Psal. xvii. Matt. ii. 2 Pet. ii. Prov. xxvi. Weaklings. God's pri soners. Acts v. Rom. viii. 2 Cor. iv. 2 Tim. ii. Backsliders for fear. Isai. xlii. Matt. xii. Matt. xvi. Mark x. Matt. x. the confession of thy truth before the worldly tyrants and bellied hypocrites, O Lord, confirm them in thy truth through the Holy Ghost, and give them grace to persist and continue in it unto the end, that thou mayest be glorified by them, and that the truth of thy holy word may the more earnestly be received, embraced, and believed of the christian weaklings. "O hold thou up" their "goings in thy paths, that" their "footsteps slip not." Thou hast delivered them from stinking Sodom: suffer them no more to look back toward it. Thou by thy mighty power and out-stretched arm hast brought them out of sinful Egypt, and hast fed them with the heavenly manna: suffer them no more so much as once to have a lust to return unto that land of bondage, nor to have a desire to sit among the greasy flesh-pots of Egypt, and to eat of the fishes, melons, cucumbers, garlic, onions, leeks, &c., wherewith the filthy Egyptians are fed. They have visited and seen Christ thy Son and our King: suffer them no more to return unto wicked king Herod. They have put their hand to the plough: grant that they never look back again, but persevere, continue, and go forward unto the end. They have escaped from the filthiness of the world through the knowledge of thee and of our Saviour Jesu Christ: suffer them no more to be entangled therein and overcome, lest the latter end be worse than the beginning. "For it had been better not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment that is given them. So might it be said of them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." The weaklings, and such as are not yet perfectly stablished in thy true religion, but like reeds waver with every wind of doctrine, O Lord, confirm thou and make them thoroughly strong in the knowledge of thy truth, that they with a constant faith and lusty courage may both believe and confess thee before the tyrants of the world, that thou alone art the Lord, and that there is no truth necessary unto salvation but that only which is contained in thy holy scriptures. To them that are in bonds for the confession of thy truth give thou grace, O most loving Lord, to rejoice that they be counted worthy of thy fatherly goodness to suffer rebuke, infamy, imprisonment, loss of goods, &c. for the name of the Lord Jesu, and to be “persuaded that the afflictions of this life are not worthy of the glory which shall be shewed" upon the sons of God in time to come; notwithstanding, that their "trouble, which is short and light, prepareth an exceeding and eternal weight of glory unto them, which look not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen;" again, that "if they die with Christ, they shall also live with Christ; and if they suffer with Christ, they shall also reign with Christ." And as for them that, for fear of life or loss of goods, or else for pleasing the higher powers, are outwardly gone from thy true religion, and with their body serve Baal, yea, and that against their own conscience, when in their hearts they wish all idolatrous and strange worshippings utterly to be abolished, that thou alone mightest be glorified and honoured; we most humbly beseech thee to pardon their imperfections and to forgive their infirmities, which by the prophet speaketh of thy Son concerning the weak and fearful on this manner: "A bruised reed shall he not break, and flax that beginneth to burn he shall not quench." O Lord, help their unbelief. Increase their faith. Make them strong with thy holy Spirit, that that which they inwardly believe they may outwardly confess, and work accordingly, though loss both of goods and life do ensue. Give them grace always to have before their eyes these sayings of thy dear Son and our loving Saviour Christ Jesu: "If any man will follow me, let him forsake himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. What shall it profit a man though he should win all the whole world, if he lese his own soul? or what shall a man give to redeem his own soul again withal?" Item: "Verily I say unto you, There is no man that forsaketh house, or brethren and sisters, or father and mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, which shall not receive an hundred-fold now in this life, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come everlasting life." Again: "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven." But 66 whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words among this advouterous Mark viii. and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." knowledge. Now as touching the enemies of thy word, whereof some sin of ignorance and Enemies to the gospel for lack of knowledge, some again of obstinate malice and pretensed hate, and make for lack of war against thy true religion, we most humbly beseech thee for Christ's sake favourably to behold them that ignorantly and of a blind zeal toward the traditions of their elders, and not of a malicious heart, hate the gospel of thy dear Son, and persecute the preachers of the same. Bring them, O Lord, into the knowledge of their errors and blindness, that they may repent, believe, and amend, which madest Saul of a wolf Acts ix. a lamb, of a persecutor a preacher, and of a tyrant an apostle. Make them of