for the time to come so direct sanctifie and govern both my Heart and Life in the Ways of thy Laws and in the Works of thy Commandments that in all my Thoughts Words and Works I may ever seek thy Honour and Glory and may so Order my Conversation aright that at Death I may see the Salvation of God Prepare me for a sick-bed and fit me for a dying hour let not God be a Stranger nor my Conscience a Terrour to me when I come to die but do thou mercifully assist and succour me in my last Moments In the hour of Death and in the Day of Judement Good Lord deliver me and conduct me safely to thine Everlasting Kingdom I Bless thy Name Oh Lord for that good Providence of thine which has brought me to the Light of another day do thou so prevent me with thy Grace so direct and assist me by thy Holy and Good Spirit that I may not run this day into any Sin or Temptation that I may not follow nor be led by any Worldly and Carnal Lusts but be enabled in my place and station to perform my Duty to thy Self and my Neibour with such Care Fidelity and Chearfulness as may be acceptable both to God and Man I humbly commend this Church and Nation to thy merciful Care and Protection Let our Gracious King and Queen live in thy sight and rule in thy fear and let all their Subjects fear God Honour their Majesties and Love one another Assist all thy Ministers in their hard and difficult work and follow their endeavours with thy Blessing particularly his who labours amongst us in the Word and Doctrine Pity all in an afflicted Condition Pardon their Sins and supply their wants Remember all my Relations for good requite the kindness of my Friends pardon and forgive my Enemies and Enable me to forgive them also These Mercies with whatever else thou knowest to be needful for me and all Mankind I humbly beg in the Name and Words of my Blessed Redeemer saying as he has Taught me Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a Private Person MOst Holy and ever Blessed Lord God! the Father of Mercies the Fountain of Goodness and the Author of all Grace I desire again this Evening to bow before thy Mercy-Seat to adore and praise thy Glorious Majesty for thy Gracious Care and Providence over me the day past Pardon unto me most Merciful Father I most humby Beseech whatever I have committed or omitted this day contrary to my Resolutions and Obligations Pity my weaknesses and accept my sincere endeavours to serve and glorifie Thee Wherein I have been wont to slip Lord help me to be more Watchful where I have been careless and negligent let me use greater Diligence and Circumspection help me more sensibly to groan under this Body of Sin which I carry about with me and which so interrupts me in thy Service that when I would do Good evil is present with me And oh that the Sense of that Corruption which I find stirring in my Soul may cause me more earnestly to implore the help of thy Blessed Spirit which alone can enable me to Mortifie all Evil and Corrupt Affections to deny all Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts and to live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World Raise up my Heart and my Affections above this World and the things below and place them upon thy Self and the things that are above oh help me to Realize the Things of Eternity and another World to my Mind and to believe them as certainly as if I saw them with my Bodily Eyes Hear Oh Lord and Answer the Supplications and Prayers which have been put up unto Thee by any of thine this day on the behalf of this Church and Nation Oh that Peace and Happiness Truth and Justice Religion and Piety may be established amongst us for all Generations Secure the Persons of thy Servants King William and Queen Mary from all attempts of Violence and let that hand be for ever withered which shall be once stretched forth to hurt the Lords anointed and let all that are in Authority under them execute Judgment and Justice impartially to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the maintainance of thy True Religion and Godliness Let all that Minister unto Thee in Holy things endeavour both by the Purity of their Doctrine and the Piety of their Lives to win many to a Love of Holiness and Religion that they may shine as Stars for ever and ever Pity all those that are in a worse Condition than my self supply their wants out of thy abundance and work in me a readiness of Disposition to administer to their necessities according to my Ability Accept my Thankful returns to thy Majesty for all thy Mercies for the Fountain of them all the Holy Jesus for all the invaluable Benefits of his Incarnation Death and Passion Resurrection Ascension and Intercession for the Gift of thy Holy Spirit for the Light of thy Glorious Gospel for all the Comforts and Conveniences of Life afforded to me which many Better than my self are deprived of for thy watchful care and good Hand of Providence over me this day Receive me into thy Protection this Night