that that is Everlasting and never think our selves too secure from the Danger of it nor past Praying against it the greatest Degree of Assurance attainable in this World can rise no higher than that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.12 c. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall But here I would fain know with what Spirit or with what Sense they Pray this Prayer From the Assaults of the Devil thy Wrath and everlasting Damnation Good Lord deliver us that can so often and so boldly say the Devil take and God damn either themselves or others I say with what Spirit or Sense do they Pray that contradict themselves so desperately and make the Throne of Grace a Refuge of Lies When the Disciples would have fetch'd Fire from Heaven our Lord tells them Ye know not what manner of Spirit ye are of of what manner of Spirit think ye then are they that would fetch Fire from Hell and say Flectere sinequeo Superos Acheront a movebo call both God and the Devil to be Executioners of their Wrath The next Supplication is to be delivered from those Spiritual Wickednesses those Filthinesses of the Spirit which have less of Infamy but more of Malice belonging to them viz. From all Blindness of Heart from Pride Vain-glory and Hypocrisie from Envy Hatred and Malice and all Vncharitableness Wherein we pray God to deliver us from not meerly the outward Assaults but the inward Possession of the Devil For these are the very things that constitute the Essence of a Devil and the main things that he endeavours to plant and propagate in us as being his very Likeness and Image We pray not against Blindness of Eyes Lib. 4. c. 25. but of Heart Socrates tells us what Antonius the Monk said to that great Scholar and Writer I will not say but Dictator of Writings Didymus that was blind Let not the loss of your bodily Eyes trouble you for you are deprived of such Eyes as the Flies and Gnats can see with but rejoyce that you have those Eyes wherewith the Angels see and by which God himself is discerned and his Light comprehended So I may say on the other hand Pray not so much against the loss of bodily Sight which is common to us with Worms and Flies but against Blindness of Heart which will make us see no more than the Devil and with which the Devil labours to lead us Captive So the Apostle tells us the God of this World hath blinded the Minds of them that believe not 2 Cor. 4.4 c. lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them and from such Blindness Good Lord deliver us The Second thing here pray'd against is Pride another Ingredient of the Devilish Nature Not a Novice 1 Tim. 3.6 c. lest being lifted up with Pride he sall into the Condemnation of the Devil The next is Vain-glory a branch or outward token of Pride and a-kin to it is Hypocrisie for they both pretend to something more than they are owners of As the Devil told our Saviour when from an exceeding high Mountain he shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them Matt. 4.8 9. All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me When vain-glorious Dissembler as he was he had not one foot of Land to give and certainly whoever belie and ostentate themselves in pretence of being what they are not are of their Father the Devil according to what is said in the Revelation Chap. 2.9 Chap. 3.9 I know the Blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Next follows From Envy Hatred and Malice and all Vncharitableness for these are three and there are other branches of that bitter Root which are all constituent of a Devil and make the Fiend so black as he is Let not the Sun go down upon your Wrath neither give place to the Devil When Wrath rests and settles into Malice then the Devil takes place in the Heart and the Spirit of God is grieved as you may see in the Epistle to the Ephesians the fourth Chapter 26 27 30 31 Verses compared together and these are all contrary to the Fruits of the Spirit mentioned in the Galatians for they are Love Joy Peace Long suffering Gentleness Goodness Meekness Temperance I have been thus particular in this Branch of the Litany because I have long observed these two things First That Men in their Prayers have commonly pass'd by these Sins when they have long insisted upon the Confession and Exaggeration of other less Malign Secondly That Men in common Conversation seldom express their dislike against them as against others that are more Scandalous because more obvious to the Eyes of the World which whether it proceed from a secret Indulging of those Sins or a gross Mistake in thinking them more Pardonable than others or because it is more easie or usual to gild and varnish over those Spiritual Lusts with specious Names and Titles of Virtue as to call Pride Magnanimity Revenge Sense of Honour Envy Emulation and the like I will not inquire And upon this Score I the more value