thou gavest thy Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Have mercy upon me a miserable sinner O thou that despisest not a broken and a contrite heart and whose Will and Power nothing can resist O do thou create a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within me O say unto my soul I will be thou clean and be it to thy servant according to thy word O thou that hast no pleasure in the death of him that dies and hast given thy Son to die that sinners may not die eternally Spare me Lord most holy O God most mighty and deliver me from the bitter pains of eternal Death O blessed Jesus who didst die to give a worth and value to Repentance and that Repentance and Remission of sins should be preached to all the world in thy Name O do thou make my Repentance such as thou hast required and wilt accept and let thy Merits render it effectual to the forgiveness of my sins O thou who didst taste death for every man and laidst down thy Life for those who were dead in Adam and hast promised to accept all such as come unto thee O cast me not away from thee but have mercy upon me O God my God O thou that hast bid such as are weary and heavy laden come unto thee and promised they shall find rest for their souls O Lord look down upon me who in the bitterness and anguish of my soul come unto thee and have mercy upon me O Holy and Ever-blessed Spirit whose sacred Fires melt down the hardest Hearts whose holy Aids are sufficient to help our Infirmities and whose Fruits are Repentance and Peace and Joy O do thou direct assist and guide my soul and keep me in all thy ways O thou that leadest the ignorant to the Truth sinners to Repentance and Righteousness and art the Comforter of the sad and wounded soul O do thou open my eyes to see the errors of my ways and my heart to hate and forsake them and let thy Grace and Comforts guide me in all my difficulties and support me in all my trials O Blessed Spirit who knowest the dangers that encompass and the temptations that beset and most easily prevail against me O be thou my Guide and never leave me nor forsake me but from the deceit of my heart from the wiles of Satan and the sad effects of ill Opinions Melancholy and Despair Good Lord deliver me O good God give me not up to my self and withdraw not thy Grace from me but assist and accept my Prayers and my Repentance and hear thy Son that is making intercession for me let his Blood atone for me and by his Stripes let my soul be healed O merciful Father who wouldst have me repent and live and by whose Grace and Aid I have here prostrated my self before thee to confess and bewail my sins and purposed to forsake them O do thou who knowest the deceit of my Heart the weakness of my best Resolutions and the power and prevalence of my corrupt Nature let thy Grace be sufficient for me and the helps of thy Spirit make my sorrow sincere my resolution stedfast and so change and consecrate my Affections that they may never more misguide me O thou that art the Maker and Lover of Souls Hear my Prayer Forgive my Sins Accept my Sorrows Strengthen my Resolutions Confirm my Vows and grant me Repentance to Life Eternal for Christ Jesus sake Amen Amen 5. A Prayer for Grace O Most merciful Father who knowest my inability to do any thing that is good without thee and with what subtilty and diligence the Devil lies in wait to deceive and ruine my Soul O good God let thy strength appear in my weakness and discover and disappoint the designs of the Destroyer and deliver me from the corrupt inclinations of my own nature Thou hast promised to give the assistance of thy Holy Spirit to those that ask it let that blessed Spirit direct and guide to and keep me in all thy ways let it never leave me nor forsake me nor be withdrawn from me but keep me in thy fear and in thy ways till it bring me to thy presence and thy glory through the merits of Jesus Christ my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen 6. A Prayer for Faith O Almighty God who art the Author and Giver of every good thing Purge out of my heart all Distrust and Infidelity and every mean and unworthy thought of thy self Lord help my unbelief and beget continue and confirm in my Soul such a lively active and vigorous Faith as may shew it self in Piety and good Works and be effectual to my Salvation among those who have not seen and yet believe that He who is the Author Foundation and Finisher of our Faith and has promised Life to those that believe in and through his Name may at last say unto me Come thou good and faithful servant enter into the joys of my rest which I humbly beg for Christ Jesus his sake Amen 7. A Prayer for Holiness O Almighty God who seest the frailties of my Nature and knowest how great the difficulties how numerous the temptations are that beset me and how hard it is for Man that is born of a Woman to be clean before thee and yet hast declared That without Holiness no man shall see thy face in glory O Lord with an eye of pity look down upon me let thy Grace supply the defects of my Nature and that merciful Providence that watches over us for our good keep back or deliver me from every temptation and that Goodness that is able to consecrate my affections be always ready to direct and guide me in all