upon all Jews Turks Infidels and Hereticks and take from them all ignorance hardness of heart and contempt of thy Word and so fetch them home blessed Lord to thy Flock that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites and be made one fold under one Shepherd Jesus Chrit our Lord. O incorporate all Mankind into thy holy Church and regenerate all with thy Holy Spirit receiving us for thine own Children by Adoption and thus graft in our Hearts the love of thy Name encrease in us true Religion nourish us with all Goodness and of thy great mercy keep us in the same and give unto us the encrease of Faith Hope and Charity and that we may obtain that which thou dost promise make us to love that which thou dost command Give us that continual supply of thy grace which may sustain and nourish our Souls unto eternal Life and be thou pleased also to provide for our Bodies all those things which thou seest fit for their support thro' this our earthly Pilgrimage and make us chearfully to rest on thee for them first seeking thy Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof and then not doubting but all these things shall be added unto us O God the Protector of all that trust in thee without whom nothing is strong nothing holy encrease and multiply upon us thy mercy that thou being our Ruler and Guide we may so pass through things temporal that we finally lose not the things eternal Prevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious Favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continu'd and ended in thee we may glorify thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting Life Grant O Lord that the course of this World may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness And grant that all those who do lean only upon the hope of thy heavenly grace may evermore be defended by thy mighty power Heal our Souls O Lord for we have sinned against thee let thy tender Mercies abound towards us in the forgiveness of all our Offences Here mention particular Transgressions And grant O Lord that we may never forfeit this pardon of thine by denying our's to our Brethren but give us those Bowels of Compassion to others which we stand in so much greater need of from thee that we may forgive as fully and finally upon Christ's Command and Example as we desire to be forgiven for his Merits and Intercession O Lord we have no strength against those multitudes of Temptations that daily assault us only our eyes are upon thee O be thou pleased either to restrain them or assist us and in thy faithfulness suffer us not to be tempted above that we are able but in all our Temptations make us a way to escape
Glorious Trinity three Persons and one God look down from Heaven the habitation of thy Holiness and of thy Glory with Mercy upon us miserable sinners and purifie we beseech thee our carnal Hearts enlighten our Understandings and exalt our Affections to a pious Contemplation of thy glorious Attributes to a Religious sense and admiration of all thy wonderful Works and condescending gracious Benefits to Mankind Thus let us learn in the profoundest Reverence to adore and magnifie thy holy Name And thus let us bless and praise thee for our Reason and Senses Health and Strength Food and Raiment with all the temporal Comforts and Necessaries of this Life Particularly for the Mercies of this Day c. But most especially for thy spiritual Blessings and for the Fountain and Foundation of them all thy miraculous and inestimable Love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for all the means of grace and hope of glory O Father of mercies thou art kind even to the unthankful yea thus must we ever acknowledge our selves to have abundantly experimented that gracious goodness of thine For notwithstanding our daily Provocations against thee thou still heapest mercy and loving kindness upon us All our Contempts and Despisings of thy spiritual Favours have not yet made thee withdraw them but in the riches of thy goodness and long-suffering thou still continuest to us the offers of grace and life in thy Son And all our abuses of thy temporal Blessings thou hast not punished with an utter deprivation of them but art still pleased to afford us a liberal portion of them The Sins of this day thou hast not repay'd as justly thou might'st by sweeping us away with a swift destruction but hast spared and preserved us according to the greatness of thy mercy Here mention all particular Blessings What shall we render unto the Lord for all these benefits he hath done unto us Lord let this goodness of thine lead us to Repentance and grant that we may not only offer thee thanks and praise but may also order our Conversations aright that so we may at last see the Salvation of God Grant that we may render thee not only the fruit of our lips but the obedience of our lives that so these Blessings here might be an Earnest of those richer Blessings thou hast prepared for them that love thee in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee