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An exposition on the church-catechism, or, The practice of divine love composed for the Diocese of Bath & Wells.

About this Item

Title
An exposition on the church-catechism, or, The practice of divine love composed for the Diocese of Bath & Wells.
Author
Ken, Thomas, 1637-1711.
Publication
London :: Printed for Charles Brome and William Clarke,
1685.
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Subject terms
Church of England -- Catechisms.
Cite this Item
"An exposition on the church-catechism, or, The practice of divine love composed for the Diocese of Bath & Wells." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A47220.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 7, 2024.

Pages

Q. You said your Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for you, that you should keep God's Com∣mandments.

Tell me how many there be.

A. Ten.

Q. Which be they?

A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus, say∣ing, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the House of Bondage.

I. Thou shalt have none other Gods but me.

II. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image, nor the like∣ness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or in the Earth beneath, or in the water under the Earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Chil∣dren, unto the third and fourth Ge∣neration of them that hate me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me, and keep my Com∣mandments.

III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.

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IV. Remember that thou keep ho∣ly the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and doe all that thou hast to doe; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt doe no manner of work, thou and thy Son, and thy Daughter, thy Man-servant, and thy Maid-servant, thy Cattel and the stranger that is within thy Gates. For in six days the Lord made Hea∣ven and Earth, the Sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.

V. Honour thy Father and thy Mother, that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

VI. Thou shalt doe no Murther.

VII. Thou shalt not commit Adul∣tery.

VIII. Thou shalt not Steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false Wit∣ness against thy Neighbour.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's House, thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's Wife, nor his Servant, nor his Maid, nor his Ox, nor his Ass, nor any thing that is his.

Q. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments?

A. I learn two things: my duty towards God, and my duty towards my Neighbour.

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Q. What is thy duty towards God?

A. My duty towards God is,

I. II. To believe in him, to fear him, and to love him, with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my Soul, and with all my strength: to worship him, to give him thanks, to put my whole trust in him, to call upon him.

III. To honour his holy Name and his Word;

IV. And to serve him truly all the days of my life.

Q. What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour?

A. My duty towards my Neigh∣bour is,

To love him as my self, and to doe to all men as I would they should doe to me.

V. To love, honour, and succour my Father and Mother. To honour and obey the King, and all that are put in Authority under him. To sub∣mit my self to all my Governours, Teachers, spiritual Pastours and Masters, To order my self lowly and reverently to all my betters.

VI. To hurt no body by word or deed.

VII. To be true and just in all my dealings.

VIII. To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart.

IX. To keep my hands from pick∣ing and stealing.

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X. And my tongue from evil-speaking, lying and slandering.

XI. To keep my body in tempe∣rance, soberness and chastity.

XII. Not to covet and desire other mens goods, but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, and to doe my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me.

Q. You have shew'd me how the Creed presents to us the Motives; shew me next how the Ten Commandments contain the Fruits, or Effects of Divine love.

A. Jesus our Love, the great Prophet of Love, has given us this trial of our love, If ye love me, keep my Commandments q

Q. Are there not some general Rules, very use∣full to be observ'd, in expounding the Command∣ments?

A. Divine Love does suggest to us the best Rules, and is the best Expositour to teach us the full importance of every Command.

Q. Shew me how.

A. The Love of God does necessarily include these two things, a tenderness to please, and a fearfulness to offend our Beloved, and this Love will be a sure guide to us, in both the affirmative, and the negative part of each Command.

Q. Express this more distinctly.

A. I shall doe it in these following Particulars.

  • 1. O my God, when in any of thy Commands a duty is enjoin'd, Love tells me the contrary evil is forbidden; when any evil is forbidden, Love tells me the contrary duty is enjoin'd r; O do thou daily increase my love to good, and my antipathy to evil.
  • 2. Though thy Commands and Prohibitions, O Lord, are in general terms, yet let thy love direct my particular practice, and teach me, that in one general are imply'd all the kinds, and degrees, and occasions, and incitements, and approaches, and allowances relating to that good or evil, which

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  • are also commanded s or forbidden, and give me grace to pursue, or to fly them.
  • 3. O my God, keep my love always watchfull, and on its guard, that in thy negative Precepts I may continually resist evil; keep my love warm with an habitual zeal, that in all thy affirmative Precepts I may lay hold on all seasons and oppor∣tunities of doing good.
  • 4. Let thy love, O thou that onely art worthy to be belov'd, make me carefull to persuade, and engage others to love thee, and to keep thy Com∣mands, as well as my self t.

  • 5. None can love thee, O Lord, and endeavour to keep thy holy Commands, but his daily failings in his duty, his frequent involuntary and unavoi∣dable slips and surreptions, and wandrings afflict and humble him v, the infirmities of lapst nature create him a kind of perpetual martyrdom, because he can love thee no more, because he can so little serve thee.

    But thou, O most compassionate Father, in thy Covenant of Grace dost require sincerity x, not perfection; and therefore I praise and love thee.

    O my God, though I cannot love and obey thee as much as I desire, I will doe it as much as I am able, I will to the utmost of my power keep all thy Commandments, with my whole heart, and to the end y; O accept of my imperfect duty, and sup∣ply all the defects of it by the merits, and love, and obedience of Jesus thy Beloved.

  • 6. Glory be to thee, O thou supreme Law-giver, for delivering these Commands to sinfull men; they are the words which thou thy self, O great Iehovah didst speak, O let me ever have an awfull regard for every word thou hast spoken; O let me ever love thee for speaking them, and for giving us the Laws of Love.

