Behold this Publican i' th Temple praying Plac'd in the front as of our book beginner The form of whose devotiō was this saying O Lord be mercifull to me a sinner God heard his suit though short 't is not deni'd He came a sinner but went justify'd Priuate DEVOTIONS Lord 〈◊〉 mercifull to me a 〈◊〉 London Printed for Geo Badger and are to bee sould at his shopp at St Dunstons-Churchyard in fleetstreet 〈…〉 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS Digested into SIX LETANIES I. Of Confession II. Of Deprecation III. Of Supplication IV. Of Thanksgiving V. Of Intercession VI. For the Sick VVith Directions and Prayers For the Lords Day Sacrament day of Death Judgment And two daily Prayers One for the Morning Another for the Evening The thirteenth Edition London Printed for H. Moseley at the Princes Arms in S. Pauls Church yard 1654. To the right Honorable THOMAS Lo COVENTRY Baron of Ailesborough and Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England c. My good Lord THe Law permitted a man that was not able to bring a lamb to the Altar to offer a pair of Turtle Doves or two young Pigeons The Gospel commends Charity in a cup of cold water magnifies the devotion affection of the widow that cast in 2 mites into the Treasury I must ever acknowledge that mine obligation to your Lordship might challenge a volume but wanting that I have presumed to present you with this Manuall and Enchiridion of private Devotions the love and exercise whereof hath advanced your Lordship to publike honour It is but a little one yet since it was first presented to your hands it hath so thriven by your Lordships patronage that it hath had many Editions Additions And I am glad of it for the bigger it grows the better proportion it will carry with his service that is ever devoted to Your Lop. in all Duty Henry Valentine ORATIO Deo Sacrificium Oranti subsidium Daemonibus flagellum That is PRAYER IS a Sacrifice to God Succour to the soule Scourge to the divel Praier is Clavis Diei Sera Noctis 1 A Key to open the Morning My voice shalt thou heare in the morning O Lord in the Morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up Psal 5.3 Unto thee have I cryed ô Lord and in the Morning shall my prayer prevent thee Psal 81.13 2 A lock to shut up the Evening At Evening will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice Psa 55.17 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as Incense and the lifting up of mine hands as the evening sacrifice Ps 141.2 Morning and Evening Aaron shall burn sweet incense every morning And when he lighteth the Lamps at Even he shall burn sweet incense Exod. 30.7 8. In the Morning sow thy seed and in the Evening with-hold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good Ecc. 11.6 I. CONFESSION OF SINNES COnfession is a branch of praier which searches out our sins and discloses and spreads them open before the Lord as Hezekiah did those letters which he received from the King of Assyria or as Josuah opened the cave of Makkedah and brought out the five Kings that were there hidden so this opens the heart and brings out our hidden and bosome sins to light and execution And as the opening of a vein rectifies the distempers of the body so this cures the maladies of the soul for if we confesse our sinnes God is faithfull and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness In a word it is commanded by God and practised by the Saints and Solomon makes it the character of a righteous man to accuse himself in the beginning of his praier A man dreames when he is asleep but cannot declare his dream till he awake Confession is a sign that we are awakned from the sleep of sin by the grace of God I said I will confesse my transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin Psal 32.5 I have not covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding mine iniquity in my bosome Job 31.33 But I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me Psal 51.3 THE LETANY of Confession BEhold I was shapen in wickedness and in sin hath my mother conceived me Lord be merciful to me a sinner When I was a childe I spake as a childe I understood as a childe I thought as a child and as yet have not put away childish things from me Lord be mercifull to me a sinner When I grew up the lusts of the flesh grew too strong for me they fought against me and prevailed the cares of the world distracted me the pleasures of the world deceived me the pride of life swelled me desire of revenge inflamed me and sin reigned in my mortal body Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have given up the members of my body as weapons of sin and instruments of unrighteousness my head to imagine mischief my hands to work wickedness my tongue to swearing and blasphemy my eares to filthy and corrupt communication my eyes to behold vanity my feet to stand in the way of sinners and to walk in the counsell of the ungodly so that from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot there is no sound part in me Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have either omitted good duties or done them slightly and wearily I have neglected the time of my visitation I have not known in my day the things that belong to my peace Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have offended thee and trespassed my neighbour by my improvidence and rashnesse by my anger and intemperate speech by my wilfulness envy malice and uncharitableness Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in all them whom I have corrupted by my words counsel or example in all them whom I should have reproved whom I might have reformed and did not Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in neglecting opportunities to visit the house and table of the Lord in unworthy and unprepared resort thither in wandring and idle thoughts there either diverting me from the work of thy holy worship or distracting me in it Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in unreverent and unprofitable hearing thy Word in cold and careless invocation of thy Name without zeale and holy affection which turned my prayers into sin Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned by unthankfull passing over thy many good favours by slighting them with an unhearty commemoration so that my sacrifice of praise became the sacrifice of fools Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have broken all my vows and purposes I have not kept my solemn promises of forsaking my sin amending my life Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have delaied my repentance I have resisted the checks of mine
