that his Name may be glorified his Church may flourish in Truth and Purity and Peace and Love may abound amongst Christians Some short Directions and Prayers WHen you go to examine your Faith by the help I have herein given you or some other fall humbly before God on your Knees and heartily say O most glorious God who madest me that I might know thee and knowing thee might love thee and loving thee might be for ever happy in thy Love I poor Sinner do here most humbly bewail and confess my great and alas too willful Ignorance of thee O! for his sake whom thou hast sent to call us out of Darkness into Light by his Gospel even JESUS CHRIST in whom dwell all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge enlighten my dark Soul by thy Word and holy Spirit with the saving Knowledge of the Truth and incline my Heart firmly to believe it even to the end Remove from me all prejudice and blindness of Heart let not the God of this World any longer darken the Eyes of my Understanding or delude my poor Soul to believe a Lye or possess me with a desire of vain Knowledge which profiteth not unto Godliness but enable me daily to grow in all Grace and the Knowledge of thee the only true God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Help me at this time to discern my Errors and the Imperfections in my Knowledge and Faith and to correct them Strengthen me to hold fast without wavering the form of sound Words which thou teachest and not Man that persevering stedfast in the same unto the Death I may receive the end of my Faith even the Salvation of my Soul through Iesus Christ my blessed Lord and Saviour Amen At the end of every Question consider well and if you find you so believe say For ever blessed be God who hath enlighten'd my Soul with the Knowledge of this sacred Truth and Faith in him O Lord encrease this Knowledge and confirm this Faith in me unto the end If you doubt in any point note it well and say O Lord pardon thy Servant I am weak and blind open mine Eyes what I know not teach thou me by thy holy Spirit guide me into all the Truth for Iesus Christ his sake Having noted all your Doubts take a fit opportunity to consult your Pastor for better Instruction At the end of this Examination thus pray O most blessed God if my Heart deceive me not I firmly believe all that I know of thy sacred Truth Thou know'st O Lord the scantness of my Knowledge and weakness of my Faith I most heartily beseech thee to pardon my Imperfections to keep me from Heresie and Error and to strengthen me daily in the true Faith of our Lord Iesus Christ. Let me not rest in an idle and dead Faith but make it lively and active in me purifying my Heart from all Hypocrisie and Uncleanness kindling in me a fervent Love to thee and to thy Laws working in me by Love an universal Obedience to thy blessed Will enabling me to overcome the World subdue the Flesh with the Lusts thereof to quench all the fiery Darts of the Devil to resist all his Temptations unto Victory to be conformed daily more and more to the Image of Christ to be strong against all Sufferings and the Terrors of Death and finally to lay hold on eternal Life through thy Mercy and the Merits of my blessed Saviour Iesus Christ. Amen When you are to examine your Repentance and Obedience pray to this sense Most great and good Good the searcher of Hearts and trier of the Reins who art every where present and from whom no Darkness can hide us thou compassest my Path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways there is not a word in my Tongue nor a thought in my Heart but thou know'st it altogether My heart O God is deceitful above all things and I cannot find it out neither understand the errors of my ways nor the sincerity of my Purposes without the help of thy holy Spirit Help me O my God help me I beseech thee to know my self and the true frame and temper of my Soul shew thou me wherein I have offended thee in Thought Word or Deed grant me a true and a humbling sight and sense of all my Sins let not my Ignorance blind me nor self-love beguile me nor the common practice of the World delude me into a false Opinion of my self and my own Righteousness but enable me I humbly beseech thee to find out all my Sins together with all the Aggravations of my Guilt make me truly vile in mine own Eyes and heartily sorry for all my Failings enable me to hate and forsake every evil way and to turn unto thee by an unfeigned Repentance and a sincere Obedience to all thy holy and good Laws that I may have my fruit unto Holiness and the end everlasting Life through Iesus Christ my only Lord and Saviour Amen After every Question pause a while and impartially judge your self and where you think you have done any part of your Duty say Blessed be my good God through Iesus Christ who by his holy Spirit hath enabled me either to will