mercifully grant O God that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts to withstand the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee the only God And thus may it please thee to endow our Souls with these heavenly Graces and Vertues of Faith Hope Love Sincerity Devotion Humility Fear Trust Thankfulness Contrition Meekness Chastity Temperance Contentedness Diligence Justice Charity and perseverance in all good O thus be pleased to make us partakers of thy Kingdom of Grace here and Glory hereafter And thus reign in our hearts by thy Graces now that thou mayest receive us into thy blissful Mansions above Oh! let there be always Oyl in our Vessels and our Lamps burning ready to attend our glorious Bridegroom at the uncertain hour of his coming either to Death or Judgment And O everlasting God who hast constituted and ordain'd the Services of Angels and Men in a wonderful order mercifully grant that as thy holy Angels alway do thee Service in Heaven so by thy appointment they may succour and defend us on Earth And that we may ever imitate their chearful and absolute obedience to thy Commands till we are translated hence to sing with them the everlasting Hallelujahs And O Almighty God who seest that we have no power of our selves to help our selves in thy bountiful goodness provide for us daily and keep us both outwardly in our Bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may constantly be supported in both and may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the Body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul O continue ever to feed our Souls with the due and solemn administration of thy holy Word and Sacraments and with all those happy means of Grace and Salvation thou hast blessed us with in the Communion of thy holy Church which enable us to observe thankfully and devoutly especially in thy visible publick Worship O may all both Priests and People unanimously and piously offer up the constant Sacrifices of Praise and Prayer duly celebrate thy Sabbaths and holy Days and frequently approach as worthy Guests to thy holy Table thus often commemorating and beseeching thee O Christ O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the World to grant us thy peace and have mercy upon us and never remove thy Candlestick from us miserable Sinners And be thou pleased to provide for our Bodies Food and Raiment with whatever else thou seest convenient and necessary for our well-being here giving us grateful and contented hearts for all and guiding us in such a right use of all as may tend most to thy honour and glory and our eternal welfare And O Merciful God who hast made all Men hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all them that are Penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all Mercy perfect Remission and Forgiveness and thus O Lord we beseech thee to Absolve us from our Offences that we may be deliver'd from the Bonds of those Sins which by our frailty we have committed especially this Day c. O Lord we bewail all these our manifold Sins and Wickednesses which we from time to time most grievously have committed by Thought Word and Deed against thy Divine Majesty most justly provoking thy Wrath and Indignation against us O Lord mercifully relieve us by the comfort of thy Grace and grant unto us and to all thy Faithful People Pardon and Peace that we may be cleansed from all our Sins and serve thee with a quiet Mind And thus too we pray thee O God to enable us entirely to forgive at all times as we desire to be forgiven to do in all things as we would be done by and so to love one another that all Men may know us to be Christ's Disciples O thus may our Light so Shine before Men that they may see our Good Works and Glorifie our Father which is in Heaven Thus O Lord Jesus come quickly and deliver us by the Mystery of thy Holy Incarnation by thy Holy Nativity and Circumcision by thy Baptism Fasting and Temptation By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat by thy Cross and Passion by thy Pretious Death and Burial by thy Glorious Resurrection and Ascention and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost And Good Lord Deliver us In all time of our
Tribulation in all time of our Wealth in the Hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment O God who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers that we cannot always stand upright grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers and carry us through all Temptations And O God who art the Author of Peace and Lover of Concord give unto us thy humble Servants that peace which the World cannot give O deliver us from te fear of all our Enemies both Spiritual and Temporal that we pass our time in rest and quietness and lighten our darkness we be beseech thee O Lord and by thy great Mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this Night and now and evermore be pleased O Lord to save us and all Mankind in all dangers Ghostly and Bodily and to