secret and unknown Errors of my sinful life past and graciously prevent the failings of that to Come IV. Make me truly and sincerely holy and to imbrace it neither for fear of punishment nor hope of reward but purely for thy sake who art holiness it self O let me never think my self holy enough but press still forward in thy holy Race until at last I have attained unto that full measure of holiness which by thy gracious Acceptation of it in Christ will End in Endless happiness Bless these my holy desires with happy performances for his sake whose perfect Righteousness thou both graciously acceptest for me and willingly imputest to me Amen Meditations for Saturday Morning on the Holy Sacrament NOw to keep the Soul in an even temper we must observe these following directions first for the best ordering our lives as to the safety and peace of our Souls be the more servent the more importunate in your Prayers when your lusts are most eager and vehement in their desires for this we have St. Pauls example for our imitation when he proportions the vehemency of his devotion to the violence of his temptation and by how much the messenger of Satan 2 Cor. 12. 9. Doth the more furiously reiterate his buffetings the more zealously doth he renew his Prayers and at length he receives this comfortable answer to his sorrowful complaint my grace is sufficient for thee sufficient to cure thy wound and to pardon thy guilt sufficient to strengthen thy weakness and to perfect thy deliverance II. Secondly entertain we no parley no treaty with our lusts have no commerce or company with them silence their suggestions or if they will needs be suggesting give them not the ear lest they make that the passage to the heart we betray our selves to sin whensoever we treat with our lusts conference with them is the way to be ensnared by them we must flie sin as a Serpent not let in the head lest it draw in its body not yield to the first motion lest we be engaged in its full Commission III. Thirdly set we up the law of spirit and life in our hearts Rom. 8. 2. and by how much the law of sin will be stirring in our thoughts by so much the more let this royal law of Christs Spirit and life bear sway in our souls and to that end especially now in the solemnity of the Blessed Eucharist renew we our purposes our vows our Covenants renew we our self denyal our total resignation thereby to obtain a further quickning in grace a further strengthning of the inward Man and all by a nearer Communion of Christ in his fulness thus this Holy Sacrament shall seal unto our hearts the comfort of this assurance that he will never leave us nor forsake us IV. Let us offer up to God the Sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit which sorrow of contrition must be like that of one Mourning for the dead a funeral sorrow the deepest of Mournings like that of one Mourning for her only Son the saddest of Funerals and for our sins deep humiliation is 〈◊〉 necessary whereby we confess the guâ—lt of our sins bewail the bitterness of distress deprecating Gods wrath and imploring his mercy for a full and free pardon of our sins A Prayer for Saturday Morning on the Holy Sacrament O Thou blessed Fountain of Eternal sweetness who art infinitely sweeter to my weary soul than all earthly enjoyments in whose presence is the fulness of joy and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore forgive the follies and infirmities of me thy sinful servant who have foolishly preferred these transitory drops of insufficient joys which have been wearisome and burthensome unto me to those thy rivers of Eternal pleasures in which thy Blessed Saints do sweetly bathe their happy Souls where everlasting jâ—y is on their heads and thine Eternal comforts in their hearts II. Lord open mine eyes now at last that I may clearly see the vanity of the Creature and the fulness sweetness and all sufficiency of Christ withdraw mine affections from the World and fix them wholly upon thee and thy Kingdom Lord sanctifie my heart to believe that there is no true sweetness but in goodness and that there can be no true goodness in that pleasure which is not subordinate to this sweetness which alone is in thee my Lord and Saviour the comfort of all Earthly Comforts and Heavenly Consolations III. Almighty God when I look upon thee out of Christ as thou art in thy self I can there see nothing else but destruction to my body and amazement to my soul in thine essence light inaccessible unto which no mortal eye can approach in thine attributes terrour unutterable from which no Creature can escape thy wisdom trying my corrupt heart and searching my sinful veins thy Justice most severe fearful in the pronunciation dreadful in the Execution thy truth admitting no alteration no judgment pronounced by thee but most precisely fulfilled yet such O Lord hath the folly of my false heart been that I have sinfully depended on thy mercy in Christ without either faith to receive thee hope to enjoy thee or love to delight in thee IV. Lord whither wilt thou suffer me to stray from thee How long Lord wilt thou leave me in this sleep of sin Lord seek me thy stray sheep or I am lost for ever open my sinful eyes that I sleep not in death make me wisely to remember that then only there is mercy with thee when thou art truly feared grant therefore dear Father for thy mercy sake that I may no longer dally with my precious soul by this my security in sin but sorely upon thy mercy as to have a filial fear of thy justice and from security in sin good Lord deliver me Amen Meditations for Saturday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament O Thou great Creator of Heaven and Earth I am ashamed of my self to see in what a posture I am in at this present I am cast down when I look into my self and make enquiry into my own unworthiness I cannot but behold my own vileness and baseness but thou O Lord dost receive sinners else how dare I approach to thy Holy Table thou art he that sayest come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and that the whole have no need of a Physician but they that are sick O Lord I am weary and heavy laden and come unto thee for ease and refreshment I am sick of sin be thou my Physician and my Medicine I am wounded hungry and weak be thou my soveraign balsome nourishment and strength I am sorrowful poor and foolish be thou my comfort enrich me and enlighten me I am fall of dross unclean and dead do thou refine me purifie me and quicken me with thy Heavenly grace unto salvation II. O that I were now with an humble heart at the Holy Table of my Lord there are all mercies conveyed and sealed all graces are
by them the inward Grace X. Also there are the spiritual invisible and credible yet most true and really present objects of Faith the Body and Blood of Christ that is Christ Jesus himself whom by Faith I consider as suffering for my sins and cast my Soul by the Mercy offered me by the merits of his Death these two materials of the Sacrament are so united that it may truly be said not in a Gross and Physical but Divine and Sacramental sence the Bread and Wine are the Body and Blood of Christ and Christ's Body and Blood are Bread and Wine Joh. 6. Meat indeed and Drink indeed not by transmutation of Nature but by a similitude of vertues and proportionableness of effects by a Sacramental Union and Relation depending upon the Truth Authority and Divine Power of the Institutor Jesus Christ XI Whose appointment of these Elements to such an use or end and uniting them in this near Relation to his Body and Blood by the solemn Consecration of them makes up the firm and true Being of a Sacrament Which requires a Truth and Reality both of the signs and symbols and that which is by them represented and signified also a Truth and Certainty of relation and connexion one with another so that I receive not only Panem Domini the Bread of the Lord but also Panem Dominum my Lord Jesus Christ the true Bread of Life Eternal to my Soul and Body this latter as truly and really as the former together with all the benefits which flow from Christ XII On the other side whoso unpreparedly and irreverently and so un vorthily receives the one contracts a guilt of Damnation for neglect indignity and irreverence offered to the other that is the Body and Blood of Christ which Faith only discerns and receives in this great Mystery and whoso violates and contemns the Seal and authentick Letters of the King becomes guilty of indignity and offence to the Authority and Majesty which is not only restrained to his Person but also in separably anexed to any sign or token by which he is pleased to manifest his Royal Will and pleasure thus rightly informed as I hope in the nature of this Sacrament what it is in it self what it may be to me of how Divine a Mystery and dignity it is in it self to my Soul either of Comsort and Salvation in a worthy receiving or of Guilt and Damnation in an unworthy receiving of it Fifthly How we ought to propare our selves I. Which is by laying my hand upon my heart and feeling how the pulse of my Soul beats whether doth it move as quick now I am thinking of my Maker as it doth when my thoughts are upon the World that which God and my Conscience requires of me is that I consider my self the state and condition of my Soul for what is past of my will and affections for the present of my purpose and intentions for the future to all which it is necessary that I have a regard and by a self-examining see what fitness there is in me answerable to these holy mysteries and the Grace of God by these offered to me and most effectually conveyed except the unpreparedness and indisposition of my heart do frustrate and put an obstacle II. In the contemplation of my self I may not nor can avoid the sight of that which makes me unworthy of God and my self that is my sin and that evil both of my inclinations to which I am conscious I know by long and miserable Experience that in me dwelleth no Good of my self but a Proness to sin at the best oftentimes a violence and power of sin which makes me not only passive as in Temptations but active in the will to do and delight in sin this my Conscience witnesseth with so much truth in so many unhappy instances and with so many just aggravations that nothing appears to me more numerous more unreasonable more to be abhorred than my sins nor more miserable than my self III. I know by an inward and undeniable Dictate that since I have my Being from and dependance upon a higher and better Being than my self it is most just I should be at his Will and disposing whose power is not greater above me than his goodness is abundant towards me and his wisdom perfect in giving laws to me for the ordering my Being according to his Will and Word the perfect rule of holiness and the only and certain way to happiness that nothing can be more injurious injust ingrateful than for a Creature to offend against the will of its Creator who as he is the highest and happiest Good so on the contrary sin in me must needs be the lowest Evil and sink me to the deepest Misery by setting me at an Eternal distance from the Love and Favour of God which is Life it self as an object of his hatred and Eternal displeasure IV. So that when I look upon the deformity of my heart and life comparing them with the Beauty of Reason and Religion wherein the Image of God infinitly appears in Holiness and goodness I have cause to admire that infinite Patience which hath so long witheld the hands of Justice from punishing and damning a Creature doing and deserving so much and to deplore my own depraved and damnable Estate over whom sin so far prevaileth and exerciseth its Tyranny that neither my thoughts words nor actions natural civil nor religious do escape the brand or blemish of it so that it is not only ignorance forgetfulness or suddenness that gives sin advantage against me in many Vanities Passions and Omissions but a Predominancy and high Hand wherewith oftentimes I am led away Captive to sin with such violence that neither the force of Reason nor better Resolutions and Purposes are sufficient to rescue my Soul from the Speculation and Practice of that which should not be thought much less done with the least delight and pleasure since it is displeasing to God V. So that I see not only a habitude and propensity to any sin which is often restrained through want of matter or occasion to make it flame into action but an Empire and rule of some whose power excites by innate disposition and comfirm'd by custom seems to have made an utter conquest of me and does compel me against all my Knowledge Prayers and Vows to exchange my Souls happiness in the Love of God and Christ in Heaven for a moment of earthly content for a sensual imaginary pleasure which when the dream of this Life is past and vanish'd and by that immutable Law of mortality I am compell'd to leave the World and all things in it will betray me to endless and irrecoverable misery In the mean time it estranges my heart from that care intention and delight which I ought to have in holy duties and conversation with God and his Holy Spirit It robs and deprives my Soul of all that joy peace hope and assiance I might have in the service love