or to do any good thing in his Sight O Lord I have done all very weakly and imperfectly and most humbly beg thy pardon If I have done any thing well not unto me O Lord not unto me thy very unprofitable Servant but unto thy Name be the Glory through Iesus Christ my Lord. Where you see your sin lay it in earnest to your Heart and say O Lord I have herein sinned most grievously against Heaven and before thee and am not worthy to be called thy Child God be merciful to me poor Sinner who deserve nothing but Hell and Damnation O grant me Repentance unto Life and enter not into Judgment with thy Servant but pardon my Sin and lead me in the ways of thy Commandments to eternal life through Iesus Christ. If you have offended or injured any man note it well and take some sit time to confess it to him satisfie him and beg his Pardon If your Sin be publick and scandalous think not you have done enough till you have publickly testified your Repentance as the Church shall require it of you When you are in any doubt resort again to the Minister confess your Sin freely to him and crave his Iudgment and Directions After Examination pray earnestly to this effect O most holy and just God who perfectly hatest all Iniquity and will not have Mercy on any impenitent Sinner how should so vile and polluted a Wretch as I am dare so much as to take thy holy Name into my defiled Mouth O Lord I am a most grievous and abominable Sinner and do altogether deserve thy fierce Wrath and heavy Indignation It is a very great wonder of Mercy that thou sufferest me yet to live and hast not long since cast me into Hell and given me the
laid down his Life for us to satisfie for our Sins and free us from Vengeance and offereth us a full Pardon on Condition that we will believe in him and be baptized so signifying our Consent to the new Covenant which God is pleased to make with us in him 4. The meaning of which Covenant is this That though we cannot now be innocent and so can never hope for Life by obeying and fulfilling the Law of Innocence given to Adam yet if we will first truly repent and secondly believe the Gospel of CHRIST and thirdly sincerely obey his Commands God will yet be our God and take us for his People and for his beloved Son Iesus Christ's sake pardon our Sins and sanctifie us by his holy Spirit and finally glorisie us with himself in Heaven II. Next we must examine how we have kept this Covenant And here seeing we were baptized in our Infancy and what was promised on our parts was promised by others in our Name we are to examine 1. Whether we have since we came to Understanding at any time own'd and confirmed this Engagement and taken upon our selves the Performance of it Our Church hath well provided that no Person shall be admitted to the LORD's Supper till he be Confirmed or have declared his willingness to be confirmed that is till he have satisfied the Church that he understands the Covenant of Baptism and declareth his Resolution to keep it 2. If we have thus own'd our Baptismal Engagement we must diligently examine how we have hitherto performed it in all the Parts of it viz. Repentance Faith and sincer◠Obedience And this we are to do by posing our selves in the several Articles of our Christian Faith and in the Commandments of God If we find that we have not been faithful to God in this Covenant we must not come to this Sacrament till we have unfeignedly repented of our unfaithfulness and seriously renewed our Engagement to keep it henceforward Therefore III. We must examine how we resolve to keep it for the time to come And here we are to see to these things 1. That it be a serious deliberate and well grounded Resolution not taken up dissemblingly nor rashly nor for weak Reasons But being clearly convinced and become sensible of God's absolute Right in and to us and all our Services his sovereign Authority to govern us and command us and his wonderful Goodness and Love to us more especially declared in his Son Iesus Christ this Sense and Conviction of God's being our Maker our Governour and our Benefactor should be the reason and ground of our Resolution to be wholly his to be ruled by him and love and honour him above all 2. That it be a full and compleat Resolution that we use no Ifs or And 's or rest in some faint Purposings but we must be throughly determined and fixed upon it That whatever we may lose or suffer by it in this World we will by God's help go through with it without any Exception or Limitation whatsoever doing the whole Will of God from the Heart 3. That it be a humble and pious Resolution without any proud Trust or Confidence in our own natural Strength to make it good but yet with all Trust and Confidence in the Goodness of God that if we conscientiously use the means of Grace and Strength which he hath ordained as he hath wrought in us to will so