disadvantages that 't is capable of that can part with a Lust tender as the Eye or dear as the Right Hand and break through all the struggles and regret of Interest and Nature to follow the Commands of God that with sorrow beholds the crying Sins of a Nation but with tears and compunction looks upon the share he has in the Publick Guilt 'T is not enough to the Penitent that sorrow covers his Face unless it fill his Heart too that he be angry with his Sin but he parts with it too he not only reflects with confusion on what he has done amiss but flies where-ever his guilt leads him whether to God or his Brother for a Pardon if God be the injured Person his Tears and his Prayers carry his afflicted Soul to the Throne of Grace and a broken and a contrite Heart recommend him to the compassions of his Father if his Brother be the offended restitution or satisfaction are the fruits and marks of his repentance he begs pardon for little Offences or with restitution is willing to buy forgiveness and believes that only to be the useful repentance which calls him back from his Follies to his Duty and steddily conducts him in it that impresses a holy awe and love of God and a just care for his eternal welfare 6. But when Flesh and Blood remonstrate and would draw him back from the ways of repentance the penitent looks upon it not only as a Duty but as consecrated into a Blessing and adores the Goodness that advanced it into the place of Innocence and by so easie and gentle a remedy put it into his Power to recover the Felicity Sin had lost and the advantage preponderates the trouble and he is pleased to be healed though the Physick be churlish If the Enemy or his own Fears magnifie the Difficulty or represent the Work too great or of too little value the Merits of a Saviour come in to his aid and he assures himself that he who gave his Son to die to make him capable of living will give his Spirit to those that ask it with a sincere intention to live 7. Thus the Penitent breaks through all the Difficulties that stand in his way and from debate hastens to experiment the pleasures of being reconciled unto God and in his own Conversion tast the satisfactions which are the subject of the Joys above he opens his Soul to God calls his own and God's ways to remembrance his Guilts and Follies and the Mercies that have out-done them in number have each their place in his Reflections with a sad and pensive Soul he beholds the one and with astonishment the other he is amazed at his Ingratitude and Madness that could return the Goodness of so bountiful a Father in Contempt and Dishonour and serve his Lust on that Goodness to which he owes his very being but his amazement rises higher when he reflects on that unspeakable Mercy that has spared him when he deserved to be punished that has poured new Blessings into his Bosom when he deserved nothing less and pursued him with an unwearied Goodness and invincible Patience through all the Scenes of Sin and Folly and amidst all the Labirynths and Turnings through which his Lusts had led him been so constant in the repetition of his Favours as if he had intended by an incessant love to force a Happiness upon him and with the importunities of a never-failing Goodness not only lead but compel him to repentance This he remembers with astonishment and joy and that it may never be forgotten he breaks through all the importunities of the World to set apart a Portion of his time to redouble the favours of God in fresh reflections upon them 'T is not enough to him that the Sins and Mercies of the Day have every Night a place in his thoughts but he consecrates a Portion of his time to lament the one and adore the Goodness that bestowed the other not a Week passes without a Solemn Hour consecrated to Gratitude and Repentance without a fresh and deliberate account betwixt God and his Soul where Sorrow and Joy where Vows and Prayers and good Resolutions where Mortification and a Holy Revenge have each their places and by judging himself the penitent prevents the terrours of a final judgment and by a wise revenge on himself disarms the Almighty Power to punish 8. Nor do those certain periods of Sorrow so limit the business of the Penitent but his repentance is renewed afresh when a publick calamity calls for it the Fears the Dangers the Afflictions or the crying Sins of a Nation hasten him down into his own Soul he is just and impartial in his enquiry whether he be not that Achan whose Sin drew down the Judgment or the Danger that threatens and believes it a Justice he owes to his Country to lend his Tears and his Prayers to fill up the measures of a National Repentance nay though Wicked as Sodom yet he believes it his Duty to make one amongst those whose righteousness may help to save it the stated or the occasional Fasts of the Church have their due regard he looks upon them as consecrated to Devotion and Repentance to Prayers and Humiliation and his Soul bears a part in the Solemnity he is angry with himself when God is angry with a Nation and believes his displeasure a fit subject for his own and looks upon it as a Duty incumbent upon him to make one amongst those that Mourn in Sion whenever he is called by a just