Majesty and us thy Creatures the work of thy hands Between thy infinite power and our weakness thy Wisdom and our Folly thy Eternal Being and our Mortal Frame But Lord we have set our selves at a greater distance from thee by our sin and wickedness We do humbly acknowledge the corruption of our nature and the many rebellions of our lives We have sinned against Heaven and before thee in thought word and deed We have been prophane Contemners of thy Majesty and of thy Holy Laws We have also sinned against our Brother and our own Souls by omitting what we ought to have done and committing what we ought not We have rebelled against light despised thy Mercies and thy Judgments broken our own vows and promises neglected thy means of grace and opportunities of becoming better Our iniquities are multiplyed and our sins are very great We confess them O Lord with shame and with sorrow with detestation and loathing We are vile in our own eyes as we have rendred our selves vile in thine We pray thee to be merciful unto us in the free pardon of our sins for the sake of thy Dear Son and our alone Saviour Jesus Christ who came not to call the righteous but sinners to Repentance And we pray thee to renew our natures and to write thy Laws upon our hearts Help us to live righteously soberly and Godly in this present World Make us humble and meek patient and contented and work in us all the graces of thy Holy Spirit Preserve in us a sense of our dependance upon thee and of our great Obligations to thee Help us that we may love thee with all our heart and that we may universally obey and cheerfully submit to thy holy will Save and defend us from all sin and danger from malice and ill will from covetousness and sensuality from pride and vanity and from all the deceits of the world the crafts of the Devil and lusts of the Flesh Direct us O Lord in all our difficulties supply our wants support us under our troubles enable us against our temptations prosper our honest endeavours and above all things purifie and cleanse our thoughts Prepare us for death and judgment and let the thoughts thereof awaken us to a great care and study to approve our selves unto thee in well doing Bless thy whole Church these Kingdoms to which we belong And bless with thy choicest Blessings our Sovereign Lord the King Defend him against all his enemies Let his dayes be many and his Reign prosperous Bless him in his Royal Relations in his Counsellors and his Counsels Bless all the Governours and Teachers of thy Church grant them such a measure of thy Grace and Divine Wisdom that they may by their Doctrine and by their examples gain many souls unto thee Help all that are in trouble sorrow need sickness or any other adversity Give them patience under their troubles a sanctified use of them and in thy good time a deliverance from them Be merciful to our Friends and forgive our Enemies and accept or our humble acknowledgment for thy preservations of us this last night and for all thy mercies to us And we pray thee to take us into thy protection this day and to keep us in perfect peace and all we beg for the sake of Jesus Christ who hath taught us to say Our Father c. An Evening Prayer for a Family MOst gratious and merciful Lord God from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift and our most merciful Father in Jesus Christ we offer up to thy Divine Majesty our unfeigned Praise and Thanksgiving for all thy mercies towards us Thou didst make us at first and hast ever since sustained the work of thine own hands Thou hast given us thy Son to dye for us and hast admitted us into thy Church and given us assurance of pardon upon our Repentance and sincere obedience of thy holy precepts Thou art pleased to lengthen out to us the time of Repentance and to move us to it by thy word and by thy Spirit by thy mercies and thy judgments Out of a deep sense of thy mercies and our own unworthiness we appear before thee at this time We are ashamed of our vile ingratitude We have sinned O Lord and done very wickedly Be merciful unto us O Lord and pardon us for Jesus Christ his sake Instruct us O Lord in all the particulars of our duty and give us true wisdom who hast promised to give wisdom and upbraidest not Be with us under every Tryal and temptation and suffer us not to be tempted above what we shall be able Take care we pray thee of our affairs and more and more direct us into thy truth Defend us against all our Enemies but especially against our spiritual ones Suffer us not to be drawn away from thee by the blandishments of the world by carnal desires the cunning of the Devil or the deceitfulness of sin Work in us thy good will and pleasure and discharge our minds of all things that are displeasing to thee of all ill will and discontent wrath and bitterness pride and vain conceits of our selves and render us charitable holy pure in heart patient and Heavenly minded Be with us at the hour of death dispose us for it and deliver us from the slavish fear of it and make us all willing and fit to dye when ever thou shalt call us hence Bless O Lord all the race of Mankind let the world be filled with the knowledge of thee and thy Son Christ as the waters cover the Sea Be gracious to thy whole Church and especially to that part of it planted in these Kingdoms Bless the Kings Majesty and let his Crown flourish upon his Head and let no weapon formed against him prosper Bless all his Relations and teach his Senators wisdom And bless all that are to govern and teach thy Church make them successful in their labours and grant they may consider the account they must one day give Pity the sick and weak the poor and needy the Widowes and Fatherless and all that mourn or are broken in heart Be merciful unto them according to their several necessities Bless our Friends and grant us Grace to forgive our enemies as heartily as we do desire forgiveness of thee our Heavenly Father We pray thee to defend us this night from every thing that is evil and do more for us than we can ask or think for Jesus Christ his sake in whose name and words we continue to Pray Our Father c. FINIS
