A26983:185
A petition for peace with the reformation of the liturgy, as it was presented…
A petition for peace with the reformation of the liturgy, as it was presented to the right reverend bishops, by the divines appointed by His Majesties commission to treat with them about the alteration of it.
London printed : s.n., MDCLXI 1661
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
The Visitation of the Sick, and their Communion.
The Visitation of the Sick being a private duty, and no part of the Pub•ick Liturgy of the Church, and the case of the Sick being so exceeding various, as to soul and body, and it being requisite that Ministers be able to suit their Exhortations and Prayers to the Condition of the Sick, let the words of such Exhortations and Prayers be left to their Prudence.
THe Visitation of the Sick being a private duty, and no part of the Pub•ick Liturgy of the Church, and the case of the Sick being so exceeding various, as to soul and body, and it being requisite that Ministers bee able to sui• their Exhortations and Prayers to the Condition of the Sick, let the words of such Exhortations and Prayers bee left to their Prudence.
So urgent is the necessity of the Sick, and so seasonable and advantageous the opportunity, that Ministers may not negligently ⟨p. 71⟩over-pass them, but in love and tenderness instruct them according to their several Conditions; Endeavouring the Conversion of the ungodly, the strengthening of the weak, and comforting such as need Consolation, directing them how to improve their afflictions, and helping them to be sensible of the evil of sin, the negligences and miscarriages of their lives, the vanity of the World, their necessity of a Saviour, the sufficiency of Christ, the Certainty and Excellency of the Everlasting Glory; Exhorting them to repentance and to faith in Christ, and to set their affections on the things above; And (if they are penitent believers) comfortably to hope for the Kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him, committing their souls to their Redeemer, and quietly resting in the will, and love, and promises of God; Resolving if God shall recover them to health, to redeem the time, and live the rest of their lives unto his glory. And being willing, if it be their appointed time, to depart and be with Christ; and they must be exhorted to forgive such as have wronged them, and to be reconciled to those with whom they have been at variance, and to make a pious, just, and charitable disposal of their Worldly Estates.