great misery in thine endless mercy of carnal make me spiritual increase thy graces daily in me and for thy mercy sake remove all vain pretences of a false assurance from me give me that sincerity of heart in thy service that constant holiness and gracious perseverance that makes my Calling and Election sure IV. O thou glorious and for ever blessed Spirit who eternally enjoyest blessedness in the sweetness and fulness of thy self and yet most graciously communicatest happiness to us thy sinful Creatures that we might thereby spiritually know thee love thee 〈…〉 e thee and eternally enjoy thee vouchsafe me I humbly beseech thee the blessed p 〈…〉 e of thy holy Spirit that I may thereby become 〈…〉 iritual that I may no longer live af 〈…〉 destruction but daily m 〈…〉 ds of the flesh by the S 〈…〉 may thereby joyfully attain unto 〈…〉 V. Suffer me not O Lord any longer to delude my self with the shews and shadows of devotion but so guide me by the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit that I may dye truly and daily unto sin and live hourly unto righteousness Lord thou seest all my desires and my groanings are not hid from thee O! grant me this mercy and take from me what thou wilt even life it self without thee is bitterness unto me unglew my heart from the World and fix it wholly upon thee and thy service that so I may spiritually rejoyce in thee be graciously accepted of thee and ever blessed with thee Amen Meditations for Wednesday Evening a preparation to the Holy Sacrament I. AFter all these injuries Consider what Scourgings and Whipping our Saviour suffered at the Pillar for when the Judge perceived that he was not able to pacifie the furious rage of those his most cruel Enemies he determin'd to punish our Saviour with such a severe kind of punishment as might suffice to satisfie the malicious outrage of such cruel hearts that they being content therewith should cease and seek no more after his death II. This was one of the greatest and most wonderful fights that was seen in the World who would ever have thought that lashes should have been laid on the shoulders of the Almighty the Prophet David saith the place of thy habitation O Lord is most High and that there shall no evil approach near thy Tabernacle if the Blessed Angels fill'd the Air with high lauds and praises upon the day of his Nativity when as yet they had only seen him in swadling cloaths and in the Manger where he was laid what did they think when they see him so maliciously and cruelly handled III. Whither O Son of God whither hath thy humility descended Whither hath thy charity pity love and compassion extended For I have done wickedly and thou art punished I have committed the offence and thou art chastened with revenge the tree carried me to unlawful desire and perfect charity led thee to the tree of thy Cross teach me O Lord to mortifie my worldly affections and all vices that reign in this mortal body O pour into my wounds the Oyl of thy goodness that I may come with that health unto thy holy Table as becomes a worthy receiver Let nothing be sweet I pray thee unto me without thee let all other things be vile and of no account but troublesome unto me which is contrary to thy good will and pleasure let tears be my bread day and night let thy law be better unto me than millions of gold and silver and let it be delightful unto me to walk in the ways of thy Commandments unto the end IV. As there is no greater incentive of divine wrath than sin so there is not any greater obstructive of devout Prayer in removing that wrath than impenitence impenitence clogs yea clips the wing of devotion so that it cannot mount aloft it cannot reach the throne of grace and of this David himself gives us his profession from his experience saying Psal 66. 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me look how far our lives are from Gods precepts to obey them so far are Gods Ears from hearkning to our Prayers saith Tertul the person then must be excepted before the petition and so a sincere penitent is the best suppliant for that our Lord Jesus Christ being the Priest that offers and the Altar that sanctifies all our services there can be no acceptation without his mediation and sure I am he will not be our Advocate unless he be our Lord he will not be our Priest unless he be our King he will not present God our Prayers unless we present him our persons and whom faith and repentance consecrates through the Spirit him grace and mercy accepts through Christ V. In this Blessed Sacrament here we have an unmovable Centre to rest on God our portion Christ our fullness an object larger than the Heavens Oh that our Faith were now suitable to its object the firmness of our trust to the fulness of our God our Jesus had the Widow of Sarepta prepared more Vessels she had receiv'd more Oyl and that we receive less in the supplies of grace and bounties of love from God and Christ it is because we are straightned in our Faith not God or Christ straightned in his bounty we less capable to receive not he less willing or able to give the Widows vessels are all fill'd and here each humble Soul shall be replenished according to the measure of their capacity VI. Not according to the riches of Christs fulness who as the Sea can fill the vessels though never so large and therefore where the measure is but little there the vessels are but small Enlarge we then the thirsting desires of our Soul that the Fountain of Christs fullness here set open in this Ordinance may satisfie and fill them here behold the promises of life sealed here feel the riches of grace Communicated and here see the earnest of Salvation and Glory Confirmed O then let us hasten to these wells of Salvation for in them we shall find eternal life while we are here we shall find rest to our Bodies and Souls but in the life to come joy everlasting A Prayer for Wednesday Evening preparatory to the Holy Sacrament I. To thee O thou blessed Centre of my Soul mine inward and mine outward Consolation my blessed quietness and richest rest with all humility of Soul and prostration of Spirit do I apply my self for mercy and forgiveness Lord pardon in the Blood of Christ all my offences and for the time to come withdraw my heart from worldly vanities and fix it wholly upon thee and thy Kingdom that so I may sincerely love thee joyfully delight in thee and be both now and ever happy with thee II. O God most Holy O Lord most Righteous O Father most Merciful who in thy tender bowels of compassion towards me hast freely given me thine only Son to perform that in mercy for me which thou in justice
and my death happy be merciful to me thy frail and sinful Creature who have daily been so far from abstaining from the least appearance of it that I have daily ran with greediness into it and hourly studied vain Excuses for it V. Grant dear Lord for thy mercy sake that these my daily diminutions of Sin may now daily increase in me the Augmentations of sorrow that so I may truly and heartily bewail mine offences thou may st graciously forgive them and by thy grace assisting I may perfectly abhor them grant this dear Father for thy mercy sake in ham who dyed for Sin and had no Sin in him Amen Meditations for Fryday Morning on the Holy Sacrament HIs Guards are strong his Fence is sure whose Salvation is Christ which Salvation is Communicated to us in the promises of grace exhibited in the Ministry of the word and more plentifully conveyed yea more effectually confirmed in the Ministration of the Sacraments Now to spoil us of the treasure to rob us of the comfort of this Salvation is Satan's grand design in his temptations unto sin and his suggestions of distrust for by these he labours to withdraw us from our God and deprive us of Communion with Christ who is our love and our life II. But when the bird is mounted on the wing it is safe from the Fowlers net and the soul raised in Communion with Christ is preserv'd from Satan's snare and if through infirmity the soul flag and fall to the Earth and so become intangled in carnal and worldly affections yet keeping the eye fixt upon Christ looking to him in his ordinances to receive the quickning power of his grace though corrupt affections may intangle yet shall they not inthral the soul which becomes restored by the Power of Christs Spirit a Spirit of life and liberty a Spirit of grace and holiness delivering from the Power of Satan and from the Dominion of sin III. Who art thou then O thou afflicted soul who in thy spiritual desertions walkest in darkness clouded with sorrows oh in the greatest dejections lift up thine eyes unto the Lord that when the rising Sun appears thou mayest see his refreshing light and how ever now by reason of thy present anguish thou canst not serve God in alacrity of performance yet do it in sincerity of obedience and this this will be a cranny to convey some beams of light even in the lowest dungeon of thy spiritual distress IV. Psal 27. 