Authority to lament his Anger or implore his Blessings But when all is peace and silent from without the cares of that Immortal Being God has committed to his trust are pressing and importunate from within the dangers that beset him the Temptations that surround him the burden of his Sins and the Sins of his frailties cry aloud for frequent retirements for the ends of Devotion and Repentance and he believes the discharge of his Soul into the Bosom of God so necessary to lessen the burden of his Guilt and a frequent account with himself of such important moment to his last and great account with God that he suffers not the importunity of the World to hinder his retirement and that a Principle of Love and Gratitude and an humble sense of his own demerit may conduct his censure of himself and his addresses to God he reflects on the Mercy and Compassions of God and looks back to his past course of life recollecting his sins and follies every greater transgression is covered with a new sorrow and renews his suit for God's pardon and mercy yet that their guilt and number may not overwhelm his hope of mercy nor his partiality teach him to forget the terms on which 't is offered he entertains himself with the thoughts of God's mercy and the terms on which 't is promised CHAP. II. 1 Meditations on God's mercy to Penitents 2. Prayer for God's assistance 3. Confession of sins
4. Penetential Litany 5. A Prayer for Grace 6. Faith 7. Holiness 8. Preparation for Death and Judgment 9. A Prayer of resignation 10. For the Church 11. Kingdoms 12. People 13. Occasional Prayers to be added A Meditation on the Mercies of God and his gracious promises to penitent Sinners GOD created Man that he might never want an eternal Subject of his mercy that he might have a Being to which to impart his Goodness and distinguish from the rest of the Creation by greater instances of that mercy which is over all his Works And when sin had made a breach betwixt God and Man and his Mercy might have given place to the severer attribute of Justice his Wisdom and Power were set on work to restore sinners to a possibility of that Mercy they had justly forfeited He gave his Son that they might not perish sent him from Heaven to preach Repentance and Remission of their sins and was content he should die to capacitate them to live and the Blessed Jesus that he might be the Image of his Father's Love and Goodness as well as Glory is come on purpose to be the Saviour of them that were lost and that he might be so has constituted an Order of Men to beseech sinners in his stead to be reconciled unto God and not only appointed them to be Guardians of his Truth but Preachers of his Charity who with an undistinguishing Goodness has tendred a pardon to all that return to him by Repentance Has not God said Ezek. 33.11 That he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his sin and be saved and can I think that God can contradict himself and believe 't is his will I should perish when he has said He would have me return and live Has he not said Isai 1.18 Though my sin be as red as scarlet yet if I cease to do evil and learn to do well they shall be white as snow though they be red as crimson they shall be as wool and shall I doubt what God has affirmed Has he not said John 3.16 That he gave his Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life That his death was intended as a sacrifice for all the world or That he tasted death for every man That he would have all men come to the knowledge of his truth that they might be saved and shall I distrust that goodness that is thus frankly tendred to all the world 'T is true I am a sinner but 't is such that need and 't is to such that God has tendred mercy I am a notorious offender but 't is for such Christ has died I am weary and heavy laden and my iniquity is greater than I can bear but 't is to such that Christ has promised rest And shall I rob my self of that mercy which alone can be sufficient for me shall I question that Merit that is enough to save the World or doubt the Goodness which nothing but my own impenitence can deprive me of Oh no! thy Mercy O blessed Father shall be my refuge Thy Merit O blessed Jesus shall be the foundation of my hope and let me never distrust thy Goodness O God my God! Thus the Penitent having fixed in his soul a just Idea of that Penitence God requires and of that unspeakable Goodness and Merit that can give acceptance and value to it hastens to discharge his guilty fears into the bosom that can pity and forgive them 2. His first or Morning Prayer acknowledging God's Mercy and imploring his assistance and acceptance O Most holy and eternal Father by whose Care and Providence I have been preserved the Night passed and by whose Mercy and Favour I have a few hours to live and fit my self to die To thy Name be eternal Thanks and Praise for these and all thy Mercies vouchsafed to me The last Night my Soul might have been required at my hands or in thy Justice thou mightst have taken me in the very act of Sin to the Judgment-seat and not have given me time to speak much less to repent but thou hast let me see that thou canst be good to me though I have been evil that thy patience and