A paraphrase on the New Testament with notes, doctrinal and practical, by plainness and…A paraphrase on the New Testament with notes, doctrinal and practical, by plainess and…

And because thou hast made our natures such as cannot but love our selves, and hast bound us to seek our own and others welfare, and Grace presupposeth Nature, and our Being is necessary first to our Well-being. Therefore our fourth Petition is, that thou wilt support our natures, and maintain them by necessary food and sustenance, and make us content with thy allowance, and save us from covetousness and overmuch love to worldly fullness, prosperity and wealth, and cause us to subserve thy providence by our wise and diligent labours, and not to forfeit thy maintenance by our self confidence, idleness or vicious sensuality, nor turn our strength to serve our sinful lust.

And because thou hast made our natures such as cannot but love our selves, and hast bound us to seek our own and others welfare, and Grace presupposeth Nature, and our Being is necessary first to our Well-being. Therefore our fourth Petition is, that thou wilt support our natures, and maintain them by necessary food and sustenance, and make us content with thy allowance, and save us from covetousness and overmuch love to worldly fulness, prosperity and wealth, and cause us to subserve thy providence by our wise and diligent labours, and not to forfeit thy maintenance by our self confidence, idleness or vicious sensuality, nor turn our strength to serve our sinful lust.

And knowing that Holiness and Justice require the punishment of Sin, we next beseech thee to look on us in Christ whom thy Love and Mercy sent into the world to be a Sacrifice and Propitiation for sin; whose perfect Righteousness and Sacrifice have merited that pardon and grace, which he hath given in his Covenant, and proclaimed and offered to us all in the Gospel: Forgive all the sins of our former life, and the remaining corruption of our hearts, and the daily faults that we are guilty of in our state of imperfection. And knowing that thou forgivest none but penitent believers; and bindest us to love and forgive others as ever we would be forgiven, we confess and lament our manifold sins, of corrupt nature and practice, of ignorance and of knowledge, of negligence, rashness and presumptuous wilfulness; The remembrance of them is our grief and shame, we loath our selves for them, and earnestly beg to be healed of them: we cast our selves by believing Trust (tho alas too weak) on Jesus our Saviour his Merits and Intercession, and thy Love and Mercy and promises in him, desiring henceforth to be