Son go work to day in my Vineyard Matth. Ch 21 v 28. THE HAPPY ASCETICK OR THE Best Exercise To which is added A LETTER TO A Person of Quality Concerning the Holy Lives of the Primitive Christians By ANTHONY HORNECK Preacher at the Savoy Printed by T. N for Henry Mortlock at the Phaenix in St. Paul's Church-yard and Mark Pardoe at the Black Raven over against Bedford-House in the Strand 1681. To the Right Reverend FATHER in GOD THOMAS Lord Bishop of LINCOLN MY LORD THe Reason why I dedicate this Treatise to your Lordship is not any opinion I have of the Merit of the Book but my remembrance of your former Favours I am sensible how much I am obliged to you and though I have often professed so much in private yet I look'd upon the Duty as imperfect without I made some publick Acknowledgement and though the Book may not be worthy of your Patronage because it comes not attended with new Notions yet I thought it safer to run the hazard of being judged unlearned than that of being counted ungrateful My Lord you were the Person who first took notice of me in the University and by your Sun-shine warm'd and cherish'd my Endeavours and gave Encouragement to those Studies I am now engaged in and as under your Shadow I then advanced and prosper'd So now that the Fruit though of a courser sort is come to some maturity it was but reason you should have a taste of it I know not how pleasant it may be to your curious and delicate Pallate but your Piety is such that you can disrelish nothing that tends to the Exercise of Real Godliness A Subject indeed on which Millions of Books are already written yet such is the Richness of it that every day it affords new matter for Contemplation and though what we write is nothing but a different Dress of the same Good Angel yet even those different Garbs and Habits may help towards the Enlargement of its Splendor and Glory To Plant Goodness in Men is without doubt the indeleble Character of our Office and to make Souls fall in love with Heaven the import of that Duty whereby we hold our Charter and we have the greater reason to attempt it in an Age wherein Religion like the Poets Eccho is become an empty sound and try how far we may bring that Faith into fashion again which formerly when times were better discovered it self in suitable Works and Actions St. Paul's fight with Beasts one would think is still entailed upon our Function and the difference between his and ours seems only this that his was at Ephesus and ours in the places where we do Officiate for the Brutal Lusts of Men are now as strong as ever and it 's hard to say whether our Task be not the more difficult of the two since besides his Preaching he had the Mantle of Elijah the Power of doing Miracles and we only the ordinary Assistances of Gods Spirit It 's true the World is Christian now whereas it was Heathen in his time but I cannot tell whether Christianism mingled with Paganism in Carriage and Conversation be not a fiercer Devil to drive out than meer Heathenism and Black Infidelity without any White to checker it However we have reason to relie upon his Help who hath promised to be with us to the Worlds end and we find by happy Experience that our Labours are not altogether unsuccessful where we aim at Gods Glory more than our own Interest We are happy in this Church that we have so many Prelates who are bent upon reviving the strictness of the Primitive Church excellent Patterns for us the inferiour Clergy to imitate and being thus encouraged by our Generals we must be inexcusable if having such Monitors we prove careless of our Duty To reduce Christianity in Men to its Primitive Rule is the drift of this discourse and as your Lordships Zeal for such harmless Enterprizes cannot be unknown to any that have had the Honour to converse with you so whatever defects may occur in the Book itself the Scope and Intent being great I flatter my self that though I fall short of the Mark I aim at yet for the Designs sake your Lordship will generously pardon all the Faults and Mistakes of MY LORD Your Lordships Much Obliged and very Humble Servant Anthony Horneck The Preface THe use of new Books especially upon Subjects of this Nature I apprehend to be no other than this that the newness of them is a temptation to Men to read them who many times will lay aside an Old one though much better to peruse a New and by the Novelty of the Dress be brought into a good opinion of a Doctrine which before while lying in Moth-eaten Leaves was insipid and nauseous to their Spiritual Appetite so that we are forced to make advantage of their Temper and continue Writing in hopes that by a new Book we may catch them into seriousness All I have to say concerning this Treatise is That it is intended to call Mâ—n away from the Shadow to the Substance of Religion from a Form to the Power of Godliness and from a notional to a practical Belief of