my designs and ways that thy Holiness may be my aim and thy Glory my desire and the assistances of thy Spirit carry my affections to things above and so purifie me from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit that I may be holy as Thou art holy that my Conversation may be in Heaven and a holy and unblamable Life fit me for that state of Holiness that is the reward of the Saints above Hear and answer me O Lord for Christ Jesus sake Amen 8. A Prayer for due preparation for Death and Judgment ALmighty God whose hands have made and fashioned us out of the dust and hast in thy Justice pronounced That to dust we must return again and appointed unto all men once to die and after that to Judgment and by my own frailties and the reproaches of my Conscience hast given me such certain presages of my Death and the Account I am to give that I shall be inexcusable if I be found unprovided for them O good God let the notices thou hast given me keep me always mindful of what I am and what I must be and the thoughts of Death and Judgment so conduct the whole course of my life that when it is thy pleasure to call me I may be fit to die and
Notices and Conceptions of the Understanding have a tincture from the matter of which the Body is formed is as manifest as the different Impressions which the Things of this and the other World make on the Minds of Men by a similitude of Nature and the immediate access they have to our Senses The former have a mighty influence whilst the latter having no access to the Soul but by the Ministry of the Body are discoloured by the Medium through which they pass and are so lessened in our estimation and regard that every Trifle becomes a Rival and our sensitive part so favours the pretensions of the World that it is very apt to engross our time and our care Israel-like we fix so passionately on the Earthly Canaan that 't is some pain to bring our selves to due reflections on the Joys which lie beyond it and 't is so difficult to entertain the thoughts of both together that 't is hard if not impossible for the best of Men to preserve a just Idea of another Life whilst they give up themselves to the hurry and the noise of This. Hence the Devout Christian concludes it necessary to set a-part certain Portions of his time when laying aside all thoughts of This he may entertain himself with those of the other World 2. He does not abandon the Station God has set him in he does not fly to a Cloyster or a Desart nor believe he shall be more serviceable to God by rendring himself useless to Men that Walls will purge the Corruptions which lodge in his Nature or Solitude quench the Fire he carries thither in his Blood Though he has a reverence for those Holy Men whom Persecution or Choice led to a Solitude yet he cannot believe that the Holy Solitaires of old ever intended by their Examples to unpeople the World or that God ever intended we should banish our selves from Society to which he planted a tendency in our very Natures or that he who made us to be helpful to one another will put a value on a perpetual Affront and Contradiction to the Law of our Natures or that the highest Institution of Charity the Gospel will ever allow the best pretensions to defeat it and render Men unuseful to the World 3. Yet he believes it of great moment to make frequent retreats from the World to abandon and lay aside the pursuit and thoughts thereof to entertain himself with the considerations of and his pretensions to a better State and this he looks upon as necessary as Temperance and Physick to his Body or Accounts to his Estate If the Health of his Body will permit Abstinence accompanies him to his Closet and his Body feels the resentment his Sin deserves at least he Fasts to his Father that sees in secret he does not serve his Vanity on his retreat it does not make him sowre uneasie or out of Humour nor does he think his Conversation ought to carry the marks of those sad reflections that possessed his Soul 't is enough to him that God is the Witness to his sorrow and resentment that he has poured out his Soul before him that he who can reward him openly can hear the gentlest sigh or the softest Prayer and thus assured a profound Humility and an awful senâ—e of the Divine Presence accompany him in his retirement to his Closet where his Repentance and his Prayers have their due place he knows that he who fills the Heavens will dwell with the humble and contrite Heart and the high and lofty one who inhabits Eternity will hear and not despise the Prayer of the destitute that he whose Mercy is over all his Works whose Grace is sufficient for the impotent Offender will grant Repentance unto Life to those that sincerely seek for it And in this assurance his first Address is to God that he who is the Creator and Lover of Souls who thought fit to make Men after his own Image and redeem them with the inestimable Merits of his Son and in his Name has Preached repentance to all the World and to whom nothing is impossible would enable him to make a right judgment of his own state and condition and grant him repentance unto Life Eternal and that this may not end in ineffectual wishes his first care is to inform himself of the Nature of that Duty God and the interest