all his Undertakings for the Advancement of the true Honour and Interest of the establisht Religion his Subjects Peace and his own Safety Give a plentiful Portion of thy Grace and Spirit to all the several Stewards and Dispensers of thy holy Mysteries whether they be Arch-Bishops Bishops or other subordinate Priests and Deacons but more particularly to him whom thou hast intrusted with the more immediate Care and Inspection over our Souls in this Parish Enable them to feed their Flocks with true Wisdom and Knowledge that after a plentiful Conversion of Sinners from the Errour of their Way they may shine like so many Stars in thy Kingdom and Glory for ever and ever And let the same holy Spirit we most humbly beseech thee sanctifie and direct all the King's Councellors Judges Magistrates and Ministers whatsoever that they may be all faithful and zealous in their several Stations and Callings for the Maintenance of thy true Religion the Encouragement and encrease of Piety and Justice and brotherly Love and Unity amonst us And now O Lord as we have pray'd unto thee for the supply of all temporal and spiritual Wants so we beseech thee to accept of the hearty Return of our most affectionate Praise and Thanksgiving for the abundance of thy Grace and Mercy vouchsafed to our Souls and Bodies We bless thee for our Creation Preservation and manifold Deliverances from Temptation Sin and Danger for all the comfortable Motions of thy holy Spirit and the blessed effects thereof in our Lives and Actions for our Health and Liberty Peace and Prosperity But above all let Heaven and Earth praise thee for thine infinite Love and Compassion to our miserable Nature in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and herein we praise thee more particularly for his Merits and Intercession his Doctrine and Example the benefit of Repentance and promise of Pardon for thine unwearied Patience and passionate Entreaties to save us from Sin and Ruin for all the blessed Opportunities of Grace and Mercy in this Life and the assured hope of a blessed Immortality in that which is to come Finally we beg the Assistance of thy good Providence which hath watcht over us and preserved us this Day to defend us this Night also Refresh our wearied Bodies with comfortable Rest and Sleep and keep our Souls and Bodies from the Violence and Malice of the Spirits of Darkness from all evil Accidents and illusive and filthy Dreams So that if thy good Providence bring us to the Enjoyment of another Day we may serve thee fathfully and sincerely both in the business of our Callings and Religion Take us not out of this World we pray thee till thou hast dispos'd and qualified us for the happy and eternal Enjoyment of a better and let thy merciful Kindness be our Support and Comfort in the whole remaining part of our Lives In confidence whereof we recommend our Selves Ours to thy gracious disposal in Christ Jesus in whose most holy Name and prevailing Words we beseech thee to hear us Our Father c. A Morning Prayer for a Private Person O Most merciful and gracious God the Fountain of all goodness and blessing of life and peace of plenty and pardon thou art greatly to be feared and had in reverence of all that draw unto thee Wherefore I humbly beg the assistance of thy Grace at this time to sanctifie and enliven my Devotions that I may pray with the Spirit and pray with the Vnderstanding also For I must confess O Lord to my great shame and sorrow that I am a most vile and sinful Creature less then the least of all thy Mercies and lyable to the severest of thy Judgements All the Powers and Faculties of my Soul and Members of my Body are polluted with the contagion and filthiness of Original Sin I am clothed with Iniquity as with a Garment and my Transgressions are gone over my head like a sore burden too heavy for me to bear I have sinned in every Circumstance in every Condition and Imployment of my whole Life not only in my youth and days of ignorance but in my more discerning and riper years Insomuch that there are few sins which I have not either actually committed or at least been inclined to to the great increase of my present Misery and future Condemnation * Here mention your partitular sins as Besides vile Creature that I am I have been so miserably intangled in the snares of Sin and Wickedness as to be hurried on either to the wilful neglect of the Duties of Religion †Here confess your particular Omissions of and Failings in Duty or those I perform are done with so much indifference and formality hypocrisie and distraction coldness and indevotion that even my Prayers and other religious Performances are not seldom turned into sin And to render all my Transgressions out of measure sinful the guilt of 'em has been hugely aggravated and encreast ‖ Here consider the circumstantial Aggravations as when how often where c. by the Commission of 'em from time to time against the clearest Convictions of thy Word and Spirit the Testimony and many checks of my own Conscience notwithstanding my many solemn Vows and Resolutions to the contrary Wherefore holy Father thou mightest justly enter into Judgment with me and if thou shouldest be extreme to mark what I 've done amiss I should not only be of all Men but of all Creatures the most miserable But with thee is mercy and forgivenness and because thy fatherly Compassions fail not therefore I am not consumed thou passest by the Transgressions of thy Servant and retainest not thine Anger for ever Let the abundant Merits of thy Son and my most merciful Redeemer make a full and satisfactory Atonement for the Sins and Offences of my whole Life and for his Righteousness sake deliver me I beseech thee from the Guilt and Stain and from the Power and Punishment of all my reigning Lusts which I have hitherto indulg'd and cling about me * Here mention the Sins to which you are most inclin'd and pray earnestly against them Enable me to subdue and overcome all those Follies Indiscretions the unreasonable Cares and unrelenting Affections that remisness and indisposednes in Duty †Here mention and pray against your several indispositions to Duty whereby I 've been so miserably led captive hitherto to the great dishonour of my holy Profession the Scandal of others and the extreme trouble and disquiet of my own sorrowful and afflicted Conscience Rescue me from those many alluring Temptations which are daily perplexing me in every Condition of life ‖ Here mention the Temptations which do oftnest aâ—â—ault you or give me a Sufficiency of spiritual Strength when they assault me to overcome them lest my Enemies prevail against me and lead me unawares into the Pit of Destruction and endless Perdition For this end I humbly beg the Aids of thy holy Spirit to purifie my
