4. Penetential Litany 5. A Prayer for Grace 6. Faith 7. Holiness 8. Preparation for Death and Judgment 9. A Prayer of resignation 10. For the Church 11. Kingdoms 12. People 13. Occasional Prayers to be added A Meditation on the Mercies of God and his gracious promises to penitent Sinners GOD created Man that he might never want an eternal Subject of his mercy that he might have a Being to which to impart his Goodness and distinguish from the rest of the Creation by greater instances of that mercy which is over all his Works And when sin had made a breach betwixt God and Man and his Mercy might have given place to the severer attribute of Justice his Wisdom and Power were set on work to restore sinners to a possibility of that Mercy they had justly forfeited He gave his Son that they might not perish sent him from Heaven to preach Repentance and Remission of their sins and was content he should die to capacitate them to live and the Blessed Jesus that he might be the Image of his Father's Love and Goodness as well as Glory is come on purpose to be the Saviour of them that were lost and that he might be so has constituted an Order of Men to beseech sinners in his stead to be reconciled unto God and not only appointed them to be Guardians of his Truth but Preachers of his Charity who with an undistinguishing Goodness has tendred a pardon to all that return to him by Repentance Has not God said Ezek. 33.11 That he would not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his sin and be saved and can I think that God can contradict himself and believe 't is his will I should perish when he has said He would have me return and live Has he not said Isai 1.18 Though my sin be as red as scarlet yet if I cease to do evil and learn to do well they shall be white as snow though they be red as crimson they shall be as wool and shall I doubt what God has affirmed Has he not said John 3.16 That he gave his Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life That his death was intended as a sacrifice for all the world or That he tasted death for every man That he would have all men come to the knowledge of his truth that they might be saved and shall I distrust that goodness that is thus frankly tendred to all the world 'T is true I am a sinner but 't is such that need and 't is to such that God has tendred mercy I am a notorious offender but 't is for such Christ has died I am weary and heavy laden and my iniquity is greater than I can bear but 't is to such that Christ has promised rest And shall I rob my self of that mercy which alone can be sufficient for me shall I question that Merit that is enough to save the World or doubt the Goodness which nothing but my own impenitence can deprive me of Oh no! thy Mercy O blessed Father shall be my refuge Thy Merit O blessed Jesus shall be the foundation of my hope and let me never distrust thy Goodness O God my God! Thus the Penitent having fixed in his soul a just Idea of that Penitence God requires and of that unspeakable Goodness and Merit that can give acceptance and value to it hastens to discharge his guilty fears into the bosom that can pity and forgive them 2. His first or Morning Prayer acknowledging God's Mercy and imploring his assistance and acceptance O Most holy and eternal Father by whose Care and Providence I have been preserved the Night passed and by whose Mercy and Favour I have a few hours to live and fit my self to die To thy Name be eternal Thanks and Praise for these and all thy Mercies vouchsafed to me The last Night my Soul might have been required at my hands or in thy Justice thou mightst have taken me in the very act of Sin to the Judgment-seat and not have given me time to speak much less to repent but thou hast let me see that thou canst be good to me though I have been evil that thy patience and forbearance are greater than my provocations and that thou canst have pity on me though I have had too little compassion on my own Soul Lord redouble thy Blessings upon me by sanctifying them to me and teaching me to make a wise and a good use of all the advantages of Instruction and Advice of time and opportunity and all the means of Grace and Repentance thou vouch-safest unto me Bless especially my present endeavours to seek thy peace and favour and teach me so to judge my self that I may not be condemned in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen 3. A Confession of Sins O Almighty God who art a Searcher of the heart and a Trier of the reins and from whom no secrets are hid and yet wouldst have us confess our sins unto thee who art about our Path about our Bed and spiest out all our ways In mercy O Lord look down upon me who in the bitterness and anguish of my Soul come to prostrate my self before thee my sins are in thy sight and my unrighteousness is not hid the frailties of my Nature the corruptions of my