keep us from all Sin and Wickedness and from our Ghostly Enemy and from everlasting Death And particularly we pray thee O blessed Lord whose Mercy is over all thy Works to have Mercy upon all Men and grant that the Pretious Ransom which was paid by thy Son for all may be effectual to the saving of all Give thy inlightning Grace to those that are in Darkness and thy Converting Grace to those that are in Sin Look with thy tenderest Compassions upon the Universal Church O be favourable and gracious unto Sion build thou the Walls of Jerusalem unite all those that profess thy Name to thee by purity and holiness and to each other by Brotherly Love O blessed Lord how long shall Christendom continue the vilest part of the World a Sink of all those Abominable Pollutions which even Barbarians detest O let not our profession and our Practice be always at so wide a distance Let not the Disciples of the Holy and Immaculate Jesus be of all others the most prophane and Impure Let not the Subjects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the most contentious and bloody but make us Christians in Deed as well as in Name that we may walk worthy of that Holy Vocation wherewith we are called O may all with one Mind and one Mouth Glorifie thee the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Have Mercy on this desolate Church and sinful Nation thou hast moved the Land and divided it heal the Sores thereof for it shaketh Make us so truly to Repent of those Sins which have provoked thy Judgments that thou also may'st turn and repent and leave a Blessing behind thee Bless those whom thou hast appointed our Governours whether in Church or State so rule their hearts and strengthen their hands that they may neither want Will nor Power to punish Wickedness and Vice and to maintain God's true Religion and Vertue Have pity O Lord on all that are in Affliction be a Father to the Fatherless and plead the Cause of the Widow Comfort the Feeble Minded Support the Weak Heal the Sick Relieve the Needy Defend the Oppressed and Administer to every one according to their several Necessities Let thy Blessings rest upon all that are near and dear to us and grant them whatsoever thou seest necessary either to their Bodies or their Souls Here name all Relations c. Reward all those that have done us good and Pardon all those that have done or wish'd us Evil and Work in them and us all that good which may make us acceptable in thy sight through Jesus Christ And O Merciful God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who art the Resurrection and the Life in whom whosoever believeth shall live though he die and whosoever liveth and believeth in him shall not die eternally we meekly beseech thee to raise us all from the Death of Sin to the Life of Righteousness that whenever we depart this life we may rest in him and that at the General Resurrection in the last day we may be found acceptable in thy sight and receive that Blessing which thy Well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear thee saying Come ye blessed Children of my Father receive the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the World Amen Therefore with Angels and Arch-Angels and all the Company of Heaven we Laud and Magnifie thy Holy Name evermore Praising thee and saying Holy holy holy Lord God Allmighty Heaven and Earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory Glory be to thee O God most high And thus Finally we beseech thee O Lord to Pardon the Wandrings and Coldness of these and all our Petitions and deal with us not according either to our Prayers or Deserts but according to our Needs and thine own rich Mercies in Jesus Christ in whose blessed Name and Words we conclude these our imperfect Prayers saying Our Father c. Unto thy Mercy and Protection O God we commit our selves this Night and for evermore O Lord bless and keep us Lord make thy Face to shine upon us and be Gracious unto us Lord lift up thy Countenance upon us and give us Peace both now and evermore Amen Holy Meditations and Vows AS Christ was both a Lamb and a Lyon so is every true Christian a Lamb for Patience in Suffering and Innocence of Life A Lyon for boldness in his Innocency I would so order my Courage and Mildness that I may be neither Lyon-like in my Conversation nor Sheepish in the Defence of a good Cause I will not strive for Victory but for Truth I will keep my Passions bare and Impotent I shall rather Bow than breake to God but for Satan or the World I had rather be broken in pieces with their Violence than suffer my self to be Bow'd unto their Obedience A Just War is a Thousand times more happy than an Ill-condition'd Peace In mine own Wrongs I will hold Patience laudable but in God's Injuries Impious Though I find my Brother this day my Friend and to morrow mine Enemy though my Reputation 's Blasted with the Fire of Hell's Engine the Malitious Tongue though his Corroding Envy and Hatred encrease by Unjust Jealousies though he often deceives me by Hypocrisie and