flesh but upon the willingness of my spirit and so cover all my imperfections with the perfect and absolute obedience of thy dear Son that those Sacrifices which I have offered up unto thee this day may be accepted in and for that sacrifice which Christ Jesus offered up upon the cross for me And as I desire that my sacrifices may be pleasing to thee so let thine ordinances be profitable to me And as thou hast this day sown my heart with the precious seed of thy Word so let neither the fowls of the air devour it nor the cares of the world choak it but let the gracious rain of thy blessing come often upon it that it may bring forth in mee the fruits of repentance and amendment of life And forasmuch as thy Word is an unvaluable inestimable treasure better then thousands of gold and silver sweeter also then the hony the hony comb blessed Lord God be pleased still to continue it to our Land and Nation let not our crying sins of unthankfulnesse impenitency hardness of heart unfruitfulnesse under so great means of grace cause thee to remove thy candlestick or to quench the light of our Israel Inlighten also with the beams of thy Gospel those nations which yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death adde unto thy Church daily such as shal be saved that so these sinful days being shortned the number of thine elect accomplished we may celebrate that eternal rest and Sabbath of our souls with thee in thy Kingdome Blesse O Lord all the people of this land from the highest to the lowest our King Queen our Prince the rest of the roiall stock our Ministers and Magistrates thy whole Church and every member of it in what place or case soever and prosper all designs and enterprises that are undertaken for the advancement of the Gospel and the inlargement of thy Kingdome Finally O Lord as thou hast been good to me in the passages of this day refreshing my body with thy good creatures and my soul with the spirituall rest of this holy Day so continue thy goodness to mee this night receive me into the arms of thy providence cover me with the feathers of thy wings that I may lay me down in peace and take my rest that being awakened to the comforts of the next day my mouth may be filled with thy praises and I may doe thee service in the duties of that calling wherein thou hast placed disposed of me that so thy good blessing may be still upon me and thou maist never be weary to doe me good all this and what else thou knowest needfull and expedient for me I beg in the name merits mediation and words of thy Sonne Christ Jesus saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father which art in heaven c. Directions for the due receiving of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper WEE may not presume to come to the Lords Table without a due serious preparation That which is holy must not bee given to Dogges neither must pearls bee cast before swine Mat. 7.6 Josiah charged the Levites to prepare themselves and to pray for their brethren and so to kill the passeover 2 Chr. 35.4 6. The neglect of preparation is very dangerous After the sop Satan enters into Judas John 13.27 Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shal be guilty of the body and bloud of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.27 Hee that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation unto himself 1 Cor. 11.29 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep 1 Cor. 11.30 Now this preparation consists principally in five things The first is a self-examination Let a man examine himself and so let him eate of that bread and drink of that cup. 1 Cor. 11.28 The thing chiefly to be examined is sin 1. In thought The thoughts of our hearts are only evil and that continually Gen 6.5 Out of the heart proceed evill thoughts Mat. 15.19 2. In word Idle words I say unto you that of every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof at the day of judgement Mat. 12.36 Filthy and immodest words Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth Eph. 4.22 Angry and rash words As calling our borther Raca or Thou fool Mat. 5.29 False and untrue words as lies slanders defamations c. Whosoever loveth or maketh a lie is shut out of the new Jerusalem Rev. 22.15 Profane and impious words Against GOD oathes and blasphemies Let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evil Mat. 5.37 Against our selves or others as curses imprecations c. As he loved cursing so let it come unto him As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment so let it come into his bowels like water and like oyle into his bones Psal 109.18.19 3. In deed This is either of Omission or Commission Both are pointed at in that sentence of the Apostle The good which I would do I doe not But the evill which I would not do that I do Rom. 7.19 Thus you have the thing to be examined Now the rule of this examination must be the Law of God For by the Law is the knowledg of sin Rom. 3.20 I had not known sin but by the Law Rom. 7.7 Hence it is that our Church which hath disposed all things wisely and sweetly in the Liturgy hath appointed the commandments to be read before the admimstration of this Sacrament that men might see their sins in the glasse of Gods Law The second thing required of a worthy receiver is Repentance and Contrition The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten with sowr herbs And Christ our Passeover must be received with a broken and a contrite spirit With a bitter soul With a weeping eye This bread must be eaten with the sweat of our brows i.e. our tears And I may say of the wine in this Sacrament as the Mother of Solomon said unto him Prov. 31.6 Give this wine unto such as bee of heavy hearts And though in the sense of our own unworthinesse we may cry out with Paul Who is fit for these things Yet we may comfort our selves with that of the Psalmist A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Ps 51. The third thing required of a Comunicant is Faith He must beleeve that Jesus Christ is the Messias and Saviour of the world He must beleeve that he was crucified shed his bloud He must beleeve that the merits of his crosse and passion are able to save sinners He must beleeve that these merits are conveyed to him in this Sacrament being rightly administred and duly received For what was bequeathed in the Testament is dispensed in the Sacraments This faith is the wedding garment he that intruded to the feast without it was bound hand foot and cast into utter darkness Mat.