  • 7. Glory be to thee, O Lord God, who to make every one of us sensible of our obligation, hast gi∣ven all thy Commands in the second Person, and by saying Thou, hast spoken in particular to every Soul, that every Soul might love and obey thee.

    Glory be to thee, O my God, who in this short abstract, in these Ten Commandments hast com∣pris'd the full extent of our Duty, all the effects of Divine Love.

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  • Teach me, O Lord, to examine my Love by thy Commands, that I may know how to please thee, that I may know wherein I have offended thee, and grieve for my offences, that I may bewail all my commissions of sin, all my omissions of duty.

    Teach me, O Lord, by this thy Law, which is the rule of Love, and of all my Actions, to exa∣mine not onely my several sins, but also all their several aggravations, whether they have been wil∣full, or known, or frequent, or obstinate, or ha∣bitual, or ensnaring to others, that Love may shed the more tears, and in some measure proportion my contrition to my guilt.

  • 8. Glory be to thee, O Lord God, who givest us Christians higher obligations to keep thy Com∣mands than thou didst to the Jews, they had onely the memory of their temporal deliverance out of the Land of Egypt, and the House of Bondage set before them, we are deliver'd out of spiritual E∣gypt, from the bondage of Sin, the power of Satan, and the torments of Hell; O give us grace to ex∣ceed them as much in our love, and thanksgiving, and obedience, as we do in our blessings.
  • 9. Glory be to thee, O great Iehovah, who to constrain us to love and obey thee, art pleas'd to ho∣nour every faithfull Soul with a near and intimate propriety in thy self, and gratiously to declare, I am the Lord thy God.

O mercifull Lord, what is it possible for me to desire more than to have thee for my God z? If thou be my God, the relation ought to be mutual, and I must be thy Servant; Lord be thou mine, and I will be for ever thine.

My Beloved is mine, and I am his.

My God, my Father, my Friend, my Love, whatever is thine I will love, and particularly thy Law will I love for teaching me to love thee, thy Law I will highly esteem, and diligently read and study, thy Law shall be daily my delight, my consel∣lour, and my meditation .

O my good God keep me always thine, and let nothing ever divorce me from thy love.

Q. You have laid down proper rules for in∣terpreting the Commandments, shew me now how they are divided.

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A. Into two sorts, or Tables, suitable to the two respects they have to God, and to our Neighbour.

Q. Begin with the first Table, and shew me the number and order of the Commands which it con∣tains.

A. It contains the four first Commands which relate to God, and teach us the Worship of God, even that reverential Love we are to pay to God, which naturally arises from a true sense of his infi∣nite both goodness and greatness.

This Worship of God is either inward or out∣ward.

The inward Worship, being that of the Heart, is the nobler of the two, and this, together with the right object of our worship, is taught in the First Commandment, as the foundation of all the rest.

The outward is compris'd in the three following, which teach us the regulation of God's Worship in reference to our Gestures in the Second, to our Tongues in the Third, to our Time in the Fourth.

Q. Which are the duties of the Second Table?

A. They are the six remaining Commands, which do all relate to our Neighbour, of which I shall speak in their due place.

Q. What have you farther to observe of the Commandments in general?

A. 'Tis observable that those which refer to God are put first, to teach us that the love of God is the chief and original Command, and ought chiefly to be studied, and to teach us also, that all the duties of the Second Table must yield to the First, when∣ever they stand in any competition b.

Q. Go over all the Ten Commandments in par∣ticular, and shew me how they are all the genuine fruits and effects of Divine Love, exercis'd either in doing good, or eschewing evil.

A. I shall gladly doe it, and as distinctly as pos∣sibly I can, taking every Commandment apart.

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The First Commandment.

O thou who onely art Iehovah, if thou be my God, and if I truly love thee, I can never suffer any creature to be thy Rival, or to share my heart with thee; I can have no other God, no other Love but onely thee c.

O infinite Goodness, thou onely art amiable, whatever is amiable besides thee, is no farther ami∣able, than it bears some impressions on it of thy amiableness; and therefore all Love, all Glory be to thee alone.

O my God, O my Love, instill into my Soul so entire reverential a Love of thee d, that I may love nothing but for thy sake, or in subordination to thy Love.

O Love, give me grace to study thy Knowledge e, that the more I know thee, the more I may love thee.

O my God, O my Love, do thou create in me a stedfast Faith f in the veracity, a lively Hope g in the Promises, a firm trust h in the Power, a confi∣dent reliance i on the Goodness, and a satisfactory acquiescence k in the All-sufficiency of thee my Be∣loved.

O my God, O my Love, do thou create in me an ardent desire of the presence l an heavenly de∣light in the fruition m of thee my Beloved.

O my God, O my Love, fill my heart with Thanksgiving n for the Blessings, Praise o of the Excellence, Adoration of the Majesty p, Zeal q for the Glory of thee my Beloved.

O my God, O my Love, fill my heart with a true Repentance r for offending, with a constant fear s of provoking thee my Beloved.

O my God, O my Love, fill my heart with an affective Devotion t in Prayer, and with a profound Humility v, in ascribing all Honour to thee my Be∣loved.

O my God, O my Love, create in me a sincere Obedience w to all the commands, a submissive Patience x under all the chastisements, an absolute Resignation y to all the disposals of thee my Be∣loved.

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O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull Love abound z in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy name, that in all these, and in all other possible instances of thy Love, our Souls may be continually employed to praise and to love thee.

O my God, O my Love, let me ever be seeking occasions to excite all I can a to adore and love thee.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as odious and offensive to thee, as di∣rectly opposite to thy Love, and to thy Glory,

All self-love b, and inordinate love of things below c.

All wilfull and affected ignorance d.