sanctifie my Rest and keep me from sinning against Thee upon my Bed and let the natural repose of my Body put me in Mind that e're long I must sleep in the Bosom of the Grave and awake no more 'till the Morning of the Resurrection for which solemn hour good Lord prepare and sit me and all Mankind by a renewed frame of Heart and a Religious course of Life for thy Mercies sake in Christ Jesus who has both directed and commanded me when I pray to say Our Father c. A short Hymn for the Evening NOw from the Altar of my Heart Let Incense Flames arise Assist me Lord to offer up My Evening Sacrifice Lord Watch and Ward when I shall sleep I humbly Thee implore Thine Angels let my Guardians be Both now and evermore Into thy hands do I commit My Spirit which is thy due For why Thou hast created it Yea didst Redeem it too Lord if I live let me be thine Thine also if I die Come Life come Death let Heaven be mine Amen Amen say I. CHAP. XI Of Reading the Holy Scriptures THE Holy Bible being a Letter wrote unto us by the Finger of God himself what is our Reading of it and daily Conversing with it but a Communing with the Almighty and making an inquiry after that Revelation of his Will which his Wisdom has been pleased to make unto us How stupendious then is the Folly and Impiety of those who either lay the Bible aside as a neglected Book or else read it carelesly irreverently unattentively without an honest simplicity of Mind to be guided instructed and directed by it To prevent the Sin and danger of both which neglects it will be our Wisdom to resolve with our selves to redeem some time every
and Service In a humble sense of our unworthiness in a chearful compliance with our Duty and in a thankful Acknowledgment of our Priviledge we desire to go forth this day to worship at they Footstool and to pay our Vows in the great Congregation God Almighty pardon to us all the Errours of our Life past and suffer them not to stand this day as a partition-wall betwixt thy Majesty and our Souls to hinder either the Ascent of our Prayers up to God or the descent of thy Grace and Mercy upon Us. Help us seriously to consider now our faces are towards thy House whose Word it is we are going forth to hear whose work it is we are about and unto whom we must all render a strict and for ought we know a very suddain Account for all Opportunities and seasons of Grace we are entrusted with Let us hear that Word of thine which shall be either read or preached this 〈…〉 deemer not worth rememembring by us Or if we have not wholly neglected that Sacred Ordinance we have not so grown in the Graces and Comforts of thy Holy Spirit by it as we might have done Forgive unto us the Sins of this Day more especially Pardon to us the Iniquities of our Holy Things our unpreparedness for our backwardness to our deadness and dullness in the Performance of those high and Holy Duties we have this Day been Engaging in let our Persons and Performances find a gracious Acceptance with thee in and through our worthy Mediator for his sake receive us and ours into thy Protection this Night may we lie down in thy fear arise in thy favour and our Rest be made refreshing to us and we thereby the better enabled to serve thee in our several Vocations and Callings the Day that is approaching Extend thy Compassions to the whole World pity the deplorable Ruines of Mankind send forth the Light of thy Gospel into the dark Corners of the Earth that perish for want of Vision Especially remember thy Church wheresoever dispersed or however distressed be a perpetual Protection and Defence to â—hat part of thy Church which thine own right hand has planted and hitherto so miraculously preserved in these Nations to which we belong We thank Thee for all the wonderful Appearances of thy Power and Goodness towards us and we beg of God to establish us upon such Foundations of Righteousness and Peace that it may never more be in the Power of our restless Adversaries to disturb us God Almighty guide and guard Bless and Protect thine Anointed Servants our Sovereign Lord and Lady King William and Queen Mary let their Days on Earth be like the Days of Heaven many and happy and after a long and a religious Reign upon a peaceable and unmolested Throne may God Crown them with the Rewards of a Glorious and Blessed Immortality Bless them and us in all their Royal Relations with all the Nobility the Judges Magistrates Gentry and Commonalty of this Land and Grant them all Wisdom and Grace to Fear God to Honour the King and Love one another But for the sake of all Bless all those that Administer unto thee in Holy Things and let all the Governours and Pastors of thy Church further the Edification of it by Soundness of Doctrine and Holiness of Life but especially Bless the Ministry of thy Servant in this Town and make it successful for the Conversion Edification and Salvation of all that sit under it Remember all the Sons and Daughters of Sorrow and Affliction and