the Gospel and though Exercise in an Age so much given to Idleness may possibly sound ill and some Men that never understood that Religion required much Labour will be apt to cry What will this Babler say yet we are not to be laught out of our Christianity by the talk of Men that have no mind to be saved nor is Religion therefore the less painful because so many thousands turn it into Formality The Judge of Quick and Dead will have another Rule to go by and it is not the Fancies of Men shall guide him in passing Sentence in the great Day of Retribution The World will find that Heaven takes other Measures than they flatter themselves withal and it will not serve turn in that day to say that they thought things would not have been so bad when in this Life they might have believed the Gospel and lived for ever I know not how the Gospel can be plainer than it is and when it bids none expect Salvation but those that do the Will of their Father which is in Heaven It must not be Reason but Stupidity and Sottishness that can pretend to ignorance and as much as this shakes the Foundation of some Mens Faith it is notwithstanding an everlasting Truth and when Heaven and Earth shall wax old as a Garment this will be found unalterable The Cost God hath been at to make us his lays invincible obligations upon us to work the Work of him that sent us hither and when he hath Bought and Purchased us at so dear a Rate as his own Blood either that Report is fabulous or the Mercy challenges the strictest Obedience As we are not to appoint our selves our station and condition in the World so neither are we to do our own Will We are Servants
stinking weed which gives his Limbs new strength and vigor and alacrity This is to exercise our selves in resisting Temptations and oh that the dull world would understand what a stress the Holy Ghost lays upon this Labour they would not then let Temptations ride in Triumph into their Souls they would not open the Gates to these Locusts to let them in but come out with Swords and Staves against them as against Thieves and Murtherers They would go another way to work than now they do It 's a wonderful thing to see how aukwardly Men go about this Conquest a serious Spectator must needs think they have no mind to it and that what they do is for no other end but to satisfie the secret stings and twitches of a frighted Conscience When men heretofore took delight in this Exercise they studied which way they might overcome Temptations and made it the great object of their contrivance how to be eminent in this Victory how to silence the hellish Dogs that bark'd at them and how to convince even the Divel himself that from the bottom of their hearts they abhorred the sins they were provoked to When they were tempted to unlawful Lusts they resisted the motion by great abstinence and hard Fare and harder Lodging When they had a mind to resist a temptation to Covetousness they crossed Flesh and Blood and gave away more than they could spare When they were minded to resist a temptation to Anger they did good to the Offender When they would resist a Temptation to Revenge they would watch an opportunity to shew their Love and Compassion to the person that had done them the injury When they resisted a temptation to Quarrel or Litigiousness they deceded from their own Right When they would resist a temptation of Vain Glory they would do something that should render them contemptible When a temptation to Pride they call'd to mind their Imperfections their Defects in Grace and how short they fell of the perfection of greater Saints Their Conquest cost them Pains and he that takes this way discovers his sincerity in the opposition Who can read of eating of the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God Of not being hurt by the Second death Of feeding on the hidden Manna and receiving the White Stone and in the Stone a new Name written which no man knoweth saving he that receives it of Ruling Nations with a Rod of Iron Of possessing the Morning Star Of having his Name writ in the Book of Life Of having the honour of being confess'd and own'd before God the Father and his Angels Of being clothed in White Raiment Of being made a Pillar in the Temple of God whence he shall go out no more of having the Name of God engraven upon him and the Name of the City of God which is the New Jerusalem which comes down out of Heaven from God Of inheriting all things and of being freed from Fears and Pain and Death and Sorrow and Curses and Darkness Blessings promised by the Holy Ghost to Men who resist and overcome who can read I say of all these and feel no warmth no heat to dare temptations and to strive for mastery But then Christians if you resist let nothing interrupt your resistance but death it self Remember who it is that cries When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity he shall dye in his sin and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembred Ez. 3. 