Justification without Sanctification For he gave himself for us Tit. 2.14 not only to redeem us from all Iniquity but to purifie unto himself a peculiar People zealous of Good-works Heb. 14.14 16. Seeing then we have a great High-priest that is passed into the Heavens for us Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast and adorn our Profession by our strictest compliances with the Conditions and our uniform Obedience to all the reasonable Commands and Constitutions of the Gospel And therefore 2 We have sufficient Motives and Encouragements to perswade us to be vigorous and active in the prudent Conduct of our Lives in the ways of Religion if we look back to the Premisses But besides to enforce those Obligations we have a Friend and Favorite in Heaven who being sensible of our Infirmities is able and willing to present and recommend Mat. 21.2 Mat. 7.72 8. and if they be seasonably offer'd he will prevail for the comfortable Success of all our pious Endeavours And what can be more argumentative to perswade us to be faithful and diligent in our most devout Attendance on all the Duties of Religion then such a well grounded Assurance of the Success of our Performances and the Acceptance of our Persons before God 3 what returns of Love and Gratitude do such wonderful Instances of Mercy and Bounty require from us These are the last Overtures and Tenders of Grace and Mercy which shall ever be made to the Sons of Men and therefore to be embrac't with the highest Regard most endeared Expressions of Love Joy and Thankfulness But if we reject and trample upon Heb. 1.2 and 2.1 2 3 4. Heb. 10.26 27. or neglect and undervalue these glad Tidings of our Peace our other Sins will receive a mighty Aggravation and our Guilt will be hugely increased Insomuch that it had been comparatively well for us if we had been born in India amongst Pagans who never heard of Christ nor his Religion rather than in England where the Gospel has been publickly and purely preacht for many years And it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the Day of Judgement Mat. 10.15 then for the dissolute and debaucht Christian Thus we 've seen at large that when the whole World was involv'd in the sad Catastrophe of Adam's Sin and Guilt and laid under the dreadful Decree Condemnation to eternal Misery and Death And when all the legal Sacrifices could not satisfie for the least Offence nor procure a Minute's Reprieve from God's justly incensed Wrath and Vengeance 'T was in this great Strait that mercy interpos'd and God was pleas'd to provide a Sacrifice worthy of his own Acceptance A Sacrifice so pure and excellent in its own Nature and so precious in its Value as becomes every way satisfactory to God's Justice and a sufficient Ransom for the Sins of the whole World We 've seen likewise the highest Proposals of Grace and Mercy which could be offer'd to the Sons of Men in that the eternal Son of God is pleas'd to intercede so effectually for our Pardon and Peace and has put us into such a feasible Way of obtaining them that nothing but our wilful Stubbornness can make us miserable What remains now but that we proceed by the Assistance of God's Grace to the last Branch of Christ's Mediatorship In which we have the assured Confidence that he will preserve us in the Enjoyment of Peace protect us from all the Enemies of our Welfare and establish and confirm us in the Enjoyment of those temporal and spiritual Blessings which he has purchas'd and prepar'd for us CHAP. VIII Of Christ's Kingly Office THat Christ Jesus the righteous is invested with an absolute and irresistable Power to govern the whole World in General and his Church and People in Particular was the last thing I propounded to be discourst of in this Treatise Now that I may the better inform the Judgements and affect the Hearts of my Reader with the saving Knowledge of this necessary Point of Doctrine I shall for Methods sake offer these four things to your serious and impartial Consideration 1st We shall present you with some unquestionable Evidences of Christ's Kingly Power and Authority which has been fully manifested to the World and herein we shall consider from whence this Right of Government is deriv'd 2dly We shall treat distinctly of the Administration of this Government and enquire particularly how over whom and in what Instances he exerciseth his Dominion and Authority 3dly We shall give you a Specimen of the several Benefits resulting from his supreme Power and Jurisdiction which he does thus impartially administer for the Comfort and Happiness of his Subjects 4thly We shall consider what Influence this excellent Doctrine should have upon the Lives and Practices of all Christians Of all these severally and in Order And the 1st Imports that Christ is an absolute King and the supreme Monarch of all the Kingdoms of the World Testimonies of Christ's Kingly Power Ps 2.6 8. Which may be fully evidenc't 1 From Scripture Testimony The Psalmist is very express to this purpose I will set my King saith he upon my holy Hill of Sion and I will give him the Heathen for his Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession Consonant to which is that of the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah Isai 9.6 7. Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given the Government shall be upon his shoulder and his Name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the Mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace of the encrease of his Government and Peace there shall be no end to sit upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom to order it and to establish it with with Judgement and Righteousness from henceforth even for ever and ever Ps 45.7 6. Thy Throne O God saith the Kingly Prophet is for ever and ever the Sceptre of thy Kingdom is a Right Scepter thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore God even thy God hath anointed thee with the Oyl of gladness above thy Fellows And so he goes on through the whole Psalm to exalt and magnifie the Grace and Majesty of Christ's Kingdom And that all the Prophesies concerning his Kingdom are to be thus interpreted is evident from the Writings of the Evangelists and Apostles Zech. 9.9 comp Mat. 2.45 Tell the Daughter of Zion behold thy King cometh unto the meek c. which is the complement of that of the Prophet Zechariah with many other parallel Passages to the same purpose which would be needless to repeat But besides all the Works of Creation and Providence are ascribed to him as before and God the Father has given him all Rule and Authority Mat. 28.18 Phil. 2.8 1 Pet. 3.22 For which end he rais'd him from the Dead and set him at his own right hand far above all Principalities and Powers Heb. 2.9 Eph. 1 20 21.