All Atheism e, or having no God, and Polythe∣ism f, or having more Gods than one.

All Heresie g, Apostasie h, and Infidelity i.

All presumption k and despair l, distrust m and carnal security n.

All voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels o; Reliance on the creature p, or recourse to evil spirits q.

All unthankfulness r and irreligion s, lukewarm∣ness t and indifference v.

All impenitence w and disregard of divine wrath x.

All indevotion y and pride z, disobedience a, impatience and murmuring b.

All the least tendencies c to any of these Impie∣ties.

From all these and the like hatefull violations of thy love, and from that vengeance they justly de∣serve; O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and deliver all faithfull people.

O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that thy love may so prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all these abominati∣ons, and may never more provoke thee.

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The Second Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I know the true Love of thee is incommunicable to any but thee; and therefore I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as o∣dious and offensive to thee, as directly opposite to thy love, and to thy glory,

All making of Idols or false Gods, or of graven Images, with intent of worshipping and bow∣ing down before them a.

All representations and picturing of thee, O my God, by visible likenesses of things in Heaven or in Earth.

All corporeal shapes, which are infinitely unsu∣table to thy invisible and spiritual nature, and de∣rogatory from thy adorableness b.

All Idolatry c and Religious invocation of Crea∣tures d.

All sacrilege e and prophanations of thy House, and of things sacred f.

All abuse or disesteem, or carelesness of thy Word g, and contempt of thy Ministers h.

All superstitious or unlawfull rites i, superfluities or mutilations k, irreverence or indecencies l in thy publick worship, by which thou art any way dishonoured.

All resting in mere outward observances m, or refusing to give thee bodily worship, and to fall down before thee n.

All the least tendencies to any of these impie∣ties.

From all these and the like violations of thy incommunicable Love, and from that vengeance they justly deserve; O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and deliver all faithfull people, &c. as p. 39.

O my God, O my Love, imprint on my soul an Awfull Love of thy Majesty o, that I may worship thee in spirit and in truth p, and in a manner wor∣thy of thee.

O my God, O my Love, make me so tender of the Honour of thee my Beloved, that I may shew a due regard to all the parts of thy worship.

That with lowest humiliation of soul and body q, whenever I appear in the presence of infinite-Love, I may fall down and adore thee.

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O my God, O my Love, O may I always enter thy house, the habitation of unbounded Love, with recollected thoughts, compos'd behaviour, becom∣ing reverence, and sincere intentions of Love r.

O my God, O my Love, O may I ever frequent the publick Prayers, and approach thine Altar with fervent and heavenly affections, with holy impati∣ence for the blessings of thy Love s.

O my God, O my Love, O may I always reade and hear thy Word, the heavenly register of thy Love, with a serious attention, an inflamable heart, and a particular application, and ever learn from it some lesson of thy Love t.

O my God, O my Love, for thy dearest sake, give me grace to pay a religious veneration y to all sa∣cred persons, or places w, or things x, which are thine by solemn dedication, and separated for the uses of Divine Love, and the communications of thy grace, or which may promote the decency and order of thy worship, or the edification of faithfull people y.

O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name, that in all these, and in all other possible instances of thy love, our souls may be continually employed to praise and to love thee, &c. as p. 39.

Thou, O my God, O my Love, art a jealous God, jealous of thy own Honour z, and of the chastness of my Love; O let me never run after o∣ther Loves, or commit spiritual Adultery against thee, to provoke thee to anger.

Thou, O my God, O my Love, dost visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the children; Thou when thy jealousie burns like fire a against Ido∣laters, and those that rob thee of thy worship, art wont to punish them in their very posterity, with temporal evils, and with spiritual too, when their children tread in their steps; for then thou makest their Father's sins occasions of hastning, or of in∣creasing thy judgments, though thou always sparest the children that repent b; O let thy just indigna∣tion against violating thy Worship, deter me, and all that profess thy Name, from such violations.

Thy jealousie, O my God, O my Love, falls heavy upon them that hate thee; but how is it possi∣ble

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for any one to hate thee, who art infinite love? and yet, alas! all that are enemies to thy Divine Worship; all that exalt any lust, any creature into thy Throne, to ascribe their happiness, to sacrifice their esteem, and zeal, and affections, and to offer up Sovereign Honours to it; what do they doe but love false Gods, and hate thee, and are there∣fore hated by thee c.

O Lord God, to hate thee is the proper charac∣ter of Devils, and Lucifer himself cannot sin be∣yond that utmost extremity of evil, the hatred of thee; and my heart is full of horrour and grief, to think, that ever those that bear thy Image, and daily subsist by thy love, should turn themselves into Devils, and this World into a Hell, by hating thee d: O boundless Love, turn them, O turn them into men again, and then they cannot chuse but love thee.

Glory be to thee, O my God, who shewest mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy Commandments: Love and Obedience always go together, and entail a blessing on the posterity of thy Lovers e; O keep me always one of that happy number; O let me ever love and obey thee.

Glory be to thee, O Lord God, whose Love is more diffusive than thy Anger; they vengeance ex∣tends but to the third, or, at most, the fourth ge∣neration, thy mercy unto thousands; and the more diffused thy Love is, the more powerfully it moves us, to praise and to love thee.

The Third Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, thy Name is thy own glorious and amiable self a, thy Divine Nature, and Perfections, and Works, most worthy to be ador'd, most worthy to be lov'd b, and therefore I will al∣ways adore and love thy Name.

O my God, O my Love, may I ever have awfull thoughts of thee c, may I never mention thy vene∣rable Name, unless on solemn, and just, and devout occasions; may I never mention it on those occa∣sions without acts of love and adoration d.