14. Wait upon the Lord having the eye of faith still towards him and so shall comforts be redoubled in a life recovered and thy difficulties of obtaining shall the more sweeten thy delights of injoying even of injoying God and Christ in the refreshing comforts of the Spirit conveyed and Confirmed in his Blessed Sacrament in which Blessed Sacrament especially let thine eyes be still towards the Lord in his merits in his grace in his benefits in his love let him have thy fixed heart and thine intent eye yea let him have thy whole man for to this end it is that he here gives thee his whole self A Prayer for Fryday Morning of consession of sins to God before the Holy Sacrament O Most holy Lord God I thy unworthy servant do here prostrate my self before thee in all humility acknowledging and confessing my manifold sins and wickedness my whole life has abounded with actual transgressions against every one of thy Commandments I have O Lord lived in contempt of thy providence committing Idolatry with thy Creatures taking thy glorious name in vain prophaning thy most holy Sabbath I have not regarded my superiors as I ought to do I have envied my brethren defiled my soul with unchast desires laboured to be rich by unlawful means I have slandered my Neighbour and have coveted after his wealth I have heard thy word O Lord but have not believed it I have known thy word but have not practised it I have come into thy house without reverence and approached to thy holy Table without repentance I have practised many sins without remorse and when I read thy sacred Scriptures it is not sweet to me as the Honey Combe but my delight is more in ungodliness prophaneness and atheism II. I have by gluttony and drunkenness pampered my body I am guilty of pride in my apparel I am negligent in my calling by mispending my time I have used vain discourses at my Table and have sinned out of measure against all those means of grace which thou hast been pleased to afford me from time to time I have wandering eyes wanton lusts and ambitious mind and covetous desires which have no bounds nor limits I have lascivious ears unsavory speeches and censorious reproaches Here name thy particular sins I am still adding sin unto sin and transgression unto transgression * and am altogether unfaithful in my life and forgetful of my death and of the day of Judgment III. My abusing of thy mercies and despising of thy judgments is testified against me yet O Lord I am not ashamed nor confess my self guilty but still run on in a course of sinning against the motions of thy holy Spirit and the checks of my own conscience and have refused thy calls and my own purposes and vows of amendment O what shall I say or how shall I open my mouth O thou that art the preserver of all men I know that the wages of sin is death but thy gift O God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord O enter not into judgment with thy servant O Lord for in thy sight is no flesh righteous Be merciful O Lord be merciful unto my sins for they are great out of thy abundant mercy forgive me all that is past and be gracious unto me in preventing sins to come IV. Correct me O Lord but with mercy not in thy Judgment for then shall I be consumed and brought to nothing destroy in me O Lord the cursed works of the Devil increase in me dayly the gifts of thy Spirit fit me for that calling in which thou hast or wilt place me and make me to refer the strength of my body the gifts of my mind and whatsoever grace thou hast already or wilt hereafter bestow upon me to the glory of thy holy name and the eternal salvation of my own Soul and Lord grant that the remainder of the time which I shall live in this present evil World that my conversation may be in Heaven and that whether I eat or drink or whatsoever I do else I may hear always this voice sounding in my ears arise you dead and come to judgment many other things O Lord I have to beg that my ignorance knoweth not how to ask or my forgetfulness does not remember but accept O Lord this my humble confession unto thee at this time and whatever else thou knowest needful for me supply it with the merits of thy dear Son my only Lord and Saviour Amen Our Father c. A Prayer after
God in the eternal life and happiness of my body and soul which consists in my union with and fruition of God in heaven for ever which is effected by the Spirit and grace of God through the merits of Jesus Christ drawing my soul through faith in the Son of God made Man to himself who by the evil of sin both original depravation and actual Commissions am removed at an infinite distance from the love of God the fountain of happiness and placed in a state of Guilt liable to the justice and wrath of God and by consequence to eternal misery and Damnation II. A State not more miserable in it self than unavoidable by me unless the free grace immense goodness of the Almighty which brings sinners to repentance had prevented both my desert and desire by an eternal purpose of offering pardon life and salvation to sinful mankind which good pleasure and purpose in himself God hath clearly revealed according to the divers dispensations of his wisdom and providence even from the first promise of Christ made to the first sinners to the personal coming of the Son of God into the World to bear the Name and Office of the Saviour of Sinners and hath fully accomplisht and clearly reveal'd unto Mankind this undeniable truth of the eternal purpose of God to give pardon life and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ his only Son who became Man and died for the sins of the World and so satisfied the Justice of God for them that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life III. That great saying and most comfortable Truth Preached by Christ witnessed by the Apostles Dictated by the Spirit of God written by the Evangelists Confirmed by many Miracles delivered by the Church by constant Tradition and believed on in all ages this God requires me to believe as a certain and infallible truth in it self and by faith it becomes to me saving and comfortable It brings my soul to see by the law it s own sinful and desperate estate it calls me off from my self and all Creatures and assures me of immortal happiness for ever by adhering and relying upon Christ and that free grace of God in him and through him bestowed upon my soul IV. This faith and trust in the free Grace through Jesus Christ as it is first wrought by the word of God and his holy Spirit in my soul which is the beginning of this spiritual and eternal life so that it may be further nourished and strengthened to a farther degree of comfort and assurance God hath out of a wonderful Indulgence to our weakness and difficulty of believing annexed to his word these holy Sacraments as visible and most manifest Seals of this Covenant of Grace and Mercy that the soul might in no sort doubt of it nor be discouraged at the sight of it 's own sin and unworthiness when it sees the love of God and its pardon confirmed and assured to it by all its senses and his Saviour the great worker and teacher of this salvation by these sensible means lively set forth in his death and sufferings and himself with all his merits personally offered and conveighed to its self in particulars V. This then is the End to which this holy Sacrament as other means of grace is especially directed that it may be to the souls spiritual life of such efficacy as Food is to the Temporal life of our Bodies a means to maintain life to encrease strength and inward comfort to enable holy actions and cheerful obedience to assure our hopes and affiance in the great truth of God for the pardon of sins and bestowing the Son of God Jesus Christ our great Redeemer who is the Fountain and conveigher of life through these Conduits of the outward means to the penitent and believing soul Secondly The Author by whom it was Instituted I. Was the Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of the World who being the Lord of power and the Jesus of Mercy is both able and wiling to make this holy Ordinance the means of that Mercy and Grace which he promiseth to us which means are effectual to this supernatural end not by any proportion of innate vertue or Physical efficacy of themselves as food hath to our temporal life by the common rule and ordination of Providence but by a Spiritual Divine and most Mysterious appointment Instituted by our God and Saviour himself whose Authority only could Institute and whose power only can make effectual his Institution by uniting earthly sensible so small and unproportionable means to so heavenly spiritual and excellent an End II. So that in this great mystery though reason assures us in the general assent that the Omnipotency of God can make effectual whatever means he pleaseth in his wisdom to ordain to an end though never so unproportionable yet for the particular demonstrating of the matter of efficiency whereby such means do certainly convey to us so great an end and benefit Reason is quite dazl'd and blind having no ground to fasten upon but devolving all the work of this holy mystery to faith which relies upon the truth power and love of the Institutor Jesus Christ who while he was yet on Earth by a Corporal and Natural presence conversing with men but chiefly with his choice and Domestick Company the Twelve Apostles a little before his death Instituted this Sacred Mystery after his last Supper which he made with them III. By the evidence of this Sacrament exhibiting himself to them and all beliving souls in such an extraordinary and eminent degree of comfort and personal assurance as might greatly establish their faith and hearts in the near and dismal Times of his sufferings shortly ensuing and after his Ascention might be a continual memorial and Seal of the Covenant of Grace established in the death of Christ a support of the faith of Belivers a lively token pledge of his spiritual presence with his Church during his bodily absence till his second coming as also a badge of the profession of the Christian Religion and that mutual love and charity of Believers who are all united by faith to one and the same Saviour of whom they are all partakers in this one Sacrament as well of the invisible Grace as the outward and visible signs the bread and wine Thirdly The outward Means suitable to this end I. The choice of which familiar signs made by our Saviour for the outward means discovered a wonderful wisdom and no less love and condescention to his Church while he made choice of such things for the Representation of his greatest Grace and our comfort as best sitting this staâ—e of Senses and Infirmity such as for the Community may be had of all Nations and in all Countries either by native Commodities as in most or by cheap and easy Commerce with others whose abundance may spare though where the proper species of bread and wine cannot be had those means of nourishment
and favour of God detaining my mind in such degrees of ignorance as may render my sin less odious to me and make me less sensible of my misery and want of Mercy hardning and consirming my will against those Pious and Good motions by which the Spirit of God oftentimes attempts to soften it to an ingenuous submission to God and his Will disordering my affections and diverting them from those right Objects which Reason and Religion propound and my own Conscience cannot but approve VI. Which makes my sin out of measure sinful and dangerous so that in the shame and confusion which this sight of it self casts upon my Soul I have enough to do to see and weigh my own unworthiness and fill my Conscience with that fear of the Wrath of God and horror of Eternal Judgment which I confess might justly punish all my sins with despair and it as the greatest of all sins with Damnation And beyond these thoughts I could noâ— I durst not go in this gulfe of sin and the apprehensions of my misery should I sink not daring to send up the least thought to Heaven for a better Estate nor apply my self to the means of any Use or Happiness VII If I did not see by a Divine and Glorious Light of Truth a Hand of Mercy and means of recovery and Salvation stretched out to me and assuring me by the unerring and undeceiveable veracity of God and the infallibility of his Promises that his Thoughts are thoughts of Mercy and Pardon to sinful Mankind that he hath graciously found a way of satisfying his Justice and taking off the Guilt and Punishment of our sins from our Souls by the sufferings of Jesus Christ God and Man transferring the Guilt and punishment of our sins to him and imputing the Merits of his Righteousness to us upon condition we believe on him and cast our Souls how sinful soever they be into the Arms of his Mercy and by the serious apprehension of this infinite Love and Goodness be won from the Love of sin to Repentance and Amendment of Life Upon this Truth and Grace revealed by God to his Church and my Soul in particular I lay hold and cast my self with all the Guilt and Burden of my sins what aggravations soever for number or quality they admit being assured that they are infinitely less than the Mercies of God and Merits of Jesus Christ This wonderful Truth of God which I dare not I cannot