Preservation of the King 's most excellent Majesty James the Second c. and all the Royal Family bless the whole Clergy but him especially whom thou hast appointed to watch over us in this Parish together with all the Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of this Realm that they may all become active Instruments for the Advancement of thy Glory the Safety and Preservation of the King's Person Honour and Interest and for the Comfort and Benefit of all his truly loyal peaceable obedient Subjects Visit we pray thee with thy Grace and Blessing all our Relations Friends and Benefactors forgive the Injuries committed against thee and us by all our Enemies Comfort and Support all distressed Persons with the stedfast Belief of sure Confidence in and a patient Submission to thy divine Will and Wisdom in all Straits and Sufferings whatsoever And now O Lord we return thee most humble and hearty Thanks for all those temporal and spiritual Blessings which make the time of our short abode in this Life more easie and comfortable to us But let our Souls for ever love adore admire and praise thee for thine infinite Goodness Bounty in sending thine own Son from the highest Region of Bliss to take our Nature upon him Who submitting to all the Indignities of a sorrowful Life and the Injuries and Tortures of a painful and accursed Death has not only deliver'd us from the dreadful and damning Effects of our Sin and Disobedience but puts us thereby into an undoubted Capacity of being sayed appointing the Use of such Means and affording us those most powerful Assistances whereby we may live comfortably here and be happy for ever We praise thee more particularly for the Safety and Refreshment of the Night past and since thy Providence has bless'd us with the Light of another Day keep our Souls and Bodies we beseech thee pure and undefiled and enable us to imploy it and the whole residue of our Lives to thy Glory and the real and mutual Benefit of of our selves and others So that after the few Dayes and Nights we have to pass in this World we may be happily translated from the short and troublesome Enjoyments thereof to the ravishing and immutable Pleasures of a future and better Life Grant these our most humble Suplications and what thou seest further needful and convenient for us we sincerely beg at thy hands for the Merits of Jesus Christ the righteous in whose holy Name and Words we pray unto thee Our Father c. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ c. An Evening Prayer for Families O Lord the Almighty Creator of the World and the merciful Redeemer of Mankind who seest our down lyings and uprisings and to whom the Darkness and Light are both alike Thou art a God of Infinite Purity and Holiness nor can any thing be added to thy admirable Perfections and essential Glory by us or any of thy Creatures for thou reprovest thy Angels of Folly and the Heavens are impure before thee much more might the sense of our wretched Estate and Condition make us justly asham'd and afraid to offer unto thee any Sacrifice yet in great Mercy to our Souls thou hearest Prayer and thy Power and Goodness are every where manifest in the visible Administrations of thy Providence We beseech thee therefore to accept of this Evening Oblation of our Souls and Bodies which we desire with all Humility to present a holy living and acceptable Sacrifice unto thee thro' Jesus Christ We do confess O Lord and in great bitterness of Spirit lament and bewail our detestable Impiety Unworthiness and hardness of Heart in that we have wilfully trampled upon thy Sovereign Power and Authority by violating and transgressing thy just and reasonable Commands rejecting all the bountiful Tenders of thy Grace and Mercy and obstinately despising the Riches of thy Forbearance and long suffering Patience which should lead us to Repentance But thou hast graciously spar'd us hitherto when we deserved Punishment and in the midst of Judgement thinkest upon Mercy Wherefore O Lord thy Mercy is our Sanctuary and unto thee do we flie for Succour Let the sense of our Vileness possess us with an holy Indignation against our Selves and give us Grace to look back upon the Offences of our former Lives with that horrour and regret hatred and detestation that neither our vile Lusts the illusions of Satan nor the alluring Enticements of this vain and transitory World may prevail with us to neglect the great Concernments of Eternity And for the perfecting of our present and future Happiness we beseech thee O heavenly Father to be gracious and merciful unto us in the forgivenness of all our Sins Pardon the vanity and impurity of our Thoughts the sinfulness of our prophane idle and impertinent Words and the Impurity injustice and Impiety of all our Actions Purge our whole Nature from the Stain and Pollution of the Old-man not only from grosser presumptuous Sins but even from our private Slips and more secret Corruptions Sanctifie us throughly by thy holy Spirit and we shall be clean wash us in thy Sons Bloud and we shall be whiter than Snow Bless all our Endeavours of Reformation and let the redundant Satisfaction of our meritorious Advocate and Intercessor prevail for our Release and Rescue for thy Grace and Acceptance Fix our thoughts our hopes and desires on Heaven and heavenly Things Make us watchful over our Ways and enrich our Understandings and our Wills with the love of Goodness and Knowledge of thy Truth Mortifie and subdue all our lustful Appetites and Passions by the Operation and Prevalence of thy Grace that we may submit our Selves entirely to the gracious and safe Conduct of rectified Reason and Religion And to this end we beseech thee strengthen our Faith confirm our Hope and give us a daily increase of Charity that we may serve thee sincerely fervently and constantly in Righteousness and true Holiness all the days of our Life Enable us to increase still more more and persevere in all the Instances of Piety Virtue that by adding Strength to Strength and one degree of Grace unto another we may have acomfortable Well-being in this Life and in the World to come Life everlasting We implore thy Mercies also for the Peace and Happiness of all Mankind Bless thy Church universal but more especially that part of it to which we stand so nearly related in these divided Kingdoms of great Brittain and Ireland Remember not O Lord our crying Sins nor the Iniquities of our Forefathers whereby these Nations have been involv'd in Bloud and Ruine and do still cry aloud against us for Vengeance But out of the Bowels of thy tenderest Mercy and for the sake of our Compassionate Redeemer let thy heavy Wrath and Judgements be turned away from us Bless our gracious Soveraign and all the Royal Family endue him with the Spirit of Wisdom and sound Judgement in thy Fear and make him successful in