therefore from the bar of thy justice to the bowels of thy mercy beseeching thee in that day to deal with the soul of thy servant not as a severe Judge but as a mercifull Jesus It will be O Lord a day of wrath but gather me under the shadow of thy wings untill the indignation be past over It will be a day of darknesse of gloominesse but lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me and I shall be saved It will be a day of Judgment but in that day by thine agony and bloody passion and by whatsoever thou hast done or suffered for me good Lord deliver me And to this end I beseech thee give me grace to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world to keep a good conscience void of offence towards thee my God and towards all men to abound always in the works of charity and mercy and to judg and condemn my self here that I may not be condemned hereafter That so whensoever this day shall seise upon me I may not be bound up with the bundle of tares which shall be cast into unquenchable fire but gathered with the wheat into thy garners and set with the sheep upon thy right hand and called in the number of those blessed ones to inherit a Kingdom that Crown of righteousnesse which thou hast purchased and prepared for all those that love and expect that day of thy appearing Now unto thee ô Christ together with thy Father thy blessed Spirit be ascribed all power praise dignity and dominion now and for ever Amen A PRAYER FOR the Morning OEternall and most glorious Lord God and in Iesus Christ our merciful and loving Father we thine unworthy creatures sinful dust and ashes are here in all humility of souls bodies prostrate at the lowest footstool of thy glorious Majesty beseeching thee to bow down thine ears unto our prayers and to open thine eyes upon our supplication who from the ground bottom of our hearts do acknowledg and confess that we have been unprofitable servants prodigall children bad stewards of that time which thou hast afforded us for repentance good works of those talents which thou hast committed to our improvement If we put our hands into our bosomes we must needs draw them out all leprous For we are the brood of rebellious and disobedient Parents our hearts are cages of unclean birds of noisome lusts and the thoughts thereof have been evil and only evill and that continually And if ô Lord we look forth unto the actions of our lives there is no sin which we have not committed no commandment which we have not broken These eys which now look up unto heaven have beheld vanity these tongues which now call upon thee have blasphemed thee and these hands which we now lift up unto thee have been many times lift up against thee and thy Statutes So that we have made our selves unworthy of the least of thy mercies but worthy of the greatest of thy judgments But deal not with us after our sins neither reward us according to our iniquities Spare us good Lord spare thy people whom thou hast created after thine own Image and redeemed with thine own Blood And according to the multitude of thy tender compassions which have ever been of old to us blot out the multitude of our transgressions Pardon our sins and receive us again unto thy favour for his sake and sufferings who hath satisfied thy Justice to the utmost farthing And for the short residue and remainder of our days give us grace to consecrate it to thy service to redeem that time which we cannot recall and to make our calling and election sure before we go hence and be no more seen And because the corruptions of our nature are too many and too strong for us and the Divel like a roaring Lion goes about continually to devour us leave us not to our selves but assist us by thy grace perfect thy strength in our weaknesse and preserve both our bodies and souls spotlesse and unblameable that when we shall have finished our course and run the race of our naturall Pilgrimage we may receive that crown of righteousnesse which thou the righteous and just Judg hast laid up for all them that love and expect the day of thy appearing And together with us we intreat thee for a blessing upon our King Queen Prince and the rest of the Roiall Progeny upon our Councellors Ministers Magistrates upon our friends kinred and acquaintance upon the whole Church and every afflicted member of it And accept of our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all the mercies and favours comforts and deliverances which from time to time thou hast afforded and continued to us We thank thee for thy last mercy in preserving us from the dangers of this night past for refreshing our bodies with seasonable rest and bringing us safe to the beginning of this day Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the Son of man that thou shouldest thus visit remember him Give us grace O Lord to remember thee and to be mindfull of thy mercies that we may praise thee for all the truth and faithfulnesse which thou shewest to us in the land of the living that as thou hast brought us to the comforts of this day so thou mayest go along with us in the same to enable us for the duties of those callings wherein we are placed and to deliver us from those dangers to which we are exposed even for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our weak and imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us in his holy Gospel O our Father c. A PRAYER FOR the Evening O Most glorious and ever living LORD God which inhabitest eternity and dwellest in that light which no mortall eye can attain unto the God in whom we live and move and have our being we thine unworthy servants do here in all lowlinesse and humility present our persons and prayers before thy divine Majesty confessing acknowledging that we were conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity and as if that had been but a smal matter we have heaped up our actuall transgressions as the sand upon the Sea shore and as the stars in the firmament for number We have broken thy Commandements we have prophaned thy Sabbaths we have dishonoured thy name we have abused thy creatures we have neglected the day of our visitation turned thy grace into wantonness whereby we have most justly provoked thy wrath and everlasting displeasure we have wounded our own consciences weakned our assurance of salvation grieved thy good Spirit which sealeth us up unto the day of our redemption And now Lord if thou shouldest deal with us after our deservings thou mightest pour upon us the deluge of thy wrath and fury to sweep us out of the land of the living into that place
of torment prepared for the Divell and his Angels But thou hast revealed thy self unto the sons of men to be the Lord the Lord merciful and gracious long suffering and of great goodnesse one that pardons sin passes by the transgressions of thy people this is thy name for ever and thy memoriall throughout all generations We appeal therefore from thee unto thee frō the barof thy Justice to the bowels of thy mercy beseeching thee even for Jesus Christ his sake to be merciful unto us in the free pardon and forgivenesse of all the sins that ever we have committed against thee Accept of his obedience for our disobedience of his righteousness for our unrighteousness of his sufferings for all our sins wash them away in his blood nail them to his Crosse hide them in his wounds and bury them in his grave that they may never rise up for our confusion here or condemnation hereafter And as we desire thee to be unto as a father of mercy so be unto us a GOD of consolation speak peace unto our souls consciences and say unto us that thou art the God of our salvation And for the time to come give us grace to die daily unto sin by virtue of thy Sons death to rise up to newness of life by the power of his resurrection wean our hearts take off our affections from the things of this world which endure but for a season and raise them up unto those things which are at thy right hand for evermore Inlighten the