Will and the disorders of my Life my abuse of thy Mercies my contempt of thy Judgments my repeated violations of thy holy Laws are more than I am able to express I have neither loved nor served nor obeyed thee as I ought to do I have broke through all the obligations of Duty and Interest to pursue my Lusts and Follies every little temptation has withdrawn me from thy Love and Service whilst thy gracious invitations the mercy of thy promises and assistances of thy Grace and Spirit have all been lost upon me O good God! I am troubled I am ashamed and confounded what shall I do or whither shall I fly how can I hope for thy Mercy that have deserved the rigours of thy Justice But since it is thy will that I should repent and live look down O Lord in mercy upon me who am unfit to look up unto thee and let thy Grace form in me such a sense of my sins that I may hate and forsake them and do thou O Lord according to thy multitude of Mercies do away my offences Lord spare forgive and pity me for Christ Jesus sake Amen 4. A Penitential Litany or short Prayers for Repentance Pardon and Grace O God the Father who wouldst not the death of a sinner have mercy upon me O thou God of Mercy that wouldst have the sinner repent and live give me a due sense of all my sins and then forgive and pity me O thou that wouldst have all men come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved cast me not away from thee O holy Father who didst so love the world that
with great confidence challenged by the several Orders of Recluses and renouncing the World though the least thing in their Character under these Pretensions being useless grew up into such Credit that the Commands and Tears of a Father were not strong enough to with-hold an only Child from a Cloister nor the conjugal Ties and Vows of Fidelity a discontented Wife But the Pretence of the Primitive Pharisees was revived with such advantages that the Name of Corban did not only excuse his Wealth but the Possessor too and set him at Liberty not only to leave a Father or a Mother a Child or a Family to the Mercy of the World but voided the Right of his Brother his Prince his Country his Wife or his Child to his Charity his Counsel his Service or his Care and not only broke through but cancelled the most sacred Ties both of Nature and Religion These were such Abuses of Retirement that it is not to be wondered if the Contempt and Indignation they deserved lessen'd the esteem of every thing that had serv'd to colour them and drew a Suspicion on the Discipline that in the first ages of Religion had ministred to all the End of Piety and Devotion and this Prejudice falling in with the Interests of Sloth and Luxury and Indevotion had too much influence on some that embraced the Reformation but did not so far prevail in this Church but that besides the stated Fasts and Vigils Retirement for Piety and Devotion had a just regard in these Nations amongst the People of Thought and Leisure till our unhappy Wars let in a Torrent of Impiety upon us and the ill-grounded Fears of a relapse to the Superstition of the Church of Rome run some Men into Superstition of another kind for he that places Holiness and Merit in laying aside the proper Means and Instruments of Piety and Devotion and he who places Holiness in the Use are both alike guilty of Superstition and the Loosness and Prophaneness which have pursued the former have given us a sensible Evidence of the Mischiefs that unhappy Mistake has drawn down upon us In these unhappy Circumstances whilst the Mistakes of some have cast a Blemish and Contempt on the Primitive Methods of Holiness and Devotion and the Prophaneness of others has broke all the Restraints of Modesty and good Manners to reproach and despise them it may look like the attempt of one unacquainted with the World to offer at an Essay to recommend them to a due Consideration and Regard But when the Prophet Elijah complained of a general Apostacy and Corruption of Manners and thought his Country gone after False Gods God checked the Immodesty and want of Charity in the Prophet and told him that in the midst of that Dissolution which seemed Epidemical he had still reserved himself seven Thousand that had never bowed the knee to Baal it would then be very unreasonable as well as unchristian to imagine that in so great and flourishing a Church as that of England God had not preserved infinite Numbers that with all Sincerity aspire to the Primitive Piety and Devotion For though the pomp and shews of austerity do not make that Figure with us that possibly they may do in the Church of Rome though wrong Notions and the too general Loosness have withdrawn some and the bold Insults of Prophaneness intimidated others and thus lessened the Piety and Vertue and Decency and Gravity of that Devotion that blessed the first Age of the Reformation yet without Vanity and