Persecutes me with Inveterate Prejudice yet I will bear all Meekly will forgive him until Seventy times Seven and will ever Love my Neighbour as my Self I had rather wrong my self by Credulity than others by Unjust Censures and Suspitions I will so remit Wrongs as I may not encourage others to offer them and so retain them as I may not induce God to retain mine to him I will ever Believe in Worship and Obey God the Father Son and Holy Ghost I will Piously and Constantly attend the Publick Administration of God's Holy Word and Sacraments I will serve the Lord daily according to his own most Sacred Ordinances and will thus Religiously abide in the Communion of his Church I will Conscientiously observe all our Divine and Human Laws and not meddle with those who are given to Change I will have but this one Care to live well to God's Glory and the Salvation of Souls So let me be Free Noble Rich Wise Happy to God I pass not what I am to the World Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. FINIS
New Prayers AND MEDITATIONS WITH Pious Exhortations FOR Fast-Days Pursuant to their MAJESTIES King WILLIAM and Queen MARY'S Injunctions to Suppress Irreligion and Prophaneness By Tho. Watts Vicar of Orpington and St. Mary Crey in KENT Except ye Repent ye shall all likewise Perish Luke 13.3 5. LONDON Printed for John Salusbury at the Rising Sun in Corn-Hill 1692. THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY TO HIS Ever Honoured Friend the Reverend William Asheton D.D. Rector of Beckenham Reverend and worthy Sir YOur late Approbation of my good and zealous design herein however meanly manag'd by so young helpless and unqualify'd an Author emboldens me to this Publication under your Name which has so well merited of the Christian Church That I cannot but find Protection hereby from the Insolencies and Affronts of Scorn and Prejudice and from all the open Injuries of unjust Censure and uncharitableness Though Pride Worldliness and Hypocrisie may still prove irrefragable and constantly undermine the Plain-dealer Yet alass this Grievance is nothing to that common Infidelity Prophaneness and Irreligion uncontroulably revelling in this confused Age and impudently confronting every thing Just and sacred doing all possible despight to God and his Church This intolerable madness with those many-headed Monsters every where rending Christs seamless Coat cry aloud for speedy suppression or woful vengeance upon a stupid People which latter nothing surely can now prevent but either an Universal Reformation and unanimous Piety or a due execution of Primitive Discipline which the Gospel authorises which our more Zealous and Godly Forefathers exercised under the hottest Persecutions which the Greek Church has all along maintain'd under Turkish Bondage and which alass our holy Establish'd Church could not thus long have only wish'd and annually hop'd for in vain were not here more fatal and general Corruptions and more daring Impiety than any where else as consequently more dreadful will be our Desolation which nothing certainly but Gods infinite mercy through the merits of our gracious Redeemer hearkening to the Prayers and Tears of some faithful Sons of Abraham amongst us hath hitherto delayed Now therefore since only gentle perswasion remains since we are to preach in Season and of Season to Rebuke and Exhort and not wilfully to neglect any means of informing our selves or instructing others And since we must be careful of mistakes and resolvedly honest not to concel any part of our Duty from our Flocks And since it is high time for the Priests the Ministers of the Lord to weep between the Porch and the Altar and to say Spare thy People O Lord and give not thine Heritage to reproach Who can blame me for or how can I excuse my self from such poor endeavours as my double charge and circumstances can allow which otherwise perhaps might produce something more correct and elaborate and thus far more useful c. However give me leave Sir thus to attend you as my Gamaliel and in an humble tho faint imitation and even in as great a distance as your noble endowments and excellent Abilities have set me thus to presume upon admiration of your Zeal and vigilance your Piety and goodness your publick Spirited Charity and Justice your profound Judgment and Prudence and your constant meekness and affability so well know to the World in your many Beneficial Writings and Conversation at home and abroad This without Compliment or flattery which can't be here and which has always been far from my Temper I shall only mention and thus beg your favourable acceptance hereof in Testimony of those many condescending favours bestow'd upon your unworthy and ever Obliged Humble Servant Thomas Watts Orpington Jan. 23. 