Second and Last Adam from the First 1 Cor. 15.22 45. Lastly That General Name of Christians His Name Christ whence we are call'd Christians comprehends all his other Titles by which we are distinguisht from all other Religions in the World is deriv'd from his Name Christ In which all the Names and Appellations attributed to him in holy Scripture are eminently comprehended CHAP. II. Of our Saviour's God-head HAving treated thus distinctly of the Quid Nominis Of Christ's Divine Nature of the Names and Titles of Christ for the prevention of all future Mistakes which might occur concerning ' em We shall proceed to discourse in the next Place of our Saviour's Divine Nature which being an Article of our Christian Faith is most demonstratively evinc'd from Scripture the Truth whereof will evidently appear in these following Particulars As 1st Arguments for it He is dignified with the same Titles and Appellations equal with God the Father which I 've hinted before and is often stil'd in Scripture The great God The true God The Lord Jehovah The Son of God and the only begotten Son of God From whence we must necessarily infer That our Lord Jesus Christ is the true God as the Father is and hath the same Nature Essence Will and Power with him 2dly The same Attributes and Properties of God are frequently ascrib'd to him For he is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 6.8 and doth clearly discern all the Thoughts and Imaginations of Men. Heb. 13.8 He was from Eternity without beginning and shall continue to Eternity without end Mat. 28.20 By the Immensity of his Power and Presence He is Omnipotent and Omnipresent Joh. 1.3 Col. 1.16 Mat. 8.25 Joh. 0.19 All the Works of the Deity as the Works of Creation Providence Sanctification Illumination Justification and the Remission of Sins are attributed to Him All the Creatures even the most boisterous and unruly the most malignant and Rebellious contrary to their Natures and against their Wills did obey his Commands All the Miracles done by Him were real Demonstrations of his Divinity and to them he appeals to evict the reality of His Godhead Ioh. 14.11 Believe me saith he that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very Works sake And in his Answer to John the Baptist's Disciples Mat. 11.3 4 5 6. Go saith he and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see the blind receive their sight and the Lame walk the Lepers are cleansed and the Deaf hear the Dead are raised up c. The only Argument which he made use of at that Time to convince 'em That he was the true Messiah and Saviour of the World 3dly Divine Worship and Honour are every where given unto him Ioh. 3.16 Acts 7.55 59. Matth. 28.18 Phil. 2.9.10 For in him we Believe to him we Pray in his Name we are Baptiz'd and God has given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of fesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth 4thly We have the undeniable Testimony of God himself and the concurrent Suffrage both of Good and Bad Angels to confirm us in the belief of this important and saving Truth Matth. 3.17 and 1.27 Mark 5.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oecumen ad Locum In him saith the Apostle dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily that is really and substantially See to this Purpose Col. 2.9 1 Tim. 3 1◠Heb. 1.3 8. 1 John 5.20 Hence 't is fully Evident from the undoubted Testimony of holy Scripture that Christ is God truly and properly so call'd even one and the same God co-essential co-equal and co-eternal with the Father Thus the Doctrine of our Saviour's Divinity Equality and Consubstantiality with the Father being sufficiently evicted and consirm'd We shall now seriously apply this Point by considering what Influence this saving Doctrine should have upon the Lives and Practices of Men. And 1st We may learn from the Consideration of our Saviour's God-head and the Excellency of his Divine Nature What Influence this Doctrine should have upon Practice what Honour Respect and Reverence is due to him Even the same Homage is to be given and the same Adoration to be paid joyntly and equally to the Father and the Son For all men should honor the Son Ioh. 5.23 1 Ioh. 2.23 even as they honor the Father And whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father Again the eternal Son of God is not only preser'd in Scripture to Abraham Moses David c. but to the holy Angels themselves being much better Heb. 1.4 5 6. and having a more excellent Name then they and therefore he saith let all the Angels of God worship him These Considerations lay a sure Foundation for our Duty do justifie our Practice in worshipping our Lord and may exceedingly animate and encourage us to be faithful and zealous devour and constant in all the Instances of Prety and Religion For we 've full Assurance from the Premisses that our blessed Redeemer knoweth all our Necessities and he neither wants Will nor Power to save supply and bless us to the uttermost if we Believe in Worship and Obey him 2dly Hence we may be encourag'd to have Recourse unto Christ and be comforted in all the Straits and Difficulties of this Life and hereon we may ground our stedfast Hope that God for his sake will supply all our Wants with the Abundance of his Grace and Favour Ioh. 3.16 Rom. 8.32 For he that gave us his only begotten Son will not be unwilling to bestow whatever to his Wisdom shall appear needful and convenient for us Seing then we have a great High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God Heb. 4.14 16. let us hold fast our Profession and come boldly to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain Mercy and find Grace to help in time of need 3dly Let us always bear in Mind those important Obligations the great Majesty of Heaven and Earth has laid upon us in sending his own Son into the World to mediate a Peace for us that we who were Enemies by wicked works should be reconcil'd unto Him Col. 1.21 How should this consideration affect our hearts with a passionate Sense of his Goodness How should we Love him who has been so exceeding gracious and meeciful to us What thankful Acknowledgements with our Mouths and what a dutiful Observance in all our Actions do such wonderful Expressions of Majesty and Mercy deserye and require from us And lastly Let our Faith and Hope c. in the eternal Son of God be sounded in Humility of all which more fully in the following Chapters with a Suitable Behaviour and awful sense of Mind most becoming his gracious yet dreadful Presence And therefore 4thly We should be extrèmely careful above all things lest
the Nature which was tempted by Satan and this is the same Nature which shall for ever triumph over him 3 This New Covenant of Peace and Reconciliation by Christ must be seal'd in Bloud Heb. 9.22 For without shedding of Bloud there 's no Remission to be expected Now 't is not the Bloud of Bulls Heb. 10.4 nor of Goats that could atone for our Sins and the Deity being impassible as before therefore Christ by his own Bloud entred once into the Holy Place Heb. 9.12 having by his Obedience and Sufferings if we faithfully apply 'em purchas'd our Peace and ratified and Seal'd our Pardon 4 He must be Man also that being toucht with our Infirmities He might be sensible of our Wants tender of our Welfare merciful and compassionate in bearing with our Weaknesses solicitous for the Pardon of our Sins and the comforts of God's Grace to support us under the burdensome Asslictions which spring and flow from 'em and finally that he might bear with all the Imperfections of our Nature and repair the Breaches of our declining Faith For as he must be unskilful in instructing others to bear Afflictions patiently who has not been passive himself So 't is as difficult for any to apply seasonable and successful Remedies to the Afflicted who is a stranger to their Sufferings Wherefore saith the Apostle That the High Priest of our Profession might be more apprehensive and sensible of our Infirmities he became like unto his Brethren in all things that he might be a merciful High Priest in things pertaining to God Heb. 2.17.18 and intercede effectually and make Atonement for the sins of the People For in that he suffer'd being tempted he knows how and is willing to succour those that are tempted Having then such a compassionate Advocate and Intercessor with the Father we may be encourag'd to come with bolduess to the Throne of Grace where we shall meet with a comfortable return to our Prayers and the favourable Acceptance of our Persons in time of need Thus we have seen that the Saviour of the World must be God and that he must be Man to constitute him a Redeemer of Men But neither of these two Natures distinct from the other were proper Instruments to make up the Breach Therefore Thirdly Why Christ must be God