O my God, O my Love, to love, and to glorify thy Name is the great end of our Creation, which is still more enforced by our Redemption; O

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let it be the greatest busine•••• of my whole life to love, and to glorifie it all the possible ways I can, by my mouth e, by my conversation f, by my pub∣lick confession of thee before men, even to death g, whenever thou art pleas'd to call me to it, by enga∣ging all I can to glorify and love thee; O happy life, O blessed death, which is spent, and expires in glorifying, in loving thee!

O my God, O my Love, my heart shall ever be jealous of thy Name h, I can have no true love, no real concern for thee if I do not, to the utmost of my power, assert and vindicate the Name of my Be∣loved whenever I hear it dishonour'd.

O my God, O my Love, fix in my Soul an habitual pure intention of thy glory in all my actions, that whether I eat or drink, or whatever I doe, I may doe all to the glory i of my Beloved.

Oaths.

O my God, O my Love, fill me with a religious awe of Oaths, in which the honour of thy beloved Name is so highly concern'd.

I know, O great Iehovah, that in an Oath I so∣lemnly invoke thee, as a Witness to attest the truth of what I swear k, as a Judge to punish me if I swear falsly.

Far be it from me, O Lord God, ever to swear, and in swearing, to invoke thee, unless upon in∣ducements lawfull and important, when thy Glory l, the Command of my Superiours, the visible good of my Neighbour, the ending of strife m, or my own Innocence obliges me to it.

O Lord God, whenever I am duly call'd to an Assertory Oath, grant I may swear in truth, in righte∣ousness, and in judgment n.

Whatever lawf•••••• Promissory Oaths I ••••ke, Lord give me grace 〈◊〉〈◊〉 iously to perform them, though to my own hin••••ance o.

Uows.

The glory of thy most beloved Name, O great Iehovah, next to the truth of our Oaths we invoke thee to attest, is c••••cern'd in the sincerity of those Vows we o••••er thee ••o accept p; O do thou there∣fore create in me a serious sense of the religiousness

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of Vows, that my Vows may not dishonour thee.

O my God, O my Love, whenever I voluntarily vow a Vow to thee, give me grace to vow with all the due caution I can, that I may vow those things onely which are lawfull and acceptable to thee q, and which thou hast put in my power r, that I may vow with deliberation and ghostly advice, and on weighty and considerable occasions onely, and with a design of glory s, and thankfulness, and love to thee.

O my God, O my Love, give me grace faithfully to perform all the Vows I make to thee t, especially my Baptismal Vow, and all my repeated Vows of amendment, in which I have so often vow'd, to glorify and love thy Name.

O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy name, that in all these, and in all other possible instances of thy Love, our Souls may be continually employed to praise, and to love thee.

O my God, O my Love, who is there that knows thy great, thy beloved Name, can ever in the least dishonour it v?

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as odious and offensive to thee, as di∣rectly opposite to thy love, and to thy glory,

All taking of th•• Name in vain.

All use of it on trivial occasions, and without holy awe x.

All abuse of it in impious Jests, in Charms, or Curses, or Imprecations, or telling Fortunes, or exploratory Lots y; all irreverent thoughts of thy Name z, profaneness and blasphemy a.

All denying thee by my works b, or refusing pub∣lickly to confess thee, when call'd to it c, or tamely enduring to hear thee dishonour'd d.

All heathenish, or customary, or rash Oaths, or swearing in ordinary communication, or by any Creature e.

All breaking of lawfull Oaths, Perjury, false-swearing, and invoking thee, O God of truth, to attest a lye, sins most destructive to publick Faith and Society, and to our own Souls, and most dis∣honourable and hatefull to thee f.

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All hasty, or unlawfull, or superstitious, or im∣possible Vows g, all breaking those that are regu∣larly made h.

All the least tendencies to any of these impieties.

From all these, and the like hatefull violations of thy Love, and from that vengeance they justly de∣serve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me, and de∣liver all faithfull People.

O great Iehovah, thou art jealous for thy glorious and beloved Name, and without a particular and serious repentance thou wilt not hold him guilt∣less, that taketh it in vain; thou wilt pour on him the vials of thy wrath, thy wrath eternal i, and yet thy ever blessed Name, is, alas! alas! daily, hour∣ly blasphemed k.

O Apostate, Infamous World, wherein Infinite Goodness is so oft blasphem'd; were not thy Name Love l, O Lord, as well as Iehovah, thou hadst long agoe aveng'd thy self of the blasphemous World, with a vengeance worthy of God.

Glory be to thee, O Long-suffering Love for thy forbearance, efficacious of its self to convert the whole World, did the World but seriously consi∣der it.

O Almighty Love, thou canst as easily diffuse thy Love over the World, as thou didst at first diffuse Light; O let thy Fear, and thy Love so universally affect the Age, that thy great and beloved Name may be universally ador'd and lov'd!

The Fourth Commandment.

Glory be to thee, O my God, O my Love, who in compassion to humane weakness, which is not capable of an uninterrupted contemplation of thee, such as the Saints have above, hast appointed a so∣lemn day on purpose for thy remembrance.

Glory be to thee, O my God, my Love, for propor∣tioning a seventh part of our time to thy self, and liberally indulging the remainder to our own use.

O my God, O my Love, let me ever esteem it my privilege, and my happiness to have a day of rest set apart for thy service m, and the concerns of my own Soul, to have a day free from distractions, dis∣engaged from the World, wherein I have nothing to doe, but to praise, and to love thee.