deny this Mercy which above all things I need adds new Mercy to my dead and languishing Soul this represents God to me in the face of Jesus Christ as the highest Good most to be desired loved and admired VIII This shews me my sin in the true colours of ingratitude vileness end unworthiness against that Mercy which offers Pardon for my sin against a Saviour who hath died for me This stirs up a hatred and resolution against sin out of a principal love and apprehension of a wonderful desert and obligation of love and unspeakable Kindness to me that as I have the greatest cause that can be to be humbled in the sight of my sin and self so that the surest ground that can be whereon to settle my Faith and Comfort is the Truth and Mercy of God which by the Word Spirit and Son of God is assured to me that although by my sin I have highly displeased and dishonoured God Almighty yet by my trust and believing in his Truth and Promises of Pardon and Salvation through Jesus Christ I shall greatly please and honour him giving him the Glory of his Grace and Mercy by sealling to his Truth which to question or deny or not to believe is to make all my other sins unpardonable and add a sin of a higher nature than any I have yet committed that is unbelief or giving God the lye and its inseperable companion impenitency IX Won therefore and melted by this great certain and preventive Kindness and Love of God which in no sort I could deserve yet cannot deny or doubt of I grow dayly to see more clearly and embrace more firmly affectionately the Goodness of God to my Soul and from thence to a more tender sense and greater detestation of sin not so much now daring to sin as not willing to sin denying the motions and occasions to sin not so much out of fear of punishment as a love to please and an extream secret shame of returning evil to such wonderful Goodness abhorring sin not so much for the evil which follows it as for the evil which is in it and deformity and vileness of it which I see by the glymps of that Beauty and Loveliness which I discover in Holiness and Vertue the Image of God the highest Ornament and Happiness of the Creature X. Thus in some degrees freed from the Fear and Love of my sin Holy desires and good affections as followers of the Sun's Accession in the Spring begin to arise in my heart and though they suffer a great allay by the Earth of the Body in which the Soul is planted yet they assure me that the Spirit of God hath moved upon that Chaos the deadness and barrenness of my Soul and by a secret but most effectual influence hath made me a New Creature by ingrafting me into the Tree of Life Jesus Christ and washing me in that pure Fountain of his Blood which was shed for the Remission of my sins Thus now I desire nothing more than daily to attain a fuller Sight and Capacity of this admired Mercy that as my knowledge in the Greatness and Truth of it increaseth so my Faith in the applying of it may be strengthened my Affections in the thankful return of my self may be enflamed my Charity and Virtue towards others may be excited glad to have occasions really to express my Love Pity and Forgiveness of others that grateful Sense I have of God's Love to me in Christ XI And that the whole course of my Life may be so ordered as becomes one who is united to the Son of God not only by the Community of the humane Nature but by the efficacy of the same Holy Spirit and raised to the hopes of the same Glory and Happiness that now nothing is more acceptable to me than to meditate of this great Mystery of man's Salvation nothing more delightful than the thoughts of God reconciled to me in Jesus Christ nothing more welcom than the use of those means by which God doth further confirm and assure this Mercy and Truth to my Soul whose many failings though they often shake my confidence and obscure my comfort yet the sight of the Promises and the seals of the Sacrament annexed to them in which I behold Jesus Christ crucified does again establish my heart and assure me that the All-powerful Love and Grace of God will not be overcome by the sin and wickedness of man but will effectually repair the breaches of my dayly infirmities and satisfie the doubtings of
my misguided Conscience and further assure me of the pardon of my sins and interest in his love and favour by the renewed use of his sacred Ordinances XII To which he calls and invites me both by the outward overture of fit occasions and inward incitation of good and earnest desires to pertake of them as the pledges and conduits of my greatest comfort and happiness which happiness I esteem and seek after not only in a freedom from the punishment and misery of my sin but from the power of and the pleasure that seems to be in sin nor do I count it a less degree of Grace and Mercy which enables me to serve and love him than that which saves me from Hell Torments nor do I come to the Sacrament only to quit the score of my sins but to get strength and grace against them to deny mortify and overcome them which above all things that the World accounts will I most abhor and desire to avoid and am most grieved if I do not I make new and reinforced vows and resolutions between God and my Soul against my sinful self which although I have often failed to keep as I intended yet I am not quite overcome while I truly desire pray and endeavour to get the victory and am never more displeased than when I fail of it XIII Thus having tryed and renewed my repentance by my sighs sorrow and humiliation for sin my serious purpose and earnest prayer against sin my faith by my love of God dependence upon him submission to him desire to please him arising out of an apprehension and perswasion of his love to my Soul my love to God and my Saviour by my hatred of sin fear to and greif for offending by my love of his Servants delight in his word zeal for his truth and glory an earnest desire and stedfast hope to enjoy him and by my particular appetite and desires to this holy Sacrament as a special means of communion with my God and Saviour and pertaking of his Grace My charity and love to others by my care and endeavour by all means to further their Souls good by my affectionate prayes for them though they have deserved ill of me by my tenderness of giving offence my slowness to take offence by my grief when any arise by my proneness and joy in reconciling and though I find all these graces in me but in weak and small degrees with mixture of much infirmity and many imperfections nay a contrary power daily opposing and with much impatience striving to break the Cords of pious and solemn resolutions I am as well becomes me humbled and emptied of all opinions of my self XIV Yet am I not discouraged from coming since what did most deter me in it self from coming to Christ my sin and unworthiness is by the operation of faith made as the greatest incitement to provoke me to come being one whose great wants and unworthiness will afford a fit subject whereon to magnifie the Riches of that free Grace and infinite mercy which becomes the majesty of God and may answer the merits of our Saviour from whom as a principle of a new life I expect all the grace comfort strength and happiness which I want and to whom I give the glory of all that I enjoy who as the head derives to every part of his body the Church life motion health and whatever is in his own fullness and perfection whose love and compassion to my Soul to all Eternity will be too little to comprehend and magnify XV. Which that I may more fully discover I have a more lively assurance of be more thankfully affected and live more worthy of it I repeat again this sacred memorial and seal of his love and mercy having first sought by frequent earnest and humble prayer and in some measure obtained the assistance of his holy Spirit which by its preparatory Grace stirs up earnest and hungring desires to receive renew its habitual graces planted in my heart Knowledge Faith Repentance love of God charity to others and thankfulness by actuating a new before I receive assistance in receving by Sacred devout and pertinent Meditations seals and testifies to my Conscience my acceptance and efficacy of receiving by increase of holiness in my heart and care of better obedience in my life after the surest evidence and truest I can have or expect of my worthy receiving XVI Having thus faithfully discharg'd my Duty and Conscience in the way of preparation to the Sacrament though still conscious to and humbled in the consideration of my own unworthiness in any proportion to the great good I aim at yet I will not deprive my self of so neâ—r and inestimable a comfort by refraining nor dare l so far distrust the mercy of God and dignation of my Saviour who propounds not my personal worthiness in a strict sense as the object of my comfort and hopes in coming but his gracious acceptance and merciful indulgence such indeed as becomes the infinite goodness and honour of the Christians God and Saviour XVII The same holy frame and devout temper of Spirit I labour to continue in my receiving carrying my Faith by the visible Representations before me and given to me to behold its invisible but most credible object Jesus Christ crucified and dying for my sins whose love and merits I consider with as great an obligation of love thankfulness and obedience upon me as if he had laid down his life for me alone these meditations raise me to thankfulness to admiration to exaltation of the love of God my Saviour above all XVIII Finally so I endeavour to receive this blessed Sacrament as if each opportunity were my last as if I were to appear before God in Judgment that in the power of that grace I there receive I may live the remainder of my short life virtuously and holily in the hope of its reward and perfection in Heaven I may die willingly and chearfully in the Merit and Righteousness of it I may attain to the Resurrection of the just appear justified before God at the last and great day and obtain the Consummation of all in that glorious estate of Immortality with God and Christ in Heaven XIX The Duty of examining my self is by precept clearly enjoyning me by the Spirit of God let a Man therefore examine himself and so let him eat of that Bread and Drink of that Cup 1. Cor. 11. Chap 28. verse which alone were enough to exact my performance but since all the commands of God who is the most perfect reason to rational Creatures are most reasonable though oft times ignorance or blindness doth not or will not discover it to the equity of this injunction my own reason must needs subscribe for knowing that every thing is received according to the capacity and disposition of the recipient and that a worldly sensual and meer humane mind is unapt to receive things intellectual Spiritual and Divine and perceive objects the