the enemies of thy truth earnest lovers and fervent embracers of thy truth. Turn their hard and stony heart into a fleshly, soft, and gentle heart: make them new bottles, Matt. ix. apt to receive the new, sweet, and pleasant wine of the gospel. Make them as zealous in setting forth the truth of thy word as they have heretofore been in the advancement of the blind and unfruitful traditions of men. Be merciful unto them, Psal. Ixvii. bless them, and lighten thy countenance upon them, that they may know thy ways and thy saving health. Replenish them with thy holy Spirit and with the graces of the same, that, as they are thy creatures with us, so they may be saved with us. the gospel of But those, O Lord, which are thy sworn enemies, and of a set purpose, even Enemies to against their own conscience and contrary to their knowledge, persecute the glorious set malice. gospel of thy dearly-beloved Son, and the true favourers of the same, and will by no means be reconciled nor lean unto the truth, but go forth daily more and more to hinder the free and joyful passage of thy holy word, and to withdraw so many as they can from believing, receiving, and embracing the same, seeing they sin the sin unto death, and are not to be converted, O Lord, haste thee to root them 1 John v. up from the face of the earth, that they be no more stumbling-blocks to the weak Christians. "Destroy thou them, O God: let them perish through their own imaginations. Cast Psal. v. them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; for they have rebelled against thee." Rain thou" snares, fire, brimstone, storm, and tempest upon them: let this be their Psal. xi. portion to drink." "Let them be confounded and put to shame, that seek after the O let them be turned back and brought to confusion, that imagine Let them be as dust before the wind, and the angel of the Let their way be dark and slippery, and let thy angel, O "Yea, let sudden destruction come upon them unwares, lives of the faithful. mischief against them. Lord scattering them. Lord, persecute them." and the nets that they have laid privily catch themselves, that they may fall into their own mischief." "Let the swords that they draw out go thorough their own Psal. xxxvii. hearts, and the bows that they have bended slay themselves." "Let the arms of the ungodly be broken," and "let the wicked perish and consume as the fat of lambs ; yea, as smoke let them consume away." "Destroy them for ever, and pluck them Psal. lii. out of their dwelling, and root them out of the land of the living." "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths, smite the jaw-bones of the lions: O Lord, let them fall away like water that runneth apace, and when they shoot arrows, let them be rooted out: let them consume away like a snail, and be like the untimely fruit of a woman, and let them not see the sun." "Stand up, O Lord God of hosts, thou Psal. lix. God of Israel, to visit all heathen, and be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness." "Pour out thine indignation upon them; and let thy wrathful Psal. Ixix. displeasure take hold of them." "Let them be cumbered with shame and dishonour, Psal. lxxi. that seek to do thy people evil." "Do thou to them as unto the Madianites, unto Psal. lxxxiii. Sisera, and unto Jabin, at the brook of Kison; which perished at En-dor, and became as the dung of the earth." In fine: "Let them be confounded and turned backward, Psal. cxxix. as many as have evil will at Sion. Let them be even as the grass growing upon the house-tops, which withereth afore it be plucked up." But let all those that love thee and thy blessed word be joyful, merry, and glad. Let them continue, prosper, flourish, and triumph in thee their Lord God for ever. Let their joy and mirth be sound and everlasting, even such joy and mirth as no man shall be able to take 66 xviii. xix. xxi. Rev. xx away from them. Let stinking Babylon fall down, and let the new and heavenly Jerusalem be built up again. Let the venomous dragon, that filthy beast, that false prophet, and that purpled whore of Babylon shortly come to confusion, that all the glory may be given to the Lamb that sitteth with thee in the throne. Kill antichrist, that son of perdition, with the breath of thy mouth, that thou alone mayest be known to be the Lord. Rev. vii. 2 Thess. ii. Psal. liii. Psal. xc. O most loving Lord and our heavenly Father, "when thou shalt deliver thy people Psal. cxxvi. out of captivity, then shall Jacob rejoice and Israel be right glad." Yea, then shall the mouth of the faithful be filled with laughter, and their tongue with joy. We therefore most humbly beseech thee, O Lord, to "turn our captivity as the rivers in the south, that they which sow in tears may reap in joy." "Turn thee again, O Lord, at the last, and be gracious unto thy servants. O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon: so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life. Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us, and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity." So shall we with joyful hearts and merry voices sing continual praises to thy glorious and blessed name, which, with thy only-begotten Son Jesus Christ, our alone Saviour, and with the Holy Ghost, that most sweet Comforter, livest and reignest one, alone, true, living, immortal, and everlasting God, world without end. Amen. Give the glory to God alone. |