and man in the same Person There must be a Conjunction of the God-head and Manhood by an Hypostatical and real Vnion in the Person of Christ To evince and illustrate this Point 6. If God in his Justice had rooted out Mankind from the Earth his Mercy could not have been manifested in pardoning Trespasses and Offences If he had created a new Generation pure and spotless without sin which by Sufferings were to satisfie for the Offences of the former it would 've been severity in God to have punish'd the Innocent for the wicked If God had appointed an Angel to have taken upon him the Nature of sinful Man the Justice of God could by no means have been satisfied with the finite Obedience of a Creature If God had pardon'd Man's Apostacy without satisfaction Justice had still been violated and the Decree broken which was issued out against him Gen. 2.17 In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Almighty God therefore out of his inconceivable Love to Mankind whom he had so wonderfully created and withal so jealous of his own Honor that he would neither violate the great Attribute of his Justice nor yet obscure the Glory of his Mercy was pleas'd to appoint his only begotten Son the express Image and Character of his Father's Person to take our Nature upon him Gal. 4.4 5. and be made of a Woman under the Law to redeem us from the curse of it and that we might receive the Adoption of Sons Thus Christ the Saviour of the World is God and Man in the same Person and this Vnion was necessary that he might be a fit Mediator between both to compose the difference and solicite a Peace between God and our Souls and by the merit of his obedience and sufferings make our Access to the Throne of God's Heavenly Grace more tolerable and easie Christ is God to speak to the Father for us and he became Man that he might declare God's Will to us in a more familiar less amazing and more obliging Way then otherwise it could have been Hereby shewing us an Example by his own wonderful condescention how we should submit to the meanest condition and entertain the worst Events with a Patience and Courage sutable to the submissive yet Magnanimous Spirit of Christianity Thus much of the Vnion of the Divine and Humane Nature in the Person of Christ Which the Heavens do admire all the Inhabitants of the Earth may be astonished at and the Devils in Hell are afraid to think of We pass forward 2dly To discourse of those admirable Benefits and Priviledges which result from this blessed Vnion of the Divine and Humane Natures in the Person of Christ to the unspeakable Comfort and Happiness of all true Believers And 1 Our Nature is wonderfully Enobl'd exalted since it became a Temple for the Divinity of Christ to dwell in No Creature but Man did ever arrive at that pitch of Honour to be personally united to and be adorn'd with the God-head And that our Nature is thus dignified I have clearly evicted from the Premisses To which may be added ex abundanti these two remarkable Passages from Antiquity The one is of Saint Austin in these Words Whosoever saith he shall despise Aug. de Verb. Dom 2 Joan. Serm. 38. Luke 1.71.72 Neque tamea creaturam adoramus absit sed Dominum rerum Creatam incarnatum verbum Deum adoramus Athan. Or 5. contra Arianos or refuse to worship Christ with Divine Worship shall undoubtedly suffer the Pains of Eternal Death The other is of St. Athanasius who writing against the Arrians vindicated the orthodox Christians from the imputation of Idolatry which these Hereticks endeavour'd to brand 'em with God forbid saith he that we should worship the Creature but we do worship the Lord of all the Creatures God the Word Incarnate c. But concerning the Communication of Properties and whereas God is said to 've purchas'd our Redemption that he redeem'd the Church with his own Bloud and that the blessed Virgin is term'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God c. These are all inconceivable Mysteries yet do fully import the Exaltation of our Humane Nature But tho' we should not too curiously pry into them yet are oblig'd hereby to admire and adore God's infinite Goodness and Mercy who has thus advanced our Nature from the very dregs of Corruption to a State of absolute Perfection and eternal Bliss 2 And as our humane Nature is thus wonderfully dignified by its Vnion to the God-head Gal. 3.22 Luk. 4.18 So we who were Enemies to God by wicked Works are again restor'd
Custody for us 'till the great day of Account Mat. 25.34 35 36 40. When the King shall say to them on his right hand come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World And he assigns these Acts of Charity as the Motives and Reasons inducing him to advance 'em to this Honour and Happiness For I was an hungred and ye gave me Meat I was thirsty and ye gave me Drink I was a Stranger and ye took me in naked and ye clothed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in Prison and ye came unto me For verily I say unto you forasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me He interprets all those Acts of Bounty and Charity bestow'd on his poor members as done to himself 2 By Acts of Mercy and Charity we entail our Estates with a blessing upon our Posterity whereof they shall enjoy the Comfort and Benefit when we are dead The Widows Child was blest with the Fruits of his Mother's Charity to the Prophet 1 Kings 1â— 22. 2 Sam. 9.3 c. The Son of Jonathan was plentifully rewarded for his Father's Beneficence to David And 't was the Observation of that Kingly Prophet from a well grounded experience that he never saw the righteous that is the charitable Man forsaken Ps 37.25 nor his Seed begging their Bread All which might be further confirm'd if 't were necessary by innumerable Instances both ancient and modern And if Parents would be careful to put something into God's hands for their Children which they might do by relieving the Poor and Indigent for God acknowledges it as a Debt due from himself which he will certainly pay and with advantage whatever becomes of the rest of their Estates that part will be safe Thus by being merciful to others we shall obtain God's blessing for our Selves and our Children both in this and a future Life Therefore for the sake of our indigent Brethren for God's sake for Christ's sake and if not for theirs yet for our own and the Happiness of Ours let us be tender and affectionate charitable and compassionate to all Men of every Nation and Country Sect or Party whatsoever for the Command is indefinite if they be in Misery and Distress And all our Aims and Intentions of doing good to others should be sincere without any mixture of Pride Passion Interest Hypocrisie Ostentation or Vain-glory. What we give to the Poor must be without grudging murmuring or repining And Deeds of this nature must be done cheerfully freely and bountifully from the Conscience of our Duty to God and with a charitable Intention to do Good Since then this Duty of Charity and Mercy to the Poor is every way so beneficial to us and ours and can by no means be omitted without manifest Prejudice both to our present and future Concernments in this and another World And seeing we neither want Objects to relieve nor Opportunities of doing good for the Poor shall be alwayes with us let us therefore endeavour to make unto our selves Friends whilst we may of this Mammon of Vnrighteousness that when we are stript naked of all these temporal Enjoyments our merciful and gracious God may receive us into his everlasting Habitations Now if the Case stands thus with the Charitable and Merciful Christian which indeed it does as 't is fully and clearly represented for God is pleas'd with Mercy but inexorable to those that shut up the Bowels of Compassion against the Poor Then what shall become of those merciless cruel and uncharitable Men who have