20. To resist unto Blood is something but to resist unto Death is more After Death the Enemy can tempt no more but while there is Life he will not give over without we resist as long as he tempts we expose our selves to his Fury and he will tempt while we are above ground If we are not tired with resisting we make him despair of success and his Assaults grow weaker the more stiff we are in our Duty I conclude this Exercise with the Advice of the Pious Syncletica The Divel not being able to make people weary of walking in the ways of God by poverty tries what Riches will do and if he prevails not by calumnies and reproaches he 'll make an attempt by Praise and Honour Where he cannot seduce by carnal Delights there he discourages by the tediousness and laboriousness of Religion many times by sickness and long-lasting miseries he tries whether he can discompose good men in their Love to their Gracious Redeemer But Christian let thy Body be cut and wounded fry in burning Fevers and tormented with excessive Thirst if thou art a sinner remember the torments of another World and the everlasting Fire and this will keep thee from fainting under all the crosses and miseries here Rejoyce because God doth visit thee and have ever that memorable Saying in thy mouth The Lord hath chasten'd and corrected me sore but he hath not given me over unto death If thou art Iron this Fire will purge away thy Rust. If thou art a Saint and sufferest such things from these great Conquests thou wilt be advanced and promoted to greater Dignities in Heaven If thou art Gold this Fire will make thee finer Is Satans Angel given thee to buffet thee Rejoyce to think whom thou art like for this was St. Pauls affliction and St. Pauls Glory will fall to thy share XII Exercise To stand in awe of God when we are alone and no creature sees us An Exercise Commanded Psal. 139. 1 2 3 4 5. Psal. 4. 4. Psal. 10. 13 14. Heb. 4. 13. One would think that the bare belief of the Being of God should be a sufficient Argument to any man to fear him when he is alone and behave himself with that Reverence and Decency he would use were the greatest visible Monarch of this World present with him But alas the generality of men dare to do that in private when none but God and they are together which they would be afraid to do before the meanest slave and their minds after their bodies are once lock'd up are as busie to plot mischief and wickedness as if none no not God himself could look into those Cabinets They dare to think that before God which they would tremble to utter before men and harbor things in their hearts in the sight of the Almighty which they would not for a world men should know of yet they matter not whether God knows it or no and this is satisfaction enough to them that they can hide their vain imaginations from their neighbours How does the Thief rejoyce when he finds no person in the room that can disturb him How is the Fornicators and Adulterers Fancy tickled to see that the Chamber or the House he is in with his Harlot is void of company Sots and Fools The God that gave them Life and Being and who supports them every minute looks upon them and mourns and they regard it not A Christian is a man of another
a Reward to come like him that will not allow himself the comforts and ease of sensual pleasures here such a man shews that he is not of this World but that he is chosen out of the World and hath laid up his Treasure in another Our Blessed Redeemer that commanded Sea and Earth might certainly have lived better and more to his ease if he had been minded to do so than he did he that bid Peter take up a Fish out of the Sea and told him he should find a piece of Money in the Fish might as well have commanded all the Riches in the Sea and bid his Disciples take them up as they had occasion but no he chose an humble despicable self-denying Life to shew that thus his Followers must do for the Glory which is set before them and because he made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant therefore God did highly exalt him and gave him a name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow I am not ignorant that Christ did many things suitable to the great design he came for and for our sake became Poor that we might be rich but still Christs life is exemplary as well as expiatory and though we cannot imitate him in his extraordinary Fast and Miracles yet the Apostles seem every where to intimate that if we mean to inherit the Glory he entred into we must do what he did meaning what is possible for us to follow him in his steps we are to tread and accordingly the Primitive Christians we find did imitate him in most of his Self-denials things for which we do admire them yet cannot find in our hearts to follow them We live as if there were no other World and