thee and be thou confounded and ashamed of all thy iniquities consider who thy Creator is and who thou art how he hath behaved himself towards thee and what ungrateful returns thou hast made in requital to him Thou hast made me O Lord when I was not and that according to thy own Image and from the very instant of my being hast been my God my Father and my Deliverer and with the benefits of thy providence hast preserved my life even till this present moment II. But because these things O Heavenly Father cost thee nothing to bind me more fast to thee thou hast given me a present which cost thee dear thou didst come down from Heaven to seck me in all those ways in which I had lost my self by thy captivity thou hast loosed my bonds and by delivering thy self into the hands of sinners thou hast delivered me from the power of the Devil and by taking upon thee the form of a sinner thou hast destroyed my sin these things thou didst to allure and bind me unto thee and to strengthen my hope to make me detest and abhor sin by beholding what thou hast done and suffered to over throw the Kingdom of sin O how can I without tears call to remembrance how oft times thou mightest justly have bereaved me of my life how many thousand Souls now peradventure burn in Hell who have less sinned than I and yet I burn not there how then can I be so ungrateful as not to prize the large extent of that mercy which cannot be comprehended Monday morning a Preparatory Prayer to the Holy Sacrament O Almighty Lord God thou hast called me to thine holy Table and hast set out a part of consecrated Bread and Wine for me I acknowledge my Ignorance that I must be instructed by such means as thou in thy bounty hast appointed for me and I acknowledge thy divine goodness that thou vouchsafest me to be taught by those 〈…〉 of Grace whereby I may come to that of 〈…〉 I do hear thy word and thy dear Son is 〈…〉 my â—â—r I receive this Sacrament 〈…〉 ffered unto my eye in the testimony of these two witnesses this truth is established in my heart that my Saviour suffered death for my sins II. As it hath pleased thee thus to offer me thy favour so I beseech thee give me that grace whereby I may walk worthy of it Am I thus invited to the heavenly Banquet to the Table of the King of Kings O let me not go without my wedding Garment last the Bridegroom of this Feast say unto me how comest thou in hither without thy richest vestments which are suitable to this great solemnity thou hast now commanded me to examine my self and let me now try and examine my heart and be acquainted with it whereby I may find out all my spiritual wants and necessities and look how I stand in thy sight by making a severe scrutiny into my self The Jews would not eat with unwashed hands dare I eat with an unwashed heart they would not drink but their Vessels must be purified and dare I now drink and my soul not purified before the passover they sanctified themselves and before this Sacrament shall not I now prepare my self I desire to do it Lord help my desire lest eating and drinking unworthily I eat and drink my own damnation A Prayer before examination O Holy Jesus who art a merciful embracer of true penitents but yet a consuming fire to obstinate offenders I am now preparing my self to come to thy holy Table unfeignedly confessing my own unworthiness committed against thy divine Majesty I have sinned against thee many ways and that since I last received this most holy Sacrament I have not known thee in thy word beheld thee in thy works apprehended thee in thy Son served thee in the Spirit applyed thee by Faith fâ—â—râ—d thee for thy Justice nor admired thee as I ought for thy great mercies I have not frequented thine House heard thy word laid it up in my heart nor practiced it in my life as I ought to do 〈…〉 even I by the lusts of my eyes the lusts of thâ— flâ—sh and the pride of life have dishonoured thy great and glorious name and when thou hast forgiven me ten thousand Talents I would not forgive my Brother a hundred Pence II. As one deep calls upon another the depth of misery upon the depth of mercy what shall I say unto thee O thou Preserver of all men much more what shall I do to inherit eternal life I will arise and go unto God my Father and say unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight and am no more worthy to be called thy Son but thou hast said that he which hideth his sins shall not prosper but he which confesseth them shall obtain mercy I confess and am truly sorrowful I have sinned Lord do pardon and forgive me all my sins and grant that in the whole course of my life hereafter I may live to the honour of thy great name and to the comfort and salvation of my own Soul III. O Lord give unto me now a broken heart a contrite spirit a sorrowful soul and a mind hungring and thirsting after Jesus Christ and his righteousness give me I beseech thee grace to know thee the only true God the Creator and preserver of all mankind O give me grace now to feel the burthen of all my sins and that thou wilt speak peace unto my soul and say unto it thou art my salvation O let me be eased of this lump of sin by washing it away with the Blood of thy dear Son I do believe Lord help my unbelief I am sorry for my sins make me to be heartily and unfeignedly sorrowful I promise to live nearer to thee than ever I have done give me power to perform my promise I forgive all that have wronged me even as thou for Christs sake hast forgiven me let this forgiveness of mine be without dâ—ssimulation and Lord grant that I may humble my self under the sense of my ignorance and dulness and weakness and wickedness and spiritual deadness of heart and having emptied my self of my self I may receive of thy fulness and grace for grace in whose name I put up these my imperfect prayers OVr Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our trepasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Amen Still upon your knees say ALmighty God unto whom all hearts be open all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid cleanse the thoughts of my heart by the inspiration of thy holy Spirit that I may perfectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name through Christ our Lord. Amen Some heads of self examination by the X. Commandments to be expressed on
broken the Covenant of thy God even the Covenant of Reconciliation Seal'd thee by the Sacrament and that thus by thy Sin thou art at enmity with thy Maker Be it so yet will not the Lord who is good be as gracious to his enemies as he requires us to be to ours It is his own Law Exod. 23. 4. If thou meet thine Enemies Ox or his Ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again now God meets us Sinners and all Sinners as such are his Enemies he meets us straying like the Beast without understanding and what will he not bring us again unto himself the sole proprietary by that first right of Creation and that more firm right of Redemption IV. Read his Commission Luke 4. 18. He comes to preach the Gospel to the poor to heal the broken hearted to preach deliverance to the Captives to recover sight to the blind and to set at liberty them that are bruised to this to all this is he Sealed of the Father John 6. 27. and that he will do it he seals unto us in this holy Sacrament make hast my Soul and approach to the Throne of Grace in this blessed Ordinance let my accusing Conscience tell me I am a Sinner and therefore not worthy the knowledg of God or the quicknings of his Grace not worthy a Communion with Christ a participation of his fulness yet to this shall my afflicted Soul reply in the returns of Faith that God even teaches Sinners in the way so they be humble and penitent Sinners and from hence know I that the Lord teacheth Sinners even from hence that he is both good and upright V. Thus then does God give Grace to the humble to the humble not so properly said to be humbled for humbled we may be when prest down under the weight of punishment but humble we cannot be less laid low in the sense of Sin without this sense of Sin we shall be as far from being humble as from having Grace but oh the languishings of my Soul under the weight of my Sin My Sins are gone over my head and are become a sore burden too heavy for me to bear too heavy not only in their punishment and their wrath but even in their pollution and guilt VI. If so yet though humbled be not rejected O my Soul but rather comfort O comfort thy self in this holy Sacrament of thy Jesus through faith in the promises of his Grace for that by how much the more thou art humbled for thy sin by so much the more do those promises of Grace and Glory belong to thee in the Gospel which are peculiarly made of God in Christ and by Christ conveyed unto us in this Sacrament VII And all those who thus come unto Christ in this holy Ordinance they shall find rest to their Souls and though we cannot keep the Covenant and Testimonies of our God in an Angelical purity yet may we do it in an Evangelical sincerity though not in a full perfection yet in a sincere endeavour of holy obedience that Mercy and Truth being met together Righteousness and Peace may kiss each other even in him my blessed Mediator will I trust which hath wrought out my everlasting Salvation Tuesday Morning a Solliloquy on the blessed Sacrament I. O Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World grant me thy peace and take not thy holy Spirit from me grant that I may run the ways of thy Commandments and keep them with my whole heart that being now called to thy holy Table I may become a worthy receiver of thy precious body and blood which was offer'd up for me and for the Sins of the whole World II. O Lord God who art the wise disposer of all things both spiritual and temporal who livest in that light unto which no mortal eye can approâ—ch and yet humbleâ— thy self so far as to behold me and all other thy unworthy Servants more especially thou hast engag'd thy self by promise to draw nigh unto to dwell with and to be in the midst of thy poor people when in sincerity of heart they shall appear before thee III. I therefore the unworthiest of all thy Servants sinful dust and ashes a worm and no man do here in all humility prostrate my self before thee desirous to have my thoughts and meditations fix'd upon thine omnipresence which beholdest me and all that is within me even the intentions and disposition of my heart in coming to thy holy Table as also with a confidence of thy gracious presence that thou art with me to assist and enable me in the performance of this thy holy Ordinance that I may become a worthy receiver of thy precious Body and Blood IV. Lord I confess I am unworthy to come before thee to draw nigh unto thee or to receive any favour from thee and that because of the rebellion of my nature I have just cause to cry out with the Leper I am unclean I am unclean unclean by Original Corruption which like a Leprosie hath overspread all the powers and faculties of my Soul unclean by those numberless number of actual trangressions which throughout the whole course of my life I have committed against thee V. I come unto thee O God at this time disclaiming my own righteousness and abhorring my self for all my former wickedness and only in the name for the merits and through the mediation of my dear Redeemer Christ Jesus the righteous Am I bold yet to implore thy mercy to seek thy face to sue out a pardon from the guilt of my iniquity to desire thee to be reconciled and to be well pleas'd with me O Lord do thou forget my sins but let me remember them do thou cast them behind thy back but let me have them always before my face I must confess O Lord that thou maist glorifie thy self in my confusion and I must needs acknowledge that in the severest of thy dispensations thou art righteous but let my God rather glorifie himself in the remission of my sins in the converting of my nature and salvation of my soul VI. O thou father of mercy have mercy upon me and let all my iniquities be cast into the Sea even into the red Sea of my Saviours blood that so they may never rise up in judgment against me O thou God of all Grace send down thy Spirit of Grace into my heart to sanctifie it to thy service humble me for my sins past and establish me against sin for the time to come let me every day grow in grace that the house of Saul may grow weaker and weaker and the house of David stronger and stronger VII O put thy fear into my heart that I may never depart from thee and do thou never leave me that so I may walk on from strength to strength in this valley of Tears until I appear before thee O God give me a sanctified use of all thy dispensations towards me that sickness and health