most wickedly spent their Estates in superfluous and intemperate Eating Drinking Gaming sumptuous Buildings costly Furniture of Houses gorgeous Apparel troublesome and vexatious Suits in Law Horses Dogs numerous Attendants and in many other Instances of Luxury and Debauchery which are every where obvious and God knows too common in this sinful Nation By which irreligious and wicked Extravagancies Charity to the Poor as well as Hospitality are dwindled into nothing and if the importunate Beggar does now and then squieze a Penny out of their Pockets to be freed from his Clamours yet they seldom give without some smart or scurrulous Reflections upon his Person and Condition whilst they can spend whole Lordships on their Luxury We have alas which is very sad too many deplorable Instances of Men of uncharitable Minds and unmerciful Dispositions that have ruin'd their Estates Honours Reputations Bodies Souls and all by intemperate Living who by a frugal and careful Management might have made themselves and ther Families whom they have utterly undone both happy here and for ever But there are another sort of griping Mammonists in the other extreme who have rais'd their own Fortunes by Fraud and Oppression upon the Ruines of other Mens But these Cormorants have little or no Enjoyment of what they have thus basely got and therefore it cannot be expected that they should be charitable to others Here and there one perhaps will dedicate some part of his ill begotten Estate to pious and charitable Uses to atone for those crimson and crying Sins which they have so wickedly and wilfully committed But as these specious Pretences to Piety and Virtue are no other then gross Hypocrisie Non remittitur peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum Aug. and abominable in the sight of God so they 'l find that without Repentance and Restitution all these Projects will prove fruitless and stand 'em in no stead at the great Audit To conclude this Point Let all unmerciful Men consider that if they continue so their Doom is already determin'd for they shall all go away into everlasting Torments Matth. 25.41 Jam. 2. And there 's nothing but Judgement without Mercy to be expected by those that will shew no Mercy All their Prayers and Tears c. without Charity are to no purpose Pro. 21.13 For whoso stoppeth his Ear to the crie of the Poor he shall also crie himself and shall not be heard Thus much of that Instance of Duty which respects the Persons of our fellow Christians We proceed 2dly To that other Branch of it which concerns their Possessions which is Justice and Honesty Now Justice is a comprehensive Term and in its full latitude implies the Conformity of the whole Man to the whole Will of God Or 't is more Particular and restrain'd to the Persons of which already or the Possessions of our Neighbours And those are either their Wives Children and Servants as before or their Gold Silver Houses Lands and that which may be as dear to 'em as all the rest viz. their Credit and Reputations But I shall treat of this Virtue or Duty now under Consideration with respect 1 to the Estates and 2 the Reputations of our Christian Brotherhood And for the better understanding of this Point 1st Justice respecting the Estates of Others is either That
really believe what they outwardly profess they would not incur the Hazard of Hell fire which they certainly do to gratifie a domineering Passion or please a petulent Humour for a few Moments but would rather practice those things which make for Peace tho contrary to the Bent and Tendency of corrupt Nature that they might inherit the Comforts and Rewards of it And as we lie under these pressing Obligations to promote and maintain Peace in all those Instances I 've mention'd So On the Contrary The opposite Vices forbidden Our eternal Law-giver does every where in Scripture expressy forbid all manner of Discord Unpeaceableness Emulation Provoking of one another Pragmaticalness medling in other mens Matters Tale-bearing Censoriousness Back-biting Revenge Bitterness Wrath Anger Clamour Detraction Suits in Law for Trifles c. and he brands these and all the spurious Brood of them as the Bane and Plague of all Humane Societies and he commands us further to hate and avoid all those turbulent and uncharitable Practices as being most agreeable to the Tempers and Dispositions of those factious Fiends who were excluded Heaven for their Mutinies and Disorders and shall live eternally in Broyls and Variance with one another Let all Christians then of all Ranks and Conditions study and endeavour to promote and propagate public and private Peace in Church and State in their Neighbourhood in their Families and in their whole Intercourse and Conversation with one another By which Means they shall not only please God and Man and discharge a good Conscience by endeavouring what in them lies to preserve Peace and Unity with both but this divine and excellent Frame of Spirit will dispose and qualifie 'em for the Society of the holy Angels and Saints glorified who do all unanimously concur in the same common Interests and Affections of praising and adoring the God of Purity and Peace in a perfect and harmonious Uniformity and are as sincerely one as if they were animated with the same Soul and Spirit Thus it will evidently appear from the Premisses that Christ our great Prophet has not only rectified the Mistakes and repair'd the Defects of all former Dispensations but has in great mercy to our Souls made a perfect Discovery of the eternal Will of God in what concerns his own Glory and our Good He has told us plainly what he has done already what he will do for us and what returns of Gratitude he expects from us in this Life that we may be for ever happy in a better And to enforce these saving Methods of Grace and Mercy he vouchsafes unto us the Assistances of his holy Spirit to restrain us from Sin to encourage us in and enable us to perform the Duties of Religion He has been pleas'd likewise to institute an Order of Men and invested them with Power and Authority to minister in holy Things and to be Ambassadors in his steade and has furnisht them with Abilities to instruct and govern his People and to guide them in the Ways of Salvation And to obtain an honourable Respect and Deference to their Persons and Offices that they might discharge their Duties and manage the Business of their Callings with Comfort to themselves and Success to others He tells the World that he will interpret the Respect given 'em and the Injuries done to them as if they were done to himself and to encourage them in the pious Administration of the Offices of their holy Function he has promis'd to assist 'em with his Grace and Spirit here and to recompence their holy Performances with a Crown of eternal Glory hereafter Hence we may understand by the Premisses what a Miserable Estate and Condition we were in and should have continued so had he not appointed this new and living Way for our escape and rescue Therefore we are indispensibly oblig'd not only in Duty but Interest to believe and practice that Heavenly Doctrine which has so many admirable Sanctions and powerful Motives to recommend and enforce it And indeed unless our Lives be the real Transcript of Christ's holy Example and Institutions and sincerely correspondent to what we profess the Title of Christianity will prove an empty sound nor can we expect to be dignified by that whilst we dishonour him that gives it Let every Man therefore 2 Tim. 2.19 that names the Name of Christ and expects Salvation by his Merits depart from Iniquity otherwise he undermines what he should endeavour to propagate and uphold And it would be a difficult Task to perswade others to believe that Doctrine which our own Lives and Practices are a flat Contradiction to For our Religion does not consist