darkness of our understandings subdue the stubborness of our wils rectifie the disorder of our affections and bring into obedience whatsoever exalteth it self against thy will that at last we may come to be such as thou wouldest have us Deliver us ô God from the temptations of the divel frō the allurements of the world from the lusts of the flesh from the evil example of this crooked and perverse generation wherein we live that we may run the race of thy commandements without turning to the right hand or to the left And forasmuch as the days of our pilgrimage are but few and evil and these earthly tabernacles of our bodies must be dissolved give us grace to passe the time of our dwelling in thy fear that we may depart hence in thy favour whensoever wheresoever or howsoever it shall please thee to call for us And we entreat thee yet further to continue and inlarge thy blessings upon the Church Land wherein we live upon the person government of our King upon the deliberations of his Councel upon the patience long suffering of all those who are afflicted with any cross or calamity because they are unworthy to receive new blessings that are not thankfull for those they have already received wee blesse and praise thee for all the mercies favours which thou hast afforded us for our souls or bodies for this life or a better We thank thee for our election creation vocation justification sanctification in some measure assured hope of glorification with thee in thy Kingdome We thank thee for the peace of our Church for the health of our bodies for the plenty of our estates and for the prosperity of our families And now holy Father seeing the night is upon us we are ready to take our rest into thy hands we commit our souls bodies and all that we have beseeching thee which art the Keeper of Israel that neither sleepeth nor slumbreth to take care for us for if thou protect us not Satan wil devour us yea we shall sleep a perpetuall sleep never rise up to praise thee We pray thee therefore be good to us this night defend us frō danger refresh us with comfortable rest raise us up to glorifie thee in the duties of the day following that thou maist still be our God and we thy people Hear us and graciously answer us in these our requests and what else thou knowest needfull and expedient for us and that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father c. When thou art in bed cōmend thy self to God in the words of David I will lay me down in peace and take my rest for thou only O Lord makest me to dwell in safety Psal 4.8 Consider and heare me O Lord my God lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death Psal 13.3 So when thou liest down thou shalt not be afraid yea thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet Prov. 3.24 Grace before meat GOod Lord pardon forgive us all our sins which make us unworthy of all thy mercies bless these thy creatures to the use of our bodies bless our bodies to the use of our souls and blesse both our bodies and souls to thy service for Christ his sake Amen Grace after meat THou O God which hast created us by thy power preserved us by thy providence redeemed us by thy blood and at this time fed us by thy good creatures be blessed and praised now and evermore Amen THE END London printed by Tho. Maxey for George Badger and are to be sold at his Shop in S. Dunstans Church-yard in Fleetstreet
own conscience I have quenched the motions of thy Spirit I have put off the good works whereby I might have glorified thee bettered my self benefited my neighbour Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have corrupted the best of my thoughts words works and ways by cherishing the corruptions of mine own nature by entertaining the secret temptations of Satan and the open inticements of the wicked world Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have been an evill husband of the talent of grace which was committed to my improvement I have been an unthrift of that time which was lent me for repentance and the work of my salvation Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have belied my corrupt heart with fair semblances of goodness and have hypocritically deceived the good opinion of charity which beleeveth the best I have boasted in the praise that I deserved not to thy offence who requirest truth in the inward parts Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have overweened the measure of grace in my self corrupted it with my pride I have undervalued the goodness of my neighbour and either have lessened it with abatements or depraved it with unjust imputations Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have heard and seen thee my God dishonoured my neighbour traduced and wronged I have done right to neither but either for fear of offence for partial affection for base flattery or ungodly modesty or for uncharitable envy I have forborn to arise in their just defence Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not alwayes sought the outward blessings of life by good meanes sanctified by prayer I have not alwayes received them with thanksgiving and contentednesse I have not alwayes used them with sobriety nor dispensed the over-measure with the piety and charity that I ought Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not used my lawful pleasures so seasonably so moderately so religiously so thankfully as I ought but I have offended thee my God in my mirth Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not sought peace with all men nor always imbraced it when it hath been offered I have not loved mine enemy nor blessed him that cursed me nor done good to him that meant or did me hurt I have not given him such pardon as I begged from thee for my self Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in vaine thoughts in vast desires in ungodly hopes in unchaste dreams in secret covetings of the goods or delights of my neighbour Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned in the unconscionable practice of these sins without remorse or repentance or if any good motions of thy Spirit have bred in me a godly sorrow for them the next temptation hath either replased me into the old or implunged mee in some new sin Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have hid some of these sins as Adam some of them I have excused with pretences some I have denied against the testimony of my accusing conscience some I have wickedly maintained none I have throughly repented amended Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have committed many secret sins that I have not been aware of I have sinned in the best of my works and intentions of piety and charity even when I most laboured to doe thee service Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sinned all these wayes and done many evils that I have forgotten many that I have past over without consideration and repentance and now what shall I do to thee O thou preserver of men and Judge of the whole world Lord be merciful to me a sinner Have mercy upon me O Lord according to thy loving kindnesse according to the multitude of thy tender compassions blot out all my offences Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUR Father which art in heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For thine is the Kingdome the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen Morning Prayer OLord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kinde of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to do always that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darknesse we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy onely Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen II. DEPRECATION DEprecation is a branch of prayer directed to God either for the aversion and prevention of an evill before it comes or for the removing and taking it away when it is come And the evil which we deprecate may be either the evill of sin or the evill of