Household Prayers, Prayer 8
The eight Prayer, That we may not depart from the Church.
Christ hath loued the Church, and giuen himſelfe for her, to the end hee might ſanctifie her, after he hath purged hir by the waſhing of water, through the word. Shee is the houſe of God, the prop and piller of truth: the gates of hel ſhall not preuaile againſt her.
Eph. 5.1. Tim. 3. Ma. 16.
ALmighty God, righteous, and mercifull, who in thy iuſtice & wrath, for the iniquitie and diſobedience of man diddeſt once ſmite the world with the ouerflowing of waters, and in thy merciemercy and louelove diddeſt extend thy ſingular fauour vppon the Arke of thy ſeruant Noah, ſauing him and his family from the generall inundation, intending in that ſmall flocke of the faithfull to preſerue and keepe thy choſen people that they might for euer ſerue to thy glory I learn out of thy word, that thou wilt no more deſtroy the earth in that maner, and therefore thou haſt left vsus the rainbow to remaine for a ſigne. Neuertheleſſe what elſe is our poore life languiſhing in the infection of ſinne, but a deluge of euills, and running ſtreame of miſeries that falleth vponupon al men, & indifferently leadeth them vntounto death? In one onelie thing therefore muſt my ſoule take comfort, that as Noah was preſerued from the vniverſall ſhipwracke, in his wodden Manſion by the promiſe that he kept in his heart, ſo that a thouſand falling on his right hand, and a thouſand on his left hand, hee remained ſound and ſafe vnderunder thy wing, euen ſo I hold my ſelfe aſſured againſt the aſſaults of ſin, and in the middeſt of the woefull rockes of this world, yea euen in the ſtraits of the graue, that thou wilt alwayes preſerue from all calamities and miſeries, thoſe who ſtand faſt in the Arke of thy Church, grounded vppon thy word in the goſpel of reconciliation to the Lord Ieſus, and depart in his faith. For as likewiſe, according to thy Iuſtice, thou diddeſt euen from the beginning pronounce the ſentence of death againſt our Fathers, becauſe of their tranſgreſſions, euen ſo it pleaſed thee, euen then alſo to comforte them in thy merciemercy, with the promiſe of life in this great Redeemer to come, to the end, duplicate page duplicate page that embracing him by faith, they and their children holding this foundation, ſhould erect vntounto thee a temple of liuing ſtones, holy, and ſtedfaſt for euer, for the ſanctification of thy name, and the bleſſedneſſe of thy elect. And theſe are they (O Lord) who firſt in the time of the Patriarks, then vnderunder the law, and laſtly, vnderunder the goſpel, beleeued thy word, worſhipping thee according to the ſame, in certaine myſteries of religion, in all places, whither it pleaſed thee to call, gather and ſanctifie them, by the remiſſion of their ſinnes, in the blood of thy ſonne, regenerating them to eueryevery good worke, by thy holy ſpirit, & of the ſame grace, giuing them from age to age diuerſe viſible ſignes for ſacraments in thy Church; ſo indeede ſhe is thy houſe, and the pallace of thy glory, where thy truth is lodged, which ſhee vpholdeth and aduaunceth by her holy miniſtery; preſeruing it alſo that it ſhould not fall into decay, and that the remembrance thereof ſhould not bee loſt from among men. Whereof likewiſe proceedeth the ſtabilitie of the Church, which the endeuours of ſathan cannot ſhake, becauſe the foundation of her faith & doctrine is grounded vponupon the true, and immooueable rocke, euen the pure confeſſion of the name of Chriſt. I do therefore beſeech thee, my God, inaſmuch as thy mercy and goodnes hath brought me in, and hetherto held me vp, in this manſion houſe of thy graces, that thou wilt vouchſafe more & more to illuminate my hart & minde, to make me ſee and meditate vponupon the ſpirituall magnificence of this thy habitation, to the end that the ſacred porches thereof may bee all my louelove, and the only delight of my eyes, & her canticles the ſole harmony of my eares: and that I may ſo affectionate my ſelfe to her celeſtiall beauty and riches, that I may hold one day in thy Church more deere, then a thouſand elſewhere. That this ſo ſweet company, I ſay, of thee (O our Father) of thy Sonne our redeemer, of the holy-ghoſt our comforter, of ſo many thouſands of Angels, & of elect, which liuedhere beneath in the viſible kingdome of thy glory, and by infinite wonders in the Communion of ſaints, may be my whole deſire, and the ſole ſubiect of my delights, that I may neuer depart therfrom, notwithſtanding whatſoeuer aſſaults and temptations I am to endure according to the condition of the militant Church, and vnderunder this her gallant poeſie (To beleeue, to doe well, and to ſuffer affliction) ſith that namely there is not any ſuch miſhap, or ſo much to be feared, as to be out of this holie Temple, wherein onelyonly abideth all light, truth, ſaluation, and life: and in all other places, darkeneſſe, lying, ſhipwracke, and death, hauehave their dwelling. For ſo through thy grace, O my God, praying and meditating, I ſhall ſpend my dayes in ioy, expecting, in peace, my laſt hower, to participate in the triumph of the ſame Church aboue, and to liue eternally in thy reſt, Amen.