Members of my Body which thou hast giv'n me for thy Service and ought to have been instruments of holiness I have daily made weapons of iniquity mine understanding which should daily have delighted in thee and thy law hath been daily busied in the search of sin mine affections which I should have wholly fixt upon thee the highest holiest and most happy object in whom is alsufficiency have been foolishly and falsly bestowed on the emptiness and vanity of the Creature in which I have found nothing else but shortness and uncertainty falshood and flattery weariness and misery Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not wisely nor timely considered that the grace of repentance is thy heavenly Gift and ought to be early begg'd of thee by Prayers and Tears but have sinfully imagin'd it in mine own power to repent when I would when I have been neither sure of time to ask it of hope to obtain it grace to receive it or of mercy to enjoy it Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not only turned thy grace into wantonness but even thy choicest of thy gifts bestowed on me into wickedness by being spiritually proud of my endowments so that while I have pharisaically seemed in mine own eyes to be much better than others I have in thy â—ight been far worse and have thereby lost the blessed presence of thy holy Spirit who resisteth the proud and givest grace to the humble Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not daily and duly as I ought examined my Soul by each particular of thy Commandments that so my Conscience might be throughly convinced of my sins and I thereby with holy fear might heartily bewail them utterly forsake them perfectly hate them and together with thy Justice condemn my self for them but have only looked on them with a carnal eye as common spectacles of mans misery and proper objects of thy Mercy from whence it is that I have not died unto sin daily as I ought that this my sorrowing for sin hath been but superficial my hope of thy pardon deceitful and even my very mortification to sin exceeding sinful Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have readily remembred that there is no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus but sinfully forgotten that it is to those only which walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit thus have I wretchedly put of the punishment of sin from the guilt of it and am thereby become guilty of thy double punishment that for the committing of evil and this for denying thee in Christ to be the rewarder only of good Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have willingly believed that it is the blood of God which cleanseth me from all iniquity and that if I believe in thee although I were dead yet shall I live and that if I live and believe in thee I shall never die but I have wilfully forgotten that by my daily sinning I have daily trampled on thy precious blood and am therefore dead while I live and may therefore justly fear that without mercy I must live in endless torments when I am dead Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have sometimes promised the general amendment of my own evil ways by my thorough Mortification to Sin and Sanctification to Righteousness in my more frequent watchings fastings Prayings holy strivings against my corruptions and holy hungrings for thy heavenly graces but all these to my Souls grief were soon forgotten by me and my sinful affections instead of drawing nearer to thee alienated every day more and more from thee Lord be merciful to be a sinner I have missed many happy opportunities of going to thy holy Table under the false pretences of unfitness to receive want of Charity to forgive and of Faith to believe whereas these sinful wants which have all proceeded from my want of grace ought much rather to have been graciously repair'd with earnest prayers and truly repented of with daily tears Lord be merciful to me a sinner I have not so freely and so fully forgiven and forgotten those injuries which man hath offer'd unto me as I ought to have done but have too often come unto thy holy Table with reproach in my mouth and malice in my heart Thus O Lord have I had sinfully to do with malice that stood in so grea need of mercy and by refusing to forgive my brother upon Earth may justly fear to be denied forgiveness by thee in heav'n Lord be merciful to me a sinner From these my sinful inconsiderations undue preparations ungracious absentings and more ungodly frequentings of thy blessed Table have proceeded these my declinings in grace and decayings in goodness so that without thy rich mercy unto me in Christ whose precious blood thou hast spilt for me and by this thy blessed Seal confirm'd unto me I may justly fear I have received unworthily and thereby eaten and drank unto my self mine own damnation Lord be merciful to me a sinner A Prayer after Confession of sins to Almighty God I. ALmighty God I have sinned and I desire to repent I am heavy laden with the burthen of my sins and can find none on earth to releive me to thee therefore O thou father of mercies and God of all consolations who invitest weary Souls to come unto thee and easiest them when they are come do I apply my self for mercy and forgiveness O thou blessed fountain of eternal good who hast freely given me thine only Son to dye for me and in him thy self to be for ever reconciled to me who desirest not the death of me a miserable sinner but rather that I should repent and live have mercy upon me O thou blessed Shepherd of my Soul who aimest to seek and to save those that were lost that findest all whom thou seekest and looseth none of those whom thou hast found have mercy upon me O thou sacred and for ever blessed spirit who visitest and cherishest the drooping Souls of thine Elect assist and comfort me Lord save me or I perish Lord help me or I faint Lord seek me or I am lost for ever II. With all humility of soul I humbly acknowledg that I have too long sinfully depended on the vain shadows and deceitful shews of mine own imperfect holiness and have too sinfully neglected the improvements of thy heavenly graces whereby I have too long deluded my own Soul with hopes of my heavenly assurance and have then thought my self to be spiritually rich when in thy sight I have been wretchedly poor sinfully blind wilfully naked distressedly miserable III. Lord open thou mine eyes by thy precious Eye-salve of thy Sacred Word that I may clearly see the sadness of my mine own condition in these my sad mistakes by this the great deceit of my own deluding heart enrich my poverty with the gifts and graces of thy holy Spirit cover my nakedness with the precious robes of Christs righteousness swallow up this my
Holy Sacrament O Lord who weeled for me as a Lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearer is dumb so thou opened'st not thy mouth thou did'st good to thy Enemies and pray'dst earnestly for thy persecutors O plant in my heart gentleness patience and meekness that I may not be transported with the violent passion of anger disorder'd by peevishness or thoughts of revenge but patiently bear all crosses and with charity may return blessing for cursing keeping peace with all men and loving my Neighbour as my self and thee more than my self and more than all the World I may at last come into the regions of peace and Eternal Charity where thou livest who lovest all men and wouldest have none to perish but all men to be saved through thee O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer II. O thou who sitteth between the Chérubims and whose throne is in the highest Heavens purge me from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit that I may perfectly love thee and worthily magnifie thy holy Name all the dayes of my life For thou art gracious and full of Compassion and givest meat unto them that fear thee and drink from the wells of Eternal Salvation thou preparest a table for us and anointest our heads with thy heavenly Vnction and our Cup runneth over let thy precious blood which was shed for me and the water which gushed from thy side wash me clean that I may with a pure heart and a clean soul come to Eat of that best Sacrifice the Lamb slain from the beginning of the World III. O Lord in the wonders of this holy Sacrament thou givest thy self to be the food of our souls in the faith of thy word in the blessings and graces of thy holy spirit perform that in me thy unworthy Servant which thou hast prepared and effected in thy Son enkindle in my heart a bright devotion Extinguish all the fires of Hell pardon all my sins and fill me with thy holy spirit that by obedience and love I may adore and honour thee all the days of my life IV. Thou hast opened unto me the fountains of thy mercy and hast invited all penitent sinners to come and receive pardon the oppressed to be eased and the sorrowful to be comforted admit me O Lord to this great Celebration of thy loving kindness that I may be comforted in all my griefs healed of all the wounds of my Soul and the bruises of my Spirit and finish my Journey through this valley of Tears unto my portion of thy Heavenly Kingdom Amen Meditations for Thursday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament O Lord thou not only art good and gracious but thou wilt also be so acknowledged so declar'd yea as such worshipped and adored that thy name then be not dishonoured let me though a sinner be accepted pardon mine iniquity that it may not be said thou ever rejectedst a poor penitent and thereby loose the glory of thy name whose name is merciful Exod. 34. 5 6. a merciful clemency is a royal virtue and honourable in every Soveraign Majesty thou then O Lord who art the King of Glory Psalm 24. 7 8. make this thy Holy Sacrament to be the Broad-Seal to my pardon and this for thy Names sake even for thy mercy sake II. I plead not Lord my merits who am less than the least of thy mercies and as I look not upon my merit do thou not look upon my demerit as I do not view my worthiness do not thou view my unworthiness but be merciful unto my sin of which I cannot say as Lot of Zoar is it not a little one no it is great for that it is against thee so great a God and so good to me great for that my place my office my calling is great the Sun the higher it is the less it seems but my sins the higher I am the greater they are even in thine and others eyes III. My knowledge of thee and thy ways is great I knew thy will and did it not my conscience checked me and yet I obeyed not thy Spirit moved me and yet I yielded not the number of my sins is numberless those I know and confess are few in comparison of what are unknown and hidden from me Wherefore O Lord hide not thy great mercy from me who hide not my great sins from thee and the greater is the guilt of my sin the greater shall be the glory of thy mercy to pardon it let it be the glory of thy mercy then to pass by my offences so shall the greatness of my sins make the glory of thy mercies more conspicuous for that where sin hath abounded there grace doth much more abound Rom. 5. 20. IV. And thus though I went against mine own knowledge in sinning yet do not thou Lord go against thine own nature in punishing who hast promised if we believe and repent 1 Cor. 10. 12. thou wilt forgive and now as my sins teach them that stand to take heed least they fall so let thy pardon of my sins teach them that are fall'n upon their repentance not to doubt of thy mercy and so giveness which mercy and forgiveness do thou seal unto my Soul and to each humble penitent through Jesus Christ in a return of peace unto our consciences by this Blessed Sacrament A Prayer for Thursday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament O Most blessed Fountain of Eternal love who hast tender bowels of Compassions and multitudes of rich mercies for all those sinful Souls that cry to thee for mercy and forgiveness forgive the sinful failings wilful Errors and most dangerous mistakes of my wretched life past and grant me that true repentance for the time to come which may truly convert me unto thee II. Lord where Sin hath abounded there let thy grace abound much more Let my degrees of Sin be truly answered with my degrees of sorrow my measure of pollution with my measure of Sanctification Lord hear my Prayer and let my cry come unto thee for thy Names sake for thy promise sake for thy blessed Son Christ Jesus sake Amen III. O most sacred and for ever blessed being who hast therefore Commanded me to be holy that I might be happy look not upon me I meekly beseech thee as I am in my self in the deceitfulness of mine own heart falshood of mine own wayes but in the Righteousness of Christ in whom alone thou canst not but be well pleased Lord open my sinful Eyes that I may see the folly of my great mistakes unvail the faces of my close Corruptions that I may thereby see the foulness and deformity of Sin and apprehend the greatness of thy wrath against it that so I may truly and timely repent and gain thy gracious pardon for it IV. Search me throughly O Lord and try me that none of those false ways of wickedness may hereafter be found in me that so my heart may be clean my Conscience pure my Conversation upright my life Holy