of his own Soul have made so necessary CHAP. II. 1. The Penitents opinion of the possibility and necessity of Repentance and the danger of deferring it 2. His sorrow for sin 3. His resolution to forsake it 4. His behaviour when surprized to the sin he resolved against 5. His thoughts of the second part of Repentance the measures by which he distinguishes it from the ineffectual Repentance and judges of his sincerity in the practice thereof 6. Arguments against his relapse and neglect of the duty of Repentance 7. Practice of it how managed 8. When removed 1. THe natural notices of God's Goodness and Mercy render it so reasonable to believe that he has made that plain and intelligible and practicable which he has made necessary that when he finds Repentance charged upon the sinner and enforced with the Sanctions of Death eternal the devout Christian concludes it a duty in the reach of every capacity and by the Grace of God within the power of the sinner and does neither disturb himself with nice and elaborate speculations and enquiries about it nor with dangerous conceits of its being impracticable but relying on that All-wise Goodness that designed it a Remedy and a Blessing to fallen Mankind he conducts his search by those discoveries that God has given and his hopes by the Grace and Aids he has promised assures himself the Repentance God describes in his Word is that he requires and the Merits of the Blessed Jesus which in favour of sinners have changed he Primitive method of Salvation And advanced sorrow and remorse and a hearty endeavour of pleasing God into the room of integrity and unsinning obedience will not only give a value to the duty being done but procure ability to perform it Having thus laid the foundations of his Faith and Hopes in the Goodness of God and the Merits of his Son he addresses himself to the Treasury of Holy Truths God intended for his Guide where Repentance is described sometimes by the perturbation which is raised in the soul of the Offender by a reflection on his sin or the frightful apprehensions that a sense of sin produces in us Thus St. Paul calls it a godly sorrow and faith That a godly sorrow works Repentance to Salvation Sometimes it is described by the effect which the sense of sin and the hopes of pardon produce in the Heart and Affections or in the Lives and Manners of Men. Thus in the common expression of the Prophets Repentance is making a clean and a new spirit turning from our evil ways or doing that which is lawful and right and turning unto God
disadvantages that 't is capable of that can part with a Lust tender as the Eye or dear as the Right Hand and break through all the struggles and regret of Interest and Nature to follow the Commands of God that with sorrow beholds the crying Sins of a Nation but with tears and compunction looks upon the share he has in the Publick Guilt 'T is not enough to the Penitent that sorrow covers his Face unless it fill his Heart too that he be angry with his Sin but he parts with it too he not only reflects with confusion on what he has done amiss but flies where-ever his guilt leads him whether to God or his Brother for a Pardon if God be the injured Person his Tears and his Prayers carry his afflicted Soul to the Throne of Grace and a broken and a contrite Heart recommend him to the compassions of his Father if his Brother be the offended restitution or satisfaction are the fruits and marks of his repentance he begs pardon for little Offences or with restitution is willing to buy forgiveness and believes that only to be the useful repentance which calls him back from his Follies to his Duty and steddily conducts him in it that impresses a holy awe and love of God and a just care for his eternal welfare 6. But when Flesh and Blood remonstrate and would draw him back from the ways of repentance the penitent looks upon it not only as a Duty but as consecrated into a Blessing and adores the Goodness that advanced it into the place of Innocence and by so easie and gentle a remedy put it into his Power to recover the Felicity Sin had lost and the advantage preponderates the trouble and he is pleased to be healed though the Physick be churlish If the Enemy or his own Fears magnifie the Difficulty or represent the Work too great or of too little value the Merits of a Saviour come in to his aid and he assures himself that he who gave his Son to die to make him capable of living will give his Spirit to those that ask it with a sincere intention to live 7. Thus the Penitent breaks through all the Difficulties that stand in his way and from debate hastens to experiment the pleasures of being reconciled unto God and in his own Conversion tast the satisfactions which are the subject of the Joys above he opens his Soul to God calls his own and God's ways to remembrance his Guilts and Follies and the Mercies that have out-done them in number have each their place in his Reflections with a sad and pensive Soul he beholds the one and with astonishment the other he is amazed at his Ingratitude and Madness that could return the Goodness of so bountiful a Father in Contempt and Dishonour and serve his Lust on that Goodness to which he owes his very being but his amazement rises higher when he