Flattery it may be said that there appears more plain natural and unaffected Piety in the Communion of this Church than are commonly to be found amongst other sorts of Christians Which it may be no one thing within the Compass of our own endeavours would more improve than a due observation of that her Rubrick wherein she directs her Children to a Weekly Fast by which I shall presume to think she intends not so much a total abstinence or particular kind of Diet as to prescribe Periods for a more exact Review of our Lives and more especial Oblation of our Thanks and Prayers to God accompanied with the strictest measures of Temperance For though abstinence be of admirable Use to some Constitutions and not only redoubles the Piety of the Christian in laying the Foundation of it in the Sacrifice of his appetite but in kindling holy ardors that give new Life and Vigour to his Devotions yet there are other Tempers that not only frustrate but pervert all the Religious Ends of abstinence But he that has a Will to it can want neither Ability nor Time to consecrate an Hour in a Week to Repentance and Devotion he that cannot observe the Rubrick in a Day of Fasting may confess his Sin to God and beg his Pardon and cannot be so oppress'd with Business but his busie Thoughts may reflect on the Mercies he owes to God or on his own Demerit And if we consider the general practice of Mankind it will appear an unaccountable and stupendious folly that the affair which only deserves our time and thought should only be neglected or at the best be only left to Chance and Accidents whilst every Trifle prescribes to a certain portion of our Time and Care But if Men would be persuaded to do the same Justice to their greatest Interest that of the other World which they do to those of this that is allow themselves Time to consider it I doubt not but it would go a great way not only in the Cure of that Loosness which has so fatally broke in upon us but in restoring that Temperance and Charity that Goodness and Beneficence and that exemplary Holiness and Vertue which the Religion of our Lord requires from us To which blessed Ends if the following Papers will any way contribute either by awakening the careless and unthinking or encouraging or assisting the better disposed Christian they will answer and reward the Intention with which they were written ADVERTISEMENT A Guide to the Devout Christian in Three Parts The First containing Meditations and Prayers affixed to the Days of the Week together with many Occasional Prayers for particular Persons The Second for more Persons than one or a whole Family for every Day of the Week together with many Occasional Prayers The Third containing a Discourse of the Nature and Necessity of the Holy Sacrament together with Meditations thereon Prayers and Directions for the worthy Receiving thereof To which is added A Prayer for Ash-Wednesday or any other Time in Lent for Good-Friday and any Day of Publick Fasting The Second Edition Corrected Written by the same Author CHAP. I. 1. The Reasons which lead the Devout Christian to retire 2. His Notions of Retirement 3. His Behaviour therein 1. THE Union of the Soul and Body is a Secret the Devout Christian does not pretend to penetrate nor to explain the Difficulties that attend it But that the Body has a mighty influence on the Soul and the
thou gavest thy Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Have mercy upon me a miserable sinner O thou that despisest not a broken and a contrite heart and whose Will and Power nothing can resist O do thou create a clean Heart and renew a right Spirit within me O say unto my soul I will be thou clean and be it to thy servant according to thy word O thou that hast no pleasure in the death of him that dies and hast given thy Son to die that sinners may not die eternally Spare me Lord most holy O God most mighty and deliver me from the bitter pains of eternal Death O blessed Jesus who didst die to give a worth and value to Repentance and that Repentance and Remission of sins should be preached to all the world in thy Name O do thou make my Repentance such as thou hast required and wilt accept and let thy Merits render it effectual to the forgiveness of my sins O thou who didst taste death for every man and laidst down thy Life for those who were dead in Adam and hast promised to accept all such as come unto thee O cast me not away from thee but have mercy upon me O God my God O thou that hast bid such as are weary and heavy laden come unto thee and promised they shall find rest for their souls O Lord look down upon me who in the bitterness and anguish of my soul come unto thee and have mercy upon me O Holy and Ever-blessed Spirit whose sacred Fires melt down the hardest Hearts whose holy Aids are sufficient to help our Infirmities and whose Fruits are Repentance and Peace and Joy O do thou