he will strengthen us to do his good Will and finally reward us according to his infinite Mercy When we have thus considered our Covenant of Baptism and are thus resolved by God's help to keep it we should earnestly pray unto God for his Assistance and if we are not already Confirmed it is fit that we humbly offer our selves to Confirmation so soon as we can The very sense of Shame to break a Covenant after this solemn Engagement in the Face of the Church to keep it and the Fear of drawing a greater guilt upon our Souls by breaking a Covenant so renewed must needs be some Restraint upon us to keep us from breaking it And besides this we have good Cause to hope that the Prayers of the Church and the Blessing of God's Minister the Bishop who by his Office blesseth in God's Name shall very much conduce to our greater Strength and growth in Christianity CHAP. IV. An help for the Examination of our Faith WE promised in Baptism to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith These Articles are briefly laid together in the Creed To examine our selves how we keep this part of our Covenant let us in the presence of God the Searcher of Hearts ask our selves these Questions Have the Word and Works of God convinced me that there is an eternal invisible living Spirit every where present throughout the World infinite in all Perfections of Power Wisdom and Goodness called GOD Do I believe that there is but one only true and living God even the FATHER the SON and the HOLY GHOST which being three are yet all three but one GOD blessed for ever Do I believe That the Books of the Old and New Testament do contain the very Word of God and that therein God hath revealed unto us all things that are needful to our eternal Happiness and that he is a God of Truth and cannot lie and that all his Words are true Do I believe That God is the Maker Preserver and Governor of all things that I and all things are his and at his Disposal that our Life Motion and Being are from him and all our Happiness depends upon his Love and Blessing Do I believe That Man was made in the Image of God very good with an immortal Soul with Knowledge and Power enough to understand and do God's Will Do I believe God made many Spirits called Angels and that some of these by Sin fell from their first State and these are the Devil and his Angels for whom Hell was prepared and that the Devil tempting Man to sin in disobeying God all Evil came thereby into the World that we are all naturally Sinners and the Children of Wrath and cannot be happy without being pardoned and cleansed but must be tormented for ever in Hell Do I believe That God of his own free Grace and Goodness hath made us a new way to Happiness through his only begotten SON IESVS CHRIST our Lord and that there is Salvation in none other Do I believe That the SON being the true God and eternal Life became also the Man CHRIST IESVS being conceived by the power of the HOLY GHOST and born of a pure Virgin and being thus God manifested in the Flesh 〈◊〉 an holy Life on Earth in perfect Obedience to his FATHER's Will Do I believe That this is the promised
my Director and his Will my Choice and his Promises my Confidence and his Laws my Rule and depending on his Providence in all dangers or wants using the lawful means which he alloweth and no other without any disheartning Fears or anxious Thoughts and Cares commending the Success to him in Prayer dare I trust all my Concerns both in this World and the next to God only through the Mediation of Iesus Christ Do I not presume of Salvation by Christ without the Sanctification of his Spirit nor hope for Mercy without Repentance and Amendment of my Life but doth my hope in God set me upon cleansing my self from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit and perfecting Holiness in the Fear of God never despairing of his Mercy through Christ so long as I sincerely desire and endeavour to serve him faithfully Have I been patient in Wants and Losses and Griefs without all repining at God's Dealings or hard Thoughts of him Do I thankfully receive his sharpest Chastisements improving them all to Humility and Amendment of Life and rejoycing in them as Tokens of his Love and as the Condition which he hath chosen as best for me Have I not neglected to worship God devoutly both in publick and in secret and do I not rest in a formal outward Worship and for low ends but heartily in pure Conscience of Duty to honour God thereby Do I pray fervently and reverently and with a prepared and composed Mind and for such things as are agreeable to God's Will especially for Grace to enable me to honour him Have I reverently attentively and constantly read and heard God's Word treasuring it in my Heart as the Rule of Life and Foundation of Hope not enduring to hear it abused Have I kept holy the days of God's solemn