dispence thy Mercies suitably to their various Necessities Do good to all our friends Relations and Acquaintance Pardon and Forgive our Enemies and do more abundantly for us ours and all thine above what we are able to ask or worthy to receive for Christs sake in whose Name and Words we farther call upon thee Our Father c. An HYMN or Psalm of Praise for the Lords-day THis is the Day the Lords own Day A Day of Holy Rest Oh Teach our Souls to Rest from Sin That Rest will please thee best This is the Day thy Day Oh Lord On which thou didst Arise For Sinners having made thy self A Sinless Sacrifice Thou Thou alone Redeemed hast Our Souls from deadly Thrall With no less Price than precious Blood The Purchase of us all Hadst thou not dy'd we had not liv'd But dy'd Eternally We 'll live to him that dy'd for us And Paise his Name on high Thou Dy'dst indeed but Rose again And didst Ascend on high That we poor Sinners lost and dead Might live Eternally Thy Blood was shed instead of ours Thy Soul our Guilt did bear Thou took'st our sins gave us thy self Thy Love 's beyond compare Welcome and Dear unto my Soul Is thy most Holy Day But what a Sabbath shall I keep With thee my God for aye I Come I Wait I Hear I Pray Thy Footsteps Lord I trace I joy to think this is the way To see my Saviour's Face These are my Preparation-Days And when my Soul is Drest These Sabbaths shall deliver me To mine Eternal Rest CHAP. IX Of Glorifying God in Family Worship MAn's cheif Prerogative and Dignity which he hath to Glory of is this that he is the only Creature in the Visible World made to Worship and Enjoy his great Creator All the Creatures are Servants but Man is only a Priest to God they obey their Maker he only Worships him This Worship under the Law was Limitted to a particular place to wit The Tabernacle and the Temple the Tabernacle was an Ambulatory Temple and the Temple was a standing Tabernacle Into which they were of old required to repair and where Almighty God Promised to accept them But under the Gospel Almighty God has declared that it is his Will that Men pray every where lifting up pure hands without Wrath and Doubting So then a Christians private House is his Chappel of Ease in which Almighty God allows him the liberty and enjoyns him the Duty of Worshipping with his Houshold And accordingly we find that Religious Housholders have in all Ages Constantly and Conscientiously performed this Duty Devout Cornelius his Family Religion stands upon Record Acts 10.2 He feared God with all his House that is he Revere'd and Worshipt him It is added that he gave much Alms to the People and prayed to God always Surely he that was so Charitable at his door to refresh the pinched Bowels of his poor Neighbours could not be so cruel to his Relations Souls within his House as to Lock up his Religion in a Closet from them To Convince you of the Equity and Reasonableness of this Duty of Worshipping God daily in and with your Families Consider 1. The Right which Almighty God has to your Family-worship by vertue of that Relation which he stands in to your Families He is the Founder of your Families the continual Preserver of them and a daily Benefactor to them the very Being of your Families as such is from the
to it Continue thy Loving kindness to this Church and Nation to which we belong pardon our sins avert our Judgments heal our Breaches compose our Unreasonable Divisions Bless our Governours especially thy Servants on the Throne let their Reign over us be long and prosperous Bless all the Governours and Teachers of thy Church particularly him and his Labours who Administers to Thee and us in holy things in this Congregation Let all in an afflicted condition be had in Remembrance of God Give them patience under their sufferings advantage by them and in thy good time a happy Issue and Deliverance out of them Bless all our Relations Friends and Acquaintance Pardon and Forgive our Enemies and enable us to forgive them also And now oh Father Accept we pray thee our thankful Returns for all the instances of thy Goodness towards us particularly for our Creation Preservation and all the Blessings of this Life But especially and above all for thy wonderful Love in the Redemption of Mankind by the Son of thy Love the Holy Jesus We bless thee for the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory We thank thee for all the Comforts and Conveniencies of Life afforded to us for thy Good Hand of Providence over us this last Night and for raising us up this Morning to see the light of another day Stand charged with the particular care of every one of us prosper the labour of our hands and bless us in all our lawful Undertakings preserve us from the Evil of Sin and keep us in perpetual peace and safety through Jesus Christ our Lord In whose Name and Words we call on thee Our Father c. A Family-Prayer for the Evening ETernally Glorious and Incomprehensibly great and Gracious Lord God who art infinitely exalted