Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n
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A93395
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The Christians guide to devotion with rules and directions for the leading an holy life : as also meditations and prayers suitable to all occasions / S. Smith.
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Smith, Samuel, 1588-1665.
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1685
(1685)
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Wing S4164A; ESTC R43930
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141,697
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240
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creating Spirit and Creator of Spirits create in me a new Heart and renew a right Spirit within me that my Soul may be filled with thy Delights and I may taste all the sweetness of thy Love Thirsty I am after Pleasure open thy Fountain of eternal Pleasures and let thy Rivers fâ—â—w into my Soul Kiss me with the kisses of thy Mouth for thy Love is better than Wine Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou makest thy Flocks to rest at noon For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the â—â—â—ks of thy companions Why should my Soul â—ander amidst the vain Pleasures of the World and why should it bring to thee so many false Goods for companions Let me retire under thy shadow embrace adore love thee only and taste no Pleasure but what is in thee Draw me therefore that I may run after thee draw near to me that I may be able to draw near to thee Prevent me by thy Grace by thy Mercy and by the bowels of thy Compassion stirred up for a prodigaland rambling Son who seeks but cannot find thee Awake O North-wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out Let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant Fruits O Holy Spirit thou South-wind the Father of Heat Author of Generation Source of Love and Charity blow upon the Powers of my Soul which are as a Desart make them an Eden a Garden of the Almighty make odoriferous Plants to grow there produce there Habits and Works of a sweet odour so as my heavenly Saviour the beloved of my Soul may come and taste the sweetness of those Fruits that he may delight in me and I in him and that we may eternally taste all those Pleasures the products of a mutual Love CHAP. VI. That young People have no Priviledge to use sensual Pleasures nor to dispence themselves from Devotion ONE Reflection is still behind which we are obliged to make before we leave this Important Subject we having done nothing yet in regard to young People They persuade ' emselves it may be that whatever hath bin say'd does not concern them it is almost impossible to deliver them from this Errour That Pleasure is peculiarly their share and that without Tyranny we cannot deny it them To them Indevotion is natural and they reckon it a particular Honour We should make fine work of it say they to 〈◊〉 Bigots at these years they fancy that Modesty Wisdom Sobriety and Temperance are not proper for them 't is the business of old Men say they we must not make our selves ridiculous by turning Cato's and Seneca's And indeed if any one of them has more happy Inclinations he is asham'd he dissembles 'em he follows the Crowd They tell him to every thing under the Heaven there is a time In considering old and young men we can never believe say they that Persons so different are destin'd to the same Actions The wrinkled forehead of old Age the paleness of it's Complexion hollow Eyes chap-fallen Mouth and Limbs all trembling have a correspondence with the Duties of Repentance and it 's fit that they pour forth Tears and give themselves up to Mortification But the good disposition and plumpness of Youth that flourish of Blood that displays it's self upon the Complexion lively and sparkling Eyes Seâ—ses eager and capable to be toucht by their Objects very manifestly shew that this age is born for pleasures and all manner of Joy Thus it is they flatter and hug themselves in their security Not only young People talk at this rate but most part of mankind agree with them in it I cannot deny but that the extravagancies and disorders of conduct in the life of an old man impress much greater marks of infamy than the debauches of the younger sort I must confess also that the disorders of old age discover a greater depth of Corruption It cannot cast it's faults upon the first boylings of the Blood which hath much filth and scum It cannot take the default of Experience for excuse and in short it breaks the barriers of a shame much greater than that which follows the crimes of Youth But nevertheless God will not judge men according to humane Rules and the Sentiments of the World there is no Age that has receiv'd a dispensation from obeying God All the violaters of his Law shall be punisht since his Commandments are given to all and if so be the difference of Age put a diversity in sins in respect of Punishment this would only in the upshot go upon the More and the Less But what will that result to seeing in a word even the less unhappy must have their share in Eternal fires and the Worm that never dyeth Why should young people be less obliged to Devotion Has God given them less On the contrary they as well as old men have received of God their Being and Reason but farther they have vigour of Body force of Wit Health Youth and the flower of Age. Assuredly these are particular Obligations to devote themselves to God All these advantages they have not receiv'd to consecrate them to the Devil of Lust and Voluptuousness Is any thing too good for God They design for him a tatter'd body ' putrified Lungs gloomy Eyes and dry Members In truth God will be mightily oblig'd to them they would give him the bottom Lees of their years and consecrate to him that Age which is the sink of Life and the Center of all Miseries that is to say they would give him what the World has cast off they act like covetous men who are only liberal when they are dying they give what they can retain no more Believe me all the very best we have is not goo good for our God Heretofore he would not have Victimes that had any fault that were ill or in no good case or that had lost any part of the Body Do we believe he will be pleas'd to accept the Sacrifices of a spent and wasted heart and a man who is only the shadow of what he was once â—exhort you that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice But young People that take up the resolution of being devout when they can be no longer sinners promise God their dead and as it were corrupted Bodies for in old age Bodies are like Phantoms and come near to the nature of Carkasses God has thought nothing too good for us he has given himself for us he who is the sovereign good has given us his Son he devoted him to death for us in the flower of his age and it is just that we be devoted to his service in all our Ages God is not satisfied with these promises of futurity I will give thee He would have us speak in the present tense I do give thee as he does himself in speaking to us I give you my Peace He is called He who is was and is to come So that