forbearance are greater than my provocations and that thou canst have pity on me though I have had too little compassion on my own Soul Lord redouble thy Blessings upon me by sanctifying them to me and teaching me to make a wise and a good use of all the advantages of Instruction and Advice of time and opportunity and all the means of Grace and Repentance thou vouch-safest unto me Bless especially my present endeavours to seek thy peace and favour and teach me so to judge my self that I may not be condemned in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen 3. A Confession of Sins O Almighty God who art a Searcher of the heart and a Trier of the reins and from whom no secrets are hid and yet wouldst have us confess our sins unto thee who art about our Path about our Bed and spiest out all our ways In mercy O Lord look down upon me who in the bitterness and anguish of my Soul come to prostrate my self before thee my sins are in thy sight and my unrighteousness is not hid the frailties of my Nature the corruptions of my Will and the disorders of my Life my abuse of thy Mercies my contempt of thy Judgments my repeated violations of thy holy Laws are more than I am able to express I have neither loved nor served nor obeyed thee as I ought to do I have broke through all the obligations of Duty and Interest to pursue my Lusts and Follies every little temptation has withdrawn me from thy Love and Service whilst thy gracious invitations the mercy of thy promises and assistances of thy Grace and Spirit have all been lost upon me O good God! I am troubled I am ashamed and confounded what shall I do or whither shall I fly how can I hope for thy Mercy that have deserved the rigours of thy Justice But since it is thy will that I should repent and live look down O Lord in mercy upon me who am unfit to look up unto thee and let thy Grace form in me such a sense of my sins that I may hate and forsake them and do thou O Lord according to thy multitude of Mercies do away my offences Lord spare forgive and pity me for Christ Jesus sake Amen 4. A Penitential Litany or short Prayers for Repentance Pardon and Grace O God the Father who wouldst not the death of a sinner have mercy upon me O thou God of Mercy that wouldst have the sinner repent and live give me a due sense of all my sins and then forgive and pity me O thou that wouldst have all men come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved cast me not away from thee O holy Father who didst so love the world that
give up my Account with joy and a just assurance of his favour and love who is my Saviour and my Judge Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen 9. The Penitent's Prayer of Resignation or devoting himself to God O Blessed Father by whose Power all things were made and for whose service and pleasure they were created and in resignation to whose holy will all our felicity consists in mercy look down upon a Prodigal thy Grace and Goodness has brought to a sense of his Duty I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am unworthy to be called thy Child but it is thy will I should return and thou art pleased to receive me as a servant O blessed Father I resign my self to thy service to be disposed as thou seest fittest for me Thine shall be my will I will esteem that wise and holy thou commandest true that thy word promises or affirms just and reasonable thou appointest and will believe it my greatest interest to follow where thou art pleased to call me And here O Lord I offer and present unto thee my Soul and Body to be a holy and a reasonable Sacrifice to thee What thy Grace has made thine let thy Goodness accept and preserve and thy Spirit seal to the day of Redemption for Christ Jesus sake Amen 10. A Prayer for the Church O Blessed Father by whose Wisdom and good Providence thy Truth has been planted and preserved in these Nations In mercy look down upon that Church thy own right hand has planted therein make us so sensible of the advantages of a holy and uncorrupt Faith of the truly pious and decent Worship and the Blessings of uncorrupted and undisguised Truth we enjoy in her Communion that laying aside our Heats and Prejudices we may all study the Peace and Honour of our Holy Mother and our unhappy Divisions give no occasion to the enemies of the Reformation to attempt or hope our Ruine More especially I beseech thee to give me Grace in my place and calling to live an useful Member of this thy Church till thou shalt call me to thy Church in Glory All this I beg for his sake who died for and is the Head of the Church Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen 11. A Prayer for these Kingdoms ALmighty God by whose Providence we are preserved from Confusion and Ruine Forgive our fins and continue thy Mercies towards us and by thy Wisdom and Blessing preserve and secure the Peace and Honour of these Nations Make the Government thou hast established a great Instrument of promoting thy Honour establishing thy Gospel and securing the Peace the Welfare and Prosperity of the People of these Kingdoms and make them so sensible of the Blessings they enjoy thereby that we may all study to be quiet and live in Peace and Love and Piety till thou