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Lord, grant that I may not onely on thy day give thee due worship my self, but may give rest and lei∣sure also to my Family, to all under my charge, to serve thee also n, to indulge ease to my very Beasts, since good men are mercifull even to them o.

Glory be to thee, O blessed Spirit, who on the first day of the week didst descend in miraculous gifts and graces on the Apostles p; O descend upon me, that I may be always in the spirit on the Lord's day.

O my God, O my Love, give me grace on thy day to worship thee in my Closet, and in the Con∣gregation, to spend it in doing good q, in works of necessity, devotion and charity, in prayer, and praise, and meditation; O let it ever be to me a day sacred to Divine Love, a day of heavenly rest and refreshment.

Thou, O my God, O my Love, didst ordain the Jewdaical Sabbath as a shadow of the true Gospel-sabbath r; O may I every day keep an Evangelical Sabbath, and rest from my sins, which are my own works, while I live here, and may I celebrate an eternal Sabbath with thee s in Heaven hereafter.

O my God, O my Love, for the like purposes of Piety, and of thy Glory, give me grace to sanctify the Feasts and Fasts of thy Church t, as in the num∣ber of those happy days set apart for the remem∣brance of thy love.

Glory be to thee, O Lord God, who didst com∣mand the Sabbath or seventh day to be kept holy, and strictly observed by the Jews as thy Sab∣bath, in memory of the Creation v; of thy ma∣king Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is, and of thy resting the seventh day; of thy blessing the seventh day, and hal∣lowing it.

We Christians, O Lord God, following the mo∣ral equity of thy Command, and authorised by Apo∣stolical Practice x, celebrate the Lord's day y, the first day of the week, in memory of our Redemption, in memory of thy Resurrection from the dead, O most beloved Jesu, when thou didst rest from the labours and sorrows of the New Creation z, O may I ever remember thy day, and thee.

Glory be to thee, O my God, my Love, who hast under the Gospel delivered us from the Rigours, but not from the Piety of the Jewish Sabbath.

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Lord, since the blessing of everlasting Salvation, which we Christians on thy day commemorate, does wonderfully exceed the Creation commemorated by the Jews; O let our love, and praise, and devotion, and zeal, proportionably exceed theirs also a.

O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull Love abound b in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name, that in all these, and all other possible instances of thy love, our Souls may be continually employ'd to praise, and to love thee.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce and de∣test, &c. as p. 39.

All profanations of thy hallow'd Day, and of all other holy Times c dedicated to thy praise, and thy love.

All Jewdaizing Severities d, all Worldly-minded∣ness, and unnecessary business e, or not allowing those under my care liberty and leisure for thy ser∣vice f on thy day.

All unmercifulness to my very Beasts g.

All indevotion, or forgetfulness of thee h.

All the least tendencies—

From all these and the like, &c. as p. 39.

Next to thy glorious self, O my God, O my Love, and for the sake of thy supreme, independent Love, thou hast commanded me to love my Neighbour, allied to me by nature, or by grace, all Strangers and Enemies as well as Friends i. To honour all men, as being made after thy likeness, and the grea∣ter likeness they retain to thee, to honour them the more k; Glory be to thee.

Thou, O my God, O my Love, hast commanded me to love my Neighbour as my self, O for the sake of thy love, give me love to relieve and assist him in all instances wherein he may need my help, as freely, as fully, as affectionately as I my self would desire to be treated, were I in his condition l.

O my God, O my Love, for the sake of thy dearest Love, give me grace to love my Neigh∣bour, not in word, and in tongue onely, but in deed, and in truth m; to wish well to all men, and to con∣tribute my hearty prayers and endeavours, and to give them for thy sake all lawfull, and reasonable, and necessary succours n.

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Glory be to thee, O my God, O my Love, who by commanding me to love my Neighbour as my self, dost imply the regular love of my self o; that I should doe all I can to preserve my self free and vigorous to glorify thee in my station: 'Tis for thy sake onely I can love my self, and he does not wish or endeavour his own happiness, he really hates himself, that does not love thee.

Thou Lord by enjoining me to love my Neigh∣bour as my self, hast intimated my duty of loving those best, which either in bloud are nearest my natural self, or in grace nearest my Christian self; O let thy love teach me to observe the true order of Charity in loving others.

O thou eternal source of Goodness, give me grace to imitate that boundless Goodness, let thy love work in me an universal propension to love, and to doe good to all men, to be mercifull to others, as thou Lord art mercifull p.

Q. Shew me how the love of your Neighbour is in the Second Table divided.

A. The love of my Neighbour, which is the ful∣filling of the Law, of all the Commands of the Se∣cond Table is divided according to those different conditions of our Neighbour, wherein we most ex∣ercise our love or hatred to him.

Q. In how many ruling Instances may we exer∣cise that love or hatred?

A. Either in outward acts, or inward disposition.

Q. How in outward acts?

A. Five several ways, in respect of his superio∣rity, in the Fifth Commandment.

His Safety in the Sixth.

His Bed in the Seventh.

His Propriety in the Eighth; or,

His good Name in the Ninth.

Q. How in our inward disposition?

A. By regulating our very Desires in relation to him, as the Tenth obliges us to doe?

Q. Let me hear how Divine Love moves in each of these Commands.

A. It moves in such acts as follow.

The Fifth Commandment.

Let thy reverential Love, O my God, teach and incline me, to shew respectfull Love to all my su∣periours,

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in my inward esteem, in my outward speech and behaviour a.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, who hast compre∣hended all that are above me, under the tender and venerable Names of Father and Mother, that I looking on them as Resemblances and Instruments of thy Sovereign Power and Paternal Providence to me, may be the more effectually engaged for thy sake to reverence and love them.