our Litany and shall only observe this farther as to this Branch of it that the Primer of Salisbury hath not Pride Hypocrisie Envy mentioned in it The next Branch hath respect to the Lusts of the Flesh From Fornication and all other deadly Sin that is from all deliberate willful presumptuous Sin for it is Willfulness Presumption Deliberation that makes Sin Deadly or Unpardonable without special Repentance whereas Sins of Surprise and Incogitancy which Tertullian calls Quotidianae incursionis and are so frequent that we can scarce know when we commit them for those God is pleased to accept of a more general Repentance Wherefore it is a groundless Jealousie that makes this Objection against this Prayer that it favours the Popish Distinction between Venial and Mortal Sins And let me tell the Reader farther from all other deadly Sin is not in the foresaid Primer and upon search it will be found that Fornication is a very Venial Sin with them that coined this Distinction and in a Priest more pardonable than honest and honourable Wedlock 2. Then we come to deprecate the Evils of Suffering or Punishment which are of two sorts such as concern our selves and such as touch the Publick First Such as may do us a Mischief in particular instancing in those that endanger our Lives as 1. Lightning and Tempest from which there is no flying nor hiding no arming nor fencing that which doth often set Houses and Barns on Fire and sometimes destroys Men in a Moment 2. The Plague of Pestilence from which we have great reason to beg Deliverance if we call to mind how that Becsom swept away near an hundred thousand in our Capital City in one Summer 1665. and
the Mouths of all her Children all that own the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England yea all that teach contrary to Her are Hereticks and Schismaticks Heresie strikes at the Doctrine and Schism at the Discipline of the Church the former is like a Disease which taints the Blood and poisons the Seat of Life the latter is like a Wound which lets out the Blood and if not well look'd to may turn to a Gangraena and both are so dangerous that we cannot too often pray against them and all the Steps and Tendencies thereto even that that is but False Doctrine or simple Errour which persisted in and pursued to its utmost Consequences may turn to Heresie and occasion Schism And Lastly against the inward Causes of them and the other things that are so Mischievous to the State to wit Hardness of Heart and Contempt of God's Word and Commandment Obstinacy is a great Ingredient of Heresie and Stubbornness of Rebellion these two are Synonimous to one another in 1 Sam. 15.23 and these all spring from the Contempt of God's Word and Commandments which are the Test of Truth and Rule of Obedience And so much for the things pray'd against In the two next Branches we have those potent Arguments wherewith the foregoing Supplications are urged By the Mystery of the Holy Incarnation by thy Holy Nativity and Circumcision by thy Baptism Fasting and Temptation In all which there is no Swearing nor Conjuring as some weak Persons sondly object as if the Preposition By could not be used in any other way or Sense But what think they of St. Paul when he saith I beseech you therefore Brethren Rom. 12.1 by the Mercies of God that is as ye hope to partake of or be Saved by the Mercies of God It is a Form of vehement Obsecration Exhortation or Contestation So again We beseech you Brethren 2 Thess 2.1 by the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that is as ye hope for the Coming of our Lord at the last Day and our Meeting him at that time of which he had spoken in the former Epistle and such Forms are usual among all Writers and Speakers when a thing is earnestly desired Chap. 4.15 17. And so we may account for all the Particulars above-named By the Mystery of the Holy Incarnation Good Lord deliver us As if it had been said O Lord to what end did'st thou contrive that great Mystery of Godliness 1 Tim. 3.16 God manifested in the Flesh Why did'st thou that was 't in the Form of God Phil. 2.6 7. and thought'st it no Robbery to be equal with God take upon thee the Likeness of Sinful Man Was it not to save thy People from their Sins Matt. 1.21 From the Power as well as the Punishment of Sin From the Crafts and Assaults of the Devil from the Wrath of God and from Everlasting Damnation By thy Circumcision Thou O Lord that was 't made of a Woman Gal. 4.4 5. was 't made under the Law to redeem us that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of Sons therefore thou sheddest thy first Blood at thy Circumcision and thy last upon the Cross to redeem us from the Curse of the Law Gal. 3.13 2 Cor. 5.21 thou was 't made Sin for us and a Curse for us By thy Baptism wherein thou was 't so Solemnly own'd and proclaim'd to be the Son of God and whereby thou didst Sanctifie Water to the Mystical Washing away of Sin Office of Baptism and making us Children of God By thy Fasting Collect. 