punishment When we either feel or fear an evil we must not with Eliah or Jonah sit down and in a sullen humour wish our selves out of the world but we must pray as Christ did for his Disciples Joh. 17.15 not that he would take us out of the world but that he would keep us from the evil And so doing we have Gods promise not to be tempted above our strength For either he will abate the crosse or increase our strength to bear it either he will remove the temptation or give us his grace which is sufficient for us Deliver us from evil Luke 11.4 Deliver me from all my transgressions Make me not the reproach of the foolish Psal 39. Remove thy stroke from me Deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the dog Save me from the Lions mouth from the horns of the Unicorns Psal 22.20 21. THE LETANY of Deprecation FRom all the sinnes that I have done and from all that I would have done if thy grace had not prevented and restrained me Good Lord deliver me From my close bosome sins and from those sins to which I am inclined by nature or inticed by company or allured by pleasure and profit or drawn by the example of this evil world Good Lord deliver me From all the sins that I have felt in my conscience and confessed with my mouth and bewailed with my heart and begged pardon of thee with my tongue Good Lord deliver me From all the secret unknown sins which my conscience hath not felt nor my mouth confessed nor my heart bewailed
nor my tongue begged pardon Good Lord deliver me From the whole corruption of my nature from all the temptations of the Divel from the allurements of the world from the lusts of the flesh and eyes Good Lord deliver me From all vanity of minde dulness of understanding perversnesse of will crookedness of affections deadness hardness of heart and from a benummed blinded or seared conscience Good Lord deliver me From all wandring imaginations from all loosness of desires from all transgressions of thy holy and just commandments and from the first motions to any sin against thee or my neighbour Good Lord deliver me From relapsing into the sins that I have repented from turning thy grace into wantonnesse from treading under foot the bloud of thy covenant from neglect and contempt of the meanes of salvation Good Lord deliver me From all schism heresie from infidelity and apostasie from the sin against the holy Ghost Good Lord deliver me From famine scarcity from plague and pestilence and from all other thy sore and heavy judgements at this time and ever hereafter Good Lord deliver me From poverty and extreme necessity from sickness and diseases in my body from grief and vexation of mind from losse of liberty goods or friends from blemish and scādal of my good name Good Lord deliver me From giving offence unadvisedly and from taking offence unjustly Good Lord deliver me From thy wrath and indignation from final despair of thy grace and pardon and from sudden death Good Lord deliver me From the sentence of condemnation from the Lake of brimstone from the chains of everlasting darkness from the worm that dies not and the fire that shall never be quenched Good Lord deliver me O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul Psal 116.4 Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us OUR Father which art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Savior Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen III. SUPPLICATION SUpplication is another branch of praier whereby we intreat of God that hee would give us such blessings as we want or continue and inlarge such blessings as we have received And these blessings are either corporal or spiritual temporal or eternal For such blessings as are spiritual and accōpany salvation pray for them in the first place First seek the Kingdom of God the righteuosness thereof we may pray for them absolutely for the other we must pray conditionally with a reference submission of our will to Gods will who best knows what is good for us Not my will but thine be done Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven O Thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come Psal 65.2 Lord hear my voice let thine eares be attentive to my supplications Psal 130.2 Behold now that I have taken upon me to speak to the Lord who am but dust and ashes O let not the Lord bee angry and I will speak THE LETANY of Supplication THat it may pleafe thee to fill mine heart and my mouth with thy praise all my life long for all thy faithfulnesse and truth and loving kindness shewed to me in the land of the living I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me a clear judgment to see my sins holy affections to hate and abhorre them true repentance to bewail and forsake them with a stedfast purpose and resolution against them for the time to come I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to wash mee throwly from mine iniquities and to cleanse me from my sins that I may be whiter then snow I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to apply to my conscience the obedience of the life and the sacrifice of the death of Jesus Christ for the assurance of thy favour and my pardon I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to create in me a clean heart to renew a right spirit within me to give me truth in my inward parts and to establish me with thy free Spirit I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me such graces as I want and to increase those which I have that I may grow frō strength to strength till I become a perfect man I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to make me an instrument of thy glory to direct all my thoughts words works for the inlargement advancement of thy Kingdome I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to establish in mee the Kingdome of thy power to rule and awe me and the Kingdome of thy grace to sanctifie me to the knowledge love and obedience of thy will I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to enable me to doe thy will with chearfulness alacrity with perseverance and constancy as thy blessed Angels and Saints in heaven do it I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to open thy full hand to bestow upon me the necessaries of this life the fruits of the earth in due season with the continuance of health liberty and peace I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me thy blessing with them that I may use them wisely soberly justly charitably thankfully and contentedly I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to blesse me in all the works of my calling with grace and strength to obtain to keep and to use a good conscience towards thee my neighbours to my lives end I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to sanctifie my life to sweeten my death and to raise up my body in the day of the Lo Jesus I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. Finally that it may please thee to give me my masters joy my fathers inheritance the Crown of righteousness the glory of the new Jerusalem to satisfie me with that fulness of joy which is in thy presence I beseech thee to heare me