O my God, give me grace to imitate thy Pater∣nal Goodness, and for the sake of thy Love; to love and cherish, and provide for; to educate and in∣struct, and pray for my Children b; to take con∣scientious care to give them medicinal correction and good example, and to make them thy chil∣dren, that they may truly love thee.

O my God, give me grace for the sake of thy love, to Honour my Father and Mother, to render them all love, and reverence, and thankfulness▪ and all that regard which is due from a Child c, that I may pay obedience to their commands, submission to their corrections, attention to their instructions, and succour to their necessities d, and may daily pray for their welfare.

Thou, O Lord, hast set our most Gratious King over us e, as our Political Parent, as thy Supreme Minister, to govern and protect us, and to be a terrour to those that doe ill: O grant Him a long and happy Reign, that we may all live a peaceable and quiet life under Him, in all godliness and honesty f. Defend Him from all His Enemies; let Him be ever beloved by thee, and let Him ever love thee, and ever promote thy love.

Multiply, O Lord God, the blessings of thy love on our most Gratious Queen Mary, Catharine the Queen Dowager, their Royal Highnesses Mary Prin∣cess of Orange, and the Princess Anne of Denmark, and on all the Royal Family: Give them grace to exceed others, as much in Goodness as in Great∣ness, and make them signal instruments of thy Glo∣ry, and examples of thy Love.

O my God, give grace to me and all my fellow-subjects, next to thy own infinite self, to love and honour, to fear and obey our Sovereign Lord the King, thy own Vicegerent, for Conscience sake g, and for thy own sake, who hast placed Him over us;

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O may we ever faithfully render Him his due tri∣bute; O may we ever pray for His prosperity, sa∣crifice our fortunes and our lives in His defence, and be always ready rather to suffer than resist.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, who hast ordained Pastours, and hast given them the Power of the Keys; to be our Ecclesiastical Parents; to watch over our Souls; to instruct us in saving Know∣ledge h; to guide us by their Examples; to pray for, and to bless us; to administer spiritual disci∣pline in thy Church, and to manage all the conveyan∣ces of thy Divine Love.

O my God, for thy Love's sake, let me ever ho∣nour and love the Ministers of thy Love, the Am∣bassadours thou dost send in thy stead, to beseech us sinners to be reconciled to thee i, to offer thy Enemies conditions of Love, of love eternal; O may I ever hear them attentively, practise their heavenly doc∣trine, imitate their holy examples, pay them their dues, and revere their censures k.

O my God, for the sake of thy love, grant I may ever love, and provide for my Servants [ser∣vant,] and may treat them like Brethren; let me never exact from them immoderate work; O may I always give them just wages, and equitable com∣mands, and good example, and mercifull correcti∣on: Grant, Lord, I may daily allow them time for their prayers, indulge them due refreshments, and may take care of their souls, and persuade them to love thee; remembring, that I also have a Ma∣ster in Heaven l.

Give me grace, O my God, for the sake of thy Love, to honour, and love, and obey my Master [and Mistress] and to serve him [her] with dili∣gence and faithfulness, and readiness to please m, and to pray for him [her] them; and whatever I doe, to doe heartily as to thee, O Lord, and not to him, [her] them▪]

O my God, let thy love incline me to love, and to honour all whom thou hast any way made my superiours, sutably to their quality, n or age, or gifts, or learning, or wisedom, or gravity, or goodness.

O my God, grant that for thy sake, I may ever love and honour all that are, or have been, instru∣ments of thy love to me, in doing me good; O

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may I reverence my teachers o, be gratefull to my benefactours, and may I have always a peculiar re∣spect to my particular Pastour.

O my God, let thy love engage me to love those whom thou hast obliged to love me; to shew con∣stancy, and fidelity, and sympathy, and love, and communicativeness to my Friend; to be affectionate to my Brethren and Sisters; to be kind and affable to my Equals; condescending to my Inferiours; to be all the possible ways I can, universally help∣full and obliging, and loving to all p

O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull Love abound in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name, that in all these, and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be continually employed to love thee, and for thy sake to love our Neighbour, and to excite our Neigh∣bour to love thee.

The several Forms which contain the Duties of Pa∣rent and Child, of Master and Servant, &c. are to be used by every one, according as may sute with his Circumstances, or as he stands in any of those Relations.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and derest, and bewa••l, as odious and offensive to thee, as di∣rectly opposite to thy love, and the love of my neighbour, for thy sake,

All dishonour to our Superiours, in either de∣spising them, speaking evil of them, or in irreve∣rent behaviour.

All unnaturalness to Children.

All undutifulness, or stubbornness, or disobedi∣ence, or disrespect to Parents q.

All rebelling, or reviling, or murmuring against the King, or against his Ministers r.

All defrauding, undervaluing or rejecting law∣full Pastours .

All Schism †, and contempt of their regular cen∣sures.

All falseness or negligence, or refractariness to Masters or Mistresses s.

All rudeness, ingratitude, treachery, want of brotherly love and unfaithfulness.

All the least tendencies to any of these impie∣ties.

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From all these and the like hatefull violatious of thy love, and of the love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me and all faithfull people.

O my God, O my Love, I earnestly pray, that thy love, and the love of our neighbour may so prevail over our hearts, that we may sadly lament and abhor all these abominations, and may never more provoke thee.

Glory be to thee, O Lord, who to teach us the importance of this duty of subjection, hast placed it the first of all the second Table, of all that re∣late to our neighbour, and hast made it the first Commandment with a promise t to every soul that conscientiously keeps it, that thy days shall be ••••ng in the ••and which the Lord thy God gi∣veth thee.