his lusts he that despises riches and conquers himself does works as pleasing to God and as profitable to himself as he that removed Mountains and cast them into the Sea Nay such works as these are better for us and more acceptable to God than the power of doing the greatest Miracles He that lives well does more than he that wrought Miracles It was not the power of doing Wonders that made men Christians Their Christianity did consist in the obedience of there lives He that obeys the Gospel and our Faith teacheth us to do so receives the grace mercy which it offers If we could do wonders and yet remained void of the love and image of God we would not be in the state of Salvation The lives of the Apostles made them dear to God and not their miracles And St. Luke when he writes the story of what the Apostles did does not give his Book the title of the Miracles of the Apostles but the Acts or Practices of the Apostles is the title which it bears Our Saviour bids the Disciples not to rejoyce that the spirits are subject to them but rather says he rejoyce because your names are written in Heaven Luk. 10.20 Our obedience does intitle us to Gods favour but so does not our power to do wonderful works If we work iniquity it is not the gift of working Miracles that shall stand us in stead Many says Christ will say to me in that day Lord Lord have not we prophesied in thy name And in thy name have cast out Devils And in thy name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Matth. 7.22 23. That Faith which wrought Miracles endured but for a time but the Faith which works righteousness is to abide for ever If our Faith cleanse and purifie our hearts we shall not need be troubled that it does not remove Mountains If we be condemned at that great day it shall not be because we did not work Miracles but because we did not feed the hungred and cloth the naked c. Matth. 25. Jam. 2.15 16. 'T is our sincere obedience to the Gospel which God requires and will reward hereafter We must shew our Faith by our works as Abraham did or else we shall have no reason to judge Faith saving If it be such a Faith as cleanseth our hearts if it enable us to forgive our enemies if it help us to overcome the World if it make us strong against Temptations patient under Afflictions constant under Trials and careful to obey God then it is such a Faith as God requires of us But if on the other hand it be but a lazy belief of the truth of the Gospel and a confident expectation however of grace and pardon it is not such a Faith that will save our Souls And let us never so much vaunt our selves that we magnifie the free Grace of God when we profess a recumbency upon Christ and a resting upon him for Salvation yet if we remain idle and disobedient this Faith will not avail us He does savingly believe that does assent to the truth of what God hath revealed and is so far in love with it also that he does sincerely and heartily give himself up to the obedience of it And he that does this as he ought is so far from depressing the freeness of Gods Grace and exalting himself that when he hath done all that he can and which is commanded he can say from the bottom of his heart that he is an unprofitable Servant and hath done that which was his duty to do Luk. 17.10 CHAP. IX BUT as we must examine our Faith towards God so we must try our love towards one another For the Eucharist is a feast of love and a Sacrament of Charity And was not only designed for our renewing our most solemn Covenant with God but also for the maintaining a fervent Charity with one another as hath been shewed before Now as we are too forward to profess a Faith which we have not so it is to be feared we do commonly profess a Charity when we are devoid of it And therefore it will very highly concern us to enquire diligently whether or no we have a fervent Charity and Love to one another For the Holy Scriptures commend to us a Love without dissimulation Rom. 12.9 a Love that is fervent and with a pure heart 1 Pet. 1.22 A Love which does not lie in Word and in Tongue but in Deed and in Truth 1 Joh. 3.18 Now though we do make pretences of Love to one another yet it is much to be feared that we do frequently but pretend it and that under this great pretence of kindness there does frequently lurk a secret root of bitterness Now notwithstanding Charity be a most extensive Grace yet I shall consider it at this time as it does import these two things First a readiness to do our Neighbour good Secondly to forgive evil For where there is a true Love we shall be ready to give and forgive to do all the good we can and forgive all the evil which is done against us These two will make our love to one another like the love of God to us who does not only forgive our offences but does also load us daily with his benefits First we shall be ready to do our Neighbour all the good we can if we do love him as we should And if we would make a right judgment of the sincerity of this love which we bear our Neighbour we must judge of it by that love which we bear our selves for we are strictly obliged to Love our Neighbour as we love our selves Mat. 22.39 Now before we can be said to do this we must 1. Wish our Neighbour the same good which we wish to our selves We must have the same sincere affection to our Neighbour which we have to our selves This must be the standard by which we are to measure our love And as it is very easie to discern that we do very sincerely wish well to our selves so must we do by our Neighbour also before we can be said to love him as we love our selves And this must be understood in the greatest latitude Certain it is that we wish well in the general to our own souls to our Bodies our Credit and Estate though we many times use not the means which tend to their welfare we must do thus as sincerely by our Neighbour also And 2. We must in all our actions do by him as we in the like case should or may reasonably desire that he should do by us This we must inviolably observe before we can be said to love our Neighbour as we do love our selves And it is a very plain case that we would not that our Neighbour should invade our just rights and therefore if we love him as we love our selves we shall be as careful not to invade his If