above all the Prayers and Praise of Glorious Angels and Glorified Saints yet such is the condescension of thy Grace and Goodness as not only to invite us into thy presence but also to Account thy self honoured by us when we come before Thee and renew our Acquaintance and Communion with thee in the Duties and Exercises of thy Worship and Service We humbly pray that none of our iniquities may divide or separate betwixt God and us but whereinsoever we have offended be Gracious to us in the pardon and forgiveness of it Pardon Oh Lord unto us Original Guilt the Hereditary Pollution and Universal depravation of our Natures Remember not against us the Follies of our Childhood the Sins of our Youth or the provocations of our Riper years but according to the multitude of thy tender Mercies in Christ Jesus blot our Transgressions Wash us throughly from our Wickedness and cleanse us from all our Sins Create in us a clean heart oh God! and renew a Right Spirit within us purge us with Hyssop and so shall we be clean oh wash us in the Blood of the Immaculate Lamb the Crucified Jesus and so shall we be whiter than the Snow And God Almighty grant that we may never more return to the Love and Practice of our former Sins but proclaim and prosecute an open and Irreconcilable War against them yea enable us by thy Grace to dye daily to them and to live unto Righteousness and True Holiness continually mortifying all our Evil and Corrupt Affections and daily proceeding in all Vertues and Godliness of Living Guide us we pray thee through all the difficult passages of our Lives by the Conduct of thine Vnerring Providence and in all conditions of Life let thy Grace be abundantly sufficient for us Leave us not one Moment to our selves least we become a prey to every Temptation But carry us joyfully through all the Difficulties of Life and Support us powerfully in and under the Agonies of Death Keep us ever mindful of our latter End and from flattering our selves with the hope and expectation of a long continuance of time here in the World But let it be our great Ambition and desire not so much to live long as to live well to be useful and serviceable to Almighty God in our place and generation knowing 't is nothing but a useful and well spent life that can render our Death happy and our Resurrection Glorious And let Almighty God Mercifully Assist and succour us in our last moments in the hour of Death and in the day of Judgment good Lord deliver us Remember all thine all the World over do good in thy Good pleasure unto Sion build thou the Walls of Jerusalem ruin the Kingdom of Sin Satan and Antichrist enlarge the borders of thy Sons Kingdom and give him the Heathen for his Inheritance the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession Be favourable and Gracious to these Nations of England Scotland and Ireland Humble us for all our provoking sins avert our impending Judgments prevent what we fear remove what we feel and in thy own time establish us upon such foundations of Righteousness and Peace that it may never more be in the power of our restless Adversaries to disturb us Bless our Governours and all that are in Authority over us both in Church and State Especially thine Anointed Servants on the Throne K. William and Q. Mary and grant that under the shaddow of their Governmeot we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and honesty remember all the Sons and Daughters of Sorrow and Affliction especially any that are near unto us lying under thy hand in bodily Sickness sanctifie we pray thee all thy Fatherly Corections to them and grant that the sense of their weakness may add Strength to their Faith and seriousness to their Repentance raise them up if it be thy Will and give them Wisdom and Grace to lead the Residue of their lives in thy fear and to thy Glory and prepare us for the like adversities Finally we bless and praise thy Holy Name for all thy Mercies vouchsafed to us for the source and fountain of them all the Holy Jesus For all the invaluable Fruits and Benefits of his Incarnation Death Resurrection and Ascension for the present means of Grace and the hopes of future Glory We Praise Thee also for all Temporal Blessings for the use of our Reason for the preservation of our Health and Strength for thy Watchful Care and Good Providence over us this day Pardon to us the Sins of this day whether in thought word or deed comitted against thy Divine Majesty And take us this Night into thy Care and Protection give us Comfortable Rest and Repose defend this Habitation and all about it from Fire from Storm and Tempest and every sad Accident Deliver us from the Power and Malice of Evil Spirits and keep us out of the Hands of Evil Men. And when we awake in the Morning let us be still with Thee and let every one of us in our several vocations serve Thee Faithfully and Painfully to our dying hour All which we humbly Begg in the Name and Mediation of the Infinitely Worthy Jesus who