in the specious Pretences or the formal Appearances of being holy and devout Matth 7 2â— 't is not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into God's Kingdom but he that doth the Will of our Father which is in Heaven The most profound Knowledge of all the Principles and Duties of Christianity abstracted from the real Belief and Practice of 'em will prove a Scourge to and highly aggravate the Condemnation of the dissolute Christian Luk. 12.47 For he that knoweth his Master's Will and doth it not shall be beaten with many Stripes Our whole Lives then should be a Constellation of all those Gospel Graces which are recommended under this Head of Discourse And tho' there may be some mixture of Weakness and Imperfection and perhaps of Sin in all the Actions and Duties which we do yet if they be not impenitently liv'd and died in and if we use our utmost Endeavours to overcome and subdue 'em the imputative Righteousness of Christ our High-Priest will effectually interpose and accomplish our Peace and Pardon for all our Sins if we faithfully apply it CHAP. VII Of Christ's Priestly Office THat Christ Jesus the righteous might be sutably qualified for the great Work and Business of our Redemption 't was absolutely necessary as we 've seen that he should be a Prophet to dispense and accomplish that Part of his Mediatourship We shall proceed now according to our propounded Method to give you an account of the Importance of his Priestly Office Which does eminently consist in the offering up himself a real and perfect Sacrifice for the sins of the whole World and in his meritorious Intercession at God's right hand that the infinite Merits of that Sacrifice may be accepted and applied for the Comfort and Benefit of all sincere Christians that believe in and obey him Now by the Merits of this great Propitiation he has fully satisfied God's infinite Justice for Mans Delinquency and Disobedience obtain'd our Pardon and Peace with God deliver'd us from the Guilt Pollution and Punishment of all our sins and we are certain that upon some tolerable and easie Conditions he will vouchsafe unto us the powerful Assistances of his Grace and Spirit and enable us to comply with 'em to our comfort here and Salvation hereafter I shall endeavour to be very express
then that he swear great Lumps of Bloud Luk. 22.44 and well might he cry out in the great Bitterness of his Soul God having also withdrawn the Beams of his gracious Presence for a time Eli Eli c. Upon which Jeremiah prophetically complain'd that there was never any Sorrow either of Men or Martyrs like unto his Sorrow But because 't is impossible to recount the Number and express the Quality of those Torments which he suffer'd both in Body and Soul We will conclude this Point with that rapturous Petition inserted into the Litany of the Greek Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By thine unknown Sorrows and Tortures felt by thee but imperceptible to us have mercy upon us and save us O Lord our God Hitherto of the real Sacrifice which our faithful and most merciful High-priest offer'd up for our Sins and of the Means and Methods which he us'd both by his active and passive Obedience to perfect the great Work and Business of our Redemption We shall consider in the next Place the Benefits resulting from this great Propitiation and then deduce some Inferences from it by way of Application And 1 Christ our High-priest Benefits of this Propitiation by the infinite Merits of his Obedience and sufferings has purchas'd the Remission of our Sins the Sanctification of our Nature the Justification of our Persons and upon the tolerable and easie Conditions of Faith and Repentance we shall be restor'd to that Holiness and Freedom which we lost by the Fall and Defection of our first Parents But then we must be careful to perform the Conditions on our Part ere we can expect the Benefits of Christ's Mediatorship And if we seriously consider the sad Effects and mischievous Consequences of our original Apostacy we shall be more truly apprehensive of the Benefit and Necessity of a Redeemer and use all possible Endeavours to be Sharers in that Pardon and Peace which he has purchas'd for us as we 've seen at so dear a Price 2 By the infinite Merits of his Obedience and Sufferings he has raz'd out the Hand-writing and deliver'd us from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law We cannot be insensible of our manifold Transgressions both original and actual and that we have been guilty of the Breach of God's holy just and reasonable Commands in many thousand Instances both by Thought Word and Deed For all which 't is impossible that we should make our Atonement either by satisfying of Gods Justice for the Offences of our Lives past or by our perfect and unsinning Obedience to his Laws for the future And therefore 't would be but just with God to inflict the severest Punishments upon us and judge us according to those Laws which we have so wickedly and wilfully violated But our gracious God was pleas'd in great Mercy and Compassion to undone Sinners to send his own Son as we 've seen in the fulness of time Gal. 4. ◠to satisfie the Law for us and has thereby purchas'd Indemnity and Impunity for the Transgressors of it And we are hereby deliver'd not only from the burdensome Yoke of all the Mosaic Performances by nailing 'em to his Cross but he has so mitigated the Penalties and limited the Obligations of the moral Law that tho' we fail in our Duties and Obedience to it yet if we do not wilfully continue in a State of Impenitency but be truly sensible of and heartily sorrowful for the Offences of our Lives past if we exercise a true Faith in Christ our Redeemer and be watchful over our selves in the more pious and prudent Conduct of our Lives for the future Then I say upon our sincere Endeavours and hearty Compliance with these Conditions he will make up all our Defects and by his imputative Righteousness satisfie the Law for us For there 's now no Condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8.1 who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit 3 By the efficacious Merits of Christ's Obedience and Sufferings we are deliver'd from the Sting and Terrours of Death Now Death is the Stipend and Wages of Sin which is due to every Man since the Fall of the first Adam and he that labours the whole day diligently and painfully in his Calling has not a more just Title to his Wages then the wilful and impenitent Sinner hath to temporal and eternal Death But the second Adam has conquer'd the Grave pull'd out the Sting of Death and given us a certain Title to a blissful Immortality So that tho' the Dissolution of our Bodies may be above all terrible Things most dreadful to Flesh and Bloud yet thro' the Merits of Christ's Death 't will be sanctified and made easie to us And the worst Office that Death can do to a sincere Believer is only to send his Body to the Grave a Place of Ease and Silence and his Soul to eternal Bliss Besides all its Harbingers and Concomitants as Afflictions Infirmities Diseases c. will not only prove tolerable and easie for a good man to bear but will turn to Advantage and become Matter of our greatest Triumph and Exaltation 4 Christ our High-priest has conquer'd the Devil and all his infernal Powers by the wonderful Efficacy of his Obedience and Sufferings This politic potent and malicious Enemy was such from the beginning and all the Sons and Daughters of Adam must expect the same Measures from him to the end of the World He knows that Christ the Seed of the Woman shall pronounce and execute that dreadful Sentence against him and therefore so many of his Friends and Relatives as come within his Clutches shall smart for it But the Son of God and High-priest of our Profession tho' he has not absolutely destroy'd yet very much limited his Power and Authority Those idolatrous Religions which he so much gloried in heretofore are since his Coming crept into some private Corners of the World His Oracles are silenc't and he seldom possesses the Bodies of Men or appears in their Shapes as formerly But seeing he is not yet bound up in those Chains of Darkness which shall eternally confine him he will lose no Opportunity in setting all his Engins and Instruments on Work to entrap and ensnare poor Sinners that he may make us if possible as unhappy and miserable as himself But this is our Comfort and Happiness that tho' the Devil may now and then tempt us to Sin yet our blessed Lord's so exceeding tender of our Welfare that he will cither countermine his Stratagems if we be good Christians or furnish us with a Sufficiency of Grace and Power to resist and repel them We have indeed some Instances in Sacred History of those who 've been yielded a Prey to him for a time yet for that very End and Purpose that their Victories over him might become more illustrious And their Examples are left us on Record as in the Case of holy Job c. that they might be