to him appertain all the differences of time the past present future but among these he loves the present time and he says I am what I am or he who is and not he who shall be He that would be like God and please him must speak as he does I am he that is righteous holy separate from sinners devoted to God consecrated to his Service Heretofore God required our first-sruits and the first born of our Herds and likewise of our Children Abraham rose betimes in the morning to go and sacrifice his Son and God commanded that an immortal Fire should burn in his Temple for the perpetual Sacrifice of Morning as well as Evening This signifies God would be served first and our Firsts are to be consecrated to him he wills not we should say to him Come and follow me if the World leaves any thing remaining thou shalt have it He loves not those People that say unto him Let us first do such a thing or go to such a place c. He answers them Let the dead bury their dead come ye and follow me For having put your hands to the Plough if ye look back ye are not fit for the Kingdom of God Few persons there are but confess That one time or other in ones Life it is necessary to think on God They only dispute about the time One says I will become a good Christian when I have finish'd my House another when I have made my Fortune and young People say when we are old and have tasted the pleasures of Life in a word All remit this great Affair to Futurity Since they confess that 't is of absolute necessity to give up themselves to God and that without this Hell and Death eternal are inevitable is it not the greatest Fury and Madness to deal thus and to remit an Affair of so great Importance to the time to come whereof we can in no wise be assured Young People you Idolaters of Pleasure make use of the Example of the rich man who said in the Evening to his Soul Eat drink and be merry thou hast laid up Goods for many years when that very Night that Soul to which he had given such bad Counsel was required of him Who has given you Assurances that you shall arrive to old Age Or have ye made a Treaty with God that in what Estate soever Death shall surprise you Heaven shall receive you If Death re'ncounters you cover'd with Vices coming from a Comedy at the Theatre or from a Debauch at the Tipling-house or any place more infamous Do ye believe ye are in a good Condition to say at the Gate of Heaven Lord Lord open unto us It will be answer'd Go I know you not ye Workers of Iniquity Ye will say without doubt We have sinned against Heaven and against thee we are not worthy to be called thy Sons but spare us and impute all our Sins to our Youth This will do nothing God cannot in favour of Youth disannul that irrevocable Edict Nothing impure can enter into my Holy City The Jewish Doctors who frequently happen to say very good things say Remember thy God and turn to him only one day before thy Death This is extraordinarily well said think therefore of thy God to day for to morrow perhaps thou shalt dye What do we do then when we dispose of the time to come and say To morrow we will set upon such a sort of Pleasure the day after we will act a Debauch we will live in this manner for fifty or sixty years and after that we will think of a Retreat to God Truly we imitate those ambitious and visionary Princes who upon the only hope of making Conquests divide before-hand the Provinces and dispose of the Governments which are none of their own To whom belongs the time to come Without doubt to God only who holds it as in Store-houses and lets it run as pleaseth him who stops its Source or prolongs its Current so that when we distribute the time to come we take upon us to bestow what is Gods and none of our own and which perhaps never will be and yet we destine and divide it before-hand to sundry uses And this is the utmost Folly even in the opinion of the World and noted by many Proverbs that are very well known Since therefore it is absolutely necessary to devote our selves to God is it not to be done when it is most easie And I maintain it 's easier to love God and be converted to him when we are young than in old Age. This seems to be a Paradox because in that Age the Blood boils the Flesh is vigorous and Sin sticks to the Entrails We have a peculiar and sovereign taste in all worldly Pleasures True indeed when once we have let the Reins loose to Concupiscence in our Youth it is well nigh impossible to stop its impetuous Passion and Fury It ought to dry up the Springs that it may put an end to these Disorders But if in good time we turn our Souls to God and to Devotion it is sure we shall improve therein incomparably much better than in old Age to what thing oever young Men are carried they are carried to it with Violence and Ardour 'T is the Temper of that Age if there be a good Conduct made of those first Fâ—â—es there will thence arise an excellent Zeal and an holy fervour of Devotion as we see in them who know how to make a right use and serve themselves of the Rapidness of Torrents and Rivers to turn Mills and Machines of great advantage to the Life of Mankind On the contrary Experience teaches us that Devotion relents and slackens with Age and old men are more put to it to chasen and heat their Hearts in pious Duties their Soul is hard'ned 't is not touch'd nor moved with so much ease because it is not so tender as it was the fire of Zeal seeming to be diminish'd by the diminution of natural heat Whence come the Difficulties we meet withal in the work of Conversion Certainly none of them there are but what augment and encrease with Age. This difficulty of thinking on God proceeds from Custom and Habit. Now Custom by Age becomes a Tyrant it comes from the Devil and when once it has establish'd its Tyranny by a long Possession 't is almost impossible to destroy it At first it comes alone by it self but in a little while it is call'd Legion and such a Devil as cannot be conjur'd out by a Get thee behind me Satan and cannot be chased away but by Prayer and Fasting Again our Faculties are us'd to it and the Soul loses its strength it is no longer capable of a Design and Enterprize so vigorous as to turn to God and break with Sin In short this Difficulty proceeds from that God leaves off calling upon and inviting and offering his Grace and his Patience is changed into a just Fury and Indignation when it