let my Entertainment now Be so Exceeding Sweet That I may long to come again And at thy Table meet 6. Having directed you in your Preparation for this Ordinance next understand how you are to behave your selves at and under it First then Come to the Ordinance with high and raised Expectations to receive great Benefit and Advantage by it both as to the Mortifying of thy Sin and Quickning of thy Grace And whatever Lust it is that thou art most Captivated by and enslaved to be it Pride Passion Earthly Mindedness c. let us set our selves against that Lust with all our might and plead with God at his Table thus Lord I come to this Ordinance with a sincere desire and design to get Victory over every Lust but particularly against which doth so often solicite and importune me oh let it receive its Death wound in the Death of my Saviour and never molest or inslave me more Secondly When come to thy Lords Table labour to cast all thy Worldly Thoughts and Concerns out of thy Head and Heart And strive to lift up thy Heart unto the Lord as thou art exhorted by the Minister say unto all unsuitable Thoughts as Abraham did unto his Servants Gen. 22.5 Abide you here below whilst I go and worship the Lord yonder 3ly The better to keep all Impertinent and Improper Thoughts out of thy mind Entertain thy self with a frequent Remembrance of the Death of Christ at the sight of the Bread broken and Wine poured out call to mind at once the Passion of the Son of God and thy Sins which exposed him to such a Painful Shameful and Accursed Death Represent to the Eye of your minds your Dear Redeemer as hanging upon the Cross Bleeding Sighing Groaning Dying under the insupportable burthen of thy sins and his Fathers Wrath. 4ly When thou perceivest the Minister approaching with the Elements towards thee put thy self in the lowliest posture of Reverence and say thus betwixt God and thy Soul How Beautifull are the feet of him that publisheth Salvation and brings the proffer of a Saviour to me I am unworthy of Christ but he is worthy of me and of my Faith I do therefore Oh Lord with all Humility accept Thee for my King Priest and Prophet for my Sanctifier and Saviour 5ly When thou hast received the Bread say to this or the like effect Lord I receive this broken Bread in remembrance of thy broken Body Oh strengthen me with thy Heavenly Grace that I may continue thine for ever and daily encrease in thy Holy Spirit more and more until I come to thine Everlasting Kingdom Amen In like manner after thou hast received the Cup pray to this purpose Oh my God Let my Soul go forth as a Gyant refreshed with this Spiritual Wine and let all the Enemies of my Salvation fall before me may I walk in the Strength of this Spiritual Meal all my days and in the end of my days enjoy the full Manifestation of thy Love which is better than Wine in thine Everlasting Kingdom Amen 6ly Imploy your time whilest others are Receiving in Meditation and Prayer in meditating upon the Love of the Father in sending and upon the Love of the Son in coming upon this great Errand to accomplish the Work of Redemption of us Also in Praying unto God for all Mankind in General for the whole Church of God in special for that part of it planted in these Nations in particular for all Christian Kings Princes and Governours especially our own for all our Friends and Benefactors that God would requite the kindnesses they have shewn us for all our Enemies that God would Pardon the wrongs and injuries done to him to us and to their own Souls This being a Feast of Love in which we commemorate the highest instance of Love that ever the World was acquainted with a greater Expression of our Love we cannot shew to our offending Brother than in a readiness to forgive him and interceeding earnestly for his Soul Lastly As an Expression of thy Thankfulness to Christ for his Mercy and Compassion towards Thee lay hold upon this occasion to shew thy Charity to his Members that thy Prayers and thine Alms may be had in Remembrance of God and as thou refreshest the Bowels of the Poor so mayst thou find Mercy of the Lod in the needful day 7. It only now Remaines to shew how we ought to behave our selves after we have waited upon Christ at his Holy Table 1. Decline if possible all Company immediately after the Action and retire instanly into some Secret Places and there upon your Knees offer up your Thanksgivings to Almighty God for his Rich Mercy and Invaluable goodness vouchsafed to you in that Ordinance entreating him to Pardon all the defects of the whole Service and imploring the Gracious Assistances of his Holy and Good Spirit whereby you may be enabled to walk in the Strength of that Grace as becometh those who have recived such great Pledges of Salvation 2. When you are return'd into Company take heed that the spiritual heat which was inkindled in your Souls by and under the Ordinance be not quenched by a sudden falling into worldly Conferences and fruitless