Confession O Almighty God whose nature and property is always to have mercy and to forgive receive these my humble petitions made unto thee at this time and though I be tyed and bound by the chains of my sins yet let the pittifulness of thy great mercy loose them through Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour Amen A Prayer for Faith O Almighty God whose nature is above our reach and whose secret operations no humane reason can conceive give me that faith without which no man can know thee and without which no soul can please thee Lord I believe but to believe unto righteousness O God increase my Faith Concerning the great Sacrament of thy precious body and blood I believe that in the same night that thou O Lord Jesus wast betrayed thou didst give to thy Disciples Bread and Wine which thou didst call thy Body and Blood with a charge to eat and drink and do the same in remembrance of thee for as thou wast upon thy departure thou wouldest leave them and me a sign of thy Body a figure of thy Blood and a memorial oâ— thy bitter Death and bloody Passion lest I should forget thee who wast ready to lay down thy life for me who am the worst and vilest of sinners II. Therefore I take these Elements of Bread and Wine for holy signs of thy Body and Blood believing that though they remain after the Consecration in their substance both Bread and Wine yet they are more than common Bread and Wine being made by prayer and thy holy word the figures of thy Flesh and Blood which in the action and use of the Sacrament are really and effectually taken by the faithful So though I feel and tast Bread and Wine yet by the eye of Faith I eat thy Body and Drink thy Blood in remembrance that thou didst die for me and for all mankind III. O then let the operation of thy blessed Spirit apply to my Soul the merits of thy Death and Passion and O Lord I beseech thee let me love and die in this faith and never be ashamed to confess thy holy name who hath suffered such an ignominious Death for my redemption O let my Soul live and it shall praise thee and magnifie thy all glorious name thou hast said that he that eateth thy Flesh and drinketh thy Blood hath eternal life and thou wilt raise him up at the last day O Lord I beseech thee confirm my faith and grant that it fail not either concerning this or any other point of holy mysteries for thine alone sake my only Saviour and Redeemer Amen Our Father c. Meditations for Fryday Evening on the Holy Sacrament GOD alone who is the author of our life is likewise the object of our trust as being the Fountain and fulness of all our comfort and strength all our grace and holiness all our glory and happiness Wherefore O my God I trust in thee as a Creator to sustain me as a Lord to govern me as a guide to direct me as a rock to defend me and as a Father to succour me all which relations thou hast taken upon thee in a merciful regard to my weakness and wants that thou mightest the more manifestly declare thy goodness and love which goodness and love now seal unto my Soul by a Communion with thee in the Lord Jesus II. And the best way to strengthen our trust in God is by renewing our resignation and when can we more seasonably do it than at our receiving the Blessed Sacrament in which we have exhibited the fulness of Christs merits as the propitiatory Sacrament and atonement for our Souls by whom we have access unto the Father to receive a blessing of pardon and peace of life and salvation from him do we then with all humble devotion make this sincere resignation at the Table of the Lord even offer and present unto God from our hearts as we profess with our tongues offer and present our selves our Souls and Bodies as a reasonable Holy and lively sacrifice unto him casting our selves upon him in the mercy and truth of his promise in the wisdom and power of his providence III. And upon this total resignation he seals us this assurance that he will exercise those his properties imploy those his attributes for our comfort and protection for our support and salvation and this beyond what our wits can design our wishes can desire or our thoughts can conceive and let not any penitent though a languishing Soul be discouraged from this Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there to renew his resignation and strengthen his trust IV. And here this treasury is open in this Blessed Sacrament come and receive of this mercy of thy God dispensed by the bountiful hand of thy Jesus who with that mercy gives his merits his benefits his spirit his whole fulness even himself wherefore rouse up thy Soul to receive the bounty of thy God and of thy Saviour with an humble a thankful and a devout heart not forgetting the price Christ gave for thee to redeem thee from the slavery of Sin and Satan A Prayer for Fryday Evening on the most Holy Sacrament BLessed for ever be thy holy Name O thou God of Infinite Compassions who art both truth and holiness it self in thine Essence and therefore strictly requirest truth and sincerely in the hearts of thy Children and holiness and righteousness in their lives and Conversation look not upon those sinful failings of my Corrupt heart but graciouâ—ly behold me in the righteousness of Christ forgive me my many sinful Complâ—ances with nature abberations from grace and deviations from goodness which have caused these my sinful Errors which might thereby deprive me of present grace and hopes of future Blessedness II. Lord suffer me not any longer thus wretchedly to delude mine own Soul but make me truly such as thou would'st have me to be a zealous and sincere Christian that so my Spirit which for those my Sins thou hast much broken by afflictions may much more abundantly rejoyce in thee by heavenly Consolations Lord accept of these my sinful desires and let my loss of tears repair my loss of truth and loss of time in thy service assist my weakness accept my willingness forgive my sinfulness cherish the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit daily in me and for thy mercy sake remove the danger of my own Corruption from me III. O Lord to thy glory and my own deserved shame I willingly confess that I am most impure and sinful even in the very best of all my holy performances I therefore humbly beg of thee that as thou hast graciously afforded me the light of thy sacred word to discover me unto my self so thou wilt also give unto me the Sword of thy holy Spirit to deliver me from my self deliver me from the evil man O Lord even from the close Corruptions and secret Abominations of mine own evil and Corrupt heart Lord pardon and pass by the many
for the rich it is the staff of our life and signifies that body of thine which thou gavest for the life of the World thou hast by thy holy Mystery made this Bread and Wine spiritual food as well as temporal O Lord I beseech thee let the operation of it be such as to strengthen my soul that it may withstand all Temptations whatsoever and evermore serve thee in spirit and in truth Amen When the Minister breaks the Bread and pours out the Wine use these Meditations O Holy Jesus thy Blessed Body was torn with Nails upon the Cross and thy precious Blood was inhumanely spilt by the Crucifiers but I an unworthy Wretch by my manifold sins have occasioned more torments to thee they Crucified thee but once but I crucifie thee dayly they Crucified thee because they knew thee not but I have known thee what thou art in thy self the Lord of glory and what thou art to me a most tender and Merciful Father and yet I have still continued to Crucifie thee afresh O do thou work in me first a great sorrow for my sins past and then a great hatred and a firm resolution against them for the time to come When the Minister receives in both kinds himself say 1. Thou that hearest Prayers unto thee shall all flesh come 2. Blessed is the Man whom thou choosest and receivest unto thee he shall dwell in thy Court and shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy Holy Temple 3. Thou shalt guide me with thy council and after that receive me with glory 4. The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble the name of the God of Jacob defend thee 5. Send thee help from the Sanctuary and strengthen the out of Sion 6. The Lord remember all thy offerings and accept this thy Sacrifice 7. Grant thee thy hearts desire and fulfill all thy mind the Lord perform all thy petions which thou hast made at this time both for thy self for us and for all persons 8. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel World without end Amen When the Minister is drawing near thee with the Elements say I adore thee O must righteous Redeemer that thou art pleased to convey unto my soul thy precious Body and Blood with all the benefits of thy Death and Passion I am not worthy O Lord to receive thee but let thy Holy and Blessed Spirit with all his purities prepare for thee a lodging in my Soul where thou mayest unite me to thy self for ever Amen Ejaculations before the Bread This is that Bread which came down from Heaven whosoever eateth shall never hunger Thou dealest thy bread to those which hunger after righteousness O feed my fainting soul with this bread of life O strengthen my heart and hand by a lively faith and open my mouth with fervent desires that I may eat not for bodily sustenance but for spiritual relief and the refreshment of my soul O let my soul feel the spiritual efficacy of thy grace that I may not eat unworthily or to my condemnation O Lord I beseech thee enable and direct me by thy holy and blessed spirit to receive it worthily Amen When the Minister gives the holy bread say softly with him The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for me preserve my body and soul unto everlasting life Here take the bread with reverence then proceed I take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for me and will feed on him in my heart with faith and thanks-giving Then answer audibly Amen After the bread say I give thee hearty thanks O Lord most Holy that thou hast refreshed my soul at this time by my feeding upon thy Body which was broken for me If I had lived innocently and had kept all thy Commandments yet could I have had no proportion of merit to so transcendent a mercy but since I have so loved sin and added transgression to transgression thy mercy is so glorious and infinite that I stand amazed at the consideration of its immensity O let me not throw off this Wedding Garment or stain it with pollution of deadly sin but let me be wholly united to thee being transformed according to thy holy will and life who livest and reignest for ever Amen Or this O Blessed Jesus sanctifie this bread to me that it may be to my Soul the staff of strength whereby I may vanquish and overcome all the assaulis of the Devil the World and the Flesh and continue thy faithful Soldier and Servant to my lifes end Amen Ejaculations before the Cup. 1. The Lord himself is the portion of my Inheritance and of my Cup thou shalt maintain my lot 2. The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground yea I have a goodly heritage 3. I have set God always before me for he is on my right hand therefore I shall not fall 4. Gracious is the Lord and righteous yea our God is merciful 5. What reward shall I give unto the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me 6. I will receive the Cup of Salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. 