every evil way and purifie my self as thou art pure Keep me O Lord for the time to come from every thing that is hurtful to me and displeasing to thee From the excesses both of care and fear from snares and great perplexities from carnal desires and brutish inclinations from covetousness and hatred from envy and pride from vanity and dissimulation murmuring and discontent And make me stedfast in justice and charity in humility and meekness in purity of heart and heavenly mindedness and sincere devotion And to these Holy ends vouch safe me the presence of thy Spirit and power of thy grace and endue me with heavenly Wisdom and all this I beg for the sake and in the Mediation of Jesus Christ Our Father which art c. Ejaculations to be used at the Lords Supper THE Lord hath done great things for me whereof I am glad If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us Much more then being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son Much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life At the Receiving of the Bread THou hast said O Blessed Jesus I am the living Bread which came down from heaven If any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever Be it unto thy Servant according to thy Word in which thou hast caused me to trust Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us ward They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee If I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred I am thine O Lord I devote my self to thee O save thy Servant who trusteth in thee I have enclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway even unto the end Depart from me ye evil doers for I will keep the Commandments of my God At the Receiving of the Cup. O Blessed Saviour let thy Blood purge my Conscience from dead works to serve the living God Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive Power and Riches and Wisdom and Strength and Honour and Glory and Blessing who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood I will not henceforth live unto my self but unto him who dyed for me and rose again Blessed be the Lord my God who only doeth wondrous things And blessed be his glorious name for ever and let the whole Earth be filled with his Glory Amen and Amen After Receiving BLessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant Mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead To an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Perfect that which concerneth me and forsake not the work of thine own hands I intreat thy favour with my whole heart Be merciful unto me according to thy word I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Judgements O hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not A Prayer after the Receiving the Sacrament BLessed be thy glorious name O Lord for all thy unspeakable mercies to me and to all the World I adore and magnifie thee for thy great goodness in giving thy Son to dye for me and making me partaker of his most pretious Body and Blood O Lord what is man that thou thus regardest him And what am I a vile and wretched sinner that thou shouldst be thus favourable to me Thou hast been pleased to admit me to renew that Covenant with thee which I had broken and to give me assurance of thy readiness to pardon so vile and great a sinner as I have been I have received the pledges of thy love and been admitted to thy holy Table I have there devoted my self again unto thee my Soul and Body all my powers and faculties I have vowed obedience to thee and after the most solemn manner consecrated my self to thy service Thou art a God that knowest the heart and art not to be mocked I tremble when I consider thy infinite power wisdom and holiness Let these thoughts beget in my Soul a great fear of thy Holy name a great care to do thy will Grant I may not for the future turn the grace of thee my God into wantonness and that I may not receive the Grace of God in vain There is nothing hid from thee Thou knowest my weakness and infirmities and the temptations with which I am assaulted and to which I have too often yielded I am surrounded with snares and my spiritual Enemies are powerful and active O Lord help thy Servant and grant that I may both resist and vanquish them by the aid of thy Holy Spirit Keep the possession of my Soul which I have unfeignedly surrendred up unto thee Unite my heart O Lord to fear thy name and grant that I may spend the remainder of my time in obedience to thee and in acts of Charity to my brethren Create a clean heart O Lord and renew a right Spirit within me Forsake me not O Lord if thou leave me I perish Guide me by thy Counsel and at last receive me to thy glory I do greatly desire the Salvation of mankind and humbly commend to thee this Church and Kingdom the Kings Majesty and all our Superiors in Church and State humbly intreating thee to direct and guide them all into those holy wayes that are pleasing to thee and beneficial to those who are under their charge and influence And work in the minds of all Christians an unfeigned Charity a peaceable temper patience and exemplary meekness and all the other fruits of thy Holy Spirit And grant me thy heavenly grace that I may so use things temporal that I may not miss of thy Eternal Bliss for the sake of Jesus Christ my onely Mediator and Advocate Amen A Morning Prayer for a Family O Almighty and Eternal Lord God the great Creator of Heaven and Earth and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ look down from Heaven with pity and compassion upon thy servants who humbly cast ourselves down before thee in a great sense of thy mercies and our own misery There is an infinite distance between Thy Glorious