Discourses but labour to cherish and keep alive that Holy Fire upon the Altar of your Hearts and endeavour by Prayer Meditation and Holy Conference to improve it into a Holy Flame 3. Spend the Sacrament-day in Publick Private and Secret Duties of Religious Worship particularly in Prayer and Praises in After-Examination of your selves What Faith what Love what Humility what Sincerity was found with us when waiting upon your Saviour at his Holy Table Take notice also of any deadness of Heart and disposition of Spirit which thou labouredst under bewail it and beg pardon of it for Christs sake who bears the Iniquities of our Holy Things 4. Conclude the Sacrament-day with Prayer and an Hymn of Praise Thus did our Saviour after he had kept this Supper with his Disciples He sung an Hymn St Matth. 26.30 and betakes himself to God in Prayer and the Jews at their Passover did Sing the 113th Psalm with the five following Psalms which they call'd the great Hallelujah A Christian should every day of his Life give Thanks and Pray but especially on a Sacrament-day then should we Bless the Lord with our whole Souls and call upon all that is within us to Bliss his Holy Name such Christians as desire to do this but want suitable Words to express their desires in may make use of what here followeth A Prayer after the Sacrament FOr ever Blessed be thy Great thy Glorius and thy Holy Name Oh Lord For all thy unspeakable Favours and Benefits vouchsafed to me and to all Mankind particularly for thy invaluable Love in giving thy Dear Son to die for me in the Sacrifice and to be my Spiritual Food and sustenance in the Holy Sacrament Lord who am I and what am I that thou hast been pleased to
admit me this day into thy Presence to renew my Covenant with Thee which I have so often and so perversly broken before Thee I have once more lifted up my hand to the most High God and sworn Allegiance to my Soveraign and my Saviour Oh keep it in the purpose of my Heart for ever to continue stedfast in his Covenant and let neither the smiles of a flattering World allure me nor the Frowns Threats and Terrors of an Angry World be ever able to drive me from my Duty or hinder me in the way of well-doing Holy Father accept I Beseech Thee of that renewed Dedication which I have made of my self this day unto Thee even of my whole Man Soul Body and Spirit to thy Service and Honour And now Glory be to Thee Oh God the Father whom I shall from this day forward with an humble Expectation look up unto as my Father and God in Covenant Glory be to Thee Oh God the Son who hast loved me and washed me from my Sins in thine own Blood and art now become my Saviour my Justifier and Redemer Glory be to Thee Oh God the Holy Ghost who hast by the Power of thy Victorious Grace overcome the obstinacy of my Heart and turned it from Sin to God Oh Lord God! Omnipotent Father Son and Holy Spirit Thou art become my Covenant Friend and I through thy Grace am become thy Covenant Servant Truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant heartily devoted to thy fear Thy Vows are upon me Oh God! Thy Vows are upon me I will render Praises unto Thee Oh let me never more start aside from my Vows like a broken Bow but give me such a stedfastness and stability of Mind such a firmness and fixedness of Resolution that my after-Conversation may be suitable both to my present Profession and future Expectation that so I may in all Companies in all Conditions walk worthy of him that hath called me to his Kingdom and Glory And let the sence of my Redeemers Love this day to me inflame my Heart with a never failing Charity unto all Mankind whom I pray God to do good unto especially to thy Church particularly to these Nations under their Majesties Care and Inspection whom may Almighty God long and mutually Bless in the Happy Enjoyment of each other and work in the Minds of all Christians a dread of thy Name an Honour of their Superiours and un unfeigned Charity one towards another All which Mercies I humbly Beg in the Name of the Holy Jesus saying Our Father c. An Hymn after the Sacrament LOrd any Mercy short of Hell For Me it is too good But have I Eat the Flesh of Christ And also Drunk his Blood Mysterious Depths of Endless Love My Admirations Raise Oh God thy Name exalted is Above the highest Praise My Saviours Flesh is Meat indeed His Blood is Drink Divine His Graces Dropt like Honey-Combs His Comforts Taste like Wine This day Christ has refresht my Soul With his abundant Grace For which I magnifie his Name Longing to see his Face Oh when shall I ascend on high Most Holy Just and True To eat that Bread and Drink that Wine Which is for ever New To Him that sits upon the Throne And Christ the Lamb therefore Be Glory Blessing Strength Renown And Honour evermore CHAP. XIV Containing an Earnest Exhortation to the Love and Practice of Universal Holiness THE Consideration of our Baptismal Vow renewed and ratified by many Sacramental Engagements at the Holy