whatever there may be within there appears little without to convince a Spectator that we seek another Life Our greediness after the comforts of this Life discovers how little we believe a future Recompence and there appears so little in our lives that looks like labouring after a future happiness that one would think we believe not one word of the Bible We are most concern'd for a livelihood and instead of seeking first God's Kingdom and its Righteousness the first thing we seek is to get an Estate and a comfortable subsistance and then we may take up a little more Devotion than formerly we did This is it we would fain live plentifully and bravely here and enter upon a more plentiful and glorious Estate hereafter whereas the Scripture seems to make this World and that to come things opposite and contrary and the ways of living in order to the enjoyment of these two totally different and it was the belief of Christians in the purer Ages that it was impossible to Reign with Christ hereafter without suffering with him here and none of them thought of living with Christ in Heaven except they died with him here on Earth i e. died to the needless Comforts and Pleasures of this Life and lived like Men of another Country They gathered so much from Christs saying Luc. 6. 20 21 22 23 24. 25. Wo unto you that are Rich for ye have receiv'd your Consolation Wo unto you that are full for ye shall hunger Wo unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep Blessed be ye Poor for yours is the Kingdom of God Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be fill'd Blessed are ye that weep now for ye shall laugh Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving kindnesses of the Lord. I cannot but mention here S t Austin's words in his Manual O my Soul were we to endure Torments for some years day by day were we to suffer the Pains of Hell-Fire for a considerable time in order to see Christ Jesus in his Glory and to be joined to the Blessed Society of Triumphant Saints Were it not worth suffering all this to be partakers of so great so vast so stupendous a Glory Come on then let Devils prepare their Temptations and make their Arrows sharp against me let my Body be broke through Fasting let Sackcloth press my Flesh let great labours burthen my outward Man let frequent Watchings dry up my Moisture let this Man clamour against me let another molest me let Cold and Frost bow me down let my Heart grumble let the Heat burn me let my Head ake let my Breast burn let my Stomach be full of Wind let my Face grow pale let me be weak all over let my Life be consumed with Grief and my Years with Mourning let Rottenness enter into my Bones and under me let Worms and Maggots Crawl None of these things shall move me neither count I my life dear so I may but again rest in the day of Visitation and ascend to converse with the People prepared for the Lord. For O! what Glory will the Saints possess there How great will be their joy when they shall shine as the Sun in the Firmament When God shall number his People and advance them according to the 〈◊〉 degrees of their goodness 〈◊〉 holiness and shall reward them according to their Righteousness when he shall give them for Temporal Celestial things for Trifles they have lost for him great and ample Treasures Behold what an accumulation of Happiness it will be when the Lord shall lead his Saints to take a view of his Fathers glory and make them sit down with him in Heavenly Places that God may be all in all Thus spoke the Christian Father and what he spoke he practised And lest any of us after all that hath been said should use tergiversations and make Excuses and Apologies for his neglect I shall conclude all with a direction out of Maimonides How shall a Man arrive saith he to these Virtues He must get a Habit of them and to get this Habit he must fall to work and exercise himself and do it the second and the third time as he doth in lesser Virtues He must continually return to his Task till it become easie to him and the Toyl and Weariness of it vanish and these Virtues become one with his Soul FINIS A LETTER TO A PERSON OF QUALITY CONCERNING The Heavenly Lives OF THE PRIMITVE CHRISTIANS A LETTER TO A Person of Quality c. SIR THE great Sense you have of the Narrowness of the Way and the Straitness of the Gate which leads to Life hath made you very often importunate with me to give you an Account of a little Book which Fronto the Learned Canon of Paris Writ Concerning the Heavenly Lives of the Primitive Christians not but that there is a larger and better Account given of that Subject by a late Writer of our Church but because you hoped the smallness of the Treatise might be a temptation to Readers to peruse it who often times are frighted with the bulk and vastness of the Volume I have at last obey'd your