good Lord. O Lord hear my praier and let my cry come unto thee Amen Amen And that for Jesus Christ his sake in whose most blessed name and words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen IV. THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving is a branch of praier which like the Leper in the Gospell turns back to God with a confession and â—â—â—â—â—tiation of what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath done for 〈◊〉 And it is so necessary and essâ—â—tiall a part of Gods woâ—ship that it is the very condition of the obligation wherein God hath bound himself by his promise to hear us Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt praise me Psal 50.15 so that if we praise him not we break the Covenant and are usurpers upon all his blessings and deliverances Thy loving kindness is better then life therefore my lips shall praise thee Psal 63.3 4. Thus will I magnifie thee al my life and lift up my hands in thy Name Seven times a day do I praise thee Ps 119.164 My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousnesse and thy salvation all the day long for I know no end thereof Ps 71.15 While I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises to my God while I have any being Psal 146.2 Blesse the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Psal 103.2 O Lord open thou my lips and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise Psal 51.15 THE LETANY of Thanksgiving FOR the grace of Election by which I was chosen according to the good pleasure of thy will My soule doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Creation by which I was made after thine image in righteousnesse and holiness My soule doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Redemption by which I was recovered from the guilt dominion of sin from the power of Satan and the second death My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Vocation wrought in me by the inward working of thy Spirit the outward ministry of thy holy Word and Sacraments My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the grace of Justification whereby I am clothed with the righteousness of Christ Jesus My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my measure of Sanctification by which I am made a new Creature My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my formation in the womb my birth my baptisme the illumination of my understanding the correction of my will and all the spiritual graces received froÌ„ thee My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the liberty of thy Word and Sacraments for thy sanctuary and solemne assemblies and for thy gracious presence with us in them My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy constant providence in supplying my necessities and defending me from dangers My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my good parents my education my health liberty and peace for the comfort of my friends for my daily bread and for all thy temporall blessings My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy prevention of evils subvention in evils deliverance from evil My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy patience in forbearing for thy mercy in forgiving for thy bounty in giving even when I sinned against thee with a high hand My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For my life and the season given me for repentance good works and for thy holy means of grace and salvation My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the checks of mine own conscience for the instruction of thy word for the motions of thy good Spirit which have either restrained me from sin or caused me to repent of it My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy fatherly corrections by some spirituall conflicts with Satan by diseases or hurts in my body by griefs of mind losse of goods molestation of injuries discomforts for or from those to whom naturall civil or Christian acquaintance had indeared me My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all the holy Patriarchs and Prophets for the ever blessed Mother of our Lord for all the holy Apostles and Evangelists for all the godly Bishops and Pastors of the Church for all the noble Army of Martyrs and Confessors and for all the faithfull that have lived and died in the Lord My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For the happy translation of all Saints departed in peace from this vale of tears to the inheritance of the just My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thine holy Angels and the charge which thou hast given them to minister unto us to pitch their tents about us to keep us in all our ways and to convey our souls into Abrahams bosome My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith and the fountain and foundation of all these favours For his conception birth For his circumcision and baptism For his fasting and temptation For his doctrine and miracles For his agony and bloody sweat For his cross passion For his death burial For his victorious descension into hell For his glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven For his sitting at the right hand of God to make intercession always for us For his sending the holy Ghost to a bide with his Church for ever and for his being with us to the end of the world My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For thy blessed Spirit the enlightner of my understanding the sanctifier of my will the helper of my infirmities the comforter of my conscience the pledge and witness of my adoption and the seal of my salvation My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all my personall particular deliverances for the religion peace plenty strength and honour of the State wherein I live for saving it all times especially from the Spanish invasion and the Popish powder treason My soul doth magnifie thee O Lord. For all the secret favours which thou hast done for us for all the mercies which we have received from thee and are slipt out of our remembrance and for all the goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee and
religious education the Seaman with a prosperous voiage the Husbandman with a plentifull harvest the captive with patience and deliverance and all prisoners with repentance and amendment I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to instruct the ignorant to convert the obstinate to confirm the righteous to comfort the distressed to binde up the broken-hearted to rectifie those that erre and to reduce them that wander into the right way I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to remember thine ancient people the Jewes to open their eyes that they may see him whom they have pierced and beleeve in him I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee in thy good time to bring in the fulnesse of the Gentiles and to reveal the glorious light of thy Gospel to such as yet sit in darkness and in the shadow of death I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to forgive those that persecute and speak evil of me those that injure and molest me those that slander and traduce me and to soften the hearts of all those that are mine enemies I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. O Lord hear my praiers for my self O Lord hear my prayers for others O Lord hear the prayers of thy Son Jesus Christ for us all who sits at thy right hand making intercession for us and hath taught me to come to thee in this most perfect and absolute form of prayer OUR Father which art in heaven c. Morning Prayer O Lord our heavenly Father almighty everlasting God which hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day defend us in the same with thy mighty power grant that this day we fall into no sin neither run into any kind of danger but that all our doings may be ordered by thy governance to doe alwayes that is righteous in thy sight through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Evening Prayer LIghten our darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the fellowship of the holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen A peculiar Letany to be used by or for sick persons Collected out of severall places and passages of holy Scripture IN those dayes was Hezekiah sick unto death Then turned he his face unto the wall and prayed unto the Lord. And Hezekiah wept sore And the Lord said Behold I will adde unto thy dayes fifteen years Isaiah 38.1 2 3. THE LETANY O God the Father of heaven whose property it is to kill and to make alive to wound and to heal to bring down to the grave and to raise up again Have mercy upon me Thou who didst heal Naaman of his leprosie David of his noisome disease Job of his ulcers Hezekiah of his desperate sicknesse Have mercy upon me O Christ the Son of God