Table is certainly one of the strongest ties that Christianity layes upon us to oblidge us to the Love and practice of universal Holiness for most certain it is if we relapse and fall back into an evil course of Life if we wilfully return again to Folly we kindle Gods Wrath against us we provoke him to plague us with divers Diseases and sundry kinds of Death But if we escape these there are more dismal Plagues than these that will overtake us such are hardness of Heart blindness of Mind and a Seared Conscience These are indeed invisible stroaks which make not a noise and strike not our Senses but verily if we consider the Effects and consequences of them they are more formidable and dismal than the raging Pestilence and the loudest Claps of Thunder Let us then Piously Resolve as we Fear the Wrath of God and Love our own Souls after we have renewed our Covenant with God at his Holy Table to oblige our selves to an Eminent and Exemplary Piety of Conversation Let us live as those that are Redeemed by the Blood of Jesus as those that are Sanctified and Sealed by the Spirit of Jesus as those that do expect an Eternal Fellowship and Communion with Jesus in his Heavenly Kingdom To this end it may be very advisable 1. The next Morning after thou hast been at the Sacrament as soon as thou art up enter into thy Closet And before the Lord piously and positively Resolve and Vow to maintain a strict Watchfulness and Care over thy Heart Words and Ways for the time to come Such a Resolution as this made in the Strength of God will work wonders because God will Assist and Bless it 'T will fortifie thee against Temptations and the strongest Solicitations to return to the Love and Practice of Sin and Wickedness Suppose thy dearest Friends and Familiars suppose thy Indulgent Mother that bare thee nay suppose the Wife of thy Bosom the Delight of thine Eyes should all set upon thee yea Entreat and Importune thee to Omit some known Duty or to Commit some wicked Act such a Resolution as thou hast now made for a Holy Life will Antidote thy Soul against the Poyson of such a Temptation and put the same Reply into thy Mouth as was found in Holy Joseph's Gen. 39.9 How can I do this great Wickedness and sin against God 2. Having made this Solemn Vow betwixt God and thy own Soul for a Holy Life for a Life suitable to a Sacramental Engagement you will find it very advantagious to write it down and keep it by you thus At such a Time and on such a Day having renewed my Covenant with God at his Holy Table I did with all the Devotion of my Heart and Soul entirely surrender up my self and all that is mine to the Service and Glory of Almighty God Vowing all Fidelity and Obedience to him and Resolving that he shall have the full Guiding Governing and Disposing of me and mine And after every Sacrament look upon it and consider seriously of it saying thus to thy self Behold Oh my Soul the Bonds that are upon thee this is thine own Act and Deed it is as certainly Recorded in Heaven as it is here Written on Earth and shall one Day be brought forth against thee to thy Everlasting Condemnation if thou dost not walk answerably to the Obligation of it Keep it by thee as a Memorial of the Solemn Transactions betwixt God and thy Soul and besides the
thy self and others the Benefit of thy attendance on him in holy Duties 4. Labour to preserve Family-peace if you would acceptably perform Family-Prayers agree together in Love that your Prayers be not hindred This is certain that Religion and the power of Holiness can never thrive or prosper in that Family where discord and contention dwells you may as well hope to Live together comfortably in an house on fire as pray together acceptably when your Spirits are inflamed with passion or imbitter'd with prejudice one against another nay verily the Body may as well thrive in a Feaver as such a Family grow in Grace As the fire in the Bones must be quenched and the Body brought to its natural temper and disposition before it can thrive and grow healthy so these unkindly heats must be quencht in a Family before Religion can thrive or prosper That Family will be unsuccessful in praying that is much squabling and brawling often contending with and clashing against one another 5. Take heed of setting up Family-Worship in opposition to Publick Worship or to suffer the one to interfere with the other We can say our Prayers say some in the Chimny-corner what need we go to Church to do it But at this rate all sense of God and Religion will be utterly lost in the World and is not this the Communion of Saints and the Fellowship of Holy Christians a priviledge worth thy prizing How does the presence of Devout Souls sometimes fire and inflame our cold Spirits and cause them to grow into greater Ardours and Transports of Zeal Thus the Divine Herbert sweetly expresses it Though Private Prayer be a brave Design Yet Publick hath more Promises more Love c. Leave there thy Six and Seven To pray