whole Nature and dispose me for the moderate use of all thy Creatures Inform my Judgement with the useful Knowledge of those Truths which are necessary to be believed and practic'd rectifie my Will and sanctifie my Affections that I may so love and fear trust and hope desire and delight in thee above all Things that all my Thoughts Words and Works may shew forth thy praise who hast call'd me from the dark Regions of Sin and Ignorance to the marvellous Light of thy pure and undefiled Religion Give me Grace to improve every Opportunity and Blessing thy good Providence has intrusted me with that when thy Messengers Death or Judgement shall put an end to all the tedious Cares and troublesome Concernments of this mortal Life I may be clothed upon with a glorious and blissful Immortality Bless thy holy Catholic Church but more especially the Churches of these Kingdoms Bless the King's Majesty the Royal Family the Clergy Nobility Gentry and Commonalty of this Realm Let all my Friends Relations and Benefactors particularly * As Father Mother Husband Wife Children c. the Family wherein I live c. receive the Benefit of my Prayers Bless them in their Bodies with the Comforts of Health and Peace Liberty and Safety and in their Souls with sound Judgements holy Affections and heavenly Dispositions that their Lives and Practices may be unblameable before thee in the sight of all men And now O Lord I beseech thee accept of the Tender of my most humble and hearty Thanks for those innumerable Blessings by which I live and am provided for Thou hast given me Food and Raiment Liberty and Friends †Here mention the temporal Blessings God's Bounty has bestow'd on thee and thine c. and by thy merciful Providence hast wonderfully preserved me yet alive amidst the innumerable Assaults of my bitter and malicious Enemies But chiefly O Lord I praise and magnifie thy holy Name with all my Soul and all my Strength for the miraculous Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ for the Revelation of thy Will the Satisfaction which he made and the Ransom which he paid not only for mine but the Sins of the whole World for the sanctification of my Nature by the Grace of his holy Spirit the admirable Comforts and Refreshments of his Body and Bloud the conquest over all his and mine Enemies for his powerful Intercession and the gracious acceptance of my Prayers and Person before God c. * Spiritual Mercies For which and all other temporal and spiritual Mercies my Soul shall magnifie the Lord and with the best Faculties I have I will bless and praise him for ever Finally O Lord I beseech thee preserve me in a perpetual Remembrance of those manifold and undeserved Favours thy Bounty has bestowed upon me and mine And as thou hast wonderfully preserv'd me hitherto and particularly from the dangers of the Night past so keep me this Day and for ever from all Sin and Mischief Let the Love of Christ be always in my heart and in my thoughts and as he is my hope so let him be for ever my rule and pattern to walk by That by by a sincere and faithful Discharge of the several Duties of my Calling and Religion both to God and Man I may enjoy a comfortable and prosperous well-Being in this Life and in the World to come Life everlasting To which the Lord of his infinite Mercies bring me and all his People thro' the Merits of Jesus Christ In whose Name and Words I continue to pray unto thee Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a private Person OH eternal God! the Father of Men and Angels whose Glory is far above the Heavens and by whom the lower World is establisht in a Wonderful Order making the Day and Night to succeed each other Thou excellest the praises of all thy Creatures and hast no need of our Services neither can any thing be added to thy infinite Perfection yet in great Mercy thou hearest Prayer and thy Power and Goodness are abundantly manifested to the meanest of thy Servants who call upon thee in Faith and Sincerity In confidence whereof I most humbly implore the gracious Assistance of thy holy Spirit and be pleased to accept of such Prayer and Service as thy Bounty shall enable me to perform But the sense of my sinful Estate and Condition might justly make me afraid to speak of thy holy name since I have so wilfully and wickedly abused thy Goodness affronted thy Clemency resisted thy Power undervalued thy Wisdom trespassed upon thy Patience and stopt mine Ears against all the charitable tenders of Mercy and Salvation In somuch that thro' this senseless Stupidity and unreasonable Folly my heart is become proud and unmortified pievish and disobedient lustful and intemperate so wholly intangled in the snares of Sin Wickedness that I am utterly unable to resist or flie from 'em For I am daily prevailed with by my buitish Appetites and Passions to commit those Sins which thou hast forbidden * Here confess thy particular Sins committed as c. and to ommit those Duties which thou hast commanded †And the Duties omitted even contrary to the most convincing Attestations of rectified Reason and Religion For which beinous and innumerable Offences thou mightest justly long ere this have given me my portion in the horrours and sorrows of a sad miserable Eternity But thou delightest in Mercy and thy loving kindness has been abundantly manifested hitherto in sending thy Son and Spirit not to call the Righteous but Sinners to Repentance Come Lord Jesus and say unto my Soul I am thy Salvation and my Leprosie shall be healed Think upon thy Mercies holy Father consider thy Son's Bloud and Obedience and accept of my sincere Contrition and unfeigned Repentance for his Names sake Touch my frozen heart with the Finger of thy Omniporence dissolve it into those Tears which may so wash my polâ—ited Conscience that thy love may refresh me that thy presence may revive me and the Garments of heaviness will be turned into the white Robes of Praise and Exaltation Oh let me hear the joyful News of a merciful Pardon from thy gracious Lips that the Bones which thou hast broken may rejoyce Stretch forth thy hand O Lord to save a poor miserable and sinful Creature from the power of Sin and Satan and the pain and peril of hell torments Keep me unspotted from the World that my Thoughts and Affections may not be drawn away from thee by the deceitful Pleasures unmanly Desires and unworthy Designs of this vain and transitory Life Support me under the many Temptations and Pressures which thy good Providence may order and appoint for the tryal and improvement of my Graces or the punishment of my Sins Teach and enable me to be truly watchful in all my Ways and so keep the door of my lips that I may not offend in Thought Word or Deed either