direct assist and guide my soul and keep me in all thy ways O thou that leadest the ignorant to the Truth sinners to Repentance and Righteousness and art the Comforter of the sad and wounded soul O do thou open my eyes to see the errors of my ways and my heart to hate and forsake them and let thy Grace and Comforts guide me in all my difficulties and support me in all my trials O Blessed Spirit who knowest the dangers that encompass and the temptations that beset and most easily prevail against me O be thou my Guide and never leave me nor forsake me but from the deceit of my heart from the wiles of Satan and the sad effects of ill Opinions Melancholy and Despair Good Lord deliver me O good God give me not up to my self and withdraw not thy Grace from me but assist and accept my Prayers and my Repentance and hear thy Son that is making intercession for me let his Blood atone for me and by his Stripes let my soul be healed O merciful Father who wouldst have me repent and live and by whose Grace and Aid I have here prostrated my self before thee to confess and bewail my sins and purposed to forsake them O do thou who knowest the deceit of my Heart the weakness of my best Resolutions and the power and prevalence of my corrupt Nature let thy Grace be sufficient for me and the helps of thy Spirit make my sorrow sincere my resolution stedfast and so change and consecrate my Affections that they may never more misguide me O thou that art the Maker and Lover of Souls Hear my Prayer Forgive my Sins Accept my Sorrows Strengthen my Resolutions Confirm my Vows and grant me Repentance to Life Eternal for Christ Jesus sake Amen Amen 5. A Prayer for Grace O Most merciful Father who knowest my inability to do any thing that is good without thee and with what subtilty and diligence the Devil lies in wait to deceive and ruine my Soul O good God let thy strength appear in my weakness and discover and disappoint the designs of the Destroyer and deliver me from the corrupt inclinations of my own nature Thou hast promised to give the assistance of thy Holy Spirit to those that ask it let that blessed Spirit direct and guide to and keep me in all thy ways let it never leave me nor forsake me nor be withdrawn from me but keep me in thy fear and in thy ways till it bring me to thy presence and thy glory through the merits of Jesus Christ my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Amen 6. A Prayer for Faith O Almighty God who art the Author and Giver of every good thing Purge out of my heart all Distrust and Infidelity and every mean and unworthy thought of thy self Lord help my unbelief and beget continue and confirm in my Soul such a lively active and vigorous Faith as may shew it self in Piety and good Works and be effectual to my Salvation among those who have not seen and yet believe that He who is the Author Foundation and Finisher of our Faith and has promised Life to those that believe in and through his Name may at last say unto me Come thou good and faithful servant enter into the joys of my rest which I humbly beg for Christ Jesus his sake Amen 7. A Prayer for Holiness O Almighty God who seest the frailties of my Nature and knowest how great the difficulties how numerous the temptations are that beset me and how hard it is for Man that is born of a Woman to be clean before thee and yet hast declared That without Holiness no man shall see thy face in glory O Lord with an eye of pity look down upon me let thy Grace supply the defects of my Nature and that merciful Providence that watches over us for our good keep back or deliver me from every temptation and that Goodness that is able to consecrate my affections be always ready to direct and guide me in all my designs and ways that thy Holiness may be my aim and thy Glory my desire and the assistances of thy Spirit carry my affections to things above and so purifie me from all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit that I may be holy as Thou art holy that my Conversation may be in Heaven and a holy and unblamable Life fit me for that state of Holiness that is the reward of the Saints above Hear and answer me O Lord for Christ Jesus sake Amen 8. A Prayer for due preparation for Death and Judgment ALmighty God whose hands have made and fashioned us out of the dust and hast in thy Justice pronounced That to dust we must return again and appointed unto all men once to die and after that to Judgment and by my own frailties and the reproaches of my Conscience hast given me such certain presages of my Death and the Account I am to give that I shall be inexcusable if I be found unprovided for them O good God let the notices thou hast given me keep me always mindful of what I am and what I must be and the thoughts of Death and Judgment so conduct the whole course of my life that when it is thy pleasure to call me I may be fit to die and