The Holy Exercise of a True Fast, Part 2
A CONFESSION OF ſinnes, with fayth and repentaunce.
O Mercifull and heauenly Father, we thy ſeruāts doe humbly proſtrate our ſelues before thy Ma…estie, acknowledging here in thy …ight our hainous offences committed against thy Maiestie, ſeeing and beholding thy heauie wrath against them: we feele our ſelues laden (O Lord our God) with a huge company of horrible ſinnes, whereof euen the very least, (beeing but conceiued in thought,) is ſufficient in iudgemēt, to throwe vsus downe to the euerlastinge burning Lake. Our owne conſciences, O Lorde, doe beare witneſſe againſt vsus, of our manifolde tranſgreſſions of thy bleſſed lawe, of our ſecuritie and ſenceleſſe blindeneſſe, running headlong to deſtruction, cō mitting ſinne after ſinne, although not notorious to the worlde, yet horrible before thine eye. The thoughts of our heartes riſe vp in iudgement against vsus: the vanitie of our talk before thy maiestie condemneth vsus: the wickedneſſe of our deedes from thy ſight reiecteth vsus: all our wicked thoughts, wordes and deeds, with the inwarde corruption of our nature, do altogether as it were a whole lumpe and loade of ſinne, lie heauie vppon vsus, & with their intollerable weight doe euen preſſe vsus downe to Hell.
Wee doe dayly grone vnderunder the burthen of them, inwardly lamenting our owne follie, ſo greedily running into them. In heauen, earth, or hel, we ſee none able to ſustaine the weight of them, but euen thy dearly beloued ſonne Ieſus Christ, who in mercy infinite, and compaſſion endleſſe, hath ſustained and ouercome that endleſſe puniſhment due vntounto them: in him therefore, in him most mercifull Father, and through him, we come to thee, being fully aſſured according to thy promiſe, that thou wilt accept & take that full recompence, which he thy deare ſonne hath made for vsus, as a iust ranſome for all the ſinnes of all thoſe, who with a true faith take hold on him. In him therfore we ſee thine anger towards vsus appeſed, thy wrath ſatisfied, and our debts paide.
Increaſe in vsus, (good Lord,) we beſeech thee, this liuely and feeling faith, for we feele it oftentimes in vsus very weake, and troubled with many doubtes: increaſe it in vsus (O Lorde) that we may through thy holy ſpirite be aſſured, that the puniſhment of our ſinnes is fully in thy ſonne diſcharged. Make vsus, O Lord our God, to feele this ſame in our ſoules and conſciences, that Ieſus Christe is ours, and al that he hath done: that we are grafted into his body, and made one with him, and therefore fellow heires with him of euerlasting life. Let vsus not onelyonly hauehave theſe wordes in our mouthes (good Lord) but through thy holy ſpirite, let vsus feele the comfort of them in our heartes fully ſealed and ſetled in vsus: that we feeling our ſelues inwardly before thy iudgement ſeate diſcharged, and our conſciences towardes thee appeaſed: may be ſwallowed vp with an vnfaigned louelove toward thy heauenly Maiestie, and towardes our brethren for thy ſake. Make ſinne to dye in vsus daily more and more, that we may hate, detest, and vtterly abhorre all ſinne and wickedneſſe in all men, but especially in our ſelues: that we may ſtrongly (through thy holy ſpirite) ſet our ſelues in open warre and defiance againſt all ſin and wickednes: that we pleaſe not our ſelues in our ſinns, but ſtraightly examining ſinne by the iuſt rule of thy holy lawes, we may vtterly from the bottome of our heartes condemne euen the least ſinne in our ſelues, hauing our whole ioy, comfort, & conſolation, vponupon thoſe things which be agreeable to thy bleſſed will, alwayes being afraide to doe any thing contrarie to the ſame: that we may euen from the bottome of our hearts, examine and trie our thoughtes, before thy preſence, that they be vpright and vnfained, not hypochriticall in outward ſhewe only, and appearance, but that euen all corners of our hearts being opened and diſcloſed before thee, we may euen as though it were openly before the face of the whole world, bring them in ſhewe, knowing that a double heart is detestable in thy ſight: and that we may walke alwayes as before thine eyes, not only before the eyes of man, being more carefull to walke circumspectly, in this respect, that we hauehave thee to be a viewer of our doings, a thouſande folde more then the eyes of man: that thus we may walke as becommeth thy children, not onelyonly in outward ſhewe, but alſo in ſinceritie of heart, abhorring euen the least ſinne in our ſelues, ſtriuing, reſisting, and fighting against ſinne, not delighting our ſelues in ſinne, nor nouriſhing the ſame in our brest, but earnestly embracing, and ſtudiouſly ſeeking after thoſe things which be pleaſant in thine eyes: that neither the feare of man, nor loſſe of goods, life, landes, poſſeſſions or friendes, drawe vsus away frō thee, to do any the lest thing contrarie to thy wil and pleaſure: neither the fauour or friendſhip of man, nor yet the flattering enticements of this world, nor the vaine promotions of the ſame, doe moue vsus any whit from the true and endleſſe ioy, delight and pleaſure which we ought to hauehave in thoſe things which be agreeable to thy will, and the conſtant performance of the ſame: but that alwayes to the end of our life we may continue in thy pathes, growing and increaſing from faith to faith, from ſtrength to ſtrength, till at the length we ſhall come to thy euerlaſting rest. Amen.