think fit to receive us to thy eternal Kingdom thorough Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 12. A Prayer for the People of these Kingdoms ALmighty God who seest what ill use we have made of thy great Mercies toward us how we have abused thy Grace and Goodness how we are fallen from that Innocence and Vertue from that Plainess and Integrity that were once the Honour of these Nations and how far that unhappy Spirit of Scoffing Irreligion and Profaneness have prevailed amongst us O Lord if it be thy will put a stop to our Profaneness and let our Wickedness come to an end revive a Spirit of Holiness and Sincerity of Justice and Temperance of Charity and Peace and make us that happy People who have the Lord for our God for Christ Jesus his sake Amen Occasional Prayers to be added On Good-Friday O Holy Father who hast ransack'd thy own bosom for arguments of pity and in thy compassion taken measure by thy infinite and unspeakable Goodness and for thy Mercies sake given thy Son to be a Ransom and a Peace-offering for thy Enemies In Him in whom thou art well pleased look down upon me let his Sacrifice of himself atone for my sins his Blood make my peace and by his Stripes let my Soul be healed O God my God Amen Another Prayer for Good-Friday O Most Holy and Ever-blessed Jesus who wast pleased to die for sinners Have pity and compassion upon me a miserable sinner and that the imitation of thy Life and Sufferings may fit me for the Merits and Blessings thereof let thy Grace and Goodness give a due influence to thy Example let thy exemplary Patience and holy Resignation teach me to resign my self and my will to the Hand and the Will of God in all his dispensations thy Charity to forgive thy Meekness to humble every aspiring thought and preserve a Spirit calm and easie amidst all the Injuries and Provocations that befal me let the Power of thy Death overcome all my propensities to sin and thy Sufferings atone for it and since thou livest for ever to make intercession for sinners and hast promised to save to the uttermost all such as come unto thee Lord hear my Prayers forgive my Sins and save me in the day of Wrath O thou Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world Amen For Ash-Wednesday or any other time of Lent O Almighty God who art always ready to give thy assistance to every good thought every honest intention and sincere endeavour to consecrate our selves to thy service yet hast taught us to hope for the Aids of thy Grace in the use of Fasting and Prayer Mortification and Self-denial and all other useful ways of subduing the Lusts of the flesh Give O Lord thy Blessings and Assistance to all that humble themselves before thee accept their Abstinence hear their Prayers and forgive their Sins Bless me O my Father let thy Spirit help my Infirmities and so assist me that my flesh being so subdued to the Spirit my Fasting may be consecrated to thee who seest in secret and thou mayest reward me openly among those who by keeping themselves from the defilements of the flesh shall be fitted to follow the Lamb for ever and ever All this I beg for his sake who fasted for ours Jesus Christ the righteous Amen For the Thirtieth of January O Almighty God who in thy Justice didst suffer these Nations to fall into Anarchy and Confusion and involve themselves in the guilt of innocent Blood the Blood of thine Anointed Look in mercy upon us and forgive our sins especially That of This Day let it never be laid to our charge and do thou spare us when thou makest inquisition for Blood and make us so sensible of our great provocations that we may all turn from the evil of our ways and our iniquities may not be our ruine O do thou who art the God of Peace and Love and Order inspire us all with a Spirit of Holiness and Charity of Meekness and Obedience and make us the People who have the Lord for our God for Christ Jesus sake our Saviour and Redeemer Amen For the
Second of September being the Fire of London O Almighty God whose Judgments are terrible and whose Mercies are infinite who hast testified thy displeasure at our sins in permitting the destroying Angel to kill thousands in our streets and even surfeiting the Grave with our Dead and when this would not reclaim us in laying waste our Dwellings and giving us so dreadful a remembrance of Sodom and Gomorrha in our punishment by fire O Lord make us all sensible of our provocations that have drawn down thy anger and let thy Judgments drive or thy Goodness lead us all to Repentance Awake us from our Security and drive out that unhappy Spirit of Profaneness and Luxury that has so long prevailed and raise up amongst us a Spirit of Holiness and Wisdom of Temperance and Charity and teach us all to live in thy fear and in thy favour O Lord forgive whatever I have contributed to the crying sins of the Nation and let my iniquity never draw thy anger upon thy People but make me an Instrument of doing thee service for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen For any Day of publick Fasting O Almighty God who hast premised to forgive the sins and hear the Prayers of all such as turn to thee by Repentance In mercy look down on thy People humbling themselves before thee in