doors of our Lips and to take care that our Speech be always with Grace season'd with Salt that we may know how to Answer every Man An Exercise enjoyn'd Col. 4. 6. Ephes. 4. 25 29. Ephes. 5. 3 4. Matth. 12. 34 35 36. It was a good Observation of one who Travell'd with some Men that talk'd loosly and inconsiderately and whom St. Anthony the Hermite took for excellent Company Yes saith he they are good Men but the House they live in wants a Door with a Lock and Key for whoever pleases may go in and take away what they possess His meaning was That they took no care of their Words that the Door of their Lips was always open and that they talk'd any thing that came into their Minds The Tongue saith St. James is a little Member but contains a world of Iniquity James 4. 5 6. So that the greatness of the danger enforces the necessity of this Exercise This Exercise consists partly in watching against the sins the Tongue is subject to partly in using the Tongue to such discourses as are most proper for a man that pretends to be a follower of Jesus The sins of the Tongue are without number yet the most remarkable are these following 1. Blasphemy 2. Murmuring 3. Defending our sins 4. Perjury 5. Lying 6. Detraction 7. Accusing others falsly 8. Much speaking 9. Idle words 10. Profane jesting or abusing of Scripture 11. Indiscreet expressions 12. Railing 13. Quarreling 14. Laughing and deriding those that are serious 15. Evil Counsel 16. Sowing of Discord and Dissention among Neighbours 17. Cursing and customary Swearing 18. Flattery 19. Double tongued dealings 20. False Reports 21. Boasting and speaking in ones own Praise 22. Revelation of a Secret In vain doth he pretend to exercise himself unto Godliness that watches not against these sins or seeing himself in danger of running into them steps not back or climbs up with his thoughts to Heaven as he that sees a Wild Beast coming towards him climbs up into a Tree to secure himself There is hardly any Precept either more spoken of or recommended more either by the holy Ghost in Scripture or by holy wise and sober men in their Books then this watching over our tongues and words and speeches for indeed By thy Words thou shalt be Justified and by thy Words thou shalt be Condemned saith Christ Matth. 12. 37. Before the power of Godliness was turned into a Form the Christians that lived then studied this point with that care and assiduity and became such Proficients in it that men might Converse with them and keep them company a week together and not hear one idle word drop from them but what was to the use of edifying and Ministred Grace unto the hearers and till men come to believe that their tongues are not their own but Gods who made them and designed them for the Noblest uses and must therefore be employed as he shall think fit to direct they are yet far from the Kingdom of God and Aliens from that Common-Wealth of Saints who are to be Heirs of Salvation and he knows not what Self-denial means that doth not deny himself in speaking things which the Holy-Ghost hath forbid and thought improper undecent or extravagant and he that cannot speak but must offend in one or other of the aforemention'd particulars had better hold his tongue and spend his time in silence It was therefore excellent advice which St. Ambrose gave to his people Let 's learn to hold our tongues that we may be able to speak why shouldst thou run thy self into danger of Condemnation when by silence thou mayest be infinitely safer I have seen thousands run into sin by speaking but few by holding their peace most men love to talk because they know not how to be quiet He is the wise man that knows when to speak and when to be silent if of every idle word Men shall give an account in the day of Judgment how much more of filthy Communications Thy mind is thy Lands and Houses thy heart is thy Gold thy speech thy Silver Therefore make a Hedge about thy Lands and cast up Trenches against thy Thoughts Arm thy House with diligent care that thy unreasonable passions like Thieves do not break in and Spoil it that no disorderly motion make an irruption and lay it waste that those that go by may not pluck off thy Grapes Watch over thy inward man do not neglect him as contemptible tye up thy Speech cut off its luxuriant Branches let it not play the wanton lest it drag thee into sin restrain it keep it within its Banks Water soon gathers Mud Bind up thy Senses let them not be loose or Gadding make a Dore to thy Lips to shut it when there is occasion and to open it when there is necessity Bring thy tongue under the Yoak and let it be subject to thy Reason Keep the Bridle in thine own hands weigh thy words in a Ballance that thy sense may be ponderous thy speech solid and thy words move within their bounds But watching against the sins of the Tongue is but one half of this Exercise speaking of God and heavenly and spiritual things is another as we may see Col. 3. 