Worship constantly frequenting the publick Assemblies and devoutly joyning in all the Services there Have I behaved my self in God's House as in his more especial Presence and done what I was able to maintain and uphold the holy Ministry and the Purity of God's Worship without Heresie Superstition Schism or Faction Have I duely and preparedly received the Sacraments of Christ's Institution and submitted my self to the Government and Discipline of his Church endeavouring to hold the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace Have I had a religious regard to the sacred Name of God in no case using it blasphemously profanely vainly irreverently or willingly hearing it so used either in common swearing needless swearing false swearing or in idle talk of God or hypocritical praying to God or venting false Doctrine in God's Name or fathering any evil practice on God or by my wicked Life tempting others to blaspheme the Name of Christ by which I am called Have I made a right use of my Reason to judge of things as they deserve and to consider my Obligations to God and the great Concerns of my Soul and to care for it more than for my Body and to govern my self so by the Laws of God that I am ready to die and to give account of my self at the Judgment Seat of Christ Have I check'd in my idle Thoughts and busied them in things useful Have I restrained and kept in my Passions within the Bounds of Religion and not been hurried by them unto any Words or Deeds unbeseeming a Christian Have I well husbanded my time in doing good and lost wilfully as little as may be Have I had just Thoughts of my self as a vile Sinner and hath not any Opinion of my Birth Parentage Strength Beauty Riches Honours Wit Learning any Action Gift Grace or Vertue made me proud self-conceited ambitious or vain-glorious Have I thankfully acknowledged all to be God's undeserved gift of which he may deprive me when he will and very justly because I have not done so much good by it as I ought Have I been temperate and sober not exceeding in Meat Drink Sleep Sport or Apparel and used them all to the Health Strength Refreshment and Vigour of my Body and Mind that I might the better serve God in the Duties of my Calling Have I not in any of them wasted my time weakened my Body disordered my Head fed my Lusts consumed my Estate disabling my self to do my duties of Piety to God Justice to my Neighbour Charity to the Poor and providing for my Charge and educating my Children Have I carefully avoided superfluous Expences bewitching Pleasures tempting Company Idleness and unprofitable Business Have I loved my Neighbour as my self and done to all men as I would they should do to me that is all the good I could and no hurt instructing admonishing reproving counselling comforting giving forgiving healing helping relieving speaking well of praying for him and doing him all good Offices according to my Power and Opportunities Have I been thankful to others for the like Kindnesses studying to requite them Do I reverence without Envy my Superiours in any kind am I loving and friendly to all my Equals and affable and helpful to my Inferiours without Pride or Disdain no way scorning upbraiding mocking or vilifying them for any Infirmities or Imperfections Have I honour'd the King and all inferiour Magistrates praying for them speaking no evil of them obeying their just Commands paying Tribute and Custom suffering willingly for my Faults and patiently without resistance for well-doing discovering all Plots and Conspiracies that I can know of against them assisting them against their Enemies serving faithfully under them in my â—lace and Calling no way disturbing the Peace obstructing or reproaching the Government Have I esteemed the Pastors and Governours in the Church highly in love for their Works sake not defrauding them of or grudgingly paying or by hard Bargains diminishing their dues Do I pray for them often consult them submit to their Teaching and Discipline and neither by my Absence from Church nor irregular Life or any war discourage them Have I loved and honoured my Father and Mother concealing their Failings bearing their Infirmities endeavouring their Comfort obeying their Commands following their Counsel praying for their Happiness and long Lives submitting to their Correction relieving and requiting them to my Power as there was need Have I loved and done all fatherly or motherly Offices for my Children given them devoutly to God in Baptism pray'd for them nursed them instructed them moderately corrected them restrained them from Evil given them good Example encouraged them in Goodness not pamper'd them in Back or Belly brought them up in Humility and Modesty provided them of honest Callings and married them religiously Have I loved my Brothers or Sisters and manifested my Love to them as