who madest the blinde to see the dumb to speak the deaf to hear and the lame to walk Have mercy upon me Thou who didst cure Peters wives mother of her fever the Centurions servant of his palsie the ten Lepers of their leprosie and didst help such as were possessed with Divels Have mercy upon me Thou who didst cure her that was diseased with an issue of bloud twelve years her that was bowed together eighteen years and him at the pool of Bethesda that had an infirmity thirty and eight years Have mercy upon me Thou who didst restore to life the daughter of Jairus the widows son and raised up Lazarus out of his grave Have mercy upon me Thou who didst bear our sicknesses and sorrows thou who hast styled thy self the Physician of the sick thou who hast called all such as are weary and heavy laden to come unto thee promising them ease and refreshment Have mercy upon me By thy fasting and watching by thine hunger thirst by thy grief and sadness by thy agony and bloudy sweat by thy cries and tears by thy Crosse and Passion Have mercy upon me That it may please thee who diddest cure many diseases by Peters shadow many sicknesses by Pauls handkerchief the eyes of the blind with clay spittle the leprosie of Naaman with the water of Jordan and raisedst up the dead by the bones of thy Prophet to blesse all those means that are or shall be used for my recovery I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to give me grace to submit my self wholly to thy will to take thy visitation with patience thankfulness to drink of this bitter cup without murmuring or repining I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee to streng then me against all the temptations of the divel to succour me in all the agonies conflicts of mine own conscience and to lay no more upon me then thou shalt inable me to bear I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. That it may please thee to continue unto me my memory and understanding my speech and senses the comforts and graces of thy holy Spirit that I fall not away from thee I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee if it be thy will to give me a longer time of repentance to rescue me from the gates of the grave to spare me a little before I go hence and be no more seen that I may still praise thee in the land of the living I beseech the to heare me good Lord. That it may please thee if thou hast appointed me for death to fit and prepare me for it to strengthen my faith to pardon and forgive me all my sins and to assure me of my salvation that I may render up my soul with comfort and chearfulness I beseech thee to hear me good Lord. Finally that it may please thee when I have rendred it up to receive it into thy hands to deliver me from the pangs of everlasting death and to set open unto me the gates of everlasting life I beseech thee to heare me good Lord. Psal 6.2 4 5. Have mercy upon me O Lord for I am weak O Lord heal me for my bones are vexed Return O Lord deliver my soul O save me for thy mercies sake For in death there is no remembrance of thee and who shall give thee thanks in the pit Psal 38. Thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore ver 2. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin ver 3. For mine iniquities are gone over my head as an heavy burded they are too heavy for me ver 4. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness ver 5. I am troubled I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day
22 Fourthly there is required a stedfast purpose and settled resolution against sin for the trme to come The Church in the administration of this Sacrament cals such only as intend to lead a new life to follow the Commandements of God to walk from thenceforth in his holy ways The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten by such only as were circumcised The Manna was to be put into a pot of pure gold The body of Christ crucified was wrapt in fine linnen and laid in a new Spulchre Sorrow for sin without resolution of amendment is like the pumping in a Ship without stopping the leak that lets in the water In the Law if a man held the unclean thing still in his hand he was unclean though he washed his hand never so often Fiftly there is required Charity with all men The Paschall Lambe was to be eaten without leaven The Serpent disgorges his poison when he coms to drink Be as wise as Serpents Let us keep the feast not with old leaven neither with the leaven of malice 1 Cor. 5.8 If thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee Leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift Mat. 5.23 24. The three wise men went first to Ierusalem then to Bethlehem first to the vision of peace then to the house of bread The cup of blessing which we blesse is it not the Communion of the bloud of Christ The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the body of Christ For we being many are one bread and one body 1 Cor. 10.16 17. The signs of bread wine used in the Sacrament may teach us love charity Many grains are kneaded together into one loafe Many grapes are pressed together in one cup. If thus thou hast made thy peace with God and the world draw neare Tast and see how sweet the Lord is Psal 34.8 Eate O friend drink yea drink abundantly O beloved Cant. 5.1 A short Prayer before we receive the Sacrament O Most gracious and merciful Lord God thou hast called all those that are weary heavy laden with the burthen of their sins to come unto thee and hast promised that thou wilt ease and refresh them thou hast invited all those that hunger and thirst after thy Kingdome and the righteousnesse thereof to come to thy Table to taste of thy Supper and hast promised that thou wilt satisfie them In affiance therefore of these promises I come to thee blessed Lord Jesus beseeching thee to ease me to refresh me to satisfie me with thy mercy for my soul hungers and thirsts after thee thy salvation I confesse and acknowledge that my daily sins have made me unworthy of my daily bread much more of this Manna this bread of life which came down from heaven I confesse also that I am not prepared according to the preparation of thy Sanctuary yet for as much as I have this day set my heart to seek thee thou O good God be merciful unto me And though I cannot bring with me a clean heart for who can say his heart is clean yet behold O Lord I bring with me a contrite heart and a broken spirit despise not O God this sacrifice As for the sinnes that I have committed against thee binde them up into one bundle and cast them into the bottomlesse sea of thy mercy bury them in the wounds and wash them away in the bloud of that immaculate Lamb Christ Jesus and for the time to come so sprinkle my conscience with the same bloud that being clensed from dead works I may serve thee the living God in righteousness and true holiness all the days of my life That so this blessed Sacrament may be a means to quiet my conscience to increase my faith to inflame my charity to amend my life to save my soul to assure me that I am in the number of those blessed ones who shal eate at thy table and be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Grant this O Lord for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words I conclude these my imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught me Our Father c. At the receiving of this Sacrament IN the receiving of the Lords Supper many particulars would rather distract us then direct us these few I suppose most considerable First let thine eyes be upon the actions of the Minister observe the breaking of the bread and the powring out of the wine The breaking of the bread will minde thee how the body of Christ was bruised and broken The pouring out of the wine wil remēber thee of the shedding of his bloud It was shed for thee When he was circumcised When he was scourged When he sweat in the garden When he was crowned with thorns But especially to which this Sacrament hath immediate relation When