16. an Exercise commanded already in the days of Moses Deut. 6. 5 6 7. and duly observed by men who took care of their Salvation long before the Gospel was proclaimed in the World which makes the Prophet take notice Then they who feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearken'd and heard it and a Book of Remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name and they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a man spareth his own Son that serves him Mal. 3. 16 17. Indeed Spiritual and Heavenly things are the best things and therefore deserve our speaking of them If meaner things or Trifles are thought worth discoursing of why should not the greatest most excellent and noblest be worth talking of especially when we converse with persons that profess the same Faith with us There is hardly any man that makes a shew of Religion or frequents the publick Ordinances of God but will grant and confess That the concerns of God and of our Souls do infinitely exceed all Earthly Objects in Worth Value and Dignity but then not to speak of them is an omission which contradicts that belief and makes that faith all shadow and imagery He that believes that these are the bestthings and yet cares not for discoursing of them to his Neighbour gives himself the lie and silently confesses that whatever his pretence may be they are the meanest lowest and most inconsiderable things for he doth not think them worth opening his lips about them And as these are the best so they are the most necessary things Luc. 10. 42. Can there be
do afterward happen they are apt to distract the Mind and while the Votary is tossed between his obligation to God and the preservation of his Health he makes his Breast like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest And though some Casuists think that upon such Accidents a man is free from Sin if he do not keep his Vow yet to a person that is very Conscientious it is not so satisfactory as when himself hath made these Exceptions Had Jephtah Judg 11. 30. 31. observed this Rule he had not brought that grief and anguish upon himself which afterwards was ready to overwhelm him Vowing in general that whatsoever should first meet him upon his return from the Slaughter of the Children of Ammon he would certainly Sacrifice and Offer for a Burnt Offering without any limitation provided it be fit to be Offer'd or provided it be no rational Creature or provided it be of the clean Cattle that is in my possession or provided it be not another Mans Vowing I say at large without any such exception when his Daughter met him he knew not how to evade the obligation of the Vow and therefore was forced at least thought himself obliged to Sacrifice his only Child for he did unto her saith the Text according to his Vow which he had Vow'd v. 39. IV. When such Vows are made it 's fit we should write them down in a Book or in Paper that we may remember what we have Vow'd and what the particular things are we have promis'd to the Almighty The Roman Soldiers when they went to War having made certain Vows to God used to write them on Tables and fasten them to the Gates of the City that they might be sure upon their return to pay their Vows Our Memories are frail and treacherous and things are not so soon forgot when committed to Paper or a Book The Oath God made against Amaleck he caused to be written in a Book Exod. 17. 14. and Samuel wrote the manner of the Kingdom in a Book 1 Sam. 10. 21. and indeed remarkable Passages or Occurrences deserve no less Sickness Business or Divertisements may put things out of our Minds whereas if they be noted or written down we can refresh our Memories when we please and remember the very circumstances we were under when we did or saw or met with them Vows are actions of great concernment writing of them down gives us fresh suggestions of the occasion of such engagements and serves to kindle a new zeal in us to perform them When they are once past there depends so much upon the observance of them and the performance or non-performance of them have so great an influence upon the happiness or unhappiness even of our lives here on Earth that they may justly be look'd upon as things of the greatest moment and therefore we cannot be too careful about them and why may not writing down of our Vows be a Monument of our Sincerity Seriousness and Gratitude as much as the Primitive Christians hanging up Boards and Cloaths in the Church which had on them the Picture of the Joint or Part of the Body where they had been diseased or distempered after they were deliver'd as a Testimony of their Thankfulness V. The end of these Vows must be Gods Honour and Glory If the end be that we may with greater liberty live in a certain Sin we delight in the Vow is so far from tending to Gods Honour that God is despised and thought to be altogether such a one as we our selves Such Vows as have no good ends