Who would not love and obey thee, O my God, and for thy sake his Superiours, when thou hast promised to reward our Duty with a long happy life here, or if thou seest it best for us, and to take us away from the evil to come v by living a long tract of Holiness in a little time, and at last by prolonging our bliss to all eternity in Heaven; for which gratious promise, all love, all glory be to thee.

The Sixth Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, and detest, and bewail, as odious and offensive to thee, as di∣rectly opposite to thy love, and to the love of my neighbour▪ for thy sake,

All duels and unlawfull War a.

All doing hurt to the body and life of my neigh∣bour, directly by wounding or murthering him b.

Indirectly by contriving or employing others to harm him c.

All the ways of procuring Abortion .

All malice and envy, hatred d and revenge, con∣tention and cruelty.

All injury and violence, all rash, causeless, im∣moderate or implacable anger e, or contumelious speaking and reviling f.

All wilfull vexing, grieving or disquieting him.

All threatning, ill-wishes or curses g.

All needless endangering our selves, and self-murther h.

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All murthering of Souls i, by encouraging, en∣suaring, tempting, commanding them to sin.

All the least tendencies to any of these impieties.

From all these and the like, &c.

O my God, O my Love, let thy unwearied and tender love to me, make my love unwearied and tender to my neighbour, and zealous to procure, promote, and preserve his health, and safety, and happiness, and life, that he may be the better able to serve and to love thee.

O my God, O my Love, make me like thy own self, all meekness and benignity k, all goodness and sweetness, all gentleness and long-suffering.

Fill me full of good wishes and compassion, of liberality in Alms-giving according to my abilities l, and of readiness to succour, and relieve, and com∣fort, and rescue, and pray for all, whom thy love or their own necessities, or miseries, or dangers, re∣commend to my charity m.

O let thy love, thou God of Love, make me peacefull and reconcilable, always ready to return good for evil, to repay injuries with kindness n, and easie to forgive, unless in those instances, where the impunity of the criminal would be injustice or cru∣elty to the publick.

O thou lover of Souls, let thy love raise in me a compassionate zeal to save the life, the eternal life of Souls o, and by fraternal, and affectionate, and seasonable advice, or exhortation, or correptions, to reclaim the wicked, and to win them to love thee.

O my God, O my Love, let thy All-powerfull love, &c. as p. 51.

The Seventh Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, &c. as p. 52.

All adultery and violations of my neighbour's bed, in the gross act, robbing him of that he loves best.

All adultery and unchastity of the eye or the hand a.

All the kinds and degrees of lust, fornication, pol∣lution of our own bodies, and works of darkness, which it is a shame to mention b.

All things that provoke, or feed lust, impure company, discourse, songs, books or pictures c.

All lascivious dresses d, or dances, or plays; all idleness or luxurious diet e.

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All the excesses or abuses of lawfull Marriage, all unreasonable jealousies, and all things that lessen the mutual kindness, or alienate the affections of those that are married f.

All the least tendencies to any of these impurities.

From all these, &c. as p. 52.

O my God, my Love, let thy purest love, who art Purity it self, create in me a perfect abhor∣rence of all impurity, that I may purifie my self as thou Lord art pure g.

I know, O Lord, that I can never be partaker of the Divine Nature, unless I escape the pollution that is in the world through lust h, O do thou therefore cleanse me from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, that I may perfect holiness in thy fear i: Give me grace to possess my vessel in sanctification and honour k and to keep thy Temple holy, that thy Spirit of Love may always there inhabit.

O my God, let my love be chast to thee, chast to my self, chast to my neighbour.

O my God, may thy Love set a strict guard on my Senses; turn away mine eyes l, stop mine ears, bridle my tongue, and restrain my hand from all uncleanness.

Lord, give me grace to fly m all incitements, or opportunities, or instruments of defiling, either my neighbour or my self, To beat down my body, and to bring it into subjection n.

O my Love, let me live ever watching or pray∣ing, or profitably employ'd or busied in thy love, that I may leave no room if possible for any un∣clean Spirit to enter into my Soul and tempt me.

O my God, O my Love, let thy all-powerfull love abound in my heart and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name, that in all these and in all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be conti∣nually employ'd to love thee, and for thy sake to love our neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love thee.

O thou God of Love, who hast ordain'd the mar∣riage state for the cure of our passion o, and the comfort of our life p, and hast made it the em∣bleme of that Divine Love and Union thou art pleas'd to bear towards thy Church q: Let the force of thy mystical love teach us to love each other, and both of us to love thee.

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O thou who hast made us one flesh, make us but one Soul also; let our love be mutual, constant and inviolate r, full of compliance, and condescensions, and Sympathy, and forbearance towards each other.

Fill us, O God of Love, with reciprocal care and zeal, and charity for each others happiness tempo∣ral and eternal, and with a delight in each other exclusive of all loves but thine.

Lord give us grace to keep our marriage always honourable, and our bed undefiled s; let the affectio∣nate authority of the one, and the submissive sweet∣ness of the other, produce an entire friendship and harmony of dispositions, and fervent intercessions for each other; Give us, O Lord, an unafflicting foresight of our parting here, and a passionate lon∣ging to be beatified near each other, in neighbou∣ring mansions above, that from thenceforth our love to each other and to thee may be coeternal with thine.

The Eighth Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, as p. 52.

All kinds of stealing, by open Robbery, Vio∣lence, or Invasion t.

All Oppression, or Extortion, or Rapine v, vex∣atious Law-suits, or griping Usury.

All fraud in Trade and Contracts, false Weights, and Measures, and Coin x.