reflects on that unspeakable Mercy that has spared him when he deserved to be punished that has poured new Blessings into his Bosom when he deserved nothing less and pursued him with an unwearied Goodness and invincible Patience through all the Scenes of Sin and Folly and amidst all the Labirynths and Turnings through which his Lusts had led him been so constant in the repetition of his Favours as if he had intended by an incessant love to force a Happiness upon him and with the importunities of a never-failing Goodness not only lead but compel him to repentance This he remembers with astonishment and joy and that it may never be forgotten he breaks through all the importunities of the World to set apart a Portion of his time to redouble the favours of God in fresh reflections upon them 'T is not enough to him that the Sins and Mercies of the Day have every Night a place in his thoughts but he consecrates a Portion of his time to lament the one and adore the Goodness that bestowed the other not a Week passes without a Solemn Hour consecrated to Gratitude and Repentance without a fresh and deliberate account betwixt God and his Soul where Sorrow and Joy where Vows and Prayers and good Resolutions where Mortification and a Holy Revenge have each their places and by judging himself the penitent prevents the terrours of a final judgment and by a wise revenge on himself disarms the Almighty Power to punish 8. Nor do those certain periods of Sorrow so limit the business of the Penitent but his repentance is renewed afresh when a publick calamity calls for it the Fears the Dangers the Afflictions or the crying Sins of a Nation hasten him down into his own Soul he is just and impartial in his enquiry whether he be not that Achan whose Sin drew down the Judgment or the Danger that threatens and believes it a Justice he owes to his Country to lend his Tears and his Prayers to fill up the measures of a National Repentance nay though Wicked as Sodom yet he believes it his Duty to make one amongst those whose righteousness may help to save it the stated or the occasional Fasts of the Church have their due regard he looks upon them as consecrated to Devotion and Repentance to Prayers and Humiliation and his Soul bears a part in the Solemnity he is angry with himself when God is angry with a Nation and believes his displeasure a fit subject for his own and looks upon it as a Duty incumbent upon him to make one amongst those that Mourn in Sion whenever he is called by a just Authority to lament his Anger or implore his Blessings But when all is peace and silent from without the cares of that Immortal Being God has committed to his trust are pressing and importunate from within the dangers that beset him the Temptations that surround him the burden of his Sins and the Sins of his frailties cry aloud for frequent retirements for the ends of Devotion and Repentance and he believes the discharge of his Soul into the Bosom of God so necessary to lessen the burden of his Guilt and a frequent account with himself of such important moment to his last and great account with God that he suffers not the importunity of the World to hinder his retirement and that a Principle of Love and Gratitude and an humble sense of his own demerit may conduct his censure of himself and his addresses to God he reflects on the Mercy and Compassions of God and looks back to his past course of life recollecting his sins and follies every greater transgression is covered with a new sorrow and renews his suit for God's pardon and mercy yet that their guilt and number may not overwhelm his hope of mercy nor his partiality teach him to forget the terms on which 't is offered he entertains himself with the thoughts of God's mercy and the terms on which 't is promised CHAP. II. 1 Meditations on God's mercy to Penitents 2. Prayer for God's assistance 3. Confession of sins
give up my Account with joy and a just assurance of his favour and love who is my Saviour and my Judge Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen 9. The Penitent's Prayer of Resignation or devoting himself to God O Blessed Father by whose Power all things were made and for whose service and pleasure they were created and in resignation to whose holy will all our felicity consists in mercy look down upon a Prodigal thy Grace and Goodness has brought to a sense of his Duty I have sinned against Heaven and before thee and am unworthy to be called thy Child but it is thy will I should return and thou art pleased to receive me as a servant O blessed Father I resign my self to thy service to be disposed as thou seest fittest for me Thine shall be my will I will esteem that wise and holy thou commandest true that thy word promises or affirms just and reasonable thou appointest and will believe it my greatest interest to follow where thou art pleased to call me And here O Lord I offer and present unto thee my Soul and Body to be a holy and a reasonable Sacrifice to thee What thy Grace has made thine let thy Goodness accept and preserve and thy Spirit seal to the day of Redemption for Christ Jesus sake Amen 10. A Prayer for the Church O Blessed Father by whose Wisdom and good Providence thy Truth has been planted and preserved in these Nations