Being Childless. But by this means I am left without an heir. Well, suppose that; Thou hast no heir, and I have no inheritance and there are many kings and emperors that have died childless, many royal lines are extinguished. And there are many wise persons that never married: and we read no where, that any of the children of the apostles did survive their fathers and all that inherit anything of Christ's kingdom come to it by adoption, not by natural inheritance: and to die without a natural heir is no intolerable evil, since it was sanctified in the person of Jesus, who died a Virgin. Evil or unfortunate Children. : And by this means we are freed from the greater sorrows of having a fool, a swine, or a goat, to rule after us in our families: and yet even this condition admits of comfort. For all the wild Americans are supposed to be the sons of Dodonaim'; and the sons of Jacob are now the most scattered and despised people in the whole world. The son of Solomon was but a silly weak man; and the son of Hezekiah was wicked: and all the fools and barbarous people, all the thieves and pirates, all the slaves and miserable men and women of the world are the sons and daughters of Noah: and we must not look to be exempted from that portion of sorrow which God gave to Noah and Adam, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob: I pray God sends us into the lot of Abraham. But if any thing happens worse to us, it is enough for us that we bear it evenly. 1 Gen. 10. 4. Our own Death. And how if you were to die yourself? You know you must. Only be ready for it, by the preparations of a good life; and then it is the greatest good that ever happened to thee: else there is nothing that can comfort you. But if you have served God in a holy life, send away the women and the weepers, tell them it is as much intemperance to weep too much, as to laugh too much: and when thou art alone, or with fitting company, die as thou shouldest, but do not die impatiently, and like a fox catched in a trap. For if you fear death, you shall never the more avoid it, but you make it miserable. To die is necessary and natural, and it may be honourable: but to die poorly, and basely, and sinfully, that alone is it that can make a man unfortunate. PRAYERS FOR THE SEVERAL GRACES AND PARTS OF CHRISTIAN SOBRIETY. A prayer against Sensuality. O ETERNAL Father, thou that sittest in heaven invested with essential glories and Divine perfections, fill my soul with so deep a sense of the excellencies of spiritual and heavenly things, that my affections being weaned from the pleasures of the world, and the false allurements of sin, I may with great severity and the prudence of a holy discipline and strict desires, with clear resolutions and a free spirit, have my conversation in heaven and heavenly employments; that being in affections, as in my condition, a pilgrim and a stranger here, I may covet after, and labour for, an abiding city, and at last may enter into and for ever dwell in the celestial Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. For Temperance. O ALMIGHTY God and gracious Father of men and angels, who openest thy hand and fillest all things with plenty, and hast provided for thy servant sufficient to satisfy all my needs; teach me to use thy creatures soberly and temperately, that I may not with loads of meat or drink make the temptations of my enemy to prevail upon me, or my spirit unapt for the performance of my duty, or my body healthless, or my affections sensual and unholy. O my God, never suffer that the blessings, which thou givest me, may either minister to sin or sickness, but to health and holiness and thanksgiving, that in the strength of thy provisions I may cheerfully and actively and diligently serve thee, that I may worthily feast at thy table here, and be accounted worthy through thy grace to be admitted to thy table hereafter at the eternal supper of the Lamb, to sing an allelujah to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen. For Chastity: to be said especially by Unmarried Persons. ALMIGHTY God, our most holy and eternal Father, who art of pure eyes, and canst behold no uncleanness; let thy gracious and holy Spirit descend upon thy servant, and reprove the spirit of fornication and uncleanness, and cast him out, that my body may be a holy temple, and my soul a sanctuary to entertain the Prince of purities, the holy and eternal Spirit of God. O let no impure thoughts pollute that soul, which God hath sanctified; no unclean words pollute that tongue, which God hath commanded to be an or : gan of his praises; no unholy and unchaste action rend the veil of that temple, where the holy Jesus hath been pleased to enter, and hath chosen for his habitation but seal up all my senses from all vain objects, and let them be entirely possessed with religion, and fortified with prudence, watchfulness, and mortification; that I possessing my vessel in holiness, may lay it down with a holy hope, and receive it again in a joyful resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. A prayer to be said by Married Persons in behalf of themselves and each other. O ETERNAL and gracious Father, who hast consecrated the holy estate of marriage to become mysterious and to represent the union of Christ and his church, let thy holy Spirit so guide me in the doing the duties of this state, that it may not become a sin unto me. Do thou forgive all those irregularities and too sensual applications, which may have in any degree discomposed my spirit and the severity of a christian. Let me in all accidents and circumstances be severe in my duty towards thee, affectionate and dear to my wife [or husband], a guide and good example to my family, and in all quietness, sobriety, prudence and peace, a follower of those holy pairs, who have served thee with godliness and a good testimony. And the blessings of the eternal God, blessings of the right hand and of the left, be upon the body and soul of thy servant my wife, [or husband] and abide upon her [or him] till the end of a holy and happy life; and grant that both of us may live together for ever in the embraces of the holy and eternal Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. A prayer for the grace of Humility. O HOLY and most gracious Master and Saviour Jesus, who by thy example and by thy precept, by the prac tice of a whole life and frequent discourses, didst command us to be meek and humble, in imitation of thy incomparable sweetness and great humility; be pleased to give me the grace, as thou hast given me the commandment: enable me to do, whatsoever thou commandest, and command, whatsoever thou pleasest. O mortify in me all proud thoughts and vain opinions of myself: let me return to thee the acknowledgment and the fruits of all those good things thou hast given me, that by confessing I am wholly in debt to thee for them, I may not boast myself for what I have received, and for what I am highly accountable: and for what is my own, teach me to be ashamed and humbled, it being nothing but sin and misery, weakness and uncleanness. Let me go before my brethren in nothing, but in striving to do them honour and thee glory, never to seek my own praise, never to delight in it when it is offered; that despising myself, I may be accepted by thee in the honours with which thou shalt crown thy humble and despised servants for Jesus his sake in the kingdom of eternal glory. Amen. Acts of Humility and Modesty by way of Prayer and Meditation. I. Lord, I know that my spirit is light and thorny, my body is brutish and exposed to sickness; I am constant to folly and inconstant in holy purposes. My labours are vain and fruitless; my fortune full of change and trouble, seldom pleasing, never perfect: my wisdom is folly; being ignorant even of the parts and passions of my own body: and what am I, O Lord, before thee but a miserable person, hugely in debt, not able to pay? II. Lord, I am nothing, and I have nothing of myself: I am less than the least of all thy mercies. |