1692. THE PREFACE TO HIS Beloved Friends AND PARISHIONERS Grace Peace and Love be multiplyed for ever My Friends and Brethren THis small Treatise I present you with now as a seasonable New years gift desiring your candid acceptance and serious perusal hereof and most humbly beseeching our Heavenly Father so to influence us all with the graces of his holy Spirit that we may see our Errors amend our lives daily and both know and do the things which belong to our Peace before they be hid from our Eyes For sudden Desolation or impending Ruin may fall upon us and however Death which is appointed once for all Men will be our infallible Lot and then we shall be past doing our selves any good for in the Grace no Man remembreth God or giveth him thanks in the Pit and after Death follows certain judgment and then we shall have nothing to do but see our selves either sav'd or damn'd to all Eternity Wherefore as we value either and as we believe we have immortal Souls within us which will once be separated from our Bodies and be united to them again in the general Resurrection at the great aad last Assize of all Mankind So we should be careful of our behaviour in this Life and constantly endeavour our utmust Conformity to the will of our Almighty Creator and Redeemer Which all of us must needs in some measure understand and which not the meanest Capacity among us can plead invincible ignorance of and no other is in the least excusable especially under this clear shining Light of the Gospel and the frequent due Administration of Gods Holy Word and Sacraments in the Communion of a visible Church which we have all been long miraculously blessed with insomuch that we above will People in the Earth have the greatest inducements and obligations both upon the safe Principle of our truest Interests and upon the nobler divine Principle of Love and gratitude to worship and obey our mereiful Lord to glorifie his holy Name before the World in an universal and ready performance of our Religious Duties and thus to work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling Yet alass how lukewarm yea how cold and indifferent are the generality of us herein Even to a downright Prophaneness Irreligion in some and a Supine Neglect and Stupidity in others and a superficial careless observance hereof in most How do we thus obstinately or idly contemn and disregard the common means of grace and Salvation ordain'd by our Lord himself in his Church Militant here Wherein to be short all such are most eminently sinful and guilty whom the learned Doctor Sherlock most piously and rationally confutes and instructs in his Practical Discourse of Religions Assemblies a Book worthy the Perusal of every Christian out of which I shall crave leave to enumerate them Aâ—â—l Those who wholly or for the most part absent themselves from the Publick Assemblies of Christians and these are of three sorts First Those who forsake Religious Assemblies out of Prophaneness for want of a due Sense of any Religion or in contempt of it II. Those who forsake Religious Assemblies for want of a due sense of the necessity and advantage of Publick Worship who do not go to Church because they think they can Worship God as well at home in their Closets or Families
Thirdly Those who plead Conscience for their separation and set up distinct Communions of their own Secondly Those who profess to live in Communion with the Church of England and yet are too notoriously guilty of some great miscarriages in Publick Worship Such as these 1st The forsaking the Communion of their Parish Churches without just cause for it Secondly Irreverence in Worship 2dly The neglect of a due attendance on the Publick Prayers of the Church Fourthly The neglect of the Publick Administration of Baptism Fifthly That they neglect or refuse to submit their Children and Servants to publick instructions Sixthly That eithr never receive the Lord's Supper or very rarely The very naming of these things says he must needs convince all Men who have any Sense of Religion how seasonable this Discourse is for there was never any Age wherein there was more need of it And since Religion has so great an Influence upon the government of Mens Lives the neglect or miscarriage of Publick Worship does not only tend to Corrupt Mens manners but has a very ill Aspect upon publick Affairs which you may read in P. 17 18. And so for entire satisfaction in all these particulars I refer you to the excellent Book it self Proceeding to recount some few more scand lous Offenders herein as those who dishonour God defame and injure their Neighbour and defile and ruin their own Souls Bodies and Estates by the commission of such heinous Transgressions as these viz. Blasphemy Perjury common swearing and Cursing propharation of the Lords Day disobedience to Parents either Natural Civil Ecclesiastical or Oeconomical Murder Envy Revenge Malice or any manner of uncharitableness Fornication Adultery Theft Lying Deceit covetousness Oppression Injustice Luxury Pride Drunkenness and any intemperance c. Now here we may observe that there are no Vices or sins more positively and expresly forbidden and condemn'd than these both in all natural and reveal'd Religion in all the Morals of the Ancient Heathens