II.

God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Je-For temfus Chrift hath promised to all them that poral feek thy Kingdom, and the Righteoufnefs there- Bleffings. of, all things neceffary to their bodily Suftenance; fend us, I beseech thee, fuch feafonable Weather as may preferve to our Ufe the kindly Fruits of the Earth, and that in due time we may enjoy them. I acknowledge, O Lord, that it is from thy Gift that the Rain doth fall, the Earth is fruitful, Beafts increafe, and Fishes do multiply; and though for our Sins we have worthily deferved Scarcity and Dearth, and have justly expofed ourselves to be punished with great Sickness and Mortality, and to be delivered into the Hands of our Enemies; yet for the fake of thy bleffed Son, and upon our own true Repentance, fend us Cheapnefs and Plenty, healthful Seafons, Unity, Peace, and Concord: deliver us from Lightning and Tempeft, from Plague, Peftilence, and Famine, from Battle and Murder, and from fudden Death. Increase the Fruits of the Earth by thy heavenly Benediction, and grant that we receiving thy bountiful Liberality, may use the fame to thy Glory, the Relief of thofe that are needy, and to our own Comfort, thro' Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.

III.

Almighty God, who in thy Wrath didft For avertfend a Plague upon thine own People ing Judgin the Wildernefs, for their obftinate Rebellion ments. against Mofes and Aaron, and alfo in the Time of King David didft flay with the Plague of Peftilence threefcore and ten thoufand; be merciful

4

ciful to thy finful People, who have fo many Ways provoked thy Wrath, that we are afraid of thy Judgments: Remember not, Lord, our Sins, nor the Sins of our Forefathers, but according to the Greatness of thy Mercies think thou upon us for thy Goodness fake. Turn us, O Lord, and fo let thy Anger ceafe from us. Be favourable, O Lord, be favourable to thy People, who turn to thee in Weeping, Fafting, and Praying. Thou fpareft when we deferve Punishment, and in thy Wrath thinkeft upon Mercy. Spare thy People, good Lord, fpare them, and let not thy Heritage be brought to Confufion. Hear us, O Lord, for thy Mercy is great, and after the Multitude of thy Mercies look upon us, through the Merits and Mediation of thy bleffed Son, Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHAP. VII.

Einber Days in Whitsun-
Week.

HAT Faft doth the Church obferve at
this Time?

A. The fecond Seafon of the Ember Days; which are the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday after the Feast of Pentecoft; Trinity Sunday, which immediately follows, being one of the stated Times for Ordinations.

Q. What do you mean by Ordination?

A. A Privilege peculiar to the Character of a Bishop, who is a Governor in the Church of God; whereby he conveys Authority to fome to

preach

preach the Gofpel, and to adminifter the Sacraments, who are called Prefbyters, and from whence is derived our Word Priest; and to others to be Affiftants to himself and the Prefbyters in their fpiritual Administrations; who are called Deacons; which is performed by Prayer and the Impofition of Hands: A folemn Ceremony of bleffing and devoting Perfons to the facred Function. For as the laying the Hands upon the Head was a Rite of Benediction ufed by Jacob in bleffing Joseph's Children, and by Mo- Gen. 48. Jes in blefling Fofbua; fo by the Sinners laying 14. their Hands on the Heads of the Sacrifice, it appears that it was a Ceremony used in devoting Things to God; upon which Account this was appropriated to the Ordination of Church-men, who are to be bleffed and devoted to God, and was made ufe of to exprefs that Right and Authority which Perfons do receive together with it, for the Exercife and Difcharge of their MiniSterial Function.

Deut. 34.

9.

Q. What Foundation is there for this Subordination of Church Officers from the Inftitution of Jefus Chrift?

A. Our Bleffed Saviour, while here upon Heb. 5. Earth, was himself the great Shepherd and Bi-10. fhop of Souls, and High-Prieft called of God; who in his Life-time eftablished under himfelf two diftinct Orders of Church-Officers, the one fuperior to the other, viz. the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy Difciples; who are fo diftin- Luke6.13. guifhed from one another, that it implies a Dif-10.1. tinction in their Office; they are mentioned apart by different Names, and fent forth at different Times. In which Eftablishment our Saviour kept as nigh to the Form in ufe among

the

the Jews as was poffible; who had their HighPriests, the Priests, and the Levites.

Q. How doth it appear that the Office of the Apoitles was fuperior to that of the Seventy?

A. This is evident not only from our Saviour's particular Care, Solicitude, and Interceffion for thefe Twelve, and his diligent inftructing and teaching them more than the reft of his Followers, revealing to them the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven; but from hence alfo, that the Succeffors of the Apostles were chofen out of the Seventy; and that Matthias, who was ordained into the Place of Judas, is by the Ancients affirmed to be of that Number; which argues the Apostles to be fuperior to the Seventy, otherwife it had been no Advancement to the Seventy to have fucceeded them. Besides, the Mat.10 8. Apofles exercifed Powers which were not comLuke 10. mon with the Seventy, as cleanfing the Lepers, and raising the Dead; and our Saviour after his Refurrection, gave them a fecond folemn Miffion, whereby these peculiar fpiritual Powers were increased.

1.9.

Acts 6.

Acts 8.

Q. What Powers did the Apostles exercife which the Seventy were not endowed with?

A. The Power of Impofition of Hands in Ordinations, as is plain is the Inftitution of Deacons ; who, though chofen by the reft of the Difciples, yet were fet before the Apoftles, and when they had prayed, they laid their Hands on them. The Power of confirming baptized Christians for when St. Philip had converted and baptized the Men of Samaria, the Apofiles fent St. Peterand St. John to lay their Hands on them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: The Power of Jurifdiction and Authority to govern the Church,

;

as is evident in the Cafe of Diotrephes a Presbyter; whom, for not giving Heed to St. John's Letters, and for his Rejection of fome faithful People from the Catholick Communion, without Caufe and without Authority, St. John the Apostle threatened, that when he came, he would3 John 10: remember his Deeds; which would have been to

no Purpose, if he had not had coercive Jurif-, diction to have punished his Delinquency.

Q. But was not this Superiority and Subjection among the ecclefiaftical Orders temporary, and to ceafe with the Perfons of the Apostles?

A. Thefe Powers peculiar to the Superior Order being neceffary for the good Government of the Church, it is plain in fact they did not expire with the Apoftles. But as our Saviour glo-Heb.5.5. rified not himself to be made an High-priest, but had his Commiffion from God the Father; fo after his Refurrection, he invefted the Apostles with the fame Commiffion his Father had given unto him. As my Father bath fent me, even fo fend John 20. I you; and he breathed on them, and faid unto them,21,22,&c. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. In which Commiffion is plainly contained the Authority of ordaining others, and a Power to transfer that Commiffion upon others, and thofe upon others to the End of the World. And to fhew that it was not merely perfonal to the Apostles, our Saviour promifes to be with them and their Succeffors in the Execution of this Commiffion always, even unto the End of the World. And Mat. 28. in pursuance of this Commiffion, the Apoftles20. ordained Bishops in all Churches, particularly St. James at Jerufalem, Epaphroditus at Philippi, as St. Paul did Titus at Crete, that he fhould fet Things in order that were wanting M m and,