with most for where most pray is Heaven God allows you time both for Publick-Worship and Family-Duties he expects the joint performance of both from you Let Piety and Prudence so Guide and Direct you in the management of both that God may be Glorified and your Souls improved by both 6. Let not the sense of thine own weakness or want of Gifts and Parts c. discourage thee from the daily performance of this Duty of Praying in and with thy Family but in Obedience to God set about it in the best manner thou art able and he will pardon thy weakness and accept thy sincerity It is not enlarged Parts and Gifts and Florid Expressions that Almighty God looks at but an Humble Penitent Broken and Believing Heart In Prayer it is not the quaint Note of the Nightingal but the Mournful Tone of the Dove that finds the best acceptance Study your Sins your Wants and Mercies and get a sense of all these upon your Hearts and you will be able in some measure to express your desires to Almighty God But if after all the want of suitable Expressions do discourage thee from Praying before others in thy Family make use of some of those many good Books of Devotion which are amongst us Or if you have none of them and are so poor that you cannot purchase them make use of the following Words to express your Family-wants in to Almighty God Morning and Evening A Family Prayer for the Moning OH Eternal Ever-Glorious Ever-Gracious and Merciful Lord our God! Thou fillest the Heavens with thy Glory the Earth with thy Goodness and all places with the immensity of thy Presence We pray Thee fill our Hearts with awful Apprehensions of thy Great and Glorious Majesty that whenever we come before Thee we may Sanctify thy Name in all our Religious Addresses to Thee We Holily Admire and Humbly Adore thy Divine Goodness towards us in this Invaluable Priveledge of our Admission to the Throne of Grace which our dear Redeemer has purchased for us by Faith in whose Mediation it is that we offer up our Prayers and Suplications now unto Thee beseeching thee for his satisfaction sake to pardon our Iniquities and for his Intercession sake to hear our Prayers It is oh Lord the sincere desire of our Souls this Morning to give Glory to thy Name by a free Penitent Acknowledgment and Confession of our Sin and Guilt which has rendred us All justy lyable and Obnoxious to thy Wrath and Curse Particularly We lament before God the want of the Original Purity and Perfection of our Natures the loss of thy Divine Image which was Instampt upon our Souls in their first Creation Oh how have we by our Apostacy from God forefeited his favour and lost his likeness being by Nature Children of Wrath because Children of Disobedience Help us also to lye low at thy foot in a Sorrowful fight and sense of the manifold Actual Transgressions and Provocations of our Lives Humble us greatly for all the Follies and Indecencies of our Childhood for the Vanities of our Youth and the sinfulness of our Riper Years for our Sins of Ignorance and of Knowledge of Weakness and of Wilfulness of Omission and of Commission against thy Law and against thy Gospel against the motions of thy Holy Spirit and the checks of our own Consciences We lament and bewail them all in thy presence they are our grief and our shame and the burthen of our Souls God Almighty pardon them unto us blot them out of thy Book bury them in our Saviours Grave that they may never arise more either in this World to shame us or in the World to come to condemn us And as we humbly implore thy Pardoning Mercy for the Errors of our Life past so we do Importunately begg the Aids of thy Divine Grace to impower us against the Dominion of Sin for the time to come let the Grace of God which has appeared to us in thy Gospel Teach every one of us practically to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts and to Live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And God Almighty keep it in the purpose of our hearts for ever to continue faithful to him that with full purpose of heart we may cleave unto the Lord that continuing faithful to the Death we may lay hold of the Crown of Life Prepare and sit us for thy whole providential Will and Pleasure We pray thee Compose our Minds in all Conditions of Life to a quiet and steady dependance on thy Good Providence that we may be Solicitously carefull or nothing but in every condition by Prayer and Supplication let us make our Requests known to God Mind us of our Mortality and let us never be forgetful of our latter end help us practically to understand how frail we are and let us wisely prepare for that great change of ours which will Translate every Soul of us into an Unchangeable and Everlasting State Extend thy Goodness and Compassions to the whole World Pity the deplorable Ruines of Mankind think upon the dark Corners of the Earth that perish for want of Vision and where ever thou hast a Church planted perpetually watch over it and be a protection