7. I will walk before the Lord in the Land of the living When thou receivest the Cup say after the Minister softly The Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for me preserve my body and soul unto everlasting life I drink this in remembrance that Christ's Blood was shed for me and am thankful Amen After the Cup say O how delightful is this Cup to me Blessed Jesus which was so heavy to thee it was thy Agonies and Bloody sweat thy bitter Death and Passion which afforded me this Cup of chearfulness thou didst find it bitter when thou wast appeasing an angry Father but thou hast sweetned it by a reconciliation and hast wrought out my Redemption and Salvation Or this I praise thee I bless thee I glorifie thee O Lord most Holy that thou hast at this time so refreshed my soul and filled me with holy desires O let thy tender mercy always keep me in this happy temper that I may never err nor stray from thy Commandments but keep firm that Covenant which thou hast sealed with thy most precious Blood for my redemption and direct me O Lord and guide me so here that I may be a fit member for thy Heavenly Kingdom hereafter Amen Whilst others are Communicating say I. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name What greater gift O Lord couldst thou bestow upon me than to give me thy Body for meat thy Blood for drink and to lay down thy life for the price of my redemption What greater mercy than that thou shouldest now enter into me and dwell with me as thou hast promised II. I yield thee humble and hearty thanks most Merciful Father and desire to magnifie thy name for ever for the Holy Death and bitter Passion of thy Son and that great Redemption thou hast wrought for me in him and
hast heaped upon me from time to time thy unspeakable favours and loving kindnesses in feeding me at this time with the spiritual food of the Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour Amen III. O Eternal God who vouchsafest to send thine only begotten Son into the World for my redemption and to deliver him up even unto death in remembrance whereof until his second coming he hath commanded me to eat his Body and drink his Blood to the end by Faith I should be united and knit unto his Body and being washed from all my sins lead a new life vouchsafe I humbly beseech thee for his sake to indue me with thy Holy Spirit unto my lives end Amen IV. O Almighty God grant I may cast away all the works of darkness and walk in the true light of thy Holy Gospel Vouchsafe me O Lord an unfeigned desire in being a partaker of this thy Holy institution and that I may lead my life according to thy Heavenly will in all things keeping my body undefiled as a fit receptacle for so Heavenly Food that my soul may enjoy the benefit of the Mystery thereof by Faith according to thy Heavenly providence through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour Amen A Prayer for all the Communicants that are present O Let us now all magnifie the name of the Lord from the rising of the Sun to the setting of the same Blessed are they who dwell in thy house O Lord and are fed though it be but with the Crums that fall from thy Table We have all now tasted and seen how gracious the Lord is for he hath heard our Prayers and granâ—ed our requests and redeemed us from the slavery of sin and death O that we might never depart from thee but be unwearied in thy service let not our stedfastness which is now fixed pass away as the Morning Cloud or our Devotions fly away as a shadow which hath no continuance but arm us O good Lord against all manner of sin that we may all say with the Kingly Prophet I have sworn and am stedfastly purposed to keep thy righteous Judgments Direct and guide us O Lord with thy Holy Spirit thy All seeing eye and thy Heavenly hand that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we may fear no evil for thou art with us Amen Meditations out of the Psalms O praise the Lord with me and let us Magnifie his name together I sought the Lord and he heard me yea he delivered me out of all my fears O fear the Lord ye that be his Saints for they that fear him do lack nothing The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers The righteous cry and the Lord heareth them and delivereth them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto all them that are of a contrite heart and will save such as be of an humble Spirit Great are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of all He hath not dealt with us after our sin nor rewarded us according to our iniquities For he knoweth whereof we are made he remembreth we are but dust The Lord delivereth the souls of his servants and all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. A Concluding Prayer I Thank thee O thou great Creator that thou hast at this time given me such a supply of thy Grace whereby I may come to thy Eternal Glory thou hast now entertained me at thy Holy Table and received me with that fatherly affection by speaking peace unto my conscience and saying to my soul thou art my salvation O what reward can I return for these unspeakable mercies I will rejoyce and be exceeding glad admire and celebrate the love of my Saviour O ye Almighty powers it is my duty to extol him to whom you pay all these praises let me for ever Magnifie thy Holy Name O Lord and thy praises for ever shall be in my Mouth for thou only art Holy and it is thy peace alone which passeth all understanding O let it keep my heart and mind in the knowledge and love of thee and of thy Son Jesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour and let thy favour and blessing O merciful Father with thy Son my only Saviour and the Holy Ghost my only sanctifier remain with we alwaies Amen A Prayer at home the same day O Thou Fountain of everlasting happiness strike my soul with an Holy admiration of thy Divine goodness thou hast of thine infinite Pitty and Compassion to me a poor wretched Sinner received me into the bosom of thy Mercy and art reconciled unto me by the Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ thou hast issued forth a free and full pardon unto me of all my sins and transgressions from that great office of Mercy thou hast opened to thy Church and People and I have now again renewed my Covenant of Love and Allegiance unto thee my God and anâ— again consecrated unto thee in the Holy Blood of the Lord Jesus O let the Holy sense of this thy great goodness and loving kindness rest for ever upon my Soul and oblige my heart for ever unto thee and I beseech thee that thou wâ—lt never leave me nor forsake me but let me walk in the light of thy countenance to my lives end Amen Lastly how to live well a righteous godly and sober life after receiving this most Holy Sacrament Psal 50. 23. Whoso offereth me thanks and praise he honoureth me and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the Salvation of God I. And the better to attain these directions let us follow what the Kingly Prophet layeth down to eschew evil and do good seek peace and ensue it which is the banishing from the Soul all kind of Vices and adorning it with Virtues and this is by becoming a new creature destroying of the image of old earthly Adam and reforming it with the Image of the new Adam our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ II. By this means we attain to that supernatural end for which we were created which is to see Almighty God in his own glory and excellency which that we may all do let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God As soon as you awake in the Morning give the first fruits of thy reason to the Divine Majesty let your memory understanding will and heart discharge their duties let your tongue and mouth hands and arms contribute in offering up this Morning Sacrifice to thy great Creator Which thou mayest do in this manner A Prayer for the Morning O Most Powerful Lord God which sittest upon the Cherubims and stretchest out the Heavens like a Curtain I adore thee my God from the centre of my Nothing with all the Creatures of the Vniverse and come unto thee upon the bended knees of my heart humbly beseeching thee in thy mercy to look upon me and fully to remit unto me all my sins and transgressions whatsoever and give me unfeigned repentance and newness of life for the time to come as thou hast now awakened my body from sleep so I beseech thee awake my soul from sin and carnal security as thou hast caused the light of the day to shine upon my bodily eyes so good Lord cause the light of thy Word and Holy Spirit to illuminate my heart and give me grace to walk in all holy obedience before thy face this day teach me to fear thee continually wheresoever I am to neglect all things in regard of thee to love thee and my Brethren for thy s 〈…〉 ke let whatsoever I do this day be pleasing in thy sight who art my alone Creator let not any temptations this day delude me but O Lord my God be thou ever near me with me and about me to protect preserve and defend me from this time forth and all the days of my life now and for evermore Amen Our Father c. A Prayer for Noon O Eternal God every hour of the day will I lift up my heart unto thee stop not thine ear O Lord but hear me and that right soon let me not nourish the disease of sloth in my blood but spend my life as the clouds execute their offices to be still in motion quench and kill O Lord in me the weed of Covetousness and let me not be over careful for my self but pittiful and merciful to those that want Keep my hands clean from touching riches unlawful last with Ahab and Jezabel I commit Murder and shed Naboth's blood to wring from him his Vineyard or with Achan be stoned to death for taking goods that are to me forbidden give me grace to be content with what portion thou hast allowed me and to remember that this is no continuing City but I must seek one to come in which Heavenly Kingdom of thine thou art my portion for ever which God grant me for his Mercy sake Amen Our Father c. A Prayer for the Evening O Almighty God the only keeper of Israel who neither slumbrest nor sleepest behold me thy servant who by reason of my sin and the corruption of my nature am wholly subject to sloth and am now even ready to ease and rest my self upon my Bed I know not whether thou wilt this very night make my Bed in the dark and the hour of my visitation be this present Evening my years are but a span long my age is nothing unto thee my days pass like a Weavers shuttle and my life is brought to an end as it were a tale that is told this hour may be my last hour and my next sleep my last and long sleep therefore I beseech thee let me every Evening seriously ponder and meditate and though my eyes sleep yet let my soul continually watch to attend thy coming keep me this night both in body and soul from all mine enemies both visible and invisible now and for evermore Amen Our Father c. FINIS