All concealing the defects of our own Goods, or depretiating those of our neighbour y.

All making haste to be rich, or taking advan∣tage of the ignorance or necessity of the persons we deal with.

All withholding our neighbours dues, or detai∣ning the hire of the Labourer z.

All borrowing and not paying, injurious keeping the goods of others a, and refusing to make resti∣tution b

All b••each of Trust, or removing Land-marks c, wastfull prodigality, avaritious gaming, or idle begging.

All outrages to the Fatherless, the Widow and the Stranger d.

All the least tendencies to any of the these acts of in∣justice.

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From all these and the like hatefull violations of thy Love, and of the Love of my neighbour, and from the vengeance they justly deserve, O my God, O my Love, deliver me and all faithfull people.

O my God, O my Love, let the love of thy eter∣nal and amiable justice, teach me a steddy justice in giving all men their due, since I cannot love my neighbour if I am unjust to him.

Lord give me grace to use my neighbour as my friend, as my self, to buy and sell by just Weights and Measures, and to be content with moderate gain. e.

To pay debts and wages, and conscientiously to make restitution for injuries or wrongs, or for goods unlawfully gotten f.

Teach me, O my God, to use this world so as not to abuse it g; to receive and manage all thy temporal blessings with thankfulness to thee, sobri∣ety to my self, and charity to all besides h.

Make me ever, O my God, upright and faithfull in Trusts, and Trade, and Agreements, diligent and honest in my station and Calling i, and accor∣ding to my ability willing to lend, and remit to my poor neighbours k.

Whenever, O my God, I am forc'd to go to Law, O let me ever contend more for right than victory, and in all prosecutions preserve a charitable and an equitable disposition l.

O my God, O my Love, let thy all-powerfull love abound in my heart, and in the hearts of all that profess thy Name, that in all these and all other possible instances of duty, our lives may be continually employ'd to love thee, and for thy sake to love our neighbour, and to excite our neighbour to love thee.

The Ninth Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, as p. 52.

All manner of bearing false Witness against my Neighbour, All false accusations, or glosses, or pleadings, or testimonies, or sentences in Courts of Judicature m, by concealing or overspeaking, or perverting right and truth.

All things prejudicial or destructive to my neigh∣bours good name.

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All censoriousness n and slander, detraction and calumny, forc'd consequences, or invidious reflexi∣ons.

All scoffing, or exposing the infirmities of o∣thers.

All whispering o and tale-bearing, or raising of evil reports, suspicions or jealousies, and all evil-speaking.

All equivocations and dissembling, flattery and lying p.

All the least tendencies to any of these injurious falshoods.

From all these and the like hatefull violations of thy love, and of the love, &c. as page 52.

O my God, O my Love, who dost love truth, and dost hate a lie, as perfectly Diabolical, instill into my Soul an unalterable love of truth, that no∣thing may tempt me to deviate from an intire ve∣racity q in my whole conversation, or become a liar, which thy Soul abhors.

O Lord give me grace ever to speak the truth, and let my heart and my tongue always go toge∣ther.

O my God, give me grace to be tender of my neighbour's good name r, since I cannot love him if I take that from him which I know to be most dear to him.

Grant, O my God, for the sake of thy own love, that I may be always ready to vindicate my neigh∣bour's good name on all occasions, that I may judge the best s, and speak well of him, and conceal or excuse his infirmities, that I may be impatient to hear, slow to believe, and unwilling to propagate evil reports; that I may put candid interpretations on his actions, since the more he is defamed the less able he is to serve thee, the less credit he has to perswade others to love thee.

O my God, O my love, let thy, &c. as page 51.

The Tenth Commandment.

O my God, O my Love, I renounce, as p. 51.

All the inordinate desire of what is my neigh∣bour's, All coveting his House, or Wife t, or Servant, or Maid, or Ox, or Ass, or any thing that is his.

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All discontentedness with my worldly condition, and worldly solicitude v.

All covetousness, or repining at the happiness of others x.

All taking pleasure in sin, or complacence in past impurities y.

All the first motions, all the least tendencies to concupiscence z.

From all these and the like hatefull, &c. as p. 52.

O my God, O my Love, thou art the great sear∣cher of hearts, and dost not onely require out∣ward acts of duty but the inward disposition of the heart, the heart is the chief sacrifice a thou requi∣rest, the heart is the proper seat of thy love, and my heart I wholly devote to thee.

O my God, create in me a clean heart b, that the fountain of action being clean, the streams may run clean also.

Give me a heart, O thou who onely canst change the heart, entirely turn'd to thee, that may suppress and resist all the first springings of Lust, before they shoot up into consent c, approbation and desire, before lust conceiving brings forth sin.

Lord, make me contented d, and thankfull and well-pleased with that portion thy providential love has allotted me, and to acquiesce in thy choice as best for me.

O great Lord of hearts, lodge my neighbour in my heart next to my self, let all my desires be for his good, and let it be the subject of my joy e, and praise, and love, to see thy love liberal to him, to see him abounding in thy blessings.

O my God, my love, what can a Soul enamour'd of thee ever desire but thee; O let the world never more have place in my heart, all my affections I withdraw from that to fix on thee.

Forgive me, O my God, if I am unmeasurably ambitious, it is onely of thy favour; forgive me if I am unsatiably covetous, it is onely of thy fruiti∣on; forgive me if I am perpetually discontented, it is onely because I cannot love thee more

O unconceivable happiness of Heaven where my Ambition shall rest on a Throne, where my Cove∣tousness shall be filled with the ••eartifick Vision, and where I shall be eternally satisfied with love.

O my God, O my Love, let thy, &c. as page 51.

Notes

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