restitution be made, are you ready to refore goods to thofe whom you have wronged in their eftates, and repair the credit of thofe whom you have injured in their GOOD name; and that without fraud or delay ? 4. are ? And now at last, can you call to mind who thefe The Apostles' Creed paraphrafed. O Lord, I believe (help thou my unbelief,) (1 believe) that thou, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, art one God. '. I BELIEVE, That of thy unlimited goodness and power, thou didst create the Heavens and the Earth. That of thy unbounded love thou haft gathered together in one, all things in Chrift-who was made flesh, and (was) conceived, was born, fuffered, was crucified, dead, buried, defcended, rofe again, afcended, fitteth, fhall return, fhall reward. I believe, That by the power and operation of thy holy Spirit, thou haft called thy Church out of all the world unto holinefs. That, in it, we are made partakers of all good things, and of forgiveness of fins. That in it we expect the refurrection of the fleth, and life everlafting. Lord, I believe, (O fupply thou my want of faith.) I believe, The affectionate kindness of the Father, the faving power of the Almighty, the wifdom of the Creator, in the prefervation, government, and confummation of the world. we The great mystery of godliness, that for us men, and for our falvation, God was manifefted in the flesh, (even) the Lord Jefus, the Son of the Father, the anointed of the Spirit. That he was conceived and born to cleanfe us from the filthinefs of our conception and birth. That he fuffered what ought (to have fuffered) moft unfpeakable torments, that we might efcape them. That he was crucified, dead, and buried, that we may not be afraid to undergo the fame things for his fake. That he defcended to that (difmal) place, whither we must have gone, that he might wholly excuse us from it. That he rofe again, afcended, and fitteth (in that place) where we had no portion, that even we alfo might inherit it. That he fhall come to judge the world, that he may take us up (into his glory.) I believe (that) he is come. By By his conception and birth, the purifier of our nature-by his fuffering on the cross, death, and burial, the redeemer of our bodies-by his defcent, a (triumphant) conqueror over heil and death-by his refurrection, the firft fruits of them that fleep-by his afcenfion, our forerunner (gone to prepare a place for us) by his feffion (at the right hand of God) the interceffor, or our advocate-by his fecond coming to judgment, the finisher of our faith. Thus, But I believe also the quickening and fanctifying power of the Holy Ghoft. (A power that works,) (Inwardly and) invifibly (openly and) outwardly, effectually as the wind (that bloweth where it lifteth.)-By reproof, by compunction (of the heart) by doctrine, by admonition, as an advocate, as the comforter; as a witnefs; by the diffufion of charity, by illumination of knowledge. I believe alfo, The myftical body of this Holy Spirit, confifting of thofe that are called out of the whole world unto belief of the truth and holinefs of life.-The mutual fellowfhip of the members of that body.-The remiffion of fins in this prefent time, and the hope of a future resurrection, and of our tranflation to the life eternal. O Lord, give me faith, not fuch faith as would make the law of none effect; But fuch faith as, Works by love, Is powerful in working, Overcomes the world. (And befides) a moft holy Faith, That I may love thee as a father, and fear thee, (as) the Almighty.-That I may commit my foul unto thee, in well doing, as unto a faithful creator. That Chrift may be formed in me, and that I may be conformed unto his image.-That I may give (him) thanks for those things which he has fuffered for me, (that I may) fuffer together with him; (that I may fuffer) for him what foever he fhall fee good.-That for his crofs, death, (and) burial I may revenge, crucify, kill, bury, my fins, which caufeth (all) thefe. That for his defcent into hell, I may defcend thither whilft I live (here) by frequent meditations (upon it.)--That I may be (made) conformable to his refurrection by (my) rifing again to newness of life, and to his afcenfion by meditating upon and feeking (after) thofe things that are above.-That I may be alfo mindful of his feffion (at God's right hand) whenfoever I want any gift of heavenly confolation, and as often as I am cold in my devotions. And that I may never forget his fecond coming at the day of Judgment, (O) that I may always think I hear the noife of the laft trumpet founding, and that I may pray without ceafing till I am placed at the right hand. Amen. Preparatory Meditations for Death. O Lord, quicken and comfort my foul, for I have finned against thee. Lord, I call to mind all the years of my life paft in the bitterness of my foul for my fin. My misdeeds have prevailed against me, O be thou merciful unto my fin; O for thy name's fake be merciful unto my fin, for it is great. Amen. Namely and especially, O Lord,be merciful unto me, &c. Herein, O Lord, be merciful unto thy fervant? O Lord, Jay not these, nor the reft unto my charge,-O let the depth of my fin call up the depth of thy mercies, of thy grace. Lord, let it come, that where my fin hath abounded grace may fuperabound.-Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.-O Lord, though thou killeft me, yet will I put my trust in thee.— Though I walk through the valley of the fhadow of death, yet will I fear no evil; for I hope verily to fee the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. O let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, if it may not pafs from me, but that I muft drink, thy will be done.-Thou art the Lord, do what feemeth good in thine own eyes.-For I will take it as the cup of falvation, and give thanks to thy name, O Lord.-O Lord, grant that all the days of my appointed time upon earth, I may wait when my changing fhall come.-O that thou wouldft hide me in the grave, and keep me fecret until thy wrath be paft, and appoint me a time in which thou wilt re member me.-Say unto my foul, O fay it now, I am thy falvation.-Command my fpirit, whenever thou wilt command it, to be received up to thee in peace.-O bid me come unta thee, fay unto me, this day fhalt thou be with me in paradise. Lord, thus and now let thy fervant depart in peace, that my eyes may fee thy falvation. O Lord O Lord, thou bleffed Trinity, three perfons and one God, have mercy upon me, I commend myself into thy hands, as to a faithful Creator. Lord receive thine own creature, not made by any ftrange God, but by thee, the only living and true God. Then Pfal. cxxxviii. 8. and Ephef. iv. 24. I commend myself into thy hands, as to a gracious redeemer, for thou haft redeemed me, &c. O Lord, I am the price of thy blood, of thy moft precious blood, O fuffer not fo great, fo invaluable a price to perifh.-O Lord thou cameft down from heaven, to redeem that which was loft; fuffer not that to be loft, which thou haft redeemed.-I commend myself into thy hands, as to my moft bleffed comforter. O Lord, I am weary and heavy laden, and I come to thee, to be refreshed by thee. Behold, O Lord, I have been the temple of thy holy Spirit; I have, I confess, strangely polluted it; yet deftroy me not, but dedicate me anew, and fanctify me to thyfelf yet once again. Then Dan. ix. 19. O fpare, Lord, if not me, yet thine own name in tne, and do not fo remem ber my fin, O Lord, do not, as that in remembering it, thou forget thine own name. I have defired to fear thy name, (Neh. i. 11.) to love and to honour thy name. defire to depart this life in the invocation and confeffion of thy name. Lord, I confefs it, and call upon it. O come, Lord Jefu. Amen. O Lord I have finned, And I now i. But I have not denied thee; O never let the enemy pre vail with me, to deny thee. 2. But I believe; O Lord, increase my faith, and let me never be confounded. 3. But I hope; and what is my hope, but in thee alone? Receive me, O Lord, according to thy word, and let me not be difappointed of my hope. 4. But I have prepared and directed my heart to feek thee; and though (I am) not (purified) according to the purification of the fanctuary, yet, O Lord Jefu, quench not the fmoaking flax, nor break the bruifed reed. 5. But I bear thy correction patiently, and I hold my tongue, because thou, Lord, haft done it, 6. But I forgive those that have trefpaffed against me, and thou haft promised forgiveness to him that forgives them. 7. But I caft myfelf upon thee, (O) withdraw not thyself (from me) and in no wife caft me out when I come unto thee. 8. But I defire to depart, confeffing unto thee, and calling on thy name. Wherefore Wherefore, not for my own fake, O Lord, nor for any thing that belongs to me, but for thine own fake, for thy name's fake, for the glory of thy (great) name, and for thy truth's (fake) for thy many, great, (and) wonderful mercies, (fake) for the fake of Chrift the Mediator, and of the Holy Ghoft the Comforter, receive me that am returning to myfelf, and returning unto THEE. Amen., And therefore, O Lord, my God, Christ the Priest, the Lamb, the Sacrifice. Christ a king, a lion, a (triumphant) conqueror. Christ's innocency in his life. Between the punishment of me and (my) SINS, Between me and my want of forrow for (my) fins. Between me and my want of fervency in prayers, Between me and my own confcience, or the accufations of Satan, Chrift the Advocate. Between me and (my) Concupiscence, Chrift's Love. Let it be acceptable unto thee, O Lord, for the fame Chrift's fake. Amen. But O Lord, I have finned, I willingly confefs (it) I reflect on it in the bitterness of my foul. I abhor myself for the fins I have committed against thee, (O) give me grace, that I may judge and take vengeance on myfelf, that I may not depart this moft miferable life without forgiveness. ŎLord, I have not only finned, but provoked thee griev ously; yet remember, &c. as in Pfalm lxxviii. 40. and the mercy |