In mercy look down upon that Church thy own right hand has planted therein make us so sensible of the advantages of a holy and uncorrupt Faith of the truly pious and decent Worship and the Blessings of uncorrupted and undisguised Truth we enjoy in her Communion that laying aside our Heats and Prejudices we may all study the Peace and Honour of our Holy Mother and our unhappy Divisions give no occasion to the enemies of the Reformation to attempt or hope our Ruine More especially I beseech thee to give me Grace in my place and calling to live an useful Member of this thy Church till thou shalt call me to thy Church in Glory All this I beg for his sake who died for and is the Head of the Church Jesus Christ the Righteous Amen 11. A Prayer for these Kingdoms ALmighty God by whose Providence we are preserved from Confusion and Ruine Forgive our fins and continue thy Mercies towards us and by thy Wisdom and Blessing preserve and secure the Peace and Honour of these Nations Make the Government thou hast established a great Instrument of promoting thy Honour establishing thy Gospel and securing the Peace the Welfare and Prosperity of the People of these Kingdoms and make them so sensible of the Blessings they enjoy thereby that we may all study to be quiet and live in Peace and Love and Piety till thou think fit to receive us to thy eternal Kingdom thorough Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen 12. A Prayer for the People of these Kingdoms ALmighty God who seest what ill use we have made of thy great Mercies toward us how we have abused thy Grace and Goodness how we are fallen from that Innocence and Vertue from that Plainess and Integrity that were once the Honour of these Nations and how far that unhappy Spirit of Scoffing Irreligion and Profaneness have prevailed amongst us O Lord if it be thy will put a stop to our Profaneness and let our Wickedness come to an end revive a Spirit of Holiness and Sincerity of Justice and Temperance of Charity and Peace and make us that happy People who have the Lord for our God for Christ Jesus his sake Amen Occasional Prayers to be added On Good-Friday O Holy Father who hast ransack'd thy own bosom for arguments of pity and in thy compassion taken measure by thy infinite and unspeakable Goodness and for thy Mercies sake given thy Son to be a Ransom and a Peace-offering for thy Enemies In Him in whom thou art well pleased look down upon me let his Sacrifice of himself atone for my sins his Blood make my peace and by his Stripes let my Soul be healed O God my God Amen Another Prayer for Good-Friday O Most Holy and Ever-blessed Jesus who wast pleased to die for sinners Have pity and compassion upon me a miserable sinner and that the imitation of thy Life and Sufferings may fit me for the Merits and Blessings thereof let thy Grace and Goodness give a due influence to thy Example let thy exemplary Patience and holy Resignation teach me to resign my self and my will to the Hand and the Will of God in all his dispensations thy Charity to forgive thy Meekness to humble every aspiring thought and preserve a Spirit calm and easie amidst all the Injuries and Provocations that befal me let the Power of thy Death overcome all my propensities to sin and thy Sufferings atone for it and since thou livest for ever to make intercession for sinners and hast promised to save to the uttermost all such as come unto thee Lord hear my Prayers forgive my Sins and save me in the day of Wrath O thou Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world Amen For Ash-Wednesday or any other time of Lent O Almighty God who art always ready to give thy assistance to every good thought every honest intention and sincere endeavour to consecrate our selves to thy service yet hast taught us to hope for the Aids of thy Grace in the use of Fasting and Prayer Mortification and Self-denial and all other useful ways of subduing the Lusts of the flesh Give O Lord thy Blessings and Assistance to all that humble themselves before thee accept their Abstinence hear their Prayers and forgive their Sins Bless me O my Father let thy Spirit help my Infirmities and so assist me that my flesh being so subdued to the Spirit my Fasting may be consecrated to thee who seest in secret and thou mayest reward me openly among those who by keeping themselves from the defilements of the flesh shall be fitted to follow the Lamb for ever and ever All this I beg for his sake who fasted for ours Jesus Christ the righteous Amen For the Thirtieth of January O Almighty God who in thy Justice didst suffer these Nations to fall into Anarchy and Confusion and involve themselves in the guilt of innocent Blood the Blood of thine Anointed Look in mercy upon us and forgive our sins especially That of This Day let it never be laid to our charge and do thou spare us when thou makest inquisition for Blood and make us so sensible of our great provocations that we may all turn from the evil of our ways and our iniquities may not be our ruine O do thou who art the God of Peace and Love and Order inspire us all with a Spirit of Holiness and Charity of Meekness and Obedience and make us the People who have the Lord for our God for Christ Jesus sake our Saviour and Redeemer Amen For the