I am afraid are too common in the Church of Rome where Men by Vowing to go in Pilgrimage to such a Saints Shrine or to Jerusalem or to such a Chappel of our Blessed Lady think they purchase a prerogative or priviledge to continue in those darling Sins their Profit or Pleasure doth consist in or to neglect some greater and weightier matter of the Law and though this is call'd by their Votaries seeking Gods Glory yet whatever doth tend to the advancement or cherishing of any sin cannot possibly tend to Gods Glory let mens pretences be what they will for if the bare saying that I aim at Gods Glory would serve turn who almost would be damned Since men may plead that they sin abundantly on purpose that Gods Grace may abound in these Vows destruction of the body of sin must be chiefly aimed at for God is honour'd by nothing so much as by the ruine of the Devils Kingdom VI. Commutations and Dispensations of Vows must be slighted as things alien from true Religion These Practises are common in the Roman Church By Commutations of Vows they mean changing the matter of one Vow into another i. e. He that hath Vow'd to give so much to the Poor changes the Vow into a Vow of Fasting and so breaks the former Vow and substitutes an easier or more convenient in the room of it But these commutations are no better than Falsifications for in a Vow I bind my Soul to God that I will do that particular thing I have mentioned and not another and if God doth not release me of the performance who was the party I promised to what can humane Authority signifie in the case It 's true where the thing I have Vow'd is either impossible or sinful there I may lawfully make another Vow of something that 's good or possible but that doth not excuse the sin of the first nor is this properly a Commutation but a Testimony of my Repentance for the rashness of the former The same may be said of Dispensations how should man be able to dispence with the non-performance of my Vow who hath nothing to do with it and most certainly cannot give away Gods Right who by my Vow is made absolute Owner of that Service I resolve upon and hath so great a Propriety in it by my voluntary resignation of it to him that it is no less than Sacrilege in man to attempt it The Parasites of the Court of Rome allow the Pope besides his pretended power to absolve Men of their Oaths power to dispence with five sorts of Vows with Vows to enter into Orders with Vows of entring into a Monastry and perpetual Chastity with Vows to go in Pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Vows to visit the Thresholds of the Apostles S t Peter and S t Paul and with Vows to salute S t James of Compostella Though we Protestants justly question whether some of these Vows be lawful and whether the matter of them be not contrary to the Will of God yet suppose they are lawful as the Church of Rome holds who gave the Pope Authority to deliver men from the Obligations they have engaged themselves in to God Almighty These Vows all this while are not made to the Pope but to God and how comes the Bishop of Rome to know Gods Mind in this particular or to give away Gods right By what Title or
hearts that we do not take sin to be such a harmless thing as the World makes of it and that we have other apprehensions of Religion then careless sinners have and that we do in good earnest believe that Gods word is of great weight and will be infallibly fulfill'd That we do not conforme to Hypocrisy nor think that Devotion consists altogether in making clean the outside of the Cup and Platter That we value the Examples of Saints more than the Customs of the World and are resolved to be guided more by the Actions of a few Mortified Men than by the inconsiderate doings of a Multitude 4. But then if we enter into such Holy Vows let 's dread Violation of them as we would do committing the blackest Villanies which is the Fourth Particular I am to Treat of And the breaking of them will appear very dreadful if we reflect 1. That this violation is no less than Perjury A Vow and an Oath are much of the same Nature and accordingly in Scripture they are used promiscuously one for the other Numb 30. 