Fasting and Prayer O Lord make us all sensible of our great provocations and how just it would be in thee to give us up into the hands of those men whose mercies are cruel and pour out thy indignations upon us But with thee O Lord there is mercy that thou maist be feared O do thou spare us though we deserve punishment and in thy wrath think upon mercy Give us not over unto confusion nor let our Enemies say We have prevailed but by a general Repentance and Reformation fit us for thy mercy and then be good unto us as thou usest to be to those that love thy Name Forgive especially whatever I have contributed to the publick Guilts or done to hinder thy Blessings whether to Church or State and give me such a sense thereof that my present Repentance and future practice may be exemplary and the course of my life fit me for ever to live with thee in Glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer before Receiving the Sacrament MOst gracious Lord our God who wouldest not have the Prodigal lost and hast no pleasure in the death of him that dies but wouldst have men come to the knowledge of themselves thy Mercy and thy Truth that they may be saved O holy Father receive a relenting Prodigal to thy Arms a Sinner to thy Mercy and let thy Goodness so cover the errors of my past life my present sorrows for them and my resolutions of a better obedience that I may be accepted at thy Table that I may be admitted to all the benefits of thy Son's Death and Passion and his Blood may seal my pardon and the assistance of thy Grace direct and enable me so to live for the time to come that I may at last be received with all true Penitents to thy Mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen In the time of Sickness O Merciful Lord who usest thy rod in anger as well as love and expectest that we should be bettered by every correction With the compassions of a Father look upon me teach me to call my ways to remembrance and find out the accursed thing that has brought this affliction upon me and make me so sensible of my manifold provocations and so sincerely to lament and abhor and forsake them that this correction may appear the effect of thy love and pity and by a serious and hearty Repentance a lively Faith and a just affiance in thy Mercy fit me for the Night in which none can work that if thou thinkest fit to spare me I may live an example of one bettered by thy Judgment or else reap the benefits of thy fatherly correction in an entire submission to thy will here and being received to thy Glory hereafter All for Christ Jesus his sake Amen CHAP. IV. His method of arming himself against the temptations of the world and strengthening his resolutions by reflecting 1. On Death and the dangers of delaying Repentance 2. The Judgment to come 3. Love of God 4. Prayer for Love of God 5. General Litany THus the Penitent having discharged his Soul into the bosom of a God forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin is ravished with the hopes of pardon and a prospect of that Goodness he is henceforward to adore and imitate and the peace and joy of an easie conscience raise so amiable an Idea of Vertue and Holiness that he fears nothing more than that the impressions should be lost that his resolutions should languish 'T is therefore his next care to fix a sense of his past transgressions and perpetuate the satisfactions of the change he has made and carry back with him to his station in this world such a passion for the Honour and Service of God as may animate the whole course of his conversation and lest the objects of sense or his too partial regard to his worse part lessen his concern for that better Subject of his love and care the blessed Image of his great Creator he endeavours to arm himself with such Reflections as these 1. His Reflections on Mortality and Death and the danger of a late Repentance 1. WHilst I carelesly tread upon the ashes of my Ancestors and the pleasures of sense cloud the notices my Creator has given me of Mortality my Senses do the business of my Reason for my Body gives me such certain notices of its own mortal state that I am as certain I must die as I can be that I am not a Stock or a Stone that I have the sense of feeling or am uneasie when my blood is in a flame or when I am crying out of the pains of the Gout or Stone But whether the thread of my life shall regularly consume or make but one short flame is a secret I cannot penetrate the time and manner of my Death are equally unknown to me I have no better assurance in what manner I must leave the world than when I must do it my Reason and my Senses may go before me and Death may seize me when I am able neither to speak nor think much less reflect or beg pardon and there is no Repentance in the Grave but as I leave this world Judgment will overtake me in the other or it may seize me in the very act of sin when my soul is poured out upon my Lusts and all my faculties and all my affections are engaged in my Folly and should I be thus surprized with what confusion and astonishment should I appear before Him that hates my sin and all in vain did so much to prevent my ruine and what can I hope for when my life shall appear but one long scene of