1st Sunday in Lent Thou who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights to deliver us from the Surfeit we took by eating the Forbidden Fruit and to prepare thy self against that great Temptation wherein thou overcamest the Crafts as after in thine Agony the Assaults of the Devil By that three-fold Temptation which thou underwent'st and wherein thou overcamest the great Enemy of Mankind at all his three Weapons wherewith he worsted Man at first the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life Good Lord deliver us from the Deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat O Lord the Devil then set upon thee like a roaring Lion and all the Powers of Darkness were let loose upon thee and thou then offered'st up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and Tears unto him that was able to save thee from Death Heb. 5.7 and was 't heard and delivered from that thou feared'st so may we understand that place Good Lord deliver us from all our Fears O Lord in that thy self hast suffered being tempted Heb. 2.18 thou art able to succour them that are tempted By thy Cross and Passion that is by thy Passion upon the Cross or by thy Cross that is The manner of his Death he was made a Curse for us but by his Shedding his Blood thereon he took away the Curse and made full Expiation and Atonement By thy precious Death and Burial Upon the Shedding of so much innocent and precious Blood Death must needs follow and it need not be counted any Tautology to add it to Passion since we have not words enough to express what our Lord Suffered And let not any think it was all one to us whether our Lord was buried or no meerly to quarrel with this Prayer for they must also quarrel with the Apostle's Creed that hath in that short Sumâ—n of our Christian Faith this and all the foregoing Particulars distinctly thus He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified Dead and Buried Our Lord's Burial with the choice Circumstances of it strongly prove the Reality of his Death and Resurrection And St. Paul looks upon it as so considerable a Passage as to particularise it and repeat it as part of the Christian Cabbala delivered to him at first 1 Cor. 15.3 4. I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our Sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried yea and to resemble the Spiritual part of Baptism thereunto Rom. 6.4 Therefore we are buried saith he with him by Baptism into Death And again Col. 2.12 Buried with him in Baptism Next follow after all these Instances of our Lord 's Mysterious Humiliation those of his Exaltation his glorious Resurrection and Ascension Our Lord by his Resurrection hath given the greatest Evidence and Assurance of our Immortality and Resurrection and that he not only died but overcame Death and mastered him that had had the power of Death that is the Devil Heb. 2.14 and to shew that he was to die no more he left this Stage of Mortality and made that glorious Ascension whereof enough cannot be said And when he ascended on high he led Captivity Captive Eph. 4 8. and gave Gifts to Men by his
God his ultimate end and his Trust and Affiance in God and not in Man the Foundation of all he doth And then we pray for Temporal Blessings namely That God would be his Defender and Keeper defend and keep him whom he hath appointed to defend and keep us and in order to that give him the Victory over all his Enemies whether home-bred or forreign And then as is most natural We pray for the whole Royal Family desiring that they may prosper and be multiplied And surely this is far more explicit and particular than that of the so often cited Primer Vt Regi nostro Principibus nostris Pacem veram Concordiam atque Victoriam donare digneris After this we pray for all Bishops Priests and Deacons the three Orders of Clergy in the Primitive Church that God would enlighten them with true Knowledge and Vnderstanding of his Word and that both by their Preaching and Living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly And this is according to the Instruction of St. Paul to Timothy 1 Tim. 4.16 Take heed unto thy self and to thy Doctrine that they may be as John Baptist was John 5.35 a burning and a shining Light teach as well by their Examples as by their Instructions Then what is not in that Primer that it would please him to endue the Lords of the Council and all the Nobility with Grace Wisdom and Vnderstanding To bless and keep the Magistrates giving them Grace to execute Justice and to maintain Truth Which in the Prayer for the Militant Church is thus expressed Grant unto his whole Council and to all that are put in Authority under him that they may truly and indifferently minister Justice to the Punishment of Wickedness