13. For though it 's said that a Vow is made only to God and an Oath many times both to God and Man yet still in both God is made Witness Judge and Revenger What some of the Papists say in this case that the Pope can Dispense with a Vow and not with an Oath is Childish and unworthy of a rational Mans disquisition Since God makes them to be one and the same thing why should we invent distâ—nctâ—â—ns to make them different and being the same if we presume to violate a Vow we have made we cannot possibly avoid the guilt of Perjury a sin so great that in its heinousness it goes beyond Adultery and Murther beyond Adultery because in this the crime is immediately committed against our Neighbour but in the breach of Vows it is immediately levelled against God's Nature beyond Murther because in this a command of the second Table is wilfully broken but in Perjury a Precept of the first which as it concerns God immediately so it is of greater dignity and consequence not to mention that in Perjury Men deny Gods Wisdom Knowledge and taking notice of their Monstrous sin It 's true in all sins the sinner is guilty of this denegation but in this more especially because God is appealed to as knowing the very secrets of the heart which Faith is manifestly and desperately denied in violation of such Vows and turns the crime into Blasphemy 2. This violation of Vows is a thing which the very Heathen have abhorred the most Idolatrous People in the World have dreaded it as one of the greatest Enormities Man can possibly be guilty of which made one of them say merrily That such Men as break their Vows had need get themselves New Gods for the old ones would never let so great a Crime pass unrevenged They have Writ Books against it Declaimed against it and thought it rational that persons who make so bold with the Allmighty should be banish'd from Humane Societies They have detested such violations as things contrary to the Instinct of Humane Nature Doom'd such sinners to Notorious Punishments and left them to the All-revenging Eye of Heaven 3. And indeed he that hath been no careless spectator reader or observer of affairs in the World cannot be ignorant how severely God hath in this life punished such Presumptuous Violations Men that have dared to be so Hellishly bold have either come to some fearful end or have suffered signally in their Estates or Fortune or Reputation or have fallen into strange Terrors and Anguish of Conscience or have been forced like Cain to be Vagabonds on Earth and even then when they have fled from one place to another to hide their shame Vengeance hath followed them so dangerous a thing it is to play with a Consuming Fire My self have known persons who upon the breach of their Vows have fallen into that disconsolate dejected condition that they have run into Despair and have turn'd a Deaf Ear to all the Comforts of the Gospel Something within hath sate heavy on their hearts and in the midst of their health they have consumed and pined away and no Drugs of Apothecaries no Medecines of Physitians no Kind Addresses of their Friends have been able to bring their Minds to any Calmness or Serenity but they have roll'd on from one Pensive Thought to another till at last they have been ready to lay Violent Hands upon themselves and like Judas toss'd from one place to another have not been able to exchange their pain with their place 4. This Violation of our Vows is a kind of Challenging God's Vengeance It looks as if we dared the Allmighty defied his Thunder and mocked his Arm of Justice for when we make a Vow we do as good as desire God to revenge our Violation if we break it and therefore to break it wilfully must needs participate of contempt and undervaluing of his Vengeance as if he either durst not or could not punish it or had so little regard to his Honor and Justice as to let such Enormities go scot-free Such Sins if truly interpreted will look very big and if the consequences of them be consider'd it will be found that they intrench strangely upon God's Honor and Prerogative This makes Men generally so afraid of breaking their Vows that they even venture to keep rash and inconsiderate Vows because they think it safer to keep them then by violation to put such notorious Affronts upon him that dwelleth in the Heavens And this was it that Solomon aim'd at Eccles. 5. 4. When thou Vowest a Vow unto God deser not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in Fools Pay that which thou hast Vowed Better is it that thou shouldst not Vow then that thou shouldst Vow and not pay Such men as do not pay are Fools indeed for they seek to put a Cheat upon the Allmighty and to deceive him whose Eyes are like Flames of Fire and behold both the inside and outside of their hearts Silly Wretches as if a Grashopper could circumvent a Giant or a poor Worm outwit the greatest Sages Such Follies meet with Judgments of the same Nature and as such Sinners mock the Most High so he also will Laugh at their Calamity and Mock when their Fear comes Prov. 1. 26. 5. If we break the Vows we make to God What Man can trust us after that If we are Treacherous to our God how should we keep Faith with Men If we are unfaithful in greater Matters Who will commit lesser to our trust When Canstantius Constantines Father had given order That such Christians as would not Sacrifice to the Heathen gods should depart his Court but those that would Offer Incense to Idols might stay and not a few for fear of losing their Places hereupon Offered Incense while others quitted all they had rather then they would sin against God He Generously called those