he was nailed to the cross When his fide was pierced The bloud of Christ clenseth us from all sins 1 John 1.17 It speaketh better things then the bloud of Abel Heb. 12.24 It is precious bloud 1 Pet. 1.19 And all this because it is the bloud of God Acts 20.28 Secondly discern the Lords body 1 Cor. 11.29 We must consider the consecrated bread not as the bread of the Lord but as that bread which is the Lord. Not as our common ordinary daily bread but as the body of Christ sacramentally We must consider the wine not as the bloud of the grape but as the bloud of Christ in a true yet sacramentall manner Christ is truly present in the Sacrament it is the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his bloud John 6.56 Not naturally and corporally This is an hard saying who can hear it Joh. 6.60 The flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and life Joh. 6.63 Thirdly receive it kneeling This gesture is most sutable It signifies an humble and gratefull acknowledgement of those benefits we receive in this Sacrament Again the Minister when he gives and we when we receive joyn together in a short but sweet prayer The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee c. The bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee c. No gesture so sutable for prayer as kneeling Again it is appointed ordered by the Church Let all things be done decently and in order 1 Cor. 14.40 Though I be absent frō you in the flesh yet am I present with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order Col. 2.5 After the receiving of this Sacrament WHen thou hast been partaker of the Lords Supper First of all give thanks It is a duty which we owe for our ordinary suppers It was called the Eucharist from this duty of thanksgiving It is the cup of blessing God blesseth us and we must blesse God God gives us the cup of
and him that serveth him not Mal. 3.17 18. I confesse the wicked are sometimes punished in this world to assure us there is a God yet it is but sometimes to assure us there is a day of judgment Verily there is a reward for the righteous verily there is a God that judgeth the earth Psal 58.11 CAP. II. An Objection answered IT is certain that the soul so soon as it is separated from the body is presented to God and receives an irrevocable doome either of woe or weal. The rich man died and presently was in hell in torments the begger died and was immediately carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome Luke 16.22 23. So that it may be demanded What need is there of a general day of judgment seeing every man is judged at the day of his death Answ 1. Every man consists of a Soul and a Body The Soul is judged at the day of death the Body also at the day of judgment For as these two doe either sin together or serve God together so they shall either burn together or reign together Every man must receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 Yet because the Soul may and often doth sin or serve God without the Body it may in the state of separation be either punished or rewarded though the Body rest in the grave Answ 2. There must be a general Judgment for the manifestation of Gods Justice God disposes of every man at the day of his death that according to the rule of Justice yet that which he did in secret he will doe in the view of the whole world that so the generall Assembly of men and Angels may give this testimony and applause of his just proceedings Righteous art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgments Psal 119.137 Answ 3. There must be a judgment besides that at the day of death because men after they be dead may be Instruments and occasions either of vice or vertue of sin or the service of God The Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Fathers of the Church are dead and gone yet still they doe good in the Church of God by their godly examples and holy writings Jeroboam Machiavel Marcion all Heriticks and prophane persons die yet they poison the air with ill example wicked books divelish principles and after their death infect posterity for many generations Their word eats as doth a canker or gangrene 2 Tim. 2.17 Hence it is that as there is a particular Judgment to reward the good or punish the evil they have done themselves in their life time so there shall be a generall Judgment to reward or punish them for that which after their death they have occasioned to be done by others V.S. Basil in l. de vera virginit CAP. III. The Names given to this Day THis day is called in the Scripture The day of the Lord. Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand Joel 1.15 Your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night 1 Thes 5.2 Looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of GOD 2 Pet. 3.12 This life is called Our Day O Jerusalem if thou hadst known at least in this Thy day the things that belong to thy peace Luke 19.42 For we think our own thoughts speak our own words and doe our own pleasure But that shall be the Lords day for the lofty looks of man shall be humbled the haughtiness of men shal be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Isa 2.11 Secondly it is called a Day of Revelation or Opening Rom. 2.5 Never was there such an opening as will be at that day The heavens shall be opened and those everlasting doors shall be lift up that the King of glory may go forth with his Angels to judge the world and return back again with his Saints when he hath judged it The Earth shall be opened for the stone shall be rolled from the mouth of every Sepulchre and the graves shall give up their dead The Books shall be opened I saw the dead small and great stand before the Lord and the books were opened and another book was opened which was the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works Rev. 20.12 The secrets of all hearts shall be opened There is nothing hid that shall not be manifested neither any thing kept secret that shall not come abroad Mar. 4.22 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospell Rom. 2.16 Hell shall be opened to receive those wretches to whom it shall be said Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the divel and his angels Thirdly it is called a Day of refreshing Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 What a refreshing wil it be when our rotten and worm-eaten carkasses shall rise up in honor and in incorruption as flowers after a long winter What a refreshing wil it be when these two ancient friends the soul and the body after so long a separation shall imbrace and kisse each other What a refreshing will it be to see the Divel our worst enemy and Death our last enemy cast into the lake of fire What a refreshing wil it be to see Jesus Christ the Savior of the world and the head of his Church come in his glory attended with an innumerable company of Angels What a refreshing wil it be to hear those sweet sentences of absolution Well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into thy Masters joy Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you Fourthly in respect of the wicked it is called a day of wrath After thy hardnesse and impenitent heart thou treasurest up for thy self wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 As also a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of clouds and of thick darknesse Joel 2.2 The Sun is pleasing to a good eye but offensive to an eye that is ill affected The day of judgment is a bath of refreshing to the godly but a burning Oven to the wicked Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the proud yea and all that doe wickedly shall be stubble Mal. 4.1 Fiftly it is called a great day The Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains of darknesse unto the judgment of the Great day Jude 6. The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come Acts 2.20 It is a great day indeed sith so many great and notable things shall be done in it For the Lord himself shall descend