and Vice and to the Maintenance of thy true Religion and Vertue And then follow several Prayers which are not in that Primer which for brevity sake and because they are so plain and easie to be understood I will pass over and take more special notice of those that are Prayers of Charity That it would please God to bring into the way of Truth all such as have erred and are deceived Humanum est errare humanius condonare Though we hope and think we are in the Right and none have yet convinced us to the contrary yet as before we pretend not to be Infallible and therefore as being liable to Error our selves we pray for the Erroneous that they may be brought into the way of Truth And then for our Morals we are as prone to Errors of Life as Doctrine and therefore pray that they that stand may be strengthned and others that are wavering and tottering may be help'd and comforted and kept from falling and they that are already fallen may be raised up and because the Devil that occasioned the Fall of our first Parents lies like a Serpent in our Way and an Adder in our Paths to bite and trip up our heels we Pray that God would tread him under our feet according to the Assurance St. Paul gives us in those very words And the God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly And the first Gospel Rom. 16.20 It shall bruise thy head Gen. 3.15 and thou shalt bruise his heel Then we come to Pray for all that are in Danger Necessity and Tribulation and not content with so general a Supplication we reckon up in eight or nine Particulars those that labour under or are most liable to Dangers and Troubles As first All that travel by Land or by Water the Dangers of the former in being bewildred and benighted invaded by Robbers and wild Beasts far from help and home who cannot tell And for the latter David tells us as Emphatically as if he had gone some East-India Voyage when he only crossed Jordan Psal 107.23 They that go down to the Sea in Ships that do business in great Waters Psal 107.24 These see the Works of the Lord Psal 107.25 and his Wonders in the Deep For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy Wind which lifteth up the Waves thereof Psal 107.26 They mount up to the Heaven they go down again to the Depths their Soul is melted because of trouble Psal 107.27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken Man and are at their wits end Psal 107.28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he brings them out of their Distresses Psal 107.29 He makes the Storm a Calm so that the Waves thereof are still Then are they glad Psal 107.30 because they be quiet so he brings them to their desired Haven Here some will interpose and say In praying for all that travel by Land or by Sea we pray for Robbers and Pyrates Rebels and Traitors them that delight in War and whose Feet are swift to shed Blood I answer with the ingenious Falkner He is properly a Traveller and doubtless is here meant who goes upon his allowable or ordinary Occasions Libertas Ecclesiastica p. 153. If the meanest Man in the Country should hear of an Act of Parliament for securing the safe Passage of all Travellers he would never thence conclude that they intended to provide for the Safety of Robbers High-way-men and Traitors who are the great Disturbers of Safety I add No Prayer can well be devised but some such small Exception may be made against it all Men are presumed to be Honest and Loyal and so we may pray for them yea we ought to pray that they may be Honest There is no reason that Honest and Loyal Men should be shut out of our Prayers for the sake of them that are not so We may pray for the Safety of a sinking Ship though there be a Jonas in it as our Lord pray'd for his Disciples though there were a Judas among them Secondly All Women labouring of Child and so labouring under the Curse of Eve Gen. 3.16 when God said I will greatly multiply thy Sorrow and thy Conception It Sorrow thou shalt bring forth Children And we know the Scripture to express a very great and sudden Distress compares it to the Pangs and Throws of a Woman in Travel for the Safe Deliverance from which as our Church hath appointed a particular Thanksgiving after so here a general Prayer before Thirdly All Sick Persons And this includes a vast Number all that labour with Chronical Diseases as the grinding Pain of the Stone the racking Auguish of the Gout and such torturing Ails as none can conceive but they that have felt with Critical Diseases as all Fevers and Pestilences which threaten speedy Death especially these last that lock up from the kind and comfortable Visits of Friends and Neighbours These ought especially to be remembred Fourthly Young Children How many thousand Dangers are these poor Lambs obnoxious to from within and from without how hard is it to know their Ail how hard to help them and when they come to use