throughout the Old and New Testamen and in our Ecclesiastical Civil and Common Laws particularly ever since Kings and Queens have become Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers to our Church have interwoven her in the Security and Priviledges of the State or Common-wealth and thus freed her from the burning fury and violence of Persecutions insomuch that thus now it becomes the more indispensible duty of all that are in Authority truly and indifferently to minister Justice to the punishment of all such wickedness and vice and to the maintenance of God's true Religion and Vertue which if neglected nothing can be more satal to a sinful Nation since nothing can more daringly provoke Heavens vengeance upon it And now too may we not justly conclude that those persons who will break through all these Sanctions bid defiance to all the dictates of right reason and the sacred injunctions both of God and Man by continuing in those notorious impieties presumptuously or desperately in despight of Justice are the greatest Enemies in the World not only to their own Souls and private concerns but to their Neighbourhood round them and to the publick good of any Church and State As on the other side the truest and best Friends to all are the Godly Righteous and sober persons for may we not find innumerable instances hereof both in reading and observation how God Almighty has recall'd his angry Rod upon the Prayers and Tears of the Righteous or Penitent and has destroy'd whole Cities People and Kingdoms yea and once a whole World for the persisting obstinate wickedness of them that dwelt therein allowing the Just the salvation of their own Souls only And now Lastly to refer the prosecution of these Remarks and exhortations to the Conclusion and to proceed to our Meditation May we not all easily apprehend this chief cause of that stiff-necked and general Iniquity which overspreads our Land viz. The want of consideration of divine Thought or Meditation which renders us rash head-strong and precipitate and even meer unthinking and irrational Animals not but that we are some way reasonable and thoughtful but in that we fix our Minds upon wrong Objects upon meer earthly things and place our treasure and hearts here below madly suffering our selves to be deluded by empty Charms fatal Nothings the fading and transitory Wealth Honour Pleasure and Vanities of this Sublunary World and all the while neglecting the more solid Joys and Raptures of an Immaterial Soul the true Exertion of her Faculties and Powers the right use of that soaring Reason and improvement of that divine Image stampt upon us in our Creation which alone ennobles our Natures and distinguishes us from the Beasts that perish and which alone can render us amiable in the sight of our Heavenly Father and consequently make us truly happy both here and hereafter Oh! this therefore let us all learn and experience in divine Meditation beginning it with the great fundamental Duty of Repentance a Duty always necessary and incumbent upon the best of us since none can pretend to be so Just or Holy as to need no repentance Hereto then I beg your diligent attention Most heartily praying for the Illuminations and Aids of the Holy Ghost to make the words of our Mouth and the Meditations of our Heart always acceptable to God and beneficial to his Church New Prayers AND MEDITATIONS FOR Fast Days c. AWake up my Soul and consider whence thou art What is thy business here and whither thou must go The Entrance Consider whose Image thou bearest after whose likeness and by whom wast thou Created And call to mind what Laws and Commands thine Almighty Father hath imprinted upon and reveal'd unto thee and then remember thy frequent and innumerable Transgressions with the folly and danger thereof Add to this some thoughts of thy great Creators infinite Wisdom Holiness Goodness Justice Mercy how wonderfully hath he contriv'd for thy Felicity With what amazing Condescension hath himself wrought thy Redemption and how he daily calls upon thee for a reasonable and blessed performance of thine own Engagements And now he thus invites thee upon the most gracious terms to fly into the Arms of his Eternal Love And yet how sloathful and backwards thou art How blind and deformed dost thou make thy self And how rebellious loathsome and ungrateful dost thou prove Oh think then what will be the fatal consequences of this stupidity and madness See the roaring Lyon ready to devour thee behold Death the Wages of sin coming to arrest thee and look down upon the Bottomless Gulph of Hell gaping for thee and thus think how thou canst escape their dreadful Jews How thou canst avoid their Terror Sting and endless Tortures but by speedily hearkning to thy Lords merciful Voice immediately turning from thy evil Ways presently bewailing thy Fall and Misery lamenting in dust and ashes and thus exercising timely and unfeigned Repentance Awake then quickly thou drowsie polluted Soul rouse up thy corrupted understanding and